CH 33

Xie Luyu was the only one left in the lounge. He sat on the sofa, holding a cigarette in his mouth. He looked like a statue. Even when his cigarette went out, he didn’t move at all.

His assistant walked in and called his name. 

Xie Luyu didn’t respond. The assistant called out a few more times. The assistant eventually had to get right up next to his ear for him to finally react.

“What’s wrong?”

Xie Luyu irritably rubbed a hand against his crew cut.

“It isn’t anything major. I just wanted to ask you something. The crew is getting together for dinner tonight, so will you be heading back again?” 

Xie Luyu owned a villa in the area that he used during holidays. It was actually quite far away from the film set, but he had been heading there every day to make some small cakes and biscuits. Then, he would return early the next day.

The assistant silently thought, “Maybe geniuses are just like that. They always had a weird quirk or two.”

Xie ge was the perfect example. He was clearly a cool and imposing guy with a crew cut. He always had a cigarette in his mouth. He was the most alpha of them all.

Even if he wore a suit and shoes, he didn’t give the slightest suggestion of a gentleman. He was just a thug in a suit. If he went out with an umbrella, he made it look like a weapon.

No one knew that Xie Luyu’s secret hobby was baking little cakes.

To be honest, it wasn’t really Xie Luyu’s fault for being cliche. When Xie Luyu was in school, he always received small cakes from both girls and guys. They all did it with the intention of getting closer to him.

In his mind, making desserts for someone would always have a bit of intimate intentions behind it. It meant that you were serious about someone.

Cool Guy Xie Luyu had subconsciously equated chasing after someone with making desserts. He murderously gnashed at the cigarette in his mouth and suddenly asked a question. 

“The cousin you mentioned last time. Did she get divorced?”

Xie Luyu had a gossip-monger as an assistant.

He loved chasing after rumors. Two days ago, he told Xie Luyu about a distant cousin of his.

She was pretty and capable, and she also made a lot of money. However, she had awful taste in men. She ended up falling in love with a gigolo. They even got married and had kids together. 

That gigolo did nothing but stay home all day. The entire family relied on the wife to support them. After getting off from a day of work, she needed to cook and clean for that gigolo. Then, she had to look after the children at night.

Even so, the man still cheated. He even had the audacity to claim that he was in the right when he got caught. He disliked how his wife needed to take care of the children at night. She wasn’t able to tend to his needs, so he had no choice but to cheat.

The assistant had described everything in great detail.

At the time, Xie Luyu had sighed for a long time. 

When he was listening to Gu Qingchi speak, Xie Luyu automatically thought of his assistant’s cousin.

His mind was full of images of Xiao Gu doing housework all day every day. Next to him, a man with a big cross mark on his face sat on the sofa and didn’t do anything. He was even ordering Xiao Gu around.

After getting home from work, he would have to drag his exhausted body back home and cook dinner. Not only that, he would also get tossed around at night. If he didn’t let that scumbag do as he pleased, the scumbag would go off and cheat on him.

The more Xie Luyu thought about it, the more upset he became. His heart throbbed at the very idea of it. 

The assistant didn’t know anything about Xie Luyu’s complex mental state. He pulled up a stool and plopped down, patting his leg like some storyteller.

“My cousin’s parents are pretty open-minded. They tried persuading her to get a divorce. Her in-laws are also normal people. They agreed that the two of them should get divorced.”

The assistant took a sip of water. Xie Luyu asked hopefully.

“And then? Did she leave?” 

The assistant sighed.

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Xie Luyu’s face was blank.

“What the hell kind of love is that? She’s obviously been blinded by that scumbag. Your cousin’s way too gullible. No, this doesn’t count.”

Xie Luyu leaned back into the sofa. After a while, he turned his head and added.

“Even if your cousin’s gullible, I still think she’ll leave him sooner or later. There’s no way anyone could be that stupid.” 

Xie Luyy pulled out another cigarette and lit it. The smoke slowly started to surround him.

He frowned.

What if? What if someone really was that stupid?

