rumor

Xi Yufeng pursed his lips, showing that expression of whatever you think.

Jiang Ruo couldn't get an answer, so he shrugged, clicked on the three dots in the upper right corner in front of him, and then hung his finger on the word "delete", with obvious intentions.

Only then did Xi Yufeng take a step forward, trying to stop it.

But before it was his turn to make a move, the screen changed and a call came in.

Jiang Ruo was stunned for a moment, seeing that it was an unknown number, he pressed to hang up.

The thumb approached the "delete" button again, but this time it was still not possible to click it. The unknown number dialed in again, and Jiang Ruo gave a "tsk" and pressed it again to hang up.

I didn't call again after that, but the interest in coercion and questioning has been diluted.Jiang Ruo exited the WeChat interface and glanced helplessly at Xi Yufeng.

It's like saying - I've put water on you, you really don't plan to say something?

Xi Yufeng's attention was already taken away by the "harassing phone call" just now, and he asked, "Have you often been called by strange numbers recently?"

Jiang Ruo: "..."

Forget it.

Even the feeling of powerlessness is gradually getting used to it, Jiang Ruo thought, no wonder it takes time, if it takes a little longer, I'm afraid I can get rid of all the knots with my own strategies.

In the next month, Xi Yufeng would still find time to meet Jiang Ruo, usually sending a WeChat message in advance, and then waiting downstairs.

Jiang Ruo didn't avoid it any more, the two of them seldom went out, often busy with their own things in the house, or rested separately.

Occasionally go out to eat, but also choose a time when the table and the wind are in good spirits.The city investment project he is currently in is in the final stage, and it is not easy to make time to run here.

Jiang Ruo has found a house, a two-bedroom, one-living room located in a residential area in the east of the city. The owner needs time to tidy up and is scheduled to move in at the end of this month.

Regarding this, Jiang Ruo called An He and told him the address of the new residence, saying that one of the two rooms was reserved for him.

On the phone, An He answered with a smile. When asked how he was doing recently, he faltered and couldn't explain why. He only said that he couldn't stay in his hometown anymore and might return to Fengcheng.

Jiang Ruo's recent itinerary was almost all arranged in Fengcheng, including the shooting of several commercials and magazine covers, as well as the audition for Director Xu's new movie.

On the day of the audition, Xi Yufeng happened to ask him to meet, and simply sent him to the audition location.

I thought it would be over in an hour at most, but director Xu did not expect Jiang Ruo to perform the feeling he wanted, so he temporarily let him try a few other scenes, and discussed on the spot, in order to make the role fit Jiang Ruo's own characteristics, Changed some details of the script.

Although doing so was tantamount to finalizing Jiang Ruo as the number one male, it was delayed for several hours.When Jiang Ruo hurried back to the car, it was almost dark, and Xi Yufeng fell asleep in the car very uncomfortable, looking at the documents on the laptop.

As soon as he sat down firmly, Jiang Ruo said: "Sorry, I tried a few more scenes temporarily, and I wasted a little time."

Xi Yufeng closed his laptop and asked, "How was the result of the audition?"

Jiang Ruo pretended to think deeply: "It's ten to ten."

Xi Yufeng raised his lips: "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

After a while, Xi Yufeng asked: "Does that mean that we are going to be busy again?"

Jiang Ruo was stunned for a moment, and said, "Aren't you busy? You see, you are also busy with this project and that dinner all day long."

"It's different, I can't help it." Xi Yufeng said, "You don't have to be so busy."

Jiang Ruo can probably understand why he said this.

Still explaining patiently: "If I'm not so busy, the exposure is not enough, and soon there will be no more director invitations to play, and then I will be idle at home."

"There's nothing wrong with taking more rest."

"It's not bad, so I can wait for you at home with all my heart like before, instead of you waiting for me in the car for three hours, right?"

Sensing Jiang Ruo's slightly aggressive tone, Xi Yufeng frowned: "I'm not unwilling to wait for you."

"But you are getting impatient." Jiang Ruo made a pun, "This is different from what you imagined. You thought that as long as you came back to me, I would go back with you immediately. You thought that as long as you were here, I should take my friend , All work is pushed back, just to make way for you alone."

This time, Xi Yufeng did not refute.

It is undeniable that he did have similar ideas.Because in the past, Jiang Ruo had his eyes all over him and never refused his requests. Now that the situation has changed, he can't adapt to this gap for a while.

Silence spread between the two, each in pain.

Jiang Ruo looked out of the window, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable.

It seems that I am still blindly optimistic. There are many things in this world, even in the face of time, there is no solution.

After that day, the two hadn't seen each other for nearly half a month.

It happened to be busy, Jiang Ruoquan regarded this as a cooling-off period, and devoted himself to the rehearsal of the stage play.

