CH 51

Xie Luyu tucked the sign under his arm and took the luggage cart from Gu Qingchi.

“Should we head home?”

Xie Luyu was thinking of all the things he had prepared back at the apartment.

The cake was already done. He also planned to cook a few dishes. The ingredients were already prepared. All he needed to do was throw them into a pot. There was also a steaming pot of pork rib soup that had been simmering for several hours.

Gu Qingchi didn’t say anything and glanced at Xiao Ke. Xie Luyu immediately understood and took the initiative to say hello.

“Xiao Ke, where are you heading? I live near Xiao Gu. We can send you back first.”

Xiao Ke quickly waved her hand. She still felt a little nervous in front of Xie Luyu.

“No, no, no. You’re too polite. I’ll just take a taxi back.”

Xie Luyu let out a sigh.

“No need to be polite. You’re Xiao Gu’s friend, so you’re my friend as well.”

“Besides, you’re a young girl. It’s inconvenient for you to carry all that luggage by yourself. Plus, you’ll have to pay for the taxi if you go back by yourself. If we send you back, one of us can help you with your luggage.”

Thus, Xiao Ke agreed.

Xiao Ke’s residence was assigned to her by the company. It wasn’t too far from Gu Qingchi’s place, so it was along the way.

Once Xiao Ke got out of the car, Gu Qingchi became the only person left in the backseat. Slowly, Gu Qingchi started to slump down in his seat. It was as if he had no bones. His upper body slowly slid onto the other seat in the backseat.

When Xie Luyu looked back into the rearview mirror, he couldn’t see anyone there. It just so happened to be a red light, so Xie Luyu turned his head.

He was met with the sight of Gu Qingchi lying down upon the backseat. He was wearing a hoodie and had hood pulled up. The only thing that could be seen of him was his beautiful chin and a few strands of hair.

He was curled up there in the back. His back was slightly curved into a guarded and somewhat fragile posture. Even if his face couldn’t be seen, it was clear to anyone who saw him that he was exhausted and a little melancholy.

Xie Luyu’s heart inexplicably twinged. Although it was a beautiful scene, he still couldn’t help wanting to break up this silence. He wanted Gu Qingchi to be surrounded by blooming flowers, by warmth and liveliness.

“Xiao Gu, don’t sleep. You haven’t eaten anything yet. It’s not good for your stomach.”

Gu Qingchi didn’t move. It took quite a while before he finally hummed in response, letting Xie Luyu know that he wasn’t asleep.

The red light turned green, and Xie Luyu started to drive. He had his eyes on the road, but his mouth was still harping on.

“Are you feeling carsick? I’ve noticed that you tend to be kind of sluggish every time you get in a car.”

Gu Qingchi still didn’t get up. He simply hummed in response.

However, Xie Luyu felt rather relieved just to hear his voice.

Whenever Gu Qingchi just quietly laid there, Xie Luyu would always get the feeling that he would disappear.

“I know a trick for car sickness. I’ll show you some other time.”

Xie Luyu felt a little down. Gu Qingchi was probably really tired today. He had thought of everything, but the one thing he didn’t think of was how tired Xiao Gu would be after traveling such a long way.

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Xie Luyu chatted the entire way back. Gu Qingchi responded every now and then from the backseat. The atmosphere was surprisingly cozy.

Gu Qingchi had two pieces of luggage, a backpack and a suitcase.

Xie Luyu didn’t open the car door for Gu Qingchi. He had never used this kind of etiquette on Gu Qingchi. It felt too polite and too corny.

Xie Luyu first headed towards the trunk to get the luggage. He slung the bookbag over a shoulder and had the suitcase in his hand.

He was very tall, so the luggage seemed small in comparison.

Gu Qingchi reached out to take some of the luggage, but Xie Luyu avoided his grasp.

“I’ll take it from here. I’m afraid you might fall asleep and hit the railing.”

Gu Qingchi didn’t insist. He yawned, and his hands shrunk back into his sleeves. He walked in front of Xie Luyu, a little listlessly.

