155. Only You Can

By the Huajiang River in the northern suburbs of City Nan, Bai Jinyan sat alone on a patch of crushed stones, water continuously dripping from his clothes and hair.

He had sped all the way to the outskirts, racking up God knows how many traffic tickets, and this final stretch felt as though he had been possessed, flooring the gas pedal straight into the river.

Was this the kind of thing he would normally do?

Not at all.

Fortunately, the area along the way was sparsely populated and he hadn't caused a traffic accident, otherwise his sins would have been far too grave.

Having just made the rescue call, he had crawled out of his car and sat soaked by the riverbank, letting the icy river wind blow over him. The temperature in his eyes was colder than the river water.

He had lost his composure, hadn't he?

Daring not to alert his family, he could only make an international long-distance call to Kang Wenbo, asking him to help smooth over the aftermath, cover up the incident, and ensure he could arrive punctually for military training at school the next day.

On his way into the school gates, Bai Jinyan's path was blocked.

Standing before him was an old man whose height barely reached his chin, sporting a messy, bird's-nest hairstyle, with dark circles under his eyes far more terrifying than those of someone who hadn't slept all night.

The old man glanced at a sketch in his hand, nodded, and grabbed Bai Jinyan's arm with a strength completely mismatched with his disheveled, white-haired appearance.

"You're Bai Jinyan from Zhongyu, right?" the old man asked.

Though finding his way blocked by a stranger early in the morning felt a bit strange, Bai Jinyan still nodded politely.

"It's me. May I help you with something?"

"I am Cheng Sheng."

"Cheng Sheng?"

"The Cheng Sheng who directed *Chronicles of Immortals*."

"*Chronicles of Immortals*..." Bai Jinyan pondered.

That was a very old television series, arguably the pioneer of domestic xianxia dramas, and also... one of Double Star's representative works.

Bai Jinyan finally recalled who Cheng Sheng was, but why would a director like this come looking for him?

While he was puzzled, Cheng Sheng pulled another sketch from beneath the first, carefully unfolding it to display before him.

"Take a look at who this is in the drawing."

The person in the drawing possessed a stunning face, every gesture carrying a natural aristocratic air, yet with a haughty detachment that left others too intimidated to profane.

This person... bore a faint shadow of Chen Ruowen?

Thinking of Chen Ruowen, a faint bitterness stirred in Bai Jinyan's heart. He had tried his utmost to restrain his emotions yesterday, but it seemed he had still upset her.

Should he go and apologize?

Forget it, it's better to cool off for a couple of days first. With his current terrible state of mind, going to see her now would probably yield the opposite effect.

Seeing Bai Jinyan lost in thought, Cheng Sheng pressed on eagerly, urging him.

"Don't you think this person looks like Chen Ruowen?"

Bai Jinyan nodded. "There is a resemblance."

"I knew it!" Cheng Sheng slapped his thigh, his tone excited. "I'm preparing to remake a blockbuster xianxia epic, and I drew this sketch only after reading the original novel over a dozen times. The moment I saw Chen Ruowen, I felt she looked exactly like the person in my drawing. Bai Jinyan, don't you think it would be exceptionally fitting to have her play this role?"

Bai Jinyan finally understood what Cheng Sheng was here for.

Before he could reply, Cheng Sheng grabbed his wrist again.

"I've approached Chen Ruowen twice, and she turned me down both times. I heard that Chen Ruowen listens to you the most. Bai Jinyan, Young Master Bai... Exalted Immortal Bai! Help me persuade her!"

Quietly, Bai Jinyan withdrew his wrist.

"Director Cheng has the wrong person."

Chen Ruowen listens to him?

If this were twenty-four hours ago, he probably would have believed those words were true. But the cold wind by the river last night had thoroughly awakened him.

"I don't have the wrong person, I really don't. I've asked many people, and they all said this matter can only be solved by finding you." Cheng Sheng grabbed Bai Jinyan again in a hurry. "Just help me persuade her! If this happens, it will be a monumental contribution to the entire Huaguo film and television industry!"

Looking at the unkempt old man before him, Bai Jinyan slowly shook his head.

"Director Cheng, only Chen Ruowen can make decisions regarding her own matters; no one else can interfere. And..." Bai Jinyan paused. "From a selfish standpoint, I don't wish for her to get involved in this industry either. You understand that, don't you?"

With an apologetic look at Cheng Sheng, Bai Jinyan took advantage of the old man's dazed state to hurry away.

Cheng Sheng stood in place for three full minutes before shaking his head with a bitter smile.

"All of you keep saying you don't want her mixed up in this industry, but since when did the film and television industry become some terrifying monster? You all tell me to understand, but then who is going to understand me?"

"I just want to direct a good movie. Is that really so hard?"

...

At 11:00 PM US time, guessing that Chen Ruowen should be awake by now, Kang Wenbo rehearsed his spiel in his mind before dialing her number.

The phone rang for quite a while before being answered, and Chen Ruowen's lazy voice came through the receiver.

"Who is it?"

* "It's me, Kang Wenbo. Sister Wen, you surely haven't just woken up, have you?"

Chen Ruowen rubbed her eyes, stretched lazily, and then slowly glanced at her phone screen.

It was only eleven, not all that late. Was it really so strange that she hadn't gotten up yet?

Besides, she had slept so late yesterday and was terribly tired too.

"Why are you disturbing my sleep?"

"Uh... You really haven't gotten up? Never mind then, I won't bother you for now; I'll call back later."

"Wait." Chen Ruowen tossed her phone aside, slowly crawled up from her pillows, leaned back against the headboard to collect her thoughts, and then continued, "If you have something to say, spit it out all at once."

"Actually, it's nothing much. I just couldn't get through to Bai Jinyan's phone, and figuring you two should be together, I wanted to ask how he's doing now and if his injuries are feeling any better."

Hearing Bai Jinyan's name cleared the sleep fog from Chen Ruowen's mind instantly.

Her very first reaction upon waking up fully was to want to hang up the phone.

However, when Kang Wenbo raced through his words as if racing against time, her movements froze.

"He's injured?"

On the other end of the line, Kang Wenbo quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm not entirely sure either, but his car is completely totaled, so he probably isn't doing too well himself."

"His car is totaled? Kang Wenbo, make yourself clear, what on earth happened to him?"

Kang Wenbo sounded thoroughly astonished.

"He drove his car into the Huajiang River last night and almost had a fatal accident. What, didn't Jinyan tell you?"

"He drove his car into the Huajiang River?"

"Yeah! And he was speeding the whole way, caught on traffic cameras so many times he almost had his license revoked directly, which is why he called me. Sister Wen, did something happen to Jinyan?"

Bai Jinyan had always driven steadily, behaving more like a veteran driver than actual veterans, and he had driven smoothly all the way when dropping her off yesterday.

Speeding, driving his car into the Huajiang River... How could such things possibly be done by Bai Jinyan?

Hearing silence from the receiver, Kang Wenbo continued.

"Sister Wen, Jinyan isn't like those young socialites out there who know how to use sweet talk to cheer people up. He always does more and says less, and most of the time he likes to bottle things up inside and torture himself. Neither of us is in the country right now. If he's directing his anger at himself, Sister Wen, you're the only one who can persuade him."

"You're the only one who can keep him in check."