Since the performance will be on stage next month, and Jiang Ruo will go to the Haishi Film Festival with the "Skins" crew at that time, in order to ensure that the performance is safe, the rehearsal schedule has to be stepped up.

The rehearsal was over for the day, and it was almost ten o'clock in the evening.

In the rest room, I changed out of my practice clothes, took my bag and was about to leave when the phone rang in my pocket.

He took it out and saw that it was Song Shiyun, a friend from the Xinghui Dance Troupe. Jiang Ruo ignored the disappointment in his heart, and picked it up briskly: "Hey, Sister Song, why did you think of calling me today?"

Compared with him, Song Shiyun's tone on the phone was a little strangely stiff: "Xiao Jiang, have you accepted a musical drama recently?"

"Yeah, this circle is really small, and it has spread to your ears so quickly."

"Before the troupe knew about you... After all, everyone knew why you left the industry."

Hearing this, Jiang Ruo was startled.

"Sister Song, don't you know that I am innocent?"

"It's all in the past, I'm just afraid of affecting Xinghui's reputation."

Jiang Ruo understood: "Sister Song, you can rest assured, I never mention the name of the Xinghui Dance Troupe when I go out, let alone the one whose surname is Peng."

The other side was silent for a moment, and said: "You are not well-known in the film and television industry. I thought you had no filming before, so I introduced the theater company to you."

"I know, even though I didn't make it, I'm still very grateful to you." Jiang Ruo didn't want to bring up the past again, "Dancing is my job, if it wasn't for that year... I wouldn't have left the stage and found another way."

"...Well, I see."

The phone call started inexplicably and hung up inexplicably.

On the way back, Jiang Ruo's right eyelid twitched a few times, feeling a premonition of imminent danger for no reason.

He climbed the stairs cautiously with a flashlight on, and he paid extra attention to his feet during the rehearsal the next day, for fear of twisting his feet before going on stage.

It wasn't until the evening when everything was calm that he heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that he might have been trying to scare the snake away, thinking too much.

However, when he relaxed his vigilance, a figure in the darkness quietly followed Jiang Ruo who was walking out from the back door of the troupe.

And when he reached a path that must pass to the road, he suddenly jumped out of the nearby bushes.

If Jiang hadn't thought about it, he would see Peng Weibin again.

I just didn't expect it to be at this time, this kind of place.

When he confirmed that the person in front of him who seemed to have a serious face, but was actually full of treacherous and obscene aura, was the culprit who dragged him into the abyss when he regained hope for the future, Jiang Ruo couldn't help but take two steps back.

As if stimulated by Jiang Ruo's distasteful appearance, Peng Weibin immediately stopped laughing: "It's been so long since I've seen you, are you still so afraid of me?"

Jiang Ruo frowned, her eyes were indifferent: "I'm not afraid of you, but I don't want to be so disgusting that I spit out my dinner."

Peng Weibin laughed twice: "My little Ruoruo, that's not what you said before. You used to be so clingy to me, you surrounded me with older brothers and younger brothers, but now that you have more powerful people backing you, you don't need senior brothers anymore. ?”

Jiang Ruo stared at him without speaking.

This expression made Peng Weibin find the image of him being angry before. It looks fierce, but it has no deterrent effect.

So Peng Weibin approached as if observing: "But how did I hear that you have been tired of being played by the gold master and abandoned? Otherwise, why didn't you win the championship in that acting show? Otherwise, why would you need to come to such a remote place to arrange this place?" A musical that no one cares about?"

The late autumn wind blew from behind, making Jiang Ruo's hair stand on end.

To be able to understand his recent trends so well, he must have been prepared before coming.

While keeping calm, Jiang Ruo began to observe the surrounding terrain: "What's the matter with you?"

"Why is it none of my business?" Peng Weibin gritted his teeth, "I've been looking for you since I got out of prison. You're either in the crew or the program crew, and you can't get through on the phone. You really look like a big star."

Jiang Ruo finally knew what was going on with the unknown number that kept calling these days.

His eyes darkened a bit: "So it's you."

Peng Weibin showed a proud expression.

"Let me just say that no one but you can use this kind of rotten method." Jiang Ruo sneered, "Do you know that harassment can also be filed? Are you not getting enough food in prison?"

Peng Weibin's eyes widened: "You—"

"The nearest police station is less than 300 meters away, you really know where to choose."

After speaking, while Peng Weibin was looking around in a panic, Jiang Ruo ran away.

He didn't know the location of the police station. At this time, he couldn't even figure out the direction when he came, so he just ran along the path to the place with the brightest lights.

Although I don't know the purpose of Peng Weibin's visit this time, I think there is nothing good about it.Although he may not be able to defeat Peng Weibin if he stays, he is still a public figure, if it is on the news tomorrow...

