CH 43

When Gu Qingchi opened his eyes, he was still a little confused. The ceiling was a pale yellow. This wasn’t his apartment.

The space in which he was lying down was a little small, but he was completely surrounded, which felt very reassuring. 

He could hear the sound of something being fried, simple and ordinary, the kind of sound that could be heard in any normal home. It carried with it the hustle and bustle of ordinary life.

As soon as he woke up, Xie Luyu found out.

“You up? Go wash up first. Breakfast will be done soon.”

Xie Luyu made a simple breakfast. It wasn’t anything fancy. He just made whatever he had on hand. He made scallion and egg pancakes and seafood porridge. For the sake of nutritional balance, he also cut up a plate of fruit. 

He’d already discovered that Gu Qingchi’s tastes leaned towards Chinese food. He preferred salty dishes.

Gu Qingchi was in a rare state of peace.

For a relatively long period of time, he had been in a state of which he had no interest in anything.

However, after pulling himself out of that awful mood from last night, he suddenly became as cold and cool as usual.

Xie Luyu didn’t mention what happened last night at all. Instead, he busied himself with his hands. He didn’t even look at Gu Qingchi. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

“I gave Ye Li a call earlier. I told him he could give the key to my assistant since my assistant’s going to be delivering a script to me later today, but Ye Li said he just so happened to have something to talk to you about. He’s coming at ten o’clock.”

Gu Qingchi hummed in response.

After a moment, he spoke up again. 

“Thank you.”

It wasn’t clear if he was talking about the key or about last night.

“No need to thank me. I’m your senior after all. It was nothing, so don’t worry about it.”

After breakfast, Gu Qingchi conscientiously went to wash the dishes. 

He had inexplicably received someone else’s help and care. He would feel uneasy if he didn’t do something to repay him.

“Ah, stop right there.”

Xie Luyu quickly put away the tableware and chopsticks. Then, he put the fruit platter in front of Gu Qingchi.

“You don’t need to be polite. After all, that meal wasn’t free. I’ve got a favor to ask. Will you play a game with me later? It’s a two-player game. I’ve been wanting to play it for a while, but I just didn’t have the chance.” 

Xie Luyu spread a blanket out on the ground. Then, he placed two cushions on the blanket. The gaming equipment was all readily available. It came with the apartment.

He pulled out a game disc.

“You can look over the instructions first. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Gu Qingchi agreed. When Xie Luyu finished cleaning up, he was met with the sight of Gu Qingchi earnestly holding onto the controller and examining the instructions. 

There weren’t many people who were this solemn about video games. It was as if the thing he was holding wasn’t video game instructions but rather serious literature.

The cat was obediently nesting beside Gu Qingchi. Its owner was ignoring it, but it was more than happy playing by itself. It used both hands and feet and nibbled at the coarse edges of the cushion.

When Xie Luyu walked over, Gu Qingchi put down the video game manual and looked at him. Then, he earnestly made a promise.

“I’ll do my best.” 

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After a couple of rounds.

Overachiever Gu Qingchi died six times. 

Underachiever Xie Luyu didn’t think much of it at first. After a while, he tried to die a couple of times in front of Gu Qingchi to show him that it was really easy to die in this shitty game.

However, he ended up failing. It was actually pretty hard to die in this game…

Xie Luyu was about to suggest that they play a different game.

Before he even said anything, Gu Qingchi swiftly started a new round. He was holding onto the controller, raring to go. When he noticed that Xie Luyu’s character wasn’t moving, he gave him a puzzled look, urging him with his eyes to start moving. 

Xie Luyu:  …

Forget it. So long as you’re happy.

Ye Li soon arrived, bustling with energy. He didn’t even enter the front door. He politely greeted Xie Luyu at the entrance. Then, he gestured for Gu Qingchi to come with him.

“Let’s go back to your living room and talk.” 

Ye Li started organizing things in a familiar manner.

