From lunch onwards, Zhuo Yue no longer had the right to sit on a chair to eat. According to the rules, after preparing the meal, he needed to make sure everything was in order and then kneel beside the chair to eat. His master took full responsibility for serving the food. Fortunately, Zhuo Yue wasn’t picky and just silently ate, occasionally glancing at the man sitting beside him.
“Have something to say?” Fang Mingyan asked.
Zhuo Yue said with some embarrassment, “I made it according to my own preferences, I’m afraid you won’t like it.”
“Not bad.” The man glanced at his bowl and said, “Go and add another half bowl of rice.”
Zhuo Yue’s appetite hadn’t been great since he was in low spirits. The shallow half-bowl of rice was already close to being finished. Upon hearing Fang Mingyan’s request, he had no choice but to go and add some more.
After lunch, Fang Mingyan gave him two hours of free time and went to work in the study room. Zhuo Yue finished washing the dishes, took off his apron, and stared at the empty first floor for a while. Then he made a cup of coffee and took it upstairs. He stood at the door of the study and hesitated for a long time. He raised his hand several times to knock on the door but then put it down.
Huasheng’s ability to thrive in the entertainment industry couldn’t have been possible without Fang Mingyan. In recent years, the company had been running smoothly under his management. Besides his tactics, his dedication was also commendable. Zhuo Yue was well aware that one of the main reasons Fang Mingyan handled all the work at home was for him. He felt guilty and wanted to do something to make up for it, but he was afraid of disturbing the man’s work.
The coffee was getting cold, and he never had the courage to knock on the door. He sighed and wanted to leave, but the door opened without warning. Zhuo Yue was startled, his hand shook, and the coffee in the cup almost spilt.
Fang Mingyan, who opened the door, was a little surprised when he saw him. His eyes turned from the coffee cup to his face, obviously waiting for an explanation.
“Master.” Zhuo Yue said with some embarrassment, “I… originally wanted to give you a cup of coffee…”
“Originally?”
He stammered in explanation, “However…it took a while and got cold.”
“The coffee actually can get cold from the first floor to the second floor. It seems like the house is indeed a bit bigger.” The man joked, “I can hold a marathon at home next time.”
Zhuo Yue’s cheeks turned red. He lowered his head and said, “I’ll make you another drink.” He wanted to run away in a hurry, but his wrist was caught.
Fang Mingyan held the wrist holding the cup, moved the cup to his mouth, took a sip, then put the cup against Zhuo Yue’s lips in the opposite direction and said, “Take a sip.” This move made Zhuo Yue’s face blush. After a while, he lowered his head and took a sip as ordered, and the mellow taste of coffee melted in his mouth.
“Next time, you can make it a little thicker, and don’t stand outside the door for so long.” The man let go of his hand and said, “Come in.” Zhuo Yue was so embarrassed that he answered ‘yes’ in a low voice. Then, he followed Fang Mingyan into the study.
“Get whatever books you want to read.” After a brief explanation, the man returned to the computer to process some reports. The only sound in the room was the sound of typing on the keyboard. Zhuo Yue found the book ‘The Art of Performance’, which he had not finished before living here, and sat on the sofa to read it.
His fingers turned over the pages full of words, but his eyes always wandered in the wrong direction unconsciously. From this angle, he could just look up and see Fang Mingyan’s side profile.
His serious, focused, and confident expression seemed to make people feel inexplicably at ease just by looking at it.
After finishing the work at hand, the man sat down next to Zhuo Yue, took away the book in his hand, and asked casually, “What do you think after reading this chapter?”
He thought for a while and replied, “The naturalisation in performance needs to be achieved through a deep understanding of the character. As actors, we need to comprehend not only the personalities portrayed in the script but also the overall background of the story. For example, in period dramas, our language and behaviour must conform to the norms of that era. In performance, actors need to reveal the character’s inner world through subtle cues. The so-called naturalisation is the high degree of harmony between internal and external aspects.”
“Not bad.” Fang Mingyan raised the corners of his lips, “Still managed to read that much while being distracted looking at me, huh.”
Zhuo Yue froze when he was exposed, and his face turned red again.
“Sometimes lack of concentration is a good thing.” The man raised his chin and asked him to look up from another angle.
When the black camera placed on the high-rise bookshelf came into view, Zhuo Yue suddenly felt his whole body start to get cold.
The feeling of fear seeped out from the bottom of my heart, eroding every blood vessel and penetrating every pore. His breathing became increasingly rapid, and an imaginary cold enveloped his limbs and bones, causing him to begin to tremble uncontrollably. Feeling helpless and frightened, he stood up hastily and wanted to leave the room, but was held down by the man next to him. At this moment, Zhuo Yue was like a frightened animal, running around recklessly driven by his escape instinct. He tried to shake him off but was pinned on his back on the sofa.