Xie Luyu seemed very assured in front of his assistant, but, to tell the truth, he was actually afraid, very afraid. He was worried that Gu Qingchi would be that one case, that one exception. 

From beginning to end, Xie Luyu never considered the possibility of letting go.

How could anyone treat him like this? Why would anyone abandon someone like him?

Even if Gu Qingchi had a lover, even if his lover treated him well, even if the two of them were in love, Xie Luyu still felt this way.

Xie Luyu was stunned when he realized what he was thinking. He was taken aback by his own thoughts. 

Why was he thinking like this?

He should be a little more mean, a little more shameless. He should be happy that the other guy was a gigolo.

If Gu Qingchi was thrown away by the other party, didn’t that mean he would have a chance?

If it was about money, then it wasn’t a problem at all. He could even use his own money to get the gigolo to leave. 

Xie Luyu thought about it for a long time before he finally came to a realization. It turned out that he actually loved Gu Qingchi this much.

He could afford to wait, but he was afraid that Gu Qingchi would suffer. It was like a knife to his own heart. It was even more painful than having his love be unrequited.

Xie Luyu smiled bitterly. It seemed that there really wasn’t any escape left for him.

At nine o’clock, the entire crew headed out for dinner. 

The private room was lively and bustling. The lights were turned off. A few of the younger ones didn’t even eat anything before they started singing karaoke.

They were eating barbecue tonight. There were also some vegetables prepared. Some of the more lively members of the crew went to sing karaoke. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew leisurely chatted with each other as they grilled the meat.

Gu Qingchi didn’t touch very much of the food, and he didn’t barbecue any meat either. However, he was very used to this kind of atmosphere. Rather, he actually liked this kind of vibrant and enthusiastic scene.

When he used to work at the restaurant, they would always open up the dance floor in the evenings. The band would play song after song after song. Over by the bar, everyone was able to relax and happily enjoy themselves. 

Gu Qingchi’s clothing seemed to be of an aristocratic style. He wore a white silk shirt, a loose tie, and cropped trousers. The pants were rather tight by his ankles.

If he were to slap a cap on his head, he would look exactly like an aristocratic young master from seventeenth century England.

However, right now, he was sitting on the sofa with his loose tie. He had a bottle of alcohol in his hands just like everyone else. He leaned back on the sofa and relaxed, placing a hand upon the back of the sofa. He looked like a playboy.

However, where everyone else was drinking beer, he was drinking vodka. Burning liquor for a striking beauty. 

Whenever someone made a toast, he would lift his bottle from a distance and take a big swig.

Xie Luyu wasn’t in the room. He stood by a window in the hallway. He had his back against the window and his elbows resting upon the windowsill, smoking cigarette after cigarette.

His phone was placed next to him on the windowsill. The screen showed that there was currently a call in progress.

“Xie Luyu, Xie ge, do I need to thank you for remembering to unblock me?” 

Xie Luyu exhaled a puff of smoke. He tilted his head towards the phone and spoke to Pan Xiaocheng.

“No need to thank me. After all, aren’t we close enough to forget about that kind of thing?”

Pan Xiaocheng didn’t notice anything wrong with him.

Xie Luyu was an actor. Even in this kind of situation, it was easy for him to pretend that nothing had happened. 

Still, he felt like he needed to do something to distract himself. Otherwise, he didn’t know what he would do.

Pan Xiaocheng, on the other hand, was full of grief and indignation. If he added it all up, he had been dragged in and out of Xie Luyu’s blocklist several times now.

“Is nothing able to stop you from causing trouble anymore?”

Xie Luyu had one leg bent and a cigarette between his fingers. 

“I didn’t really do anything. Didn’t everything turn out fine?”

Pan Xiaocheng choked on his words for a moment. Then, he became even more indignant.

“That’s because you do this kind of thing so often that everyone got used to it!”

Just as Xie Luyu was about to reply, he happened to catch a glimpse of Gu Qingchi walking out of the private room. 

He was still holding a half-finished bottle in his hand. If it was anyone else, they would look like they were gearing up for a fight, but, when it came to Gu Qingchi, he made it look much more classy, more upscale.

