Chapter 10

　　David quickly regained his composure.\"You know I didn’t come to meet you empty handed?\"

　　David shakes the mobile phone in his hand and grins, \"I’m way past my prime, but you’re at the height of your career. You’re the darling of the media. They only have good things to say about you.\"

　　\"Are you planning to blackmail me?\"

　　\"Oh, don’t worry. It’s just a little insurance, to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.\"

　　Sam\'s face had gone white, then red. He just had to laugh. David turned and walked away.

　　When he got back to the hospital, the old lady had just woken up.\"David, let\'s go home.\"

　　\"Grandma.\"

　　With tears in her eyes, the old lady shivered and stretched out her hand full of pinholes. David held it.

　　\"David, this hospital is too expensive! Grandma can\'t bear to let you work so hard!\"

　　\"Grandma, this money is nothing to me. I don’t even work that much, can’t you see? I stay here as much as I want!\"

　　The old lady\'s eyes blinked, her tears streaming down her face, \"David, Grandma is awake now.\"

　　In a way, she was telling the truth.

　　With these words, the smile on David\'s face froze, only for a brief moment. Then he laughed as if nothing had happened. \"Grandma, look. I’m handsome. It’s my destiny to be an actor. I’m making a comeback. I\'m going to make a film in two days. It\'s going to get international awards.\"

　　\"R… Really?\"

　　\"Why are you so worried? Don\'t think about the money. When you get better, you\'ll be discharged and we’ll go home for the new year.\"

　　\"You think I\'m really confused. The New Year is months away.\"

　　\"I’m just planning ahead of time!\" Like old times, David held the old lady\'s hand close to his face and swayed playfully.

　　When the old lady fell asleep, he went to see the attending doctor again.

　　\"Dr. Zhao, what if we ask Dr. Liu to operate on Grandma?”

　　\"The old lady is over seventy, her body will be strained.\" Dr. Zhao said.

　　\"I understand.\"

　　It turns out that the old lady cannot be operated on. Now there’s no doubt she’s just biding her time. If she’s lucky she can live a little bit longer.

　　David had always felt that if he didn’t try everything, he might as well have given up on his grandmother.

　　That night, David spent the whole night in the small garden of the hospital. At daybreak, he pinched the last cigarette. From the outside, looking in, the hospital appeared to be bustling with activity.

　　\"Grandma, this time I’m letting you down.\"

　　\"Blue Squeeze\", Mark Lao\'s movie, starts filming after a month\'s preparation. It is set in the town of Wushui, a small town south of the Yangtze River. It was 3000 kilometers away from the capital.

　　Michael refused to talk about it, even when they were cuddling together.

　　David struggled out of Michael\'s arms. \"Mr. Sheng, this movie has to be made. I’ve made a commitment, I cannot back down. I need the money!\"

　　“Even if you finish making the movie, you won\'t be able to pass the rating.\"

　　\"That’s not my concern!\"

　　\"Really. I\'ll make a big movie now to compete with yours.\"

　　Michael proceeded to make a phone call.

　　Impulsively, David, snatched Michael\'s mobile phone and smashed it on the ground. \"Michael, what the hell do you want?\"

　　The past two weeks had been stressful. His grandmother was sent to the emergency room twice, and the film could not get past the censors due to its explicit theme. Now, Michael\'s withdrawal order will render all his efforts meaningless.

　　What is he struggling for anyway? This life is just so tiring.

　　Sometimes whenever David is walking down the street, he feels like ending it all.

　　\"Michael, are you willing to see me die?\"

　　Even when he learned that the person who had caused his parents to become drug addicts was Michael\'s uncle, he was not as desperate then as he is now.

　　But now, it felt as if his throat had been scratched with the tip of a knife.

　　He was tired, confused, and in pain.

　　\"Die?\" Michael grabbed David\'s hand, touched the scar on his leg and said, \"For me, every rainy day is painful. Over the years, I have spent every rainy day wallowing in my hatred for you.\"

　　\"David, you owe me!\"

　　David\'s palm touched the raised scar. His heart was burning, but his words were heartless and indifferent, \"Did I hit you with my car? Michael, you are responsible for your own pain. You can’t blame me for it.\"

　　Michael\'s eyes were like daggers.

　　He might have leapt up and slammed David to the floor but he just left, slamming the door behind him. He was afraid that he might really kill David if he’d stayed one more minute.