Chu Yueyi's tone was relaxed, and no one could detect her inner thoughts. However, Shi Guanghua became obedient and quiet after receiving her promise, no longer mentioning his resistance to getting an injection.
He suddenly became exceptionally well-behaved, even Cheng looked surprised.
Facing the arriving doctor and nurse, Shi Guanghua silently extended his arm, waiting for the needle. He turned his head to the side, not watching their skilled operation, but instead facing towards Chu Yueyi beside him. He was truly mute now, a mute with a high fever, unable to utter a word, completely at the mercy of others.
Chu Yueyi suddenly felt sympathetic. Although he usually had a bit of arrogance befitting a musical genius, seeing him with such hazy eyes and a muddled mind due to the fever made her feel uncomfortable. Shi Guanghua had been able to chat a little while sitting in the chair earlier, but now he was obviously in a heavy daze, looking quite pitiful.
After setting up the IV drip, the medical staff left the room, reminding them to press the call button if they needed anything.
After getting the injection, Shi Guanghua leaned to one side, either resting his eyes or truly asleep.
Chu Yueyi and Cheng observed his condition, then waited by his side for the IV to finish, speaking in lowered voices.
Cheng quietly remarked, "I'm quite surprised he didn't make a fuss this time."
Chu Yueyi replied, "He's not a child. It's just getting an injection when sick, why would he make a fuss?"
Cheng said, "Wow, you don't know how impossible he was last time. I took my eyes off him for a moment at the hospital, and he snuck away with the medicine, saying he could get better just by taking pills and didn't need an injection. He nearly drove me crazy..."
Shi Guanghua was usually quite opinionated, and even more so when sick, to the point of stubbornness.
"I was at my wit's end. When taking others to the hospital, he goes, but when he's sick himself, he'd rather look up symptoms online, always thinking he can get better just by taking some medicine," Cheng complained about Shi Guanghua to Chu Yueyi, taking advantage of the fact that the other couldn't speak.
Chu Yueyi tried to comfort him, "...It's probably not as bad as looking up symptoms online. Online diagnoses always say it's a terminal illness and there's no need for treatment."
Cheng continued his tirade, "It was the same when we were recording the show. He ate seafood even though he can't, started having an allergic reaction after work, and still dared to write songs that night, making a complete mess of himself..."
Cheng didn't know what Shi Guanghua was thinking. Did he think his body was made of iron?
Chu Yueyi was startled, suddenly remembering that Zou Qian had mentioned Shi Guanghua's seafood allergy. She inquired, "I've actually always been curious, why did he eat seafood fried rice during the first episode's recording?"
She now realized that he might have considered her taste when ordering, but was it necessary for him to eat something he was allergic to?
Cheng shrugged helplessly, "Maybe his memory is bad. He told me he forgot. Who knows what he was thinking."
Chu Yueyi: "?" Forgetting was quite an explanation.
Not long after, the IV finished, and the medical staff came to carefully remove the needle, then gave some instructions for aftercare. Chu Yueyi and Cheng listened nearby, preparing to pack up and take him home.
Shi Guanghua still had his eyes tightly closed, seemingly enveloped by sleep, his long eyelashes lowered, like a quiet statue. This scene was as if time had stopped for him, causing the surrounding space to fall into stillness.
Seeing that he was still in deep sleep, Chu Yueyi didn't want to disturb his rest, but knowing they couldn't delay any longer, she leaned down and softly called, "Let's go home to sleep, it's time to go back."
Awakened by her call, Shi Guanghua opened his eyes groggily, seeing her face full of concern looking at him. His head was still a jumble, but upon catching the word "home," he instinctively began to slowly rise.
Cheng had already picked up the purchased medicine and was feeling for his car keys in his pocket, saying, "Let's go, we'll take him home."
Shi Guanghua stayed close to Chu Yueyi the whole way. After get ting in the car, he fell into a deep sleep again, completely oblivious as he was transported home.
In the car, Cheng sat in front driving. He glanced at the rearview mirror and said, "If you feel uncomfortable, you can let him lean on the other side."
"It's fine, he's not heavy," Chu Yueyi replied, looking at the scenery outside the window. She remarked with surprise, "So he lives in this area."
"Mm, I haven't been here many times either. He's not a very hospitable person."
Shi Guanghua lived in a certain residential complex in the eastern part of the capital. The complex didn't have many flowers or trees, but instead had water features and modern art sculptures, looking cold and empty with few residents out for walks.
