CH 2

Chapter 2: Eating Dinner

The door of the changing room was opened, and a man in a waistcoat walked in while pulling on his tie. He was surprised to see Gu Qingchi still lying on the sofa.

"Qingchi, you're still here? Not going home?"

Gu Qingchi was lying on the sofa next to the locker with his arm covering his eyes, blocking the light.

The sofa was too small. He was 1.83 meters tall, with excellent proportions. His long legs had to curl up on the armrests of the sofa.

He was also wearing a uniform, and the western-style tailoring showed his figure very well. The waist was particularly attractive, like bamboo, thin yet sturdy, making people want to touch it.

It's hard to imagine that a man's waist can also shake people's hearts like this.

His hair just reached his ears and was scattered on the sofa, making him look rather seductive. Even the worn-out sofa looked much classier when he was on it.

He heard his colleague speak and moved his hand away, turned his head to look at the person who came in, and smiled.

"I'm a little tired, so I just wanted to lie down for a while."

Gu Qingchi found a job as a waiter in a western restaurant. The salary was good, but it was a bit tiring.

In the past, when Gu Qingchi was the character Gu Qingchi, he lived in a villa, and there was a credit card that could be swiped without limit.

Now that the plot was over, these things have been taken back. Even if they weren't taken back, Gu Qingchi probably wouldn't have touched them again anyway.

There weren't many jobs suitable for Gu Qingchi. He used to be a graduate of a prestigious school, but the level of education that was randomly generated in this life was only at the high school level.

This western restaurant was fairly well-known. A lot of wealthy customers come and go, and they were generous when it came to spending. The salary and tips were very impressive, and so the interviews had also gotten harder and harder to pass.

Originally, the minimum level of education required was a bachelor's degree. Gu Qingchi’s high school degree was simply not qualified. The reason he was able to pass was due to his fluent English.

The colleague had already taken off the waistcoat and opened his locker. Gu Qingchi glanced at the clock on the wall and wondered aloud.

"It's only ten o'clock. Is it time to change shifts?"

"Short notice, someone booked the restaurant. Only two head waiters and the manager are staying. I heard that it was a banquet for the start of filming of a movie. The guests are pretty important. They booked out the whole place. Sure did spend a lot of money."

As the colleague said that, he reached into the pocket of the waistcoat hanging from his arm, pulled out a piece of chocolate, and threw it to Gu Qingchi.

"Eat something to pad your stomach. You haven't eaten anything tonight, have you?"

Gu Qingchi mumbled and caught the chocolate that was tossed to him. He was snuggled into the sofa, still not fully awake.

He looked at the chocolate, tore up the packaging directly with his teeth, frowned, and swallowed it after a few simple chews.

Obviously, he was such a glamorous beauty, but he had a sort of a different kind of appeal when he performed such a crude action.

The chocolate was quite expensive. It was a foreign brand and had German words all over the packaging.

It was a small gift prepared for the guests by the restaurant. If the guests didn't take them, they would all be thrown away when the table was cleaned. Therefore, the waiter on shift would sometimes grab a few pieces. Sometimes, the head waiter would hand them out to the staff.

The taste was a bit bitter. Gu Qingchi always tried to swallow it before he tasted the bitterness. This time, he failed again. As soon as he bit into it, the bitter taste began to spread in his mouth.

The colleague had already changed into casual clothes and was about to head out. He was pretty amused to see him frowning and swallowing so quickly.

"I forgot, you don't like that flavor. I don't understand you. You obviously hate bitter things and yet you still eat it every time I give it to you."

Gu Qingchi closed his eyes and looked very sleepy. Perhaps it was because he hadn't fully woken up yet, but his voice sounded a bit alluring. When he looked at someone with downcast eyes, he looked very intoxicating. Every word seemed to come from the tip of his tongue.

"Because you gave it to me."

The colleague was a tall young man. He had a crewcut and looked tough and handsome. And yet, his ears slowly became red after hearing those words.

Although, he knew very well that Gu Qingchi didn't mean anything by it.

He wasn't special. Gu Qingchi treated everyone like that.

It wasn't deliberate or anything like that. Gu Qingchi just seemed to be like this by nature, making you feel as though he really treasured you.

