CH 1

Chapter 1: Divorce

At this moment, Gu Qingchi was sitting in the living room of his villa. The air conditioner was on. There were only three people in the huge living room, Gu Qingchi, and the two people sitting opposite of him, the lawyer and the lawyer's assistant.

The lawyer, who had just finished his long speech, looked at the watch on his wrist and motioned his assistant to hand him the document. Then, he pushed the document to Gu Qingchi.

"Mr. Gu, as long as you sign this agreement, you don't have to deal with anything else. I will be solely responsible for handling the divorce."

Gu Qingchi had been waiting for this sentence.

He said nothing, quietly sat forward, and carefully signed his name. Then, he handed over the documents across the conference table with both hands, appearing very well-educated.

The lawyer, who had prepared a load of coaxing and coercion, could only hold it in.

His client was very shrewd, finalizing a property division agreement before the marriage. It was very strict, so strict that even the lawyer, who was used to cases like this, felt that it was a little too much. In a nutshell, if Gu Qingchi agreed to the divorce, he would leave the marriage with nothing.

But Gu Qingchi is not at fault in this marriage. If there was anything wrong with the marriage, it would only be that his husband did not love him.

After all, his client, Gu Qingchi's husband, filed for a divorce. The only reason given was a simple proof of separation for two years. Moreover, the marriage itself only lasted two years.

Very few normal people would accept such conditions. He thought it would be difficult for Gu Qingchi to accept, but things went unexpectedly well.

But this was not a bad thing. He was a professional lawyer, focusing only on the case itself.

He knew that so long as he took care of Gu Qingchi's side, the rest would be easy. It would be so easy that he almost felt sorry for the client, who paid an enormous sum of money. He checked the signature with pleasure, collected the documents, and nodded to Gu Qingchi. Then, he got up and left.

As he closed the door, the lawyer's eyes swept over Gu Qingchi, who was still sitting by himself, and happened to see his side profile. Then, he paused.

Gu Qingchi had his head slightly lowered. His wavy hair curled around his neck, and his long legs were crossed under the table, extending a beautiful curve. He had a sharp sort of beauty, and his entire person was beautiful to the point of oppression.

Evening was approaching, and there were no lights on in the room. The dividing strips of light and shadow illuminated the young man. He looked like a rose that became more intense because of the night, painted maroon by the darkness, bringing a sense of decadent beauty.

This entire picture was almost immediately captured within the mind of the lawyer.

Appreciation of beauty is universal, but each individual's understanding of beauty is different. This is vividly shown in artists. Each of them has their own standards. What is highly sought after by one artist is relegated to dust by another. But, every one of them would fall into a frenzy for this picture. Gu Qingchi himself was the pinnacle of beauty, which simply should not exist in the world.

The lawyer was frozen in place until his assistant called him a few times in confusion. He then looked away regretfully and closed the door gently, as if he was afraid of disturbing something.

Besides being shocked, he only felt puzzled. It was obviously such an eye-catching appearance, so why didn't he notice it before?

Two years ago.

When Gu Qingchi opened his eyes, he heard a cold electronic sound in his ear at the same time.

[Filler Character Gu Qingchi has been generated. Character attributes are randomly generated. Character is blessed with good fortune and luck. Character has drawn the vague descriptive attribute, "You are God's treasure left on earth". God treasures you in the palm of his hand. Out of all the beauty in the world, 90% is within you, and the remaining 10% is cast by God to all living beings.]

[Sensing abnormalities in Character Gu Qingchi's attributes. Elimination of abnormalities failed. Now activating security procedure.]

Auditory hallucinations?

Gu Qingchi thought so, and then he remembered. He was dead.

As soon as Gu Qingchi realized that something was wrong, the electronic sound rang again. This time it was accompanied by an ear-piercing alarm.

[Alert! Alert! Character Gu Qingchi is exhibiting rejection. The security procedure has been activated. Character Gu Qingchi has been isolated. Character Gu Qingchi is being loaded into the plot..., loaded successfully.]

A violent sense of dizziness struck, and the muddled, hangover-like feeling made Gu Qingchi a little sluggish. It took him a while before he slowly sat up from the bed.

A novel appeared in his mind, and his memory of it was clear, as if he had just read it yesterday.

The novel was a level-up feel-good story. To sum it up, it was about the protagonist Xie Luyu who overcomes all sorts of obstacles and finally becomes the movie emperor.

Gu Qingchi was not stupid. Even if he used to live like an old man, he was still young. He more or less knew about popular novels. Combined with what he heard after waking up, he could probably guess his situation.

He transmigrated into the book and became the character Gu Qingchi, that is, himself.

The only thing he couldn't figure out was that there was no Gu Qingchi in the novel.

The world in the book was a fictional universe, similar to but different from the world where Gu Qingchi originally lived. The slight difference is probably the unprecedented prosperity of the world's film and television industry.

However, Gu Qingchi could guarantee that, from beginning to end, the name "Gu Qingchi" did not appear in that book.

Perhaps because of the sequelae of having the plot transmitted into his mind, Gu Qingchi's head was still in pain. He simply stopped thinking about it and leaned on the head of the bed, looking around, trying to find a clue.

