rumor

Jiang Ruo was in a daze again.

In this isolated island-like atmosphere, it is hard not to have some unrealistic associations when hearing such ambiguous words.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Ruo asked, "Wait for me, what's the matter?"

The original alienation was restored.

However, Xi Yufeng has seen through his outbursts and gaffes just now.Under such circumstances, breaking the superficial politeness will help promote the process and achieve the goal.

"It's nothing." Xi Yufeng still had a lingering smile in his eyes, "It's just that I don't want to keep hearing about you from others."

Jiang Ruo pursed her lips again.

It’s not that I don’t understand the meaning of this sentence—I don’t want to hear it from other places, but I want to see it with my own eyes and hear it with my own ears.

After all, it was like this in the past, without him asking, Jiang Ruo took the initiative to explain everything about himself, cleanly and thoroughly.

Unable to describe his current mood, Jiang Ruo probably felt a little ridiculous.

Laughing at myself at a certain moment, in an unknown corner, I really had a thought similar to hope.

Soon, Jiang Ruo saw the situation clearly and looked up at Xi Yufeng.The sullenness and panic just now have all subsided, and the expression at this moment is truly flattered.

"Then don't listen." Jiang Ruo said, "I will also try to avoid appearing in Mr. Xi's social circle as much as possible, so as to cause you as little trouble as possible."

On August [-], the movie "The Cliff" was officially released.

With previous test screenings and screenings as a basis, the high average scores and praise given by several film critics have already raised the audience's expectations to the highest.

Therefore, the box office on the first day was quite strong, and the word-of-mouth continued to be well received. The Douban score opened at 8.5, well surpassing most domestic films.Five days after its release, some industry experts predicted that the final box office must exceed one billion.

For this reason, Director Liu held another celebration banquet, and prepared a giant ice sculpture in the shape of a number, intending to smash it at the banquet, implying to break the record.

Jiang Ruo was naturally also invited, but he didn't go because he had to rehearse.

In fact, there was really no time. After the third round of recording of "The Actor's Flower Road", Jiang Ruo successfully entered the semi-finals.

There were too many things to prepare, and after staying up all night to finalize the script with the screenwriter, Jiang Ruo immediately threw himself into the rehearsal.

This time the stage was interspersed with dancing, so it took a lot of energy.

Coming out of the rehearsal room that day, Jiang Ruo sat slumped in the car like mud, and when he heard Xiao Shen talking about movie bookings, he reluctantly raised his head: "What bookings?"

Xiao Shen said: "Sister Zheng contacted the fan group to organize a hall in the movie theater in Times Square in the east of the city. Fans who won a lottery in the official blog can watch "The Cliff" for free."

"Do I need to be there?"

"At that time, the lottery rules did not say that you would participate, but since Sister Zheng asked me to ask, I should hope that you will come and surprise the fans. But this is not urgent, the time is set for tomorrow night, you can think about it later."

Jiang Ruo raised his hand and rubbed his face hard, forcing himself to cheer up.

Then he shouted a slogan: "Don't think about it, go!"

The next day, on the way to the cinema, Jiang Ruo heard another thing.

"Actually, it's not a big deal, it's just that criminals spread false rumors on the Internet." Xiao Shen said, "But it was quickly suppressed, and before it had time to ferment, the marketing accounts that reposted the rumors were also deleted and apologized. , you don't have to worry."

The so-called "rumors" were nothing more than the beating video that emerged when Jiang Ruogang was a bit famous, and the follow-up about his dropping out of the dance academy and his criminal record caused by it.

Jiang Ruo used his trumpet to search Weibo, but he did not find any negative content about himself, even the little discussion about him bringing money into the crew that had been spread from the crew of "Skin Bag" earlier was also gone.

Putting down the phone, Jiang Ruo asked, "Did Sister Zheng handle it?"

Xiao Shen said: "It should be, otherwise who else could there be?"

Jiang Ruo nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

The private viewing went smoothly.

The fans did not expect that Jiang Ruo himself would be there, and the cheers erupted almost knocked the roof off.

"Hush——" With his index finger on his lips, Jiang Ruo said to everyone, "I sneaked here from the recording site of the show, please keep your voice down, I don't want to be arrested too early."

The fans nodded obediently and laughed silently covering their mouths.

After watching the movie, Jiang Ruo patiently signed autographs for the fans present.

One of the girls made him feel familiar, so he couldn't help but take a few more glances.The girl blinked at him, and Jiang Ruo remembered that it was the fan he met at the Star Ferry Pier in Hong Kong last year.

"What a coincidence." The girl said with a smile, "I can meet you here too."

Jiang Ruo also laughed: "Yes, what a coincidence."

The girl said that she had fulfilled her promise to contribute to the box office, and she did not expect to win the lottery this time.

Jiang Ruo said: "This shows that I am confused, and there are few people participating in the lottery."