Even so, the young man still whispered with red ears.

"Next time, I will bring you the sweet kind."

After speaking, he closed the door gently.

Gu Qingchi may or may not have heard those words. He was already asleep.

By the time he had woken up, it was already eleven o'clock.

It was time to go home, but Gu Qingchi wasn't really in a hurry. The house he rented was not far from here. It would only take seven to eight minutes to get there by foot.

He still hadn't changed out of his uniform, so he slowly stood up to change his clothes. He undid his tie and casually draped it around his neck. His shirt was halfway off, and half of his back was exposed when the door suddenly opened.

Gu Qingchi heard a sound and looked over.

The person at the door had a cigarette in his mouth, the smoke lingering around him. The lights near the door were thoughtfully turned off by his colleague, and only the lights in the changing room were on.

This means that, in the eyes of the person by the door, Gu Qingchi looked as if he were standing under a spotlight. He could see every bit of him, but Gu Qingchi could only see an indistinct human figure, vaguely recognizing that the other party was a tall man.

Ordinary people would feel a little bit at a loss if they were suddenly exposed in front of others, but Gu Qingchi seemed to pay no attention to it.

He lazily tilted his head to the side and didn't care.

"Can I help you?"

Gu Qingchi had already stopped the action of undressing when the other person had barged in by mistake.

Now, half of his shoulders and back were still exposed under the light, dazzlingly white. His waist and abdomen were all tight muscles, but they weren't exaggerated, possessing a smooth and beautiful body line.

Every place on his body existed first for the sake of beauty.

At this time, Gu Qingchi looked over casually, and his wavy hair curled in a beautiful arc around his neck, like a man-eating siren under the sea.

This scene fell directly into Xie Luyu's eyes, and the cigarette he held in his mouth fell to the ground.

The head waiter suddenly appeared. When he saw Xie Luyu standing at the door of the employees' changing room, he quickly walked over.

"Mr. Xie, I am so sorry for only having just come out to show you the way. The smoking room is next door. This is our staff changing room."

Xie Luyu seemed to have just come back to his senses. Before the head waiter could see the scenery inside, he slammed the door shut.

He picked up the cigarette butt that had just fallen to the ground with a little bit of embarrassment.

"My apologies, I opened the wrong door just now. Please apologize for me."

The head waiter looked at him strangely as he returned to the restaurant.

"Weird. Didn’t he come out for a smoke?"

Just then, Gu Qingchi finished changing his clothes. He opened the door and came out.

The head waiter was not surprised. This wasn't the first time Gu Qingchi had fallen asleep in the changing room. He often went to sleep there without even eating dinner. Xie Luyu probably ran into him just now.

"Fell asleep in there again? Wait a minute, I'll get you some food to take back home. There's no place to eat anyway since it's already midnight."

Gu Qingchi didn't decline.

"Okay, give me a bottle of wine too, deduct the money from my salary."

The food in the restaurant could not be kept overnight. If there was leftover food, the staff was allowed to take some back for free, but the wine would have to be paid for.

The head waiter patted him on the shoulder.

"You wish. I'll give you what I can find. You can forget about the wine. It's the middle of the night. It's not good for your stomach."

After that, he went to the back kitchen.

Gu Qingchi waited for him at the door of the changing room, looking out the window. There was an advertisement playing on the wall of the opposite building.

Xie Luyu was the spokesperson for an international clothing brand, taking the high-end route.

This brand was very picky, and it had never appointed a spokesperson in China. A few days ago, the brand signed a three-year contract with Xie Luyu. The news had even trended on Weibo for several days.

These days, the people around him have been discussing this matter, so even Gu Qingchi, who doesn't pay much attention to these things, knows about it.

It's no wonder that the 27-year-old movie emperor is in high demand.

Not just anyone can be called "movie emperor". Only the winner of the Golden Globe Award 1 was qualified to be called the "movie emperor".

Xie Luyu just won the Golden Globe Award this year, and his popularity and status had risen accordingly. So, it's no wonder that those high-end brands were now chasing after him.

This world was similar to but different from the world where Gu Qingchi lived. Its film and television industry were unprecedentedly developed, and the entertainment industry was thriving.

