After the incident with the course materials, He Yu explained himself to Xie Qingcheng over and over.
But Xie Qingcheng wasn't just overly paternal. He was also a professor. He might be able to let other mishaps go, but there was no way he could put this matter behind him. For a long while, Xie Qingcheng was reluctant to acknowledge He Yu at all.
Helping He Yu manage his mental state was one thing, but He Yu provoking him was another entirely. He Yu had stomped on Xie Qingcheng's minefield—Xie Qingcheng could only bare his teeth in turn.
Justice was not blind; the opportunity for him to put He Yu in his place came very quickly.
On this day, Xie Xue phoned Xie Qingcheng.
"Ge, Huzhou University and Huzhou Medical School are having a centennial celebration of their founding, did you hear?"
"What are they doing?"
"Oh, one of the items on the agenda is for our two schools to collaborate on filming a movie—not the kind that gets aired, but it'll be posted on the university website, and they're gonna organize a celebratory viewing."
Her brother didn't cut her off, so Xie Xue rambled on, "It's just a practice piece being filmed for fun, but because it's the centennial anniversary of both Huzhou University and Huzhou School of Medicine, the admins are taking it pretty seriously and providing a lot of funding. They want the teachers to organize the filming with students from the appropriate majors. It's a super rare opportunity, so I've already started working on the script. Can you come and act as a medical consultant?"
Xie Qingcheng had no interest in this. But since Xie Xue was the one who made the request, he said, "Send me the proposal; I'll take a look."
"Oooh, sure! Of course! You have to cheer me on!"
Not long after she hung up, Xie Xue sent Xie Qingcheng the files for the planned proposal. The staff and students of Huzhou University already had a rough idea as to the general direction of the film. Because it was a collaboration with the neighboring medical school, the working title of this anniversary project in their drafted plan was The Many Faces of Malady: an anthology series on the experiences of various patients and other marginalized groups.
Xie Qingcheng was in his office drinking black coffee. After roughly skimming through the file, he found that the project required a considerable number of actors. Xie Xue had already noted the roles that students had volunteered for, but there were still a dozen or so parts left unassigned.
This was the kind of lively production that students would generally be interested in being a part of. Thus, the roles that went unclaimed were probably the kind that weren't very pleasant.
Xie Qingcheng took a look, and it was just as he expected.
Among the roles that no one had shown interest in, some were caretakers who had to deal with patients' bedpans, some were pregnant women experiencing strong physical symptoms, and some were homosexuals who had to have intimate interactions with their scene partners.
With Huzhou University's attitude, as long as the school had their name on it, they would require the students to act out their roles for real even though this was just a practice film. This meant that those acting as caretakers would have to handle bedpans for real, those acting as pregnant women would have to vomit for real, and those acting as homosexuals would have to kiss and embrace their scene partners for real. Plus, this was for the centennial anniversary of the founding of both schools, so everything absolutely had to be just right.
If no one volunteered for these difficult roles, students would end up being forcibly conscripted.
After carefully looking over the plan, Xie Qingcheng suddenly recalled what He Yu had done to his course materials. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes… Then, after a moment's contemplation, he picked up his phone and called Xie Xue back.
"I've finished reading your email."
He leaned back against his office chair, spinning his pen as he spoke in a measured tone. "I can act as your medical consultant, but I have one request."
"What request? Ge, just let me know!"
The character profile of a certain gay role that had been pulled up on the screen reflected in Xie Qingcheng's peach-blossom eyes. He swept his gaze indifferently over the rows of text that made up the entire PowerPoint slide. "I think there's a role here that you should have He Yu try."
Even though Xie Xue was completely baffled to see Xie Qingcheng pulling strings to get He Yu into the role, she assumed it was probably because her brother and He Yu got along well. After all, Xie Qingcheng had watched He Yu grow up since he was just eight years old—maybe he wanted to give the kid a chance to train himself.
Besides, He Yu was a student in one of the related fields of study. And, on top of being handsome, he had also stepped in to act in that garbage drama. He was studying screenwriting and directing at the moment, but there was no saying which side of the camera he would end up working on in the future.
Thus, Xie Xue cheerfully agreed to Xie Qingcheng's request.
