Chapter 7

Chapter 7: What’s the Difference from Animal Breeding?…

The most dangerous place is the safest place.

This line comes from Gu Long’s martial arts novel Sword of the Third Young Master.

When Songyu called Yang Yichuan, this sentence flashed inexplicably in her mind.

She didn’t know Yang Yichuan personally. The only reason she had his private number was that before filming, she had hastily looked through the band’s private files, which included the lead singer’s contact info. And she happened to be very sensitive to numbers.

The call connected. A capable female voice came through the receiver—Yang Yichuan’s manager, Kasey.

Hearing the voice, Songyu felt something was off. This woman sounded sharp and hard to deal with.

But Songyu still tried to calmly explain her purpose. She couldn’t say much on the phone, only that she couldn’t get a ticket back and wondered if she could catch a ride with them.

“Miss Chen, I understand your situation,” Kasey said politely. “But as you know, our band has four members, and three of them are now in intensive care, with one seriously injured. Things are really chaotic…”

Songyu’s heart sank slowly.

Just as she had thought before. A polite refusal.

Clutching the dirty public phone from the shop, she quickly thought about what to say to win her over.

This was her last chance. She didn’t know anyone on S Star, otherwise, she would never have come looking for Yang Yichuan.

But then, another clearer, more pleasant voice came from the other end of the line.

Yang Yichuan.

“Who is this?”

“The documentary director for tonight.”

“What’s up?”

“She says she…”

Kasey’s voice became muffled and distant; Songyu didn’t catch it clearly.

But Yang Yichuan suddenly raised his voice excitedly: “Wait, you’re saying this director is Chen Songyu??? I really love her films! Go pick her up now!”

Reluctantly, Kasey lifted the receiver again.

The tight string in Songyu’s mind finally relaxed for the first time during that long night.

Turning around, she saw the old inn clearly for the first time.

A worn wool tapestry hung on the wall, faded mandala flowers. In the corner was a fish tank, with a large goldfish swaying in the blue water like a bloomed sunflower.

She hadn’t expected that in the end, it was her identity as a director that saved her life.It just happened so coincidentally.

The duke’s son turned out to be a fan of films, and coincidentally, a fan of hers.

As soon as they boarded the ship, Yang Yichuan took the initiative to come over and greet Songyu.

“Kasey didn’t tell me who the last-minute replacement director was, didn’t expect it to be you! I’m so happy!” He grinned.

Looking closer, he actually had a somewhat effeminate appearance—delicate bones, small features, and when not smiling, he looked too pretty and aloof. Perhaps that was the distance brought by aristocratic upbringing.

But once he smiled, a single dimple appeared on one side, making him seem pure, even childlike.

Songyu smiled slightly: “Thank you.”

She originally just wanted to calmly thank him.

Unexpectedly, Yang Yichuan kept holding onto her and started talking enthusiastically about her works, as if he knew every one of her films by heart.

In a daze, Songyu almost felt like she was back at some film festival red carpet or premiere, facing an enthusiastic fan.

The conversation circled back to her Waterloo work from two years ago.

Sure enough, he was very indignant, first angrily cursing the festival jury that year as blind, then saying:

“What’s wrong with feature films! I just don’t understand why movies nowadays are getting shorter and shorter. With such short lengths, how can you tell a good story?”

Songyu was a little surprised to hear this.

Because in these two years, although many people defended her, no one had really supported her decision to make “feature films.”

It seemed everyone tacitly agreed that movies getting shorter was the true trend of the era. It was the market’s choice, the will of the people.

She couldn’t help but smile: “You’re the first person to say that to me.”

Yang Yichuan widened his eyes: “Really?”

“Really.”

Her tone was sincere, and she looked straight into Yang Yichuan’s eyes—for a young man just over twenty, that gaze was too focused and clear.

He inexplicably felt a blush, not knowing where to put his hands or feet, the back of his ears already warming.

Songyu didn’t notice his loss of composure.

But just as she was about to say something, the lights suddenly dimmed.

Her smile stiffened, and her alertness immediately rose.

Although this ship had long left S Star, who knew what those people could still do?

However, the next second, birthday music suddenly played over the broadcast.

The management team sitting in another cabin, along with two flight attendants, all came in with smiling faces. Manager Kasey stood in front, holding a delicate birthday cake.

“Happy Birthday!!”

Several people shouted together.Songyu smiled slightly and put down the empty wine glass in her hand—if anything unexpected happened, she had planned to smash the glass and use the shards as a weapon for self-defense.

Amid the laughter and chatter, only Yang Yichuan himself wasn’t very enthusiastic. He drowsily blew out the candles: “Alright, alright, turn the lights back on.”

Afterwards, he was too lazy even to cut the cake, leaving everything to Kasey to handle.

Songyu: “Is today your birthday?”

“Yeah.” Yang Yichuan sighed, “Otherwise, why would I come to S Star for a concert?”

Why? For a moment she couldn’t figure out his thinking.

Then she heard him continue angrily:

“It’s precisely because I don’t want to do that damn gene test on my birthday!”

Songyu: “...”

Only then did she finally understand why Yang Yichuan, a noble from Capital Star, had to travel thousands of miles to hold a concert on S Star.

Because every Imperial citizen must undergo a “gene matching test” on their birthday every year.

And he obviously wanted to use a concert in a foreign land to dodge this year’s test.

“Don’t be so stubborn, Xiaochuan. If you hadn’t insisted on coming to S Star, none of this would have happened. Luckily it ended without disaster.” Kasey scolded him gently while handing him a slice of cake.

