Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"You don't seem to dislike him. Why is that?"

The view from the second floor was excellent, allowing a clear sight of the unassuming black sedan parked below. Recalling the scene he'd just seen—the two of them talking happily—Chen Jinsheng couldn't help but ask.

Chen Jiasheng gave a faint smile: "It's not a matter of liking or disliking him. I just think he might not be as bad as others say."

He turned and retrieved a document folder from the bottom cabinet: "There are some things I think you might want to see."

The folder was thick. He didn't know what was inside, but it was likely old, because as soon as Chen Jinsheng pulled open the waxed thread, the brittle seal completely split, scattering its contents across the floor.

Several sharp-cornered items slid across his palm. Chen Jinsheng looked down and froze.

The floor was covered in photographs.

In the photos were a young Chu Heng and a younger version of himself.

Some photos showed him and Chu Heng having coffee together, others of them sharing a meal, strolling by a river, him playing the piano for Chu Heng, or him leaning over to fasten the seatbelt for Chu Heng in the passenger seat...

These perfectly ordinary moments dredged up memories buried deep in Chen Jinsheng's mind.

His time with Chu Heng—if you could even call it 'being together'—was neither sweet nor passionate. They kissed at their first meeting and ended up in bed together on the very first night they knew each other.

They skipped every step and went straight to the most intimate act possible.

And the first thing Chu Heng did upon waking the next day was ask him for money. The first thing he did before giving the money was make Chu Heng sign a contract with no legal effect, or more accurately, a patronage agreement.

A sloppy, cold beginning.

Chen Jinsheng could no longer remember how he came to like Chu Heng. He only recalled that for the first six months, he stashed Chu Heng in a villa he rarely visited, occasionally staying there when he remembered or was frustrated with business dealings.

Later, perhaps because Chu Heng was very good-looking, or because he found it amusing how Chu Heng, despite having a terrible temper, put on an act of obedience in front of him, or perhaps because he felt a sense of relaxation and happiness he'd never felt before when with Chu Heng, his visits to the villa became increasingly frequent.

Just like the first time he laid eyes on Chu Heng, Chu Heng possessed an indescribable magic for him. The more he interacted with Chu Heng, the more entangled he became, even developing the desire to keep Chu Heng by his side every day.

But Chu Heng's profession made that idea unfeasible.

The patronage agreement was initially only for one year. After that year, Chu Heng's career gradually improved with his help. Chu Heng had a minor breakout and could no longer be as careless as before when going out, always having to wear a disguise, especially when with Chen Jinsheng.

When the agreement expired, Chen Jinsheng didn't mention renewing it, but he also didn't ask Chu Heng to move out of the villa. Chu Heng, as if unaware that the agreement had a term, continued maintaining their relationship.

They weren't a couple, so they couldn't engage in the mushy, lovey-dovey things couples do. Apart from sleeping together, they'd just stay quiet in the same room, each doing their own thing.

They both had very little free time, but they would always spend their leisure moments together, which inevitably got them photographed.

Since one of the subjects in the photos was him, the pictures were first delivered to the Chen Group's chairman at the time before any public exposure.

His grandfather was furious. The entire Chen family learned he had a male actor as his kept man, reactions ranging from surprise to disdain to secret delight. He knew he should break things off with Chu Heng. The best course would be to buy out the photos, give Chu Heng a sum of money, and make a few calls to ensure Chu Heng's future acting career would be smooth sailing—that would be considered the decent thing to do.

But he still took Chu Heng back to the old mansion to meet his mother.

He never dug too deep into the reasons why; he simply wanted to do it.

Chen Jinsheng had never carefully looked at these photos that nearly exposed his relationship with Chu Heng to the public, so he never knew what expression Chu Heng often wore when looking at him back then.

Focused, gentle, eyes holding a glimmer of a smile, but also often conflicted and lost.

When he looked at Chu Heng, Chu Heng's face was always impassive. Only when he looked away would Chu Heng unconsciously let these looks show.

