CH 67

Gu Qingchi had simply agreed.

Xie Luyu’s hand jerked. Then, he quickly stretched his hands back out again. 

He looked away from Gu Qingchi. He took the stone pot off the stove, took off his gloves, and started wiping his hands with a towel, slowly, meticulously. He was clearly just doing housework, yet it seemed as though he were a killer wiping down his gun.

Gu Qingchi watched as he did this. Even if he was a little dull, he was still able to recognize that Xie Luyu was angry.

However, he was puzzled nonetheless. He didn’t understand why something so trivial would make Xie Luyu so angry.

Was it because of the time and money he’d spent on him? 

However, he didn’t cheat Xie Luyu out of anything.

Everything that Gu Qingchi received had been given to him by Xie Luyu’s own volition. Xie Luyu had never said anything about wanting something in return when he gave it to him.

As far as Gu Qingchi was concerned, his only mistake was the fact that he’d rudely accepted these gifts without responding in kind.

Gu Qingchi didn’t want to owe anyone anything, but Xie Luyu already had so much. Gu Qingchi had too little, far too little. He couldn’t even imagine what it was that Xie Luyu might be lacking. He had no idea how to repay him.

He just couldn’t help it. He was in such a bad state at the time. In fact, he had even entertained the idea of falling asleep and never waking up again. That way, he wouldn’t have to deal with anything, good or bad.

He was like a stray kitten out in the cold, shivering by itself. As soon as someone placed a warm and cozy box in front of it, it crawled right in.

However, the owner of the box now wanted to keep the kitten as a pet. In Gu Qingchi’s opinion, it was perfectly reasonable for the kitten to refuse. Just because it accepted the box didn’t mean it agreed to be a pet.

To a cat, living on its own may be hard, but freedom was more precious than everything else. 

Still, Gu Qingchi knew that, in other people’s minds, this was a very serious issue. His idea of normal was very different from other people’s.

“I’m sorry if I upset you.”

Xie Luyu stopped whatever he was doing with his hands. He didn’t look at Gu Qingchi. He just kept staring at his hands. There was a hint of mockery in his voice.

“No, it’s nothing. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’ve never done anything wrong. I was just reading too much into things. We’ll just go back to being friends. No, we’ve always been nothing more than friends.” 

He threw the towel onto the counter in front of him and turned his head away. It seemed as though he couldn’t even stand to look at Gu Qingchi.

“Am I supposed to just accept this and act like nothing’s wrong?”

Gu Qingchi silently placed a small box on the coffee table in front of him. It was placed on the very corner of the table, neatly and cautiously.

This was the gift that he had brought back for Xie Luyu. He didn’t have much of anything else. It seemed that the only thing he had worth giving was money. 

He’d used up almost all of his savings on this watch. He didn’t know exactly how much Xie Luyu had spent on him, but this was all he had to give.

“Senior, if you want to break things off, make sure to break it off completely.”

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Gu Qingchi once again returned to a life of buying takeout and emptying out the trash. He always seemed to have a never-ending amount of trash to throw away.

He wasn’t good at taking care of himself. He was always throwing things around. The only reason his apartment hadn’t become a garbage dump yet was because his method of dealing with stuff was to simply throw it all away. 

Just like his relationship with Xie Luyu. When he discovered that he’d ruined it, he discarded it without a moment’s hesitation.

Gu Qingchi actually followed through and broke things off with Xie Luyu. In their last conversation, he referred to him as his senior. However, they never actually spoke to each other again after that. Even if they ran into each other, they would brush right past one another as if they were strangers.

Gu Qingchi went back to living the way he did before.

The same was true for Xie Luyu. However, he still lived right across from Gu Qingchi. 

Pan Xiaocheng had been very nervous these days. He spent all day staring at Weibo for fear that Xie Luyu would do something irreversible.

However, even after two whole days, there was nothing but silence. Pan Xiaocheng was really nervous now. He would actually prefer it if Xie Luyu went nuts on Weibo. At the very least, he’d know the guy was alive.

He even pushed off some of his work in order to call him up. They would chat about this and that, and, eventually, the conversation would turn towards the topic of his failed relationship.

Pan Xiaocheng knew that Xie Luyu had a lot of friends, but this wasn’t something that he could casually bring up. Pan Xiaocheng was the only one who knew about it. If Pan Xiaocheng didn’t chat with him, he’d have no choice but to bottle it all up inside. 

In order to help him out, Pan Xiaocheng had even found his way to a well-known relationship forum. He spent a couple days browsing the posts.

The forum was very active. Most of the users were women, so the comments were typically very peaceful and rational.

[My date turned out to be really small down there. Should I continue the relationship?]

[I’ve been married for three years, but I want to divorce.] 

[Is buying a house before marriage important?]

After watching the forum for a few days, Pan Xiaocheng felt that he’d learned a lot. There was strength in numbers after all. There was no shortage of relationship experts within this forum. As expected, netizens were wise and knowledgeable.

He decided to make a post as well.

[A friend of mine has recently run into a bit of a setback.] 

He briefly described the situation between Xie Luyu and Gu Qingchi.

[My friend went into this relationship with the intention of getting married. He was very serious about it. At the time when all this went down, he’d been in the middle of buying winter clothes for the other party. He paid at least a hundred thousand yuan, and that’s not including the custom made clothing. If you add those in there, the total is probably even higher. He usually takes care of everything. He packs all their luggage. He even matches their socks to their outfit.

So, he’s really down right now. I just wanted to ask whether there’s still any chance for this relationship to continue.]

