CH 89

Twin Fish [Translator]12-15 minutes

Since finding out about Gu Qingchi’s career as an actor, Mrs. Gu started digging up everything she could find on him.

She, who had never even used Weibo before, registered for a Weibo account. Her profile picture was a chibi version of Gu Qingchi. It was the drawing of him in the cat ears and the cardboard box. FypDOk

She also commissioned the artist of this drawing to draw several more illustrations in this style, resulting in a series of mini comics. The second one depicted Gu Qingchi being scooped up from the tattered cardboard box. The text next to it read, “Let’s go home.”

The third one had Gu Qingchi wrapped in a soft and fluffy blanket. There was steam in the background. Gu Qingchi was crying and hiccupping. The text next to the image was full of helplessness. “Okay, okay, okay. We’re never going to take a bath again. Don’t cry, alright?”

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The fourth picture showed a chibi version of Gu Qingchi drinking from a baby bottle. Although there were still tears at the corners of his eyes, he was in a much better mood compared to the previous image. The text read, “Drinking milk!”

Mrs. Gu adored the illustrations. She could hardly bring herself to look away. She even framed the photos and hung them in her piano room. yXqB O

It was as if, by doing this, she would be able to bring Gu Qingchi home with her.

She found herself falling head over heels for cats thanks to these illustrations. She didn’t just donate to the Animal Protection Association. She also planned on adopting a cat of her own.

Mrs. Gu even found her way into a group chat for Gu Qingchi’s fans. Some of the people in the group chat would send the latest updates about Gu Qingchi. There were also people sending all sorts of compliments and flattery about Gu Qingchi. Mrs. Gu spent most of her time lurking. She was more than happy to just watch others praise Gu Qingchi.

Today, the moderator sent another piece of news about Gu Qingchi.

TVn0gl

[Chi Chi’s movie ranked second at the box office!]

The group chat then came to life.

[I’m here!]

[I’m here too. Ahhh, it really hasn’t been easy for Chi Chi to get to where he is today. He’s already lost half of his followers on Weibo. It still hasn’t gone back to normal yet.] vCg6Q8

[Honestly, this can be considered a good thing. It doesn’t seem like he really cares about his follower count. I just hope he’ll be able to be happy. I was so angry at the time. Our baby is so good. Even when he was being hounded by reporters, he still answered all of their questions obediently. He’s really too naive. I take my eyes off of him for just a second and look at what happened!]

Upon seeing this, Mrs. Gu couldn’t sit quiet anymore. She piped up and asked about what they were talking about. The enthusiastic group chat members quickly caught her up to speed on the situation. After explaining everything, they all felt that their idol was simply too miserable. The entire group chat was filled with crying emojis.

Mrs. Gu felt like her head was swelling. She switched over to Weibo and slowly started scrolling. She had been browsing through Gu Qingchi’s Weibo for quite a while when she finally came upon the comments from that time.

She read through each and every one of them, one by one. Then, she quietly left the comments section and went to find the video that started it all. zLsVO3

Due to how many times the video had been reposted, the video quality was rather blurry.

It started with Gu Qingchi being blocked by a crowd of reporters and ended with Gu Qingchi being escorted away by a company employee.

Valii, Xe Hlcumtl ibbxfv raecclcuis yfjealoei. Lf jcrkfgfv atf wfvlj’r defralbcr, bcf ys bcf. Lf abiv atfw fnfgsatlcu. Lf rjlv atja tf’v yffc wjgglfv yea kjr cbk vlnbgmfv. Lf qgfrfcafv fnfgsatlcu lc qeyilm vlrqijs. Coafg tfjglcu atja la kjr jc ectjqqs wjggljuf, Zgr. Xe ofia j raeoos qjlc lc tfg mtfra. Pa kjr jr lo j xclof tjv yffc aklrafv lcab tfg tfjga.

Finally, the video ended. She pulled the progress bar back to the beginning and spent the rest of the afternoon replaying the video. NOl6dG

⁂

Gu Qingchi opened up WeChat again today. He read through each and every message, each and every word that he’d received from Mrs. Gu.

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This is wrong. You need to stay away from them.

You need to stay away from your family and friends. 7saxRt

Gu Qingchi, this very existence of his, was a mistake. This was the conclusion that he had finally come to after all this time.

He’d even started to wonder whether that unbelievably beautiful life from before had simply been his own hallucination. If he’d never had it to begin with, there wouldn’t be any loss to grieve over.

His reality was nothing but a fragmented patchwork of memories, among other things.

It didn’t matter whether it was his family or his friends. None of them were who they used to be. Pdu2UJ

He had made a decision to leave the first half of his life behind. It hadn’t been particularly difficult, but it did take him a really long time for him to come to terms with the decision.

Fate had split his life into two and then clumsily strung it back together. The past was a blank. The future was a false memory. Being able to abandon something like that wasn’t particularly impressive.

Still, even if it was a blank and empty past like that, abandoning it meant abandoning his parents, his brother, and his friends all at once.

His parents were no longer his parents, his brother was no longer his brother, and his friends were no longer his friends. hlmzxy

Having confirmed this, Gu Qingchi avoided contacting anyone from the past. He never attended any class reunions. He never got in touch with former friends of his.

He wouldn’t bother anyone. He would just live his life. This was what he’d been thinking. That was until Mrs. Gu appeared before him.

Gu Qingchi could feel his hand on the shopping cart shaking the entire time they spoke. It took a lot of effort for him to maintain his calm.

That was Mom. Her hands, her voice, her hair. Gu Qingchi remembered all of it. 0DUJgP

When he told her his name, there had been the tiniest sliver of hope in his heart, but she simply replied that the name she had once painstakingly chosen for him was nice and that her son’s last name was also Gu.

