Part 3 of Chapter 62
Please Like Her 13 – Different scripts + Scumbag Brother + Interaction between male and female leads.
The final scene.
It was scenes of memories, the children would educate their younger siblings one by one to protect their mother before leaving the village for the outside world.
Finally, there is a close-up of a knife.
A hand wearing a black glove, using each finger to touch the knife, and finally all five fingers gripping it together.
Shang Lu closes the script.
This is a truth that can never be revealed.
This is also a truth that has already been revealed.
These five fingers represent the five children, but the hand that ultimately grips the knife is a whole hand.
Regardless of who was responsible for their father’s death, this was a murder committed by the five children in desperation after their mother’s death, a collaborative act.
The trial may continue, but the story ends here.
After all, further than this is not what the audience wants to see. Stopping here is the best ending, leaving room for hope.
Song Zeqian was right; this is indeed the script she likes.
Suddenly, Shang Lu also understands. The night Song Zeqian talked to her in the village, he must have been working on this movie for a long time.
Shang Lu finishes reading all this, and it’s already 4 in the morning. She messages Song Zeqian directly.
[ I’m in. ]
Song Zeqian is also awake and replies instantly.
[ That’s a bold decision. ]
Shang Lu replies in the same manner.
[ I’ll make you choose me. ]
Song Zeqian : [ I look forward to it. ]
Shang Lu : [ So which role will I play? ]
Song Zeqian : [ …You can play the second or youngest daughter, but I think you’re more suitable for the latter. ]
Shang Lu knows, but she has a concern.
[ Won’t the youngest daughter’s character be too similar to the roles I’ve played before? ]
Song Zeqian then replies to her.
[ Don’t worry, it’s completely different. If you’re selected in the end, I’ll take you to see children like that in person. Then you’ll understand. ]
While this is a drama with an ensemble cast, the main narrative perspective is still centered on the youngest daughter. Relatively speaking, this character is also the linchpin of the entire drama, and her role is the most significant.
Song Zeqian gave Shang Lu a week to prepare, and then they would have an audition.
Shang Lu liked any character in this script. She quickly familiarized herself with the script and started practicing acting wholeheartedly.
Meanwhile, at the Shang’s mansion.
A young man sat in a dark room piled with groceries, his eyes closed, and his lips tightly sealed.
To understand the situation, we have to go back five days.
Because he failed to bring Shang Lu home, his father, as always, was furious and wanted to hit him with a stick.
But this time, Shang Mu reached out and grabbed the stick that was about to fall from the air. He seemed somewhat confused and asked, “Why is it that from childhood to now, whenever my sister does something that displeases you, it’s me who gets punished?”
“Why ask such pointless questions? If you want to blame someone, blame your face for bearing no resemblance to your mother’s.” Father Shang replied with a cold and somewhat disdainful look at his own son. “As an older brother, if you can’t even teach your sister to do such a simple thing right, it’s only right that you receive some punishment when she makes a mistake. This is the only way you’ll remember the lesson.”
As Father Shang spoke, he was about to raise the stick again.
But Shang Mu still didn’t let go. There was a complex expression in his eyes, as if he had summoned all his courage. His voice was firm as he asked, “But did my sister really make a mistake? Did I make a mistake?”
Shang Mu’s resistance angered Father Shang so much that he started coughing violently, supporting himself on the table with one hand, bending over as if he was about to cough out his lungs.
However, Shang Mu still stood up and took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket, handing it over with both hands.
Father Shang took the handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose, coughing for a long time before finally recovering.
Shang Mu lowered his gaze and saw the handkerchief stained with blood.
Father Shang’s health had deteriorated significantly in recent years, but he kept it a strict secret, not revealing any information to the outside world, including his own biological son.
At this moment, Father Shang sneered at Shang Mu. “I’m your father. If I say you and your sister are at fault, do you have the right to question it? Since you’re so unwilling to take a beating on behalf of your sister, fine, I won’t hit you. You can stay in that room just like your sister. That way, you should feel it’s fair, right?”
So, he was locked in the same room.
There was only one window, but it had been sealed shut with wooden boards.
The light in the room had been deliberately removed, leaving the whole world in darkness.
He was an adult, but after just five days in this room, he felt his emotions were on the verge of breaking down.
Unable to see day and night, one could only judge the passage of time by relying on three meals a day.
He suddenly thought of Shang Lu.
Such a young child, locked in a room like this, must have felt so lonely and helpless.
She must have cried many times during that time, but no one would comfort her.
That week, how difficult must it have been for her to endure?
No wonder she seemed to become more obedient afterward, but at the same time, she paradoxically started to talk more, to the point where he found it annoying.
Every time she timidly called him “brother” and tried so hard to find topics he found extremely boring.
Was it because she felt so lonely here? Is that why, after going out, she became more eager to communicate and desperately wanted responses from the outside world?
But what about him?
He had never given her the response she wanted, not even once.
He had recently watched the variety shows that Shang Lu participated in.
—”I used to like watching ants.”
—”Because when I was a child, there was no one at home to talk to, and I was very bored, so I could only talk to ants.”
These two sentences had become his nightmare.
Shang Mu remembered their last meeting.
She said she was a little resentful of him, but in the end, she said it didn’t matter.
He knew very well that it wasn’t forgiveness, but rather resignation.
Every day here was so hard to endure, not at all like what he thought as a child, just staying in a room.
What he once envied was also a different kind of punishment.
He endured physical pain, while she suffered psychological torment.
What could he do?
He had to do something.
He knew a secret.
The reason their father was still alive in this world was because of a promise he had made to their mother.
Before their mother passed away, she had said, “You must wait until you are at least fifty years old to come see me. I prepared a letter for you before I became pregnant with this child. It will be sent to you many years later. You must wait for that letter.”
Their father nodded with tears in his eyes.
But Shang Mu knew that the letter didn’t actually exist; it was just a way for their mother to give their father a reason to keep living.
And there’s less than half a month left until his father’s 50th birthday.
He will make sure his father receives that letter.
Two days later.
Early in the morning, after seeing the WeChat Moments post that Chi Yan posted the night before, Shang Lu went to knock on Chi Yan’s door.
Chi Yan also looked like he had pulled an all-nighter, with his hair unusually messy, sticking up, holding a toothbrush in his mouth, and squinting at her, he asked, “Is this your home or mine?”
Shang Lu habitually replied, “It’s my home.”
Then she watched as Chi Yan rinsed the toothpaste foam in the bathroom and walked towards her home. After washing his face with cold water, he habitually reached for an apron and asked, “What do you want to eat?”
Shang Lu : “…”
No, she really didn’t come to ask Chi Yan to make breakfast, especially when Chi Yan looked like he hadn’t fully woken up yet. She seemed more like an unscrupulous capitalist exploiting an employee.
So Shang Lu immediately brought out a pile of bread and milk from her room and placed them on the table, waving to Chi Yan to come over.
TT this pair…. goodness neither of them should’ve had do deal with this
I somehow want Mr. Shang to experience being locked in that room as well…