Li Mu gave him a large-capacity hard drive and told him that it contained the latest web series pilot, which would use the song he had previously composed to run throughout the entire series. He asked him to adjust the style based on the plot. However, he sat motionless in the studio, his mind still blank, unable to compose anything or hear any sounds.
The spacious studio was filled with various equipment, and he should have been thrilled to be there, but now he sat there like a lifeless wooden doll, staring blankly at the computer screen, unable to take anything in. If someone had walked in at that moment, they might have noticed his hand trembling slightly as he held the mouse.
Xu Yang was terrified, utterly terrified.
When Bi Yuan offered him 300,000 yuan to shoot a gay porn film, Xu Yang hesitated for less than a minute before agreeing. At the time, he desperately needed the money—it was a matter of life and death. Even if they had offered him only 100,000 yuan, he would have accepted without hesitation.
But he hadn’t considered what his life would be like after the film was released and exposed to the public. Perhaps he had thought about it, but he had only considered the possibility of ruining his reputation. He picked up the cup and took a sip of the now-cold water. The icy sensation as it flowed from his throat to his stomach was unpleasant, and Xu Yang trembled even more violently.
His mind was still filled with the extremely suppressed and despairing cries he had heard while passing by the restroom.
“Everything was filmed, every part of my body was filmed! They posted it online, and everyone saw it—my colleagues, my friends, my family, people I know and don’t know, so many people saw it…”
Even though the voice was hoarse from crying, Xu Yang could still tell it had once been a playful, cute voice. Zhou Lanyue was crying desperately in the restroom: “How am I supposed to live my life now? Everyone knows how shameless I was…”
Xu Yang should have been relieved—relieved that the person in the exposed video wasn’t him, relieved that the person stripped naked and posted online wasn’t him, relieved that the one who did those shameful actions wasn’t him. But he couldn’t feel relieved. They were so similar…
He reached out to knock on the bathroom door, opened his mouth to say something comforting, but Xu Yang found his voice lost in the sobs, like a parrot with its tongue cut out, trying to mimic but only able to open its mouth and cry silently.
Wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes, he stumbled back to the workroom. Xu Yang rehearsed countless self-rescue methods in his mind—if his video were ever exposed, no matter how he struggled, every path ultimately led to that stage covered in red carpet, under the harsh glare of the spotlight, “snap” against his bare body, leaving him completely defenseless… He could even feel countless lecherous eyes staring at him, at his exposed body, with no privacy, no dignity, only the sounds of “shameful,” “disgusting,” “whore,” “born to be fucked”…
These words had once appeared in the news article on Ling Jie’s phone. Who knows? One day, they might be plastered on his body, becoming his label, ruining his life.
The conference room was dimly lit, with only the faint glow of the projector on the curtain illuminating everyone’s faces. Everyone looked unhappy.
Zhou Lanyue huddled in the leather chair, her shoulders hunched, her eyes red from crying, her exquisite makeup smudged, looking utterly disheveled.
She couldn’t stop trembling, unsure whether it was due to the cold air conditioning in the conference room or something else. She felt as though she were in a winter ice cellar, with ice crystals all over her body, unable to shake them off, nearly driven to madness.
“This matter was exposed immediately last night, but since it was filmed with a high-definition drone, each photo was very large, and it took a long time to download, which delayed the handling of it.” The large meeting room was sparsely occupied by only five or six people. Ah Shi’s voice sounded calm, but it was filled with guilt.
“We thought you’d know, but when we saw you in the office…” He uncomfortably ran his fingers through his hair, lifting his eyelids to glance at Zhou Lanyue, as if he dared not look at her, or perhaps because he felt guilty for causing harm to his friend due to his mishandling of the situation.
“I’m sorry,” Ah Shi said weakly. The atmosphere fell silent once more. The only sounds in the conference room were the crackling of tobacco leaves being lit by a closed-door smoker and Zhou Lanyue’s uncontrollable sobs.
She was still crying, unable to stop, tears streaming endlessly from her swollen eyelids, trickling down her delicate face to her chin, leaving her arm beneath her chin sticky and damp. Bi Yuan seemed unable to bear it anymore. After taking a deep drag on his cigarette, he reached out to pull her into his arms, but Zhou Lanyue screamed and pushed him away.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Bi, I… I… Oh my God!” Zhou Lanyue broke down again. She was like a young girl who had been violated, refusing any man’s touch, even Mr. Bi, whom she usually loved the most, felt utterly repulsive. But clearly, after doing those things with that man in the car, it had been so pleasurable and satisfying.
