Top Dupe CH 085 New Love Overflowing Every Day Part 1

[Captain Zhao, you suspect the camera angle is problematic? Someone avoided the surveillance entering and exiting the villa?]

[Yes, you can check the angles on the monitors. I feel there might be blind spots.]

[Understood.]

"What’s on your mind, Captain Zhao?" Lu Pingfeng looked up and asked.  

"Your agent has also visited Dr. Kong’s villa, just after you returned that bottle of medication. Were you aware of this?"  

This meant that Ai Lin also had the time and opportunity to instruct Mrs. Kong to use the medication to murder Dr. Kong. Though the motive remained unclear, the possibility was chilling.  

"She’s my agent; of course, she’s concerned about my mental state," Lu Pingfeng replied.  

"We need her contact information," Zhao Sicheng said.  

Lu Pingfeng cooperatively handed over his agent’s phone number to Zhao Sicheng.  

"That’s all for today. If we need anything further, Mr. Lu, we’ll count on your cooperation in our investigation."  

As Zhao Sicheng was about to leave, Lu Pingfeng spoke up, "Dr. Wen...has he reviewed the case files on Dr. Kong and his wife?"  

"He hasn’t yet, but after today, he certainly will," Zhao Sicheng replied and then left.  

When Lu Pingfeng was left alone in the studio, the smile slowly faded from his face. Leaning back in his chair, he raised his chin, his arms falling limp at his sides.  

Lonely and cold, like a small flame in a winter night being extinguished in the dark.  

On the other side of the monitor, Luo Yu watched, feeling increasingly weighed down, as if a heavy burden pressed down without relief.  

He suddenly understood why the script had set Lu Pingfeng up to guide Wen Yuchi to find that blood-stained wall.  

—The wall covered in luminol reactions didn’t prove a crime had occurred but rather showed that Lu Pingfeng, who had become one with the villa...was a madman.  

Lu Pingfeng wanted to see if Wen Yuchi would be frightened, if Wen Yuchi would leave his world, if he would shut the door of his world and bar entry, if he would make the boundary more clear and distinct.  

And… if Wen Yuchi was different from everyone else in this world.  

Luo Yu took a deep breath. He desperately wanted to embrace Gu Xiaowei. Whether Wen Yuchi would open his world to Lu Pingfeng or not, Luo Yu knew he would always wait for Gu Xiaowei.  

The sky was growing dark, and the two night scenes for tonight were about to begin.  

Gu Xiaowei returned quietly, sitting on the small stool and seriously reviewing his previous performance.  

Luo Yu intended to stand and make space for Yan Jun, but Gu Xiaowei unconsciously extended his hand as if to grab him. However, Yan Jun had already taken Luo Yu's spot.  

Luo Yu stood behind Gu Xiaowei, opened his thermos, poured half a cup of hot coffee, leaned over his shoulder, and softly asked, "Want some?"  

"En." Gu Xiaowei nodded, not taking the cup but guiding Luo Yu’s wrist to bring the cup to his lips, drinking slowly.  

Like this, Luo Yu held him in a half-embrace. When Sheng Yunlan came over to discuss the scene, Gu Xiaowei leaned back slightly, almost settling into Luo Yu’s arms.  

After Sheng Yunlan finished explaining the scene, Gu Xiaowei’s half-cup of coffee was still unfinished.  

Yan Jun joked, "Teacher Gu is lucky to have Teacher Luo taking care of him. Unlike me—lonely, cold, with no one to hand me even a sip of hot water."  

At that moment, Yan Jun’s assistant appeared. "Brother Yan! Your chrysanthemum tea! Just the right temperature for drinking now!"  

Both Gu Xiaowei and Luo Yu turned to look at Yan Jun.  

Under their gazes, Yan Jun turned his head and, as if unaffected, took a few sips of chrysanthemum tea.  

The first night scene was still in this villa, where Lu Pingfeng was sleepwalking.  

The next night scene was set in the youth apartment, where a thunderstorm was predicted at ten tonight, matching the ambiance of that scene.  

Before the night scenes began, the crew provided dinner for everyone.  

The meal was prepared by the resort since the distance from the city meant that ordering food would have it arrive cold.  

The meal box contained three dishes: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, bitter melon stuffed with meat, and stir-fried chicken.  

The colors were vibrant, the flavors good, and the director had specifically requested no chili to protect the actors' voices. 

The two of them carried their meal boxes to a small round table in the courtyard.  

Gu Xiaowei still wore Lu Pingfeng’s makeup. Without any expression, his face looked like a cold, hard sculpture, especially as the crew had turned off unnecessary lighting to set the mood.  

Only the bug-catcher lamp near the villa’s entrance cast a faint glow behind Gu Xiaowei, making his features appear as if glazed, almost as if...  

"You look like a vampire," Luo Yu said.  

Gu Xiaowei didn’t react, simply poking at the bitter melon with his chopsticks. "Are you scared?"  

"If all those elegant and noble vampires looked like you, oh master, I would gladly be your eternal servant, offering you my blood and my life," Luo Yu replied in a theatrical tone.  

"Too exaggerated," Gu Xiaowei commented, but there was a slight smile on his face.  

"But you like it." Luo Yu leaned in and peeled off the bitter melon skin from the meat stuffing before him.  

"You don’t like bitter melon," Gu Xiaowei observed, looking up.  

"But you like it even less than I do." Luo Yu looked at him, setting aside a few pieces of tomato for him. "Here, let's trade, Xiao Gu."  

"Did I do well today?" Gu Xiaowei asked.  

"Very well."  

Though he only said two words, Luo Yu's sincerity was unmistakable.  

