Chapter 62

Meanwhile, Ren Qiaoqiao was sitting on a bench in the hospital corridor. There were only four wards in this corridor, and three of them were still unoccupied. With Lin Shiheng being the only patient living on this floor, she didn’t have to worry about anyone discovering her identity. She just sat on the bench wearing a mask and listened to the young assistant’s explanation.

The three of them always had a good relationship. In the beginning, Lin Shiheng and Chen Hao were classmates. When they hit it off, they just couldn’t wait to become sworn brothers. Chen Hao liked to work part-time as an extra during the winter and summer vacations since freshman year. He was good-looking, well-built, and not afraid of hardship. Soon, he was able to follow the crew for a period of time and met Ren Qiaoqiao with the crew. They gradually fell in love with each other.

Ren Qiaoqiao was one year younger than Chen Hao, but because of her debut as a child star, she was a veteran in the entertainment circle. She had always been a pacifist, and although she would fight for everything she deserved, she wouldn’t do anything against her conscience in order to stand in a high position. Therefore, when she found a man she truly loved, she and Chen Hao got married as soon as she reached the age of marriage.

In truth, Ren Qiaoqiao didn’t have many friends. After all, when she was young, she had to film quite often, resulting in her frequently missing school. She had no common topic with her peers, and most artists in the entertainment industry didn’t really make friends and focused more on making money.

It wasn’t until she fell in love with Chen Hao that she got to know Lin Shiheng through him. Until today, the three remained very good friends.

Among the three, Chen Hao and Ren Qiaoqiao belonged to the pacifist party, while Lin Shiheng has a backer behind him. For Lin Shiheng, what he wanted would fall in front of him without having to fight for it. Thus, compared with those plastic relationships that could easily be torn apart, their relationship was quite strong.

Anyways, no matter who had something important happening among the three, even if they didn’t tell their families, they would definitely tell the other two. Therefore, when Lin Shiheng disappeared and didn’t even contact them, it left them worried for a long time.

Ren Qiaoqiao asked Chen Hao to talk to Lin Shiheng inside and went out to inquire about the assistant. After all, she was a woman, and although she was also a good friend of his, it was more convenient for men to talk to other men about this topic.

Knowing how good their relationship was, the assistant directly said, “When Shi-ge returned home after drinking some wine with you guys that night, he said he needed to see a psychiatrist. Since his schedule was still fairly packed, I advised Shi-ge to see them later, maybe the day after tomorrow. But then, something happened when he woke up the next day.”

“He was just like a different person. He didn’t know what a mobile phone was, and he also didn’t know what a TV was. As long as it was an object of modern times, he wouldn’t know what it was. Then, he also started talking like an ancient man that I surely thought a transmigrated soul overtook his body.”

“But later, Shi-ge woke up, so I sent him to the psychiatrist. After that, Shi-ge’s father also came to look for a doctor and proceed with therapy. It was a mess at that time. Then, he was disconnected from the internet for his treatment. Shi-ge had been mentally unstable, and the publicist told us not to talk to the outside world just yet, and wait until his mood stabilizes before discussing further on whether to tell the truth or hide it behind an excuse.”

In this way, not only the little assistant but even Ren Qiaoqiao thought Lin Shiheng was possessed.

However, according to the little assistant, Lin Shiheng has his memories mixed up and regards the characters in the script as himself. According to the guidance from the psychologist, he was like a blank sheet of paper for some settings that aren’t written in the script.

As for his persona, he accepted it quickly, but he couldn’t do everything Yi Qing allegedly could..

For example, Yi Qing was very good at swordsmanship. Lin Shiheng, who insisted on being Yi Qing, thought that he could do swordsmanship as well. Unfortunately, when he has a sword in his hand, he couldn’t do it at all. Even if he did, it was just some movements taught by the martial arts instructor from the crew.

Although the movement looked good, it was just for show.

This dispelled the thought of ‘someone is possessing Shi-ge’ in the assistant’s mind.

Having said that, he began to complain with a bitter face, “Shi-ge has always wanted to pursue perfection. It used to be nice, but I knew he was just pretending before. It’s similar to the last time when he wanted his legs to be thinner. Instead of exercising, he photoshopped his picture, which was good and all. I am good at photoshop anyways.”

