CH 40

The awards ceremony had ended. The media outlets started swarming forward. All sorts of cameras were pointed at the celebrities.

Some of the livelier celebrities were going around, interacting with others, and taking photos with each other. 

Xie Luyu was a pretty fun person, and he had a lot of friends. The photographers also loved his handsome East Asian features. He spent the entire night either taking photos or interacting with other people.

Originally, he had planned to go over and take a look at Gu Qingchi.

However, his conversation with Zheng Che made him realize something. If he didn’t want to affect Gu Qingchi, it would be best not to have too much contact with him in front of the media.

With so many cameras here, there was nothing he could do. He needed to think twice about so much as glancing in Gu Qingchi’s direction. 

Xie Luyu was different from Kellerman. Although Kellerman was well-known in China, he was a foreign singer. One of them was a native, and the other was a foreigner. The public tended to be more tolerant in this regard. Even though he’d pretty much publicly confessed to Gu Qingchi, it was just a couple of jokes at most. Even if the tabloids were bold enough to make stuff up about it, no one would believe it.

Xie Luyu was different. He was basically a national treasure. There were countless eyes on him.

He did have some relationship scandals, but Xie Luyu found it rather annoying when others inserted themselves into his emotional affairs. Even if someone were to pass him a message or drop a hint, Xie Luyu never played along.

Whenever the media brought it up to him, he would immediately start shooting off at the mouth and talk back to them. His fans would leave comments saying that he deserved to be single.

However, if the person in question was Gu Qingchi, Xie Luyu might not be able to shoot back like usual. He couldn’t do it. It was too hard. It would be good enough if he didn’t make his feelings public on the spot.

With great difficulty, Xie Luyu started to leave the venue. His seat was front and center. When he arrived, he was the first to enter. Now, he was the last to leave.

His car was parked outside. Xie Luyu very carelessly changed into a pair of jeans and a jacket. He also wore a beanie and scarf. He even waited for a while before heading out.

His car was parked in an obscure corner. When he arrived, he had been sitting in a luxury car. Now, he was in a van. It looked just like the vans used by media personnel. 

He got in and threw a black paper bag onto the back seat.

Pan Xiaocheng, who was sitting in front of him, turned around.

“Hey, where’s the trophy? I already saw. You won again this year.”

Xie Luyu clicked his tongue. He grabbed the black paper bag from the back seat and reached inside. Then, he pulled out a golden trophy and handed it over upside down. 

Pan Xiaocheng took the trophy from his hands and righted it.

“Can you be a little more polite? It’s an honor to win this award.”

“What’s the use of honor? Can—”

Xie Luyu suddenly shut up. He sullenly grabbed his jacket from the back seat and covered his face with it. Then, he plopped down onto the seats. Pan Xiaocheng shot him a glance and didn’t ask. He changed the subject. 

“All of the flights for today have already left. I bought tickets for tomorrow morning. I also got you a midnight snack. It’s in the cooler in the back. You can help yourself later.”

Xie Luyu gave him a muffled response.

The car moved forward very slowly. There were still quite a few people around. All of them were either fans or media personnel. They had just managed to drive forward a few hundred meters when the van stopped. Pan Xiaocheng spoke, surprised.

“Hey, isn’t that the little girl from Ye Li’s team?” 

Xie Luyu shot up from the back row. He leaned forward and looked out the windshield from between the two front seats.

Xiao Ke was on the phone. She looked a little anxious. There was a staff member with a badge standing next to her.

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They quickly drove the car over in her direction. After lowering the window, Pan Xiaocheng stuck his head out.

“What’s wrong? Where’s Ye Li?” 

Xiao Ke recognized Pan Xiaocheng. He was one of the seniors in the company. Although she had been anxious, she had still managed to keep her calm. Now, she was like a child who had found her parents. She couldn’t hold it together anymore and ran up to the car window.