Since the teachers had selected him personally as a "volunteer," He Yu was hard-pressed to refuse the role. So, a few days later, after leaving his evening self-study session, He Yu joined the cast and crew of The Many Faces of Malady anthology series for rehearsal.
He was to act in The Malady of Love, a short film reflecting the current lived realities of gay men.
When Xie Qingcheng arrived, He Yu was in the midst of rehearsing with the other lead actor. He Yu was a new student to begin with, and he wasn't a drama major. He didn't usually need to attend morning warm-ups, and he hadn't taken many drama classes. Though he had stepped in as the fifth male supporting character in that broke-ass little production, that character had resonated with him personally, so playing him had been easy. But now that he had landed himself a homosexual character to play, it was seriously torture.
Xie Qingcheng leaned against a wall off to the side and watched for a while. Comparing this to when he'd visited the film set in Hangshi, He Yu's acting ability had basically taken a dive off a cliff. On second thought, that was being overly generous—it would be more accurate to say that He Yu's acting had taken a nosedive off the Great Rift Valley of East Africa.
What the hell was he doing? The script described a sweet, private date between the male lead and his sweetheart—both of them had to display youthful and inexperienced love and desire. But after observing for a long while, Xie Qingcheng couldn't see even a hint of love in He Yu's performance. Even an AI would have done a better job.
"How much do you love me? What would you give up for me?" The male student who was acting opposite He Yu was quite talented, pouring emotion into his performance as he questioned He Yu with his arms looped around his neck.
He Yu said blandly, "I love you a lot. I can give up anything if you just ask."
"Then look into my eyes."
A beat of awkward silence followed.
He Yu was supposed to stare into his first love's eyes for a long spell and then, with a sudden surge of passion, lose control and lean down to kiss him. However, as He Yu stared at the other student, his expression turned extremely unpleasant, as if his co-star wasn't his first love but the archnemesis who'd killed his father.
Because they were just practicing, they didn't need to worry about the continuity of the scene too much. Seeing the way He Yu had turned silent and still, the male student who was hugging him around the neck swung his arms slightly and spoke up in a soft voice. "Ge, kiss me."
It would've been fine if the student hadn't used that gentle tone, but as soon as he softened his voice, He Yu shoved him away. He truly couldn't bear it anymore. Face pale, he asked the director, "I'm sorry, can we use an angled shot?"
The person in charge of this short film was a second-year graduate student who was top in the directing major and an extremely stubborn, cool xuejie. She shook her head mercilessly. "You might be able to negotiate this with someone else, but not with me. I said it clearly when I stated my requirements for my actors. I never use angled shots."
He Yu was speechless.
"Granted, we're only rehearsing right now, so you don't have to kiss him for real." The director xuejie turned to the other male student once more and said, "And, you, don't go overboard. You have to let He Yu overcome his mental block, okay? After all, he's not you. You're our school's renowned homo, while he's the renowned straight guy."
The young man was actually fine being referred to as a homo. He was different from his fellow closeted comrades, but he was a bit on the extreme side, believing that everyone had to accept LGBT people, and that those who didn't ought to be buried alongside good ol' Empress Dowager Cixi in the catacombs of history as heretics.
He Yu was a relatively restrained person, so although he was homophobic, he didn't express it openly. Thus, believing that his partner was the type who could be converted by force, the young man had acted with unbridled enthusiasm.
Deliberately forcing He Yu into this role was an extremely effective means of bullying him, striking him precisely where it hurt. Xie Qingcheng finally felt his irritation ease as he watched He Yu beginning to appear almost carsick, his face green enough to rival a sour plum dangling on a branch in May.
He Yu used to be an unfussy child, but ever since their reunion, both his ambitions and physical stature kept scaling newer heights. He no longer held Xie Qingcheng in any regard and even dared to challenge him.
It was only now, as Xie Qingcheng sneeringly watched how helpless He Yu became in the face of crisis, that he finally remembered how it felt to crush the boy in the past. His coldly solemn face, with its sharply defined features, softened at the thought.
It really was quite amusing.
"Oh, Professor Xie." The director spotted the medical consultant for The Many Faces of Malady. It just so happened to be break time, which gave He Yu some time to adjust his mindset, so she struck up a conversation with Xie Qingcheng.
