Is He Sulking?

On the first day of filming, something unpleasant happened. The contestants who had just joined the show were all a little nervous, afraid that something might happen and affect them. Some were even waiting to laugh at Wen Chengze.

But even after the first episode had finished filming, no one from the production team came to talk to Wen Chengze. Nothing happened at the villa where Wen Chengze lived. In fact, people passing by even heard cheerful conversation inside.

Was that reasonable?

Although everyone found it incredibly strange, they were only curious for a while. After all, the first episode had wrapped up, and the second was about to begin. The theme of the second episode was choice.

The rules for the second episode had already been announced at the villas where the trainees lived.

The trainees would choose their mentors, and the mentors would decide whether to take that group. What was especially unusual was that there was no limit to how many groups each mentor could take.

That gave everyone more room to choose. Their only concern was whether the mentors would be willing to take them.

Those who were not chosen by any mentor would truly be left without one. During the next inter-group PK match, they could only rely on themselves.

As soon as the rules were released, some were pleased while others were worried. Groups that had performed well in the first episode naturally had nothing to fear, while those who had performed poorly were miserable, afraid that no mentor would choose them.

When Wen Chengze's group saw the requirements, they were not worried at all.

The few of them gathered to discuss it. Wen Chengze wore a white turtleneck sweater and sat on the sofa, holding a porcelain-white coffee cup. He drank slowly and quietly listened to the four of them talk.

"Brother Wen, we discussed it and unanimously agreed that Teacher Kong would be the best choice. Teacher Kong might not be a popular celebrity, but he's the strongest in terms of ability, and we could learn a lot from him. The downside is that we might not get as much attention." After laying out his analysis, Song Ai cautiously watched Wen Chengze's expression.

He knew that although he was the spokesperson for their group, Wen Chengze was the one who could truly make the decision.

"I have no objections." The aroma of the coffee made Wen Chengze narrow his eyes in enjoyment.

The four boys beside him were stunned for a moment. From the first time they met Wen Chengze, they had clearly understood that he was an exquisitely beautiful man, the kind who would rank among the very best even in the entertainment industry.

Even after spending so much time together, they were still bewitched by the lazy air Wen Chengze revealed without meaning to.

Just now, with his eyes slightly narrowed, he looked like a ragdoll cat—beautiful and noble.

They kind of wanted to pet him.

The few of them rubbed their hands in tacit understanding, but in the end, they held themselves back. Brother Wen was not some soft little cat anyone could cuddle.

"What is it?" Seeing the children staring at him, Wen Chengze raised a brow. "Want some? There's a coffee machine over there. Make it yourselves."

"No, no." They all shook their heads in unison. The coffee beans there had been delivered yesterday, and they knew roughly how much they cost. They were not something they should even be thinking about.

After deciding on their mentor, they had nothing to do again, so Song Ai suggested watching movies for observation and study.

When they had rehearsed with Wen Chengze before, the teachers would occasionally guide the youngsters as well, telling them to watch more films and teaching them how to study other people's acting. They remembered it firmly.

Hugging a cushion, Song Ai said, "Let's watch Movie Emperor Zhong's. I'm about to throw up from watching the ones Teacher recommended before."

"You haven't watched any fewer of Movie Emperor Zhong's films." A cool-looking boy mercilessly exposed him while picking up the remote.

"So what if I'm Movie Emperor Zhong's diehard fan? His acting is just that good! I just like him!"

The other two had no objections. As for Wen Chengze, he had always stayed out of such matters, so they ultimately settled on Zhong Mohan's breakout film.

That film had come out ten years ago, but even now, it was occasionally rereleased in cinemas, and every showing was packed.

Wen Chengze glanced at the television and pressed his lips together slightly.

Teacher had recommended that he watch Zhong Mohan's movies, but he still had not seen any of them.

For some reason, he simply did not want to watch that man's films.

Wen Chengze froze slightly. Was he sulking?

He had not felt that way since he was ten. Last time, he had gotten angry for no reason, and this time he was sulking. His recent emotional fluctuations had all been because of that man, and they were all such strange emotions.

Wen Chengze pressed his lips together slightly. Did Zhong Mohan really have that much influence over him?

Only when he thought of Zhong Mohan did Wen Chengze realize that they had not met for some time since that day.

What had he been busy with lately? There had been no news of any events involving him, so was he busy with company matters?

"Brother Wen? Are you thinking about something?" Seeing that Wen Chengze was not paying attention to the television, Song Ai could not help calling out. Brother Wen did not look very well.

"It's nothing." Gathering his thoughts, Wen Chengze finally turned his attention to the television.