The girl shook her head again and again: "No, it means that I am destined to be your fan. It's great to see you shining brightly on the big screen."

The simple and sincere words easily touched Jiang Ruo's heart.

"Then I will continue to work hard." Jiang Ruo said, "I will let you see me at a glance in the crowd."

After the show ended, Jiang Ruo stayed and confirmed the next itinerary with Zheng Yiting.

After checking that there was no problem, Jiang Ruo called to Zheng Yiting who was about to leave: "Sister Zheng, I want to ask you something."

Zheng Yiting closed the notebook and stuffed it into her bag: "Say it."

"This time, the film booking is not arranged by the company, is it?"

"Why did you ask so?"

Seeing that Zheng Yiting didn't immediately affirm or deny, Jiang Ruo knew it.

"I'm not the lead actor. I'm just a male fourth cast. Why is there such a big fight." Jiang Ruo smiled, "And the booking is so low-key, obviously it's not for publicity. The company has no reason to spend money without asking for anything in return."

He said so, and Zheng Yiting couldn't hide it: "There is an investor who anonymously contributed to this venue."

"Is this person helping to suppress the black material about me two days ago?"

"I'm not sure about that. But as far as I know, the public relations department has just received the news and plans to deal with it, and the matter there has almost calmed down."

After a pause, Jiang Ruo said, "Thank you sister, I understand."

If these two incidents planted the seeds of doubt in Jiang Ruo's heart, then one incident that happened later undoubtedly confirmed his guess.

One day about two weeks later, Jiang Ruo received a call from his hometown.

The person who called him claimed to be a neighbor living next door, saying that Zhao Yonggang had been arrested by the police, and the only family member he could contact was his stepson Jiang Ruo, and asked him if he wanted to come back and hire a defense lawyer for Zhao Yonggang.

It is impossible to go back, Jiang Ruo is only curious about the reason why Zhao Yong was arrested by the police.

The neighbor's aunt knew very little about this, so she said in a vague way, "Someone must be messing with him", "I've been exposed", and "I'm afraid I will be squatting for many years".

After the phone call, how Zhao Yonggang was arrested is still a mystery. The only thing that is certain is that, except for that person, no one has the supernatural ability to do things that Jiang Ruo couldn't do in more than ten years.

Every Monday, Aunt Fang would go to Xi Yufeng's residence to buy food and clean the house by the way.

This Monday is the same, the difference is probably that Xi Yufeng just came back to deliver something, and Jiang Ruo also happened to call her during this time.

"Aunt Fang, it's me, Xiao Jiang." Jiang Ruo said with a smile, "I haven't contacted you for a while, how are you?"

Aunt Fang was happy when she heard his voice: "Okay, of course. How about you? Are you still busy with filming?"

"It's okay, just busy yourself and make a living."

"Eating is not a mess. Only when you are full and healthy can you work hard."

"Yes, yes, I'm going to buy delicious food to reward myself for working hard."

…………

The two chatted for a while, and Jiang Ruo asked, "Aunt Fang, do you know what Mr. Xi and... Mr. Xi have been up to lately?"

Aunt Fang uses an elderly mobile phone, even if the hands-free is not turned on, the sound can be transmitted several meters away.

So Aunt Fang and Xi Yufeng who were standing by the window not far away looked at each other, and said with a little embarrassment: "He is right next to him, why don't you ask him directly?"

On the other end of the phone, Jiang Ruo, who wanted to inquire about the situation, did not expect things to develop like this.

After a brief silence, Xi Yufeng's voice sounded from the other end of the phone: "Hello."

The right time to hang up the phone was already missed, Jiang Ruo was stuck, so he could only say "Hmm".

"I'm currently working on a city investment project." Xi Yufeng said quietly, "It will take about a month."

The hand holding the mobile phone suddenly tightened, Jiang Ruo felt speechless in the face of this attitude of reporting work.

But I made all the phone calls, so I simply asked what I wanted to ask.

Jiang Ruo made up his mind: "Purchasing the venue, and pressing black materials, is it your handwriting?"

Without any hesitation, Xi Yufeng responded, "Yes."

"Zhao Yonggang... is my stepfather, and you also dealt with it?"

"Yes."

After a while, Jiang Ruo said, "Thank you." After a pause, he asked, "How should I thank you?"

"I didn't do this to make you thank me." Xi Yufeng said.

It's not that he didn't notice something that was about to come out, but he stopped here and didn't tell Jiang Ruo the reason for doing this.

The feeling of being led away struck again, and Jiang Ruo knew that he couldn't escape this encounter, so he took a deep breath: "Then let me treat you to a meal. It happens to be about Zhao Yonggang, and I have something to ask."

As if waiting for him to send out an invitation to meet, Xi Yufeng responded, "Okay."

This meal was originally scheduled for the weekend night, and it was reserved for Chen Muxin who had just returned from the Northwest at noon.