After getting out of the car, Cheng took two pairs of disposable slippers from the trunk before leading Chu Yueyi upstairs, which surprised her quite a bit.
In the corridor, there were two households per floor. Cheng directly pressed the numbers on the password lock, in full view of Chu Yueyi who was supporting Shi Guanghua beside him. She thought to herself that Cheng was quite casual, not avoiding her at all, while her brain had already accurately memorized the password.
This couldn't be blamed on her. The password had entered her field of vision directly; it could only be blamed on her excellent memory.
After opening the door, Cheng unwrapped the packaging of the disposable slippers. He put on one pair himself and placed the other on the ground, explaining, "You can wear these. He doesn't have any slippers here."
After saying this, Cheng took over the still dazed Shi Guanghua, waited for him to slowly change his shoes and take off his coat, then settled the patient in the bedroom to rest.
Witnessing this, Chu Yueyi thought to herself that it wasn't that there were no slippers, but rather there were only slippers for the owner, indicating that few people visited Shi Guanghua.
After entering the bedroom, Shi Guanghua quickly fell asleep, his entire body sinking into the soft gray bedding, obviously having fallen into a deep slumber, like a well-behaved child napping.
In the living room, Chu Yueyi quietly took out the medicine from the plastic bag. Cheng glanced at a message on his phone and said, "I need to go back to the studio for a bit. I won't be able to come back until tonight. Do you need a ride home?"
Shi Guanghua should just be sleeping and resting after finishing the IV drip, not really needing someone to look after him.
Chu Yueyi replied, "It's fine, I'll leave on my own later. I've been to this area before."
Cheng said, "Alright, I'll head out then. There's an urgent matter over there."
The door at the entrance closed softly as Cheng hurriedly left.
After organizing the medicine, Chu Yueyi first went to the bedroom to check on the sleeping Shi Guanghua. Confirming that he was fine for now, she finally had time to look around the living room.
Surprisingly, Shi Guanghua's home wasn't in an extremely minimalist, cold style, but rather had quite a homey atmosphere, inconsistent with his personal aura.
Hardwood floors, a wooden piano, plants on the balcony - the house was clean and tidy, exuding a sense of peaceful living. To be honest, it showed that he enjoyed life more than she did.
Chu Yueyi had no intention of prying into his privacy, but just standing in the living room, countless pieces of information flowed into her mind after analysis, unfolding precise calculations and judgments.
There were no extra cups on the coffee table, and the coat rack held only jackets in his usual color palette. A work desk was placed in the living room, with slightly messy documents on top - he probably worked here after coming home, so it wasn't as tidy as other areas.
This was the home of a single man living alone, and one who rarely had friends visit.
Chu Yueyi walked into the kitchen, wanting to see if there were ingredients to make porridge. She discovered signs that the homeowner frequently cooked, but there were limited dining utensils on display, suggesting he usually ate alone.
Hmm, he was clearly not secretly married while on the show; the male executives at the platform were just making wild guesses.
Chu Yueyi didn't know why her Sherlock Holmes radar had suddenly become so sensitive, and could only attribute it to the aftereffects of teaching female classmates how to investigate their boyfriends in college.
Suddenly feeling your boyfriend is acting strange? Checking phone message records is outdated. You should check takeout addresses, online shopping addresses, ride-hailing addresses, and deleted photos - these are the easily overlooked areas.
Don't be fooled by her lack of dating experience; her investigative skills were unparalleled.
Zou Qian was right when he said that Chu Yueyi's partner wouldn't be able to have any suspicious movements, or else they would be thoroughly exposed by her.
Assured that everything was normal, Chu Yueyi began preparing ingredients for porridge, but found herself at a loss when looking at the rice. She decided to call Chu Wenyue for help, asking, "Dad, making porridge shouldn't be difficult, right?"
A moment later, following remote instructions, Chu Yueyi completed the operation and video called Chu Wenyue to confirm the state of the pot before leaving the kitchen.
Shi Guanghua was still sleeping deeply in the bedroom, so Chu Yueyi turned her attention to the bookshelf near the work desk in the living room. Instead of books, the shelves were filled with various original soundtrack CDs. She guessed these were projects Shi Guanghua had been involved in; there were similarly many displayed in the studio, looking dazzling.
Cheng said it was something people used to send to staff as mementos after projects ended, but in recent years CDs have fallen out of fashion, so this practice has gradually disappeared. Nowadays everyone stores data online, so there's no need for these methods anymore, with only a few projects still doing it.
