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C21.1— New Year’s Gift
Wen Zheng was leaning on his office chair with a solemn expression, he was looking down at the year-end report sent by the finance department.
The end of the year was always the most eventful, and Wen Zheng had been running to G City for the past two weeks, so the things at hand were piled up together.
–Knock.
There was a knock on the glass door, but Wen Zheng didn’t even raise his head.
“Come in.”
The female secretary, who was wearing delicate makeup and a decent professional outfit, walked in with high heels.
“Mr. Wen, Mr. Chen is here. I told him to wait for you in the lounge.”
“Okay, I’ll be right over.”
Wen Zheng made a mark on the place he stopped reading, closed the report and got up to walk towards the lounge.
A few days ago, Wen Zheng received a call from his friend Xu Weiyao.
“I really can’t find out what’s wrong with your brother. It can only be said that his position is too high, or that Xingxing’s accident really had nothing to do with him. ”
Wen Zheng’s fingers were tight as he held his mobile phone. “I always feel that he …
“Seems impure?” Xu Weiyao finished the sentence for Wen Zheng.
“But he really didn’t do anything, I also investigated his interaction with most people. That is, when he was a child, he was a little proud and grumpy, but his thoughts weren’t bad, so there’s no problem.”
What Wen Zheng wanted to say was that the fact that there was no problem was the biggest problem.
“When he first arrived at my house, he was too obedient and flattering.”
“Aren’t you too sensitive? The child hadn’t adapted to his new environment, he subconsciously want to please everyone. My nephew is only two years old, if he want to eat candy or buy toys, he’ll pretend to be obedient, this isn’t a problem.” Xu Weiyao said.
“And when Xingxing disappeared, how old was Wen Yu? He was the same age as him. What can a five or six year old do?”
Xu Weiyao knew that Wen Zheng was troubled by this matter and tried to help where he could.
“You know what? I didn’t find anything from Wen Yu.” Xu Weiyao paused and continued. “But I found one thing worth looking into.”
……
“Mr. Wen.”
When Wen Zheng walked into the lounge, he saw a man who was nearly fifty years old sitting on the sofa, he immediately stood up when he saw Wen Zheng enter.
Wen Zheng nodded and gestured for him to sit down, the female secretary already brought two cups of coffee, placed them on the coffee table and retreated.
The man who was called Mr. Chen was a bit frightened and sat in a corner of the sofa in a formal manner, “What is it that Mr. Wen is looking for me?”
“About fifteen years ago, why did you suddenly leave the orphanage?”
Chen Wensheng subconsciously clenched his hands into fists and pressed them on his knees, a trace of panic flashed across his face.
“I… My wife was sick in the hospital. She needed someone to take care of her, there’s no one else in my family, my son was young. I had to quit my job at the orphanage to take care of him.”
Wen Zheng didn’t answer, he picked up his coffee and took a sip, not saying whether he believed him or not.
Chen Wensheng sat uncomfortably and kept carefully watching Wen Zheng’s reaction, but he couldn’t see anything with the solemn expression on Wen Zheng’s face.
“Mr. Wen.”
After a while.
Chen Wensheng couldn’t remain quiet anymore, he asked tentatively, “Is there something wrong?”
Wen Zheng took out a slightly yellowed photo, which showed a naive and cute little girl.
“Do you still remember her?”
Chen Wensheng pursed his lips tightly and nodded his head only after a while.
“No, no ……”
Meeting Wen Zheng’s meaningful eyes, Chen Wensheng’s sentence stuck in his throat, he hesitated and replied.
“I remember.”
“Mr. Chen, your son is now working in the Royal City, right? I happen to know the General Manager of the Royal City, Xu ……”
Not waiting for Wen Zheng to finish, Chen Wensheng interrupted with a miserable expression, “Mr. Wen, I really don’t know.”
“I haven’t even asked, and Mr. Chen doesn’t know?”
“I’m not lying, if you don’t believe me, you can check the hospital visit records from fifteen years ago.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t believe it.” Wen Zheng’s gaze sank, “I’ll only ask you one thing, after answering you can leave.”
“What is it?” Chen Wensheng immediately became alert.
“Who was Si Si adopted by?”
Si Si was the girl in the photo.
Chen Wensheng looked torn, Wen Zheng raised his hand and looked at his watch, “I have a meeting later, Mr. Chen better hurry up.”
“I don’t know.”
Before Wen Zheng could say anything, Chen Wensheng immediately continued, “I really don’t know, Si Si hadn’t been adopted when I left.”
“Not yet adopted?”
