The Eye of the Storm

Liang Sizhe's 23rd birthday party was held on the top floor of a building over 500 meters high.

The economic company started preparing for this birthday party more than a month ago. They invited all the crew members of Liang Sizhe's past participation, actors and friends who have worked with Liang Sizhe, movie fans who have witnessed Liang Sizhe's debut for five years, and will soon record this event. One night media reporter.

The brokerage company collected relevant video materials from many sources, and edited Liang Sizhe's past five years into a documentary, from the young boy who auditioned for "Thirteen Days", to the young actor in a suit at the Academy Award ceremony, and then From the different costumes between youthful and mature in "Red Men and Red Women", and finally Liang Sizhe won the "Most Favorite Actor Award" at the College Student Film Festival for "The Wind Rises" two months ago.

Xu Yunchu talked about the giant electronic screen in the most prosperous area, and the first public screening of this documentary at [-] o'clock in the evening.

In the CBD square with tens of thousands of people, all the passers-by witnessed Liang Sizhe's growing stardom over the years.

Thousands of movie fans and passers-by stopped in the square, looked up at Liang Sizhe on the huge screen, the light and shadow merged with the boy, he seemed born for the big screen, even if it was magnified dozens of times on the screen , that delicately contoured face still stands up to careful scrutiny.

Editing alternately before and after the screen, people gradually discovered that Liang Sizhe's personality seemed to be changing with the roles he played, probably because it was too easy to get into the play. , Is it he who made the character, or the character made him.

The brokerage company is very ambitious, and they put out subtitles at the end of the film, saying that in the next five years, everyone is invited to witness the birth of superstars of this era.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the documentary finished and the birthday party officially began. Everyone in the banquet hall was booing for Liang Sizhe, the protagonist tonight, to speak on stage first. Although he didn't make any preparations, Liang Sizhe didn't refuse too much. Zhong got up and walked to the stage, bowing slightly to the stand microphone in front of him.

The voices in the hall suddenly fell silent, and everyone waited for him to speak with bated breath.

But Liang Sizhe lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then looked at the audience and said: "My agency organized this birthday party without my consent. I think this will be a reason to consider if we terminate the contract in the future."

The audience was silent for a second, and then burst into laughter. The senior leaders of the economic company looked at Liang Sizhe, smiled helplessly and shook their heads. They had nothing to do with him.

"Just kidding, thank you to everyone who came here. It's the first time in my life that so many people celebrate my birthday together. It feels... um," Liang Sizhe said after a pause, "It's quite strange. I hope everyone will be happy tonight Drink and have fun, nothing else."

After he finished speaking, he was about to get up and walk down the stage, when he thought of something, he turned sideways and added to the stand microphone, "By the way, superstars of the era don't always appear until people disappear Judging? I think it's a bit unlucky to say this at a birthday party, so don't take it seriously, just forget about it."

He has a relaxed posture and is able to do a job with ease. He uses a joking tone, but he speaks the truth.

He really didn't want to participate in this birthday party. Now that Cao Xiuyuan was splashed with dirty water and suffered such slander, he held a birthday dinner here with great fanfare, which really seemed too heartless.But the staff started planning the birthday party a month in advance, and sent invitations to hundreds of people. There was no way to cancel it temporarily, so he could only attend as scheduled.

What's more, the brokerage company has its own considerations. After the Golden Statue Awards, many people said that Cao Xiuyuan entered in violation of the rules just to let Liang Sizhe win another Best Actor, but Liang Sizhe lost without hope, so the bad-mouthing voices began to spread again. They said Even Cao Xiuyuan could not support Liang Sizhe with all his efforts, Cao Xiuyuan was banned from filming for the next five years, and Liang Sizhe's future was even more bleak.

The brokerage company was worried that the bad news would spread faster and faster, which would eventually affect Liang Sizhe's film contracts and resources, so they planned this birthday party and used a documentary to tell all audiences that, except for the lost Academy Award , Liang Sizhe still has many achievements worthy of attention.