"He Yu's really no good. He's done a terrible job in this role."
"Is that so?"
"Hey, why don't you talk to him? Tell him that gay people are exactly the same as ordinary people, and that there's really no difference when it comes to love. Just look at the way he's acting—it's like he's a zombie. I really can't with him…"
Lighting a cigarette, Xie Qingcheng said, "Very well, tell him to come over here." He walked behind the heavy curtain of the rehearsal room's stage to wait, as he found the area in front too noisy.
After a while, an ashen-faced He Yu swept aside the hanging cloth and walked through. The velvety red curtains closed behind him. There was no one else here, and as soon as the curtains hid him from potential onlookers' line of sight, He Yu shoved Xie Qingcheng against the wall with a bang, hard enough that ash tumbled from Xie Qingcheng's cigarette.
"Xie Qingcheng, do you want me to wreck you?" he demanded. "Is that it?"
Xie Qingcheng was also very tall, so even though He Yu was pinning him tightly against the ice-cold wall, he didn't seem weak at all. He looked He Yu up and down with those apathetic peach-blossom eyes. "I told you that you must remain calm under any and all circumstances."
He Yu glared.
Soft mockery perfumed with the scent of tobacco drifted between their breaths. Xie Qingcheng asked in a low voice, "Do you not understand?"
He Yu made no response.
"Let go of me."
A few seconds later, figuring that he couldn't really strangle Xie Qingcheng to death, He Yu shoved him away viciously.
"You're making me play this role even though you know that I despise homosexuality."
"So?" Xie Qingcheng took his cigarette into his mouth. From this angle, He Yu could vaguely make out his delicate white teeth. "If you can't control your emotions when it comes to something so insignificant, then what more is there to be said about anything else?"
"You're abusing your power to get even."
Xie Qingcheng's smile was mildly derisive. "You can certainly say so… But what can you do about it?"
He Yu couldn't figure out what to say.
"Go and play your part properly." Xie Qingcheng straightened out He Yu's collar. In the darkness cast by the heavy curtains, he gazed placidly up at the youth he had tormented into misery. "I have high expectations of you."
"He Yu, get back here! We're starting!" the director yelled from outside.
He Yu lingered for a moment, glaring menacingly at Xie Qingcheng. "Just you wait."
"Go on, then," Xie Qingcheng said, utterly unbothered.
He Yu walked back out with a dark expression on his face.
The rehearsal resumed.
This time, it was even worse. Previously, He Yu seemed as though he was carsick; now, he looked extremely, severely, life-threateningly seasick. The more that male student clung to him and tried to drag him deeper into the act, the more vehemently He Yu resisted. It was literally like shoving an ox's head underwater when it refused to drink.
He rehearsed that scene with the other student several more times, but He Yu's performance was truly too disastrous. Every line of dialogue, every gesture and movement of his portrayal was littered with over a dozen mistakes. Not a single take came out smoothly.
Once again, the cool director shouted, "Cut!" Then, she rolled up the script and roundly scolded He Yu. "Good god, man! Are you a robot? Can you please relax your arms and legs a little?! And stop acting as though you're about to be violently assaulted, okay? You love him! You love him a lot! He's your first love, and you're only fifteen—you're very innocent, very brash and impetuous. You think that you have a beautiful future ahead of you. Your heart is filled with courage, and you're ready to take on the whole of society. Do you understand this feeling? Dage! This is the fifth time! Can you please put some heart into it?!"
Thanks to He Yu's public persona as a young man with a great temperament—without a hint of his antisocial personality—everyone thought of him as a model student, and the director wasn't afraid to harangue him like this. But He Yu didn't really have the mental energy to hold a grudge against his xuejie. His co-actor's fervent enthusiasm and sincere eyes were driving him to the brink of insanity.
When his xuejie shouted "cut," he simply allowed her to berate him as she pleased while he pressed a hand to his throbbing temples and walked around in circles trying to calm himself.
