CH 66

When Gu Qingchi returned to China, Xie Luyu was in the middle of filming. He’d picked up a cameo role at the last minute and couldn’t leave right away.

Xie Luyu couldn’t trust anyone else with this, so he entrusted the task of picking Gu Qingchi up to Pan Xiaocheng. 

Pan Xiaocheng was a person with integrity. He was considerate of everyone and everything, and he spoke in a very likable manner. Even Gu Qingchi, who tended to feel uncomfortable in front of unfamiliar people, gradually relaxed in front of him.

He even started lying down in the backseat of the car. It must be said that the only other person he’d ever done this with was Xie Luyu.

Xiao Ke was sent home first. Gu Qingchi would be dropped off after her.

Not long after Xiao Ke got out of the car, Gu Qingchi sat up again. Xiao Ke had just gotten off, so that meant they were almost at his place. 

Gu Qingchi had woken up, so Pan Xiaocheng started chatting with him a bit.

As they were chatting, the conversation somehow turned to Xie Luyu.

“Xiao Ke was here earlier, so I couldn’t really say anything. I just want you to know that Xie Luyu can be kind of stubborn. He tends to insist that he’s right all the time, and he’s not good at going along with others. If you run into this kind of situation, just ignore him. There’s no use in humoring him as he’s just going to get more worked up. If you just leave him there for a bit, he’ll eventually apologize on his own.”

Pan Xiaocheng rambled for a while.

“I said too much. I hope you don’t mind. I’m just somewhat of an impatient person. To be entirely honest, I’ve already got a wedding gift prepared for the two of you. I’m just waiting for the good news.”

Gu Qingchi’s stomach was empty, so he was feeling a little carsick. He’d been pressing his forehead against the seat in front of him. He straightened up upon hearing this.

He cut straight to the point.

“Cheng ge, we don’t have that kind of relationship, and we won’t be getting into that kind of relationship. There’s no need for a wedding gift. We’re just very good friends. He’s given me a lot of help, and I’m very grateful towards him. Please don’t joke like that.” 

Pan Xiaocheng almost swerved the car.

“Xiao Chi, don’t tease me. I’m driving.”

“I wouldn’t joke about this kind of thing.”

Gu Qingchi had never agreed to or promised anything. 

Gu Qingchi was very earnest and resolute. When it came to his principles, he wasn’t going to budge even the slightest.

Marriage was a taboo for him.

A romantic relationship was simply too much, too heavy for him.

He needed to draw a clear line in the sand, even if it meant losing this person he’d been relying so much on. 

Of course he knew about the relationship between Pan Xiaocheng and Xie Luyu. Technically speaking, the two of them were simply coworkers. However, the two of them had also been friends for seven or eight years. Pan Xiaocheng was naturally biased towards Xie Luyu.

What Pan Xiaocheng knew, Xie Luyu would also know. However, Gu Qingchi would’ve said the exact same thing even if the person asking was Xie Luyu.

Gu Qingchi would not lie. It didn’t matter whether it was a casual relationship or a marriage. Once he’d made a promise, he was going to follow through with it.

And so he never made promises. However, he didn’t reveal the fact that he hadn’t made any promises either. 

It was clearly a scummy thing to do.

Pan Xiaocheng gave him a perfunctory reply and changed the subject.

“I noticed that a new milk tea shop opened up near your place a couple days ago…”

He was still chatting away, but his mind was actually a total mess. 

Did the two of them fight? No, Xie Luyu was still as happy as could be. Pan Xiaocheng could practically see the flowers blooming around him.

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He even mentioned his plans to buy a couple of properties to Pan Xiaocheng. He wanted to use them for their honeymoon trip.

So what was all this about? They’re just friends?

Pan Xiaocheng suddenly felt that Xie Luyu was Qin Xianglian, the main wife who tirelessly managed the household, and Gu Qingchi was Chen Shimei, the scumbag who had tricked a young woman into marrying him and then threw her aside once he found someone better.

No, that’s not right. Where in the world would he be able to find someone better than Xie Luyu? 

Pan Xiaocheng’s head was full of question marks.