“The role I told you about earlier is gone. You don’t need to memorize the script anymore. Someone else paid their way into the cast. The crew decided to pay the liquidated damages.”

Ye Li had been in the circle for many years now. He’d gotten used to seeing breaches of contract.

The resource competition was much more intense than a lot of people imagined it to be. 

However, just because they managed to snatch the role from them didn’t mean they’d won.

It was really hard to say whether this role would become popular or not.

You could promote a person, you could spend vast amounts of money on them, you could make the public familiar with their face, but it was still hard to say whether they’d become popular or not.

There were people like Gu Qingchi who managed to go viral without spending a single cent. There were also people who would not make a single ripple despite the vast amounts of resources smashed down for them. 

He placed a pile of scripts in front of Gu Qingchi, four or five in total.

“We probably won’t have any new activities for the time being. These are the scripts that I’ve found for you. I’ve already screened through them, so go ahead and pick one.”

Gu Qingchi lowered his head and looked through them for a bit. Then, he finally pulled a script out from the middle of the stack and handed it to Ye Li.

Ye Li didn’t care if Gu Qingchi had picked at random or not. If the scripts were able to make it here in front of Gu Qingchi, that meant they were all guaranteed to be top-notch. 

Ye Li took the script from him and looked through it. As he was flipping through the pages, his eyebrows jumped.

This had been the only script he was hesitant to accept.

It hadn’t been for any reason other than the fact that this character was a villain. His defining characteristic was his wickedness, and he was bad to the core.

The previous character he played could still be considered the little leagues. He made audiences both love and hate him. 

This character was completely evil.

This kind of character would definitely be controversial.

In the past, actors that played their villains well were often harassed by audiences that couldn’t separate the character from the actor.

If it wasn’t for the fact that this was a big production, Ye Li wouldn’t have considered it at all. 

There were pros and cons to it. He just didn’t know how things would turn out in the end. Ye Li nodded.

“I have to tell you something first. It doesn’t matter whether you play this role well or not. If you act poorly, you’ll be criticized for your acting skills. If you act well, some people who can’t tell the difference between fiction and reality might curse at you.”

“Furthermore, this director doesn’t have a good temper. The reason he’s letting you join the crew without so much as an audition is because, if you don’t meet his standards, he’s going to kick you out right away.”

Gu Qingchi nodded, expressing that he understood. 

After giving him a heads-up, Ye Li put his worries aside.

“That’s all for today.”

He started putting the documents away.

“I selected these scripts at the last minute. It’ll be a while before filming actually starts. You should try going out every now and then. It’s not good if you go too long without giving the fans some updates.” 

Gu Qingchi was far too worry-free, too good-natured. He’d pretty much never been photographed going out.

Gu Qingchi nodded.

Ye Li continued.

“In that case, we’ll settle on this script.” 

“By the way, Xie Luyu had been trying to lay low recently, so he’s moving in next door to you. I forgot to tell you about it earlier, but it looks like you’ve found out already. Try not to spend too much time with him. It’s easy to get caught up with his sasaengs.”

This time, Gu Qingchi hesitated for a while.

Xie Luyu’s cooking was really super delicious.

Fortunately, Ye Li followed up. 

“Actually, it isn’t too big of a deal. Just make sure you wear a disguise when you go out, or just don’t spend too much time with him. Xie Luyu’s a pretty good person, and it looks like you have a good relationship with him. It’s alright to visit him every now and then and build a good relationship with him. There’s no harm in that.”

Even since Xie Luyu moved in next door, Gu Qingchi bid goodbye to his takeout boxes. His lifestyle also became much more regular.

He would still drink late into the night and wake up at noon.

However, once lunchtime rolled around, the cat and its owner both made their way over to Xie Luyu’s apartment. 

There was even a cat climbing tower added in Xie Luyu’s apartment.

The cat liked the cat food that Xie Luyu made, but it still didn’t have any good feelings about Xie Luyu. It was very cold. After it finished eating, it could leave right away.