Wen Zheng knocked on the table, “Are you sure?”
“The day I left the orphanage, Si Si even said goodbye to me.” Chen Wensheng’s eyebrows frowned slightly, as if he was caught in a memory.
“Are you sure it was Si Si?”
“I’m sure.”
Wen Zheng hadn’t thought of investigating the problem from here before, and Xu Weiyao’s reminder also made him realize the problem that was overlooked.
Why would the staff of the orphanage lie?
Chen Wensheng’s wife was sick and hospitalized and needed someone to take care of her so he left the orphanage, which sounded like legitimate, and he knew that even if he went to investigate, he would be able to find Chen Wensheng wife’s hospital records.
But ……
Wen Zheng still felt suspicious, how could it be that coincidental?
Some years ago, Wen Zheng only focused on Xingxing’s disappearance, the more he thought about it over the years, the more he felt that something was wrong. During this time, he expanded his investigation and also distracted himself by focusing on Wen Yu, but still nothing was found.
After Xu Weiyao helped investigate, both of them found something worth thinking about.
That was that all the workers in the orphanage from more than ten years ago, all left.
It had been more than a decade, the staff turnover was normal, but them all leaving at the same time seemed a bit deliberate.
–Buzz.
The sound of a vibrating cell phone interrupted Wen Zheng’s thoughts, and the caller was none other than Xu Weiyao.
“How’s it going? Any progress?”
“A little bit.” Wen Zheng paused, “Si Si wasn’t actually adopted back then.”
“Si Si?” Xu Weiyao was unfamiliar with this name, but after hearing Wen Zheng say ‘adopted’, he remembered.
“Is it the girl that Auntie Ji wanted to adopt?”
“Yes. I remember it was in June. At that time, my mother was worried that Xingxing and I couldn’t accept another child in the family and asked for our opinion.”
“Si Si was a year younger than Xingxing, and Xingxing was very excited when he knew he was going to be a big brother; he had been looking forward to Si Si’s arrival and had prepared many gifts for Si Si.”
The Wen family was very attentive to the girl who would be arriving, and had not only redecorated the child’s room, but had also purchased many clothes and toys.
“Come to think of it. I went to your house and said I wanted to see your little sister. Only later did I hear you say that someone had adopted her first, and Xingxing had disappeared.”
Xu Weiyao finally realised that something was wrong.
“But what did you mean when you said she hadn’t been adopted?”
“It could be that the family that adopted Si Si backtracked, or it could be ……” Wen Zheng’s gaze sank.
The staff at the orphanage didn’t want the Wen family to adopt Si Si.
Lu Wenxing made an appointment with Xie Chengfei during the weekend to pick him up at school this afternoon.
But now that he had an audition, he could only send Xie Chengfei a WeChat message, for him wait after school.
[X] Audition?
[ET] Yes, I’m going now. I’m not sure how long I’ll take. You can eat by yourself at noon, and I’ll pick you up later.
[X] I’ll eat when I’m hungry. Go for your audition!
[x] Cat blowing horn.jpg
Lu Wenxing specially changed his clothes. When he called Gu Yanshen in the morning, Gu Yanshen excerpted a part of the script for him.
There weren’t many lines, so he couldn’t forget it. What Lu Wenxing needed to figure out was the emotional expression and reaction of the characters and the present situation.
Lu Wenxing had read the original book, he had also made notes on it, and even wrote character biographies for the characters he liked.
He didn’t dare say that he was the most understanding of the character ‘Mo Xu’, but he certainly knew more than most.
Gu Yanshen found someone to drive Lu Wenxing to the audition. At present, the person hadn’t arrived yet, so Lu Wenxing practiced several times in the dormitory.
Around 1:30 pm, Lu Wenxing received a call from an unfamiliar number.
It was the person who came to pick him up.
The only car in front of the school was the one that Gu Yanshen sent Lu Wenxing back to school with yesterday.
The window of the car rolled down after Lu Wenxing walked over, revealing a naive and cute face.
“Hello, Wenxing.” The girl’s eyes were curved, and she seemed a little excited to see Lu Wenxing.
“I didn’t expect you to look even better in person than on TV!”
“Hello.” Lu Wenxing’s eyes fell on the girl, “How about I drive?”
Lu Wenxing opened the passenger door, feeling that it was too ungentlemanly to let a girl drive him, if he knew that Gu Yanshen let the girl make a special trip, Lu Wenxing would have chosen to go by himself.
“No, don’t worry, my driving skill is very good.”
