CH 90

Twin Fish [Translator]14-18 minutes

The seat that Mr. Xu offered to Gu Qingchi just so happened to be right next to Xie Luyu.

Xie Luyu quieted down. He didn’t say anything more and just smiled. ebyjzS

The camera captured this scene, and screams came from the audience, one after another.

The others all had beer or baijiu in front of them. Gu Qingchi, however, got a glass of milk. Mr. Xu’s voice took on a kindly quality.

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“Here, kids shouldn’t drink too much alcohol.”

In actuality, Mr. Xu gave Gu Qingchi milk because he wasn’t familiar with Gu Qingchi and didn’t know how much alcohol Gu Qingchi could handle. Hence, Mr. Xu brought out the milk. It wasn’t that he’d been given a heads up or anything. Mr. Xu was just that kind of person. He was the type to take care of every single person on set. The reason why everyone was willing to participate on this show had a great deal to do with him. 4WIjyL

Once he placed the milk in front of Gu Qingchi, Mr. Xu spoke towards the audience once more.

“The milk was provided by XX Milk. Their products are both delicious and nutritious. It’s your number one choice.”

XX Milk was a sponsor for the show.

Everyone in the audience started laughing.

GTB3KZ

Xie Luyu played along from the sidelines.

“Next time, don’t throw the milk carton away, just pull out the entire thing. After that, we can get a close-up of him from that angle.”

A burst of laughter bubbled up from the audience.

The cameraman actually ended up giving Gu Qingchi a close-up despite the lack of a milk carton. Gu Qingchi didn’t even know. He lowered his head to take a sip of the milk, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. Each knuckle on his cup-holding hand was distinct and well-defined. RyXm7h

A scream rose up from the audience. Gu Qingchi blankly looked up at the audience.

After the screams passed, Mr. Xu cued the newcomer, Gu Qingchi, just like he always did.

“I went to see your movie yesterday.”

The other host angrily piped up. vd0JXW

“Did you guys know? Yesterday, he lied to me and said that he didn’t have tickets. Then, he started talking to me earlier this morning about this and that from the movie.”

The audience laughed again.

The two of them were long-time partners. They often tore each other down in order to create entertaining highlights.

Mr. Xu passively hummed in response and chose to just jump over the issue, deliberately changing the topic in a way that couldn’t be any more obvious. DMfxBO

The other host pinned Mr. Xu with a stare.

“It’s so obvious that you’re trying to change the subject, Mr. Xu.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

There was a smattering of laughs from beneath the stage.

“Cough. When you were making this movie, there was a video of you that went viral. It was the video with the pigeons in the plaza. It was incredibly beautiful. I remember there was a lot of discussion at the time because you were smoking in the video. I also noticed that your character smoked quite a bit in the movie, so I wondered whether it was something you needed to do for the role. Could you tell us a bit about the situation at the time?” bjDs4I

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Mr. Xu’s words carried a bit of a smile. fkWDQe

“This question isn’t in the script. I was just a little curious.”

Gu Qingchi put the script back and began to think back. Slowly, he began to speak.

“At first, I started smoking because the director had asked me to. I didn’t know how to smoke at the time, so he taught me several times. However, I had pretty much gotten the hang of it by the time of that video. I had a bit of a smoking addiction. I just wanted to smoke. I didn’t think I’d be caught on camera.”

Gu Qingchi was very frank. He also frankly expressed his surprise about having been caught on camera. EShPqk

Mr. Xu nodded and didn’t ask any more questions. He yanked the topic of conversation in a different direction.

“At the end of the day, it was for the sake of the movie, for the sake of a better performance, Chi Chi’s performance in the movie really surprised me. Everyone’s probably already heard of it, but I still feel the need to recommend the movie once more. Be sure to check out Nirvana, the latest movie from Director Slater.”

After that, he decisively put an end to the subject. He also used the serving utensils to get some food for Gu Qingchi.

“Okay, moving on. Chi Chi, go ahead and dig in.” OxPhGY

Gu Qingchi obediently began to eat the food in his bowl. Xie Luyu frowned next to him. There were leeks in the dish. It wasn’t that Gu Qingchi didn’t like leeks. He was easy to nurture in the way that he would eat anything that was given to him. However, he was also very difficult to nurture because there were a lot of things that he simply could not eat.

Due to his stomach problems, his stomach would hurt whenever he ate them.

He would not tell anyone about the stomach pain. He would just quietly curl up there all by himself. It actually took Xie Luyu quite a few tries before he figured out what it was that Gu Qingchi could and couldn’t eat.