Once they got upstairs, Gu Qingchi stopped. One side was Gu Qingchi’s apartment, and the other side was Xie Luyu’s apartment.

Gu Qingchi didn’t need to open the door to know what it was like inside his apartment. It was empty. The wardrobe and the shoe cabinet were the only pieces of evidence that someone lived there. Other than that, it wasn’t any different from when Gu Qingchi first moved in.

It didn’t have any life to it. Since he always forgot to turn on the heating, the apartment was usually on the colder side. The quiet was enough to drive people crazy.

He was a plant growing in the shade. He lived with his back facing the sun.

Xie Luyu’s place was completely different. He had earnestly redecorated the entire apartment. The walls were cream-colored. The floor had soft cushions. There were always freshly picked flowers sitting atop the plaid tablecloth.

Xie Luyu was a person who was very good at living life. Even if he was living alone, he would still keep things neat and tidy. He was a tree that basked in the light. He grew vigorously towards the sun.

There wasn’t any competition between the two aparts. Rather, so long as it wasn’t his apartment, anywhere was fine.

Even his cat liked to run over to Xie Luyu’s place.

Gu Qingchi would even prefer Ye Li’s office to his own apartment. He was always alone there. Gu Qingchi wasn’t someone who knew how to take care of himself. On the contrary, he always seemed to mess it up.

Xie Luyu was a little puzzled when he saw that Gu Qingchi wasn’t moving.

“What’s the matter? Did you forget your key again?”

Xie Luyu stood behind him and watched as Gu Qingchi slowly nodded.

“Then let’s go to my place first. I’ll clean out a room for you. The cat probably misses you.”

Xie Luyu opened the door and brought the luggage inside first.

He quickly stopped the little mechanism by the door and hid it. Then, he calmly invited Gu Qingchi inside.

The heating was always on in his apartment, so the room was warm. The cat was perched atop its climbing tree. When it saw that they were back, it yelped excitedly and, in just a few quick jumps, snuggled up to Gu Qingchi’s side, wrapping itself around his feet.

It was only once Gu Qingchi sat down on the sofa that the cat finally quieted down. It contentedly leaned against Gu Qingchi.

Xie Luyu went into the kitchen.

“Don’t go straight to bed. If you go to bed on an empty stomach, you’ll get a stomachache later. I’ll get you a bowl of soup first.”

The soup had been simmering all afternoon. The ribs were soft enough to slip right off the bone by now.

Xie Luyu removed all the bones just like last time, leaving only the meat.

It was still a little hot through the small ceramic bowl, but Gu Qingchi cupped it with both hands anyway. The slight scalding sensation was rather reassuring for some reason.

Xie Luyu was still in the kitchen. The ingredients were all readily available. Furthermore, he had already prepared a lot of the ingredients for the sake of Gu Qingchi’s birthday. It was only a moment’s effort to get something started.

He flitted around the kitchen, but, in the end, he gave up. The dishes he had in mind involved either deep frying or stir-frying. It was already really late. Xiao Gu had a bad stomach and was prone to stomach pain.

Gu Qingchi held the small ceramic bowl and took small sips from the soup. Meanwhile, Xie Luyu was busying about the apartment.

He pulled out a new set of pajamas, underwear, and toiletries for Gu Qingchi. He also made sure to turn on the heater in Gu Qingchi’s room, carefully adjusting it to a suitable temperature. Autumn was approaching, and the weather was starting to get cold.

Cheng Xian had just finished filming. It was already midnight.

He was fairly popular. There were tons of people greeting him on the entire way back to his break room.

Cheng Xian also replied to them all one by one. Sometimes, one of them would add a couple words, and he would follow along for a bit. He was like a large child. In fact, he was well-known within the circle for being approachable. He also liked to laugh. His smiling eyes and sunny disposition could heal anyone.

The only one that was stressing out was the assistant following behind Cheng Xian. He was afraid that Cheng Xian would accidentally reveal his nature and start making inappropriate jokes.

