The Perfect Relationship

Chapter 105: Making it Through

Shao Junling breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his brother, although weak, still had the strength to argue with him. It seemed that he was going to be alright.

"If I hadn't come back, would you have told me if you were sick?" Shao Junling asked.

Yin Chang paused and said in a hoarse voice, "Everyone gets a cold and fever. Look, I'm feeling better now."

Shao Junling thought about how Yin Chang was tortured by nightmares and in pain last night, and only fell asleep while leaning on Shao Junling's arm. He cursed inwardly, thinking that Yin Chang was deluding himself. But he didn't say it out loud to save face for his brother.

In fact, if Shao Junling hadn't come back, Yin Chang might have been able to survive by enduring it. Three months was a critical period for breaking away from dependency on a relationship. Surviving it was like passing through a disaster. From then on, he could be carefree.

However, Shao Junling came back at this critical moment. To Yin Chang, the deep sleep he had enjoyed last night was like a drug addict relapsing during the most difficult stage of withdrawal, falling back into the gentle and sweet trap. From now on, it would be even harder to quit this addiction.

Therefore, even though Yin Chang's spirits had improved when he woke up, after the joy of seeing Shao Junling again, he felt himself fall back into the control of the immersion. 

After finishing the porridge, he handed the empty bowl back to Shao Junling, "Who called you back?"

Shao Junling was taken aback by his stern tone. He began to vaguely sense that his brother felt different from before.

"No one called me back. I'm on vacation," Shao Junling said.

"Vacation?" Yin Chang never expected this reason. He had lived abroad since childhood and of course knew that Christmas meant a vacation, but he thought winter vacation started mid-December, not now.

He looked at Shao Junling suspiciously, and Shao Junling gave the same explanation as when he answered Lu Lingjuan yesterday: "There were no exams right before Christmas. I finished my assignments a week early and turned them in. I still have a few classes this week, so I asked He Hongjun to take notes for me."

"Why did you come back early?" Yin Chang asked.

Shao Junling looked directly at him, "I missed you."

Yin Chang: "..."

For the first time in front of Yin Chang, Shao Junling expressed his longing for him in such explicit terms. At any other time, he could be sure that Yin Chang would be happy to hear it. But now, he could see a hint of panic in Yin Chang's eyes, swinging between joy and resistance before finally calming down like a still lake, showing no emotions.

Shao Junling was surprised to see that Yin Chang had changed so much. Before, his brother was gentle and tolerant, especially after opening up to him and revealing his most authentic self. He sometimes even showed a childish and cute side. But now, Yin Chang seemed to be shrouded in shadow, hiding all his emotions and making them impossible to discern.

Could this be because of Cao Pi's influence?

Although Shao Junling had a basic understanding of the history of the Three Kingdoms, his knowledge of Cao Pi was limited to some historical evaluations and one-sided descriptions. Yin Chang's changes clearly exceeded his expectations, making his original plans much more uncertain.

After thinking about it briefly, Shao Junling put away his sharpness and stopped probing.

After finishing his meal, Shao Junling messaged Lu Lingjuan. She came to check Yin Chang's temperature again and confirmed that it had returned to normal. Ecstatic, she asked, "Do you have any discomfort anywhere else?"

"No," Yin Chang was unusually alert, and said he wanted to get out of bed. "Tell the director that I can work today."

Lu Lingjuan looked at him helplessly and said, "Don't you want to rest for another day? He gave you three days off."

Yin Chang looked at her unhappily, and she immediately said, "I'll go talk to him!"

Before leaving, Yin Chang explained patiently, "I'm currently in the right state to shoot the prison scene. It should have been shot yesterday."

"..." Lu Lingjuan looked to Shao Junling for help, but he shrugged, looking helpless.

She reluctantly called Wu and, when she returned, said to Yin Chang, "the director said it's okay, but the set for the morning shoot is already set up, and the actors are already in makeup. He wants us to come back in the afternoon."

"I'll go now. I need to see how other people are acting to get a feel for it," said Yin Chang.

"Okay," Lu Lingjuan said.

Before leaving, Yin Chang looked at Shao Junling. Shao Junling had taken out his laptop from his schoolbag and was sitting at the desk preparing to study. Seeing Yin Chang looking at him, he said, "You go, I'm going to sleep soon."

He hadn't adjusted to the time difference and hadn't slept last night. The day was his night.

Yin Chang nodded. "If you get bored, go out for a walk."

After Yin Chang and Lu Lingjuan left, Shao Junling sat in front of the desk for a while and then began to search the internet for information on Cao Pi.

Around noon, he received a message from Lu Lingjuan, asking if he was in the room. She offered to bring him food.

"You haven't rested?" Lu Lingjuan asked when she came in.

"No, I was just looking up some information. I'll sleep later this afternoon," Shao Junling closed his laptop, "How is my brother doing?"

"He's feeling better today... He has to go to the set soon. Do you want to come and watch?" Lu Lingjuan asked.

"Can I go?" Shao Junling asked.

"I can take you in, but I'm afraid your brother will be angry if he finds out," Lu Lingjuan was somewhat uneasy.