The tickets for the song and dance drama here have already been sold, and director Xu's film is also being prepared to start filming. It's just in case...

Jiang Ruo ran desperately, but couldn't stop thinking about various possibilities.

It was too dark, and there was still some distance from the nearest light source. When passing through the bushes, he didn't pay attention to his feet and tripped over a stone buried in the soil. Jiang Ruo's center of gravity lost his balance, and his body suddenly leaned forward.

As soon as he was about to fall, a tall man flashed out from the side, opened his arms, and took him firmly into his arms.

Smelling the familiar smell, Jiang Ruo suddenly relaxed his tense body, but Jiang Ruo's mind exploded belatedly.

The extremely piercing and prolonged noise was mixed with the yelling and cursing of Peng Weibin, who was subdued by the police behind him.

I vaguely heard "You actually set a trap for me in a dirty way", and heard sneers "I found a new money owner so quickly", and asked "Does he know that you used to be a broken shoe that you can get on for money".

The blood in his whole body seemed to be frozen, Jiang Ruo shook his head, wanting to refute, suddenly put his hands together from both sides, each covering one ear.

It seemed to block the sharp blades that wanted to open his wounds, together with those piercing injuries.

But the strange thing is that the gentle comfort can penetrate the iron wall and reach every fragile nerve through the eardrum.

Jiang Ruo heard Xi Yufeng say "it's okay" and "I'm here".

An hour later, Jiang Ruo, who was sitting in the interrogation room and had already told the story, was almost at a loss when he heard the name from the policeman.

"Song Shiyun... She is my friend and a colleague of the dance troupe I was with before." Jiang Ruo asked, "What's wrong with her?"

The police replied: "The specific situation still needs to be investigated, but according to the evidence provided by the informant, she has been monitoring your situation and has maintained close contact with Peng Weibin. Today you will go to the troupe to rehearse, and she also told Peng Weibin."

There was too much information, so Jiang Ruo had no choice but to go through it one by one: "How do you know that she has been watching me?"

"It's the evidence provided by the informant."

"Then how did you know that Peng Weibin would appear there at that time?"

"It was also provided by the informant." As they spoke, the two police officers looked at each other, "Maybe someone has been following him."

The word "following" shocked Jiang Ruo for no reason.

He thought for a while, but he still spoke out to confirm: "Reporter, who are you referring to?"

The answer was as expected.

The policeman said, "It's that Mr. Xi outside."

It was almost midnight when we left the police station.

Sitting in the car, Jiang Ruo was still a little dazed, and when he heard someone calling his name, he turned his head slowly.

Xi Yufeng looked at him for a while, and said, "Song Shiyun hasn't been arrested yet, she knows your address. For a few days, go live with me first."

As if some kind of protective mechanism had been activated, it took Jiang Ruo a long time to figure out the meaning of this sentence.

He felt it was wrong, but he couldn't think of a better way to deal with it right now.

And because I was too tired, I really didn't want to be disturbed any more.Jiang Ruo thought for a while, then nodded: "Then I will trouble you."

That night, Jiang Ruo returned to the flat in the city center and slept on the bed in the master bedroom under the arrangement of Xi Yufeng.

The heating in the room is sufficient, Xi Yufeng still leaned over to tuck the quilt up for him, stroking his forehead with his palm.

The voice was as calm as dust settled: "Sleep, call me if you need anything, I'll be outside."

It's a pity that Jiang Ruo didn't get a good night's sleep.

Perhaps it was because of being frightened. He woke up for no reason shortly after falling asleep, and then couldn't fall asleep again.

He stared at the ceiling with wide eyes, thinking about a lot of things, but he didn't seem to think about anything.

As the skyline turned white little by little, there were faint footsteps approaching.Jiang Ruo closed his eyes, but the other party found out that he was pretending to sleep.

The dry palm was pressed against the forehead, and then loosened after a while.He heard Xi Yufeng say: "I asked for leave from the dance troupe for you. Take a good rest at home these few days."

Then, the footsteps moved away.

In order to take care of Jiang Ruo, Xi Yufeng called Aunt Fang over.

Jiang Ruo opened the door and went out, smelling the aroma of the food, and was led by Aunt Fang to sit down in the dining room. She even stuffed the chopsticks into her hands, and then she came back to her senses, and said embarrassedly, "I will do it myself."

Aunt Fang was happy to see him, her eyes narrowed into slits when she smiled: "Xiaofeng just told me this morning that you moved back, and I didn't have time to prepare anything, I went to the supermarket on the way to buy a chicken, and I was in a hurry coming."