Except for a large bed and a floor lamp, there was no other furniture in the whole room. However, it could be seen that there was an attention to detail. It didn't seem to be a hotel.

There was a carpet on the floor and a pair of cotton slippers at the door.

Gu Qingchi left the room and discovered that it was a small, two-story villa. There was a master bedroom, a second bedroom, and a cloakroom on the second floor. The living room was on the first floor. The whole house was decorated like a prototype room, simple and beautiful. Anybody could stay comfortably at any time, but it felt a bit strange because of that.

As long as people are living in a house, there will be traces of people. Perhaps there will be a cute pink doll in the corner, or there will be a random flower in the vase that has just been picked from the garden. However, this house felt more like a hotel, as if the owner will pick up a suitcase and leave at any time.

Gu Qingchi found a clue as soon as he arrived in the living room. He almost didn't even need to bother to look for it. There was a cell phone and a marriage certificate on the table in the living room.

It was very conspicuous, as if they were afraid he wouldn't see it.

He looked at a few things on the table and hesitated for a while. First, he tried to unlock the phone with his fingerprint and it turned on.

There was only one person in the contact list—husband.

Gu Qingchi's gaze stayed on the word for a while and then turned to look through the marriage certificate a little hastily.

The name Xie Luyu was printed right above Gu Qingchi.

Gu Qingchi knew why the character "Gu Qingchi" did not appear in the book from beginning to end. Well, to be precise, the role of "Gu Qingchi" does exist.

But his name never even showed up from beginning to end. He was a cannon fodder with only two lines of appearance.

One line was when he married the protagonist, Xie Luyu, and the other was when he divorced Xie Luyu.

If he remembered correctly, Xie Luyu was a male.

For a moment, Gu Qingchi wanted to confirm his gender. Before he took any action, his reason told him to open the marriage certificate in his hand. He confirmed several times that the gender on it was indeed male.

This was ridiculous.

Although, the author in fact did not specify gender since the character was too insignificant. However, when a book becomes a reality, existence becomes genuine.

The cannon fodder can't not have a face just because the author didn't describe his appearance, nor can he have no father or mother because the author didn't set the background.

Gu Qingchi guessed that, as a filler character, anything not mentioned in the book was probably randomized.

But this was a little too random. He couldn't help but complain a bit.

Gu Qingchi compared the date on the phone with the date on the marriage certificate.

The date of marriage was yesterday.

Gu Qingchi turned on the phone and sent a text message—let's get a divorce.

[Security procedure activated. Character Gu Qingchi, please cooperate with the storyline.]

After that, the text message displayed a failed to send notification and automatically saved the message to drafts.

Gu Qingchi tried various methods but, unfortunately, found that he could only follow the plot. All attempts that were contrary to the plot would be corrected by the security procedures.

"It's okay. It'll be fine as long as I finish the storyline."

Gu Qingchi comforted himself very optimistically.

At this point, it had been a few days since he woke up, and the protagonist had not come back at all. Since being married was the same as not being married, Gu Qingchi felt that it would not be that difficult to finish his two lines within the story.

But Gu Qingchi soon discovered that things were not that simple.

No one could remember him, and he couldn't leave any trace in this world.

The power of the cannon fodder identity far exceeded his imagination.

He just introduced himself to his neighbor today, and yet the other person still looked at him like a stranger when he greeted him the next day. The things he writes on paper will disappear within a second after he finishes writing them. Even on the Internet, it was always the same. Failed to send.

No one will remember a cannon fodder character. The author writing his name was already a waste of brain cells.

This means that Gu Qingchi was alone in this world, with no relatives, no family, no friends, and couldn't even go out to work.

Gu Qingchi was still very active in planning his second chance at life for the first couple of days. After a month or two, Gu Qingchi started getting anxious.

He was not a person with a very strong mentality. On the contrary, he had been smooth sailing since he was a child. Because of his outstanding appearance and good upbringing, Gu Qingchi had hardly encountered any setbacks in interpersonal communication.

What's worse is that his perception of emotions was astonishingly sensitive. His loneliness was magnified several times. He was isolated from the world and this feeling nearly drove him insane.

He even wondered whether or not he would fall apart before the end of the plot.

During the most desperate times, he even started texting and calling the only contact on his phone.

The message was sent successfully, and it did not disappear.

However, the person on the other side had never replied, as if the number had no owner at all.

But Gu Qingchi had calmed down. He no longer made pointless attempts and tried to adjust his emotions. He used the number as a diary, and he started to make simple records in it every night.

He never recorded his negative emotions. He pretended that everything was okay by deceiving himself.

——I ran into a yellow kitten today, and, when it saw me, it climbed into the tree and ran away.

——Ate hot pot, tasted a little weird, but the potatoes were delicious.

——It's raining, does that cat have a place to hide from the rain? A little worried.

... ...

It had been nearly two years of recording without a single day of interruption.

And now, he didn't need to record anymore.

Gu Qingchi, who had been sitting in the living room for a long time, let out a sigh and leaned back in the chair.

He was finally liberated from that hollow life.

When he signed his name just now, the cold voice which had disappeared two years ago spoke.

[The storyline has ended. The world is complete. Character Gu Qingchi is now free.]