Su Qingtang hung round with Wen Xingshen and quickly they became friends. It was a pretty peaceful morning and the lunch break quickly rolled around.
"Since we don't have much to do how about we rehearse our lines?" Wen Xingshen asked suddenly as he turned t Su Qingtang who was busy drinking a box of milk.
Su Qingtang looked up in confusion. Huh? Even she the self-proclaimed workaholic didn't work as the young man in front of her. It was a bit embarrassing how she kept complaining when there was this young man who wordlessly worked, maybe even much harder than she did. A bit of determination weaved its way into her heart as her competitive spirit awakened. How can I let this little bean sprout be harder working than I am!
"Why are you doing this? Why wont you stay away from WanWan?" 'Qin Shining' asked, her eyes brimming with hatred.
Wen Xingshen was a bit shocked but quickly assumed his role as Lin Yanfeng. "What is it to you? She told me that she will never accept the fact that she treated a person like you as a friend while you regard her with such hatefulness. So, with what right are you coming to me about this? You already lost the right to be her friend. Who are you to her?"
A bit of hurt flashes through Qin Shining's eyes as she fights to find a suitable response. "…I-"
Yanfeng lit up a cigarette and took a puff as he stared at her in disdain. "You being like this only hurts her more and more. Your selfishness will cost you a price. Remember that."
As soon as the moment passed, and the scene ends Su Qingtang bursts out laughing as she looks at Wen Xingshen's 'cigarette'. A soggy-ish French fry between his long pale fingers.
He scratches the back of his head, an embarrassed smile on his face. "I didn't have anything else as a prop."
Tears gleam in Su Qingtang's eyes as she laughs heartily. She tried her best to quickly sober up but failed repeatedly. Wen Xingshen just watches her in amusement. Finally, she managed to stop laughing.
The air stilled into a comfortable silence as they continued to eat. With Su Qingtang coughing to hide her amusement every time he picked up a fry. Their friendship bloomed.
Surprisingly, its Wen Xingshen who breaks the silence. "You know. Out of all the characters. I find that Yanfeng is the most transparent."
Su Qingtang pauses. Hmm? "How so? Isn't he the most detestable?"
Wen Xingshen looks out the window as he speaks. His tone changes to one of unrestrained happiness. Understanding seemed to click into Su Qingtang's brain. "That's not it. He's never implied he was a good person and had always been a meticulous and crafty person seen in how he managed to build a steady company at such a young age even with his various underground dealings he was never caught. He certainly could have kept Yan Man in the dark about everything that was going on but, allowed her to find out what was going on. He probably never meant for anyone to get hurt. I think he wanted to give Yan Man a way to escape by showing her how dark he was, but I guess he underestimated how much she liked him… Loved him even Even though the truth was staring at her she still wanted to get an explanation from him. She wanted him to tell her that everything was a lie. For some reason, I think he genuinely liked Yan Man. He could've used his money to have anyone as his assistant with his level of influence. Why did he have to have her as a girlfriend when he could have directly employed her? Why date her and buy gifts and the stuff that generally come with relationships when there were so many was he could've possibly used her?"
Su Qingtang didn't speak as she listened to him. Suddenly she felt like she too was manipulated like the poor viewers. Her understanding of the plot was too superficial, and she fell into a blind net and started to find fault the male lead. But wasn't he a human being like everyone else? He too was screwed over by life and misunderstandings. This story truly was a tragedy.
"It seems I have much to learn from you, Sensei." Su Qingtang chuckled lightly. She seemed to have overestimated herself a bit. "It seems you have a lot on your plate full if your going to have to portray all of that, huh."
"You do as well." He says, his eyes shining. Su Qingtang found his love for the plot adorable. "You have to portray the complexities going through Qin Shining's mind as she tries to keep her personal life and reasons from affecting justice all while protecting the one person in the world she had left. You have to make sure she isn't seen as a villain but a girl who makes mistakes like the rest of us."
The whole reason Qin Shining didn't tell her friend about the dangers of the path she is taking is because of her father the police cheif. Technically she wasn't even supposed to know that the male lead was a bad person. It was a super-secret mission her dad was on that she accidentally found out about it. If she didn't distrust Yan Man to some extent and prioritize herself and her father over the person who had stuck with her all the time maybe Yan Man wouldn't have been in danger in the first place.
But you certainly couldn't blame her for this.
Just like you can't blame Yanfeng for causing her death, yes, he did bad things but he tried to make it better for Yan Man.
Just like you can't blame Yan Man for not listening to her friends warning and for loving Yanfeng enough to hold a silver of hope she would find good news after a confrontation.
"Life truly is just like the Shades of the Night isn't it"