The Eye of the Storm

Liang Sizhe was also quite surprised when he received the news of being shortlisted from Zheng Yin.

After "Red Man, Red Woman" was finished, Cao Xiuyuan did mention the matter of applying for the Academy Awards, but then the film was unable to be released. Liang Sizhe once thought that this matter would be nothing at all, but Cao Xiuyuan insisted on applying.

During those six months, he was filming in retreat abroad and rarely paid attention to domestic news.The actors in the same crew probably took into account his relationship with Cao Xiuyuan, and deliberately avoided him when discussing this matter.

So it wasn't until mid-April that the film was finished and Liang Sizhe flew to Hong Kong to attend the Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony, only to realize that the domestic entertainment industry had changed.

At this time, it has been a full month since Zhang Minghan accused Cao Xiuyuan of indecent assault. With the attention of the whole society, the police opened a case for investigation on this matter, but perhaps because many key evidences were not provided enough after four years, the result of the investigation was delayed. Not announced yet.

After hearing the news, Liang Sizhe immediately looked through the news for nearly a month, but apart from Zhang Minghan's side's several statements that he would insist on pursuing this matter to the end, there is actually not much effective information, and Cao Xiuyuan never came forward to explain it. .

Cao Xiuyuan and Zheng Yin didn't arrive in Hong Kong until the day of the awards ceremony. They went back to the hotel to rest for a while, and they didn't plan to participate in this year's red carpet.

Liang Sizhe was sitting on the sofa in the hotel at the time, flipping through related reports with a pad, Xu Yunchu knocked on the door to remind him: "Director Cao and Producer Zheng are here and are resting in room 1305, do you want to pay a visit?"

"Okay, I'll go right away." Liang Sizhe responded, put the pad in his hand aside, got up and walked out of the room.

On the way to the room, Liang Sizhe was still thinking about Zhang Minghan.

He never believed that Cao Xiuyuan would do such an obscene act. He and Cao Xiuyuan had collaborated in two films, and the filming period was very long. Any behavior that exceeds the rules, and all physical contact is due to the director's normal instructions to the actors.

Liang Sizhe could see that what Zhang Minghan said in the interview was intended to lead the media to pay attention to the improper relationship between himself and Cao Xiuyuan.

It's ridiculous, Liang Sizhe thought, based on this alone, he can conclude that Zhang Minghan's words are pure slander.

——It's just... Did Cao Ye also see those news?Will he believe Zhang Minghan's accusation?The father who has always been admired but alienated is suddenly recognized by many people as a sinner who molested a minor. Doesn't anyone feel bad?I hope he doesn't believe Zhang Minghan's nonsense.

Liang Sizhe walked to the door of the room, raised his hand and knocked on the door.

Zheng Yin came over and opened the door, he shared a suite with Cao Xiuyuan, and seemed to be discussing something in the living room at this moment.The conversation probably wasn't pleasant, Zheng Yin looked unhappy, he had always controlled his emotions properly, but when he suddenly became serious, he almost seemed to be a different person.

"Sizhe is here." Zheng Yin eased his tone, "Go and sit in the living room."

Cao Xiuyuan didn't see anything strange on his face, so he asked Liang Sizhe to sit across from him, and asked him briefly what film he was filming, and said that "The Wind Rises" was a good choice, and the timing was just right to go in front of the public. Take some genre films with good quality. It is easy to get lost if you only act in literary films. You should broaden your horizons and accept more films of different genres.

Liang Sizhe responded one by one. He didn't meet Cao Xiuyuan often outside the play, but every time he met, Cao Xiuyuan would mention him a few words.

After chatting a few words back and forth, Cao Xiuyuan finished what he needed to say, and seemed to have no interest in continuing the chat.

In the past, it was Zheng Yin who started the conversation, but today Zheng Yin didn't talk too much, and kept typing on the phone with his head down, as if he was sending a message.

Both the master and the apprentice are not people who have nothing to say, so Liang Sizhe planned to get up and leave.

Just as he was about to speak, Zheng Yin, who had been silent by the side, raised his head and said, "It's settled, 1000 million."

Cao Xiuyuan didn't speak at first, and after a few seconds, he took a cigarette and bit it in his mouth. After lighting it up and taking a puff, he sneered and said, "I won't give him a penny."

"Don't talk too much," Zheng Yin said calmly, "You have to pay a price for this matter."

Cao Xiuyuan turned his face to smoke, and waved his hand to disperse the white mist, "Sizhe, you go out first."

Liang Sizhe responded, then got up and walked out of the room.

