The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

After hanging up the phone, the two silently nestled together on the large sofa. Everything around them seemed to stand still, even the air seemed to freeze. Neither of them spoke to break the heavy silence. Their thoughts drifted to the distance, to those who had passed away, to their loved ones. And to Cheng Zhi and Xue Jiang.

Time seemed to stretch out, each moment becoming incredibly slow, as if an entire century had truly passed. They had thought that with the passage of time, those painful memories would gradually fade and eventually disappear from their lives. However, on this night destined to be turbulent, those memories surged back like a tidal wave, carrying with them past sorrow and reluctance, making them realize that none of them had truly forgotten.

The sorrow that welled up in their hearts made them realize that no matter how a person's life ends, death is an inevitable end in the journey of life.

When all of this actually happens to them, the inevitability and philosophy of death seem so trivial that they cannot truly soothe the pain in their hearts.

Zhang Qian's funeral was simple, held in a small farewell hall at a funeral home in the western suburbs. It was for close relatives and friends. Jian Zheng was accompanied by two assistants, a man and a woman, Zhang Kun, and Shang Yibo. Just before leaving, Shang Yibo stopped Zhou Yanruo and advised her not to go. Zhou Yanruo was very obedient and saw him to the door, only saying, "I'll wait for you to come back."

Only one female employee from Yuehai Technology Company came; she looked like the company's assistant or secretary. She was the only one crying in the farewell hall.

Few employees in the company have actually met their boss, Zhang Qian. Zhang Qian, who has a disability, is not very willing to see people. Yuehai Technology is an internet technology company, so setting up a complete remote office system is a piece of cake for them. Most of the company's employees only know that their boss is a technical genius, and there are many who have only heard his voice but have never seen him in person.

A brief farewell ceremony was held, presided over by funeral home staff. This could hardly be called a funeral; it was merely the handling of the aftermath.

Almost simultaneously with obtaining the police's death certificate for Zhang Qian, the cremation took place.

Shang Yibo caught a glimpse of the 'death certificate' and 'cremation certificate' in Zhang Kun's hand—a thin A5 sheet of paper and a small red plastic booklet.

This was Zhang Qian's last "certificate," a blank sheet of paper declaring the end of Zhang Qian's social status as a human being; the bright red cremation certificate was glaring, representing the disposal of his body in the form of cremation into ashes, Zhang Qian's final glory.

Shang Yibo returned to the hotel at noon. Zhou Yanruo didn't ask about the funeral, and Shang Yibo didn't want to bring it up again.

The storyline that Shang Yibo was filming these past few days happened to be a "national collapse, family destruction, and the death of loved ones" plot, and he released tragic emotions in the process of performing it.

Zhou Yanruo, on the other hand, remained depressed for several days.

A week later, good news finally arrived.

Hong Yun called to inform me that "the investigation into Uncle Chu by Yuehai has basically come to an end. It has been determined that the alleged bribery was not supported by sufficient evidence and could not be classified as 'bribery'. Uncle Chu and that leader from Yuehai City were college classmates. Although the amount of money he gave as a wedding gift at his son's wedding was a bit large, it was not enough to be classified as 'bribery and accepting bribes'."

"Because from the perspective of the elements constituting a bribery case, there were no improper requests. Although the tender documents for the Yuehai Medical Pilot Zone had some minor flaws, there were no fundamental problems."

"Uncle Chu will be back in a few days. The rest depends on whether the procuratorate will file charges."

Zhou Yanruo: "It would be best if Chairman Chu could come back first. We will ask the lawyer to communicate with the relevant agencies later."

Hong Yun then inquired about Shang Yibo's schedule and was quite relieved to find out that filming would wrap up in a week: "Uncle Chu should be able to return to Beijing by then. Let's meet in Beijing."

When Zhou Yanruo was on the phone with Hong Yun, Shang Yibo was still filming his last scene of the day.

An hour later, he returned to his RV after filming and saw Zhou Yanruo with a long-lost smile on her face. He asked, "Looks like you're in a good mood."

"Finally some good news. I've been suffocating these past few days."

"Yes, it must be really good news."

"Chairman Chu can come back now." Zhou Yanruo explained the details of Hong Yun's phone call to Shang Yibo.

Shang Yibo breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally, we've made some progress."

Zhou Yanruo: "It can only be said that we have achieved some results. There is still a lot of work to be done. Fortunately, you are about to finish filming, so you can concentrate on solving the group's problems."

Hopefully everything will go smoothly from now on.

There was a knock on the RV door. Zhou Yanruo opened the door and exclaimed in surprise, "President Shen?"

Shen Yihua smiled and replied, "President Zhou is here too. I've come to see Yibo."

Upon hearing this, Shang Yibo stood up and saw Shen Yihua get into the car.

"Sister Yihua, what brings you here?"

“You’ve been in Huizhou for almost two months, and I haven’t had a chance to visit you on set.” Shen Yihua walked in with a smile, sat on the sofa, and gestured to the person next to her, saying, “Shang Yibo, come, sit here.”

Zhou Yanruo: "President Shen, Yibo, you two chat, I'll go out first."

Shang Yibo nodded, took a bottle of sparkling water from the car refrigerator, and placed it on the coffee table in front of Shen Yihua. "Sister Yihua, have some water. What time did you arrive? Why didn't you tell me beforehand? I could have asked Xiao Guangzi to book a restaurant for you to welcome you." After saying that, he sat down opposite Shen Yihua.

Shen Yihua reached out and pushed the bottle of sparkling water further inside. "It's so cold, I can't drink iced water."

Shang Yibo quickly got up, "Then let me pour you something hot to drink, coffee or tea?"

"Don't bother, I'm not thirsty, you're being so polite with me." Shen Yihua stopped Shang Yibo. "I just went to see the filming footage, and your portrayal of Ling Shaojing is excellent. I was already moved after watching just a few minutes."

Shang Yibo blurted out, "Oh? Is that so? That's not easy."

Shen Yihua didn't continue, but instead asked, "Is your filming almost finished?"

Shang Yibo replied, "If all goes well, filming will wrap up next week. It depends on whether the director needs to add any more scenes."

Shen Yihua pursed her lips and pondered for a moment before speaking: "I saw Qi Qingnan's work report. It seems that you only have one variety show to record, and there are no other plans afterward. Are you not satisfied with the projects they helped you with? Or do you have some other ideas? Just tell me, and I will arrange it for you personally."

"Sister Yihua, I do have some thoughts. I originally planned to tell you after filming wrapped up and I returned to Beijing, but since you asked me about it today, I'll just say it directly."

Shen Yihua frowned slightly. "We don't need to be so polite between us. Just tell me what you're thinking."

Shang Yibo: "I want to leave the entertainment industry."