Liang Xiao lowered his hand.
If his manager hadn’t been beside him, he would have almost thought he was dreaming again.
The best dream in years—everything in the room was as it had been, books on the table, soft lighting, exercise books neatly stacked to the top of the bookshelf, the TV plug strictly locked with a small padlock.
The furniture, which he had messed up according to his bizarre aesthetic, all stood silent and firm, guarding their positions in his memory.
Guarding the morning books, the evening meals, and every deep night when he had tiptoed back, only to be caught red-handed by young Huo Lan waiting for him in the living room.
Not yielding an inch.
Liang Xiao touched the familiar texture of the wallpaper, wanting to enter but withdrawing his hand.
“Is it—”
Duan Ming looked at him, hesitantly asking: “Did President Huo come back?”
Liang Xiao found his voice: “I don’t know…”
Liang Xiao forced a smile: “Or—maybe I went to the wrong place before, accidentally entered someone’s model home, and took a nap…”
“Nonsense,” Duan Ming gave him a look. “You wouldn’t get the way home wrong even in a dream.”
Liang Xiao’s last breath was also punctured by his manager. He leaned on the doorframe, bent over, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes to clear his mind for a moment.
…It shouldn’t be a dream.
No dream could be this good.
Liang Xiao’s internal organs were all aching from the tension. He opened his eyes and softly called for his manager: “Brother Duan—”
“…” Duan Ming looked down at Liang Xiao’s hand gripping his arm and endured it: “It’s not a dream.”
Liang Xiao hugged his small water gun tightly: “Really?”
Duan Ming really couldn’t figure out how Liang Xiao had managed to hide a water gun on himself all this way. He wiped the water from his face and humored him: “Really.”
Liang Xiao breathed a long sigh of relief: “Then give me a push…”
Duan Ming was puzzled: “Why?”
“Give me a push,” Liang Xiao was a bit embarrassed. “I can’t move.”
Duan Ming: “…”
Duan Ming didn’t indulge his affectation anymore. He freed his arm and decisively kicked the artist, who had been lingering at the doorway for a full five minutes, into the room.
–
The house was almost exactly the same as it had been years ago.
Liang Xiao checked each room, becoming more and more reluctant to move with each step, and finally sat down at the desk.
Duan Ming, afraid that Liang Xiao might turn into a fountain at any moment, wanted to keep him company by talking: “Is this your spot?”
“Yes,” Liang Xiao touched the desktop, reminiscing softly. “This is where I threatened President Huo that if he forced me to recite lessons again, I would jump out the window.”
Duan Ming had just started to build up an emotional atmosphere: “…Oh.”
Liang Xiao wanted to touch everything he saw. After fiddling with the pen holder on the desk for a while, he bent down to pull open a drawer: “Then he went out to buy me snacks.”
Duan Ming: “To coax you into reciting lessons?”
Liang Xiao shook his head: “To coax me down from the rooftop.”
Liang Xiao still remembered the scene, feeling emotional at the sight of the objects: “He was afraid I would fall, so he insisted that I tie a safety rope first, then carefully come down, with him catching me from below…”
…
Duan Ming couldn’t quite understand what was so nostalgic about these two people’s youth. He moved a small stool to sit at the side and cooperatively applauded.
Liang Xiao was quite engrossed in his own memories, searching through each drawer for treasures: “When I saw him waiting to catch me, I deliberately missed a step to scare him.”
Duan Ming finally found an opportunity: “Would President Huo then hold you and comfort you?”
Liang Xiao: “President Huo would hold me and make me write self-criticisms.”
Duan Ming: “…”
Liang Xiao couldn’t find his self-criticisms, so he searched through a few more drawers, gathered a handful of candies, unwrapped one, and popped it into his mouth.
Young Huo Lan was very serious back then, far less flexible than now, having prematurely entered the humorless sunset years of life. He could never distinguish between jokes and seriousness, with almost no sense of life’s pleasures.