When he opened the door, he heard Zheng Yin say from behind: "I'll go to the bank later."

"I told you to leave it alone." Cao Xiuyuan said slightly angrily, "If you dare to give him this money, don't follow me in the future."

With a "click", Liang Sizhe closed the door. The sound insulation effect of the room is very good. Once the door is closed, no sound in the room can be heard.

1000 million?Is it for Zhang Minghan?What does Zheng Yin mean by "paying the price"?Could it be that Teacher Cao had indeed acted obscenely towards Zhang Minghan?Liang Sizhe shook his head, no, Mr. Cao would not be such a person, and judging from his tone, he didn't seem to think that he had done anything wrong.

The awards ceremony that night was extremely competitive, and "Red Man, Red Woman" had a great momentum, but suffered from Waterloo, and only won the Best Cinematography Award.

When returning to the hotel, Liang Sizhe was in a nanny car with Cao Xiuyuan and Zheng Yin. Before closing the door, a reporter tried to squeeze the microphone in and asked, "Liang Sizhe, as the most popular actor candidate before, how do you feel now?"

Liang Sizhe didn't speak, Cao Xiuyuan, who was sitting on the side, said coldly, "What kind of mood can he be in? From now on, act less and live longer. I'm not afraid that no actor will take it." After finishing speaking, he closed the car door with a "bang" and put all the Reporters are shut out.

Zheng Yin turned his head several times and hesitated to speak, Cao Xiuyuan urged in a nonchalant tone: "If you want to say something, say it quickly."

"I'm not talking about you," Zheng Yin restrained his tone, "You talk to reporters with a little sense of proportion. Mr. Zhu Qingyun is over 90 years old. You are a junior. It is inappropriate to say this, and the media don't know how to add fuel to it later. .”

"Is it a little challenging for an actor in his 90s to play an old man in his 90s? In the end, he won the best actor. This is a joke."

"You are already in your 40s, don't be so self-willed in doing things." Zheng Yin started, "I analyzed it for you when I applied for the Academy Awards. No matter how good the evaluation committee is, it is impossible to award him the award. The same is true for the best film. If you enter the competition without getting the dragon mark, the judging committee dared to award this award to you. It is already too late for you to be shortlisted. I gave you enough face, but if you don't listen, you have to sign up. Now it's done, and you won't be able to develop in the mainland for the next five years..."

Cao Xiuyuan interrupted him impatiently: "The award ceremony is over, what's the use of talking about it?"

"The award is over, but Zhang Minghan's business is not over. He finally played the second male lead in your film. He has been struggling for more than a year and is trying to make a comeback with this film. You signed up for the competition , the film will not be released in the Mainland within five years... In order to justify Sizhe's name and let him win a best actor, Zhang Minghan has spent more than a year in vain, can he balance his mind?"

"He may not be able to stand up after the film is shown."

"Whether he can stand up is his business. Whether it can be released or not is up to you. If you want me to say, you will spend 1000 million to do it. If Zhang Minghan dares to do this now, he is sure that you will not be able to be in the mainland in the next five years." Development, there is no way to deal with him, since he changed his age, I can see that his intentions are not right, I have already advised you, let you be careful..."

"Okay," Cao Xiuyuan closed his eyes, "I told you not to worry about this matter, if you want to talk about it, you can get out of the car and talk about it."

"Okay, then I'll get out of the car." The car stopped at the intersection of traffic lights, Zheng Yin simply pushed the door and got out of the car, the moment the light changed to green, there were beeps one after another, Liang Sizhe turned his face sideways, and looked out the window Zheng Yin, Zheng Yin strode through the gap between vehicles and hurried to the opposite side of the road.

After returning to the room, Liang Sizhe was about to fall asleep, when someone knocked on the door outside, and Zheng Yin's voice sounded from behind the door: "Sizhe, it's me."

Liang Sizhe walked over to open the door: "Uncle Yin."

Zheng Yin seemed to have returned to his usual gentle appearance: "Sizhe, don't take what you heard today to heart, don't make wild guesses, and don't spread it indiscriminately."

"I won't spread it to the outside world," Liang Sizhe said, but he frowned slightly, and after a while he still expressed his concerns, "But Teacher Cao..."

"How could he be obscene?" Zheng Yin heard his concerns and smiled with disdain.

"I don't think Teacher Cao will either." Liang Sizhe said.Although he believed that Cao Xiuyuan would not do obscene acts from the beginning, he was relieved when Zheng Yin said this.