“But now, after this illness, he wanted to learn guzheng, so he really invited the teacher from the crew to teach. For several months, every day, besides reading, he studied the guzheng. Every day, from the moment I came over until I left, Shi-ge would be learning guzheng. At first, he wasn’t doing very well, so the sound was simply awful. Then, it just so happened that Shi-ge’s father asked me to take good care of him. Besides going to the bathroom and sleeping, I could only guard him at his side, and listen to him play every day.”

The young assistant became emotional as he said, “I can’t wear headphones to block it out because Shi-ge thinks it’s very impolite to wear headphones next to him while he plays the guzheng. Then, when he finishes playing the guzheng, he still wants me to praise him. After I praised him, he would act modestly and say ‘I’m being fallacious’, what does he mean by ‘fallacious’? If you know it’s fallacious, don’t ask me to praise you!!”

At first, Ren Qiaoqiao was worried, but now she felt relieved. She smiled and gloated, “Didn’t Shiheng love to do this to you before? It seems that even if he is ill, those bad habits haven’t changed.”

“Didn’t I just fool around in front of Shi-ge once when he was on a diet? Just once, once!!”

The little assistant wanted to cry, “It was just once. How long would he hold a grudge against me?”

Ren Qiaoqiao was also a little curious. “I remember that Yi Qing’s character was a gentleman who never bears grudges. Maybe, Shiheng isn’t truly deeply influenced by Yi Qing, who isn’t quite as vindictive.”

“The doctor said Shi-ge has detached himself from Yi Qing’s sentiments, but perhaps, in pursuit of perfection, he retains some of Yi Qing’s qualities, such as a fondness for playing the guzheng. On the other hand, he also has part of his old self, so he still remembers grudges…”

“So, his nature hasn’t changed, but he just absorbed the advantages, which is great.”

The little assistant was dejected as he continued, “It’s truly amazing. He gets up at 6 o’clock every day and goes to bed at 9 o’clock sharp at night. Then, he goes for 2-hour runs every morning, makes his own breakfast, reads books in the morning, and plays the guzheng in the afternoon. It’s a bona fide ancient person’s daily schedule.

I admit that his body would become much healthier, but Shi-ge is an artist. Ren-jie, you have shot so many dramas, so you should know what the crew is like. It is quite common to shoot badly and stay up for 24 hours. If Shi-ge sticks to his schedule so strictly, I really think he would quit the entertainment industry.”

“Yeah…”

Ren Qiaoqiao looked at him with a smile, “If Shiheng quit the entertainment industry, won’t you be unemployed?”

The little assistant’s face became even more bitter. “I had a difficult time finding such a good-natured boss as Shi-ge. He pays me well, and he doesn’t ever abuse me or call me names. If I lose this job, it would be much harder to find one as good.”

“Don’t worry, if you’re really out of work, just follow me. Shiheng is so sentimental, he definitely won’t just let you go.”

At least, this consolation made the little assistant relax a little, patting his chest and comforting himself, “Being a star is Shi-ge’s dream. Maybe he won’t quit the entertainment industry. I still remember when I just started with him, and he told me that he wanted to rise to the top and have many fans.”

Chen Hao heard this sentence as soon as he pushed the door open, and replied coarsely, “He’s just fooling you with that one. This kid’s idol is Zhang Xuanxuan. When he went to school, his wall was covered with posters of Zhang Xuanxuan. Speaking of it, his biggest dream of entering the entertainment industry is to be able to be on the same screen as Zhang Xuanxuan.”

The little assistant was at a loss. “… Impossible! At that time, I just met Shi-ge. Why would he fool me!?”

Right then, Lin Shiheng also came out and saw his assistant’s disillusioned look and knitted his good-looking eyebrows in worry. He reached out to pat his head soothingly and spoke in a warm voice.

“What’s the matter?”

The little assistant suddenly seemed to have found a lifesaving straw. Looking at the boss in front of him acting like a real ancient gentleman, he couldn’t wait to dispel these suspicions, “Shi-ge, did you fool me before? Your dream is to go to the peak, right?!”

Lin Shiheng smiled gently and patted his head like an elder.

