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nSince I was visiting a sick person, I bought a bag of apples on the way here with Xiao Qin’s suggestion. But ‘Depression Bro’, Wu Sheng, had no reactions even after I placed the bright red apples on the table.

nHe looked at me with a frightening look as if he wanted to snatch something from my body.

nCompared to the 18 year old him, he had a thinner face and more narrow shoulders. Apparently, he had a similar height, but I couldn’t tell as he was sitting on the bed.

nThe look in his eyes versus mines were of two extremes.

nThe look in my eyes was telling the world that if anyone messes with me, I’ll mess with them back.

nWu Sheng’s eyes were dull and dead. It was even more lifeless than when he acts as Jin Ling Young Thug.

nBased on his eyes alone, nine out of ten doctors would judge him as already dead.

nThere were two folding chairs in the room, so I took one and sat next to Wu Sheng. I told Xiao Qin to sit in the other one, but she sat far away from us and looked at us with both fright and curiosity.

nAfter watching me for five minutes, Wu Sheng squeezed out a slight smile and said:

n“Ye Lin, it turns out we do have a seventy to eighty percent similarity. It’s fate for two similar people to meet in the vast sea of people.”

nHis smile looked worse than crying. He only slightly moved the muscles around his mouth, but the rest of his face said he was currently suffering from inescapable torture. It was like he was stabbed until he was covered with over a thousand holes and he squeezed out a smile before death.

nWu Sheng looked at Xiao Qin and asked politely: “She is…”

nI thought Wu Sheng didn’t really have any associations with me, so it’s unlikely he would gossip. So I didn’t hide anything and told him:

n“She’s my girlfriend, you can call her Xiao Qin.”

nWu Sheng looked at the reserved Xiao Qin and nodded, Xiao Qin also slightly nodded back in response. This was the second time I introduced Xiao Qin as my girlfriend (the first time was to He Ling), and I could tell she was secretly delighted.

nWu Sheng sighed, “My first girlfriend was also quiet, gentle, and afraid of strangers like Xiao Qin. Unfortunately, she also became depressed because of my influence. I cut off contact with her to prevent her depression from getting worse.”

nHow is Xiao Qin gentle and quiet? She only seems bashful due to her androphobia. I thought Xiao Qin would be brave enough to speak to someone who looks like me, but she still cannot.

nAs Xiao Qin looked at the 18 year old Wu Sheng who had the eyes of an 80 year old, she began to sniffle and cry quietly.

nWu Sheng and I were both shocked. I asked Xiao Qin what was wrong.

n“Because, because…” Xiao Qin wiped her reddened eyes, “After I saw him, I thought about what if Ye Lin classmate had an incurable illness in a parallel universe… If he reaches a point where he asks the me of that universe to end his suffering, should I agree?”

n“It would be too cruel for me to make a decision. That’s why Ye Lin classmate should take care of your health and should never die before me. I won’t be able to sleep properly at night when I think about the Xiao Qin in a parallel universe who already lost their Ye Lin classmate.”

nThe world’s food shortage hasn’t even been solved and there are still a lot of Chinese people who can’t afford medical care or homes, yet you still have the time to worry about other parallel universes?

nXiao Qin who was wiping her tears with a napkin appeared different in Wu Sheng’s eyes.

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n“Ah, your girlfriend is so kindhearted.”

n“What?” I didn’t think you could even associate the word kindhearted with Xiao Qin.

n“Look, when Xiao Qin saw a stranger like me in pain, she actually shed tears of sympathy. I’m really touched. A lot of people don’t understand depression and think it’s not a sickness but only ordinary people who are unhappy. If everyone can understand me like you guys, that would be much better.”

nActually Xiao Qin wasn’t sympathizing with you, she only saw my image on your body.

n“Ye Lin, I might be going to Switzerland in two weeks.”

n“Does Switzerland have a hospital specialized in depression?” I blurted out.

n“No.” Wu Sheng waved his hands weakly, “My father is a diplomat in Switzerland and he’s worried about my condition. He told me to drop everything and head to Switzerland to rest for a while. He hopes I could alleviate my depression by staying in a tranquil village by the Alps…”

nThat might be a good solution since even I feel depressed when I’m riding public transportation. It might be beneficial if you can leave the city and enjoy the scenery in other places.