Little Liang Xiao would pretend to miss a step, and each time it would scare Huo Lan into rushing over to catch him—it worked every time.
The young Huo Lan couldn’t make it snow; even when extremely angry, he could only severely criticize him, holding his breath as he carefully carried little Liang Xiao back to the room, took out a stack of paper, and made him write self-criticisms.
After writing, he had to recite them, strictly guaranteeing that in the future, he would never be careless, never act willfully, and always prioritize his own safety above all else.
Little Liang Xiao had been annoyed to the point of breakdown many times and had several times thought about drawing a cat on the serious fat sheep’s face in the middle of the night.
Liang Xiao found a large marker pen, thought carefully, and for safety’s sake, cautiously hid it in the deepest corner of the drawer.
“Can the candy still be eaten?”
Duan Ming took a piece of candy and checked the production date: “It’s fine, I thought President Huo had kept even the candy from back then…”
Liang Xiao smiled: “Actually, quite a few things are new.”
Duan Ming was taken aback: “Really?”
“The exercise books are now based on the new curriculum standards,” Liang Xiao nodded. “The sofa and bed are also new. The carpet originally had a small hole that I burned in it, but it’s gone now.”
He wasn’t really sure how President Huo had managed to find styles almost exactly the same as those from years ago, how much effort it had taken to find these things, or when he had started preparing.
The scenes in his memory were being pulled by the familiar room, gradually pieced back together, vividly coming to life.
Liang Xiao gripped his sleeve, quickly wiped his eyes, and swiftly confiscated the candy that his manager was about to unwrap.
Duan Ming had already had his arm pinched all the way here. Holding empty air, he was stunned: “I can’t even eat a piece of candy now?!”
Liang Xiao was also a bit embarrassed: “Downstairs… in the car, we have what we bought.”
They still had to wait at home for President Huo to finish work, a whole day’s time, and these might not be enough.
Liang Xiao really couldn’t bear to part with them. He protectively gathered the pile of candies, his ears burning with embarrassment: “They’re the same brand, take as many as you want…”
Duan Ming finally found an opportunity and immediately stood up to exit, leaving him alone as he strode downstairs.
…
Liang Xiao stood at the top of the stairs, waving goodbye to his manager from afar, closed the door, turned off the ceiling light in the living room as well, and walked to the window.
He was worried about President Huo, his manager was worried about him, but when truly faced with an unavoidable moment, most people could actually hold up.
But there were still many comforts to be had.
Liang Xiao walked to the window, saw the car below flash its lights several times, and also opened the window, waving his hand.
The van honked once, made a circle, and drove out of the residential area.
The house suddenly became quiet.
As the human shadow faded, the starlight and moonlight from outside began to explore inward, gradually tracing familiar outlines on the carpet.
Liang Xiao couldn’t bear to disturb the bedroom. He picked up a cushion, nestled into the sofa, and took out his phone.
When a person gets busy and suddenly has free time, it becomes particularly uncomfortable. He had been spinning like a top for years without stopping. During this period, having found some stability, he had taken a few breaths of rest, but had never had such idle time.
Liang Xiao opened Weibo and briefly looked at those half-true, half-false exposés.
Xingguan’s response plan was already very comprehensive. As long as they followed it, there was almost no need to worry further, and no mistakes would be made.
It was the best for everyone.
Liang Xiao read the interview script prepared to deal with the situation several times, memorized it fairly well, casually stuffed it into the sofa crack, rested his head on his arm, lay down, and closed his eyes.
He had actually spent more time sleeping on this sofa than on the bed in the bedroom. Huo Lan often studied until late at night, and he, bored and alone, would always come out to tease the other, say a few words, and do some useless things.
The overly serious and mature youth in his memories seemed boring no matter how you looked at him, so boring that one couldn’t help but worry about him, wondering how dreadfully dull his life would become if he continued like this forever.
Liang Xiao had always lived happily and freely. Whenever he saw Huo Lan create a box and trap himself in it, he couldn’t help but erase the box and forcibly drag him out.
