Chapter 24
Gu Yunchen asked indirectly: "Mu Cai, what do you think of your agent?"
Mu Cai got on the car and started to feel sleepy almost immediately. Now, sleepy to the point that his eyes were barely open. When he suddenly heard this question, almost without thinking, he said, "Brother Su is quite nice."
Sometimes, he can be a bit childlike in the way he incessantly reminds him about certain things. Mu Cai even felt at times as if he could see a halo of paternal love above Su Xingyun's head.
Upon hearing Mu Cai's unhesitant response, Gu Yunchen felt a tinge of jealousy. But it was not the time to dwell on these feelings, so he tried again, asking, "Do you like your agent?"
Mu Cai quickly responded, "Of course, Brother Su treats me very well."
He found it a bit weird that Gu Yunchen was asking all these questions. Regardless, right now, Mu Cai was particularly sleepy and his brain was not functioning optimally so he decided to ask straight: "Why are you suddenly interested in this, Brother Gu?"
Maintaining a poker face, Gu Yunchen lied, "As one of the shareholders of Kaicheng Entertainment, it is naturally my duty to concern myself with our artists. You're on the path to fame, and I'm considering if the agent assigned to you is suitable."
Hearing this, Mu Cai became a bit more alert.
Right, how could he have forgotten? In the original story, Gu Yunchen's parents had given him a sum of money to make his own way, and Kaicheng Entertainment was one of the ventures Gu Yunchen got involved in. Even though Gu Yunchen was no longer managing the company directly and had even set up his own studio, he still held a portion of the shares in Kaicheng Entertainment.
Mu Cai was taken aback, realizing he had become popular enough to catch the attention of the company's shareholders and was being considered for a new agent.
He was just a small celebrity who debuted in an online talent show!
Suddenly Mu Cai fully woke up and addressed Gu Yunchen: "Brother Gu, I think Brother Su is good. He treats me and his other artists well. I don't want to change my agent."
The original character didn't change his agent until the end of the story! Although the story had crumbled quite a bit, if he could prevent more changes, he would. Besides, Mu Cai believed Su Xingyun was really good, and he took care of him on a day-to-day basis.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yun Chen couldn't help but ask, "So you like everyone who treats you well?"
Hearing this, Mu Cai was a bit puzzled, thinking, wasn't that obvious? However, since Gu Yunchen had asked, all he could do was obediently nod his head.
Gu Yunchen couldn't help reminiscing about his few encounters with Mu Cai in the past.
The first time he met Mu Cai, it was through his acquaintance with Mo Hengqing.
At that time, the Gu family and the Mo family had some business dealings, and Gu's father and Mo's father could be considered friends. When he visited Mo's family, Mo Hengqing pointed to a boy of about 15 or 16 years old and told Gu Yunchen that he was his aunt's son, and also his younger brother.
Back then, Gu Yunchen saw him as just a kid, still attending high school, with an aura of melancholy about him.
Although Gu Yunchen did not grow up in a crowded, feudal family, he had gone with his parents to many social occasions from a young age and had seen all sorts of people. His social experience was objectively more than that of Mu Cai, who was still a child at that time.
Even then, Gu Yunchen had a feeling that Wang Li, who had warmly received him with a smile on her face, was not a good person. She was a bully, and her heart was malicious. However, this was Uncle Mo's family matter, and it had nothing to do with him. As for Wang Li's actions, Gu Yunchen always turned a blind eye.
However, there was an instance when Wang Li's treatment of Mu Cai was too harsh. She had accidentally broken Uncle Mo's antique vase and wanted to make Mu Cai take the blame. Gu Yunchen, unable to stand it any longer, spoke up for him, rendering Wang Li speechless, and Mu Cai was thus spared.
It seemed to have been from that time onwards that the melancholic little boy started looking at him oddly. He only stared at Gu Yunchen with a chilling gaze, never really doing anything directly to him. Gu Yunchen, as a result, could not react too harshly and decided to keep his distance instead.
Later on, he visited Mo Hengqing's house less frequently. Given his lifestyle, he rarely bumped into Mu Cai.
However, Lin Jiayi, who was the same age as Mu Cai, ended up in the same school because of Uncle Mo's connections. Gu Yunchen was quite close to his cousin, Lin Jiayi, so he frequently heard from him about Mu Cai's misdeeds.
His cousin always expressed his disgust with an aversion to Mu Cai, saying it was one thing for him to collect his posters and pictures, but it was entirely different trying to gather information about him with the intention of secret stalking.
Lin Jiayi was usually arrogant, domineering, and the least fond of lying, so Gu Yunchen remained wary. Soon enough, his bodyguards reported several attempts by Mu Cai to stalk him.
