Chapter 11: The Sixth Day (II)

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That evening, the production crew held a small party in an open area of the resort.

The resort was exceptionally charming. Several long wooden tables stood in neat rows in the clearing, encircled by green trees, with little stools made from old tree stumps on either side of each table. Strings of lights stretched across the open space, blending with the starlight until the two seemed indistinguishable. Outside the clearing stood a light display bearing the words “Three-Lifetimes Promise.” Four white lantern shades each bore those words, their dim yellow bulbs glowing within, while eight white-and-gold helium balloons stood around them.

Food and drinks were laid out on the tables.

The NBA player was extremely disciplined. For the past few days, he had not touched a drop of alcohol, and while eating he merely watched the others slurp and smack their lips, refusing even to touch anything overly salty or greasy. Then again, Su Shengxin and the others from the entertainment industry basically avoided such food as well.

The internationally renowned director said, “I like football and basketball too, but those European and American players seem to drink quite often, don’t they?”

“I really don’t drink,” said the NBA player. “Alcohol lowers bone density. A lot of people say that a little won’t hurt, but there’s no need for it!”

The internationally renowned director asked again, “President Shang, President Jiang, you two must have a remarkable capacity for alcohol, right? You have so many business dinners.”

The investment bank executive replied with undisguised envy, “I might qualify. President Shang certainly doesn’t need to—he was born already in Rome.”

Shang Yin gave a faint, amused smile.

After drinking and chatting for a while, Su Shengxin felt the need to use the restroom.

He asked the producer which restroom was closest, and the producer pointed out the way. Su Shengxin followed the path, took care of his business, then came back out and headed toward the clearing along the dirt road.

The resort was nestled in the mountains. After walking for a while, Su Shengxin slowed his pace. Looking at the identical trees and paths surrounding him, he suddenly became somewhat uncertain which way to go.

It seemed different from when he had come.

Su Shengxin hesitated. Had he missed a turn somewhere? The fork in the road he had passed earlier and the fork now before him… really did look rather different.

It was pitch-black all around, making it difficult to see.

“…”

I’ll look around, Su Shengxin thought. If he really had gotten lost, he could first make his way toward somewhere with lights—the cabins, the reception area, or the housekeeping section—and ask someone for directions. It wouldn’t be difficult.

This sort of thing happened often enough.

Su Shengxin turned around and began walking back in the direction of the restroom.

He did indeed find another path, but he still could not determine whether it was the right one. He had no choice but to try it.

As he wandered through the darkness, Su Shengxin suddenly remembered something from his childhood.

He had been an exceptionally well-behaved child. But after reading the words “hide-and-seek” in a book, he had suddenly become desperate to play, and begged his mother to play a round with him. His mother agreed, and Su Shengxin was overjoyed.

At the age of three, Su Shengxin hid inside a cabinet. It was pitch-black in there. He waited for his mother to find him, but she never did. He grew so frightened that he deliberately tried to make her find him sooner, calling again and again, “Mommy! I’m here!” and “Mommy! I’m right here!”

He wanted to crawl out, but was afraid that doing so would ruin the game he had begged so hard to play with his mother. In the end, he began to cry. It was the first time he realized that darkness could have weight—thick and heavy, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.

His aunt eventually found him. It was not until that evening that he learned the truth. His mother had suddenly needed to attend to an urgent matter, and when she could not find him, she had called, “Su Shengxin, I’m going to the school for a while. Wherever you’re hiding, come out first. We’re not playing anymore.”

But Su Shengxin had not heard her. His mother assumed he was doing it deliberately, putting off her important business because he wanted to continue playing hide-and-seek. She had coldly left him with, “Come out at once. Read your book and wait for your aunt to make lunch. Do you hear me? You’re already more than three years old, Su Shengxin. You should have learned to behave by now.”

Then she had left.

At the time, his aunt had been in the kitchen, clattering away as she worked with great concentration.

More than twenty years had passed. Su Shengxin was no longer afraid of anything, and of course he no longer needed anyone to come find him.

Su Shengxin reached the fork in the road, but suddenly heard the strange rustling sound of someone stepping on fallen leaves ahead.

He looked over. A few seconds later, Shang Yin’s tall figure emerged among the shadows of the trees.

“???” Su Shengxin asked, “Did you come to use the restroom too, Mr. Shang?”

“No.” Shang Yin’s tone was calm. “I suddenly remembered that you’re directionally challenged.”

He was referring to what had happened on the second day of the program.

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“…………”

Su Shengxin laughed. He walked over, glanced at the path beside them, and asked, “This way?”

Shang Yin nodded, then cast a glance toward the road Su Shengxin had come from. “You came from there and still managed to lose yourself?”

“It was just a little detour,” Su Shengxin said. “Nothing serious.”

With that, Su Shengxin stepped onto the path first.

The entire forest was damp with evening moisture, and dead branches crackled beneath their feet.

After walking a few steps, Su Shengxin suddenly remembered something. He turned around and said with utmost seriousness, “Mr. Shang, if you came looking for me on purpose, then I have to say one thing: thank you.”

Saying nothing at all would have been impolite. Besides, they were not close enough for such silence to be natural.

Under the faint light, his skin looked like white jade, and a trace of moonlight rested along the bridge of his nose.

Shang Yin paused, then said, “It was nothing. Let’s go back.”

Before long, the laughter of the other pairs of guests drifted over.

Bright, carefree, and full of delight.

Su Shengxin returned to his seat and continued drinking, while Shang Yin sat down beside him.

Su Shengxin felt that whenever Shang Yin sat next to him, the man’s tall figure seemed to possess an ever-growing presence.

