Everyone in the industry says director Zhenshan is a rabid dog: once he bites, he won't let go. He'll offend the investors if that's what it takes to make a film the way he wants.
Jiang Weisi is the entertainment world's top red rose, with endorsements pouring in and millions of fans. Even his breathing gets spun into an "aesthetic of fragility." Everyone thinks Li Gou is a toad lusting after a swan. What right does a little-known director have to lay a finger on Rose Jiang?
But the rabid dog doesn't care. He tells Jiang Weisi he can't act in Rose Mountain, then corners him in a late-night cafe. Pressing his teeth against the rose-shaped mole on the back of Jiang's neck, he says, "You're the pain I wrote into my script."
Later, Jiang Weisi really does act in the film. On the day filming wraps, his eyes are red, but Zhenshan can't even spare him a word of comfort. Instead, he turns around and tears into Xiuzhijie, sending him trending. Xinghuang Media seizes the chance to attack, hurling twelve accusations meant to drag Zhenshan through the mud. Everyone waits to see how the rabid dog will die. Instead, he signs with Yulin, posts a three-hundred-word statement, and turns the whole table over.
Three years later, Jiang Weisi runs into him backstage and freezes.
Zhenshan locks his arms around him from behind, his lips and teeth grazing the old scar. His voice is so sinister it sounds like he's crawled straight out of hell. "Where do you think you're running, Rose? I've trampled hell itself flat... You'll always be mine."
A rabid dog knows nothing of a rose's fragrance. Once it bites down, it won't let go until death.
He's not afraid Jiang Weisi will act well in Rose Mountain. He's afraid that after writing that mountain, there will be no room in him for anyone else.
Theme: Love isn't restraint or decorum. It's the resolve of a rabid dog sinking its teeth into a rose: he'd rather turn the whole world upside down than let go of a thorn embedded in his bones.
