Top Dupe CH 074 When A Whale Falls, Life Blossoms Part 1

"Sure, it's my turn for the next scene. Perfect for waking up." Luo Yu touched his chin and looked sideways into Gu Xiaowei's eyes. "This is the first encounter between Lu Pingfeng and Wen Yuchi in the film."

Gu Xiaowei poured some coffee into the lid of his cup and handed it to Luo Yu, completely unconcerned about sharing his things with him.

"En, you must have used some really good coffee beans. The acidity is just right, with a hint of fruitiness." Luo Yu savored the taste.

At this moment, the crew called out, "The second scene will begin in three minutes!"

Luo Yu downed the remaining coffee in one gulp and handed the cup lid back to Gu Xiaowei.

The two walked side by side toward the nearby studio.

Nie Yangchen watched Luo Yu's back and squinted his eyes.

Interesting. With Gu Xiaowei's acting skills, he could easily outshine any actor his age. But Hao Xiang, the top agent at Dijun Media, had said that Luo Yu had a presence that matched Gu Xiaowei's.

Then let's see if Luo Yu can hold his own in a scene with Gu Xiaowei.

The studio was organized in a chaotic but orderly manner, the air filled with the scent of paint. The wooden floors carried the lingering scent of grass and soil, with old paint stains still visible.

Rows of easels stood like dominoes, some half-finished paintings left to dry, a thin layer of dust covering the tops of the frames.

Some were covered with cloth. A curious police officer lifted one, revealing a desolate forest with gnarled branches that looked as if they could crumble at any moment.

Every painting held a gaze fixed upon death.

The second scene began filming.

In the center of the studio was a chair and an easel.

Wen Yuchi, played by Luo Yu, wore casual clothes, a few strands of hair sticking up as if he'd left in a hurry, yet his expression was calm and composed.

He slowly took a small aluminum flask from his pocket, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip, his gaze fixed intently on the painting in front of him. His eyes seemed to part the tangled grass, reaching deep into the earth.

Wen Yuchi embodied a paradox, exuding both indolence and meticulousness.

On the canvas before him was a dead nightingale, covered in moss, half of its body gnawed to the bone by ants.

A sense of decay and gloom seeped into the air from the painting.

Wen Yuchi's gaze traced every line, every shadow on the canvas, deconstructing the painting with his eyes.

Lu Pingfeng walked up beside Wen Yuchi, first looking at the young man’s profile, then noticing his eyes.

Though he looked like a recent college graduate, his gaze was sharp and penetrating.

Lu Pingfeng saw the soft, fine hair on his cheek, the curve of his wrist as he held the metal flask, and the blade-like line of his jaw as he swallowed.

Gentle yet sharp.

"They all say death is my eternal theme," Lu Pingfeng spoke.

The tone and voice sounded no different from earlier, but if you listened closely, you could detect a hint of provocation, perhaps curiosity, since Wen Yuchi seemed so different from the other officers.

The scrutiny in Wen Yuchi's eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by a faint warmth, like the morning light on Lu Pingfeng's profile.

"But what I see is life. The moss and ants survived because of this nightingale's death. Just like a whale fall—when a whale falls, life blossoms."

Lu Pingfeng raised his hand, stopping just beside Wen Yuchi's ear. For a moment, he wanted to smooth down the unruly strands of hair, but perhaps because they weren’t familiar with each other, he let his hand drop and spoke as if chatting with an old friend. "You must really love life."

Wen Yuchi turned his head, meeting Lu Pingfeng's gaze.

"No, I love death. It is the ultimate form of life, the constant, the unchanging answer." Wen Yuchi put the flask back in his pocket and extended his hand to Lu Pingfeng. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lu. I’m Wen Yuchi, forensic assistant."

Lu Pingfeng lowered his eyes, looking at Wen Yuchi's long, pale fingers, the veins visible on the back of his hand. These clean hands, once gloved and wielding a scalpel, could cut open a lifeless body and reveal the words left unsaid by the deceased.