He found himself noticing every movement Shang Yin made, every laugh, every word.

Only a few days earlier, Shang Yin had been sitting there, and to Su Shengxin he had seemed like a mere prop or a robot. A prop or a robot had no meaningful movements at all.

Was it related to the way Shang Yin had helped him out of trouble the day before? Or perhaps to the fact that Shang Yin had come looking for him just now? Su Shengxin could not quite say.

Amusingly enough, even his parents did not know that he was so hopelessly bad with directions.

At one point, Shang Yin went to the production crew’s bar and poured himself a drink. On the way back, Su Shengxin lifted his eyes to look at him, but his gaze drifted unconsciously to Shang Yin’s thin lips.

That afternoon, the two of them had kissed through a barrier.

Warm and soft, carrying an immense temptation.

They had kissed several times, each kiss more urgent than the last, each one heavier and more intense.

“…”

Su Shengxin withdrew his gaze and took a sip of his drink.

He hated himself for having developed a taste for it.

As a professional actor, he had kissed many people.

There had been male actors and female actors alike.

But that afternoon had been different.

He remembered what he had said before joining the program: “My acting is fairly decent. When the time comes, Mr. Shang, you absolutely must not take anything I do seriously.”

And Shang Yin had said in return, “The business world is full of deception. My acting is fairly decent as well, so when the time comes, Teacher Su, please don’t take anything I do seriously either.”

It should still be that way.

Once the program ended and their lives returned to normal, everything would vanish without a trace. For Su Shengxin, and for Shang Yin as well.

Without realizing it, Su Shengxin seemed to have drunk a little too much.

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Afterward, everyone played more games.

As a result, Su Shengxin was extraordinarily unlucky. After several rounds, he had consumed eighty percent of the alcohol.

In the first round, the ten guests played Old Maid. Whenever a guest drew a card that was neither the large joker nor the small joker, they had to choose an alcoholic drink and pour a little into a large glass bowl. The alcohol became increasingly mixed, its color and flavor growing stranger by the minute. In the end, Su Shengxin drew the joker and had to finish the entire concoction.

Everyone else contorted their faces. Even the award-winning actress covered her mouth while watching Su Shengxin drink it. Yet Su Shengxin remained expressionless, calmly emptying the glass of bizarre liquor.

The second round was a dice game, and by sheer coincidence, it went just as badly. The award-winning actress rolled ten dice first. The internationally renowned director called out, “Five.” When they uncovered the cup, three of the dice showed five dots, so those three were removed.

Next, the NBA player rolled the remaining seven dice, and the award-winning actress made a guess. By the time it was Su Shengxin’s turn, only two dice remained beneath the cup. Su Shengxin guessed, “Three.”

When the cup was lifted, one die showed one and the other showed six. Su Shengxin had not guessed either correctly, and had to drink again.

The third round…

In the end, Shang Yin could not stand watching any longer. He asked the production crew, “Can I drink for him?”

The producer had not even answered when the foolishly earnest NBA player shouted, “No! No! What’s the point of playing if someone else can drink for you?”

Su Shengxin: “???”

Because he was an athlete, the NBA player had been drinking plain water—a rule Su Shengxin himself had been the first to suggest. He had tried to protect the NBA player, only to end up freezing himself in the snow.

The party did not break up until eleven that night. The pairs of guests said goodbye, then raised one final glass together and agreed to meet the next day. The female-female pair left directly, while the other guests returned to their cabins.

Su Shengxin headed toward the sign, but unexpectedly found the ground wavering beneath his feet. His mind was numb, his legs were numb, and he walked across the lawn in a perfect S-shaped curve.

“Oh dear!” the award-winning actress called out. “Teacher Su is drunk!”

The other guests chimed in:

“Even fate is bullying Teacher Su!”

“Look what our Teacher Su has been bullied into!”

“Was this show rigged? Was it really not arranged in advance?”

“No. Teacher Su was so steady and immovable every time that I thought he was actually fine!”

“He’s drunk.”

After seeing what had happened, Shang Yin walked over in a few strides. He slipped one hand around Su Shengxin’s waist and supported his knee with the other, then suddenly lifted him into his arms.

Su Shengxin’s feet left the ground without warning, startling him badly. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around Shang Yin’s broad shoulders. His palms felt an abundance of springy strength—nothing but muscle.

Caught off guard, the two loose sandals on his feet slipped off one after the other, revealing his pale ankles.

Shang Yin turned back and said to the others with a smile, “The game set Teacher Su up. He drank too much and started walking in an S. I’ll carry him back.”

Su Shengxin stared blankly at Shang Yin’s profile.

The gentle Hong Kong and Taiwan singer came over and picked up Su Shengxin’s two sandals one by one, handing them to him to carry. In a mild voice, he said, “Teacher Su, go get some sleep.”

Su Shengxin was still dazed. “I—”

He had barely uttered one word when Shang Yin lost patience. He gave the singer a slight nod, then carried Su Shengxin away from the clearing.

The path was actually quite long. Su Shengxin was surprised. He stood between six feet and six feet one, yet Shang Yin carried him effortlessly, walking as easily as though he weighed nothing.

He thought of the male actors who struggled to carry female actresses. The hand that rested around one of Shang Yin’s shoulders shifted slightly away. Su Shengxin loosely circled him instead, testing whether Shang Yin would remain just as relaxed if he did not put any weight on him.

After a while, he realized there seemed to be no difference at all, so he placed his hand back where it had been. He felt embarrassed about not helping in some way.

Then Shang Yin suddenly spoke.

“What were you testing just now?”