“Cheng ge! When Gu ge and I left the venue, we ran into this random group of fans. There were too many people, and we ended up getting separated. Gu ge‘s cell phone and wallet are both with me. I can’t get in contact with him.”

Although Xiao Ke was in a hurry, her train of thought was still clear. She gave him all the information she knew.

“I can’t call the police. The staff said that they would only be able to look around on the premises. The biggest issue is that Gu ge usually uses his cell phone to navigate whenever he goes somewhere. He doesn’t know his way around. I’ve already looked everywhere. I don’t know what to do anymore.” 

Xie Luyu had originally been sitting in the back of the van. However, after hearing all of that, he got out of the car.

“Which direction was he headed in?”

Xiao Ke looked around, crying.

“I don’t know either. There were too many people. This is all my fault. It’s so cold at night. If something happens…” 

“Don’t worry. We’ll definitely be able to find him. I’ll look around for him first. Go ahead and get in the car.”

Xie Luyu opened the car door and motioned for her to get in. As he was doing so, he pulled on his jacket and spoke to Pan Xiaocheng.

“Cheng ge, I’ll go take a look first. You can ask the others for help as well.”

Pan Xiaocheng held a cell phone in his hand. 

“I know. I’m on the phone right now. Xiao Ke, there’s some hot cocoa behind you. Take one. You’ve been running around for a while.”

Xie Luyu had come with his team this time. After all, he was nominated for a major award at an international film festival. If all the bodyguards, drivers, and stylists were added up, it was quite a large number of people.

Xie Luyu reached into his jacket and pulled up the scarf so that no one would recognize him.

He swept his eyes in all directions. Then, he headed towards the place with the most lights. People tended to head towards bright places. 

Xie Luyu strode forward as he scanned his surroundings.

The shops here closed early. The streets were deserted. The only lights were from the street lamps lining the street. There wasn’t even a 24-hour convenience store.

Xie Luyu walked very quickly. With just a few moments of effort, he had already scoured through two whole streets.

There weren’t any shops open at all. 

Xie Luyu muttered to himself.

“It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a phone booth in the distance. There was a person standing inside. He wasn’t facing Xie Luyu.

Still, Xie Luyu recognized that it was Gu Qingchi. 

He quickly sprinted over, slowing down as he approached the phone booth.

Gu Qingchi was still wearing the suit he had worn for the awards ceremony. He leaned against the wall of the phone booth and stared at the coin slot, looking a little unhappy.

He was like a cat who had been snatched up by a vet for its vaccinations. It had been in a perfectly good mood earlier, yet it was now giving you the cold shoulder.

The biggest problem wasn’t the physical pain. It was the cat’s bruised pride. 

Gu Qingchi looked a little dejected.

Even his pigtail had been scattered.

Xie Luyu first sent a text message to Pan Xiaocheng. His fingers were fast, typing as he walked. He managed to send out the message before he even reached the phone booth.

[I found him. Don’t make it into a big deal. Give everyone a bonus and send them back. Don’t mention anything about this when we get back. Tell Xiao Ke to act normal. All he did was get lost, right? It’s normal. Don’t embarrass the kid over it.] 

The tone of his message was so calm that no one would be able to tell that he had been running through the streets earlier.

Then, Xie Luyu walked up to the phone booth and knocked on the door.

Inside, Gu Qingchi immediately straightened up. He turned around and saw Xie Luyu.

Xie Luyu coughed. 

“This … What a coincidence? Why don’t we … head back together?”

Gu Qingchi looked at him for two seconds. Then, he opened the door, walked over to him, and hummed in response.

Xie Luyu had a good sense of direction. A map of the way back automatically appeared in his mind.

The two of them walked side by side. They hadn’t been walking for very long when Gu Qingchi suddenly piped up. 

“I … would like to borrow your phone.”

Xie Luyu hummed in agreement. He didn’t even ask what for before reaching into his pockets. He just pulled out his phone and unlocked it. Then, he placed it in Gu Qingchi’s hands.

