CH 4

Chapter 4: Feline Infectious Peritonitis

The topic suddenly rushed to the top of the trending list.

Most of the people in the comments were face-cons, who only came to admire a pretty face. A small part of them was also guessing whether this was a marketing campaign for a trainee about to make a debut. There were also devil's advocates questioning whether the photo was photoshopped, and then admiring his face.

But no matter who it was, they were all crying for Gu Qingchi's Weibo account.

When Guo Ling woke up, she realized that her Weibo account, which had only had a few hundred zombie followers, had increased by tens of thousands of followers. In addition, she had received countless flattering private messages, although their ultimate goal was to get Gu Qingchi's Weibo account.

But Guo Ling's broken heart was completely swept away by these flattering comments.

She dazedly went to Gu Qingchi to ask for his opinion. After getting his answer, she published a Weibo post, frankly telling everyone to give up. He didn't have a Weibo account and did not want to make it public.

Then they unfollowed her.

But there were still quite a few fans left. The little girl, who had once stayed up all night out of happiness when she broke a hundred followers, was already very happy. For the first time, she handed her mobile phone to her mother, packed up, and went to school happily.

Gu Qingchi didn't surf Weibo. He usually lived like an old man, and his only bad habit was alcohol.

The happenings on Weibo didn't affect him much. In fact, it was the head waiter who brought it up, mostly to tease him.

Gu Qingchi hadn't paid attention at all. He hadn't even read that Weibo post. When Guo Ling came to ask for his opinion, he had been somewhat confused.

He was unbothered even after knowing all of this. Before, some people had asked him to sign to an entertainment company, but they were all rejected by Gu Qingchi.

He was quite satisfied with his current life, simple and ordinary, having a normal job, earning a normal wage, and living a normal life. This was already good enough for him.

It's fine if he had no ambitions, and it's fine if he wasn't the best of the best. It's fine to live like this.

"Qingchi, bring a set of tableware here."

Gu Qingchi agreed and headed towards the back kitchen.

***

Xie Luyu loved to use Weibo and keep up with trends. Sometimes, he would know more about what was going on than even the public relations department.

When he was younger and more impulsive, he would even personally get involved in fights online.

Now, he doesn't do things like that often.

It's not because he doesn't have it in him anymore, but because his agent had long since changed his Weibo password. The one behind his Weibo account isn't him but his team.

Xie Luyu’s fans were not only ignorant of this but were also very happy about it, saying that he has grown up and matured over the years, that he's finally no longer picking a fight with everyone he meets.

Xie Luyu was very disdainful of this.

What a group of fake fans, so easily deceived. It would be better for them to cherish the bitter truth.

The movie emperor, who was deprived of the right to use his official Weibo account, had been active online using a side account.

Today was no exception.

He hadn't originally planned to click on the sudden trending topic. He had stayed in the circle for long enough and knew at a glance what was going.

Looking at the hashtag, he knew what was up. It's nothing more than the setting up of a public persona as a worldly beauty. There were a few of these hot searches every couple of days. They were always idols who have already made their debut or were about to make their debut.

After surfing online for a while, he noticed that the hot search had climbed up to first on the trending list. He became interested and wanted to see which newcomer was so full of himself.

It was common practice to buy a hot search, but, unless it was some sort of big project, most people typically didn't buy the number one spot just to promote themselves.

"That's too much. They even went and bought the number one spot, what a waste of resources—"

Mr. Movie Star's sassy comments stopped the moment he clicked on the topic. The first photo he saw was Gu Qingchi turning his head as he's called, holding a serving tray.

Xie Luyu immediately recalled that night. He had half of his shirt taken off, looking sideways towards him. His eyes clearly held a coldness, and yet his every move seemed to ignite desire.

In a single glance, his whole body felt like it was burning, and his scalp went numb. It had been a long time since Xie Luyu had felt like that.

The last time he had felt this way, he had been filming a movie abroad. He was acting with a veteran actor. He was so excited when they acted a scene together. Afterward, his entire person had felt content and satisfied.

