CH 20

Gu Qingchi’s apartment only had a couple of large pieces of furniture, all of which had come with the apartment. Other than that, there wasn’t much of anything else, so the apartment seemed a bit empty.

All of the curtains were drawn. It was very dark and also very quiet. The only noise was the sound of the air conditioner running. 

Gu Qingchi groggily opened his eyes. After dazing off for a while, he reached for his cell phone on the bedside table. It was 10:38 AM, still early.

Gu Qingchi, like a nocturnal kitty, tucked himself back into bed and wanted to keep napping for a bit longer.

Unfortunately, as soon as Gu Qingchi woke up, he was discovered by the little Dragon Li who had been staring intently at him from the foot of the bed.

It immediately started meowing happily, prancing back and forth around the bed. 

Gu Qingchi tried to bury himself in his blanket.

Soon enough, Gu Qingchi finally gave up on trying to sleep after being bombarded by the cat’s unending meows. He sat up.

Gu Qingchi didn’t like wearing pajama sets while he was sleeping.

Usually, he would just wear a pair of pants to bed, sometimes long, sometimes short.

It didn’t matter what kind of clothes they were. So long as they were comfortable, Gu Qingchi would end up using them as sleep clothes.

He didn’t open the curtains. The lighting in the room was a little dim.

Gu Qingchi’s eyes were half-closed as he lifted his blanket. The ends of his hair hung down his bare back. His hair was very dark, yet his skin was very pale. It was so pale that it seemed to glow in the dim room. When the two were put together, it had a stunning effect.

He had just woken up, and his eyes were slightly closed. The ends of his eyes naturally curved up. This kind of appearance naturally seemed both lazy and sensual. 

He didn’t make any excessive movements, and yet, a single glance, a raised eyebrow, they were all so inexplicably alluring.

Right now, he looked like he should be smoking an after-sex cigarette instead of babysitting a kitty cat.

Gu Qingchi sat on the edge of the bed, both hands lazily resting against it.

He stretched his long legs in a beautiful arc and pressed his feet against the floor. When the little Dragon Li saw him getting up, it stopped meowing and rubbed itself coquettishly against Gu Qingchi’s ankle. 

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The entire time, the Dragon Li was acting cute and affectionate to try and get Gu Qingchi to pick it up.

Gu Qingchi was pestered by the cat nonstop. He frowned and pushed the small bowl in front of the cat. 

The little Dragon Li was not very big. When it crouched in front of the bowl, only its small head could be seen.

It tilted its head and meowed a few times. Seeing that Gu Qingchi didn’t move, it circled around the small cat bowl and continued to paw at Gu Qingchi’s ankle. It even stuck out its tongue to lick him a few times.

Gu Qingchi lifted it by its nape and moved it away. Then, he gave it water, but the little Dragon Li persevered and moved to Gu Qingchi’s side.

It’s okay if I can’t get into your arms. At least I can hug your ankles. 

At this time, the doorbell rang.

Gu Qingchi breathed a sigh of relief. He shook off the clingy cat and quickly went to open the door.

He didn’t think that there was anything wrong with his clothing at all. His shirt was clearly disheveled, but his demeanor was as natural as if he were wearing a suit and tie.

Gu Qingchi rarely cared about things like this. He didn’t think there was anything inappropriate about the way he was dressed, and he didn’t mind exposing his skin to others. 

This was a side-effect of those two years of isolation. He lived in his own little world. When everyone else ignored him, he also ignored everyone else.

Thus, Ye Li, who came with a load of documents, looked up and came face to face with a disheveled Gu Qingchi. Behind him, the little Dragon Li ran after him, meowing angrily.

He was stunned for a while before he remembered what he had come here for.

“Just woke up? Didn’t I tell you that I’d be here at noon today?” 

Gu Qingchi said, “Ah. I didn’t check WeChat.”

Ye Li furrowed his brows and entered the door. He put the documents on the living room coffee table.

“You didn’t go clubbing, did you?”

Ye Li’s former artist was a frequent visitor of nightclubs. Ye Li had already lost count of all the times he had to wipe his ass for him. 

Gu Qingchi sat down in his seat. When it came to Gu Qingchi, even the beanbag he was sitting on seemed like a chaise lounge.

The little Dragon Li immediately stuck to him again.

Gu Qingchi yawned. His voice was a little hoarse.

“No, I’m just used to staying up late.” 

Looking at Gu Qingchi’s appearance, Ye Li had an inexplicable feeling of being trusted.

Gu Qingchi was like a big cat. When a big cat lays down in front of you and shows you its belly, you would naturally feel like you’ve been accepted by the cat.

Thus, Ye Li couldn’t help but consider Gu Qingchi as under his protection.

Agents and artists had always had a particularly close relationship. 

Agents tended to treat their artists like their own children. Ye Li typically kept his feelings strictly separate from his work, but, now, he couldn’t help worrying after him a little more.

He originally thought that Gu Qingchi was a very worry-free artist. Now, he was coming to realize that Gu Qingchi was very reliable when it came to big issues and was serious about his career, but he wasn’t good at taking care of himself at all.

“Staying up late isn’t good for your health, and it’s not good for you to stay inside all day either. You’ve got the house sealed so tightly that there isn’t even any sunlight—”

“By the way, that cat, why is it so clingy? It was so aloof when it was staying at my place, I almost thought that it didn’t know how to meow.” 

Gu Qingchi frowned and gently pushed the little Dragon Li away with his feet. Very quickly, the cat stuck back to him like Play-Doh.

Gu Qingchi was very confused. He looked at the cat that kept hugging his ankle and spoke, a little perplexed.

“I don’t know. I thought cats weren’t supposed to be clingy.”

Ye Li was a little jealous as he looked at the little Dragon Li, who almost looked like it would start wagging its tail any minute. 

The roles of cat-in-charge and poop scooper seemed to be reversed when it came to Gu Qingchi and the Dragon Li cat.

One was indifferent and cool, the other was persistent and clingy.

Ye Li sorted out the documents and arranged them on the table. Then, he officially entered work mode.

He opened the curtains. The lighting in the house wasn’t bad, so the room instantly became brighter. 

“The situation’s changed a little bit, so the development plan for your career has also changed. I’ve already declined the photoshoots for those two magazines.”

Gu Qingchi didn’t react. In fact, he was even a little happy, kind of like when the teacher suddenly canceled a homework assignment.

Ye Li adjusted his glasses. He was very satisfied with how calm and steady his artist was.

“You performed well on the variety show. Do you remember the sponsored clothing you wore on the show? Although what the program crew did wasn’t right, the result isn’t bad. The sponsor has contacted me, and they want you to be the spokesperson for this clothing line.” 

Ye Li held up his fingers.

“The starting offer is six figures.”

Ye Li stood up and spread open his arms. He had signed seven or eight figure contracts before, but he couldn’t help but get excited when witnessing the start of a sensation right before his very eyes.

He needed to reevaluate Gu Qingchi. 

“You’re no longer just a rookie with no foundation. You could be considered a C-list celebrity based on your follower count alone, and you haven’t even officially debuted yet.”

“Do you know what this means? It means your future is boundless and your road to stardom is right in front of us!”

Gu Qingchi propped his chin in his hand and pushed away the little Dragon Li who had started licking him again. He was a little bored and responded halfheartedly, “Ah.” He didn’t seem to care very much.

But Ye Li didn’t mind at all. He was already used to Gu Qingchi’s personality. If Gu Qingchi was the type of person who was interested in these kinds of things, there’s no way he would’ve been able to go on unnoticed for so long.