ebookland Chapter 102 Guilt & Love
Chapter 102 Guilt & Love
“Mu Yuanming was my senior at the time, which is normal. The theme of the study group was to help struggling students.” He looked at the protagonist, somewhat puzzled as to why the other party was still dwelling on this matter from ten years ago.
“The study group is just a regular study support group.” Yan Xun looked at the main character. “If you don’t have any other questions, I’ll be leaving.”
The protagonist looked at Yan Xun and asked, "I heard you didn't attend Mu Yuanming's funeral?"
Yan Xun was still wearing his employee badge. He had just come out of the workplace. He was wearing an iron-gray shirt and was somewhat thin. Due to long hours of overtime, he had very dark circles under his eyes. He looked like a tormented, hardworking laborer.
"Yes."
Yan Xun looked at the main character and asked, "Is there a problem?"
The protagonist looked at him and said, "No."
"Sorry to bother you."
Yan Xun didn't say anything, just waved his hand impatiently, and then went back to the office building to continue working.
Yan Xun had no memory of any plot related to this movie, and he was unaware that he had acted in a movie. As he watched his own departing figure in the movie, his intuition told him that his role was not so simple.
“Actually, I quite like this character,” He Jinqiu said to Yan Xun, hugging a cushion.
"It is interesting."
As the two were talking, Ning Xinian opened his bedroom door. He was wearing pajamas and looked at Yan Xun and He Jinqiu in the living room with a slightly surprised expression.
"Still not asleep?"
He walked over until he saw what the two of them were looking at, and said, "Why are you watching this?"
"Coincidentally, this is the movie playing today," Yan Xun said without looking up.
Ning Xinian originally came out to get a drink of water, but when he returned after getting water from the refrigerator, he suddenly changed his mind. Instead of going back to the bedroom, he chose to sit on the sofa with Yan Xun and He Jinqiu and watch the movie together.
"I remember you went to visit the set back then?" Ning Xinian suddenly asked He Jinqiu beside him.
"Yes." He Jinqiu was still holding the cushion in his hand. He leaned back on the sofa and glanced at Yan Xun on the TV. "It wasn't really a set visit. I just happened to pass by and took a look."
“Yan Xun’s scenes were filmed in just three days,” He Jinqiu said. “I happened to be nearby at the time, so I went to take a look.”
“You look quite good in a suit,” he suddenly said.
Ning Xinian's expression was subtle upon hearing this. He didn't know if He Jinqiu was simply praising someone or just doing her usual business.
The television screen then switched to show Yan Xun after he got off work.
When he got home, he hung his suit jacket on the hanger and wore only a shirt, the hem of which was tucked into his trousers without a single wrinkle.
Yan Xun knew that to make the hem of a shirt fit so neatly, it usually needed to be secured with shirt clips.
“I saw some fans discussing this movie online, and they were even trying to figure out if you were wearing a shirt clip,” He Jinqiu said, turning to look at Yan Xun. “Did you wear one?”
"I'm not wearing a shirt clip," Yan Xun said expressionlessly. "Focus on the movie."
Ning Xinian, listening nearby, frowned even more deeply; he even wanted to say—
Friends, there are no cameras in the living room, and they're not filming a group variety show, so you don't need to sell anymore!
One of the images in the movie is a group photo on Yan Xun's desktop.
In the group photo, Yan Xun still looks like a teenager. He makes a face at the camera, next to Mu Yuanming who is smiling, and there are other people around them, who should be other members of the study group.
The protagonist then continues to investigate these missing persons cases, but the more he investigates, the more he can sense the intricate connections between these cases and the study group.
Besides Yan Xun, the protagonist also visited the remaining people who had participated in Mu Yuanming's study group back then.
Everyone said it was just a regular after-school enrichment class. Because Mu Yuanming had the best grades at the time, he organized this mutual help group.
But things are clearly not that simple.
The protagonist decides to follow Yan Xun. According to the study group's materials at the time, as well as his impression from ten years ago, Yan Xun was a classmate who had a good relationship with Mu Yuanming.