The next day they flew back to China, and Zheng Yin arranged security guards to pick them up at the airport in advance.After leaving the VIP hall, the reporters swarmed over, trying to get past the security guards and put the microphone in front of Cao Xiuyuan:

"Is the breach of contract to participate in the competition to fulfill the previous promise to let Liang Sizhe win the best actor?"

"Master Zhu Qingyun's family asked you to apologize in public, will you agree?"

"Is it because the obscenity incident has been silent because I dare not face it?"

"I was banned from filming for five years, what do I plan to do in the future?"

Cao Xiuyuan did not respond to the reporter, and walked towards the elevator without saying a word. After entering the elevator, another reporter asked loudly: "Zhang Minghan exposed a text message from four years ago this morning. Is the content of the text message true? "

Cao Xiuyuan looked at the reporter: "What text message?"

The reporter tried to squeeze into the elevator, but was stopped by bodyguards.After the elevator door closed, Cao Xiuyuan said to Zheng Yin: "Check what text messages they are talking about."

Zheng Yin bowed his head to type on the phone, and handed the search results to Cao Xiuyuan.

Cao Xiuyuan took it and looked at it for a while, but there was no reaction on his face, and he returned the phone to Zheng Yin.

Liang Sizhe got into the nanny car sent by the company to pick up the plane. The assistant immediately gossiped and found out the report that the reporter just mentioned, and handed it to Liang Sizhe: "Is this true or not?" Concerned that Liang Sizhe respected Cao Xiuyuan, the assistant Carefully add another sentence, "It's easy to forge text messages..."

Liang Sizhe took over the phone and looked at the screenshot of the text message provided by Zhang Minghan - "Come to the Cannes Hotel 11 at 2208 p.m.." The sender's information showed "Director Cao", and the sending time was in October five years ago, and it was Zhang Minghan The time when Cao Xiuyuan filmed for the first time.

Someone pointed out in the comments below that "Giannis Hotel" is the property of Cao Xiuyuan's brother Cao Xiuyuan, and Cao Xiuyuan chose to work in his own hotel. No wonder Zhang Minghan could not provide clear evidence.

Looking further down, there are two other news headlines related to this news:

""Red Man, Red Woman" came back as a feather, and Liang Sizhe lost the battle for Best Actor"

"The 91-year-old actor Zhu Qingyun won the Best Actor Award at the Academy Award, and Cao Xiuyuan said it was because of 'living long'"

Liang Sizhe returned the phone to the assistant, closed his eyes and wanted to rest for a while, but he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Are the text messages real?That straightforward tone is indeed Cao Xiuyuan's style, but Cao Xiuyuan doesn't seem to have the habit of calling actors to the room to give lectures. If this text message is true, then why did Cao Xiuyuan ask Zhang Minghan to meet him at a private hotel so late?

Liang Sizhe also thought about the conversation between Zheng Yin and Cao Xiuyuan in the room on the day of the award ceremony. It seemed that he had reached an agreement with Zhang Minghan to settle the matter with 1000 million yuan, but Cao Xiuyuan rejected the proposal.

A thought suddenly popped up - Zheng Yin said that Cao Xiuyuan would not commit obscene acts, this should be true, but could it be... What really happened between Cao Xiuyuan and Zhang Minghan?

*

At the end of May, Cao Ye accompanied Li You back to the country.

Li You suffers from advanced lymphoma and has been lying in the hospital for treatment for nearly a year.A month ago, she suddenly proposed to go back to China. The flight from the United States to China would take more than ten hours. The doctor advised her to rest in the hospital, but Li You was determined, and quickly asked a friend to help with the discharge procedures.

The waivers from the hospital and the airport were all signed by Cao Ye. After Cao Ye took the documents, he couldn't bear to read any more after reading a few lines. All the waivers stated that if Li You had an accident on the way, all responsibilities were with the hospital and the hospital. The airline has nothing to do.

When signing, Cao Ye wrote his name stroke by stroke. He realized that Li You might leave at any time. This fact made him powerless and desperate, but he could only try his best to restrain his emotions, and he could not let himself stand in front of Li You. Show any signs of breakdown.

After Li You returned to China, Cao Ye's grandfather, Li Xianda, immediately sent someone to go through the hospitalization procedures for her, and hired a nurse for her. These days, she is temporarily in a domestic hospital.

Li Xianda also has a son who is an officer in the army. After Li Xianda divorced his first wife, he married a wife who was nearly 20 years younger than him. He was old enough to have a son. When Li You was born, he was nearly forty years old, and now he is 80 years old. old age.The old man is old and can't stay in the hospital for long every day. Most of the time, Cao Ye and Li You's boyfriend take turns to accompany the bed.