"Why?" Before, when Yin Chang was filming, Shao Junling would visit the set and watch his brother perform. Yin Chang was always happy when he appeared.

Lu Lingjuan complained, "Ah, don't even mention it. When I left this morning, he asked me if I had called you back. I didn't dare to lie to him, so I told him that manager Yao had called you, but we didn't expect you to come back so soon..."

Shao Junling was taken aback. "He asked about me?"

Lu Lingjuan replied, "No, but he looked very unhappy."

After a moment of thought, Shao Junling opened his lunch box and ate while saying, "He wasn't like this before."

Lu Lingjuan asked, "Do you mean he's moody?"

"No, he's suspicious," Shao Junling said after taking a bite. "He already asked me this morning if anyone called me back. Before, he believed everything I said and wouldn't ask again."

"Maybe it's because of the filming," murmured Lu Lingjuan. "His mood has been up and down lately."

Shao Junling quickly finished his lunch, "Ling sister, I won't go to the set this afternoon, but if you're there, can you take a video for me?"

For Lu Lingjuan, this request was trivial. "You want to see a video? I have many on my phone. I'll send them to you. Your brother acts really well! But you can't leak them out before the drama is aired."

"I know." Shao Junling received about ten short videos. He clicked on one, which was a scene where Cao Pi misunderstood Cao Cao and witnessed how his father favored his other brothers. At that moment, Yin Chang exuded a terrifying aura of killing intent, and the depth in his eyes made Shao Junling's heart skip a beat.

Lu Lingjuan was right. Yin Chang really acted well. Watching these clips, Shao Junling even forgot that it was his brother...

In the afternoon, Shao Junling only slept for a short while and then exported the script from Yin Chang's storage in the AI.

After reading the script, Shao Junling's understanding of Cao Pi reached a new level, but at the same time, he realized the seriousness of the problem.

If his brother was too invested in his role, his heart was probably closed to the outside world.

For Cao Pi, who had been under constant pressure for survival and from competition and suffered from a severe lack of love, his heart was like a dry pond, and a few sweet words were just a light drizzle that couldn't make a ripple.

No wonder the words "I miss you" didn't elicit the response Shao Junling expected from Yin Chang...

Shao Junling felt lingering fear in his heart and immediately overturned his original plan, deciding to temporarily maintain the status quo.

When Yin Chang returned from the set in the evening, he found Shao Junling lying on his bed. At first, his mind was still in the drama. But when he saw Shao Junling, he was suddenly startled and returned to reality.

Yin Chang walked to the bed and stared at Shao Junling's face from up close for a while, feeling a warm sensation in his heart.

Under Yin Chang's gaze, Shao Junling quickly woke up. "You're back?"

Yin Chang asked, "Have you had dinner?"

Shao Junling looked at the time. "I haven't had dinner, but I should eat 'breakfast' now."

Yin Chang laughed and reached out to pat Shao Junling's head. This movement Shao Junling had strongly resisted when he was fifteen, but Yin Chang rarely did it now. However, this time Shao Junling didn't avoid it.

"Don't do this next time." The gentle tone was accompanied by an order that couldn't be refused. It seemed that Yin Chang didn't intend to further investigate his premature return.

Shao Junling was relieved and continued to lower his head. "I understand."

They had takeout again for dinner, but Shao Junling didn't mind. After dinner, Yin Chang took a shower, laid on the bed, chatted with Shao Junling about life abroad for a while, and soon became drowsy.

In the middle of the night, Shao Junling felt that Yin Chang was not sleeping soundly. Quietly, he went over and coaxed him to sleep as he did last night.

Day after day, Shao Junling slept during the day and studied on his computer after accompanying Yin Chang to sleep. He stayed in their room all day and rarely went out.

In this way, a week passed. 

This day, when Yin Chang came back from filming, he saw Shao Junling was still sleeping. He patted him awake. "Get up, I'll take you out for dinner."

Shao Junling saw Yin Chang's eyes light up and quickly got up and dressed, following him downstairs.

The film and television city brought about development in nearby catering and entertainment industries. There were many restaurants, bars, and KTVs in the area, but since they were not closed to outsiders Yin Chang rarely went out. Even when he went out to eat with other actors, they only went to restaurants that served only crew members.

This was the first time Yin Chang took Shao Junling out since Shao Junling came to the set. They arrived at a hot pot restaurant Yin Chang had been to before and he handed the menu to Shao Junling, "Order whatever you want."

This sentence was ordinary, but Yin Chang's attitude was domineering. It was like he didn't hand him a menu but a map of a thousand miles and said, "Tell me where you want to go, and I'll take you."

Looking at his brother's current demeanor, Shao Junling felt it was refreshing, "Are you in a good mood today?"

Yin Chang smiled. "Cao Cao died, and I became the Wei Kingdom king."

Shao Junling: "..." He leveled up!

Shao Junling was planning to launch an attack on his brother... but suddenly realized: "Oh, brother has changed again!"

He quickly withdrew his claws and picked up his notebook to jot down: "Observation Diary for Strats for Pursuing Brother, Phase Three."