Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 112

Province D People’s Hospital.

Yu Zhengfeng was leaning against the headboard with an IV drip in his arm. His eyes didn’t seem to be focusing very well. He was facing the wall mounted TV, but his gaze wasn’t actually landing on it, and it was unclear where exactly he was looking.

His assistant was beside him peeling an apple, comforting him: “Old Yu, you’ll be fine after the surgery. Don’t worry too much. Xiaoxuan will be here tomorrow to sign for you, won’t she?”

Yu Zhengfeng finally moved at these words, slowly turning his gaze toward him, murmuring: “She’s busy too.”

“No matter how busy, work isn’t more important than you, right?” The assistant carefully cut the peeled apple into pieces, placed them in a bowl, and set it on the small table beside Yu Zhengfeng’s hand: “Here.”

Yu Zhengfeng slowly closed his eyes, not making a sound. He didn’t seem to have much appetite. His eyes turned back to the TV, which was replaying last night’s broadcast of Sword of Justice. It was only at episode fifteen, not yet at the point where he appeared.

The assistant could only say: “Alright then, eat it later when you feel like it. I’ll go out to buy some things.”

Yu Zhengfeng said: “Go ahead.”

The assistant responded and went out, the door closing gently. The other hospital bed was empty. The entire ward was left with only him.

Yu Zhengfeng watched the TV screen with a blank expression, not knowing what he was thinking about. Lying in bed these past few days, his heart had felt empty, an indescribable sense of dejection. When he opened his phone, there weren’t many job offers. Occasionally a producer or director looking for a main supporting role or a cameo extra would reach out, but the pay they offered naturally wasn’t very good.

No matter how badly he had been injured before, he had always been full of drive. But this illness made him feel as if he had lost the strength to pick himself back up. He simply couldn’t muster any spirit. Probably because he saw that Zhan Hang, whose circumstances had originally been about the same as his, had made it big while still in his prime years, while he himself could never seem to catch the right timing. His best years had already passed, so he had grown slack in his heart.

He didn’t know when he had fallen asleep in bed. When he woke up, footsteps came from outside the door, not just one person’s, but several.

Yu Zhengfeng opened his eyes in puzzlement. His daughter hadn’t mentioned coming back today. He only had a few close old friends, and the ones who could come had already visited once during his hospitalization. The ones who couldn’t had sent someone with gifts of sympathy. Who could it be today?

The assistant was leading the way outside, saying excitedly: “I deliberately kept it from Old Yu. You all coming will definitely make him happy.”

The others didn’t say much, only responding with a couple of laughs.

Then the door opened, and the assistant led two men in full disguise inside, saying to Yu Zhengfeng with delight: “Teacher, look who’s here.”

“Uncle Feng.” Zhan Hang took off his sunglasses, carrying bags of gifts big and small as he walked toward him: “Brought you some good stuff.”

Yu Zhengfeng was startled, a bit incredulous. He immediately propped himself up with his hand, surprised: “You, how did you two get here? Isn’t this a busy time for you?”

“Busy with what, same as always.” Zhan Hang set the things down. Zhao Kaile helped the assistant put away the things he had bought, greeting Yu Zhengfeng.

After everything was put away, the assistant dragged over two chairs for them to sit, then went to the bathroom to wash Yu Zhengfeng’s clothes.

Zhao Kaile said helplessly: “If I hadn’t added your assistant on WeChat, I wouldn’t have known about this.”

Having someone come to see him, Yu Zhengfeng was somewhat happy in his heart. He finally had a bit of a smile on his face, saying: “It’s not a big deal. One more surgery and I can be discharged.”

Zhan Hang said: “You just don’t like to make a fuss.”

Yu Zhengfeng laughed at this: “Wasn’t I making a fuss at the cocktail party? Almost made the headlines.”

“Then why now…” Zhan Hang said half of it, then his expression twisted, not knowing how to continue.

The ward Yu Zhengfeng was staying in was nothing special. He still only had one assistant by his side. His wife had passed away early, his daughter wasn’t around, and when he got sick there was barely anyone to keep him company. His agent and agency hadn’t made much of a statement, and no entertainment reporters were paying attention to this matter. It was as if he had been forgotten by the entire industry. He looked truly miserable.

He didn’t say it, but Yu Zhengfeng seemed to already know what he wanted to say, smiling indifferently: “So if I get sick and have surgery and stay in the hospital, I should bang drums and gongs to tell everyone, have them rush over with cameras to film me? What would that make me?”

Zhan Hang of course understood his thinking, but he always felt a deep sense of powerlessness, his expression quite emotional.

“You’re doing well now, so it’s a successful conclusion.” Yu Zhengfeng let out a sigh: “Think back to when we were filming this drama, you also comforted me, always telling me there was still a chance, still a chance. Actually, Uncle knows there was no chance.”

Zhan Hang shook his head, saying seriously: “Your scenes haven’t aired yet. The overall popularity of Sword of Justice is skyrocketing. You could say the actors are riding the drama’s fame. Even the rabbit we fed in the camp went viral, and people are making memes of it. Are you still afraid you won’t get any attention?”

Yu Zhengfeng was amused by him: “What rabbit, what memes… Uncle doesn’t understand any of that. Listening to you, it sounds like I still have a chance to make a comeback?”

