Global Film Emperor

Chapter 216
Lu Ze watched Lin Yuezhu leave. After she completely disappeared from his sight, he turned his gaze back to the tombstone. She was smiling quietly. Lu Ze couldn't imagine what kind of life she had been living these past few years.

"So, this is how you've been getting by these past few years? You've been working so hard every day, even though it's exhausting? Jiang Wenshu, you're free now, but I'll never have a clear conscience for the rest of my life."

“These past few days I’ve been thinking, how much better it would have been if I hadn’t left back then. If I had resolutely stayed that night, would you not have left like this? You’re so hypocritical. You died in this way, yet you tell me not to think about you anymore. I’m sorry, I can’t do that, and I don’t know if it suits your wishes.”

Lu Ze sat on the marble railing of an empty tomb next to Jiang Wenshu, gazing into the distance at the colorful landscape with mountains and water—a truly pleasant sight.

"Depression sounds scary, but what about me? You heard it just now, right? I'm sick too. We're both patients. I know your pain, but I'm still trying to live. So, why can't you give yourself a chance? Your mother has been crying terribly for three days straight, and your father's hair has turned completely white. Do you regret it now?"

"To be honest, I understand your pain, because I often wake up one morning and forget who I am. I could be a doctor, a thief, a white-collar worker, anything is possible. Am I not in pain? Yes, I am in pain, because I just want to be myself. I don't want to be anyone else. I can only be myself."

"Even though it's agonizing, I'm trying my best to live, so that my parents and my good friends won't be as heartbroken as you are when you died."

Lu Ze turned around and touched the uncarved stone tablet behind him. It was moist, smooth, and felt good to the touch. Lu Ze could feel its weight.

"The ancients said that when people are well-fed and warm, they think of lust. So when I was poor, I never liked anyone. Now that I'm not poor, I'm rich, so I might have fallen for you. It's too late to say now, but when you were lying there, I realized that I'm pretty shameless. I thought I didn't have any moral fastidiousness, but actually, I do."

“But now that I’m dead and my body is useless, I’ve realized that it’s really not important anymore. I got sick and I don’t know how long I can last, so I bought myself a grave. This is your home, and this will be my home in the future.”

Lu Ze patted the tombstone. He had bought two adjacent graves. The one next to Jiang Wenshu's was his own. Perhaps he wouldn't be able to use it for decades, or perhaps he would move it over in a couple of days.

“I really believe in these supernatural things, so if you’re cold, hungry, or broke, come to me in a dream. Don’t come to your parents. After all this, their health is really half ruined. Don’t bother them. Just tell me what you want, and I’ll get it for you.”

"Sigh, you're relieved now, but I still have to live. So I have to go. I can't stay with you anymore. You know how good it was when you were alive. One phone call or a train ticket and you could see me. Now? I can only see you once in a long while. Isn't that awful? I'm leaving. You can stay here by yourself. It's your own choice, so go ahead and regret it."

Patting his rain-soaked trousers, Lu Ze stood up, wiped the rain off the monument, and turned to leave. After taking only two steps, he stopped, turned back, and smiled.

Actually, I love you too.

The road down the mountain was a bit slippery, so Lu Ze walked slowly. He happened to run into Jiang Wenshu's parents, who had just finished burning paper money. He accompanied them to the entrance of the cemetery, helped the elderly couple into their car, and said that Jiang Wenshu was from Wuxi and her parents lived there. Lu Ze, on the other hand, was going back to Shanghai.

"Xiao Lu, why don't you come to my house for a while? You've had a hard time these past few days, taking care of me and your uncle. If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't know what to do. I came all the way from Shanghai to Wuxi this morning and haven't even had a bite to eat yet. Let me cook you a meal before you go."

Jiang Wenshu's mother held Lu Ze's hand. In fact, she and Jiang's father had always thought that he and Jiang Wenshu were in a romantic relationship. After all, Jiang Wenshu often mentioned Lu Ze at home. The old couple thought that they were playing the game of hiding their relationship in the entertainment industry. They had also secretly investigated Lu Ze's family situation and were very satisfied with Lu Ze's clean family background. Even now, Lu Ze has never denied it.

