Gu Qingchi got up early the next day. Actually, it couldn’t be considered all that early. It was almost nine o’clock by the time he woke up. His cat slavishly followed behind him.
Mr. Gu and Gu Xie were already in their suits by the time he arrived downstairs. They were organizing their documents and preparing to head out.
Mrs. Wang noticed that he’d come down and warmly greeted him.
“Oh, our young master is up. I’ll go get breakfast on the table. I made shrimp dumplings and seafood congee for breakfast today.”
Mrs. Gu was still a little worried. She reached out a hand towards Gu Qingchi.
“Why did you get up so early? Did you get enough sleep?”
Gu Qingchi saw her reach towards him, so he walked over and leaned down. His hair fell before his face in time with his movements.
“It’s alright. I slept well.”
Mrs. Gu tidied up his hair as he was speaking.
“There. Let’s go eat.”
Mr. Gu and Gu Xie had already changed their shoes at the entrance. They were currently tying their ties. The two of them were just about to head out.
Mrs. Gu walked over to them. She gently pushed Mr. Gu’s hand aside and started to tie the tie for Mr. Gu.
She spoke softly.
“You ready to deal with them?”
Mr. Gu hummed in response. Mrs. Gu looked up at him again.
“You’ve got regrets about it?”
“I do have regrets. I regret the fact that my youngest son had to live on his own without anyone to care for him. I regret the fact that my wife had to spend so many days in agony and in tears.”
Mr. Gu had just finished speaking.
Mrs. Gu just so happened to finish tying his tie.
“I’ve spent the first half of my life paying them back for raising me. I’ll spend the second half of my life for the sake of my wife and children.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Mr. Gu was keenly aware that Mrs. Gu was in a low mood. He comforted her.
“Ktfgf’r cb cffv ab offi ecfjrs. Ktfs abbx j mtliv ogbw wf. P’w pera ublcu ab qjs atfw yjmx lc xlcv lr jii.”
Zg. Xe aemxfv rbwf bo tfg tjlg yjmx jcv ylv tfg ubbvysf. Lf atfc aegcfv abkjgvr Xe Hlcumtl.
“Xiao Chi, see you tonight.”
Xe Hlcumtl aegcfv tlr tfjv. Lf kjr j ilaaif vjhfv ja olgra, yea tf rbbc ujnf tlw j rwlif.
Mr. Gu turned around and left. Gu Xie also said goodbye to Gu Qingchi before quickly following after Mr. Gu.
Mrs. Gu sat on the sofa, glancing over at Gu Qingchi from time to time.
Gu Qingchi ate slowly, and he ate absentmindedly. He looked as if he was only eating because he had to. He chewed each and every bite almost lethargically.
Nevertheless, he still looked good doing so. His shortcomings were like highlights.
Mrs. Gu could watch him forever.
Once he was done eating, he stood up and put his dishes on the kitchen counter as instructed by Mrs. Wang.
After tidying up, he sat on the sofa next to Mrs. Gu.
Mrs. Gu got up and poured him a glass of milk. After warming it up, she placed it in front of Gu Qingchi.
Gu Qingchi scrunched up his nose, but he still took a small sip.
He didn’t really like to drink plain milk. He preferred to drink milk tea, cola, stuff like that. He’d only ever drank plain milk while he was still growing. Gu Qingchi had been a bit of a late bloomer. He had been very worried that he wouldn’t grow taller, so he took it upon himself to take their family-sized milk carton and go gulp, gulp, gulp every day.
“Good boy, are you wearing a wristband again? I saw a very nice wristband at the mall. No one at home wears them, so I didn’t buy it. If I had known that you like them, I would have bought it. I’ll go check them out some other day.”
Gu Qingchi casually gave her a response. He touched the wristband on his left hand, a little uneasy.
The wound had already healed, but there would always be a crooked scar on his wrist. The scar was repulsive.
He’d asked the doctor about it.
The doctor said that there were treatments that could lighten the scar, that can reduce the scar, but it wasn’t likely for the scar to be removed in its entirety. The wound was too deep. The scar was obvious if you took a closer look. It would be more effective to just cover it up with a tattoo.
Gu Qingchi wanted to cover it up with a tattoo in the future. Nothing would seem out of place then, and he wouldn’t have to constantly worry about being found out.
After pouring the milk, Mrs. Gu found that the cat that had been lounging about next to her had disappeared.
“Hey, where’s our little Dragon Li?”
Little Dragon Li loved to cling to Gu Qingchi, but Gu Qingchi would often ignore it. However, the cat didn’t mind. It was more than capable of entertaining itself. Upon coming downstairs with Gu Qingchi, it nestled itself on the sofa. Mrs. Gu sat next to it, rubbing its soft belly. In the short amount of time that she was away, however, it had disappeared.
The cat heard someone calling it and gave a sweet and unctuous chirp.
Gu Qingchi had always called it that, so it had long since thought that it was its name.
