Chapter 35: The Second Blizzard

Bang! The hotel suite door burst open.

Li Siwei stumbled and fell onto the cold floor. His shoulder hit the hard tiles with a loud thud, the sharp pain making it difficult to breathe.

Humiliation and pain intertwined. He curled up on the floor, struggling with all his might, but he couldn’t free his hands from the tightly bound tie.

Yu Chuan walked into the suite against the light, turned around, slammed the door shut, and looked down at him coldly.

“Yu Chuan, are you out of your mind?!” Li Siwei’s eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the man.

“Me? Out of my mind?” Yu Chuan squatted down and grabbed his chin forcefully.

His grip was too tight, and Li Siwei couldn’t help but cough.

“Am I the crazy one, or are you?” Yu Chuan’s face was icy.

Li Siwei found this all absurd: “What did I do?! Are you drunk…”

Before he could finish, his pupils constricted, and he froze.

Yu Chuan brutally lifted his chin and kissed him forcefully. It wasn’t a kiss, but a bite, like a predator tearing into its prey.

Li Siwei tried to pull back, but he was held down. He bared his canines and bit back, his sharp teeth piercing Yu Chuan’s lip. Blood flowed instantly.

Yu Chuan winced and subconsciously pulled back.

At the same time, Li Siwei, having scraped his hand raw, finally broke free from the tie. He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and slapped Yu Chuan hard across the face.

Slap! The sound was loud and crisp.

Yu Chuan froze for a second, then quickly wiped the blood from his lip: “Do you think I joined this production to play games with you? Li Siwei, stop playing dumb.”

Li Siwei stood up, enduring the pain, looked him in the eye, and threw the tie in Yu Chuan’s face: “Me, playing dumb? I don’t know what you’re on. If you didn’t want to film this movie, you shouldn’t have. There’s no need to waste everyone’s time!”

“Oh, you want me to leave? Go ask the producer if she agrees!”

Li Siwei stared at him for a few seconds: “Fine. I get it. I’ll leave, you can film with whoever you want!”

Yu Chuan’s gaze pierced him: “You want to quit? Do you dare? Can you afford the penalty? Didn’t Fang Yu explain the contract to you?”

“What’s the point, Yu Chuan? Who are you putting on a show for tonight? Are you tired of your good life? What are you trying to achieve?!”

Yu Chuan suddenly sneered.

“What am I trying to achieve? You’re asking me what I’m trying to achieve?” He stared at Li Siwei’s face, his eyes fixed on his lips. “I’m not reconciled, that’s all.”

Li Siwei’s gaze faltered, disbelief in his eyes: “Not reconciled? Not reconciled about what? Do you think you’re not earning enough here? Or did you not get enough of me back then? If you’re really not reconciled, you can go downstairs right now. There are probably still paparazzi waiting. Go tell them you slept with an idiot for six or seven years. Will that make you feel better?!”

He couldn’t control his sharp words, wanting to hurt the madman in front of him.

Yu Chuan grabbed his chin, forcing Li Siwei to look at him.

“Li Siwei, I just want to ask you, why was Han Xiao here today? Are you still involved with him? Or have you never really broken it off all these years?”

Li Siwei was furious: “Me, involved with him?! Yu Chuan, there’s a limit to your slander!”

“Me, slandering you? You want me to spell it out for you? What did you do with Han Xiao that night three years ago? Do you need me to remind you?”

Li Siwei tried to pry his hand open, but his hand was raw from struggling against the tie, and every movement was excruciating.

“You’re insane! You’ve lost your mind!”

“Are you really that stupid, or are you pretending? Do you need me to refresh your memory?” Yu Chuan’s eyes were filled with rage. “It was almost your birthday. I was on set, and I clearly told you to wait for me at home. You haven’t forgotten, have you? But what did you do? You went to the hotel to meet him late at night, didn’t you? Can you deny it? And what’s even more ridiculous is that you broke up with me the next morning! Li Siwei, what am I supposed to think? Tell me, what am I supposed to think?!”