Yang Yichuan took the cake angrily: “It’s already like this, can I skip it this year?”

“No.” She said coldly, “Your father just called me. After we get off the ship, we’ll go to the hospital first, then to the gene testing center.”

“So annoying.” Yang Yichuan frowned and lifted his fork. The perfectly good cake was soon mashed into a pile of mush.

Kasey softly persuaded him: “What’s wrong with gene testing? Don’t you want to meet your destined person sooner?”

Yang Yichuan: “What destined person? It’s just a stranger. Who I like and who I marry should be decided by me, not by some random percentage in a gene report!”

He got angrier and angrier: “How is this any different from animal breeding?”

Kasey laughed: “Childish talk.”

She then turned her head and handed another piece of cake to Songyu: “Director Chen, don’t you agree?”

Songyu knew there was an implied meaning behind her words.

This was basically a hint that these private talks should be heard but not passed around.

Yang Yichuan, however, didn’t catch on at all, and even scoffed disdainfully: “Tch, Director Chen definitely supports me.”

She looked at him in surprise.

Yang Yichuan then eagerly looked at her: “Director Chen, I still remember a movie you made about a couple who truly loved each other, but because their gene compatibility failed, the Imperial marriage law didn’t recognize their union, so they couldn’t marry. So they chose to elope.”

“That’s probably the best romance film I’ve seen in the past decade!” he said passionately.

Songyu was taken aback.

Then she covered it up with a smile: “That’s also the work I’m most satisfied with myself.”

“I remember that movie too.” Kasey suddenly interrupted, “The lead actress won Best Actress at the Interstellar Film Festival back then, right? And she was an amateur with no acting training. Director Chen, you really know how to coach your actors.”She shifted her tone, her eyes toward Songyu clearly more enthusiastic:

“Director Chen, are you preparing a new film recently? If there’s a suitable role next time, would you consider our Xiaochuan? Don’t be fooled by him playing in a band—he actually loves movies more and has always wanted to act, but he’s really picky about scripts. But your scripts, Director Chen, surely have no problem, right?”

Yang Yichuan’s eyes immediately lit up: “Of course! Let me be an extra, no, let me play a corpse if you want!”

Kasey turned and spat at him: “Don’t say such unlucky things!”

Yang Yichuan looked indifferent: “Alright, nothing happened last night anyway, why make such a fuss?”

Listening nearby, Songyu thought to herself, how can someone be so carefree?

Probably just overly protected by his family.

She had considered telling Yang Yichuan the truth on the ship but abandoned the idea.

After all, he was completely different from what she imagined. So naive and clueless, with only art on his mind, telling him rashly would be pointless. Knowing too much would only harm him.

And how to handle that hot potato of a chip was best decided after she safely reached Capital Star.

But after hesitating a moment, Songyu said to him, “I’ll give you a birthday gift too.”

Yang Yichuan: “Huh? What?”

He looked at her expectantly.

She turned and took out a chip, handing it to Yang Yichuan.

“…This is tonight’s performance video,” Songyu said. “Although the documentary probably won’t happen, I still roughly edited the footage. Just as a keepsake.”

Of course, this was not the original chip, but a backup one. It contained only the performance; the attack parts were edited out.

Actually, taking it out was still risky. The best approach was to stay silent and insist she didn’t film anything.

But Songyu was too soft-hearted.

“Hope you like it,” she said.

Yang Yichuan: “What? You filmed it?!”

Just as Songyu expected, he was so happy he almost went crazy, loudly announcing: “This is my favorite birthday gift ever!!”

He could hardly wait to turn on the projector to watch it with Kasey.

They didn’t suspect her at all.

After all, the police had closed the case. Of course, no one would think she’d keep filming in such a dangerous situation.

Songyu thought again, even if she couldn’t say it openly yet, maybe she could subtly hint it to Yang Yichuan first.

So she carefully said, “That person you saw last night…”

Yang Yichuan turned excitedly: “Who?”

But her words were suddenly cut off.

Because her smartphone vibrated again. She glanced at the screen subconsciously, and at the moment she saw the message, Songyu froze.

Then she heard herself say to Yang Yichuan, “No, it’s nothing.”This message came from Ji Wen.

She said she was robbed at the Capital Airport.

“All my luggage is gone. The police checked all the surveillance but couldn’t find any trace of the robber. In the end, they even scolded me for being careless—it’s too much…”

At that moment, the spaceship suddenly shook violently.

The astronaut announced over the broadcast that the ship was about to re-enter the atmosphere and asked everyone to return to their seats.

Yang Yichuan hugged the chip, reluctant to leave, and went back.

Songyu’s grip on her smartphone weakened, and it fell to the floor with a “snap.”

These brief words instantly burst the bubble of laughter and cheer on the ship, dragging her back from daily life into that nightmare.

She realized she had been too naive.

It was obvious who robbed Ji Wen.

She had thought escaping S Star meant safety. But now it seemed this was not the end of the nightmare, just the beginning. The reach of those people was far greater than she had imagined.

The spaceship landed—what awaited her on Capital Star?

That man on the second floor, that dangerous politician… would he let her go?

The spaceship had already entered the atmosphere. The impact made Songyu want to vomit and left her breathless. Airflow, turbulence, gravity, rising temperature, the piercing roar almost shattering her eardrums—

The smartphone lay quietly by her feet, but its screen lit up once again.

Songyu lowered her head.

A deep crack appeared on the screen—it had been shattered just now.

A new message popped up:

[Father: Songyu, next week is your birthday. I will accompany you for this year’s gene matching.]