Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Trigger warning; suicide attempt; mental illness flare-up
In “The Vicious Dog”, Xu Jian is framed and labeled as an “informant” and is punished along with several friends in the mental hospital.
After his confinement ends, the first thing Xu Jian does upon leaving the cell is to go to the backyard. It was his thirtieth birthday, and everyone had arranged to celebrate with him under the big tree in the backyard during their free time.
He waited in the backyard for an hour, but no one came.
Everyone believed that Xu Jian was the one who informed on them, and no one wanted to associate with him anymore.
In the film, Xu Jian returned to the ward alone and locked himself in a stall in the public bathroom. The scene gradually darkened, and the camera switched to the perspective of Xu Jian’s lover, Ah Feng.
The audience followed Ah Feng’s perspective as she walked into the men’s restroom, pushed open the stall door, and discovered a large, faded iron barrel. The barrel had originally been placed in the corner of the bathroom to store slippers; it was unclear how Xu Jian had somehow moved it in.
Cold water washed over Xu Jian’s head, and his naked body curled up in a ball beneath the surface. A large number of bubbles rose to the surface, but Xu Jian remained motionless at the bottom, like a fish hiding in a cave waiting to die.
A normal person seeing this would probably be in a panic, either reaching out to pull someone back or going out to call for help.
But Ah Feng didn’t.
Xu Jian was a normal person who was accidentally locked up in a mental hospital, while Ah Feng was a real mental patient who had been in the hospital for several years.
She didn’t panic or scream. She simply squatted down in front of the metal bucket, like a child, curious about what game Xu Jian was playing behind her back.
“Ah Jian,” Ah Feng chewed on the lollipop the nurse had given her, her cheeks puffed out.
She asked the man underwater, whose fate was unknown, “Are you angry with everyone again?”
….
As soon as the person in front of him finished speaking, a look of confusion suddenly appeared in Xing Cheng’s eyes, and he shrank further into the corner of the bathtub.
His back pressed against the bathtub faucet, deflecting the water valve to the right. The water stream thus gradually stopped, no longer filling the bathtub.
Lu Dangui breathed a sigh of relief.
It’s finally stopped. If this had continued, it probably wouldn’t have been long before it flooded Fujita manor.
He braced himself and was about to continue communicating with Xing Cheng when he suddenly felt a chill on his back.
The overhead shower, suspended from the ceiling, had been turned on at some point, and fine streams of water poured down from above, instantly soaking Lu Dangui all over.
Xing Cheng’s bump just now automatically switched the high-end bathtub into shower mode.
….
He was drenched from head to toe, and the water from the showerhead was still rolling down his nose. Lu Dangui was so angry that he felt like he was about to have a heart attack.
It’s so late at night, and instead of going home, he’s staying here to keep Xing Cheng company while he’s acting crazy!
Unfortunately, when Xing Cheng had his episode, he seemed to be missing a screw, and his upper body was firmly blocking the bathtub’s control buttons, preventing him from turning off the shower.
Seeing Lu Dangui suddenly soaked to the bone, Xing Cheng was slightly taken aback. His water-stained eyebrows relaxed a little, and a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
Seeing the change in Xing Cheng’s mental state, Lu Dangui completely disregarded his dishevelled appearance and quickly recalled the details of the movie in his mind. He then pressed his advantage, saying, “Uncle Li said that it’s really not your fault that everyone was punished this time. They even said that when you get out of solitary confinement, they’re going to the recreation room to steal cigarettes together.”
The reason he could remember this line so clearly was due to a revelation from the anti-fan community last year.
The report claimed that the scene where Xing Cheng was submerged in an iron barrel was filmed by a stand-in, and that Xing Cheng simply enjoyed the positive reviews after the film’s release.
Fans and haters argued online for a long time without reaching a convincing conclusion. One blogger even did a frame-by-frame analysis of the scene, which Lu Dangui watched more than ten times, trying to find evidence that Xing Cheng used a body double, but in the end, he still couldn’t find any clues.
Later, the director of “The Vicious Dog” posted a behind-the-scenes clip online. Xing Cheng, wearing a bath towel, walked in from off-camera and, before the director could even yell “Action,” plunged straight into the metal bucket.
The actress playing Ah Feng was so startled by the huge splash of water from the bucket that she stepped back and missed her line, prompting the director to yell “cut.”
Seeing that Xing Cheng did indeed perform the stunt himself, the haters and fans shifted their focus from “Did Xing Cheng use a stunt double?” to “Does Xing Cheng respect his co-stars?”
This happened a long time ago, and Lu Dangui never imagined that it would come in handy on this occasion.
….
Xing Cheng spoke to Lu Dangui in a hoarse voice: “I didn’t inform on you.”
“It must have been the doctor, those basta*ds.” He stared at the white bathroom wall and began to mutter to himself, “They’re trying to drive me crazy, they’re definitely trying to drive me crazy…”
Hearing Xing Cheng say this, Lu Dangui breathed a sigh of relief.
He wasn’t entirely sure at first; he just wanted to take a gamble.
Fortunately, he guessed right. That’s the part.
He pressed on, continuing to read the lines from the movie: “Ah Jian, don’t be angry with them, it’s not worth it at all!”
Xing Cheng closed his eyes: “…Yeah, it’s not worth it.”
“Once you recover, we’ll go out and live a good life. They won’t be able to control you anymore.”
Upon hearing this line from Ah Feng, Xing Cheng struggled to sit up in the water and leaned towards the outside of the bathtub.
In “The Vicious Dog”, Xu Jian also emerged from the water after hearing this sentence, peeking out of his airtight reef cave.
The water was rushing overhead, and Lu Dangui could barely open his eyes. He could only vaguely see Xing Brother Chengtting closer and closer. The water from the showerhead gathered into a curtain, soaking both of their clothes completely.
A moment later, a cold hand gently rested on Lu Dangui’s back.
This was also one of the highlights of the whole show. Xu Jian climbs out of the iron barrel, lies on the edge of the barrel, pulls Ah Feng into his arms, and kisses her.
–etc!
Lu Dangui sensed something was wrong.
Ah Feng in the film was played by a talented actress, a genuine beauty. Even if Xing Cheng were acting crazy, he wouldn’t mistake him for a woman, would he?
He quickly tried to change the subject: “You… how about you give me the knife, I’ll keep it for you, and return it to you when we get out, okay?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the man leaning on his shoulder suddenly tensed up.
Xing Cheng’s chest began to heave violently, and a kind of heavy panting, like that of a small animal, gradually came from his throat.
…It’s over.
Lu Dangui wanted to raise his hand and slap himself.
This last line wasn’t Ah Feng’s line; he just said it in a moment of panic.
He didn’t go all out in his acting, he didn’t strictly follow the original script, and Xing Cheng will probably be out of character soon!
Xing Cheng released his grip, his dark pupils coldly fixed on the person before him.
Lu Dangui instinctively moved back, trying to increase the distance between himself and Xing Cheng.
Before he could figure out how to escape, Xing Cheng grabbed his wrist.
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