CH 68

Lately, Pan Xiaocheng had been guarding Xie Luyu as if he was his own daughter. He was worried that Xie Luyu would fall back into the habit of pining after Gu Qingchi.

In the past couple of days, he’d been addicted to these relationship forums, and he’d read all sorts of dramatic stories from the forum. It was just like following a drama series. The forum was full of posts about women being deceived of money, sex, and feelings. After reading these stories, Pan Xiaocheng would find himself sighing nonstop. Then, he’d start projecting these stories onto Xie Luyu. 

If he were to tell the truth, Xie Luyu was someone he’d been watching over from the day he joined the company. After taking care of him for so many years, Xie Luyu was practically like his own child. He was always worried that Xie Luyu would get the short end of the stick.

“The variety show that our company’s promoting has been pretty popular recently. You’re also a shareholder. Why don’t you try participating? Find something for yourself to do.”

Xie Luyu didn’t really say much. He just lay on the sofa and casually hummed in response.

Pan Xiaocheng took the opportunity to knock some sense into Xie Luyu. 

“Relationships are just like that. The reality might be a lot different from how you imagine it to be. You think of true love as something beautiful and it is, but it’s also rare. It might take a really long time for you to find the right person. There’s so many people in the world. There are just as many wonderful people as there are awful people. Don’t lose hope.”

“He isn’t the only person left on the planet. Don’t keep thinking about him. You didn’t go looking for him, did you?”

Xie Luyu was a little annoyed.

“No. How many times do I have to tell you? We broke up. It was a clean break. I also have a bottom line.”

Pan Xiaocheng was relieved. He was afraid that Xie Luyu would act like the people in those forum posts. It was as if they’d been brainwashed or something. No matter what anyone said, they wouldn’t change their minds. Now, it seemed that Pan Xiaocheng had been worrying too much.

Xie Luyu had always been strong-minded, and he had a strong sense of self-esteem. A person like this had been used as a backup option. The fact that he didn’t blow up on the spot was already quite astonishing. There was no way he was going to tuck his tail between his legs and go back to him. That would be far too humiliating.

Meanwhile, Xie Luyu bit the butt of his cigarette. He turned on his phone and glanced at it. Still no new messages.

It had been two days. 

In the next moment, he comforted himself. It’s only been two days, Xie Luyu. Be patient. You need to give him a little more time.

When he thought about it like this, his anxious heart felt a lot better.

He definitely won’t be forgiving Xiao Gu so easily. After all, he’d done such a hurtful thing. If he apologizes at least three times, then he’ll forgive him.

After a while, Xie Luyu changed his mind. Actually, two times is fine. 

After another while, Xie Luyu turned his phone on and glanced at it again.

Actually, the fact that he’s apologizing at all means he already knows that he was wrong, right? He should be a little more generous. He shouldn’t be so petty.

A few minutes later, Pan Xiaocheng, who was lurking on the relationship forum, came across a certain post.

The title of this post was very long. 

[I broke up with my boyfriend after a fight, but I’m regretting it a lot. How can I fix this? How do I get him back?]

Pan Xiaocheng sighed when he saw the title of this post.

“The things love can do to a person.”

Ktf mbcafca bo atf qbra kjr fnfc wbgf lcoegljalcu. 

[My boyfriend had moved in with me. We got into a fight because he didn’t want to make our relationship official. He even said with his own words that he didn’t want to get married. Now, he’s gone completely silent. What should I do?]

Pc atlr obgew, atf mbwwfcafgr jikjsr tjv j iba ab rjs cb wjaafg ktja atf qbra kjr jybea. Rlcf alwfr bea bo afc, atf raeoo atfs rjlv kbeiv ybli vbkc ab “ygfjx eq”. Ktlr kjr agef bo jcs qbra bc atlr obgew, ifa jibcf j qbra ilxf atlr bcf. Ujc Wljbmtfcu rmgbiifv vbkc, jcv, jr fzqfmafv, fnfgsbcf kjr agslcu ab qfgrejvf atf bglulcji qbrafg ab ygfjx eq. Ujc Wljbmtfcu rajgafv obiibklcu atf atgfjv jcv qgbwqais obiibkfv rela.