"No, Auntie, I have some things to do, so I'll head back to Shanghai first. I'll come visit you and Uncle another day when I'm free from work. Please take care of yourselves, Uncle. I don't want you to be too sad. The roads are slippery, so please be careful."

Jiang's mother opened the car window and kept looking back at Lu Ze. After the car drove away, she cried again. Lu Ze stood there waving to them until the car was far away before he prepared to leave.

Lu Ze took out his cigarette case, lit a cigarette, and patted all his pockets, but couldn't find a lighter. He must have given the lighter to Jiang Wenshu's relative to burn paper money and hadn't gotten it back. Helpless, he could only put the cigarette away.

"Click."

A one-dollar lighter sparked and was handed to Lu Ze.
Lu Ze froze, his right hand holding the cigarette stopped moving, his mind went blank, and he quickly turned his head. Wang Zixuan was holding a lighter and looking at him expressionlessly.

After thinking for a while, Lu Ze leaned over, lit a cigarette, and paused several times before finally taking a deep drag.

"Thank you, how did you get here?"

"Brother Liu brought me here." "Oh."

Lu Ze turned and walked towards his car. Wang Zixuan followed silently behind him, preparing to get into Lu Ze's car.

"Let's go back in Brother Liu's car."

"Brother Lu."

"I'm really annoyed right now, please don't bother me, I'm so annoyed! Can you give me some private space? Please?"

Lu Ze looked into Wang Zixuan's eyes, and the two stared at each other. Wang Zixuan was so stunned by his gaze that she froze. Finally, she silently lowered her head and walked towards Liu Bin's car.

Once in the car, Lu Ze released the handbrake, shifted into gear, and gently pressed the accelerator. The car sped off. Lu Ze opened the window, rested his elbow on the window frame, took the cigarette from his mouth with his left hand, flicked the ash outside, and propped his head up with the bottom of his palm. He overtook one car after another.

His eyes were a little moist, and eventually tears streamed down his face. He remained expressionless, wiping away his tears with the back of his hand, but in the end, the tears still flowed freely.

He turned right and stopped on the side of the road where temporary parking was permitted. Lu Ze tilted his head back, covered his eyes with the bottom of his hands, and clenched his teeth.

"Cough...cough cough"

In reality, these past few days have felt like a dream. Even though Lu Ze handled her funeral arrangements, watched her being cremated, and watched her being buried, it still felt somewhat unreal. His subconscious was unwilling to accept the fact that Jiang Wenshu had left.

The woman who remembered his birthday, who would come to celebrate with him every year no matter how busy she was with work—a birthday he had never celebrated in the first twenty-five years of his life—who loved to light his cigarettes like a little brother and who always made him feel completely satisfied after lighting them, is truly dead.

He owed Jiang Wenshu an apology, but he never had the chance to say it again.

The van behind him had its hazard lights flashing, but no one bothered the man who was already thirty years old this year. He was no longer young, and his tears were more precious than before. They wouldn't fall easily anymore, but when they did, they were filled with heart-wrenching sorrow.

Twenty minutes later, the car started again, got on the highway, and sped along at 140 km/h. Two and a half hours later, Lu Ze got out of the car and arrived at his doorstep.

He pressed the car key, then tugged at the car door to make sure it was locked before entering the lobby and taking the elevator home.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Lu Ze froze. Before he could even process what was happening, he stepped out of the elevator. A pair of hands grabbed the elevator doors, pulled Lu Ze out of the elevator, gave him a big hug, and patted Lu Ze's back hard, making a thumping sound.

"It's all in the past. Men have to hang in there, be strong, and life goes on."

Song Guiyuan rushed over from the capital early this morning and had been squatting outside Lu Ze's house for half a day. He didn't even think about calling Lu Ze to bother him. His purpose in coming was to give Lu Ze the hug he deserved.

Friends, this is the time to make a dazzling entrance, like a superhero.

"My wife is at work today, and I left my son at Zheng Yi's house. My flight is at 7:20 tonight, so I'm going back to get him. We'll see how drunk you can get me."

"."

(End of this chapter)