The Shen family went to visit late Father Shen's tomb the next morning.
The gravestone was cleaned, water was poured, and fresh bouquets of flower were placed in front of the tomb.
Mother Shen, Shen Jingwei and Shen Dou Dou then knelt before the tomb and clasped their hands in prayer.
Father, Shen Jingwei spoke in his heart. It has been three years.
Your son is unfilial.
The promises I made on the day you threw me out of the house remained unfulfilled to this date.
Forgive me.
Nevertheless, I shall keep working to achieve my goals.
Until then, please allow me to take care of Mom and Dou Dou occasionally.
Shen Jingwei opened his eyes and saw his mother looking at his face.
Mother Shen broke into a hesitant smile.
"It's late. Should we go out to have lunch together?"
"Oh, yes!" Shen Dou Dou chirped happily. "Let's go eat some hotpot to celebrate Big Brother's homecoming!"
The eighteen-year-old girl proceeded to drag her elder brother along the concrete walkway, leading them out of the cemetery.
Once they were seated at the table, Shen Dou Dou got busy ordering a yin-yang pot consisting of hot mala broth on one side and flavorful pork bone broth on the other side.
They took a hotpot package for three people, but the generous spread could easily accommodate five people.
When they got busy dipping the ingredients into the pot, Mother Shen started talking about the elephant in the room.
"Jingwei, how did you get the male lead role for that drama?"
Shen Jingwei's hand went somewhat slack upon hearing the question. The tofu roll between his chopsticks almost fell and splashed everyone with hot broth.
"My manager made me take an audition for another role, but by chance I caught the author's fancy. She wanted me to take the male lead role."
Shen Dou Dou, who did not bother hiding her fujoshi nature from her mother, squealed in delight.
"You met the author??? Big Brother, please take my copy of the novel and ask the author to sign it for me! Pleaseeee!!!"
"..."
"I saw the picture of you and... Yan Renzhong," Mother Shen hesitantly mentioned her son's ex-boyfriend.
"I am not dating him," Shen Jingwei quickly cleared his mother's suspicion. "We are co-stars, that's all. Do not worry, Mom."
"Oh."
Mother Shen stirred in the mala broth and picked out the vegetables into her children's bowls.
"How do you get along with each other?"
"We haven't caused any problem for anyone on the set. The first shooting period went smoothly without any incident."
Shen Jingwei bit into his lower lip. He didn't want to speak about the time he lost control of his emotions and slapped Yan Renzhong while shooting a scene.
"Oh."
Mother Shen nodded slowly.
And then she said something out of the ordinary.
"That man, Yan Renzhong, does he treat you well?"
"... I guess?"
Mother Shen smiled nervously.
"Jingwei, do you... still have feelings for him?"
This time, it was Shen Dou Dou's turn to be flabbergasted by her mother's question. The shrimp meatball she tried to fish out took a dive back into the pork bone broth with a little splash.
"Aaah!" She cried out.
Shen Jingwei shoved a napkin in his sister's direction and put the shrimp meatball into his sister's bowl.
"It doesn't matter, Mom," he replied softly. "I already promised Dad not to get involved with men anymore."
His father was a through-and-through conservative man.
Shen Jingwei himself never knew that he preferred men over women. Yan Renzhong was his tragic first love.
When his sexual preference was exposed to the world, his father, who followed his activities on social media, flew into a fiery rage.
He disowned his only son on the spot.
Shen Jingwei returned home right away to beg his father's forgiveness to no avail.
"I don't have a son like you," his father had said. The words haunted Shen Jingwei for weeks, and months to come.
Father Shen acted tough, but he was truly too heartbroken by his son's homosexuality. He passed away several months later, depriving father and son of a reconciliation.
At first, Shen Jingwei blamed Yan Renzhong, Wen Guilin, and everyone else in CNC Studio who exposed his homosexuality on Weibo.
His resentment grew stronger with Yan Renzhong's meteoric rise and his own decline in the film industry.
But then, after three years, an inexplicable sense of peace engulfed him, much like a wound that already scabbed over.
It was his own fault.
He gave in to his feelings for Yan Renzhong. He agreed to date him.
He was the one who kissed Yan Renzhong that night.
He was not careful enough.
He allowed the photographers the opportunity to take their pictures and video.
The heartfelt declaration of his love for Yan Renzhong turned into a sharp blade that severed the ties to two men he loved the most, and put an end to his acting career.
The earth continued rotating on its axis, leaving Shen Jingwei to mourn his bad, bad decisions.
Shen Jingwei raised his eyes and calmly looked into his mother's eyes.
"I will never make the same mistake, Mom."
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Author's note :
With the past divulged in this chapter, readers can finally understand the persisting conflict between our protagonist and our male lead.
Now, the question is rather : are the readers still rooting for Emperor Yan? If not, which charming man should replace Emperor Yan? ✧\(>o<)ﾉ✧ Leave the answer under comments!