Mrs. Gu followed the source of the sound and found the cat poking its head out from the dog kennel. The little puppy grunted and popped out its tiny head as well.
Mrs. Gu couldn’t help but laugh.
“The two of them seem to be getting along.”
The cat’s eyes lit up as soon as it saw Gu Qingchi. It didn’t have any interest in playing in the dog kennel anymore. It even ended up stepping on the little puppy’s head on its way out of the kennel. It then ran up to Gu Qingchi’s feet and rubbed its head against Gu Qingchi’s calf.
It had always been a loyal simp for Gu Qingchi.
“Our little kitty is obviously a cat, but it acts a whole lot like Woofie. Only thing it’s missing is a wagging tail.”
Mrs. Gu’s usual drama series had just finished airing. She flipped through the channels as she spoke.
The television just happened to be showing Xie Luyu’s movie. It was a foreign production. The backdrops were also set abroad.
The movie was already halfway through.
The scene they landed on was one of Xie Luyu smoking a cigarette. The camera was zoomed out. Xie Luyu strode forward. He was dressed casually. His coat was too big, and his white shirt was tucked into his pants. He had a sort of roughness to him, but he was young, tall, and handsome.
His very presence was all that was needed to cheer others up.
What did it matter if he never did anything proper and wandered the streets all day long? The girls still liked him.
“What a beautiful young man.”
Mrs. Gu’s eyes lit up. She was a pianist. She was a bit more sensitive to beauty than the ordinary person.
She watched him for a while before realizing that this person was rather familiar.
“Oh! Isn’t this your senior? He’s really impressive. His acting is so believable. I almost started to believe that he was really a reckless young man, eager to show off his feathers like a peacock. Xie Luyu is much more mature in real life.”
Gu Qingchi looked at the beautiful young man in the movie. He thought for a bit and nodded.
In front of him, Xie Luyu always seemed to be omnipotent. He was always so forgiving of Gu Qingchi.
However, Gu Qingchi hadn’t even realized it himself at the time, but he’d always held a bit of a desire for revenge towards him. Why? Why was he the only one being pushed into the abyss?
He was mired in muck, covered in dirt. Upon seeing the bright and sunny Xie Luyu, he was filled with yearning and envy.
Initially, he’d only been jealous from a distance. However, Xie Luyu ended up coming to him and with him came room to breathe.
Like a lifeline, Gu Qingchi grabbed tightly onto Xie Luyu. He reached out a muddy hand, willing the mud to spread onto this beautiful, sunny person. He would either be pulled out of that place or they could both sink to the bottom together.
Now that he thought about it, his past actions seemed a little too low and too shameful.
However, when a person is drowning, they don’t think. Instinct will drive them to grab ahold of anything they can get their hands on.
⁂
Gu Qingchi’s popularity abroad had skyrocketed after his appearance in Nirvana. He was already well-liked by the fashion industry. Now, however, his name had started to spread to other spheres in the industry.
Beauty knew no borders. It was just like music. It was one of the most basic human senses.
The casting calls and scripts that Ye Li received weren’t limited to those within the country. There were even invitations from major foreign productions. Currently, the only celebrities in the country that could receive this kind of treatment were a few long-time award-winning actors and actresses.
However, Ye Li received a very special invitation today.
It was an invitation for a photoshoot with the publicly recognized king of the fashion industry. He ruled over the fashion industry for decades. He was the trend.
All models he used would, without fail, double in value.
Gu Qingchi hadn’t been in very good shape. Ye Li ended up rejecting a lot of good opportunities on his behalf, including some top-tier fashion resources.
Ye Li hadn’t taken the initiative to arrange work for Gu Qingchi in a very long time. Most of the work that he’d arranged had been at Gu Qingchi’s request. His work only continued to decrease after what happened to Gu Qingchi.
Still, this opportunity was just too tempting. It could launch Gu Qingchi’s career to a new level. It could bring Gu Qingchi into the fashion world. Ye Li needed to send in their reply by today. He spent all afternoon struggling with the decision. In the end, Ye Li thought of the scar on Gu Qingchi’s wrist and decided to decline.
He consoled himself with the thought that it was just a side gig anyway, it didn’t have to be taken too seriously, health was what was most important.
Once the email was sent, Ye Li breathed a sigh of relief. He felt as though a weight had finally been lifted off his shoulders.
I honestly love how good of an agent Ye Li is, give that man a raise!!
Dragon Li’s favourite human will always be GQC XD XD XD Bit of a nice touch that the explored a bit of GQC’s complex feelings towards XL considering their marriage
Thank you for the chapter!
Honestly the cat is my fv character so far 😂.
There’s a cat which used to be so clingy but I had to leave him for some reason. I like cats and Iike clingy ones more. And Mommy is my second fv one!
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
waiting for the downfall of the child snatchers.
Thank You for the new chapter ♡ฅ(ᐤˊ꒳ฅˋᐤ)
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)