The call was disconnected, and when I called back, all I got was a busy tone indicating that the service was interrupted.
Sui Si held his cell phone in his hand.
They had been in fake marriage for two years and nine months, and Yu Tang had always been very sensible.
Don't talk too much, don't do wrong things, never cross the line, don't make excessive demands, and always stay in the position you should stay.
No matter what it was, as long as Sui Si said it, Yu Tang would definitely listen and do it.
Sui Si never felt that he owed Yu Tang anything.
The contract had stipulated that the marriage was a three-year one, based on mutual consent. Their marriage was a lie from the beginning.
…
"Someone has been sent to pick up Ke Ming." Someone knocked on the door twice and pushed it open. "It will be taken care of and delivered to your home."
The person who came in was a middle-aged man, in his early forties, with a stern tone and expression, and dressed meticulously in a suit and tie.
Sui Si raised his head and managed to come to his senses: "Brother Nie."
The man was called Nie Chi, a professional manager sent by the Sui family. In principle, he assisted Sui Si in handling all matters of the studio, but in fact, he was responsible for supervising Sui Si and reporting his movements to the Sui family at any time.
If Yu Tang had not been away and the studio was in chaos, Sui Si would not have asked Nie Chi for help.
Nie Chi nodded: "Anything else?"
Sui Si slowly clenched his cell phone.
In a row of red call records with no one answering them, there were two event reminders that Yu Tang had set for him.
It was still the same tiresome nagging. One paragraph reminded him to eat on time and keep warm, and attached the weather forecast of rain tonight, asking him to remember to bring an umbrella. Another paragraph said that the assistant had brought ground coffee, but the siphon pot in the studio was not good, so it had to be filtered again after brewing to make it taste right.
"Yu Tang..." Sui Si said, "I can't contact him."
Nie Chi was a little surprised: "Yu Tang? Don't you dislike him?"
“It has nothing to do with this.”
The last call still didn't go through. Sui Si was a little annoyed and stood up: "He was very strange today and said some inexplicable things. I was afraid that something happened to him, so I wanted to look for him."
Yu Tang is his assistant and, to date, is still his spouse in the legal sense.
Although he didn't like Yu Tang, there was no reason for him to be so cold-blooded as to leave him alone at this time. Moreover, if Yu Tang really got into trouble, it would inevitably involve a lot of trouble.
Sui Si frowned and walked around the room a few times.
Nie Chi did not close the door when he came in, and the cold wind blew in with the wet rain mist, making people shiver uncontrollably.
Anyone who goes out in this kind of weather must be mentally ill.
Sui Si felt even more annoyed. He put his cell phone in his windbreaker pocket, picked up two umbrellas, and walked out quickly.
Nie Chi never had the habit of asking too many questions. He had already started the car in advance, parked it at the door, and waited for Sui Si to sit in the passenger seat.
Nie Chi fastened his seat belt and turned on the heater: "Where should we find it?"
Sui Si opened his mouth and suddenly stopped.
"Where are we going to find him?" Nie Chi thought he didn't hear clearly, so he asked again, "Go back to your home?"
Sui Si said, "Yu Tang doesn't live in my house."
Nie Chi: "Where do you live?"
Sui Si whispered: "I don't know."
This time even Nie Chi felt puzzled. He turned his head and looked at Sui Si.
Sui Si opened his phone and flipped through the memo Yu Tang sent him.
In order to conceal their relationship, they reluctantly showed their affection in public for a few months after getting their marriage certificate. Yu Tang was very sensible, and once the limelight had passed, he packed up his things and moved out of his house.
Knowing that Sui Si would be upset when he saw him, Yu Tang never appeared in front of him when Sui Si didn't need him. Even if he had to stay overnight, he would only stay in the guest room, and before leaving, everything would be put back in place, clean and tidy, without leaving any trace.
Sui Si suddenly realized that he had never asked where Yu Tang could live if he didn't live in the studio's staff dormitory or his house.
"I heard water."
Sui Si regained his concentration and dispelled the messy thoughts that came from nowhere: "It should be by the river..."
"Which river?" Nie Chi asked, "Does he go to any place he often goes?"
Sui Si: “…”
Nie Chi had already figured out what was going on, so he stopped asking questions and drove towards the nearest river.
Sui Si lowered his head and flipped through the memos in his phone.
The position of agent in the studio was occupied by Nie Chi. Sui Si's team was small, and half of them were assigned to Ke Ming, who could hardly come back. Apart from the professional departments such as publicity and public relations, there were not many people who could do the work and run errands.
Fortunately, Yu Tang was there. He was originally Sui Si's assistant, so he was very good at doing these things. When it got really busy, he could do the work of four or five people by himself.
These memos were all written by Yu Tang, mainly for the assistants in the studio to read. They arranged everything for Sui Si, from life to work, in an orderly manner.
But not a single one mentioned where Yu Tang lived, or where he wanted to go.
"He listens to you very much." Nie Chi noticed Sui Si's anxiety, turned on the lights, and slowed down along the river. "Doesn't he always listen to what you say?"
"Yes." Sui Si said, "Only—"
Nie Chi asked: "Only what?"
Sui Si looked at the text messages on his phone.
Before hanging up the phone, Yu Tang sent a few more messages.
It is very long, undoubtedly a draft was prepared early, and it covers every detail, including future work arrangements and possible problems.
Sui Si didn't have the energy to look at it carefully for the time being. He slid the screen, flipped forward, and read the text message with only one sentence again.
Yu Tang sent him a text message, asking if they could postpone the divorce for the time being.
Yu Tang always listened to him, except for this matter.
Sui Si's thoughts were almost dull, his mind these days was all on Ke Ming, in fact he didn't remember why Yu Tang refused to agree and what over-the-border conditions he proposed.