While the industry was moving forward, there was a set of international standards for the evaluation of actors and film and television works, which was very authoritative. The evaluation of actors and their works was separate.

The most outstanding actor would be awarded the Golden Globe.

Although the name was rather cheesy, the monetary value wasn't something to sneeze at. The conditions for winning the Golden Globe were incredibly harsh. After all, there were outstanding works in film and television available every year, but there wouldn't necessarily be an outstanding actor.

Only those with a certain number of outstanding works were eligible to compete for the Golden Globe. It was awarded once every three years. The award was typically won by veteran actors who accumulated plenty of qualifications for some time. There were only three winners from China for so many years. The youngest winner had been 37 years old.

Xie Luyu was indeed a genius when it came to acting.

Xie Luyu’s heart was pounding, and his mind was full of the image he had seen just now. It was obvious that the other person didn’t expose much, but the impact was too great. It was as if he was a snot-nosed brat meeting a pretty girl for the first time. He was a little at a loss.

He sniffed the remaining smell of the cigarette between his fingers before he was finally able to calm himself down.

Director Chen turned his head and saw Xie Luyu. The project that he had been preparing for a long time had finally started, and so he drank a little too much.

He happily greeted Xie Luyu.

"Come, come, have a couple of drinks with me."

The screenwriters sitting near Director Chen laughed and made room for Xie Luyu.

Xie Luyu sat next to him.

"Are you still drinking? If you keep this up, sister-in-law will scold me again."

Xie Luyu met Director Chen when he first debuted. At that time, Xie Luyu was still a bad-tempered, frivolous young man who knew nothing but acting. It could be said that Director Chen taught him everything he needed to know about the industry.

He was not just a mentor, but also a friend, and they spoke casually to each other.

Director Chen patted his thigh.

"Hey, aren't you here with me? When I said I was going out with you, she had no objection. Your sister-in-law only trusts you, it's really weird."

"This is my personal charm. You definitely wouldn't understand."

Director Chen choked.

"I don't know how you managed to get this far with that bad temper of yours."

Xie Luyu wasn't fazed at all.

"It's just like what they say online, because of my face. Didn't you pick me back then because of my looks?"

Director Chen looked at his face and really couldn't refute him.

"Do you have any idea how many people in the industry try to change their image so audiences won’t focus on only their looks? Look at you, you actually prefer it that way!"

"Who cares? I never intended to change in the first place."

Director Chen thought so as well. He seemed to be born for this industry. Looking back, every role he played since he debuted was a classic.

Before he had the chance to reminisce with Xie Luyu about the old days, he heard Xie Luyu speak.

"I've always looked this good, all-natural, you know?"

Director Chen silently closed his mouth. Xie Luyu was still the same old troublemaker. With a misbehaving mouth like his, it's a wonder he hasn't been beaten to death yet. It was probably all thanks to his strong professional ability.

Director Chen was nearing 50. Although he can keep up with the times, he still had some of the problems of middle-aged people. These past couple of years, he especially loves to grab people and lecture them on and on.

"You have to know that there might be someone more handsome than you—"

He originally wanted to lecture Xie Luyu, to let him be more modest and study his acting skills. Just as he started talking, he remembered that the man in front of him just won the Golden Globe, so he changed tactics halfway through.

"There are so many good-looking people. No flower can bloom for a hundred days. Girls like younger guys these days. You're fine now but what will you do a couple of years later?"

Director Chen was drunk and beginning to get a little muddle-headed. He started to sincerely worry about the future of this brand new movie emperor who had just earned his title.

The leading actress next to him almost spat out a bite of food.

Xie Luyu nodded, thinking of the person in the changing room just now. He heard Director Chen mention "someone more handsome than him" and, surprisingly, didn't talk back.

"He did look rather young."

Once that kind of person enters the entertainment circle, even if he didn't know anything, it wouldn't be a problem for him to become a popular idol.

The majority of beautiful people in this world have entered the entertainment industry. Xie Luyu thought he had seen it all. He was wrong.

Sure enough, there was still a diamond among stones out there.

Footnotes:

1 The raws had said "Golden Cup" but future chapters say "Golden Globe". I changed it to "Golden Globe" for consistency. ↩