After the Golden Image Awards ceremony, Zhang Minghan began to release the evidence of the year one after another, and there were various rumors from the outside world, but Cao Ye deliberately did not pay attention to this matter.

He only hoped that Li You could spend the last journey of his life peacefully and not have any ties with Cao Xiuyuan anymore.As for Cao Xiuyuan, whether he slept with Zheng Yin or molested Zhang Minghan, it had nothing to do with their mother and son.

On the second day after returning to China, Cao Ye drove to his grandfather's house to pick up food and sent it to Li You's ward, but when he opened the door and walked into the ward, he found that Li You was not there. The nurse came in to make up the bed, saying that Li You had gone out and didn't know what to do .

Cao Ye put the incubator on the bedside, leaned on the table, and flipped through the old photos brought back from his grandfather's house. They were all photos of Li You when he was young. Li You at that time was bright and charming, and it was the most beautiful flowering period. when.

Cao Ye flipped through the photo album from beginning to end, but Li You still didn't come back, so he called Li You, and Li You got through quickly, there seemed to be the sound of western musical instruments playing in the phone, Li You said that she came out to see A friend, I'll be back in a while.

After hanging up the phone, Cao Ye opened the drawer and was about to put the photo album in, but he saw the newspaper in the drawer and the words "Cao Xiuyuan" on the front page title.

"Is this newspaper my mother is reading?" Cao Ye picked up the stack of newspapers and asked the nurse who was packing up.

"Yes," the nurse smiled at him, "Ms. Li's eyes hurt and she couldn't read the electronic screen, so I went to the newsstand downstairs and bought a newspaper to relieve her boredom."

Cao Ye didn't say anything. He lowered his head and scanned the contents of the newspaper. Zhang Minghan threw out new evidence. The accompanying picture was a photo of him on the set four years ago. He was naked and thin, with only a bath towel on him. , the lower body was slapped by the media, Cao Xiuyuan put a hand on his waist, and was talking to him with his head down.

A staff member of the props team also stood up to speak for Zhang Minghan, saying that when Zhang Minghan was filming, he was forced to shoot a lot of nude scenes, but in the end the film was deleted, leaving only a few frames. Did Director Cao do it on purpose?

It's disgusting.The vomiting feeling in his chest made Cao Ye feel a little uncomfortable. He thought of Zheng Yin calling "Brother Yuan" outside the door that day, and the image of their bodies overlapping each other, and then the person under him Changing into Zhang Minghan, Cao Ye closed his eyes for a long time, forcing himself not to think about those scenes.

He opened his eyes, stared at the report and thought, what would Li You think when he saw this report?It will only be more disgusting, right?

He had to persuade Li You to go back to the United States as soon as possible and stay away from these disgusting things, but Li You had to fly for more than ten hours to go back, could his body take it?

"Don't buy newspapers for her in the future," Cao Ye said to the nurse, "If she wants to read it, tell me, and I'll buy it."

"Hey, good." Seeing that his expression was not right, the nurse responded cautiously.

He took out his cell phone and was about to call Li You's boyfriend to ask him about Li You's current situation when the cell phone vibrated suddenly.

Seeing that it was an unfamiliar number, Cao Ye didn't answer it and hung up directly.

But the number called again soon after.

Cao Ye picked up this time, and the other end of the phone said, "Cao Ye, I'm Zhang Minghan. You've returned to China, haven't you?"

"What's wrong?" Cao Ye asked coldly.Even if Zhang Minghan was the victim of this incident, he couldn't sympathize with him. He just felt that everything related to Cao Xiuyuan was disgusting.

"I want to meet you," Zhang Minghan said, "Cao Ye, I don't think you should be kept in the dark. I will tell you many truths that you don't know."

"What truth?"

"For example, have you ever thought about the relationship between your father and Zheng Yin?"

"I don't want to know." After Cao Ye finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

The call from Zhang Minghan made Cao Ye feel very bad. Cao Ye was about to turn off the phone when the body shook, and the screen displayed a message, which was a recording from Zhang Minghan.

Cao Ye stared at the recording for a while, then raised his thumb to delete the recording, but his fingers trembled a little, and he clicked play.

Cao Xiuyuan's voice sounded: "Come here." Then he seemed to laugh, "What are you afraid of, haven't you done it?"

Then Zhang Minghan's voice also sounded, the voice sounded low, as if a little scared: "It hurts...Mr. Cao, please wait for a while, don't..."