Chu Heng's gaze always seemed to be on him.

Whether he was looking at him or not.

Chen Jinsheng bent down to pick up the photos. Chen Jiasheng studied him for a moment, then selected a few photos from the floor and handed them over.

They were a series of sequential shots.

By a riverbank overgrown with reeds, in the photo, Chen Jinsheng was gazing at the sunset on the opposite shore. Chu Heng was looking at him, then suddenly seemed to notice something. He frowned, glanced towards the camera's direction, and then took a few steps towards Chen Jinsheng.

In the subsequent shots, Chen Jinsheng's face was completely blocked by Chu Heng.

Chen Jinsheng remembered. It was a rare leisurely evening. The afterglow of the setting sun turned the river surface into a golden expanse, as if scattered with stars. He rarely allowed himself to indulge in such beauty, lost in thought in the sunset's glow. But Chu Heng suddenly pushed him further into the reeds. His view was instantly half-obscured by the swaying reeds, his good mood ruined, and he gave Chu Heng the cold shoulder for half a day afterwards.

Actors usually have a sixth sense for cameras, yet Chu Heng said nothing.

"And this."

Chen Jiasheng handed over his own phone.

A video was playing on the phone.

The muffled sound of rain came through the speaker. Clouds hung low, the sky was heavily overcast, and the world seemed to consist only of cold architecture and torrential rain. In the video, Chen Jinsheng saw a familiar iron gate, similar to the one downstairs but not the same.

Chen Jinsheng had spent his childhood and teenage years in the residence behind this iron gate—the place where his parents once lived.

The video seemed to be shot from a high vantage point. For the first few seconds, the frame showed only the empty front courtyard and the tall, standing gate walls. Pea-sized raindrops pelted the antique-style floor tiles and lawn, splashing up tiny droplets.

After a dozen or so seconds, a suitcase suddenly appeared at the bottom of the frame, followed by a slender woman.

Chen Jinsheng's breathing quickened. Longing, shock, and unease welled up inside him the moment he saw this woman.

He moved his lips but the word wouldn't come.

The woman held an umbrella and dragged a suitcase that came up to half her height towards the iron gate. She walked slowly, her steps weak and unsteady, turning a short walk into a long ordeal.

She wore a knee-length skirt and a long trench coat. Her slender, bony wrists emerged from the sleeves, seeming ready to snap under the strain.

Rainwater streamed down the umbrella, forming an intermittent curtain of rain around the woman. For a few moments, her figure became very blurred, and her very existence seemed unreal.

Rain soaked the surface of the suitcase, ran down the hand tightly gripping the handle, wetting half the woman's sleeve, and splashed onto the floor tiles, droplets sliding down her calves into her loosely-fitting boots.

Chen Jinsheng's throat tightened. He gripped the phone fiercely.

Suddenly, the woman's umbrella wobbled. Chen Jinsheng's heart lurched, pulled taut.

During those few seconds of wobbling, the woman's face, always hidden beneath the umbrella, was finally revealed.

Chen Jinsheng's heart ached sharply.

His mother's face was pale, gaunt, carrying a faint sorrow, vastly different from his memory.

Chen Jinsheng guessed roughly when this video was filmed. His emotions churned, his entire body stiff. The solitary isolation of prison had rendered everything illusory and vague, and his heart had sunk into silence, like deadwood and cold ashes. Yet the long-delayed despair and guilt from years ago finally solidified into tangible pain upon seeing his mother, piercing his heart, leaving him speechless.

He watched the video, watched his mother trip and fall to the ground, overwhelmed by the heavy suitcase and the downpour. In those brief seconds, his mother was drenched from head to toe, her clothes clinging to her, outlining an excessively frail frame.

And throughout the video, no second person ever appeared.

Chen Jinsheng's breathing grew heavy, a fury that could almost consume his reason rising within him.