It's not just a relationship between senior and junior brothers.
The two were at least friends, but after that accident, Yan Xun did not attend Mu Yuanming's funeral, and for many years afterward, he never went to the place where Mu Yuanming was buried.
As Yan Xun watched the movie on the sofa, she realized that her relationship with Mu Yuanming was probably not as simple as it seemed.
As the protagonist investigates, he discovers that Mu Yuanming and Yan Xun were once neighbors for a period of time. However, Yan Xun's family went bankrupt and she left, while Mu Yuanming continued to live there.
Yan Xun was an adopted child, and because his adoptive family's financial situation deteriorated, he did not have an easy time afterward.
Yan Xun gradually became rebellious until he joined Mu Yuanming's study group.
Only then did I begin to study hard again and strive for improvement.
The story should have been quite inspiring up to this point, but the protagonist gradually discovers another truth about the study group—
They are brothers in arms, and they are also victims in the same boat.
Mu Yuanming mentally manipulates these people, something the protagonist is aware of.
But ten years later, with the investigation into Yan Xun and the search for those missing people, the protagonist suddenly discovers that perhaps Mu Yuanming was just a figurehead back then.
There were other people behind the scenes.
As the movie nears its end, the whole truth of the incident is fully revealed.
Mu Yuanming willingly became an executioner, and after plotting to kill the person who had harmed Yan Xun years ago, he concealed Yan Xun's existence. To prevent the protagonist from continuing to investigate, he cleanly and neatly covered everything up with his own death.
When the protagonist finally rescued the missing people and saw Yan Xun.
Yan Xun stood on the rooftop smoking, still wearing his dark gray suit. He wasn't surprised to see the main character.
The protagonist angrily voiced his questions, but Yan Xun casually looked into the distance, smoking, and then said, "They should have died long ago."
The protagonist was instantly enraged and rushed up to fight Yan Xun. The two began to fight on the rooftop, but Yan Xun was too thin, so the protagonist eventually pinned him to the ground.
The cigarettes he used to smoke had long since disappeared.
Finally, Yan Xun sighed, as if to give in, "Let go, I will confess."
Only then did the protagonist let go.
Yan Xun also dusted himself off and stood up.
Just as the protagonist was about to take Yan Xun away, Yan Xun, who had been moving slowly, suddenly flipped over and sat on the railing. He then suddenly stood up.
He threw off his work badge and suit, and embraced the sky with both hands.
"Just kidding."
Yan Xun smiled.
"They all deserve to die."
As he spoke, he fell off the rooftop, just like Mu Yuanming did ten years ago.
What followed was a series of investigations. It turned out that all the children who had participated in the study group had been abducted. Yan Xun, being lively and active, had helped many people, the most of whom was Mu Yuanming.
Finally, he managed to escape with Mu Yuanming, but they were discovered and he pushed Mu Yuanming away.
But he was pulled back.
Those who went missing were all, more or less, indirectly or directly connected to the human trafficking of that year, and their trial is imminent.
The ending shows the protagonist finding a photo of the two of them from a study session in Yan Xun's room. He glances at the photo, then takes it away and, as Yan Xun wished, burns the connection between him and Mu Yuanming.
Yan Xun felt that his role was just as good as Mu Yuanming's!
No wonder he eventually agreed to the role change, even though Mu Yuanming's ghost was still haunting him and became a psychological shadow for the protagonist.
But he himself is the mastermind behind everything, the true protagonist.
"But I still don't understand why Mu Yuanming would willingly become a pawn. Is it out of guilt?" Ning Xinian couldn't help but ask after watching the movie.
He Jinqiu watched the end credits song playing in the movie, as well as the past depicted in simple line drawings.
He opened the bottle of mineral water, which was no longer cold, and took a sip.
"Perhaps it's guilt."
"It could also be love."
“Anyway, he doesn’t regret it,” He Jinqiu said, staring at the screen before finally looking at Yan Xun beside him. “What do you think?”