After dragging for so long, he suddenly realized that the ones who couldn’t let go had become both of them.
Liang Xiao opened his eyes, looked at the desk beside the sofa for a while, and an exceptionally relaxed, lazy weariness washed over him, gradually pulling him back into a long-absent tranquility.
He hadn’t dreamed about the young man for a long time. This time, he prepared to dream of Huo Lan.
–
President Huo finally escaped from the program team, but it was already noon the next day.
Liang Xiao had gotten up early, found his way to the early market that was nearly being demolished, bought rice, flour, vegetables, and meat, and buried himself in the kitchen for a whole day, producing a table full of rarely proper dishes.
When President Huo entered the door, Liang Xiao was concentrating on cracking walnuts.
Unlike President Huo, who was experienced after many years, Liang Xiao had no experience in this matter. With one hammer strike, the walnut flew toward the door with almost fierce momentum.
President Huo dodged in time, watching as the walnut violently hit the wall and bounced down the stairs with a series of jumps: “…”
Liang Xiao held the hammer: “…”
Law-abiding, jointly maintaining a good community environment.
Comprehensively avoiding various personal injuries and property losses caused by someone accidentally stepping on a walnut while going down the stairs.
Liang Xiao really couldn’t control his reflexes. He jumped up from the sofa, stuffed the hammer into the hands of their dust-covered President Huo who had just returned home, and went downstairs to chase the walnut.
Everything happened so rapidly. President Huo stood at the door holding the hammer, stunned for a while, before seeing Liang Xiao hurriedly coming back up.
“Did it go well?”
Liang Xiao had run fast, his forehead slightly sweating: “Why so quick? I saw Director Yin post about hitting a wall on his Moments, and thought you’d be filming until evening…”
President Huo pulled him into his arms and tightened his embrace.
Their chests lightly bumped together. Liang Xiao opened his mouth, immediately forgetting what he was about to say, and raised his arms in response.
He let President Huo hold him, lowered his head and was quiet for a moment, pressed his lips together and smiled for a while, his eyes reddening.
Liang Xiao hugged President Huo back, nuzzling slightly against his neck: “Welcome home.”
…
Liang Xiao was about to speak again when the arms behind him tightened as much as possible, pressing their chests, shoulders, and heartbeats tightly together without a gap.
Liang Xiao rubbed against the fabric on his shoulder, looked up to meet President Huo’s gaze, and smiled at him.
President Huo pressed his lips together, wanted to speak but couldn’t make a sound, and raised his hand to gently rub his head.
Liang Xiao generously let him rub, actively nuzzling against the warm palm on top of his head.
He wasn’t sure how many times this scene had appeared in President Huo’s dreams. Perhaps in every deep night when he opened the door in his dreams, President Huo was having the same dream.
Open the door, open the door, open the door…
Open the door, and then nothing.
Liang Xiao held President Huo’s hand, placed it on his chest, over his heartbeat that lightly knocked against his chest wall.
President Huo held him and closed the door.
The lock clicked, and Liang Xiao’s breath caught slightly. He turned his head, trying hard to suppress the moisture in his eyes, smiling as he looked up to speak, but President Huo kissed his eyes.
“You’ve worked hard,” President Huo kissed him. “I’m here.”
President Huo: “I’m here now.”
…
Throughout the meal, Liang Xiao was calming his emotions, holding back tears, and trying to stop making hail, with no extra concern for why Director Yin was hitting walls.
The two hadn’t properly sat down for a meal at home for too long. By the time they finally put down their chopsticks, it was well into the afternoon.
The essence of summer was becoming more apparent, with bright, hot light dazzlingly penetrating through the curtains, making even the breeze warm and lazy.
President Huo got up to wash the dishes, but Liang Xiao pulled him back: “No rush.”
President Huo stopped with his pull: “What do you want to do?”
Liang Xiao’s ears warmed. He looked at the sofa and carpet warmed by the sun and pulled President Huo over.