[OP, don’t be stupid. He obviously doesn’t like you. I’d say you dodged a bullet.]

The original poster ignored all the comments encouraging them to break up. Instead, they replied to the few commenters that had come up with ideas. 

[I was also going to encourage OP to break up, but it looks like the two of you are locked in. Since you’ve decided to be with him, you’ll have to face everything that comes with it. I’m wishing the both of you a long and happy relationship.]

The original poster even replied to this comment with a thank you. They seemed to be very sincere.

The post quickly became a hot topic on the forum just because of how weird the original poster was.

Pan Xiaocheng clicked out of the thread. He looked at Xie Luyu and sighed. Fortunately, Xie Luyu wasn’t like that. 

Meanwhile, Xie Luyu had his legs crossed. One hand was slung across the back of the sofa, and the other was holding his cell phone. The pattern that was shaved into the side of his crew cut was facing Pan Xiaocheng. He was cool to the extreme.

Ultra Cool Xie Luyu calmly accepted a bunch of ridicule from the comments underneath his post. It wasn’t his first time experiencing this sort of thing. Besides, this was nothing compared to the online fights he used to get into. Back then, he would use his sockpuppet accounts and get into heated debates with his own fans. The fighting ability of Xie Luyu’s fans was a lot stronger than these random forum users.

The biggest issue was that the people on this forum were too damn stupid. Every other sentence would be telling him to break up. As expected, Pan Xiaocheng’s advice couldn’t be trusted.

The phone rang. Gu Qingchi was lying on the sofa, taking a nap. He didn’t even open his eyes. He simply felt around on the table for his phone and pressed a button. Then, the call was connected, and the phone was put on speaker. 

The living room was incredibly quiet, and the volume of the phone was rather loud. Even the cat, who was sleeping, raised its head.

“Hello, your takeout’s been delivered. I left it with the doorman. Please pick it up as soon as possible.”

Gu Qingchi dazedly agreed.

The security in Gu Qingchi’s neighborhood was really good. Other than the proprietor, no one else could enter the community gates. Any takeout would have to be left with the doorman. 

Gu Qingchi had put in an order for long-term takeout from this one restaurant. His meals were delivered at the same time every day so that he didn’t forget to eat.

The heating in the apartment was turned all the way up, so Gu Qingchi was dressed rather casually. He was only wearing a shirt and black trousers. He offhandedly threw on a coat and headed out.

As soon as he walked out of the apartment, he heard someone shouting not too far away.

“It’s this apartment. Come here.” 

It was a group of teenagers. There were both guys and girls. All of them were standing in front of some random apartment. When they heard their friend call out to them, they instantly rushed over and started pointing their cell phones at Gu Qingchi.

Gu Qingchi subconsciously headed back into his apartment and shut the door behind him.

What followed was a pounding at the door.

“I like you a lot! Can you give me an autograph?” 

“Can I add your WeChat?”

“If you’re going to be a celebrity, you should act like one. We came all this way. One autograph shouldn’t be too much to ask for.”

The cat, who’d originally been woken up by the phone, was dozing back off. However, when it heard the commotion at the door, it instantly shot up from the sofa. Its pupils narrowed, and its back arched. It ran over to Gu Qingchi’s side and nudged him back inside.

Then, it parked itself in front of the door. All the hair on its body was standing on end. It let out a sharp scream at the door. 

Gu Qingchi gave security a call. Soon, a security guard arrived, and the area outside his door quieted down.

The cat had been frightened to bits. It was still rather nervous, pacing back and forth by Gu Qingchi’s feet.

Gu Qingchi had also been frightened pretty badly. He tried to check whether anyone was still there several times, but he kept hesitating. He couldn’t help but worry that someone would suddenly show up.