He lay on the sofa, looked at the young man in the photo, and raised his eyebrows.

"This one, I can believe."

Xie Luyu didn't leave the page all morning. He watched the video a dozen times back and forth before finally saving it to his phone.

While Xie Luyu was obsessing over Weibo, his agent came inside and threw a kraft paper manila envelope at him.

The agent was seven or eight years older than Xie Luyu. He was efficient and attentive and typically handled all of Xie Luyu's affairs.

It was just that he was a bit long-winded, like an old woman. He was irritable yet gentle, pesky yet attentive. He was from Northeastern China. He usually held back his accent, but, when he was angry or impatient, he would let his Northeastern dialect go.

"The divorce proceedings are over. The lawyer was pretty good. Apparently, we didn't suffer any losses. Give me his number later, I'll look for him if I ever have an issue. The envelope I threw at you is from the lawyer. He said you never went to pick it up. You know, shouldn't you pay a little more attention? It feels like I'm the one getting divorced instead of you."

Without waiting for Xie Luyu to speak, he instantly regretted what he said and even slapped himself. He had been in a relationship with his wife for five years. They just got married this year. They were still in the honeymoon phase, and she was the apple of his eye.

Xie Luyu casually put the envelope in the office drawer.

"What's there to care about? I don't know him, he doesn't know me. We don't have any connection, and we won't have any in the future."

Xie Luyu was sure of that.

***

Gu Qingchi pushed the remaining cat food forward.

The cat unwillingly ate two bites and then refused to eat more. It sneakily scooted towards Gu Qingchi, trying to crawl into his arms.

Gu Qingchi didn't move it out of his arms. He touched its slightly swollen belly and stuffed the cat into the cat carrier.

He simply put on a coat and left with the cat carrier.

Perhaps because it was late at night, there were not many people in the pet hospital. There was only a girl who had brought her golden retriever to get vaccinated.

Soon, it was Gu Qingchi's turn. After a few examinations and ultrasounds, the wilted kitten crawled into Gu Qingchi's arms.

The doctor looked over the file.

"It's definitely ascites. I am not sure if it's FIP for the time being. We'll have to wait another two hours."

He set the file aside.

"I have to warn you, we generally recommend euthanasia if it is FIP. The mortality rate is 95%. There is currently no cure. We can only continuously administer treatment. Plus, the price isn't low. A lot of the time, the cat will still be ill even after spending the money."

Gu Qingchi nodded, expressing understanding.

The final diagnosis was FIP.

The cost of treatment was indeed expensive. A month's treatment, including various nutritional supplements, costs around 15,000 to 16,000 yuan. Gu Qingchi had never gone out of his way to save money. He only had himself and his cat. He never thought too much when spending money, and they lived freely and easily.

However, he could earn a lot and earn fast at his job. Often, the tip alone could reach the same amount as a month's salary. Gu Qingchi also didn't have anything that he needed to spend a lot on, so, although he didn't go out of his way to save money, he still had a lot of money on his card.

But all his current savings still added up to a mere one month's treatment.

Gu Qingchi went ahead and paid the cost of the first treatment session.

The doctor confirmed his decision again and again.

"Although the symptoms are not serious now, it requires long-term treatment, it can't be stopped midway. If you can't afford it in the end, I would suggest putting it down. It would be better for both of you."

Gu Qingchi thanked him for the reminder.

"Just prescribe treatment, please."

He spoke calmly.

If asked whether he liked the cat or not, he wouldn't be able to say that he actually liked the cat all that much. However, when he took it in, he had already decided to be responsible for its life.

He seldom got close to the cat, but this time he snuggled it in his arms. The little cat formed a ball and enthusiastically licked the palm of Gu Qingchi's hand.

Gu Qingchi sighed.

"You are so unlucky."

Gu Qingchi was actually a rather lazy person. Although he would not shirk his responsibilities at work, if he finds a lifestyle that he feels comfortable with, he would stick with it.

He would not change unless he absolutely had to, such as now. Even on the best of days, his current salary and tips could only barely cover the cost of the cat's treatment.