“How did you know I met him?” Li Siwei’s face was cold, his words strained.

“How I know is none of your business.” He added fuel to the fire. “What did Han Xiao promise you? What made you so eager to break up with me?”

Li Siwei’s eyes were red, his lips trembling. Tears were about to spill over, but instead of anger, he laughed.

“If I had really been with Han Xiao, would I be in this state? Would it have taken me three years to finally get a movie script?! Or do you think I’m just a fool who can be played with and discarded?!”

Yu Chuan, initially furious, froze.

Li Siwei’s forced smile looked even more sorrowful: “Yu Chuan… we’ve known each other since we were seventeen. Is this how you’ve always thought of me all these years? Do I need to prove my innocence to you now?!”

His voice was almost a whisper by the end.

The air solidified, as if even the snowflakes outside had stopped falling. Only the ticking of the clock marked the passage of time.

Li Siwei could no longer hold back his tears.

“Fine, you want to talk about three years ago? I flew all over the country to sleep with you, I accepted that. You came and went as you pleased, I accepted that too. It’s all my fault, I deserve it.”

“Yes, you remember correctly. It was my birthday after that. I should have waited for you at home. But I’m also a human being, I want to act in movies, is that so shameful?! There was a commercial film auditioning at the hotel, and I went. And guess what? Han Xiao was there too…”

He tried to suppress his sobs, but tears streamed down his face, wetting his collarbone.

“I didn’t expect him to tell me… that he had dirt on you, and if he sent it to the media, you would be kicked off ‘Assassins’ the next day!”

His words were clear, but Yu Chuan’s face turned ashen.

“Ironic, isn’t it, Mr. Yu? Is this the answer you wanted?” Li Siwei looked him in the eye.

“What’s even more ironic is that I begged him not to do it. And what did he say? He said I wasn’t submissive enough, my attitude wasn’t sincere enough, he wanted me to kneel and beg him… Guess what I did? Yu Chuan, I didn’t even know what he had on you, and I knelt down for you!”

“That night, I took a four-hour bus ride to see you. I wanted to ask you face to face, what was going on? After all these years, haven’t you ever told me the truth! But what about you? Why didn’t you see me? Now you say you’re not reconciled, did you ever ask me anything?!”

Yu Chuan’s clenched fists suddenly stiffened. He tried to control himself, but his body trembled.

Li Siwei stared into his eyes, not wiping away his tears: “Or are you just enjoying the feeling of me revolving around you? You want to see me make mistakes and beg for your forgiveness, you want to crush me, humiliate me, right?”

“No, I’m not!” Yu Chuan’s eyes stung, and he shook his head in denial.

Li Siwei didn’t want to hear another word from him: “You keep mentioning Han Xiao, what’s the difference between you and him? Do any of you see me as a human being?!”

“I’m not, I’m not…” Yu Chuan repeated mechanically.

Li Siwei didn’t wait for him to continue, letting his emotions pour out: “Han Xiao played me like a fool. He was right, someone like me, what dignity do I have? A few words can make me kneel. I used to think you were different, Yu Chuan. But the truth is, you’re all the same… all the same…”

The heavy snow outside was blinding. The snow fell harder and harder, seemingly heavier than the year they went to the film academy entrance exam.

In the empty hotel suite, they stood facing each other, the lights casting two separate shadows at their feet.

Li Siwei seemed to have cried all his tears. He looked away, not wanting to see Yu Chuan anymore: “And now, just because you’re ‘not reconciled,’ you want me to pretend that none of this ever happened? Am I that cheap in your eyes? Do you think we broke up just because of a trivial misunderstanding? If that makes you feel better, you can keep lying to yourself.”

He turned around, walked to the door, and pressed the doorknob.

Click. The door unlocked.

He looked back one last time: “But Yu Chuan, I beg you, you can live your glamorous life, you can appear anywhere, but you shouldn’t have come here. I wasn’t doing well after we broke up, you’ve seen it. Are you satisfied now? You shouldn’t have played this role again, you shouldn’t have appeared before me again, reminding me how stupid my choices were!”