The CDs on the bookshelf were quite old, their plastic cases slightly yellowed. The covers were mostly in Korean and English, with very few Chinese projects visible. Chu Yueyi casually scanned the neatly arranged CDs, surprised when she suddenly spotted Chinese text. What was even more unexpected was that she recognized this drama.
Chu Yueyi had originally just been browsing with her eyes, but now she slowly pulled out the Chinese CD, indeed seeing the familiar cover and title. It was the original soundtrack CD for a historical costume drama called "Rolling Up the Palace Curtains". The production had been extremely expensive, with good ratings and audience response. Many actors had risen to fame through it, and it was still revered as a classic.
She knew this drama very well - the role she had lost to Bai Yiyang's boyfriend was originally from this costume drama. Both lead roles were played by well-known actors who were carrying big productions at the time. She was originally supposed to play a supporting character with a fairly substantial role and colorful personality. If the director hadn't wanted to use younger faces, by rights it shouldn't have gone to a new student still in school. For an actor, it would have been the perfect starting point.
Now as Chu Yueyi recalled these past events, she felt no emotional turmoil, no unpleasant feelings at all. In her early years she would have cried pitifully, but now life had tempered her heart to be as still as water. Rather than feeling sorrow at the memory, she was puzzled by the appearance of the "Rolling Up the Palace Curtains" soundtrack CD.
So Shi Guanghua hadn't been developing his career overseas after all? How did he have a CD from a domestic historical drama?
Had he been involved in the music production for this drama? Then why didn't he mention it when dining with Qin Ya last time?
Qin Ya wanted to do film scoring, and at the time Chu Yueyi had only said that Shi Guanghua had done animation music. If he had been involved in a domestic costume drama, it definitely would have been easier to talk about.
Because Shi Guanghua wasn't the type to boast about how many projects he'd done, and information online was scattered, Chu Yueyi had been inferring things through clues from the studio, or relying on Cheng to learn about his past experience.
She decided to take out her phone and search, using "Shi Guanghua" and "Rolling Up the Palace Curtains" as keywords, but found no connection between the two online. She still didn't know if he had actually been involved or not.
Chu Yueyi felt helpless. She carefully put the CD back in its place, planning to ask Shi Guanghua once he recovered from his illness.
Cheng had drawn the curtains in the bedroom, making the room dim. As Shi Guanghua's high fever gradually subsided, he awoke with a bewildered expression. Seeing the familiar ceiling, he still felt his body was heavy. He wanted to reach up and rub his eyes, but could barely lift his hand.
Chu Yueyi was sitting in a chair reading an electronic script. Hearing slight movement from the bed, she quickly got up to check, and seeing him open his eyes in confusion, asked, "Are you awake?"
Shi Guanghua was stunned at her words. He still lay powerlessly on the bed, but saw her slowly crouch beside it. He blinked in disbelief, his expression both dazed and surprised.
Seeing he didn't speak, Chu Yueyi stood up again and said naturally, "Is your throat sore and you can't talk? Do you want some water, or some porridge?"
As Chu Yueyi turned to go to the living room for water, Shi Guanghua watched the scene as if in a dream. He felt like his fever had muddled his mind, and now he couldn't distinguish between dream and reality. His head felt completely fuzzy.
With Chu Yueyi's help, Shi Guanghua drank some warm water. He lay back down under the covers, finally regaining some ability to communicate. In a hoarse voice, he asked, "Why are you here?"
Chu Yueyi explained, "Cheng just came by for a while, but he left before you woke up."
Shi Guanghua stared at her unblinkingly. His reactions were still obviously slow, like a leisurely sloth. He softly repeated, "...Why are you here?"
He still felt like he wasn't fully awake, that this might be a fever dream. Her appearance in his home was unreasonable - even the show's production team didn't know his address.
Chu Yueyi raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding his confusion. She asked bluntly, "Didn't you ask me to stay with you?"
Shi Guanghua: "..." Had he really said something so shameless?
Shi Guanghua's mind was still unclear, his memories shattered into fragments. He was in a half-asleep, half-awake state, only able to lie in bed and blink gently. If it were normal times, he might have felt embarrassed by her directness, but now, feverish and dazed, he became more honest.
After a long moment of thought, Shi Guanghua responded in a muffled voice, "Mm, maybe I did."
He normally wouldn't say such a thing, but it was indeed what he was thinking.