Jiang Ruo was stunned for a moment, and wanted to tell Aunt Fang that he hadn't "moved back", but after she finished speaking, Aunt Fang got up and went to the kitchen without giving him time to speak.

And the feeling of being controlled by a pair of invisible hands to move forward, after fermenting all night, is unprecedentedly obvious.

The uneasiness similar to repeating the same mistakes also soared to the highest concentration in the blood.

The dark room in the old tube building, the small backstage of the Xinghui Dance Troupe's rehearsal hall, and the magnificent cage under his feet... Everyone is trying to control him, trying to make him obedient, abandoning his self-consciousness, until he forgets to struggle.

Xi Yufeng followed the target location, and when he found someone at the entrance of the supermarket, Jiang Ruo was standing in front of the alcohol and tobacco counter, bending over to look at the products displayed inside.

Sensing someone, he tilted his head to look at Xi Yufeng, straightened his back, without any surprise in his eyes, and just said lightly: "You're here."

Xi Yufeng thought he was just coming out to breathe, but when he got into the car, Jiang Ruo took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"You said you would teach me to smoke." He asked, "Can you fulfill it now?"

Staring at the cigarette in his hand for a while, Xi Yufeng said, "You are not suitable for smoking."

Then he reached out to pick it up, but was not as quick as Jiang Ruo, and put the cigarette back into his pocket in the blink of an eye.

Turning her face out of the window, Jiang Ruo muttered, "Forget it if you don't teach."

It's not the first time I've been rejected anyway.

Anyway, countless times, he was refused to pry into his world.

Jiang Ruo, who had been away for less than two hours, was taken back to his mansion in the city center by the same route.

The car is parked in the basement.Opening the car door, the cold air poured in, Jiang Ruo shivered violently, and closed the car door again with a "bang".

"Just here." He said to Xi Yufeng who was about to get off the car, "I have a few questions for you."

"Go back and talk."

"Aunt Fang is here, you probably don't want her to hear."

After thinking for a while, Xi Yufeng withdrew his hand on the doorknob and signaled the driver to avoid it.

It's not a difficult topic to talk about. As soon as Lao Liu got out of the car, Jiang Ruo said, "Yesterday, how did you know that Peng Weibin would be there?"

Xi Yufeng's answer was also straightforward: "I have sent someone to monitor him."

"Since I confessed to you what he did?"

"Ah."

"What about Song Shiyun?"

"Also checked."

"Including other insiders on the list?"

"Ah."

"why did not you tell me?"

"No need. I'll protect you."

After the words fell for a long time, Jiang Ruo suddenly laughed.

He was laughing at himself for being fickle. If such words were put in the past, it would probably make his heart beat faster, and then he would be devoted to the person who said these words.

But now, he only felt stunned, even a little scared.

"What about me?" Jiang Ruo heard himself asking, "How do you know where I am?"

It was clearly a simple question, but Xi Yufeng didn't answer it for a long time.

Obviously heard something, knew this question, not only yesterday, but also today, and many days in the past.

And silence is sometimes the best answer.

The car was so quiet that Jiang Ruo could hear the sound of his heart sinking.

He replied for Xi Yufeng: "Because you installed a tracker on my phone."

"I--"

"Let me guess, it was pretended after I was kidnapped by your brother, right?" Jiang Ruoqiang said, "The reason is for my safety, to prevent this kind of thing from happening again?"

Having said all that could be said, Xi Yufeng pursed his lips and admitted helplessly: "Yes."

It was also very quiet outside the car. Occasionally, when a resident came back by car, the headlights of the car flickered by, and the silence returned after a while.

Jiang Ruo spoke again at this time: "But later, we separated."

He spoke very slowly, as if he was afraid that if he moved faster, he would lose his footing: "I thought I was free, why...why didn't you tell me? Why, you are still using it to control me?"

At this moment, without exaggeration, Jiang Ruo felt that the self who thought he was finally free and could stand upright in the sun was like a joke.

Maybe he didn't expect the situation to develop like this, Xi Yufeng's expression showed a rare panic: "I didn't—"

And his subconscious denial, counterproductively overturned Jiang Ruo's long-standing emotions.

"Are you in such a hurry that you want to take me back into the cage?" Jiang Ruo looked at Xi Yufeng with a look of silence after extreme disappointment, "Abandon me if you don't want it, and bring me back if you want it , put a few candies in my mouth, and make me forget those hurtful words... Okay, I came back with a cheeky face, and I tried my best to forget, but why do you—”

Even though he tried his best to stay calm, Jiang Ruo choked up when he said this, as if swallowing a mouthful of cool air.

The voice trembled unconsciously: "Why, you are not allowed to step into your world even half a step, but you want me to have no secrets in front of you, and you want me to show you everything?"

"This is the freedom you gave me, and this is the... equal love you can give me?"