n“You probably already heard from Director Cao why I wanted to talk to you.” Wu Sheng said slowly, “I received a sincere invitation from Director Cao to act in the short film series ‘Bloody Battle of Jin Ling’, but I’ve only acted in one and a half episodes out of the ten episodes. I feel ashamed since Director Cao even respected my wishes and cancelled his plan of advertising Rolex watches…”

nDirector Cao didn’t cancel the plan at all! He added a freezer scene at the last minute, so he could take a shot of the frozen Rolex without you noticing. One of the reasons you caught a cold was because Director Cao was trying to advertise the Rolex watch.

n“There’s still nine episodes left to film, so if I leave the country now I would feel sorry for Director Cao. That’s why… I hope you can take over my role and act as Jin Ling Young Thug. I heard that Director Cao wanted you to act the role initially anyway, so do you agree?”

nIt was impossible to refuse the request of someone who looked like they were about to die.

nBut I still couldn’t hold back my complaints: “Jin Ling Young Thug is an awful character. I heard he raped the main female character in the second episode. Why did you even accept to act such a heinous character in the first place.”

nWu Sheng smiled bitterly: “Jin Ling Young Thug didn’t rape the main female character in the second episode, that’s just bait Director Cao added for the next episode preview. But the main female character’s sisters (or friends) all fell prey to him…”

nI said angrily, “How is that any different.”

n“No, I think the role of Jin Ling Young Thug has significance for people with depression.”

n“What kind of significance could a person who rips their own master in half and feeds their dog human meat have? Or do you think Jin Ling Young Thug has depression.”

n“I’m not certain, but it’s possible.”

nI was surprised, “Then can you tell me which part shows Jin Ling Young Thug has depression?”

nEven though it was my first time meeting Wu Sheng, I spoke to him informally maybe because he looked like me. He also didn’t take me as a stranger, what’s the point of being polite with yourself.

nWu Sheng stuck up one finger, “First, Jin Ling Young Thug may have done bad things, but he has a simple goal of finding happiness.”

nI interrupted him, “Hey, Li TianYi raped a girl also to find happiness. Based on your logic, you’re saying he’s innocent.”

nWu Sheng shook his head, “From an artist’s perspective, Jin Ling Young Thug is different than Li TianYi.”

nI mean of course, Jin Ling Young Thug is already at the ninth level and killed a lot of people while Li TianYi doesn’t know any martial arts.

nWu Sheng continued to speak: “There’s more hints that Jin Ling Young Thug has depression starting from episode 5 onward.”

nIs that so? I never read the script, so I don’t know what happens.

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n“In the fifth episode, Jin Ling Young Thug thought that the male protagonist who he knocked off the cliff had died. It was hard to come by an opponent he could fight with, so Jin Ling Young Thug was at a loss. He had no appetite and every day in addition to practicing martial arts, he violated his maids…”

nSo Director Cao did want to film an AV, it seems Jin Ling Young Thug has even more scenes than the male lead.

n“I was moved by Jin Ling Young Thug’s ending.”

n“What kind of ending could an antagonist BOSS have other than being killed by the male lead?”

n“Of course that did happen, but the ending where Jin Ling Young Thug died while embracing his dog was a really tragic ending. As he closed his eyes, he finally realized the happiness he sought after didn’t exist and he reached a higher level…”

nReached a higher level my ass, it seems you’re completely over analyzing it.

nBut I was originally going to accept anyways since Director Cao was my dad’s friend. So after complaining a bit, I accepted the role.

nWu Sheng was overjoyed and a joyous expression appeared on his face for 0.1s.

nHe shook my hands excitedly while saying “thank you”, then he took out a box of personal items to give me. He said he can’t bring a lot of things with him since he’s leaving the country, and he didn’t have a lot of close friends, so he wanted to give it to me since we were brought together by fate. He wanted me to keep on living happily and also live his share of happiness too.

nWhy does it sound like these are his last words?

nI didn’t want to accept it, but then I saw a beautiful Swiss army knife.

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