Chu Yueyi could see he hadn't fully recovered, guessing he had only woken up due to thirst. Shi Guanghua's eyelids were starting to droop, he had no appetite for porridge, and seemed to be overcome with sleepiness again, yet he struggled to keep his eyes open.
Puzzled by his behavior, Chu Yueyi said, "Go back to sleep, it's still early."
Shi Guanghua kept staring at her, his gaze gradually misting over. Lowering his eyes, he said, "I keep feeling like I'm dreaming, that you'll be gone when I wake up."
Chu Yueyi was taken aback. She ended up leaning on the edge of the bed, staying at the same level as Shi Guanghua, propping her head up with her hand as she looked at him. She reassured him, "I won't. I'll still be here when you wake up."
Looking at her face so close to his, Shi Guanghua suddenly felt the dream was too real, every little detail vivid and lifelike, making him feel content.
"You're really so good," he said. Then, as if thinking of something, he added in a hoarse voice tinged with regret, "Good to everyone."
He was deeply satisfied with the dream, yet still felt a tiny bit of disappointment.
Chu Yueyi hadn't expected him to say this, and didn't know how to respond.
Shi Guanghua could no longer suppress his drowsiness, but he was reluctant to leave this wonderful dream. For once, he indulged in a bit of willfulness: "Can you tell me a bedtime story?"
Chu Yueyi felt that at this moment he was close to how he had been when they first recorded the show - not as polished as he was now, often having some random thoughts, yet not in an off-putting way.
She softened her voice and obligingly began, "The Little Prince lived on a small planet called B-612. He had a rose that he loved dearly and cared for wholeheartedly every day. But the rose didn't understand love and was rather fussy..."
The rose on Planet B-612 was the Little Prince's beloved yet troublesome love, while the tamed fox in the desert taught the Little Prince that love is responsibility. People love to discuss the rose and the fox, relating them to their own personal experiences.
Shi Guanghua knew this story. Listening to her smooth and natural narration, he gradually fell asleep to her familiar and pleasant voice, drifting back into a hazy dream.
Chu Yueyi leaned on the edge of Shi Guanghua's bed. Observing his regular breathing, she was sure he had fallen asleep, but she didn't stop the bedtime story. Instead, she calmly changed the ending, saying softly, "But actually, there were never any roses or foxes in the world, because everyone who met the Little Prince greedily wanted to be both the rose and the fox..."
She wouldn't discuss the differences between the rose and the fox. Insatiable adults would only choose to have both.
"I'm not good, you know. Not good to anyone." She reached out to lightly touch his peaceful face, unsurprised when there was no reaction. She continued to prop her head up, admiring his sleeping face.
She wasn't a saint, just an ordinary person.
How could she possibly be so good? How could she not have a dark side?
She too would go on shows for exposure, would hesitate due to unclear judgments, would harbor wariness due to inexplicable trust.
How could he think she was really so good? And good to everyone at that?
He was thinking too simply.
Her care for others in life and work didn't mean she liked to shine on everyone - it was just so she wouldn't have any burdens when saying goodbye. As long as she hadn't wronged anyone, she could leave anyone behind, never feeling any psychological pressure.
Her path forward was the most important thing. She wouldn't quibble with people in her career, nor would she seek revenge on Bai Yiyang. Those were all external factors pushing her growth. With time, they would leave no trace. Those trials were painful at the time, but they helped her evolve. She would still steadily walk on.
Because of this, she was never troubled by memories, unlike Bai Yiyang who remained mired in the quagmire year after year. Or rather, this was the punishment she gave to the other party - she would move forward openly and confidently, while leaving the weak one trapped eternally in shadows.
How could he think someone like her was really so good?
She had selfish motives too, just hidden ones.
He thought so highly of her, purely because he himself was too good—so good that he was overly simple and transparent. It made one marvel that such an unguarded person could exist in this world, suddenly opening his heart to someone he had only recently met, without the slightest fear of getting hurt.
Chu Yueyi had always been good at reading people, but Shi Guanghua was truly simple. The more she observed him, the less she understood. He was so much like a character from a novel or manga that people often found it strange that he could exist in reality.
Surely he must be a fairy tale character?
But she was just an ordinary person in the real world, actually quite different from what he imagined.
Chu Yueyi curled up at the head of the bed. She gazed at his sleeping face and couldn't resist gently tapping it once more, saying in a soft tone, "Good night, Little Prince."