“Let me go…” There was a hint of suppressed anger in the trembling voice, and Zhuo Yue struggled even more fiercely.
Fear of camera-like objects, drug abuse, excessive panic, and depression were all manifestations of his post-traumatic stress disorder. After experiencing that molestation incident, his clean and safe world was completely destroyed.
However, at first, before he became a pile of ruins, it could be repaired.
Fang Mingyan knew this very well.
When Zhuo Yue pretended to be leaving as if nothing had happened, he overly optimistically estimated Zhuo Yue’s mental state and agreed to let him leave. After that, he only asked lightly a few times, and after receiving Lin Hui’s report that there was nothing abnormal, he no longer paid any attention. At that time, all he considered was to prevent Zhuo Yue from becoming overly dependent on him, but he did not expect that it would develop into such serious consequences.
He felt guilty about Zhuo Yue. So he wanted to make up for his mistake.
“Master… please…” Zhuo Yue realised that it was impossible for him to break free, and finally stopped his futile resistance. He lay limp, not daring to look in the direction of the camera, and begged incoherently under the man, “I was wrong, hit me, please hit me, take it away…let me go…” Zhuo Yue, who had been relying on drugs to maintain his composure, was now pushed to the edge of collapse again. His clear eyes had lost focus and he just begged meaninglessly over and over again.
Looking at Zhuo Yue begging like this, Fang Mingyan felt as if a hand penetrated his chest and squeezed his heart tightly. Suffocation and dull pain were mixed together in the chest in a bloody mess. “Look at me.” Slender fingers touched the side of the person’s face, getting closer to each other. The man began his grip forcefully but gently, “Slave, concentrate on looking at me.”
Zhuo Yue’s eyes finally focused, and his eyelashes trembled slightly like insect wings entangled in spider webs.
“Yes, just keep looking at me.” The man’s deep, cello-like voice seemed to hypnotise him, soothing his restless emotions. “You’re not allowed to look anywhere else, not allowed to look at anything else. Your eyes should only be focused on me.”
Zhuo Yue gasped, using his remaining sanity to force himself to obey the order, trying his best to keep his eyes focused.
“Relax, don’t tighten yourself up so much.” Fang Mingyan stroked his hair, gently and patiently, “I’m by your side, I will always…”
At this moment, the cell phone on the table suddenly rang, interrupting the man’s words.
After finally concentrating, his attention was disturbed by the sudden sound. Zhuo Yue, who had gradually calmed down, glanced at the camera again.
Everything was out of control in an instant.
He suddenly struggled with strength, almost overturning the person on him. The two were entangled in control and resistance. Fang Mingyan deliberately restrained his strength for fear of hurting him, while Zhuo Yue, who was tortured by fear, had no inhibition at all, and it became even more difficult to subdue him for a while. When the man held him down again, Zhuo Yue let out a cry of despair, like a trapped animal with nowhere to escape.
“Look at me!” Fang Mingyan held his wrist tightly and said in a deep voice, “If you dare to move again, I will tie you to the camera.”
“Please, I can’t do it… I can’t do it…” Zhuo Yue had no strength left and spoke tremblingly, “Let me go…”
“Except for completing the order, you have no possibility of leaving here.” The man supported his body on his elbows and pressed him down. “I’ll give you three minutes. If you can keep your eyes on me for three minutes from now, I will let you out of the study. Every time you fail, your time with this camera will be doubled.”
Zhuo Yue had no right to choose at all and could only obey.
Every second of the three minutes was as painful as a year. He bit his lip and tried not to think about the empty eye socket. The person in front of him became his only support. He shrunk his body and grabbed Fang Mingyan’s hand as if seeking refuge, so hard that the knuckles on his hand turned slightly white.
“I will be here, always with you.” The man gently brushed the sweaty hair from his forehead.
His eyes moved and his eyes turned red, “I hurt you.”
Only then did Fang Mingyan feel a slight pain in his neck. He must have been scratched in the previous chaos. The mist in Zhuo Yue’s eyes gradually filled up and formed a transparent drop of water in the corner of his eye. He was still trembling, like a small animal shivering in the cold wind. He choked out, “I’m sorry…Master, I’m sorry…”
The man knew the cruel method he used, knew Zhuo Yue’s fear, and knew how hard he worked to obey orders under such conditions. This kind of obedience was based on Zhuo Yue’s trust in himself. He wanted to follow orders, but couldn’t control himself, so he felt so apologetic and uneasy.
Fang Mingyan’s dark and deep eyes were filled with soft dark light. Just as Zhuo Yue was sobbing and apologizing, he leaned over and pressed his lips to his, sealing the next unsaid ‘I’m sorry’ in his mouth.
The face in front of him suddenly enlarged, and a warm aura lingered in his breath. The soft feeling when the lips touched made Zhuo Yue freeze completely. His mind went blank, he just stared at the other person with his eyes wide open.
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