Cheng Xian breathed a sigh of relief once he returned to the break room and collapsed onto the sofa.

“I’m dying. I’m dead. God, that second female lead. Even if she paid her way into here, shouldn’t she have at least a little bit of acting skill?”

Cheng Xian dragged out the last syllable and made a cute expression. He seemed as though he was acting spoiled.

It would have if it wasn’t for the vicious words he was saying, that is.

His assistant wasn’t surprised. He skillfully appeased him.

“Being able to make it onto the cast is another kind of skill. Besides, it’s just an idol drama. So long as you’re attractive, you’re good.”

Cheng Xian sneered when he mentioned attractiveness.

“So what? Can you be more attractive than Gu Qingchi?”

The assistant nodded in agreement. Then, he wondered aloud.

“How come it sounds like you have a pretty good impression of Gu Qingchi? Didn’t Gu Qingchi steal your role?”

Cheng Xian grabbed his phone, which was lying next to him. His language was as sharp as ever.

“All you do is listen to other people’s nonsense. Do you not believe what my agent says? If he’s able to buy his way into Director Wang’s movie, China’s film industry is done for. There would be absolutely no hope for it.”

“Besides, I watched the movie. He acted well, and he’s definitely good-looking. I don’t know what he looks like in real life, but he was super good-looking in that movie. I even took a screenshot from the movie. I used it as my desktop background.”

Cheng Xian was scrolling through his phone when he suddenly uttered a sound of surprise.

“I can’t believe the day came for Cheng Ke to ask me for a favor.”

Cheng Ke sent him a very simple message.

[Do you have Gu Qingchi’s contact information?]

Of course Cheng Xian didn’t. Granted, they were in the same industry, and the entertainment circle wasn’t that big. Cheng Xian kept hearing this name pop up time and time again, but he hadn’t actually met Gu Qingchi yet.

Cheng Xian responded with a string of questions.

[Who’s asking? Your girlfriend? Your friend? Don’t tell me you’re the one chasing celebrities. That’s too shocking.]

It was already very late. Cheng Xian didn’t expect Cheng Ke to reply, but Cheng Ke ended up responding pretty quickly.

[Be quiet. Do you have it or not?]

[I do. Call me gege and I’ll give it to you. I want a voice message.]

Cheng Ke was four years younger than Cheng Xian. When they were younger, he would always call him gege. However, as he grew older, he started to become more reticent. He’d become an iceberg of a person.

Yet, for some reason, the more that he was like this, the more Cheng Xian wanted to tease him.

There was a pause in the conversation. Then, a voice message popped up.

Cheng Xian’s hands shook. His phone almost smacked him in the face.

“Holy shit. He actually sent it.”

Cheng Xian rolled over and sat up. He looked down at his phone, a little more serious than before.

He did like to tease Cheng Ke, but, if anything happened to him, Cheng Xian would be the first to rush out and defend him. It was his duty.

It wasn’t just because of their blood ties.

It was also because Cheng Xian would always be at a disadvantage in front of Cheng Ke.

It was because he had contemptibly run away from the fate that had been set out for him. He was the pathetic person who had dumped his responsibilities upon his younger brother.

It was that same old story. The old-fashioned father. The weak mother. The family business that was in need of a successor. The child who had rebelliously chased after his dreams.

It was just that there was another child in this story. He loved the violin very much when he was a child. He also loved to smile. He told his family that he wanted to become a famous violinist.

Later, when that child finally grew up, he silently accepted the arrangement of his parents.

He dependably fulfilled his parent’s expectations and entered business school. With his excellent grades and a stable personality, he was undoubtedly the best among his peers.

His existence helped ease the conflict in his family. Thus, Cheng Xian gained the support of his family. Thus, Cheng Xian could now go home and complain to his mother about what happened on set.

However, that child never touched the violin again. Everyone forgot that Cheng Ke had once smiled even brighter than Cheng Xian.