"Whatever happens later, don’t interfere." He Zeqing’s voice was low but firm, his words leaving no room for negotiation.
The warning was directed at Assistant Li, who could only nod in silent agreent, knowing full well that he lacked the power—or courage—to intervene in whatever might unfold.
He Zeqing took a deep breath, mustering all the resolve he could gather before pressing the doorbell. The soft chi echoed in the quiet street, marking the point of no return.
Assistant Li obediently stepped back, positioning himself five paces behind his boss. Though outwardly composed, his heart raced with apprehension. The weight of the situation pressed heavily on him, and as the seconds stretched into what felt like hours, his nerves tightened further.
Finally, the sound of the door unlocking broke the tense silence. The creak of its hinges sent a jolt through Assistant Li, who instinctively held his breath. His eyes locked on the gate, bracing himself for what was to co.
The door swung open to reveal a young man, roughly the sa age as He Zeqing, standing in the entryway. His disheveled hair and groggy expression made it clear he had just woken up, but any trace of sleepiness vanished the mont his eyes landed on the uninvited guest before him. His face darkened instantly, his features twisting with unmistakable anger.
"Bastard! What the hell are you doing here?!" Su Yunfei roared, his voice trembling with fury.
Without hesitation, he lunged forward and grabbed the collar of He Zeqing’s shirt. His knuckles turned white with the force of his grip, and his face flushed red with rage.
It had been years—long, bitter years—since they last stood face-to-face. Now, the man he loathed more than anyone else had the audacity to show up unannounced at his doorstep.
The re sight of He Zeqing ignited a firestorm of emotions that Su Yunfei could barely contain.
From his vantage point, Assistant Li watched the scene unfold, his heart pounding so loudly it seed to echo in his ears. He noticed the tension in Su Yunfei’s arm as it flexed, ready to deliver a punch. Holding his breath, he silently prayed that his boss would step aside, that this confrontation wouldn’t escalate as it had in the past.
Perhaps, for the first ti, He Zeqing heard those unspoken prayers. Unlike before, he didn’t stand still and let the blow land. Instead, he calmly pushed Su Yunfei away, creating a safe distance between them. His movents were asured, devoid of aggression, but they carried a quiet strength that couldn’t be ignored.
It was no secret that He Zeqing was physically stronger than Su Yunfei. But in the past, driven by guilt, he had never once dodged the punches aid at him. Today, however, things were different.
"I’m a guest. Aren’t you going to invite in?" He Zeqing asked, his voice calm and steady, as if the heated exchange monts ago hadn’t happened at all. His collected deanor stood in stark contrast to Su Yunfei’s simring rage.
The more composed He Zeqing appeared, the more infuriated Su Yunfei beca. His lips curled into a sneer, and he shoved He Zeqing back with as much force as he could muster.
"Why the hell should I let the mighty young master He into my small, filthy house?" he spat, his words dripping with venom.
But He Zeqing had co prepared—not just for Su Yunfei’s anger but for the barrage of cutting remarks that would accompany it. His expression remained impassive, unfazed by the hostility.
With an air of nonchalance, he patted Su Yunfei’s shoulder and, without waiting for an invitation, stepped past him and entered the house unceremoniously.
Su Yunfei stood frozen for a mont, his jaw tightening as he watched He Zeqing stride into his ho as though he belonged there. The audacity only fueled his frustration, but before he could react, the door closed behind them, leaving Assistant Li standing outside with a sinking feeling in his gut.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Su Yunfei’s voice carried a sharp edge, but for a brief mont, he managed to swallow his seething anger, his curiosity montarily overriding his fury.
He watched, however, as He Zeqing strolled past him without so much as a glance, heading straight for the living room as though he owned the place. Once there, He Zeqing sank into the couch with an air of ease, leaning back against the cushions as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
It was as if the years that had passed between them had done nothing to shake his sense of entitlent.
Su Yunfei’s eyes narrowed as he studied him. The man before him, now twenty-six, hadn’t changed at all. The He Zeqing of today bore an uncanny resemblance to the one from seven years ago. He still exuded that maddening calm, the aura of soone who believed he stood above the world and was untouchable by its chaos.
His expression was unreadable, his every movent deliberate yet detached, as though nothing—not even the tension in the room—could disturb him.
And just like seven years ago, Su Yunfei found himself bristling at He Zeqing’s arrogance. That air of superiority, that maddening indifference—it still grated on his nerves, igniting a simring fury that had never truly subsided.
"I heard you just finished filming?" He Zeqing’s voice broke through the silence, calm and steady, yet carrying a weight that was impossible to ignore.
Instead of answering Su Yunfei’s question, he posed one of his own, his tone devoid of hostility but carrying an unsettling detachnt. It was as if he were trying to start a casual conversation, ignoring the clear tension hanging between them.
Su Yunfei, unwilling to let himself be provoked, shot him a glare that could have cut through stone. His voice dripped with defiance as he retorted, "What does that have to do with you?"
The words hung in the air, sharp and bitter. Yet He Zeqing remained unruffled, as though he had anticipated the response. He turned his gaze fully toward Su Yunfei, his dark eyes locking onto him with an intensity that seed out of place in their otherwise calm deanor.
For the first ti in seven years, he allowed himself to look at his forr friend—not in passing or with avoidance, but directly and deliberately.
"You’ve changed," He Zeqing said suddenly, his voice breaking the silence with unexpected softness.
The words slipped out almost unconsciously, yet they carried an undeniable weight. His tone was still cold, as it always had been, but if one listened closely enough, there was sothing buried within it—sothing that sounded like nostalgia.