Gu Qingchi couldn’t push her away, but he couldn’t get close to her either.

Mrs. Gu had sent him another message.

[Chi Chi, do you not have any work right now? I haven’t seen any news about you.] n4FPWX

Gu Qingchi hesitated for a while.

He sent Ye Li a WeChat message.

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[Do you have any work for me?]

Ye Li quickly replied. Ymav73

[Yes. What would you like? When should I schedule it? I’ll pick out an easy one for you.]

Gu Qingchi thought about it for a bit.

[Something can be aired soon.]

Ye Li was a little surprised. Ay3EL9

[Okay. I have a show here. It’s pretty simple. You’ll be appearing as a guest. It’s basically just a group of people having a meal together. All you need to do is sit there and play along. I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon.]

Ye Li had already given up on teaching Gu Qingchi the art of conversation. He now believed that saying less was more. It was true that some people could attract fans by being funny and quick-witted, but that wasn’t Gu Qingchi.

Gu Qingchi agreed. He then sent the schedule that Ye Li had drawn up for him to Mrs. Gu.

[I’ll be on a show called Happy Home Cooking. You’ll be able to see me on the show next Friday.] P2cvKQ

[Oh, that’s amazing! I watch that show often. I can’t believe I’ll be able to see you on the show.]

Mrs. Gu, who didn’t know a thing about the show, blindly showered praises upon Gu Qingchi.

She was overflowing with maternal love at the moment. She wanted nothing more than to give him the world.

Meanwhile, Gu Qingchi’s ears turned red. Gu Qingchi had never been the type to blush easily, but his ears would always give him away. Even though he replied in a rather reserved manner, he was actually incredibly overjoyed. He found himself enjoying piano practice even more than usual. BsHNdl

The show started filming the very next day. It wasn’t easy for Ye Li to get Gu Qingchi on the show at the last minute. Generally, guests were invited several days in advance in order for them to be able to arrange their schedules.

Gu Qingchi’s side was responsible for preparing their own clothes. Xiao Ke worked with the stylist to pick out an outfit for Gu Qingchi. In the end, they settled on a pair of black overalls matched with a pair of black boots. They also picked out a jacket that was easy to move in.

Since this show usually involved playing a few games on stage, an outfit that was easy to move in would prevent any slip-ups from occurring. Plus, it wasn’t hard at all to pick clothes out for Gu Qingchi. He was a natural-born model. It didn’t even matter whether the style suited him or not. All that mattered was whether the clothes were in his size.

Gu Qingchi had even been able to conquer the most unconventional of runway clothing, much less casual everyday clothing. He made people feel as though he could pull off anything. Xiao Ke once found a military coat for Gu Qingchi to keep warm on set. When he propped his legs up, one hand clasped over a cup of wolfberry tea, he looked just like a young warlord stirring up trouble. Even the rustic-looking thermos in his hand had taken on a domineering quality. DSqd3e

Gu Qingchi was invited as a mystery guest. He would make his entrance through the middle of the stage. Once the first batch of guests had entered, he would then be introduced afterwards. Right before he went up onstage, Xiao Ke grabbed him and gave him several reminders.

“Gu ge, just be yourself and don’t talk too much.”

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Gu Qingchi solemnly nodded before following a staff member to the stage.

Music was playing onstage. A group of dancers were performing off to the side. Once the audience caught sight of Gu Qingchi, they burst into screams. Gu Qingchi subconsciously took a small step back, hesitating by the entrance. One of the dancers extended a hand in invitation. It was only then that Gu Qingchi moved forward. A crowd of dancers followed after him, making him appear lofty and grand, but he was really just following the people before him. 4WMYDK

Very soon, the group reached their destination. The music stopped. The dancers dispersed, leaving behind only Gu Qingchi.

The destination was the right side of the stage. There was a table and two sofas, as well as a huge amount of food. The five of them sat down at the table. They all welcomed Gu Qingchi with a round of applause.

It was only then that Gu Qingchi realized that Xie Luyu was there as well. Xie Luyu turned and caught sight of Gu Qingchi. The two of them stared at each other in surprise for a moment, but they soon looked away.

There were two hosts and three guests, including Gu Qingchi. The hosts were both long-time figures on the scene. They were known for their ability to handle any situation and their emotional intelligence. One of them noticed that Gu Qingchi was at a bit of a loss, so he grabbed a pair of chopsticks and placed them in front of Gu Qingchi. HOkbRi

“Here’s today’s mystery guest. You can call me Mr. Xu. Can I call you Chi Chi?”

The audience cheered, calling out his nickname, Chi Chi.

Gu Qingchi stood there, somewhat bewildered.

Xie Luyu chuckled and joked around with the host sitting next to him. Cncqjk

“Hey, what’s the deal here? How come I didn’t get this kind of treatment when I entered the stage? Is my movie emperor status losing its luster?”

The audience then started calling out Xie Xie.

This was a joke that Xie Luyu often played up on variety shows. The host had also started his career as an actor. He was called Cheng Cheng. In the end, he became famous through variety shows. In fact, his emotional intelligence was so high that it would almost be a waste for him not to become a comedian. Cheng Cheng was a permanent resident of this variety show. He and Xie Luyu were birds of a feather. They both were the type to joke around.

The two of them often poked fun at each other, throwing jokes back and forth. For instance, Cheng Cheng had once said a thank you to the audience. However, Xie Luyu deliberately misinterpreted and responded, “Woah. Careful now. Don’t throw my nickname around like that. Don’t you find it gross? My god, Xie Xie. Should I call you Cheng Cheng?” sbjkZD