“I didn’t mean to say it isn’t good.” Lu Wenxing quickly entered the car.
“I know.”
The girl didn’t care much and waved a hand in response, then she stared at Lu Wenxing for a few seconds. “Wenxing, your skin is too good, I’m so envious! I can’t even see the pores.”
Lu Wenxing blinked, “I’ll consider this as you complimenting me.”
The girl huffed out a laugh, “My name is Qin Siyu.”
“Are you Mr. Gu’s assistant?” It wasn’t surprising for him to think so, Gu Yanshen told him someone would pick him up. Then, Qin Siyu appeared.
But Lu Wenxing wasn’t too sure, because Qin Siyu looked like she was only eighteen or nineteen years old.
“No, I’m not.” Qin Siyu held the steering wheel and drove away from the school section and then accelerated towards the city.
“Brother Yanshen asked Brother Sheng to come, but Sheng Chao couldn’t leave, so I came for him.”
Lu Wenxing was a little surprised, “You’re a friend of Sheng Chao’s?”
“Yes.” Qin Siyu responded, there was nothing to cover up so she boldly continued, “I’m his girlfriend.”
Lu Wenxing: “…!”
Sheng Chao looked mature, but Qin Siyu was only eighteen or nineteen years old.
Did Sheng Chao go to high school to find a girlfriend?
Lu Wenxing didn’t show his surprise and nodded to show that he understood.
“Are you prepared?”
“Not bad.”
On the way, Qin Siyu received a call from Sheng Chao.
“Si Si, did you receive Lu Wenxing?”
“Received.” Qin Siyu laughed, “You’re still not sure about my work.”
“I’m sure, I’m sure. Help me take him there first, I’ll come meet you later.”
About half an hour or so later, the two arrived at the audition location.
After Lu Wenxing went in, the venue manager took him to the backlot.
As soon as he entered, the eyes of several people who were talking eagerly, fell on him.
However, they only looked at Lu Wenxing for a moment before retracting their eyes and continuing the conversation.
“So, Le Hanfei will also come to the audition this afternoon?”
“He seems to have arrived, just now someone said they saw him, he was escorted by his agent and assistant.”
One of the youths who had changed into an ancient costume spoke, “The aura of a big star is really different.”
“What role is Le Hanfei trying out for? If he auditions, is there any need for us stars to audition?”
“I don’t know which role he’s auditioning for, but it’s not the main role, but it should be a supporting role with a lot of parts.”
Although he couldn’t compare with Song Jiajia and Gu Yanshen, Le Hanfei was definitely one of the most promising ones in the industry in these years.
But Lu Wenxing didn’t feel any pressure, no matter which role Le Hanfei tried, it didn’t matter much to him, he just needed to do his best and play his role well.
After Lu Wenxing changed into his ancient costume, the stylist gave him a wig, and because it was only an audition, the makeup artist only applied a simple makeup for him.
But even so, when he came out, everyone present was stunned.
They saw Lu Wenxing dressed in blue, with long hair tied with a white jade crown, and his eyebrows looked gentle, his nose bridge was high and his lips were cherry red.
He was a young man with a strong spirit.
Many of the people present had this description from the novel flashing through their minds.
“You’re auditioning for the teenage Mo Xu?”
Someone took the initiative to talk to Lu Wenxing.
“Yes.”
“You look great!”
“For a moment, I thought I really saw Mo Xu.”
“I also like the young ‘Mo Xu’.”
Lu Wenxing was surrounded by several people and they chatted for a while, then he was called inside by the assistant.
When Lu Wenxing entered the room, Le Hanfei was wearing the same costume as him on the stage.
Lu Wenxing froze for a moment, he didn’t expect such a coincidence, he didn’t expect that Le Hanfei would try the role of “Mo Xu”.
Le Hanfei was handsome, and his costume was also impressive.
The role director gave two excerpts, and Le Hanfei chose the first excerpt- Teenage Mo Xu meeting the older version of him, “Speak, are you the future me?”
Le Hanfei’s clever eyes were full of curiosity. Although he hadn’t seen the outside world, he was simple but not stupid, he looked at him with a little vigilance.
“I won’t believe it unless you can prove it to me.”
There was no one to act with, Le Hanfei stopped for a few seconds, as if waiting for the non-existent ‘Mo Xu’ to finish his sentence.
“Although you know what happened when I was a child, it only proves that you have investigated in detail.” Le Hanfei took a step back and took out his wooden sword, “What are you doing in our Windless Valley? Who told you to come?”
“Windless Valley is isolated from the world, if you didn’t investigate on purpose or with an ulterior motive, how could you find this place?”