He was like a medieval nobleman who woke up in the middle of the night for a glass of wine.

Xie Luyu immediately hung up. He didn’t even bother picking his phone up. Instead, he walked straight towards Gu Qingchi.

“What’s the matter? Do you need to use the bathroom? The bathrooms are over there.” 

Xie Luyu pointed in a certain direction. His hand stopped right beside Gu Qingchi’s cheek.

Gu Qingchi’s eyes were half-closed. His gaze followed Xie Luyu’s movements and finally stopped on his fingers.

He looked a lot more seductive than usual. His appearance sent a thrill through his heart.

Gu Qingchi’s gaze stayed there for a few seconds. Then, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Xie Luyu’s fingers. 

Xie Luyu looked at Gu Qingchi in surprise, only to find that his eyes weren’t focused.

He was drunk.

Gu Qingchi’s face didn’t become flushed when he was drunk. His face and neck were still porcelain white. He didn’t look any different from usual. If it wasn’t for the smell of vodka on him, no one would even be able to tell that he was drunk.

Before Xie Luyu even had time to think, Gu Qingchi grabbed his hand and approached him. 

Gu Qingchi was so close that Xie Luyu could feel his warm breath on his neck. He could even smell the alcohol from his body.

Gu Qingchi leaned over and slightly tilted his head. His chin hovered just above Xie Luyu’s shoulder.

Then, he slowly lowered his head until his face was buried in Xie Luyu’s neck. However, he didn’t lean in completely.

It felt a little more ambiguous than if he were to lean in completely. 

It was as if Gu Qingchi was hugging Xie Luyu from behind.

Gu Qingchi followed the shape of Xie Luyu’s arms. He hugged Xie Luyu around the waist and finally leaned himself against Xie Luyu’s shoulder, wrapping himself around Xie Luyu.

He whispered very, very softly into Xie Luyu’s ear.

“What’s my name?” 

Xie Luyu’s mind went blank. He subconsciously replied.

“Gu Qingchi.”

Then, he turned his head and met Gu Qingchi’s gaze. Gu Qingchi was looking at him. His eyes were sparkling. Anyone could see just how happy he was right now.

Xie Luyu felt Gu Qingchi’s arms tighten a bit around his waist. Then, he suddenly let go of Xie Luyu and took a step back. 

Xie Luyu blanked for a moment. He couldn’t tell what it was he was feeling right now. He turned around.

Xiao Ke didn’t come today. He couldn’t just leave Gu Qingchi alone.

Xie Luyu was kind of afraid to look at Gu Qingchi.

“You’re drunk. I’ll send you back. Where do you live? Forget it, I’ll go back and get your things first.” 

He was just about to head back into the private room. However, just as he turned around, Gu Qingchi took another step forward and hugged him.

This time, the hug was a lot tighter than before. It was as if he was hugging the only thing he had left.

Gu Qingchi was always incredibly calm, as if he didn’t care about anything. However, this time, he was very determined.

He uttered each word one by one. 

“Don’t leave me.”

“I only have myself left.”

“Don’t leave me by myself.”

Xie Luyu didn’t know why, but his heart throbbed. He softly started coaxing him. 

“Then I won’t go. Let’s go back. We don’t need to get our things, okay?”

Gu Qingchi didn’t speak, but he did let go of Xie Luyu. He took two steps back, looking very quiet and obedient.

Xie Luyu took the alcohol from Gu Qingchi’s hand. His phone was still on the windowsill, but he didn’t go back for it. He was just glad that his car keys were in his pocket.

The two of them headed towards the parking lot. 

Xie Luyu looked for something to say.

“How much did you drink?”

Gu Qingchi thought about it for a while. Then, he slowly raised three fingers.

Xie Luyu looked at the bottle in his hand. The bottle actually wasn’t that big. 

“Three glasses? That’s not too bad. You did good. Three glasses is more than enough.”

It was actually three and a half bottles. He had two bottles of beer and one bottle of vodka, plus the bottle that Xie Luyu was carrying.