At that time, Ke Ming had just left. The two met while recording a program, but they had to avoid suspicion, keep a safe distance, and act politely and unfamiliarly, like two strangers who had never met each other.
Ke Ming is good-looking. When you look at him through the crowd, his eyes seem unfamiliar, and the corners of his beautiful eyes are slightly red.
Sui Si looked at the text message and thought of Ke Ming's eyes. He almost felt that Yu Tang was selfish to the point of cold-blooded.
His heart was completely cold, and the thing he had been thinking about for a long time had come to a conclusion. That night, Sui Si notified the team to issue a recruitment notice for new members, deleted Yu Tang's identity information that was backed up in the studio, and prepared the money in the contract.
That was a large sum of money, enough to buy all the love Yu Tang had for him over the years. If an ordinary person like Yu Tang took it, he could buy a house and start over. As long as he didn't squander it, he could live a simple and comfortable life.
Sui Si never felt that he owed Yu Tang anything.
…
"Yu Tang asks you, can we not get divorced first?" Nie Chi suddenly asked.
Sui Si nodded.
He was so angry that he lost his mind and almost forgot the details. He thought for a while before continuing: "He didn't say anything in detail, but just asked me if I had time to talk. I asked him what his intention was and what his purpose was..."
Nie Chi said: "I asked him to ask you."
Sui Si's eyes suddenly widened.
He felt as if a hand had reached into his chest and gripped his lungs. He could hardly breathe: "... What?"
"Your grandfather's birthday is in three months, and everyone has to go back."
Nie Chi: "If you divorce at that time, it will be difficult to explain when you go home, and it may also make your grandfather angry."
Even though the car windows were closed, Sui Si still felt as if he was wrapped in cold and wet rain, and his body was getting colder and colder.
Sui Si's voice was hoarse. He didn't know what to do. He could only vaguely hear his own voice: "Why don't you just tell me?"
Nie Chi was puzzled: "Haven't I always been in charge of your affairs with Yu Tang?"
Sui Si was speechless. He just sat there in a daze, his eyes fixed on the call records.
"The Sui family's affairs involve many things and are not convenient to be made public. I asked him to send you a text message first to mention it, and then we can talk about it in detail over the phone when we have time."
Nie Chi said: "If there are conditions, it would be better to talk to you in person."
Sui Si said hoarsely: "He is..."
In the past two days, Yu Tang did mention several times that he wanted to come to the studio to see him, which was unusual.
But the program that is currently being recorded is a rare opportunity for him and Ke Ming to appear on the same stage.
Sui Si's energy was completely focused on the show and he was in a bad mood, so it was impossible for him to agree to Yu Tang's overstepping request.
…
He regarded all these abnormalities as Yu Tang's persistence and greed.
"Speaking of which, Yu Tang has been seeing a psychiatrist recently. I originally thought he contacted him on your behalf."
Nie Chi honked the horn twice, turned on the high beam, and went around the riverbank: "There is no such item in your studio's account expenditure."
Sui Si asked: "Why should I see a psychiatrist?"
"I don't know." Nie Chi was just completing the Sui family's commission and never cared about these things. He just mentioned it casually, "Do you still remember this place? You were filming on this bridge and threw a big bunch of flowers down."
Sui Si was very upset and rubbed his temples hard.
If you really need to see a psychiatrist, this professional manager sent by the Sui family, who is not even as good as artificial intelligence, should go see one.
He didn't want to talk anymore, so he glanced out the window, and his heart suddenly jumped: "Stop the car!"
Nie Chi stopped the car and looked sideways at him.
The rain was getting heavier, hitting the car, almost crackling. Sui Si didn't have time to take an umbrella, he just opened the car door and rushed out in the rain.
He was filming on this bridge and threw down a whole bunch of flowers.
It was a film from his early years, when Yu Tang was just his personal assistant. The relationship between the two had not become weird because of the fake marriage, and they could still chat together.
He was young at that time, and actually had a good impression of this quiet and well-behaved assistant. Yu Tang was a man of few words, and would just be in a daze when he had nothing to do. On a whim, he took the bunch of prop flowers to tease Yu Tang.
A group of people were playing around, and no one was holding the bouquet of flowers. Yu Tang reacted and reached out to catch it, but before he could touch it, the flowers were thrown away by someone and fell into the river.
The production director scolded each of them because of this.
Yu Tang wanted to go down to retrieve the flowers, but they had already been washed away by the river.
Not a single petal was left.
…
The riverside was dark and steamy, and colder than on shore.
Sui Si's hands were numb from the cold. He tried his best to turn on the flashlight on his cell phone and looked around carefully.
This section of the riverbank is equipped with guardrails, and there is only an inconspicuous cleaning passage to go down.
It’s very high, five or six meters higher than the river surface.
Sui Si held onto the guardrail and groped his way down step by step.
Yu Tang is afraid of heights. When she was showing off her love for him, she didn't dare to look down at the audience when she stood on the stage with him for an interview. Once, the program required Yu Tang to hang on a wire. When he came down, his face was pale and he was so weak that he couldn't even stand.
Yu Tang is seeing a psychiatrist. He seems normal, he can laugh and talk, so why does he still need to see a psychiatrist
What's the big deal? Is it worth seeing a psychiatrist
Sui Si went down to the bottom of the passage, waded through the freezing cold river water, and walked a few steps.
Nie Chi found a parking area, parked the car, and walked along the road holding an umbrella.
The little light that the flashlight on the mobile phone could emit was minimal and barely penetrated a few layers of rain and fog before being completely swallowed up by the darkness.
In the dim light, Sui Si half-knelt and picked the person up from the water.
Yu Tang slept on his chest, eyes obediently closed, still looking calm and docile as usual, without any sound, arms hanging limply.