Xie Luyu had clearly spoken a lot less since Gu Qingchi appeared. The camera wasn’t on him either, so he calmly pushed a dish towards Gu Qingchi. YpFnez

He quietly whispered.

“This one’s good. Try it.”

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Gu Qingchi listened to him. He put down his bowl and moved to try the dish that Xie Luyu had pushed over towards him.

Gu Qingchi wasn’t very good at these kinds of variety shows. He was like a prop from beginning to end, quietly sitting to the side. Although this kind of show was mostly about the conversation, there were quite a few people, so his lack of participation didn’t stand out too much. dpgMJ9

Mr. Xu didn’t dare throw the conversation to Gu Qingchi, but he still made sure to cue Gu Qingchi every now and then with a question or two. Gu Qingchi was always included in the conversation, regardless of what the topic was, so the scene didn’t seem too unpleasant.

The show simply came to end like that.

Xie Luyu was right behind Gu Qingchi as he walked backstage.

The two of them walked through the corridor, one after the other. The sound of their footsteps was crisp and clear. 48LpQ

Gu Qingchi stopped suddenly for some reason. He leaned against the wall with one leg slightly bent. It should have been a very natural and unaffected movement, but, for some reason Xie Luyu felt that Gu Qingchi was rather agitated.

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket. The cigarettes had probably been opened quite a while ago. There was still about half left. He skillfully slid the lid open and pulled out a cigarette from the box. He held the cigarette between two fingers, flipped it over, and then lowered his head to hold it in his mouth. His movements were smooth, practiced. It was obvious that it wasn’t his first time doing this.

He bowed his head, biting the yellow filter tip of the cigarette between his teeth. At first, he was still able to stand. The only thing out of the ordinary was that his breathing was a bit heavier than usual. However, he soon began to tremble.

Xie Luyu was not confused nor was he flustered. Gu Qingchi losing control like this wasn’t anything new. In fact, his current condition was relatively minor compared to his previous episodes. Ab5xd0

Xie Luyu was already familiar with this kind of situation.

It was only in front of Xie Luyu that Gu Qingchi would reveal his abnormality. He bit down on the cigarette butt. Xie Luyu was the one who taught him to do this in order to prevent him from biting down on his own tongue.

Xie Luyu pressed one hand on his trembling shoulder and the other against the wall. He took a step closer, angling his body to cover Gu Qingchi. He glanced around the corridor, checking to see whether anyone else was there. He pressed down on Gu Qingchi’s shoulder with what was not an insignificant amount of force. He had been paying attention to whether Gu Qingchi was biting down on the cigarette filter tip. One time, Gu Qingchi had accidentally bitten down on his tongue rather than the cigarette. Xie Luyu ended up having to force his mouth open with his fingers, resulting in his fingers getting bitten instead.

Gu Qingchi could hardly stand. He gripped the hand that was pressing down on his shoulder, and he gripped it hard. glNjLp

Xie Luyu waited until Gu Qingchi gradually calmed down. It was only then that he finally backed away.

Gu Qingchi was panting. He leaned against the wall as if exhausted. His hair was slightly clumped together due to sweat and stuck to his face and neck. He raised his head and leaned against the wall, a cigarette still hanging from his mouth. He obviously hadn’t exposed anything that shouldn’t be exposed, yet he gave off a surprisingly sexy vibe.

After a long pause, he spoke.

“Do you have a lighter?” woQIzi

Xie Luyu recalled that Gu Qingchi used to hate the smell of cigarettes. However, he now used cigarettes as a way to relax. Xie Luyu used to stuff small snacks inside the box. Gu Qingchi could nibble on them whenever he was anxious. It could also add some nutrition to his diet. Now, Xie Luyu wasn’t there, and Gu Qingchi wasn’t going to do these things himself.

Xie Luyu’s hand was half-closed around his lighter. He looked at Gu Qingchi. Gu Qingchi’s head was bowed, and the damp hair upon his neck meandered across his skin. His chest was still heaving. He looked exhausted.

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“I made some dried fruit a couple days ago. I’ll give you some another day.”

After about a minute, Xie Luyu heard Gu Qingchi give a soft hum in response. nIUtRN

⁂

Mrs. Gu waited in front of the television for a very long time on the day the program was set to air. Although the television was only playing commercials at the moment, she still refused to look away. She didn’t even bother to watch her usual television drama.

Mr. Gu sat next to her, reading a newspaper. Gu Xie was watching television with Mrs. Gu.