"In the past, I didn’t quite understand why Lu Pingfeng wanted to guide Wen Yuchi to see that wall while simultaneously not wanting him to discover it. Now, I finally get it." Gu Xiaowei ate the tomato Luo Yu had given him but didn’t finish the second half of his thought.  

But Luo Yu knew what he was thinking and said, "Because what he seeks is not salvation but understanding. A thousand people believing he’s mentally unstable but hasn’t killed anyone, sympathizing with him, believing he fights against an inner beast… is nothing compared to one person thinking there was never a beast inside him."  

"It’s more than that..." Gu Xiaowei looked at Luo Yu with a solemn, yet heartwarming gaze.  

"What is it?"  

"Wen Yuchi fulfills Lu Pingfeng’s every fantasy of humanity, proving he still has human emotions. If Wen Yuchi would doubt him or withdraw because of the luminol-stained wall, it would shatter Lu Pingfeng’s fantasy. He wants to preserve this beautiful illusion forever but doesn’t want to be consumed by a false delusion."  

Watching Gu Xiaowei, Luo Yu once again thought of what Gu Xiaowei had said… about walking into the theater, creating a character of his own imagination, and then saving himself. 

"Wen Yuchi isn’t an illusion to Lu Pingfeng. And when this film ends, I’ll still be here."  

"En." Gu Xiaowei replied softly, bowing his head to eat, his docile look prompting Luo Yu to reach over and ruffle his hair gently.  

The night sky was now pitch dark, with no stars or moonlight visible. The clouds pressed low, and the air felt stifling, a sure sign of impending rain.  

After finishing the meal, Gu Xiaowei changed into silk pajamas.  

There was no other way to describe it—this guy just looked naturally suited to silk. The fabric’s drape naturally elongated his frame, and with his hair brushed down to half-cover his face, he exuded a mysterious, graceful, and slightly eerie aura.  

Brother Yan was meticulously touching up Gu Xiaowei’s makeup, using a delicate technique to deepen his eye sockets, making his facial features even more defined. As the villa’s lights dimmed, Gu Xiaowei looked like an ethereal, icy spirit.  

Gu Xiaowei raised his eyes and looked toward Luo Yu, who was standing by the wall behind the director with his arms crossed.  

Though standing in the shadows, Luo Yu's slight smile seemed to light up the space.

This scene may look simple, only requiring Lu Pingfeng to walk with a knife while sleepwalking, but without any counterpart actors, there’s no plot, dialogue, or tension from a confrontation.

An outsider might think this scene is easy, just a matter of posing while walking.

But Luo Yu knew this scene was crucial. It needed to convey the insidious fear and doubt brought by sleepwalking; otherwise, the police’s suspicions about Lu Pingfeng’s mental state due to sleepwalking, or even their theories linking it to the case, wouldn’t hold up.

As the clapperboard sounded, the entire villa fell into dead silence.

The observing actors, including Luo Yu, Yan Jun, and Nie Yangchen, stood pressed against the wall, controlling their breathing, trying to make themselves invisible.

Lu Pingfeng stood at the junction between the living room and the stairs, holding a knife in his hand, the blade smeared with dark, half-dried liquid.

His expression was calm and peaceful, his eyes half-closed, not looking down but moving slowly towards the direction of the studio.

Each step was relaxed, and his grip on the knife was as casual as if he were holding a paintbrush, showing no hint of violence.

The liquid dripped at his feet; he wasn’t wearing shoes.

Though he was physically present, he seemed like a soulless shell, controlled by some unknown power.

This blend of decadent gloom and elegance shattered in an instant when Lu Pingfeng’s hand holding the knife suddenly trembled. He paused in front of a wall, turned as if admiring something, took two steps back, then raised the blade and stabbed at something in the air.

A chilling smile appeared on his face, like a demon taking residence in his body.

Luo Yu heard Yan Jun swallow hard. Despite the absence of tomato-sauce splatters or contorted bodies crawling out in horror, Lu Pingfeng’s back held a sinister struggle, as if some sharp desire was about to burst out and wreak havoc.

“Cut!” Sheng Yunlan’s voice sounded, and everyone finally released the breath they had been holding.

At that moment, Gu Xiaowei, holding the knife, turned around, looking in Luo Yu’s direction, but his gaze ultimately settled on Nie Yangchen’s face.

Nie Yangchen, who had been about to move, suddenly felt like his body was paralyzed, his blood frozen, even his fingertips icy.

He even had an irrational thought that Gu Xiaowei might walk over and split open his body with that knife, revealing it to the world.

Until Luo Yu spoke, “Do you want some tea? You’ve already finished your coffee, but I still have some Pu’er tea.”

In an instant, the murderous tension directed at Nie Yangchen vanished, and the entire atmosphere lightened.

The villa lights turned on, casting a warm glow over Gu Xiaowei’s face, dispelling that lifeless chill from earlier.

Luo Yu unscrewed his thermos, intending to pour tea into Gu Xiaowei’s cup lid, but to his surprise, Gu Xiaowei simply took Luo Yu’s thermos and drank a big gulp.

“Is this the Pu’er tea that President Jiang gave you? The taste is a bit…”

“It’s Pu’er tea powder, just mixed directly with hot water. It arrived by courier today—does it not taste good?”

Since Luo Yu only had Ye Shengyi with him, and Xiao Ye was already serving as both his makeup artist and assistant, it wasn’t feasible to make him grind the tea brick with a little mallet, let alone prepare and brew it for him.

“It’s fine. Although it lacks a bit of ceremony, I guess the tea polyphenol content is higher in tea powder?”

“The fact that you could tell it wasn’t brewed tea in one sip shows the flavor and aroma are different from a tea cake.” Luo Yu patted his shoulder with a smile. “Come on, let’s go see how it turned out with the director.”

“Alright.”