At the end of the game, the assistant handed over the phone and said, Si Zhe, your phone vibrated just now, there should be news coming in.

Liang Sizhe looked down at the phone, the sender displayed "Cao Ye" - "Where are you now?"

Liang Sizhe was taken aback for a moment. In recent years, Cao Ye rarely took the initiative to send messages.After chasing after Lin Huan, Liang Sizhe sent him a message, but Cao Ye never replied.Liang Sizhe once thought that Cao Ye had changed his phone number or blocked himself, but he didn't expect that Cao Ye would suddenly send a message asking him where he was now.

Liang Sizhe sent the address and asked again: "Do you want to come here now?"

"Yes." Cao Ye replied the message.

Liang Sizhe stared at the phone screen for a while. Why did Cao Ye suddenly think of coming to him? Could it be that he couldn't bear the pressure of Cao Xiuyuan being slandered by public opinion, so he came to ask him for advice?Or did Cao Ye suddenly encounter a difficulty that he couldn't handle?You don't think that today is his birthday, so you come here to celebrate his birthday, right?Liang Sizhe smiled, he himself did not believe this statement.

But no matter what, seeing Cao Ye on his birthday, this year's birthday is quite special.He looked at the crowd in the banquet hall, listening to the sound of clinking wine glasses, he thought that maybe when most people were drunk, he could secretly take Cao Ye out and have a drink with him alone for a while.

-

Cao Ye didn't sleep for two days.

Although Zhang Minghan did not provide any new evidence to the media, the media focused on Liang Sizhe based on his last interview.

Many self-media have summarized the "intimate contact" between Liang Sizhe and Cao Xiuyuan over the years. The most classic scene is the night of the Academy Awards ceremony. When Cao Xiuyuan hugged Liang Sizhe, he lifted him off the ground.

In addition, the behind-the-scenes photos from the filming set of "Red Man, Red Woman" have become the "hardest hit area" for self-media to use their eyesight and imagination.Wearing a silk skirt and heavy makeup, Liang Sizhe seems to have a meaningful look with Cao Xiuyuan every time he looks at each other.As for the oversized men's suit worn by Liang Sizhe on the "Red Man Red Woman" poster, after careful comparison, they deduced that it was the suit worn by Cao Xiuyuan when he attended a certain film festival.

At the end of that article, although there is no clear evidence that there is any other relationship between Cao Xiuyuan and Liang Sizhe, all the details during the filming of "Red Man, Red Woman" are infinitely imaginative. A rookie selected by himself, but Liang Sizhe's meaning to Cao Xiuyuan is extraordinary.

This article made Cao Ye feel ridiculous, but he still read it word by word.

After reading it, Cao Ye felt that he was really a bit nervous, probably because he suddenly found out that the people around him were lying to him these days, so when he read this article, for a moment, he was a little afraid that the guesses in this article were all true .

But he quickly denied his thoughts. He thought that he wanted to help Liang Sizhe get rid of this disgusting rumor. Back then, he personally pushed Liang Sizhe to Cao Xiuyuan twice, and now he wants to pull Liang Sizhe away so that he can avoid getting involved. Get involved in this right and wrong.

He called Lin Yan, who was working in his brother's film company not long after he graduated from university.He remembered that Lin Yan said a while ago that his brother gave him a project, which was a road movie. The script was good, and there was no need to worry about the investment. But it was his first time as a producer, and the director, crew, and actors all had to be himself It's a bit overwhelming to start contacting.

When the phone was connected, "Ye Zi" was called over there, and Cao Ye asked straight to the point: "Brother Yan, have you decided to star in your road movie?"

"A few candidates are still being finalized, what's the matter?"

"Have you considered Liang Sizhe?" Cao Ye asked.

"Oh... your little beauty," Lin Yan laughed a few times, "Why, they have become rivals in love, and you still help him find resources?"

Cao Ye was not in the mood to joke, and asked again: "What do you think of him?"

"He's okay," Lin Yan said, "It's just that he's a little younger than we expected. Why, his "The Wind Rises" has a good box office, so it's not like he won't be able to get a movie, right?"

