CH 76

It was now 4:30 PM.

Gu Qingchi’s bedroom was incredibly dark. 

The curtains were drawn. The lights weren’t on. There was a thick, fuzzy rug placed before the bed. The room didn’t have much in it besides a standing lamp and a wardrobe. It seemed a little empty.

The bed was very big. It had come with the house. It was one of those large, elegant beds with bed posts at each corner. Dark red curtains hung from above, hiding the bed from view.

A slender calf could be seen from outside the curtains, laid obliquely over the edge of the bed. It was too dark to see any further inside the curtains. Only the outline of a person could be seen. A blanket was placed haphazardly on the bed, and there was a person lying next to it.

The cat called out a couple of times from the bottom of the bed, but it soon hopped up onto the bed after receiving no response. It didn’t jump onto the center of the bed. Rather, it placed its two front paws on the side of the bed, meowing incessantly. 

Its meows quieted down into a low rumbling purr once Gu Qingchi started to move. When Gu Qingchi stilled, however, it started meowing again. In the end, Gu Qingchi had no choice but to get up.

Gu Qingchi got up and sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled back the bed curtains and stepped on the ground with his bare feet.

“What do you want?”

Gu Qingchi seemed a little tired. He looked down at the cat sitting next to him. The cat looked back at him.

“You’ve got food, water, and a lot of toys. You should be very happy. Don’t you think you’re being a little greedy right now? No one’s going to be responsible for you. You need to know how to take care of yourself.”

The cat sat there very obediently. It had dragged a toy carrot to his feet. Then, it tilted its head and meowed happily.

Gu Qingchi pursed his lips. After a long pause, he softly spoke up again.

“I’m sorry. I’m supposed to be responsible for you.” 

He pressed his hands over his eyes, and his voice became hoarse.

“I’m sorry. Your owner’s a mess.”

That last sentence was clearly referring to himself.

Today, Gu Qingchi woke up at 9:00 AM. After washing up, he went to refill the cat bowl and take a sip of water. 

He hadn’t really done much of anything. Still, Gu Qingchi felt so, so, so tired. Being awake was exhausting, so he spent a long time laying in bed.

He didn’t turn on the lights in his room. His two-story villa seemed rather empty at this moment.

Gu Qingchi didn’t usually eat breakfast.

Gu Qingchi had a long-term takeout order in place with this one restaurant. His lunch and dinner would be delivered at the same time every day. His lunch for today had arrived ages ago at the security office, but Gu Qingchi still hadn’t picked it up yet. 

Dinner would probably be arriving soon as well.

His stomach was aching with hunger. However, Gu Qingchi only felt that it was bothersome. Inexplicably, he started to feel afraid of receiving a phone call. He even started to think that it’d be great if he hadn’t ordered any food to begin with.

Gu Qingchi knew that he couldn’t go one like this. He was supposed to be happy.

Cimbtbi mbeiv wjxf tlw tjqqs. Cimbtbi mbeiv rfcv tlw tlut lcab atf rxs. 

Lbkfnfg, Xe Hlcumtl tjv pera wbnfv qijmfr. Lf vlvc’a tjnf jcsatlcu tfgf ja tlr cfk qijmf. Llr klcf mjylcfa kjr fwqas rjnf obg j rlcuif ybz bo pelmf ogbw Tf Ol.

Lf mbeiv ub bea jcv yes rbwf. Lf kjr jigfjvs rajgalcu ab ibbx obgkjgv ab la.

Sure enough, this was the right thing to do.

⁂ 

When Xie Luyu arrived at the company building, several people turned their heads to look at him.

After all, the stuff he did a couple days ago pretty much shook up the entire internet. Everyone who knew about the drama was curious about the relationship between Xie Luyu and Gu Qingchi.

Plus, they were employees of Starlight. They had more sources than the average person, and they knew more than the average person.

It was rumored within the company that Xie Luyu had an unusual relationship with Gu Qingchi. They used to be very close. Xie Luyu had driven Gu Qingchi over to the company building several times before. There had already been rumors about them starting a little while back. 

Once Xie Luyu was gone, everyone else started gossiping.

“Xie Luyu doesn’t look too good these days. Looks like all the commotion online had an effect on him. I’m a fan of his. He used to carry on without a care in the world, but you can hardly even tell looking at him now.”

“Why did he suddenly show up at the company building?”

“I don’t know. Let’s ask his agent. Is there anyone on the upper floors? Quick, send a message in the group chat.” 

One of the interns was still a little confused about the details. She curiously asked one of her seniors a question.

“Lisa, is it true? Xie Luyu’s really a divorcee? I was super shocked when I heard the news. This industry is crazy complicated. I bet only insiders like you guys knew about it.”

The intern continued.

“Also, isn’t he being a little too impulsive? Won’t the company punish him for exposing himself like that?” 

Lisa pushed up her glasses and coughed. Actually, she hadn’t known about it either. In fact, she and her friends had been gossiping about this topic like crazy.

After asking around, she finally came to the conclusion that no one in the company knew about Xie Luyu’s marriage. However, she couldn’t say something like that in front of her junior.

“Don’t listen to those rumors. Xie Luyu is Starlight’s frontrunner. He’s also one of Starlight’s shareholders. Starlight was basically made by him. They’d be crazy to punish him.”

After duping her intern, Lisa turned around and opened up the company employees’ gossip group chat. 

[High level management is here. They’re probably here for Pan Xiaocheng.]

[Are any of my ladies in the parking lot? Is Gu Qingchi in his car?]

[There aren’t any ladies, but there are a couple of guys here. Gu Qingchi is not in his car. They haven’t arrived together in a long time.]