His anger came at an inopportune time—this was just a video from many years ago, the person in it long gone. His fury had nowhere to vent, all of it finally turning into a kind of despairing helplessness.

Before Chen Jinsheng lost control and shut off the video, the frame shook several times, as if the person filming had briefly left the window, planning to go downstairs to help the woman who had fallen in the courtyard and was unable to get up.

The shaking soon stopped. For several seconds, the image was still, fixed on the dry, smooth wooden floor. After a while, the camera was lifted again, re-aimed at the courtyard filled with heavy rain.

There, behind the iron gate, was a young man.

It was Chu Heng.

With a look of impatience, he pushed against the iron gate, but it was locked from the inside. He threw aside his umbrella, took a few steps back, then with a running start, leaped up, scaled the gate, and vaulted into the courtyard. Without pausing, he ran to the woman's side, helped her up, took off his own jacket and put it over her head, quickly saying something.

The oversized jacket covered her from head to waist. Chu Heng held the woman with one arm through the jacket, picked up the suitcase with his other hand, and headed toward the iron gate.

His mother, wrapped in Chu Heng's jacket and leaning against his arm, slowly walked out of the courtyard and disappeared from view.

Chen Jinsheng was stunned.

"After you were sentenced, Dad divorced Aunt Mu."

Chen Jiasheng carefully chose his words, speaking slowly. "After the divorce, Dad demanded she move out of the house. On the day she moved, Chu Heng came and took her away. After that, Aunt Mu lived with Chu Heng. Later, when Aunt Mu fell ill and passed away, it was also Chu Heng who handled the funeral arrangements and bought the burial plot. Every Qingming Festival since, Chu Heng has gone to sweep her grave."

Chen Jiasheng had recorded this video unintentionally. He'd originally just felt like filming the torrential downpour. He never expected that on that day, his father would make Chen Jinsheng's mother leave alone. What surprised him even more was that the person who came to pick her up turned out to be Chu Heng.

Chu Heng, who could barely look after himself at the time.

"After you went in, Chu Heng's original company terminated his contract. Other film and television companies weren't willing to sign him either. The roles and programs he had lined up all fell through. A lot of scandalous rumors about him appeared online. His reputation started to decline from that point." As if anticipating what Chen Jinsheng was about to say, Chen Jiasheng made a gesture to interrupt.

"We didn't make things difficult for him. After what happened to you, the Chen family not venting their anger on him was already the greatest concession. He has a tough personality, and with no one to protect him, many in the industry who disliked him took the opportunity to kick him while he was down. As for the Chen family, since we promised you, we wouldn't make trouble for him. You can rest assured."

Chen Jiasheng, like the other members of the Chen family, had initially looked down on and even despised Chu Heng. People who've traded on their looks and bodies have never been respected, going way back, especially a man who had seduced Chen Jinsheng, the Chen family's great hope.

Although Chen Jiasheng was jealous of Chen Jinsheng back then, that didn't mean he was pleased to see Chen Jinsheng utterly bewitched by a despicable lowlife.

Chu Heng coming to pick up Chen's mother made Chen Jiasheng reconsider his view of him a little. Later, when he accidentally discovered those photos in the group office, he abandoned the thought of deleting the video.

He thought he should give these photos and the video to Chen Jinsheng, so his foolish older brother would know that his devotion wasn't entirely a hopelessly stupid choice. Unfortunately, after Chen's mother passed away, Chu Heng acted as if he had completely forgotten about Chen Jinsheng, which made Chen Jiasheng waver again.

After much hesitation, he still didn't send them.

But since Chu Heng was the one to pick Chen Jinsheng up after his release, these things could now be returned to their rightful owner.

Chen Jinsheng remained silent for a long time.

He looked out the window, remembering his final meeting with his mother.

"Jinsheng, there's nothing wrong with loving someone, and there's nothing wrong with protecting the person you love. Chu Heng is a good kid. You chose well."