The image on the screen remained fixed on the endless sea.
Dawn slowly broke across the horizon. This time, after leaving the beach on his bicycle, Yu Ye did not head home immediately. Instead, he rode straight to the hospital.
This surprised countless viewers. Yet, in hindsight, it made perfect sense.
After arriving at the hospital, Ye skillfully made his way to the medical building. There, he found a department director and signed a stack of documents, including consent forms for the voluntary clinical trial of the brain cancer drug. He accepted full responsibility for all possible risks and consequences before calmly signing his name.
The director, a heavyset middle-aged man named Yuan Quan, looked at him with concern.
"Mr. Yu, are you really going through with this?" he asked. "This is only a Phase One trial drug. The side effects are extremely severe. I strongly suggest waiting a little longer. Otherwise, your body may not be able to withstand it."
Ye smiled. "How severe can it be?"
Quan sighed. "Obesity. Sluggish reactions. Physical weakness. Chronic fatigue. Severe neurological pain. Unexplained migraines..."
He listed more than a dozen serious side effects in one breath, and every single one sounded terrifying.
Yu Ye simply laughed. "Getting fat isn't so bad. It's better than looking like a skeleton."
His voice remained relaxed. "It's fine. As long as I can stay alive, I'm willing to test it."
The smile on his face never disappeared.
Quan stared at him for several seconds before finally lowering his head and stamping the paperwork. The approval was granted.
After a moment of silence, Quan spoke again. "Actually, I still recommend chemotherapy. The trial drug alone may help you survive, but the suffering you'll endure will be unimaginable. And your family..."
He hesitated. "Have your parents stay with you. At least you won't have to face chemotherapy alone."
At that moment, Ye forced a relaxed smile. "Thank you, Director. I'll be fine."
Afterward, he completed the skin sensitivity tests, received injections, swallowed the medication, and then quietly rode his bicycle home.
Back in the studio, Tao spoke once more. "The production team conducted extensive research and eventually located the former director. The director's name is Yuan Quan."
As the words fell, the image on the screen changed. An elderly man wearing a white coat appeared before the audience. Time had certainly left its marks on him, yet he looked remarkably similar to how he had looked over a decade ago. Back then, he had been in his forties. Now, he was well into his sixties.
As a hospital director, Quan had never followed celebrity culture. He had no interest in idols or entertainment stars. Yet the moment he saw Shuying, he froze briefly. Then a warm smile appeared on his face. "You really resemble your father very much. When he first came to me for the drug trial, I remember thinking what a pity it was."
He sighed softly. "Such a handsome young man and yet fate was so cruel."
While the studio became quiet, Quan glanced toward the audience. "I'm old now. I'm only sharing what I personally witnessed. Do you know what I remember most clearly?"
Everyone listened intently. "I asked Ye whether he was afraid of death."
A pause followed. "Can you guess what he said?"
Quan slowly imitated Ye's calm tone. "He said... 'There's nothing frightening about death. I was born an orphan. When I die, I'll simply return to the earth beneath my feet. When autumn comes, perhaps I'll become one of the fallen leaves. It's no different from the day I first arrived in the slums.'"
The studio was completely silent; then he continued. "'But my death cannot happen now.'"
A complicated expression appeared in his eyes. "I asked him why, but he didn't answer. He simply smiled. But in that smile, I saw warmth. A warmth that belonged to someone who carried an extremely important person in his heart."
When Quan finished speaking, the screen slowly shifted away from him and returned to the studio. Behind him sat the elderly principal, Guochang. Neither man spoke.
The entire venue fell into silence. At that moment, many viewers suddenly recalled something. Shuying had mentioned earlier that Ye had become obese, and someone immediately reacted. "Wait... was his obesity caused by the trial drug? No wonder he became weak and overweight. Those were side effects. My God... his willpower was terrifying."
Another contestant, Su Wen, spoke thoughtfully. "Then... after taking the medication, could the constant pain and suffering have affected his personality? Could that be why he gradually became violent and unstable?"
Many people nodded in agreement.
Shuying lowered her eyes, and a faint ache spread through her heart. When Ye had laughed and said that being fat was better than becoming a skeleton... When Quan had repeated those words... Only now did she realize how much pressure and misery had been hidden behind that casual smile.
And yet she also agreed with Wen's analysis. Under the torment of cancer... Under the crushing burden of countless side effects... That man had changed.
That year, Little Shuying was seven years old, and it was the first glorious moment of her life. And it was also the first time she had ever wanted to run away from her father.
"When I was seven years old, I received an audition invitation for a role. Originally, I was supposed to play a princess. But after the audition, the director changed his mind. He personally selected me to play the young Ying Zheng."
As she spoke, memories surfaced in her eyes. "At that time, I practiced acting every day at home, and that was also when my father began developing severe psychological problems. I was frightened, confused, and I didn't understand anything."
The moment Shuying mentioned being seven years old, many people in the studio immediately reacted.
"I remember!" Nana nearly stood up. How could she forget?
Back then, when The Great Empire was released, the young Ying Zheng had stunned the entire nation. Cold. Proud. Beautiful beyond belief.
No one had expected Shuying's extraordinary talent to flare so brilliantly after the success of "Under the Sea." From that year onward, whenever a film or television series portrayed the childhood version of Qin Shi Huang, directors inevitably used Shuying's portrayal as the reference standard.
Her performance had become the template.
The benchmark.
The image etched into the public consciousness.
The audience couldn't help but gasp in admiration. Because, beneath such circumstances. a mentally unstable father, a broken household, and a miserable environment. Yet Little Shuying had still bloomed like the brightest flower, and she had dazzled everyone.
"Goddess!" Nana was the first to shout.
The rest quickly followed.
"Goddess!"
"Goddess!"
The cheers echoed throughout the venue. Many people believed that Yu Ye had once shone brilliantly as well. His light had illuminated countless lives, but compared to Yu Shuying's meteoric rise... His radiance seemed destined to remain hidden in the shadows. Dimmer, quieter, and far easier for the world to overlook.