As he was doing so, he caught sight of the main culprit, Xie Qingcheng, leaning against the wall with his long legs leisurely crossed. He Yu had to stop himself from lunging at the man and throttling him to death in his rage. Xie Qingcheng shot him a cold smile, then lowered his head and took out his phone—he was about to give He Yu a taste of his own medicine. Three seconds later, He Yu's phone vibrated in his pocket.
"…Sorry, director, I just got a message. Let me check it before we start."
"Hurry up! Such a diva when your acting is so crappy!"
He Yu opened the message Xie Qingcheng sent to him in full view of the crowd.
1 unread message from Godfather.
"Godfather" was the nickname He Yu had given Xie Qingcheng on his phone. He felt that Xie Qingcheng was way too much like a feudal patriarch, to the point that he acted even more like his dad than his actual dad.
Xie Qingcheng's text read, "Such dedication. I look forward to your kiss scene."
He Yu's expression turned chilly, striking fear into the girl next to him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Xie Qingcheng turned his head and pursed his lips, appearing cold and calm, as if He Yu losing his mind had nothing to do with him at all. He Yu took a deep breath and fixed his almond eyes unblinkingly on Xie Qingcheng, like he wanted to pin him down and nail him to the wall with his gaze.
"…It's nothing."
Just then, the director xuejie's distinctively loud voice rang out from the other side of the room. "Huh? Really? Is that true?"
The crowd's attention turned toward her. As it turned out, the acting consultant had gone over and said something that astonished her so deeply that she couldn't help but be skeptical. But if nothing else, this xuejie respected her elders, so in the end, after a moment's hesitation, she nodded. "All right. There's no harm in trying it, so let's do as you said. It's not like his acting could get any worse."
She waved at He Yu from a distance. "Xuedi, come here for a sec!"
After some soul searching, He Yu realized that in all nineteen years he'd been alive, he'd never really been afraid of anything—but when he saw her beckoning like that, he actually found himself reluctant to approach.
Xie Qingcheng sat nonchalantly in his chair with his legs crossed. He urged He Yu on silently by mouthing, "Go on."
He Yu could only shoot Xie Qingcheng a glare that said "You're dead! Just you wait!" before walking toward the director like he was climbing the gallows.
No one could've foreseen the utterly unthinkable words that came so casually out of the director's vermilion lips. "He Yu, why don't you try changing your scene partner first?"
Dumbfounded, He Yu frowned. "Changing my partner?"
"That's right," the director replied with an impatient wave of her hand. She saw that the young man who was acting opposite He Yu was shocked and about to protest, but she mollified him before he could complain. "Calm down, it's just a temporary change. We don't have much time left tonight anyway."
She turned back to He Yu. "You can pick any random person here, anyone who appeals to you. I'll give you some time to talk, then I'll watch you act out a short scene and see if there's any improvement."
He Yu didn't understand at first, but as realization began to dawn, he narrowed his eyes and slowly turned his head. He ran his tongue over his teeth as he looked back, his grin spreading so wide that his canines peeked out.
"I've already made my pick, director." He looked at Xie Qingcheng, who was still watching the show in high spirits, and said with a smile, "I choose him."
"…You want the medical consultant to act this out with you?"
"Is that not okay?"
The director grimaced and said to He Yu in a low voice, "You'd better choose someone else. He's not from our school, and he's such a famous professor, it'll be hard to convince him."
"I don't feel anything toward these other people. He's the only one here I find somewhat appealing." He Yu said softly, "Xuejie, please let me try it with him."
Although this cool director was fierce, she was still very much a straight woman at heart. It was very difficult for her to remain unmoved when being coaxed so gently by a handsome young man.
"A-all right then… I'll go talk to him…"
"No need. I know him, so I can go talk to him myself." He Yu smiled, already making his way over to Xie Qingcheng.
Xie Qingcheng had already vaguely overheard their conversation and was watching He Yu walk toward him with a subtle expression. He Yu was very courteous in front of others; he took Xie Qingcheng's hand in a gentlemanly way and led him to the deserted area behind the curtain. The moment the red curtain fell, however, the gentleman's expression changed—from gentle and refined to degenerate and depraved.
Surrounded by the fluttering red curtains, He Yu leaned forward and murmured softly against Xie Qingcheng's neck. "Professor Xie, did you know that there's a thing in this world called karmic retribution?"