"Hello." Lu Pingfeng shook Wen Yuchi's hand.

At that moment, Captain Zhao Sicheng walked over, nodding in Wen Yuchi's direction.

Lu Pingfeng was about to release Wen Yuchi's hand, but Wen Yuchi subtly tightened his grip. Though the gesture felt somewhat forceful, his face remained calm and easygoing.

"Captain Zhao, there's a luminol reaction in this studio," Wen Yuchi announced, drawing everyone's attention.

Including Lu Pingfeng’s. He looked down coldly at the hand holding his, thinking that perhaps this forensic assistant wasn’t so different from the others.

Zhao Sicheng’s expression immediately turned serious. "Where?"

"Hmm, the floor under the middle easel. If I'm not mistaken, the bloodstains are from two to three weeks ago."

Which didn’t match the time of death for yesterday’s victim.

"How do you know?" Zhao Sicheng asked.

Luminol alone couldn’t determine how long the bloodstain had been there.

Wen Yuchi flipped over Lu Pingfeng’s hand, showing a fine cut on the side of his index finger. "Look, this must be from when Mr. Lu was sharpening a pencil and nicked his finger with the sharpener, am I right?"

Lu Pingfeng nodded slightly. "Yes."

"Please be more careful next time," Wen Yuchi said, looking into Lu Pingfeng’s eyes with a playful smile.

It seemed that Wen Yuchi had pointed out the luminol reaction just to tease Lu Pingfeng.

In that smile, Lu Pingfeng seemed to glimpse the true meaning of "when a whale falls, life blossoms."

Wen Yuchi released Lu Pingfeng’s hand and walked toward Zhao Sicheng. "Captain, the studio doesn’t seem to have any issues for now. Do we need to check other parts of the villa?"

"Then you might need a search warrant, Captain Zhao," Lu Pingfeng’s ethereal, cold voice had a hint of liveliness compared to before in the living room.

Zhao Sicheng gave a formal smile. "Thank you very much for your cooperation today, Mr. Lu. Sorry to have disturbed you."

With that, Zhao Sicheng and Wen Yuchi left the studio side by side.

Wen Yuchi, with his hands in his pockets, leaned toward Zhao Sicheng and spoke with a bit of childishness in his tone, "He must think I wasn’t sincere when I shook his hand earlier, so he’s upset."

"Are you ever sincere when you shake hands?" Zhao Sicheng snorted. "You just wanted to confirm the cut on his finger, didn’t you?"

"Hehe. How do you know everything, Captain?"

Just then, Lu Pingfeng’s voice sounded from behind them.

"Forensic Assistant Wen, have you finished your sugar water?"

Wen Yuchi paused for a moment. His recent medical checkup had revealed low blood sugar, so he carried a bottle of sugar water with him.

Thermoses and plastic bottles were too large, so the small aluminum flask he had bought online fit perfectly in his pocket. Ever since he started using it, his colleagues joked that Wen Yuchi was sipping vodka while performing autopsies.

Today was the first time he had met Lu Pingfeng, yet after just a few words, Lu Pingfeng had guessed that the flask contained sugar water.

"I’ll have Uncle He prepare some for you. It wouldn’t be good if your low blood sugar caused dizziness and affected your work on the way back."

Lu Pingfeng’s voice was always polite and gentle, as if he was carefully observing an invisible boundary.

Wen Yuchi turned around and looked at him. Clearly, this was Lu Pingfeng’s response to Wen Yuchi’s handshake, confirming the cut on his finger.

—While you were observing me, I was also watching you.

"Forensic Assistant Wen, you’re treating me as a shortcut to solve this case. It may seem like a scenic route, but it won’t lead you to the answer you seek."

Lu Pingfeng stood in the center of the studio, surrounded by layers of canvases. Though the high-pressure sodium lamps lit the ceiling and the solid floor was beneath him, in Wen Yuchi's eyes, it felt like a turbulent rainy night, with overlapping clouds about to break free from the sky.