Beneath his post, there was a group of people enthusiastically offering their opinions. 

[This has got to be fake. A hundred thousand yuan for winter clothes? Have you been brainwashed by those soap operas?]

[Nothing to see here, folks. It looks like the friend’s a guy. I bet he’s an incel.]

The clothing brand in question marketed itself as a high-end luxury brand. A single button would cost at least a thousand yuan. Even a single item could cost you a fortune.

Pan Xiaocheng saw that more and more people were starting to call his post fake. The conversation wasn’t going anywhere, so he quickly posted a screenshot of his shopping cart. His total was around ¥70,000 or ¥80,000. 

[This is my shopping cart. I only bought it because my friend recommended it to me. He bought way more than I did. If you don’t believe me, I’ll ask him for a screenshot later. Can you guys please stop focusing on the price and help me come up with ideas? I need help! QAQ.]

Then, his post shot all the way to the top in terms of popularity.

[Fuck! A random rich guy appeared! I’m jealous!]

[I rewarded myself this year with a dress from this brand. I spent so long agonizing over the money I spent, yet you guys are buying the clothes like it’s nothing…] 

After that, the tone of the conversation was much more normal.

[I would advise your friend to cut his losses and move on. He’s being kept as a backup. She clearly has better options.]

[The person you’re up against is a pro. OP’s friend clearly isn’t a match for her. I agree with the previous commenter. Tell your friend to wake up and cut his losses.]

[I’m actually a little bit in awe of this other person. This is the first time I’ve heard of someone so open about their shitty behavior.] 

[This is a little off-topic, but, based on what OP said, OP’s friend is really well-off. According to what everyone else is saying, this woman has an even better option than him. She must be really good at this. I want to learn from her.]

…

Pan Xiaocheng took their comments very seriously and tried to absorb as much advice from these relationship experts as he could. By the time he logged out of the forum, he felt like he’d become a relationship expert himself.

He was now ready to rescue Xie Luyu. 

“I’ve seen plenty of people like him. When dealing with scumbags like that, it’s best if you recognize their true colors as soon as possible. Don’t fall for their words. Just get out and cut them off. As for the money you spent on him, you just need to cut your losses and—”

Xie Luyu was a little restless. He was currently in Pan Xiaocheng’s office. He had a cigarette in his mouth, but it wasn’t lit.

The hood of his hoodie was pulled up, so his expression was mostly hidden. All that could be seen of his face was the bottom half of his chin. Xie Luyu listened as Pan Xiaocheng spoke. He seemed to be listening in earnest. However, one the conversation got to here, he interrupted Pan Xiaocheng.

“There weren’t any losses.” 

Pan Xiaocheng didn’t seem to follow what he was saying.

“What?”

Xie Luyu continued.

“In fact, I got more from this relationship than what I put into it. He gave me a limited edition watch, of which there are only three in the entire world, as if it was no big deal. He sure didn’t hold back.” 

When it came to stuff like watches, there was no upper limit to the price.

Ever since Xie Luyu started taking care of Gu Qingchi, he’d wanted nothing more than to give him the best of everything. He blew tons and tons of money on him like it was nothing. He would often spend upwards of a hundred thousand yuan without even realizing it.

Even so, the price of that watch was more than enough to cover all the money that Xie Luyu had spent on Gu Qingchi.

Furthermore, Gu Qingchi didn’t take anything with him that day except for the clothes that he’d been wearing. 

“You said to get out of the relationship as soon as possible. Well, we’ve already broken up. He said that we should make a clean break. We don’t even say hello when we run into each other.”

Xie Luyu bit down on his cigarette again. There were deep indentations on the cigarette butt.

“So stop worrying about it. Everything’s fine. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. Not one bit.”

Xie Luyu didn’t even realize it himself, but his words were clearly full of unwillingness. 

Pan Xiaocheng’s expression became very serious. He pulled out his cell phone and logged back into the forum.

“Wait a minute. This situation’s a little too complicated. It’s outside of my payroll. I’m going to have to get back up.”

He then bumped his original post back up to the top. This tough-looking guy with a gold chain around his neck was frowning. He had a murderous look on his face as his fingers flew across the screen.

[Ladies! The situation has changed! Now, the other party has bought my friend a watch, and it’s super expensive! According to my friend, it’s worth as much as all the money he had spent on the relationship. The other person even took the initiative to break things off with him. However, I can’t help but feel that something isn’t right here. My friend seems super lost.] 

Very quickly, someone else on the forum followed up.

[As expected from a pro, this is a high-level move. First, she gave him a watch to show that she wasn’t in it for the money. Then, she took the initiative to let him go. Even the most strong-willed of men would find it difficult to forget about her after that. Plus, she’s bold enough to put that much money on the line, and she isn’t afraid of losing out. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I have to admit it. She’s good. Your friend definitely won’t be able to let go of her now.]

[Oh my god, this is too much. I’m feeling super moved just by reading your post. If it wasn’t for her ulterior motives, she’d simply be the definition of a perfect lover.]

[The most important thing here is your friend. Letting him know what’s up is priority number one. If he isn’t moved, her little tricks won’t be of any use. Stay steady. If the enemy hasn’t made a move, you should stay still. She’ll probably start getting anxious pretty soon. Wait and see what she does first.] 

Pan Xiaocheng raised his head.

“If the enemy hasn’t made a move, you should stay still. According to everyone else’s analysis, he’s flirting with you. If you don’t respond, he’ll come looking for you soon.”

Xie Luyu looked up. He immediately grabbed onto the key points.

“Really?” 

Xiao Gu was going to come looking for him!