He helped Gu Qingchi get his luggage out of the car. Then, he said his goodbyes and left in a hurry.

Xie Luyu got back a little bit later. The film set wasn’t that far away, but it wasn’t particularly close either. There weren’t any high-speed trains running at the moment, so he rented a car and drove all the way back.

When he got home, the television was still on. Gu Qingchi had fallen asleep on the sofa, and the cat was nestled at his feet. When the cat heard Xie Luyu, it cracked open one eye to peek at him, but it didn’t make any noise. 

Xie Luyu tiptoed over and took a look at Gu Qingchi.

It was a little cold in the apartment. His Xiao Gu had tucked himself into his blanket.

He went to turn on the heater and whispered to no one in particular.

“Why didn’t you turn on the heater, hm? You dummy.” 

Xie Luyu had originally reached out a hand to touch Xiao Gu’s face. However, just as he reached his hand out, he pulled back. His hand was ice cold after all.

After taking a look at Xiao Gu, he turned to check up on the cat.

“Not bad. You finished off one and a half bowls of food of the four bowls that I left for you. It’d be nice if you could share some of that appetite with your dad.”

He waited until his body had warmed up a bit before carrying Gu Qingchi back to Gu Qingchi’s room. 

Gu Qingchi’s room had originally been a guest room. His room was now even more decorated than the master bedroom.

The cat followed after them. It was quite human-like. If Gu Qingchi was awake, it would usually pester him nonstop. If Gu Qingchi was asleep, however, it wouldn’t make a sound even if it was awake.

Ever since that day, Pan Xiaocheng felt like a huge weight was sitting upon his heart. He couldn’t help but worry all day long. Every now and then, he would look at Xie Luyu and sigh.

Xie Luyu tapped at his phone and leaned back into the sofa. 

“If you have something to say, then just say it. What’s the problem? Did you get scammed? Did someone cheat you out of your retirement fund? We’ve been friends for so long. Do you really think I’d let something like that happen to you?”

Surprisingly, Pan Xiaocheng didn’t say anything back. He simply looked at Xie Luyu and sighed again.

Xie Luyu finally became a bit more serious. He put down his phone.

“For real? Did you actually run into a problem?” 

Pan Xiaocheng huffed and puffed for quite a while.

“It’s not about me. I guess it’s not exactly a problem per se.”

As soon as Xie Luyu heard that it had nothing to do with Pan Xiaocheng, he turned his attention back to his phone.

“If it’s not a problem, then forget about it. What are you worrying about? Are you trying to solve world hunger or something?” 

Xie Luyu was shopping for clothes online, adding things to his cart one by one. Pan Xiaocheng took a look at the phone. The interface was in English.

“Talk to me for a bit. Don’t spend all day on your phone. You can buy clothes in the store or get them custom made, can’t you? Also, are domestic shopping sites no longer able to satisfy you? All that effort and for what? You’re still going to have to go through customs.”

Xie Luyu didn’t lift his head, but he spoke in a straightforward manner.

“I’m buying some sweaters for Xiao Gu. Where am I supposed to buy custom made sweaters? Of course it’s better to try things on in store, but he doesn’t like going out very much. Besides, it’s not very hygienic to wear clothes that other people have tried on.” 

“The fabric that this brand uses is very soft. It can even be worn by children. Xiao Gu likes wearing this kind of sweater. This brand also has a lot of other clothes that look pretty nice, but they don’t offer custom sizes.”

Pan Xiaocheng was a little doubtful.

“Is it really that great? Send me the link later. I might buy one for my wife as well.”

As soon as he said this, he slapped his mouth. 

“What the hell am I saying? You got me off topic. I have to make things clear to you today.”

He scooted out from behind his desk and slid his chair in front of Xie Luyu.

“Tell the truth. What’s with you and Xiao Gu? Are you guys together?”

Xie Luyu looked at Pan Xiaocheng like he was an idiot. 

“What do you think?”

“What’s it matter what I think? What matters is what Xiao Gu thinks.”

Immediately, Pan Xiaocheng started spilling the beans. He explained everything that happened that day.