“This isn’t called making a comeback.” Zhan Hang said: “This is your luck finally turning around. Your strength has always been there as a foundation. Otherwise, how do they say that opportunity always favors the prepared?”

It was unclear whether Yu Zhengfeng believed this after hearing it, but looking at his expression, he was at least a bit more cheerful than before when he had been gloomy.

Yu Zhengfeng couldn’t help but smile: “Strange, why do I love listening to you talk so much?”

“You’ll see the results when your episodes air.” Zhao Kaile said with a smile.

Yu Zhengfeng nodded at him, thinking to himself that this was true.

Even if Yu Zhengfeng still had bad luck and missed out on this wave of Sword of Justice hype, as long as he was alive and could still act, if he kept at it he would eventually get his moment in the spotlight, right?

Zhan Hang asked: “When is the surgery?”

“Tomorrow when my daughter comes to sign.” Yu Zhengfeng said: “She’s busy with work. If it weren’t absolutely necessary for a family member to sign, I wouldn’t have had her come.”

Zhan Hang nodded, his gaze sweeping over Yu Zhengfeng’s hair and face.

This illness had truly aged him a lot. His hair seemed to have been dyed black long ago, but the roots still showed a bit of white. Wrinkles had been added to the corners of his eyes, his forehead, and around his mouth. Thinking back to when they first met on set, he had still stood straight with bright eyes. He found it a bit hard to connect the Yu Zhengfeng before him with the commanding officer in the drama at that time. It was like when he first saw Feng Xinghuai gravely ill back then. The feeling in his heart was exactly the same.

Yu Zhengfeng saw his expression change slightly, only looking at him without speaking, and felt a bit puzzled.

Zhao Kaile quickly said: “Then after your surgery, in a couple of days you’ll just be able to see your own scenes. These next two days you must rest well, build up your energy, and then you can enjoy it properly.”

The assistant called out from the bathroom: “Kaile is right. Both extreme grief and extreme joy drain the spirit. Teacher, you shouldn’t be thinking about this and that anymore. Just take good care of yourself. Don’t keep everything bottled up inside.”

Yu Zhengfeng gave an “mm,” his expression both annoyed and amused as he said to the two younger men: “Everything else is fine, just that you all are so long winded every day.”

“His job is to take care of you. If he doesn’t nag at you, who would he nag at?” Zhao Kaile laughed.

Yu Zhengfeng let out a “hey”: “What’s this, you’re young and you have this problem too? Zhan Hang, does he usually chatter away in your ear nonstop too?”

Zhao Kaile didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “No!”

“For now I can still take it.” Zhan Hang said jokingly: “In a few more years, who knows.”

Yu Zhengfeng laughed heartily: “Looks like you two get along pretty well. Not like Zhao Jingran’s type. The people under him aren’t assistants at all, they’re basically using people like livestock.”

“Are you still hung up on him?” Zhan Hang said: “Paying that much attention to him?”

Yu Zhengfeng said helplessly: “What can I do? Open my phone wanting to read some news, and the first thing I see is these few people, coming and going. I’m almost sick of it.”

The group chatted a bit more. When they left, the assistant even stuffed a bag of apples into Zhao Kaile’s hands, saying they had received too many and couldn’t finish them all, so he should take some back.

“You’d better be careful walking on the street now.” Yu Zhengfeng joked to Zhan Hang: “When the light is red, pay attention to your rearview mirror. You might just have someone following your car.”

Zhan Hang said helplessly: “Alright, I’ll be careful.”

On the way back, Zhao Kaile gripped the steering wheel, feeling quite emotional, letting out a sigh for reasons he couldn’t quite name.

“What are you sighing about?” Zhan Hang asked.

Zhao Kaile: “I feel think it’s such a pity about Uncle Feng.”

Zhan Hang gave an “mm,” not responding.

Zhao Kaile asked again: “By the way, Brother Hang, if we get scripts in the future and come across roles suitable for Uncle Feng, could we help recommend him to the production team?”

“Sure.” Zhan Hang said.

He agreed very readily, as if he had already had this in mind.

Zhao Kaile smiled: “You used to say that people in this industry all just do their own thing, and when trouble comes they look out for themselves, that there’s no real friendship…”

“That also depends on the person, you understand?” Zhan Hang said unhappily: “I just like hanging out with simple minded people.”

Zhao Kaile was stunned for a moment, not immediately able to tell whether he was complimenting or insulting that group of friends.

Zhan Hang added: “If you weren’t simple minded, I wouldn’t like you.”

Zhao Kaile: “……”

Does this guy feel uncomfortable if he doesn’t tease me at least once a day!

A few days later, the Sword of Justice promotional event.

After getting out of the car, Zhan Hang was escorted all the way from the guest exclusive passage to the stage. He only briefly exchanged a few words with the host, cooperated with the organizer in a small game, waved to the fans below the stage, then made a gesture of farewell and politely retreated backstage.

As he stepped down, he heard people in the audience discussing the various standout extra roles in Sword of Justice, and faintly heard the one played by Yu Zhengfeng.

“So the remaining guests are indeed unable to attend our event in person due to work reasons, but they still personally recorded a few short videos for everyone. Come, let’s watch the VCR.”

As the host finished speaking, the screen began playing selfie videos from the actors who couldn’t attend, sending their blessings one by one. Among them was indeed Yu Zhengfeng in his hospital gown.