“Of course, I was just fooling you.”

The assistant, shocked by the cruel words with gentle actions, was stunned speechless.

“Why did you fool me?!”

They just met. Why would he think that was a good idea?!

“Because you looked so silly and gullible.”

The little assistant was stunned, “So…”

“I tried to fool you and see if you would really believe me.”

Lin Shiheng smiled and nodded with great satisfaction, “Apparently, it is really easy to fool you.”

The assistant was completely disillusioned. He thought that Shi-ge was holding a grudge against him.

Unexpectedly, besides holding grudges, he actually has a penchant for lying to people.

Ren Qiaoqiao also noticed something wrong with Lin Shiheng at this moment.

They have known each other for such a long time, and since she was a child, she had been used to life in the entertainment industry. From all her experience, she had confidence in her ability to gauge a person’s character.

Since before, Lin Shiheng was good-natured, easy to talk to, and was above average in all aspects. However, she noticed his tendency of hiding his faults, so that his shortcomings were never exposed. Even from the start, Ren Qiaoqiao could vaguely perceive a little of it.

She also noticed that Lin Shiheng has an inferiority complex and that he struggled to achieve perfection. Over time, she thought, perhaps it was because of his inferiority complex that he fought hard to hide all his shortcomings and refuse to expose them to people.

But now, it seemed that he no longer covered up his shortcomings, and instead put all of his potential faults on display.

His grudges, mischief, and his tomfoolery.

Behind a layer of gentleness, he spoke to his actions directly. Yet, with this lofty and carefree demeanor of his, all of his flaws felt harmless instead.

For example, at the moment, the little assistant, despite feeling somewhat hurt in his heart, was already going to order takeout for his boss after a few minutes of irritation.

Ren Qiaoqiao really felt that Lin Shiheng had changed.

He was still the same person, but he was truly better.

While Lin Shiheng was choosing takeaway with his assistant, Ren Qiaoqiao told her husband about her opinion.

“So, he’s fine without having to change now?”

“Yeah… Haven’t you noticed that Shiheng is looking brighter and more cheerful than before? He doesn’t want to be treated. It’s probably because of this change that he’s become happier.”

“Going to bed early and getting up early, being able to control yourself and have a healthy body; While his thoughts and personality are still the same… If it’s you, would you want to change back to how you were?”

Chen Hao thought seriously about it for a few seconds.

In the end, he really couldn’t say anything. If he could suddenly become that way, why would he change back? If nothing else, it was very enviable to be able to control yourself, going to bed early without overusing your phone. Since they were busy during the day, Chen Hao insisted on playing games on his phones even when he was tired.

“I probably wouldn’t either.”

“That’s okay. I’ll tell him I support him not changing.”

Chen Hao walked into the room as the little assistant went out to order food, and the handsome-looking man who seemed to shine in the sunlight was frowning at his phone.

“What’s the matter?” Chen Hao patted his shoulder and continued, “Brother, don’t fret any longer. Since you really think this is helping you, don’t change. Anyway, as long as the doctor says that there’s no risk to your health, and since there seem to be no side effects, everything should be alright.”

He put on an appearance of ‘it’s not a big deal’, trying to influence Lin Shiheng, who ‘must be very apprehensive about being sick’, with his brotherly love.

Lin Shiheng held the phone and turned slightly sideways, his eyes a little melancholic as he said, “Do you really support me?”

“Of course! You are my good brother after all.” Chen Hao patted his chest and continued, “No matter what you choose, this elder brother will support you.”

“I just found out that there are still some side effects. For example, Yi Qing’s emotions are passed on to me.”

“Is it harmful to your body and mind?”

“No.”

Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s fine, it doesn’t matter! By the way, what are you looking at?”

Lin Shiheng handed over his phone, showing a photo of Ren Qiaoqiao dressed in ancient costume and saying, “Your wife.”

Chen Hao paused before asking, “… What are you looking at my wife for?”

“In the play, she is Yi Qing’s wife.”

The ward went silent.

A moment later, Ren Qiaoqiao, who was sitting outside scrolling through Weibo and admiring Chen Hao’s big face, suddenly heard her husband’s crazy roar from the room.

“Bastard!! Immediately! Get treated!! Right now!!”