Gu Xie had been watching this drama with Mrs. Gu for a while now. He even reminded her so that she wouldn’t forget. Mrs. Gu thought that he wanted to watch the drama. She immediately became vigilant so as to prevent him from stealing the television from her. Z2ga S

In actuality, Gu Xie had only ever fought with Mrs. Gu over the TV when he was in kindergarten. He didn’t even manage to succeed. Mrs. Gu had lied to him and said that he couldn’t watch TV. In the end, Gu Xie cried to his dad about it. His dad took him away, and the two of them played with building blocks together as consolation. He was also given a bit of a lesson. He shouldn’t cry just because he couldn’t have something. Crying wouldn’t solve his problems.

The person who not only fought over the television but also succeeded was not Gu Xie.

However, Mrs. Gu still didn’t let down her guard.

“Oh, what’s so good about that drama? It’s just a show for little girls. This channel’s going to be airing something good today.” 3rDvWc

Gu Xie didn’t really mind. He was mostly just watching the show in order to accompany Mrs. Gu.

Once the program started, Mrs. Gu was completely engrossed in the show. She was no longer paying any attention to Gu Xie.

Gu Qingchi only showed up about halfway through the show.

Mrs. Gu’s face instantly lit up. 5r6hb1

No matter what Gu Qingchi did, Mrs. Gu would view it in the most positive light.

When he mentioned cigarettes, Mrs. Gu praised him for his professionalism. Then, she began to feel aggrieved on his behalf.

“He’s just too hard working. It was obviously a request from the director, yet they all insisted on blaming Chi Chi. Besides, so what if he smokes? He’s an adult. Why shouldn’t he be allowed to smoke?”

Mrs. Gu had completely forgotten that she hated the smell of cigarette smoke and even the smokers themselves. Several years ago, Mr. Gu had smoked a cigarette while at a dinner party. Mrs. Gu had been pregnant at the time, and she’d been absolutely furious. As a result, Mr. Gu and Gu Xie don’t smoke anymore. BzilPv

Mrs. Gu kept her eyes on Gu Qingchi the entire time. She praised Gu Qingchi for everything he did.

Mr. Gu and Gu Xie gave each other a look. Mr. Gu wasn’t reading his newspaper anymore either. Instead, he started watching the television as well, glancing at his wife from time to time.

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Mr. Gu and Gu Xie knew that Mrs. Gu had recently been very taken with a certain celebrity. She even switched out the photos in the piano room. However, they didn’t mind too much. Mrs. Gu’s condition had improved a lot recently. It was fine as long as she was happy.

Mr. Gu was even starting to consider whether he should invest in an entertainment company. n0zpDC

However, Mr. Gu hadn’t been aware that Mrs. Gu liked that child so much.

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The programs that Gu Qingchi participated in had always had high ratings. This episode also had Xie Luyu. The audience loved to watch him joke around.

As soon as it was aired, everyone started discussing it, one comment after another. iqwsdf

There was a lot of praise for Mr. Xu’s high emotional intelligence.

[Oh my gosh! Mr. Xu, thank you for taking care of our dumb little Chi Chi.]

[Hahaha, Chi Chi is so honest that he’s even got Mr. Xu breaking out into a cold sweat.]

[Mr. Xu: Please stop talking. Thank you.] ceq8sZ

When it came to Gu Qingchi, everyone was all focused on his face.

[New editing material achieved.]

[He can handle any angle, his face is seriously unbeatable, and his acting is good as well. I love him so much I don’t know what to do with myself.]

When it came to Xie Luyu, everyone was focused on how he started speaking less upon seeing Gu Qingchi. 5S Tp8

A passer-by lamented: [He’s so good looking. His smile makes my heart flutter. He truly deserves the title of movie emperor.]

Before anyone else had the chance to wonder if there was something between them, the fans had already started acting.

They didn’t suspect Gu Qingchi to be using Xie Luyu for hype like most fans would, and they didn’t tell others off for speculating about the relationship between Gu Qingchi and Xie Luyu. Rather, they started playing along themselves.

Fan: [Sorry, but Gu Qingchi belongs to Xie Xie. However, I don’t think he’ll be able to win him over in this lifetime.] 4MOPt1

Fan: [What’s with this innocent smile? It’s grossing me out. Wake up! What’s the use in smiling like that?! A veteran like you should do what veteran’s do best. I’m ordering you to start chasing him right now!]

Xie Luyu’s unique fanbase could be summed up as such: [Do the anti-fan’s job better than the antis themselves, and leave them with nothing left to do.]

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.