Xie Luyu had suspected that the cat’s personality was just like this. However, whenever it was facing Gu Qingchi, it liked to meow and act cute.

Gu Qingchi also liked being by Xie Luyu’s side. 

Xie Luyu was a very particular person. He had all kinds of things at his apartment, like a beanbag chair and a home theater.

However, everything was placed with intention. It didn’t feel cluttered or chaotic at all. The warm hues of the interior decorating gave off a soft and cozy vibe.

The lighting was also good. During the day, the rooms were filled with light, and the sun was incredibly warm.

It was completely different from Gu Qingchi’s empty and deserted apartment. 

Even the little cat would put down her guard and leave Gu Qingchi’s side for a little while, stretching out for a nap under the sun.

Gu Qingchi was a little awkward at first. Later, he became like a kitty who’d become familiar with the territory, lying around the apartment with his cat.

Xie Luyu knew how to conduct himself. Being nice to a person also required a little bit of skill. If he showed kindness without ever asking for anything in return, it would make the other party a little uneasy. He knew how to get someone to accept his goodwill with peace of mind.

Most days, Xie Luyu would try his best to both give and take. He would take the initiative to assign some simple tasks to Gu Qingchi. 

Over the course of this endeavor, Xie Luyu discovered that Gu Qingchi really wasn’t any good at household chores, no matter what it was.

However, Xie Luyu was still just as happy, even if he had to quietly clean up the mess that Gu Qingchi left behind.

Whenever he was cooking, he would also try to get Gu Qingchi involved through grocery shopping and things like that.

Once their relationship was a bit closer, Gu Qingchi also stopped being so polite and distant. 

It was just like a cat who had become accustomed to your existence. It would no longer run away when it sees you, and it would no longer show you its back as it walked away.

Although it wouldn’t let you touch it, it would roll around and sleep in front of you, revealing its soft belly.

Two people living together would always be more lively than just one.

Xie Luyu opened the refrigerator and took a look inside. 

“There’s a bottle of beer missing. Xiao Gu, no more alcohol for you today.”

Gu Qingchi, who had been reading the newspaper on the sofa, turned his head. He clearly hadn’t said anything nor did he show any expression.

Still, Xie Luyu immediately understood. He didn’t waver, ruthlessly shutting the refrigerator door.

“This isn’t up for debate. I’ll make some stuffed eggplant for you tonight. Let’s clean up a bit and go shopping.” 

When it came to something like grocery shopping, it was lonely to do it alone, but it was fun with someone else, especially if that someone else was Xie Luyu.

The two of them left together.

Gu Qingchi was only wearing a mask. Xie Luyu, on the other hand, was fully armed with non-prescription glasses, a mask, and a beanie.

When they got to the supermarket, these two tall, handsome men went straight for the vegetable aisle, picking out vegetables with a serious look on their faces. 

That was until their shopping trip started winding to a close. Xie Luyu had gone off to buy some milk while Gu Qingchi kept watch for their shopping cart. He was looking at some potatoes at the same time.

It was fairly warm inside the supermarket, so Gu Qingchi had already taken off his mask.

At this moment, he was holding a large potato in his hand, observing it carefully. A silver-haired grandmother standing next to him was enthusiastically teaching him how to pick out the best potatoes in her native dialect.

Not too far away, a blond-haired blue-eyed girl held up her camera, adjusted the focus, and snapped a photo. 

In the photo, Gu Qingchi was slightly bending down. He held a potato in his hand, earnestly listening as the old woman spoke to him.

One of them was a beautiful, well-dressed young man. He had smooth skin, a full forehead, and an unbelievably beautiful jawline. The other was wearing a red headscarf and a flowery shirt. Her face contained the marks of time.

Two different eras seemed to be blending together in wonderful harmony.

The photo gave a strange sort of feeling. It wasn’t just simply good-looking. 

The girl looked over it. Then, she asked both of them if she could keep the photo. After getting their consent, she uploaded the photo to Instagram.

“Both of them are very beautiful.”