Xie Lian's artistic side| Colors of the Heart ~ Hualian AU

Chapter LII

Shi Qingxuan watched her cat climb on its small bed and turn its back to the world, as if offended. "Oh, Ming Yi, don't be so mercurial. Detective He will probably be back this week." She approached and petted its head.

The cat did not move anymore, clearly transpiring dissatisfaction with being dislodged from the lap he was lying on before.

He Xuan had just left, giving Shi Qingxuan the task of compiling all the people reaching out to her because of the Hua Cheng scandal. Names, affiliations, reason for contact, who knows what could matter? It was best to list it all.

Still, it was a dull task. She put some instrumental songs to play trying to smooth the mood a bit and kept cataloguing. Actually, He Xuan could also enter this list, Shi Qingxuan realized. After all, he reached out to her because of this situation too.

Shi Qingxuan had never seen somebody who looked so grim before. His stare, the dark circles below his eyes, his monotonous voice. Ever since they first met at the milkshake place, she remembered him sometimes and a shudder used to shake her.

So dark. How come Ming Yi liked him? He brought some kind of comfort to the cat. Dark and comforting, where did she hear that again?

.

He Xuan could still taste the coffee in his mouth. He was impressed, it did not feel sour even after a while. The detective was trying to put together the different puzzle pieces of this case, but it felt somewhat disconnected yet. Inside his car, he remembered the last time a journalist had become a nuisance.

In the past, He Xuan went to see Hua Cheng one day and found him drowning his frustration in alcohol. It was a pitiful sight, and quite rare. He Xuan always saw Hua Cheng striving to go higher and further, but at that moment he seemed quite hopeless.

"Hey, where's all of that annoying determination gone?" He sat by the director's side on the floor.

Hua Cheng was sitting crooked, one arm hiding his eyes. "I fucked up."

"Should I arrest you?"

"No."

"Are there drugs involved?"

"No."

"Did you hurt someone?"

"No, but someone was hurt on my watch."

He Xuan slapped Hua Cheng's stomach and the director was startled. He punched He Xuan back, who in turn said, "Then stop whining and do something about it."

Hua Cheng stared at the ground for a while, and He Xuan served himself a drink. The director then started asking about a few legal procedures to keep someone quiet. Once he was satisfied, he just ended with "Fine, I'll turn it into a movie."

Soon after, He Xuan found out that Hua Cheng's play was interrupted. He considered if he should have offered the director more support... But the answer was no. When found at a miserable situation, Hua Cheng never extended He Xuan a helping hand. Instead, he kicked He Xuan up by force, and that was way more effective. So that was what He Xuan would do too.

In the following days, Hua Cheng started being bothered by stalker. He Xuan told he would interfere, and waited for the person one day, managing to corner him in a dark alley. He admitted he was a journalist, trying to photograph Hua Cheng or find a moment to ask him questions, and said he had a religious name or something. He Xuan threatened the guy and told him to stay away, reporting everything to the director right after.

It worked, the guy stopped stalking and disappeared. That was, until Hua Cheng's last visit to He Xuan. On this occasion, Hua Cheng mentioned, "Remember that journalist? His stirring chaos again." The guy had published a bad review on the current season Hua Cheng was directing, and He Xuan was to keep an eye for the obnoxious person once more.