Wen Yuchi dropped his carefree and lazy demeanor, his gaze turning serious.

This silence left Zhao Sicheng at a loss for words.

But just as the atmosphere reached its lowest point, Wen Yuchi smiled lightly. 

At that moment, it was as if a barely visible spark had fallen into the overgrown ruins of the old city, igniting a blaze that quickly burned everything to a faded hue. Yet, that fleeting smile from Wen Yuchi remained on the other side of the boundary. No matter how things deteriorated, he remained vibrant and full of life.

"This path, even if it doesn’t lead to the answer I want, can still lead to you."

With that, Wen Yuchi took out the empty aluminum flask from his pocket and gave it a gentle shake. 

After a few seconds of waiting, the sound of "cut" finally came.

The staff then realized—the scene had ended?

The final exchanged glances at the end of the scene were neither confrontational nor probing but conveyed an indescribable sense of destiny.

Sheng Yunlan slightly lifted his chin, staring at the screen, and sighed in admiration—indeed, if Gu Xiaowei was the chosen one for portraying Lu Pingfeng, then Luo Yu was the irreplaceable Wen Yuchi. Without either of them, the final moment of this scene wouldn’t have had the same effect.

The sense of fate in their gazes could not be achieved through post-production.

Luo Yu flashed Gu Xiaowei a broad smile and tilted his chin, "Let’s go and check the shooting results."

Gu Xiaowei stood in place, still seeing Wen Yuchi's smile, as if the tide that had surged toward him had suddenly receded, taking with it his breath and heartbeat as it withdrew.

"Teacher Gu, your thermos cup." A staff member holding Gu Xiaowei's thermos approached him.

"Thank you." Gu Xiaowei nodded lightly and then stepped forward to catch up with Luo Yu.

Nie Yangchen, who had watched the scene from the sidelines, was unsure how to describe his current feelings.

He thought he had a realistic understanding of acting, that many things could not be achieved through lines, expressions, and body movements.

But Gu Xiaowei had used his aura to create a powerful atmosphere, drawing the onlookers into his world.

Just when Nie Yangchen thought this was the closest to an ideal level of acting, Luo Yu refreshed his perception once more.

In the previous performance, Luo Yu did not use any deliberate confrontational tone or gaze with Gu Xiaowei, yet he possessed a kind of inclusiveness. He was not resisting Gu Xiaowei's aura but rather subtly integrating and blending with it.

In Luo Yu, there was no sense of a "savior's" halo, yet that final smile made everyone understand that even if Lu Pingfeng was in a dire state, Wen Yuchi would be the remedy for him.

Luo Yu moved closer to the monitor and asked the director, "Director Sheng, how was the result of the shot just now?"

Sheng Yunlan sighed, "If you and Gu Xiaowei maintain this level of performance, we might not stay in this resort for long."

"That wouldn’t do. I actually quite like this place. The longer we stay, the better," Luo Yu joked.

Gu Xiaowei stood at a not too far but not too near distance, and Luo Yu waved him over, "What are you dawdling for? Don’t you want to see how your performance was?"

After a couple of seconds, Gu Xiaowei walked over to Luo Yu, bending down to look at the screen.

"Tsk, look at your expression in this scene. I’m wondering if I could perform Lu Pingfeng to your level."

Luo Yu turned his face and noticed that Gu Xiaowei was not looking at the monitor but at him.

Despite having a clear and cold gaze, it was as if his eyes were blooming like a queen of the night under the blazing sun—regardless of the heat or decay, they only sought to reveal the hidden secrets deep within the flesh and bones.

"Gu..."

"Watch the scene, not me," Gu Xiaowei said.

Luo Yu felt like he was caught daydreaming in class, his ears subtly turning red.

But then he realized, no, it was actually Gu Xiaowei who was watching him first.

Sheng Yunlan’s comments on their performance pulled Luo Yu out of his embarrassment.