Back then, he had been willing to hit his head rather than move the bookshelf, just to make room for this patch of sunlight.
Liang Xiao had been looking forward to this for a long time, but due to young Huo Lan either being in class or studying during these precious time slots, he had never put it into practice. Now, he rolled up his sleeves and quickly transformed the sofa into a different shape.
President Huo had never known that his home’s sofa could transform: “When did—”
“It always could,” Liang Xiao yawned, pulling President Huo to nestle in together. “Your desk panel can also be removed.”
President Huo: “…”
He had never paid attention to what little Liang Xiao had done back then. As Liang Xiao pulled him to lean back on the sofa, he suddenly had a realization: “Was the clothes rack also modified by you?”
“Yes,” Liang Xiao adjusted their President Huo according to the shape of the sofa. “With a slight modification, it becomes human-shaped, making clothes dry more easily without wrinkles…”
President Huo pondered for a moment but still didn’t mention how the housekeeper had come to take things from the house late at night and had been so frightened by the clothes floating on the balcony rack that she had resigned that very night.
Liang Xiao was enthusiastically tinkering. President Huo quietly watched him for a while, smiled, and reached out to pull him into his arms.
Liang Xiao was caught off guard, suddenly falling into his embrace. Where he fell, there he lay, adapting to the situation by curling up into a ball.
The air conditioning in the room was just right, and President Huo’s side was cool. Being warmed by the sun, comfort and laziness kept seeping out from his bones.
With perfect timing, location, and harmony, Liang Xiao had gotten up too early and was almost too drowsy to keep his eyes open: “Honestly, this type of pheromone is really useful in summer…”
President Huo looked down at him, smiled, and pulled Liang Xiao closer into his arms: “Sleep.”
Liang Xiao was a bit worried that he might sneak off to study, and struggled to keep one eyelid open: “What about you?”
“Together,” President Huo said softly. “I won’t wake up earlier than you.”
Liang Xiao was completely satisfied, curled up in the natural air-conditioning type pillow’s embrace, and fell soundly asleep.
President Huo held him, quietly gazed at him for a long time, gently kissed his brow, and also closed his eyes.
–
Another day passed, and Xingguan’s team came specially to take the two of them to the scheduled venue.
The press conference promotion still centered on “Year’s End,” with President Huo attending as an investor at the end of the press conference.
According to the arrangement, business reporters would ask questions first, and President Huo would first respond and explain Xingguan’s recent major moves. When entertainment reporters brought up Liang Xiao’s matter, they would present the pre-prepared contract, and at the same time, have Liang Xiao officially come forward to jointly provide a clarification statement.
Xingguan had deep resources in the industry, and everything that needed to be arranged had already been arranged, with thorough preparation for reporters’ questions. To maximize the avoidance of accidents, the reporters responsible for “stirring up trouble” were specially arranged from their own people.
Having never held such a formal press conference before, Liang Xiao hadn’t even entered the venue when he was surrounded by over-excited media, suddenly giving him a real sense of his explosive popularity.
“We’ve already blocked several waves, and there are still many of your fans who came early to wait… and many reporters too.”
Duan Ming also rarely dealt with such scenes. Even before getting out of the car, he was already feeling nervous and lowered his voice to instruct: “I’ll be a bit fierce later, not allowing you to say anything. Just be prepared to be driven away.”
“…” Liang Xiao was surprised: “Can’t you be gentler?”
“Can’t be gentle, after all, it’s a cold monetary transaction,” Duan Ming patted his shoulder. “Protect yourself.”
Liang Xiao: “…”
Duan Ming added: “Be a bit more solemn.”
Liang Xiao had just passionately revisited his youthful dreams last night and really couldn’t look solemn: “I need to get in the mood…”
Duan Ming opened Weibo and placed it in his hands.
…
The opposing side’s concrete evidence would only be released at midnight, and Xingguan also wanted to hold a press conference to clarify before then. Both sides were gathering strength, and with no one controlling the direction on Weibo for the moment, the arguments were fierce.