"Who knows if those films are reliable or not."

"Hey, you've thought about it enough. How about this, Yezi," Lin Yan suggested, "I've already formed half of my team, you invite Liang Sizhe over, and let's form the rest of the team together, what do you think?"

Lin Yan has been so busy with this film recently, the remaining work is quite tricky, and he is looking for someone to come over to help.Cao Ye may not be very reliable, and Cao Xiuyuan may not be able to help him if he has fallen recently, but with Zheng Yin's popularity in the circle, it is not a loss to invite Cao Ye over.At that time, when encountering someone who is uncertain, let Cao Ye ask Zheng Yin to come forward and say a few words, and the people in the circle should give him face.

After hanging up the phone, Cao Ye seemed to see the light of day after suppressing his depressed mood for the past few days.

He still remembered that during the Blue Banquet, he hooked Liang Sizhe's neck and asked him whether he would choose to cooperate with him or with Cao Xiuyuan.

Liang Sizhe said at the time, "Let's jump together."And now he is really going to invite Liang Sizhe to work together.

I won't pounce, Cao Ye thought.He will form the most reliable team, and many candidates immediately appear in his mind, and he thinks that he will make this film well at all costs.

——If this film is successful, Li You shouldn't regret giving birth so much, right?Cao Ye thought, since he was a child, he did not seem to have achieved anything. Li You asked him to practice the violin, and he has not practiced anything well so far.Although he said early on that he would make a movie in the future, he has not made a short film that can be released until now. He has been passing by all these years, and he wasted his time even after he went to college. No wonder Li You regretted giving birth to himself.

There is still time, Cao Ye comforted himself, the doctor said that Li You still has the last few months, enough time for him to make a film, at least let her see the rough cut version of the film.

-

At the birthday party, people kept coming to toast Liang Sizhe, sending him birthday wishes and gifts.The company specially invited a well-known banquet photographer to follow Liang Sizhe and record everyone's blessings to him. The blessing video will be posted on the Internet tomorrow morning to create momentum for Liang Sizhe's birthday party.

There were too many friends in the circle who came to toast, many of them were seniors, Liang Sizhe couldn't refuse, so he simply raised his head and drank all the toasts.He can drink quite well, but after drinking a few glasses of wine, he is still slightly drunk.

While drinking, Liang Sizhe looked towards the entrance from time to time, he was waiting for Cao Ye to appear.

When Lin Huan came to toast, Liang Sizhe's phone vibrated. He finished his glass of wine, said "excuse me" in apology, and walked out of the banquet hall.

"I'm here in the elevator." Cao Ye said on the phone.

Liang Sizhe responded, nodded to the friend who greeted him head-on, and walked sideways through the crowd in the banquet hall.

The brokerage company took over the top floor of this restaurant, and there were only a few people chatting in low voices in the corridor at the moment. Seeing Liang Sizhe coming out, they all stopped to say hello to him.

Turning out of the corridor, Liang Sizhe saw Cao Ye standing at the exit of the elevator at a glance. He lost a lot of weight, the baby fat on his face was gone, his pointed chin appeared, and he looked handsome and haggard.

Liang Sizhe felt worried when he didn't see Cao Ye, but when he saw Cao Ye, Liang Sizhe felt distressed.

After reading the news during these days, he became more and more certain that Cao Xiuyuan might not have molested Zhang Minghan, but something must have happened between him and Zhang Minghan.

For ordinary people, the sky is about to fall when parents cheat, but Cao Ye is facing a more serious situation. Cao Xiuyuan is a public figure, and everything he does will be made public, magnified and judged, and even abused and attacked. .

Liang Sizhe could imagine what Cao Ye had been through these days. Maybe every place he passed and everyone he met were talking about and criticizing Cao Xiuyuan with great interest.So how did Cao Ye survive these days?

There was no one at the elevator door, so Liang Sizhe approached and looked at Cao Ye for a moment.Then he took a step forward, raised a hand to briefly hug Cao Ye, and patted his back.

