Chapter 56: Starting Over

The young man, barely out of his teens and chasing dreams in the entertainment industry, accepted Su Tang’s kindness without a shred of doubt. Under his coaxing and the manipulation of various props, he poured his heart and soul into the pursuit, ignoring the warnings from his true fans who loved him dearly and even abandoning his original dreams.

He grew extreme and violent, harboring indiscriminate hatred for every man who approached Su Tang—even though those men were often the ones Su Tang had deliberately sought out for his own purposes.

He clashed viciously with Su Tang’s manager, Ji Cheng, in private, resented Song Linyu for openly accompanying Su Tang to all sorts of events, and loathed Fu Yanzong, the actor whose on-screen chemistry with Su Tang had fans buzzing with rumors of a real-life romance.

By then, Cheng Yan had completely lost himself. He crossed paths with these three men countless times in various settings, convinced they all wanted Su Tang for themselves. Naturally, Su Tang fanned the flames of those rivalries, turning Cheng Yan into a mindless caged beast that lashed out wildly at anyone in reach.

He believed that if he was just the best to Su Tang—if he could outdo these others—he’d win even a sliver of real affection.

But there was nothing of the sort. All he got was a plummeting popularity, heartbroken fans abandoning him one by one, until he had no value left to exploit.

Su Tang never chose him again.

“…How pathetic. Rushing over here to pick a fight—did someone play you again?”

The last time Cheng Yan had hurled insults at Fu Yanzong and nearly laid hands on him, Fu Yanzong’s bodyguard had slammed him down into the seat across from the man.

Fu Yanzong propped his chin on one hand, the mole at the corner of his eye curving up with a lazy smile as he tossed out those words at Cheng Yan.

Seeing Cheng Yan’s utter disbelief—and the way he bared his teeth like he might lunge—Fu Yanzong’s eyes crinkled in amusement. He took a sip of the overly sweet mocha in front of him and sighed coolly through the rising steam, “Tsk, even kids get lied to. Su Tang really is shameless.”

“Don’t talk about him—”

With a flick of his wrist, Fu Yanzong flung a stack of photos right into Cheng Yan’s face. Cheng Yan stared blankly for a moment before lowering his gaze to the damning evidence, captured in crystal-clear detail.

If Su Tang had just been fooling around… Cheng Yan might have endured it. But during the two crises when rivals had framed him and left him facing betrayal from all sides, Su Tang had still been sweetly entangled with the culprits behind it all.

Cheng Yan’s eyes gradually reddened. He bit down hard on his teeth in silence, and only after a long moment did he rasp out, “How do I know this isn’t just your trick? You like him too, don’t you?”

“…Don’t use such disgusting words.” Fu Yanzong said coolly, “If it weren’t for Ji Cheng coming to beg me personally—and out of pity for a naive kid who’s barely an adult—I wouldn’t have put up with you this long.”

Cheng Yan wiped at his tears with the back of his hand and murmured, “Didn’t Ji Cheng split from Su Tang over him going independent? If you don’t like Su Tang, why bother doing all this?”

“I told you, don’t say those two words again.” Fu Yanzong glanced unhurriedly at a message on his phone and scoffed, “Going independent was something Ji Cheng and I agreed on years ago. It was just a business partnership. What does it have to do with that thing?”

“…Really?”

“What’s in it for me to lie?” Fu Yanzong replied flatly. “Su Tang is off, no doubt. No matter how I deal with him, he always worms his way back into my sight like an indestructible cockroach. It’s so repulsive it sometimes makes me question my entire worldview—”

“But even so, I’d never be interested in trash like that. Got it?”

Cheng Yan fell silent for a long while before pressing on, “If that’s the case, why do you care about him at all? Why compete with Song Linyu? Just the other day at that after-party, I saw you two wrapped around each other like you were about to fight. How do you explain that?”

“…”

Fu Yanzong paused oddly.

Cheng Yan repeated himself, “You and Song Linyu, the head of Dongyu—why compete over Su Tang?”

Fu Yanzong took a delicate sip of his sugary drink, his expression subtly amused. He set down the cup and fixed Cheng Yan with a look of particular pity, then said mildly, “Little Yan, that wasn’t a fight. That was flirting with my ambiguous interest.”

“…?”

Cheng Yan’s eyes widened in disbelief, as if he hadn’t understood a word.