The two came to the vegetarian restaurant they had agreed on last time, and not long after they sat down, Jiang Ruo received a call from Aunt Fang, asking if he could come by now.

"Now?" Jiang Ruo asked, "What happened?"

"It's nothing, it's just that Xiaofeng is sick, and I'm afraid I won't be able to attend the appointment at night."

"……sick?"

"He doesn't take his body seriously. He is too busy to go home every day. I saw his complexion was not good two days ago, and he has a fever today. Fortunately, I came to see him when I have nothing to do."

Jiang Ruo thought for a while and said, "Then I'll treat him to dinner another day."

Aunt Fang hesitated and said: "Xiaofeng is still sleeping, I didn't know I would call you, when he wakes up later, maybe he will blame me for making my own decisions..."

Jiang Ruo didn't want to embarrass Aunt Fang, and was eager to ask the matter clearly. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then I'll come over later and tell him to stay at home and not go out."

"Okay, as long as you're willing to come." Aunt Fang said happily, "I'm going to prepare the dinner right now."

Because of the phone call, Jiang Ruo ate lunch absent-mindedly.

The last dish was sliced ​​tofu. Jiang Ruo put a slice into the bowl and poked it with chopsticks while dazed. It was Chen Muxin who called him, and he regained his senses.

"Is it not to your liking?" Chen Muxin asked.

"No, the food here is delicious." Jiang Ruo stuffed the tofu poked into a hornet's nest into his mouth, chewed it a few times before swallowing it, "I've had too much breakfast, and I'm not very hungry yet."

After dinner, Chen Muxin said he wanted to take a stroll nearby, and asked Jiang Ruo if he had time, but Jiang Ruo refused, "I have other things to do, so I have to go first."

Chen Muxin seemed to have something to say, but stopped for a while before saying anything.

"Then go and do your work first." He said with a smile, "Let's make an appointment next time."

Jiang Ruo rushed directly from the hotel to Xi Yufeng's residence in the city center.

There is no obstruction from the entrance of the community to the upstairs, and his information does not seem to have been deleted.

It was Aunt Fang who came to welcome the door, pointing to the direction of the master bedroom, her voice was very low: "He is still sleeping, you come in first."

I haven't been here for more than half a year, and the furnishings in the house have hardly changed.

Jiang Ruo walked in lightly, her eyes could not help but drift to the left.The door of the room that was converted into a dance studio was open. The mirror, non-slip floor, and wooden handrails were still in the state before he left.

Aunt Fang was cooking in the kitchen, and Jiang Ruo wanted to help, but Aunt Fang said, "It's rare for you to come here, just sit and wait for the food."

After thinking about it, Jiang Ruo thought it made sense.Now he is at best a guest, and he should do as he pleases.

He sat down on the sofa and picked up a magazine on the table.

When I opened it, I realized that it was not a magazine, but the script of "Skin" that he left here.

To be precise, a copy of the script.

Looking at the traces he drew and the dense notes on it, Jiang Ruogang's relaxed heart tightened again.

I still remember when Xi Yufeng asked him to come back to get the script on the grounds that it was "inconvenient". Could it be possible that he had time to copy and bind it, but he had no time to send the script to him?

Can't think deeply.

Jiang Ruo put the script back to its original position, stood up, and walked towards the window.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Xi Yufeng woke up, opened the door to go out, and saw Jiang Ruoli's back standing in front of the French window.

On days when there is no schedule, he always wears comfortable and casual clothes, a white T, a pair of washed blue jeans, his hair seems to have just been cut, and the edges are neat, revealing his fair and slender neck.

Dancers always stand upright, and Jiang Ruo is no exception. With his slender figure and refreshing attire, he looks like a student who just walked out of the campus and fell into the midsummer dusk.

Xi Yufeng stood not far away and did not step forward for a moment.

Just watch silently.

But the high-rise buildings in the city are really not a sight. Standing in front of the window, Jiang Ruo's eyes gradually lost focus, and his thoughts flew to nowhere.

Therefore, he didn't hear the sound of approaching footsteps, even if the other party walked very slowly, it seemed that he was afraid to scare him away.

The movement of pulling him into his arms from behind was also gentle. First, his chest was pressed against his back, and then his arms were wrapped around his waist.The strength is very light, a pure hug.

It was precisely because of the proper measure that Jiang Ruocai didn't react for a while, but his body tensed slightly.And because it is too familiar, the body seems to be stuck in the past, forgetting even to break free.

The person behind had to adjust their posture, leaned over, and rested their chin on his shoulder, as intimate as before.

Because of the fever, the hot breath sprayed on the side of the ear, like a nostalgia that implied weakness.

I don't know since when, Xi Yufeng also got used to calling his name.

"Jiang Ruo," he said the same words in a different tone from last year and today, "Happy birthday."