He was very close, and he could hear Cao Ye's swallowing sound. He thought that Cao Ye might be deliberately suppressing the emotions in his heart. When people suppress emotions, they will swallow subconsciously.

At the moment when the hug came over, Cao Ye felt an overwhelming sense of vulnerability. He quickly took a step back to calm down his emotions as soon as possible, then looked at Liang Sizhe and said, "Liang Sizhe."

Liang Sizhe said, "Yes."

Cao Ye got straight to the point. He had thought about this matter too many times in the past two days, and he couldn't wait to pull Liang Sizhe over to cooperate with him: "Don't accept Cao Xiuyuan's film."

Liang Sizhe was taken aback for a moment. He didn't expect that Cao Ye came here to tell him this. He quickly chose a compromise: "I haven't received an invitation from Teacher Cao yet."

"He already said in the interview that he will definitely ask you out for that film," Cao Ye looked at him, "Will you go?"

Liang Sizhe paused for a moment, looked at him and said, "If Teacher Cao calls me to act, Cao Ye, I can't refuse."

There was no hesitation on his face, and Cao Ye's heart suddenly turned cold. He thought that he might be too optimistic. Liang Sizhe had only been with him for three months, but he had worked with Cao Xiuyuan for four years. How could he have the confidence that Liang Sizhe would be sure? Will you come to cooperate with me?

"I..." Cao Ye settled down, and told him the draft he had made on the way here, "I have a resource here, the project that Lin Yan and his brother voted for, and Lin Yan is still in the team, if you can come , I will also form this team with him, I will find a way to hire the best photographer for you, find a director you like, it will not be worse than Cao Xiuyuan's film, do you want to think about it?"

Liang Sizhe looked at Cao Ye, the baby fat on the boy's face faded, but the childishness was still there, Cao Ye thought things too simply, he had never participated in the operation of the crew, so he came to make an appointment with Lin Yan's empty check When I really participated in the project, I still don't know what will happen.He himself didn't care, at most he would spend a few months with Cao Ye, but Cao Xiuyuan's movie was about to start, and he couldn't refuse Zheng Yin's invitation.

"Didn't you watch the news?" Seeing that Liang Sizhe was silent, Cao Ye tried his best to make himself look calmer, "Cao Xiuyuan molested Zhang Minghan, and the police have already filed a case for investigation. Isn't your choice to cooperate with him at this time helping the evildoers?"

"The matter of obscenity has not yet been settled." Liang Sizhe frowned. "Cao Ye, you have a little confidence in Teacher Cao. I don't think he would do such a thing..."

"You don't believe it, do you?" Cao Ye took out his phone from his pocket, looked down and found the message Zhang Minghan had sent him, and put the phone into Liang Sizhe's hand, "Look at that photo and that recording, click Listen to it, and you'll know it when you hear it."

Liang Sizhe took it over. He glanced at the photo, and then turned on the recording. As soon as the voice came out, Liang Sizhe's expression changed immediately. He looked up at Cao Ye: "Who sent this to you? Zhang Minghan?"

Cao Ye didn't speak, but just looked straight at Liang Sizhe.As soon as Cao Xiuyuan's voice came out, the psychological construction he had made was about to collapse again.

Liang Sizhe looked down at the phone screen, swiped to the bottom and quickly read a large paragraph of text sent by Zhang Minghan.He immediately thought of the 1000 million mentioned by Zheng Yin on the day of the award ceremony, so it was not settled that day, and now Zhang Minghan made his idea on Cao Ye again?Zhang Minghan went too far. He flung the photos and audio recordings in front of Cao Ye. Has he considered Cao Ye's acceptance?

Liang Sizhe returned the phone to Cao Ye, Cao Ye took it and looked at Liang Sizhe silently.

Liang Sizhe also looked at him, the young man's pale face was almost transparent, the air conditioner in the room was fully turned on, a thin layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, and he looked like he would collapse in a second.

"So, he is a beast, a sinner, and a rapist." Cao Ye said word by word.