Where there’s fire, there are haters. Xingguan had been continuously protecting Liang Xiao’s comment section during this period. After being suppressed for a long time, the haters burst out all at once, even making several forums quite brutal.
Each side held their own views. Those who believed that he and President Huo indeed had a personal relationship all pointed to the so-called “entertainment circle chaos” of today, insisting that omega artists would submit to film company CEOs without limits or dignity for resources, freely mocking and ridiculing. Those who didn’t believe also insinuated, implying that Liang Xiao was riding the wave to rise to prominence without deserving it.
As the two sides argued more fiercely, many old matters were also dug up, and some people had even begun to sarcastically allude to Long Tao’s old affair from five years ago.
Even Duan Ming couldn’t bear to look anymore. He frowned, holding the phone with two fingers: “Have you gotten in the mood?”
Liang Xiao nodded sincerely: “I’ve gotten in the mood.”
“After this clarification, you’ll have to endure for a while,” Duan Ming said. “We can’t let people grab onto any handles. We’ll sacrifice a bit first to completely separate Xingguan from this.”
Liang Xiao smiled: “I know.”
“At worst, we’ll find a remote valley to film for half a year, seize the time to win an award, return triumphantly as a Best Actor, and form a strong alliance.”
Duan Ming encouraged him: “Then we’ll say that although you and President Huo were initially just a contract, biting led to feelings over time…”
Liang Xiao cooperatively sat up straighter and nodded: “Bit out feelings.”
“Right,” Duan Ming held his shoulders. “Are you cold now?”
Liang Xiao: “…I’m cold.”
Duan Ming looked at the sea of people outside the car, opened the door, and pulled him out of the car.
…
“Mr. Liang’s side is already prepared.”
The PR department head had come over specifically, watching as staff members attached a microphone to President Huo, and lowered his voice: “Our public opinion is also almost in position. As soon as you clarify on your side, we’ll immediately coordinate on our side.”
President Huo took the prepared question script and put the tablet computer he was holding aside.
“It’s just temporary!” The PR department head caught sight of the Weibo comments on the screen and hurriedly explained, “These gossips have the shortest memory. After this thorough clarification, with a little operation in the future, it can be reversed.”
The PR department head had done this kind of thing many times and was confident: “In the future, no one will remember these. After all, in this circle, strength is still respected. When Mr. Liang produces works, these criticisms can all be suppressed.”
President Huo’s expression was calm as he turned the tablet face down: “I know.”
His tone revealed no abnormality, his shoulders calm, his brows illuminated by the projector’s light, almost sharp and hard.
The PR department head lost confidence: “This kind of thing is normal in the circle. No one can be completely clean. If people like you, there will be people who curse you. If not this handle, there will be another…”
“These years… haven’t been easy for you,” the PR department head said softly. “Stock price fluctuations don’t really affect us much, but you’ve sacrificed so much for Huo Corporation all these years—”
The host was already inviting the investor to the stage. The PR department head felt inexplicably uneasy, stepped back, and made way for him.
The PR department head said softly: “President Huo… are you going to clear Mr. Liang’s name?”
President Huo lowered his gaze, lightly touched that cufflink, and meticulously adjusted it: “No need to clear.”
The PR department head was taken aback: “What?”
“There’s one thing that perhaps some people have forgotten.”
President Huo: “Mr. Liang has been clean and innocent from beginning to end.”
The PR department head was stunned for a while. A thought suddenly popped into his mind, and he didn’t know whether he should continue to persuade. He opened his mouth, looking at President Huo uneasily.
President Huo wasn’t looking at him. His gaze crossed half the venue, falling on the dark corner where the door connecting to backstage was tightly closed.
He had had countless dreams, opened countless doors.
The camera turned, the clamor of the scene vaguely quieted, and the spotlight made everything before his eyes a dazzling white.
President Huo stood up and walked toward the microphone.
##