The movie had already begun. Its overall color palette was very bright, and Zhong Mohan, the male lead, soon appeared on screen.

He wore a white T-shirt and jeans, dressed in a sunny, youthful style.

Wen Chengze roughly calculated that Zhong Mohan had probably been under twenty when he filmed this movie.

Back then, he still looked somewhat young and inexperienced.

The story centered around a school. What should have been a vibrant, energetic campus was shattered by a piercing scream, breaking its peaceful atmosphere.

Police cars soon arrived at the scene. What Wen Chengze had not expected was that the tall boy played by Zhong Mohan also took out his work ID and directly joined the investigation.

Wen Chengze quickly learned his identity: a special consultant with an exceptionally high IQ and keen powers of observation, who had assisted the police in solving countless major cases.

After walking around the scene once, he identified the key points, and the police team wrote them down one by one.

The case at the academy was very unusual. The victim was an extremely well-behaved student, with not a single injury on his body. He lay on the ground in a strange pose, yet he actually wore a smile on his face.

A murder on school grounds naturally received immense attention, and the police team bustled about analyzing the case.

But less than three days later, the same kind of case occurred at the same school again, with a similar death scene.

The team leader in charge of the investigation personally approached the boy played by Zhong Mohan. One would have thought he wanted to ask about the case, but the first thing he asked was, "How is your condition?"

The boy stiffened. "You suspect me?"

"Just checking in."

The boy pressed his lips tightly together. "It's the same as always. If you came to ask about the case, I don't have any clues for now. If it's something else, I have the right not to say anything."

The team leader was not intimidated by the boy's cold expression. Instead, he continued, "Our investigation found that those people used to be students at this school in the same year as you. We also heard that they seemed to have bullied you on campus."

Facing the team leader's cold gaze, the boy remained calm. "That was a long time ago for me. I don't remember much."

"But your body remembers." He cruelly exposed the truth. Otherwise, the dissociative identity disorder would not have lingered without getting better.

"Captain Feng, if you need to investigate me, please follow procedure. I don't want to answer your questions right now. Please leave."

Captain Feng left in defeat.

After he left, the calm boy immediately returned to his bedroom. Staggering over to the bedside table, he took out a bottle of medicine, swallowed a pill, then went into the bathroom and splashed water on his face.

Looking at himself in the mirror, the boy suddenly clenched his fist. "It wasn't you, right?"

It was a strange action, yet someone really answered. The sunny young man in the mirror sharpened his gaze, giving off an inexplicable sense of danger. "You know the answer."

As the film progressed, the boy was eventually taken away.

Captain Feng looked at him regretfully. "I thought it wasn't you." But the evidence before him gave him no choice but to believe it.

The boy did not offer a single defense.

The day before the trial, someone who looked exactly like the boy suddenly turned himself in at the police station.

After a thorough search, the boy who had suddenly appeared really was the murderer.

At the end of the movie, the protagonist finally met that boy. They were twins. The protagonist was the older brother, and the killer was the younger brother.

The older brother could not help asking, "Why did you do this?"

The younger brother looked relaxed. "Brother, you knew it was me after all."

"Tell me! Why did you do this? You'll ruin yourself!"

The sudden outburst did not scare the boy opposite him at all. He sneered. "You've always been like this, Brother. I really do prefer the other you." That cruel, violent personality—the one that would protect both of them.

"What is there to like about someone so lawless? You were willing to do this for him?"

The boy who had seemed indifferent all along suddenly changed expression. "Brother, that personality is a part of you. He is you. You always wanted to protect us like that. I understand. You protected me before, and now it's my turn to protect you. You only need to stand in the light forever."

The protagonist's body stiffened.

The case was solved, and the protagonist's younger brother received the punishment he deserved.

But the protagonist showed no sign of relief. He stood before the mirror in his room, looking at a face identical to his own, yet with different eyes.

The devil parted his lips lightly. "Afraid? Weren't you the one who personally sent those people who hurt you away, one by one?"

The protagonist's younger brother had indeed committed the crimes, but the protagonist had guided everything. He was taking revenge on those people.

Back then, it was his younger brother who had joined those people in bullying him.

The flashback ended, and the camera suddenly cut to the sunny young man. At that moment, there was not a trace of sunlight left on his face, only endless darkness.

Standing beneath the sunlight, he smiled easily. "So what if I dwell in darkness? I am still free."

The movie ended. The few boys in front of the television did not speak. No matter how many times they watched it, it still sent chills down their spines.

"Ah!!!" A sudden scream yanked everyone out of the story.

"What are you screaming for?"

"Look at the door!"

At some point, a tall man had appeared there. His face completely overlapped with that of the protagonist from the movie!