[Are they together or not? The curiosity is killing me!] 

[You guys are adults. Don’t go losing your minds. Anyway, we’re all well aware of what’s up. Back then, they were picking each other up and dropping each other off all the time. That’s basically the definition of a couple.]

[Regardless of whether they were together or not, I still think they’ve broken up by now.]

[Reasonably speaking, even if the two of them were together, they would have to break up eventually. One of them is an established actor, and the other is a newbie. Even if he’s a newbie with potential, they’re still nowhere near the same level. Gu Qingchi got some crazy good gigs for a newcomer. You can’t tell me Xie Luyu didn’t pull some strings for him.]

[I also feel like the main reason he did what he did was because of their previous relationship with each other. Xie Luyu’s always been a very direct person. However, he’s got the skills to back that up, so he can afford to act however he wants to. Either way, this kind of thing is nothing to him, but it’s career-ending for Gu Qingchi.] 

[I agree. I kind of feel like this might be the end for Gu Qingchi. It’s a pity because he really is incredibly beautiful. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I guess there are pros and cons to getting famous too quickly. Ye Li’s cold treatment towards the fanbase never really made sense to me, but it turns out he actually knew what he was doing. It’s just unfortunate that it didn’t work.]

The group chat was quiet for a while. Then, a new message suddenly popped up.

[Did you guys hear? Xie Luyu just entered Ye Li’s office.]

Everyone knew that Gu Qingchi was Ye Li’s only artist. 

⁂

Xie Luyu sat across from Ye Li. This person, who was usually domineering and unrestrained, now seemed a little anxious and restless.

Ye Li raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t stupid. Xie Luyu had helped Gu Qingchi out several times now. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that something was going on.

He was simply turning a blind eye to it before. 

He’d been the one to ask Gu Qingchi not to date. However, Ye Li felt that he’d be able to accept it if the person in question was Xie Luyu.

Xie Luyu was an excellent candidate in every regard.

They belonged to the same company. Ye Li felt like he had at least a basic understanding of Xie Luyu.

Xie Luyu didn’t have much of a relationship with his parents, so there wouldn’t be any in-laws to worry about. 

He didn’t have a messy private life, he was financially well-off, and he was in the same industry as Gu Qingchi. Xie Luyu could be a big help to Gu Qingchi’s career. If nothing else, it would be a big help for his acting skills.

His only shortcoming was his personality. Xie Luyu had been flying high for far too long, and he was full of pride. Ye Li didn’t know whether he’d be able to put that pride down.

Of course, Ye Li still had his reservations about Xie Luyu.

After all, Xie Luyu recently revealed that he’d been both married and divorced. 

Xie Luyu did look more haggard than usual. He was pretty straight to the point, although he was a little hesitant at first.

“Where does Xiao Gu live now?”

“His old apartment was left empty. A trainee moved in a couple days ago.”

Xie Luyu rambled on and on, seeming a little uneasy. He was completely different from the radiant and easygoing guy he usually was. 

Ye Li was very formal. Even though he knew something might be up between the two of them, he still chose to respond in a formal and unsympathetic manner.

“Unfortunately, this is a matter of privacy. I cannot disclose that information to you.”

Xie Luyu was silent for a while. When he opened his mouth again, he was practically begging Ye Li.

“I’m sorry. I know I’m asking for too much. I’m just a little worried about him. I’m afraid that something’s happened to him.” 

Ye Li relented a little bit.

“If you insist, I can ask the artist for his opinion.”

Xie Luyu took a deep sigh.

“He doesn’t want to see me. We got into an argument a couple days ago. It was a pretty bad argument.” 

Xie Luyu didn’t say too much. He simply said what he needed to without overdoing it. His attitude was very sincere.

“I made a lot of mistakes. I know you told him not to get into a relationship. I’m the one who wanted to start a relationship with him. You don’t have to tell me his address, but can you at least have his family check up on him?”

Ye Li gave Xie Luyu a look.

“When we signed the contract, he didn’t put anyone down as his emergency contact.” 

“He has no family and no friends.”

⁂

Gu Qingchi was heading out the door when he looked back. The cat was crouching in the living room, watching him quietly.

“Are you scared of staying at home by yourself?” 

Of course it would be scared.

Gu Qingchi would definitely feel scared to be left alone inside such a big house, so, naturally, he assumed the cat would feel scared as well. He didn’t want the cat to go through the same pain that he had suffered.

The cat sat there without moving.

Gu Qingchi stretched out his hand towards the cat, so it cheerfully ran towards Gu Qingchi. Gu Qingchi held the cat in his embrace, a small head poking out of his arms. 

It was rather windy outside. Gu Qingchi’s overcoat was blown up by the wind.

The cat, which was cuddled up in his arms, shrank its head and narrowed its eyes.

Gu Qingchi hadn’t worn much. He was only wearing a sweater, a long pair of pants, and an overcoat. The coat was unbuttoned, so the wind managed to wiggle its way inside. It was obvious that he was very cold.

His face had turned pale from the wind, and his hair was blown back, exposing his smooth forehead. Gu Qingchi maintained his straight posture purely out of habit. 

Xie Luyu’s car was parked pretty far away. He sat in the car, doing nothing, for an entire afternoon. He didn’t have the guts to walk up to the door. He didn’t know how to face Gu Qingchi. He thought a lot of things over. In the end, the only thing that stuck in his mind was that video that had been circulating online. Gu Qingchi had said that the marriage had been an unhappy one.

It was such a simple and unembellished phrase, yet it weighed heavily upon Xie Luyu. It made him overly cautious. It made him cowardly.