Fu Yanzong sighed and patted his shoulder. “Sorry for the misunderstanding. The truth is, Song Linyu is currently pursuing me. So teasing him a bit should be well within moral bounds. No need to judge me with that shocked stare, right?”

“That’s not…”

The revelation hit Cheng Yan so hard he forgot Su Tang entirely for a moment.

After all, in the early days, Cheng Yan had clearly sensed that these four men despised each other. The rift between Fu Yanzong and Ji Cheng wasn’t as pronounced, but he and Song Linyu were from completely different worlds—oil and water, neither able to stand the other.

“He… why’s he chasing you? Because you’re good-looking? Great actor with tons of fans? Or loaded with family money?”

Cheng Yan finished, only to see Fu Yanzong raise a brow. “You just listed three reasons. What am I supposed to say to that?”

“…Well, you don’t like him either, do you? You always said you hate that type—that you only like obedient ones!”

Fu Yanzong smiled faintly. “True. But lately I’ve found Song Linyu pretty obedient. Cuter than I expected.”

Cheng Yan was speechless and could only shut his mouth.

He looked back at the photos on the table. After a long time, he said slowly, “So it was all fake. Su Tang never truly cared for me. There’s no winning him back by beating you guys, is there?”

No one answered. Outside, the rain poured harder.

At the floor-to-ceiling windows of the coffee shop, raindrops drummed relentlessly against the eaves, leaving a hazy veil of steam. Amid the blurry curtain of rain and mist, a sleek black Maybach pulled up silently. The driver popped open an umbrella and opened the door for the man in the back seat, revealing a pale, impassive profile.

His long lashes fluttered slightly, exposing a glimpse of amber iris. After a brief hesitation, his fingertips tapped out a message on the keyboard.

pesce: “You done? Can I pick you up?”

Fu Yanzong glanced at the message on his phone, turned his head, and smiled faintly. With evident amusement, he tapped twice on the glass window, sketching a simple smiley face.

pesce: “Can I, brother?”

acqua: “You’re already here. Why ask? Be right there.”

Song Linyu froze for a moment, then stepped out of the car and took the umbrella from the driver. Through the hazy rain, he directed his gaze toward the enormous, fogged-up glass.

Fu Yanzong rested his chin on his hand, a subtle smile playing at the corners of his eyes. Through the rain veil and the little doodled smiley, he gazed back quietly.

His dark pupils gleamed with unusual warmth in the rain, the light spilling over Fu Yanzong’s casually tied-back hair ends in a radiant sheen.

Song Linyu’s heart skipped a beat. He lowered his eyes, a touch dazed.

The next second, Fu Yanzong rose, walked to the door, and pushed it open.

…

As Fu Yanzong left, Cheng Yan heard his parting words: “From now on, cherish yourself more.”

The coffee shop’s glass door chimed softly, the bell dangling from it swaying gently. Cheng Yan snapped out of his daze and looked up—just in time to see Song Linyu holding an umbrella, standing quietly beside Fu Yanzong.

Fu Yanzong said something to him, drawing a faintly embarrassed, slightly shy smile from the usually aloof man.

They stepped slowly into the rain, but the umbrella tilted toward one side.

…So this was what real affection looked like.

Cheng Yan’s phone buzzed with a text.

It was actually his 19th birthday, but no friends remained to offer blessings. The only one came from Ji Cheng.

In a curt, professional tone, he wished his artist a happy birthday, then added at the end: “Every trouble passes eventually, Cheng Yan. It’ll get better.”

Cheng Yan stared at the screen and smiled soundlessly.

On this 19th birthday, the sole scrap of kindness came from two men he’d once seen as rivals. The one he’d truly loved was nothing but a hypocritical mask.

Cheng Yan realized clearly that he had nothing left—and had squandered too many people’s genuine care. So that night, true to his resolve, he slipped silently into the bathtub’s depths.

As he closed his eyes, he thought: If I could start over… I wouldn’t make these mistakes again.

Could he start over?

Perhaps fate was always fair after all. When Cheng Yan opened his eyes again, he could scarcely believe he’d truly returned to that summer at 18.

The world seemed identical to before, yet subtly off in places. But no matter what, he’d just debuted this year, Ji Cheng had only recently become his manager, the front-page headline blared about Movie Emperor Fu Yanzong’s return from abroad yesterday, and the financial news still featured Song Linyu’s unchanging face.

This time, his life wouldn’t stall because of Su Tang.