“Tell me what’s up. It doesn’t seem like a fight. Do you think he’s leading you on? It’s not like you haven’t seen people like that before. They get what they want out of you. Then, they turn around and insist that you’re just a friend. This isn’t anything new.” 

Xie Luyu sat there on the sofa. He shot back without a hint of hesitation.

“That’s not possible. Xiao Gu isn’t that kind of person.”

Pan Xiaocheng didn’t speak. The two of them were silent for a while. Then, he continued.

“It really isn’t any of my business, but I need to tell you this. No matter who’s right or wrong, you need to clear things up with him. I’m your agent, so I have to be responsible for you. I’m also your friend, so I want to look out for you. I can apologize if I’m wrong.” 

When Xie Luyu got home, he took another look at the logistics of his order.

It just so happened to be the changing of seasons. He was busy getting new clothes for Gu Qingchi. A lot of them were made to order, but most of them hadn’t been completed yet.

Thus, he bought some ready-to-wear clothes. The clothes he bought a couple days ago had already been shipped.

He was very calm. He even bought some groceries on the way back. 

As he was cooking, he chatted with Gu Qingchi.

At first, they talked about Gu Qingchi’s latest movie. Then, they talked about the development of his career and his resources. When the conversation got to here, Xie Luyu piped up again.

“In that case, should we get married in secret?”

Gu Qingchi raised his head from the sofa and stared at him. 

Xie Luyu continued.

“It’s still pretty early in your career. It’s not a good look if you get married. It might not be such a big deal for actors, but audiences can be pretty strict. Just look at those actors who publicly announced their marriages early on. Not very many of them managed to make it.”

“I’m fine with getting married in secret, but it’ll be a bit harder than a normal marriage. Once you get more famous, you’ll have a lot of paparazzi—”

Gu Qingchi interrupted him. 

“Mr. Xie.”

The way he referred to Xie Luyu was both polite and distant.

“I’m not getting married.”

Xie Luyu’s hands shook. He accidentally added too much salt. This pot of food was pretty much done for. 

“I know. We’re young after all. We’ll just stay like this for now.”

Xie Luyu thought to himself, “I haven’t asked him whether he was on board with marriage or not. Maybe he just wanted to date?”

However, Gu Qingchi quickly shattered his wishful thinking.

“We’re not dating either. I won’t date. I promised Ye Li that I wouldn’t date.” 

Xie Luyu put down the stuff in his hands. Every last bit of his smile had vanished by now. He looked very cold and a little hard to get close to. It was the exact same attitude that he displayed in public.

Gu Qingchi had never seen him like this before.

“Then why didn’t you stay away from me in the first place? Then why did you hug me at that time? Then why did you kiss me?”

“Was it fun? Was it fun to play around with others? Are you proud of yourself? Do other people’s feelings matter so little to you?” 

Originally, the cat had been arrogantly demanding cat food from Xie Luyu. Now, however, it quietly scooted over to Gu Qingchi. Its ears drooped.

Gu Qingchi was a little puzzled. He had his head resting upon his arms.

Xie Luyu had also wanted to define their relationship before, but Gu Qingchi had brushed past the issue.

Gu Qingchi knew that he’d played a dirty trick. Just because he was puzzled by this reaction didn’t mean that he didn’t understand. 

After clearing things up with Pan Xiaocheng, he knew that Pan Xiaocheng would tell Xie Luyu. Xie Luyu would come to realize, sooner or later, that Gu Qingchi had never actually agreed to be in a relationship with him.

Xie Luyu was a very warm person. It was a pity to lose him, but Gu Qingchi wasn’t going to budge on this.

Perhaps Gu Qingchi was a little sleepy. He spoke slowly, and there was a hint of tiredness in his voice.

“Why do we have to define our relationship? Hugging is fine. Kissing is also fine. It’s not like we have to be lovers in order to do that. Isn’t it fine so long as we’re happy?” 

“Can’t we just stay friends? Neither of us have to be responsible for the other.”

Xie Luyu shook his head.

“No. Friends don’t act like this. If we’re going to just be friends, we’ll have to change the way we interact.”

Gu Qingchi stared at him for two or three seconds. Then, he agreed. 

“Okay.”

Translator’s Note:

Here comes the breakup period…