On the contrary, it was Gu Qingchi who dejectedly offered up an explanation.

“Xiao Ke and I got separated. She’s probably really worried right now.” 

Xie Luyu hummed in response once more. He didn’t have any other reaction, as if this was normal. It was only when he noticed that Gu Qingchi wasn’t making the call that he finally responded.

“That’s normal. I’ve also been separated from Cheng ge before. You know who Cheng ge is, right? He’s my agent. To be honest, there’s no need for you to get to know him or anything. It’s enough for you to know me.”

Gu Qingchi’s lips curved into a bit of a smile. However, when he lowered his head to dial, his mood dropped once more.

“I don’t remember Xiao Ke’s phone number.” 

Gu Qingchi was really frustrated. He could speak English, but it was already the middle of the night. There was no one around. He had tried walking in all sorts of directions, but Xiao Ke and the others were nowhere to be seen.

He couldn’t even find a 24-hour convenience store along these streets.

He finally managed to find a phone booth, but he didn’t have anything on him, let alone coins.

This kind of feeling in which he was clearly trying his best but nothing would go his way made him incredibly upset. 

Gu Qingchi had already been a little low-spirited today. This string of failures, one after another, made him fall into a pit of self-loathing.

Xie Luyu suddenly stretched out his finger and poked at Gu Qingchi.

Gu Qingchi’s line of thought was abruptly interrupted. He looked up in confusion.

“Ah, that, uh, I know your assistant’s phone number. I’ll let her know.” 

Xie Luyu took his phone from Gu Qingchi’s hands. Gu Qingchi’s hand were cold. They were so cold that Xie Luyu paused for a while.

He muttered to himself, his fingers flying across the screen. After sending a text message, he raised his head.

“Your assistant is heading back to the hotel now. I told her to go ahead and get dinner. It’s only a few hundred meters away. Let’s walk back slowly.”

Gu Qingchi nodded. The two of them slowly started strolling down the streets. 

Even as Xie Luyu was walking, his mouth never once stopped. He blabbered on and on about a bunch of interesting things. Most of it was about either himself or some of his friends.

Xie Luyu was pretty funny, and he spoke in a way that was comfortable to listen to. His voice carried a bit of a Beijing dialect.

As Gu Qingchi listened to him ramble, he gradually forgot about his frustration. He subconsciously smiled.

One of them did the talking, and the other did the listening. The atmosphere was pretty nice. 

“Just a few days ago, Gu Cheng had a male sasaeng fan chasing after him. He almost dug up his address. He was seriously scared. Gu Cheng told the guy that he liked women, but the sasaeng said that he would only believe him if he had a partner.”

“So, he put on a little act with a friend of his who wasn’t in the industry. They started interacting on Weibo, but they didn’t practice what they were going to say beforehand. As a result, they ended up getting into a fight in the comments section. I still have the screenshots. I’ll send them to you later.”

Gu Qingchi imperceptibly relaxed his brows. He hummed in response.

“Pan Xiaocheng’s a super irresponsible person. I only call him Cheng ge because he’s older than me. It’s a reflection of my excellent character. It doesn’t mean he’s not irresponsible.” 

Xie Luyu was smiling the entire time he spoke. His eyes were curved, and his voice was particularly steady.

“One time, I had to go to this cliffside for filming. I was going to be hanging from wires. I was still pretty young at that time, eighteen years old. I wasn’t super confident about it, so he said he would accompany me. The next day, he arrived with all kinds of snacks and drinks. He even rode the cable car and posted photos onto his WeChat Moments. In the background of his photos were blue skies, green mountains, and me.”

“I was so pissed that I forgot about being scared.”

At the end, Xie Luyu quietly snuck in some of his selfish intentions. 

“You know Kellerman sings, right? He won a Grammy recently. The award’s super small. Most music award trophies are like that.”

Xie Luyu was very subtle.

“It’s a lot smaller than the award I won today.”