“Yueyue, calm down. We’ll handle this matter properly, and afterward, we can pretend it never happened…” Li Mu observed the young girl’s behavior closely. She was the most mischievous and playful among the team members, with a lively and open personality. Yet now she was as skittish as a startled bird, unable to tolerate even the slightest provocation. He racked his brain but couldn’t think of how to comfort her.
“How can it be like it never happened! Those… those photos! Those videos… those…”
Zhou Lanyue’s mind was filled with photos of her own reckless behavior: her flushed face, her body brimming with desire, her dark pubic hair, and her wet lower body—every detail was captured in those clear photos. Those dazed yet yearning eyes, that mouth clearly moaning, those hands gripping her hips, and those shamelessly spread legs—all of it was declaring to anyone who could see these photos online: I’m waiting to be fucked.
“I’m like a slut in a porn movie, stripping myself naked to show how promiscuous I am!” These harsh accusations screamed from Zhou Lanyue’s mouth, her throat sounding like it had been sanded down, hoarse and unpleasant. It stimulated her as much as it did Xu Yang.
He wanted to go home, to find a place to lock himself away and calm down. But Bi Yuan and Li Mu were still in the conference room. After sending them messages, Xu Yang stumbled out of the workroom. As he passed the conference room, he heard Zhou Lanyue’s piercing screams.
He froze in place, unsure of how to react. Those accusatory words felt like knife blades floating before his eyes, and he was afraid that they would pierce his eyes at any moment, so he dared not move.
“We saw the forum last night and thought Yueyue wouldn’t dare come to work today, but she still came, as if she had no idea.” A quiet voice appeared by Xu Yang’s ear. The person speaking to him was a young man from the editing department, with a mushroom haircut, wearing a baseball cap, and large black-framed glasses on his face, looking like a hip-hop kid.
Startled, he turned to look at the person walking past him, holding a cup, apparently heading to the break room. The words spoken were casual, as if it had nothing to do with him—indeed, it had nothing to do with him. The person exposed was inside, and the protagonist of the explicit photos was on the verge of collapse.
“She doesn’t even know she was photographed during a casual encounter, yet she comes to work as if nothing happened.” The mushroom-haired man stopped in front of Xu Yang. He was about the same height as Xu Yang, but because he was wearing a hat, he had to tilt his head back when speaking, giving him a slightly arrogant appearance.
“Well, then, everyone…” Xu Yang finally found his voice, “Have you all seen those photos?” The question was pointless; the news had already reported that a forum had maliciously exposed explicit photos, and the matter had already escalated. Not only had the office staff seen them, but anyone on the internet might have seen them as well.
The mushroom-headed man didn’t speak, but nodded in response, then looked at him thoughtfully and said, “I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m an editor in the editing department, sitting over there…” He turned his head and pointed to a spot not far away. “My name is Wen Hao. I get along well with the music department people. I often go over there to hang out. What’s your name?”
“Xu Yang.”
Wenhao adjusted his hat, muttering the name under his breath as if trying to memorize it, then said, “Let’s not linger here. If they come out and see us eavesdropping, Yueyue will feel even worse.” He then hurriedly pulled Xu Yang toward the break room.
He said, “We’ve been friends with Yueyue for years, and our relationship is good. She’s playful, but I never thought she’d cause such a commotion.” As he spoke, he poured himself a cup of coffee and asked Xu Yang if he wanted one too. Seeing that Xu Yang seemed preoccupied and didn’t respond, Wen Hao pretended he hadn’t asked and continued, “We don’t want to seem so cold, but if we show too much concern, it might make her feel even worse.”
“After all, such a private matter being exposed to the public is too much. A young woman can’t handle that, can she?”
This person chatted endlessly with Xu Yang, not seeming shy at all, and appeared quite easy to get along with. As for Xu Yang, after Wenhao had spoken for so long, he didn’t even know how many of those words had actually sunk in. He just nodded along until Wenhao suddenly asked him, “If it were you, and those photos and videos were exposed, what would you do?”
That question felt like a knife tip floating in front of him, suddenly flying into his eyes, startling Xu Yang into staring at Wen Hao in disbelief. But Wen Hao faced Xu Yang’s terrified expression as if nothing had happened, as if the question he had just asked was just a ordinary hypothetical scenario. But to Xu Yang, every word cut deep.
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