“I don’t believe you, stand back.”
“What does it matter to me if you are injured?”
Le Hanfei’s mouth said those indifferent words, but his eyes couldn’t stop glancing at the wound on ‘Mo Xu’s shoulder, seeing the wound that kept bleeding, his expression was both hesitant and torn.
“You think I’m a three-year-old child? I can’t live if you die? How is that possible.”
……
The two had a back and forth conversation that ended when Mo Xu fell down.
Looking a few steps away from him, at the pale Mo Xu, Le Hanfei cautiously moved closer to check.
After a moment of hesitation, he didn’t have the heart to leave the person here.
“I’m not trying to save you, I just don’t want anyone to die in my Windless Valley.” Le Hanfei lowered his eyelashes and with difficulty, he picked the person on the ground up and moved slowly forward towards the nearest landing place.
“Why is this person so heavy! And cold, how can I become such an ice face in the future, stop lying.”
The performance ended here, Le Hanfei’s lines were good, his expressions were also very natural, his emotions were full enough, it wasn’t too much and it wasn’t too little.
It could be said that the balance was very accurate.
Compared to the other auditions, Le Hanfei’s performance was so much better that the director’s tense face showed some signs of relaxation.
“Next, Lu Wenxing.”
When Lu Wenxing came on stage, he met Le Hanfei, who came down, and the two of them nodded slightly in greeting.
Lu Wenxing chose a different clip, he chose the clip of being approached by a righteous sect after spending a month with Mo Xu.
“Who are you people and why are you trespassing Windless Valley?” Lu Wenxing raised his chin, and his eyes showed not vigilance but arrogance.
“I advise you to leave quickly, if my masters find out that someone is trespassing and started a fight, I won’t be able to stop him.”
With just two short sentences, the director’s eyes lit up and the expression on his face became more serious.
Lu Wenxing wasn’t distracted from the stage, he was staring at the people intruding, and his tone was both threatening and exhorting.
“Windless Valley doesn’t ask about world affairs, your right and wrong grudges have nothing to do with us. But Ah Yu is my, Windless Valley’s person, I have no reason to hand him over to you.”
At this time, the devil Mo Xu, had been in Windless Valley for a month to recuperate, naturally the teenage Mo Xu, had classified him as his person.
And he was named Ah Yu by the teenage Mo Xu.
“You’re talking about Ah Yu? He’s so weak, he can’t even kill a chicken, how can he possibly kill someone?” Lu Wenxing snorted, “If you want to deceive me, make another excuse.”
Mo Xu had been recuperating in Windless Valley for a month, but the teenage Mo Xu never took the devil Mo Xu’s words seriously, also he didn’t believe that the devil Mo Xu was the future him.
“Ah Yu, don’t worry. I won’t believe their words.” Lu Wenxing raised his hand, as if holding Mo Xu’s hand, and his voice was slightly soothing.
“Why shouldn’t I believe him? I’ve known Ah Yu for a month, of course I understand what he’s like, you people came up and said bad things about Ah Yu, I don’t know you guys, why should I believe your words?”
“You better hurry up and leave. Otherwise ……” Lu Wenxing straightened his back and said with a straight face.
“I’ll get my master to beat you up.”
–Poof!
The people in the audience couldn’t help but laugh out loud, and after reacting, they immediately covered their mouths.
Panicked, they looked at the director and were relieved to see that he wasn’t angry.
“Not bad.”
The corners of the director’s mouth were clearly curved up, and his eyes were glowing with the surprise of finding a treasure.
“Thank you, director Wang.” Lu Wenxing wasn’t modest and graciously accepted the director’s affirmation of only two words.
Lu Wenxing looked up and found that Gu Yanshen had somehow clung to the door and was quietly watching him.
As Lu Wenxing’s eyes locked on his, Gu Yanshen smiled deeply.
The director had interviewed more than a dozen’ Mo Xu’ from morning till now, and hadn’t shown dissatisfaction, but he hadn’t deliberately rejected anyone, all of them were still waiting for news.
Only Lu Wenxing got the director’s approval.
Le Hanfei’s acting was very good, it wasn’t an exaggeratedion to call it impeccable, with a single look at that performance, his body language was good, including his face, even his eyes were very agile.
Nowadays, popular stars in the entertainment industry acted rigidly, compared to them, Le Hanfei could be called excellent.
But Le Hanfei’s understanding of the role wasn’t enough, he performed a ‘not in the world’ teenager, but he didn’t act as ‘Mo Xu’.