He ended up skipping lunch. It wasn’t until that evening, when his dinner was delivered, that he finally reopened the door. This time, he walked out of the apartment armed with a mask and a hat. 

Even so, someone still ended up recognizing him as he was picking up his takeout from the doorman. He didn’t know whether it was a camera or a phone, but there was some sort of device that kept sending flashes of light in his direction.

A security guard quickly chased them away.

The apartments here were all owned by Starlight. The property and the security personnel were all provided by Starlight. Ye Li quickly learned of what had occurred and discussed finding a new place for Gu Qingchi.

“If it happened once, it can happen again. You can’t stay here anymore. Sasaengs don’t care about anything. They don’t have a bottom line. They could show up at any time. Even if you keep living here, you won’t be able to relax.” 

“Apparently, information about the company’s living arrangements are supposed to be confidential, but, if someone really wanted to find this information, they can still find it. It might be good enough for trainees and the like, but, for people like you, they usually buy their own properties. It’s my fault for not reminding you. I picked out a couple locations. Go ahead and take a look. Personally, I think Shili Gardens is a pretty good place. It’s a very private location.”

As always, Gu Qingchi went with whatever Ye Li suggested.

“Okay, I’ll just go with Shili Gardens.”

After a while, he asked another question. 

“How much is it?”

Ye Li gave him a number.

Gu Qingchi didn’t speak.

Ye Li continued. 

“This is actually a pretty good price for the location. Plus, it’s about time for you to buy a house, so don’t feel bad about spending this money. You’ll earn a lot more in the future. In fact, you’re earning quite a bit already. The fees from your endorsements should have reached your account by now. That alone should be enough to buy three whole villas at Shili Gardens.”

Gu Qingchi hesitated for a while before speaking.

“I’m out of money. My account has less than ten thousand yuan in it right now.”

Gu Qingchi had emptied his entire account in order to buy a gift for Xie Luyu. 

He hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. Gu Qingchi didn’t really spend money on anything other than food. The money required for maintaining his team was taken out of his salary before it reached his account, so he’d never needed to worry about it.

Ye Li turned his head and fixed his eyes on Gu Qingchi. His brows furrowed.

“Did you get involved with something you weren’t supposed to?”

This time, Gu Qingchi responded quickly. He sounded lively, almost. 

“No, I paid off my debts. I paid off all of them.”

In his point of view, handing away his entire savings for that small bout of happiness was a worthwhile exchange.

Ye Li coughed a bit and changed the subject.

“I can lend you some money for now. Let’s get the house out of the way first.” 

Gu Qingchi shook his head. His attitude was firm. Ye Li had helped him a lot already.

“No, I’ll just keep living in the company’s dorms.”

Ye Li kept trying to convince him, but to no avail. Finally, he came up with a compromise.

“In that case, I’ll file an appeal with the company. Special cases need special treatment. This is also for the sake of work. You probably won’t be able to choose the location, but the upside is that you won’t have to spend any money.” 

Gu Qingchi agreed this time.

Gu Qingchi wouldn’t be able to get a villa from the company. There was a rigid quota as to how many could be allocated. Only someone at Xie Luyu’s level would be able to apply for them.

Ye Li, who was secretly planning on buying a villa for him, breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Li once again recalled the melodramatic backstory that he’d come up with for Gu Qingchi. 

He’d known from the very start that Gu Qingchi had been in a miserable position, but he hadn’t expected Gu Qingchi to be this miserable.

As he learned more and more, Ye Li added bits and pieces to the melodramatic backstory that he’d made up.

Now, Gu Qingchi was no longer a poor and abandoned lover. He was now a poor and trapped lover tied down by his debt. If his rich partner wanted to play around with him, all his partner would need to do is threaten him with this debt. He was completely at his partner’s mercy.

Eventually, after years of hard work, the little lover finally paid off all his debt and freed himself from his shackles. 

Ye Li suddenly had a thought.

If Gu Qingchi hadn’t entered the entertainment industry, he would still be bussing tables. How long would it have taken him to pay back his debt like that?

He was really too miserable.