Chasing the Light

Chapter 52

The first time Yu Mingxiu met Liang Xincheng was at a dinner party invited by a film studio. When he saw the overly pretty kid who was obviously uncomfortable, but was pretending to be calm and smiling with his wine, he felt a subtle feeling of discomfort, so he helped him out and signed him to his company.

Yu Mingxiu didn’t think much of Liang Xincheng, he just thought the kid had a good personality and potential so he didn’t want to waste a good talent. He didn’t want to admit that when he first saw Liang Xincheng, he would inadvertently think of someone back then.

Yu Mingxiu was not the only son in the family; there was an older brother who took over the family business, so he chose to start an entertainment company. Even though it seemed to his father that he really had no ambitions, no one knew the reason if Yu Mingxiu didn’t say. He was actually just trying to make a bet with someone.

After seven or eight years, Yu Mingxiu’s company was already one of the best in the industry. Although it was still not as good as the old company, Shengxing Entertainment, no one in the circle could meet him without lowering their posture and putting on a smile, but Du Shen was the only exception.

Du Shen went abroad at the age of seventeen and returned home at the age of twenty-seven to take over Shengxing from his father. In just two or three years, he managed to take the company to the next level. Many people compared him with Yu Mingxiu, but anyone in this circle knew that the relationship between Du Shen and Yu Mingxiu was very ordinary.

They rarely met each other. Apart from the occasional public encounter, they had a few friends in common in private, and would only appear together at parties that could not be avoided. And even so, they rarely talked to each other.

Yu Mingxiu brought Liang Xincheng with him and appeared in front of Du Shen a few times. He wanted to see if Du Shen, who had never even given himself a glance, would react differently because of Liang Xincheng, but obviously, his plan fell through. Du Shen was still the same Du Shen, and to him, he probably did not care about what Yu Mingxiu did or who he was with.

That time Yu Mingxiu took Liang Xincheng to apologize to Du Shen and Ding Yao, they said some polite words, but the atmosphere was really bad. Afterwards, Ding Yao was picked up by Xie Qinfeng first. The two of them were the only ones left in the depressing room, and it was one of the few times they were alone. The last time…was more than ten years ago.

Yu Mingxiu lit a cigarette and stared at Du Shen without missing a beat. He had been thinking about this person in front of him for more than ten years. His heart, liver and lungs were aching at the thought of him.

Du Shen slowly finished the bowl of soup before raising his eyes to look at him, his real emotions could not be seen in his calm and waveless pupils: “It’s been more than ten years, you’re still as childish as you were back then.”

The emotions that were almost boiling up just now were completely quenched by a single word.
Yu Mingxiu suppressed the anger in his voice and questioned him: “Do you still dare to mention the past? What happened back then? Didn’t you say you wanted to break up? What did I do wrong that you had to break up with me?”

Du Shen shook his head and didn’t say anything else. It had been more than ten years ago, there was no point in talking about it.

Yu Mingxiu really didn’t do anything wrong, it was just that they weren’t suitable for each other. When they were young, they secretly fell in love at an early age without telling their families. It was true that they loved each other at first, but even if they loved each other, they had to face the reality. His mother, who was not well at the time, could not stand the stimulation. After learning about their relationship, she was so angry that she fell ill, so he had no choice but to break up with Yu Mingxiu.

Yu Mingxiu argued and fought with him, even naively trying to elope with him, but how could that be possible.

After the last big fight they separated for good, and after that he went abroad for ten years.

When Ding Yao returned home in the middle of the night, he didn’t dare to turn on the lights, so he sneaked into the house and as he went upstairs, Du Shen’s voice rang out in the darkness: “What time is it, why are you back so late?”

Ding Yao was so shocked that he almost stepped on his feet. Only through the little light coming in through the villa’s floor-to-ceiling windows did he see clearly Du Shen sitting on the sofa: “Uncle, why are you sitting here in the middle of the night and scaring people?”

He went downstairs and switched on the light in the living room, only to see a bottle of wine and a wine glass on the coffee table in front of Du Shen: “Are you in a bad mood, Uncle? Why are you drinking alone here?”

Du Shen raised his arm to shield his eyes and leaned back into the sofa for a long time before he murmured in a dumb voice: “Nothing… just wondering if I’m really too unfeeling.”

Did he not like Yu Mingxiu? He liked him, even after all these years, he still liked him.

But time had changed. After more than ten years apart, was there any need to go back to the past? At the beginning, he thought Yu Mingxiu was too naive, and Yu Mingxiu thought he was too heartless. They were probably both right, it was indeed just inappropriate.

It was at a public cocktail party when Du Shen who had just come out of the bathroom was dragged into a deserted lounge by Yu Mingxiu, who suddenly appeared. Perhaps he knew this would happen; since Yu Mingxiu had started harassing him so often these days, he knew this day would come sooner or later.

The forceful kisses poured down, and Du Shen closed his eyes and indulged himself in it.

Later, Yu Mingxiu forcibly took him away, and Du Shen did not refuse. There were some things that should have been made clear, but he didn’t expect that Yu Mingxiu would cry wretchedly and beg him to turn back.

When they had the worst quarrel back then, Yu Mingxiu just lost his temper and threw things. This was the first time Du Shen saw Yu Mingxiu crying; a thirty-year-old man crying like a child in front of him.

“I know I was selfish and childish, I shouldn’t have thought of myself and not been considerate of you back then, and now I’m deliberately looking for someone to piss you off. I really have no choice. You’ve been away from me for more than ten years, can’t you really give me one more chance?”

Du Shen didn’t know what to say. It was not that he refused to look back, it was just that after more than ten years apart, he didn’t know how to get along with Yu Mingxiu. Moreover, no matter what the reason was, he was the one who had abandoned Yu Mingxiu, and he had always been feeling guilty about it.

“Let’s try again, shall we?I will get rid of all the old habits, I will change what you don’t like. We’ve wasted thirteen years already, I really can’t stand it.”

After a long silence, Du Shen picked up a tissue and handed it to the wretched man in front of him: “I’ve heard people say you’ve become calm and reliable, why are you still as impulsive as before? Is it hard to change one’s personality?”

“If you want me to change it, I can definitely…”

“Forget it, you’re fine just the way you are. I was also at fault for what happened back then, we’re even.”

It wasn’t that Du Shen had suddenly changed his mind, it was Ding Yao’s remark that night: “How can a truly unfeeling person struggle with this kind of problem? Uncle, if you ask about this, it means you still have some love left, ba.” It made him suddenly realize that instead of agonizing over it, he should give each other a chance and try again.

As for the guilt he was harboring in his heart, he would slowly make it up to Yu Mingxiu in the future.