But Su Yunfei, blinded by years of unresolved resentnt, couldn’t detect it. His rage clouded his judgnt, and his heart refused to entertain the possibility of sincerity in He Zeqing’s words.
To him, they were nothing more than a superficial observation, spoken by soone who had forfeited the right to care about him long ago.
"Of course, I’ve changed. Who wouldn’t?" Su Yunfei shot back, his voice dripping with venom. His lips curled into a bitter smile as he continued, "When you lose soone precious in your life, it changes you. Or maybe not you, He Zeqing. I almost forgot—you don’t have a heart, do you? Even if soone were to kill themselves right in front of you, you wouldn’t so much as blink, let alone lift a finger to help."
The words were laced with such scorn that the air in the room seed to thicken. Su Yunfei’s expression remained hard, devoid of even a hint of remorse for the harshness of his accusations. He ant every word, and he intended for them to land like daggers.
He Zeqing, however, did not flinch. He sat motionless, his face betraying no emotion, as if he had anticipated this outburst from the very mont he decided to confront Su Yunfei. His composure was unshaken, a silent testant to his willingness to bear the brunt of Su Yunfei’s wrath.
After a beat of silence, he spoke, his tone as steady as ever. "Do you know an actor nad Wen Renyue?" The question was so calm, so matter-of-fact, that it almost felt like it ca from soone else entirely.
The abrupt shift in topic caught Su Yunfei off guard. His lips parted as if to respond, but he hesitated. The na sounded unfamiliar, and he found himself searching his mory, trying to recall where—or if—he had ever heard it before.
"Who?" he finally asked, his voice tinged with confusion.
He Zeqing didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, his gaze drifted to the cluttered coffee table, where stacks of scripts lay scattered haphazardly.
Reaching out, he picked up one of the scripts, flipping through its pages with a casual air that contrasted sharply with the tension in the room.
Without looking up, he continued, his voice steady and unyielding. "Wen Renyue—a C-list actor who crossed paths with you eight years ago. You may not rember, but he was accused of sabotaging you. The allegations were later proven false, but the damage was already done. No director dared to work with him after that. They were all too afraid of offending you."
He paused, setting the script back down on the table with deliberate care. His dark eyes finally t Su Yunfei’s, holding them with an intensity that could not be ignored. "I have to admit, Su Yunfei, I never imagined you’d be such a petty person."
The words hung in the air like a challenge, their weight pressing down on the room. Su Yunfei stared at him, his expression shifting from confusion to sothing more guarded. He didn’t respond imdiately, but the accusation—delivered with such calm detachnt—was impossible to brush aside.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Su Yunfei snapped, his voice rising in frustration. His brows furrowed deeply, and he took a step closer, his anger bubbling just beneath the surface. "Wait—don’t tell . Is this the reason you ca here? Just to find out if I really stooped so low as to sabotage so unknown actor’s career?"
He threw his hands up in disbelief, his tone growing sharper with every word. "He Zeqing, is that truly what you think of ? Is my image in your eyes really that pathetic? That low?"
His voice cracked slightly on the last word, a mix of indignation and disbelief. He stared at He Zeqing, searching for so sign of acknowledgnt, sothing to show that this wasn’t just another calculated move. The room grew tense, the silence between them heavier than before.
"I don’t think of you for anything, Su Yunfei. Do whatever you want—I don’t care at all," He Zeqing replied, his tone flat and devoid of emotion. His words were sharp and cutting, delivered with the cold detachnt that seed to define him.
Su Yunfei’s face darkened instantly, his fists clenching at his sides. "Then why the hell do you care so much about that Wen Renyue? You’ve gone so far as to lower your precious ego to et , of all people. You’re really shaless, He Zeqing." His voice was harsh, filled with indignation and laced with sarcasm.
He Zeqing’s gaze remained steady, unflinching in the face of Su Yunfei’s outburst. "You’re wrong," he said calmly, his voice unwavering. "I didn’t co here because of Wen Renyue."
"Then what the hell are you doing here?" Su Yunfei shot back, his anger simring beneath the surface. He forced himself to keep his voice steady, but the tension in his words betrayed the storm brewing in his heart.
For the first ti since he arrived, He Zeqing’s expression shifted ever so slightly. With an unreadable look in his eyes, he stared directly at Su Yunfei, the intensity of his gaze impossible to ignore.
"Because my cousin likes that actor, Wen Renyue," he began, his voice as cold as ever. "She wants him to act in her first project. Unfortunately, due to so offense he supposedly committed against you eight years ago, the director working on her project refuses to cast him. I’m here to do my cousin a favor and ask you to stop being petty. Let the small actor act."
The words fell heavily between them, each one cutting deeper than the last. There was no attempt to soften the blow, no pretense of diplomacy. He Zeqing’s tone was rciless, his delivery heartless and devoid of warmth.
It wasn’t just the words themselves that stung—it was the sheer lack of care behind them. From the mont He Zeqing had stepped into Su Yunfei’s house, he hadn’t asked a single question about his life. He hadn’t shown the slightest interest in how the years had treated him.
There was no acknowledgnt of their shared past, no attempt to reminisce or bridge the gap between them. Instead, He Zeqing had marched in, focused solely on his goal, fully aware that his actions might provoke Su Yunfei’s anger—and yet, he hadn’t hesitated.
To Su Yunfei, it was yet another reminder of the man He Zeqing had always been: cold, calculating, and utterly ruthless.
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