Bai Weijia scoffed: "With his hopeless and incompetent nature, which agent would want to take on this mess?"
Cassie: "Someone actually answered, someone you know."
Bai Weijia was stunned, then his face darkened: "Shen Huai?"
Cassie nodded: "Although Ye Cang is not good at singing and dancing, you have to admit that this kid has a good-looking face. With proper packaging and training, he may have a chance to make a comeback."
Bai Weijia sarcastically remarked, "If Cassie really likes him, she can just snatch him away. You've done that before, haven't you!"
Cassie just smiled indulgently: "Alright, I was just saying. You're a rising star, why would you be so jealous of a newcomer who hasn't even debuted yet?"
Bai Weijia snorted coldly.
Knowing his personality well, Cassie said calmly, "I have a dinner appointment with the president of MK's Asia region tonight. Don't forget, I'll have someone pick you up then."
Bai Weijia's eyes lit up, and she finally stopped dwelling on the matter and instead asked about the endorsement.
Dejected, Ye Cang returned to his rented room, having been left behind by the two. The room wasn't well soundproofed, and he could clearly hear the couple next door arguing, hurling all sorts of vulgar insults at each other's parents. The old lady downstairs was yelling at her son, who was up all night playing games, to come to dinner. And somewhere, a TV was playing, with the male protagonist making a crazy confession that could be heard throughout the entire building.
This was Ye Cang's most familiar living environment. Since arriving in this city, he had lived here, working hard from dawn till dusk every day, dreaming of having a place in this city. He also envied those glamorous celebrities who appeared on television, but he never thought that one day he would have such an experience.
Until the day he delivered takeout to the "Rising Star" program, he was discovered by the director and became a contestant without even realizing it. Afterwards, he signed with an agency, listened to the various future plans his agent had made for him, and felt the enthusiastic support of his fans. This young man, who was only twenty years old, felt like he was dreaming.
However, reality was far from what he had imagined. All Ye Cang possessed was a fairly good-looking face. He couldn't sing, he couldn't dance, and his Mandarin wasn't even standard. Even if he started to work hard now, he couldn't compare to his peers who had practiced for many years.
At first, the gimmick of his underdog story made the audience more forgiving. But when he made it into the top ten by virtue of his popularity and the competition format, eliminating the truly talented contestants, the netizens' anger finally erupted.
Of course, this has never been a big problem for the entertainment industry. After all, being famous for being infamous is still fame. But this young man, who had only recently arrived in the city, was devastated. He probably never imagined that human malice could be so great, that people would use the most offensive language to curse a complete stranger.
The agent's resignation was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. Ye Cang lay on the bed, staring blankly at the dirty ceiling. His phone kept ringing, but he didn't even have the courage to open it. He was afraid to see the red hashtags next to each Weibo post.
#YeCangGetOutOfTheEntertainmentIndustry#
After a long while, he finally got out of bed, staggered to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and headed to the bathroom. The door was closed, the faucet was turned on, and the sound of running water drowned out all other noises.
-
"Beep beep beep—"
The call still went unanswered. Shen Huai put down his phone and hailed a taxi to Ye Cang's place. He had just gotten off the plane and was supposed to go back to wash up and rest before meeting his new artist, but Ye Cang hadn't answered the phone and hadn't accepted his WeChat friend request, so he couldn't help but worry.
Lu Yang, standing beside him, was somewhat puzzled: "You knew this child wasn't suited for the stage, so why did you agree to take him on?"
Shen Huai pressed the bridge of his nose, pretending to be on the phone, and replied, "I don't think anyone can make such a hasty decision about what suits someone. If he doesn't want to stay, I will terminate his contract."
Upon arriving at the location, Shen Huai followed the address on the document upstairs. However, as soon as he got there, he saw a group of people gathered at the entrance. His heart tightened, and he quickly went over to ask what had happened.
A middle-aged woman, hands on her hips, said angrily, "I don't know what the people in here are doing. They don't turn off the taps, and it's causing water to leak downstairs!"
Before Shen Huai could ask anything else, the landlord had already come over with the key. As soon as the door opened, Shen Huai sensed something was wrong. He hurriedly went inside and saw Ye Cang lying in the bathtub with a long cut on his wrist, the blood staining the water red.
The boy was pale, his eyes tightly closed, and beneath the rippling water, he was as beautiful as a painting. He was like a sleeping prince, separating himself from this troubled world.
But then, a high-decibel scream rang in his ears, and the scene immediately descended into chaos.
Shen Huai gritted his teeth, immediately went over and dragged Ye Cang out of the bathtub, then sternly said to the people behind him, "Aren't you coming over to help!"
The landlord quickly helped him to put Ye Cang on the bed. Shen Huai checked Ye Cang's breathing and pulse, and his heart sank.
"Call emergency services immediately!"
As Shen Huai spoke, he took off his coat and began performing CPR on Ye Cang. Fortunately, the ambulance arrived shortly afterward, and the emergency doctors and nurses took over the work from Shen Huai and put Ye Cang into the ambulance.
Shen Huai lowered his rolled-up sleeves and silently walked to the side. He looked extremely disheveled, his clothes were wrinkled, and his usually meticulously styled hair was messy. However, he had no time to pay attention to himself. Instead, he called Mingwei to tell her about the incident.
However, before the call could even go through, he heard someone talking next to him.
"...Yes, it's that Ye Cang! He really committed suicide, why would I lie to you!...I posted the video on my WeChat Moments, you can go watch it, and remember to like it after you watch it..."
The man was excitedly showing off to his friends when suddenly his phone was snatched away. Shen Huai opened the other person's WeChat Moments; it was Ye Cang lying in the bathtub, with a long string of likes and comments below. Shen Huai gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger, and deleted the post, then deleted the video.
The man finally reacted and snatched his phone back, exclaiming in shock and anger, "Holy crap, are you crazy?!"
Shen Huai looked at him coldly: "Haven't you studied law? Do you know that this violates a citizen's right to privacy and portrait rights? You'll be getting a lawyer's letter soon."
The man was startled by him, his momentum weakened, and he muttered "crazy" before hurriedly leaving.
However, this matter could not be covered up in the end, and soon the topic of #YeCangSuicide# became a trending topic. When Shen Huai received Ming Wei's call, he was giving a statement at the police station.
Worried that something might go wrong, Shen Huai rushed to the hospital as soon as he finished giving his statement.
Ye Cang had regained consciousness and was leaning against the hospital bed receiving an IV drip. Several nurses seemed to be talking to him, but when they saw Shen Huai come in, they blushed and hurriedly left.
Ye Cang turned his face, and the setting sun cast its shadow on the window, making his face appear half-lit and half-shadowed, which added a touch of determination to his appearance, making him look completely different from before.
Shen Huai was stunned for a moment before he remembered to introduce himself to the other person, but the other person had already called out his name.
"Shen Huai!"
Then he smiled and dropped a bombshell.
"I am Lu Yang."
Chapter 3
Shen Huai's mind went blank for a moment. He then realized that Lu Yang's ghost had disappeared at some point. Just as Shen Huai was about to ask him what had happened, the ward door was opened again, and a group of people carrying guns and pistols rushed in.
"Ye Cang, why did you attempt suicide? There are rumors online that you have depression. Is that true?"