Liang Sizhe frowned even tighter. He walked over and grabbed Cao Ye's wrist: "Cao Ye, calm down, don't talk about your father so impulsively, let's go, I will accompany you to find Uncle Yin to ask for clarification..."

Cao Ye broke free from his hand, and the composure he had maintained in front of Li You these days suddenly collapsed in front of Liang Sizhe.What he wanted to defeat him was probably the word "Uncle Yin". Back then, he pulled Liang Sizhe and insisted on letting him be called Uncle Yin together with him. Get together to deceive yourself.

"It didn't happen to you," Cao Ye took a step back and slammed his back against the elevator door. "What qualifications do you have to calm me down? Have you heard what those people said about you? They said about your relationship with Cao Xiuyuan It's not that simple..."

"Do you believe it?" Liang Sizhe stared at him.

Cao Ye swallowed his throat: "I don't believe it."

"You are willing to trust me, why not your dad? Isn't the purpose of Zhang Minghan's text message not obvious enough? He just wants to use you to get money from your dad. The more you break down, the more you let him succeed... Cao Ye, I just think that the crime of obscenity is too heavy. Even if your father did something wrong, he should not be treated as a sinner. Besides, all the facts are unclear now. Photos can be forged, recordings can be edited, and no one saw it with his own eyes. I don’t think it’s easy to jump to conclusions about things…”

"But I saw it with my own eyes." Cao Ye interrupted him.

Liang Sizhe was stunned: "What?"

"Do you believe it?" Cao Ye forced a smile, "A few years ago, I saw Cao Xiuyuan and Zheng Yin having sex with my own eyes."

The news was so sudden, Liang Sizhe fell into shock, opened his mouth, but said nothing.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps in the corridor, and the photographer poked his head out from the corner: "Si Zhe, it's time to take a group photo, and they asked me to call you."

"...Understood." Liang Sizhe hastily responded.

"This is your friend, isn't it?" Seeing that they seem to be close, the photographer came over with the camera on his shoulders, "Handsome guy, do you want to record a birthday greeting for Sizhe?"

Lin Huan also came out with the photographer. Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, she didn't show up. At this moment, she reached out behind and grabbed the photographer's arm, signaling him to go back first.

Over Liang Sizhe's shoulder, Cao Ye saw Lin Huan's side profile.They're still together, he thought for a second.

Cao Ye ignored them. He stared at Liang Sizhe, lowered his voice, and continued at a volume that only the two of them could hear: "I saw with my own eyes that when Cao Xiuyuan and Zheng Yin were in bed, that dirty, disgusting, disgusting look Look... Do you know what it looks like when two men make love?"

Liang Sizhe looked at him fixedly, not knowing what to say.

Cao Ye raised his hand and pressed the elevator button. He didn't want to face Liang Sizhe anymore: "You still remember those two dogs on Yinsi Street? They remind me of those two dogs. It's disgusting."

With a "ding" sound, the elevator door opened.

Cao Ye took a step back and stepped on the door of the elevator. He was full of hope when he came, but in fact no one was on his side, and neither was Liang Sizhe.

He looked at Liang Sizhe, and finally asked, "So you still insist on acting in Cao Xiuyuan's film, right?"

Liang Sizhe didn't speak. He wanted to walk into the elevator with Cao Ye, but suddenly he couldn't move, and he froze in place.He swallowed his throat, and said with difficulty: "Cao Ye, Teacher Cao has been kind to me, and I still want to—"

"I see." Cao Ye interrupted him, and he retreated into the elevator room: "Okay, Liang Sizhe, do you want birthday wishes? Let me think about it..." He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then smiled in relief "Then I wish you a seamless cooperation with Cao Xiuyuan and a forever relationship with Lin Huan," he spoke slowly, thinking as he said, speaking solemnly and grandly, "I wish you the best movie star, I wish you a high box office, I wish you the best of luck." You...everything will be fine in the future."

The elevator door closed slowly, and the last gap disappeared, and the numbers on the electronic screen jumped down quickly.

Liang Sizhe clenched his fingers tightly.Just like those two dogs, Cao Ye's words rang in his ears again.