For instance, buying first-class plane tickets to encounter him coincidentally on his return trips, or loitering near his residence, and so on.
As a celebrity, Gu Yunchen had encountered many overly zealous fans and strongly disapproved of such behavior. Therefore, when he encountered Mu Cai blocking his way in the restroom, he was furious. And he implicitly condoned Lin Jiayi's action of letting the bodyguards handle the situation.
Now that he looks back and thinks about it, Mu Cai didn't have any hidden recording devices, nor did he display any crazy behavior back then. It seemed like he just wanted to talk to Gu Yunchen, but never managed to speak up.
Could it be that Mu Cai's fondness was due to Gu Yunchen's previous assistance?
Gu Yunchen couldn't help but recall Mu Cai's words during an interview when he was still participating in the "Rookie Star."
He said: "I really admire Teacher Gu. I think he's very handsome, his dancing is extraordinary, and his acting is excellent. I have seen every movie Teacher Gu has ever made!"
Such words seem like something a child would say. Mu Cai's affection for him appeared to stem from Gu Yunchen's help in the past, and, later on, resembled that of all his fans, who were captivated by his appearance or the image he presented in public.
But it was not true love.
As soon as Gu Yunchen thought about this, a feeling of indescribable loss welled up in his heart.
The human heart is peculiar in that way. Before, Gu Yunchen felt disgusted and repulsed when he thought about Mu Cai's affection and following him around. However, now that he had fallen for Mu Cai, the possibility that he might not genuinely like him made him feel upset and miserable.
Mu Cai couldn't wait for Gu Yunchen's next question. As he waited, his consciousness started to fade, and his eyelids began their fight again.
Feeling warm from the hot milk after being exposed to the cold wind, he found comfort in cuddling the bunny plushie in his arms. The tightly closed car window kept the sobering cold air away.
Unable to resist sleep any longer, Mu Cai drifted off to dreamland as soon as his eyes closed.
-----
When he opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning. The familiar ring of his phone alarm echoed in his ears, and he was still hugging the soft bunny, blanketed by a cozy quilt.
Despite being slow to start in the mornings, Mu Cai quickly realized something was off.
Didn't he fall asleep in Gu Yunchen's car last night and sleep straight through to this morning? How did he get upstairs? Or end up in his bed?
Somewhat disoriented, Mu Cai washed up and brushed his teeth. After getting dressed, he gently pushed the door open and stealthily poked his head out to get a look at Gu Yunchen who lived across his apartment.
He had gone to bed early last night and slept uninterrupted, having a complete night's rest. As a result, Mu Cai woke up exceptionally early this morning, finishing his morning routine more than ten minutes ahead of schedule.
To his surprise, when Mu Cai opened his door, he saw that Gu Yunchen's door was wide open. Gu Yunchen was on the phone and, upon seeing Mu Cai, even gave him a smile.
Mu Cai felt like he might still be asleep.
Even though Gu Yunchen had always been decent to him, sometimes he was quite friendly. However, Gu Yunchen rarely smiled outside of acting, and his expression was often cold – not only towards Mu Cai but towards others as well.
Now that he suddenly smiled at Mu Cai, it seemed quite terrifying.
Nonetheless, it was a captivating kind of terror.
Gu Yunchen's features were striking – sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, a prominent nose, and thin lips. He usually exuded an air of aloof elegance. Now, as he smiled, it was as if the icy facade had melted away, transforming into a gentle spring, flowing softly through one's heart.
Mu Cai admired him for a moment, then returned the smile as a courtesy gesture.
The young man leaned against the doorframe and smiled, his soft black hair glowed with a hint of yellow in the sunlight. His eyes sparkled brightly, even without the light shining on them, as if they were covered in a watery sheen.
His expression was filled with the vibrancy of a fresh morning, as if he was delighted to see himself. Gu Yunchen felt his heart soften in an instant.
While listening to Tang Feng's endless chatter on the phone, he hung up without hesitation and deepened his smile: "You're up?"
Mu Cai nodded.
Gu Yunchen continued: "I see you just woke up and haven't eaten yet. I asked Lin, my assistant, to buy breakfast and put it in the car. Do you want to join me downstairs to eat?"
Mu Cai quickly shook his head: "Thank you, Brother Gu, but I'll just eat in the restaurant downstairs."
The hotel's restaurant provided breakfast every morning with a wide variety of options, good taste, and at no cost. Mu Cai always went there for breakfast.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yunchen did not back down. Instead, he spoke with a tone of regret: "Is that so? But I specifically asked Assistant Lin to buy a variety of breakfast items."
He then began to list them: "There's large shumai with delicious corn and pork filling. There are also four different kinds of buns. We have mushroom and vegetable buns, tofu and glass noodle buns, custard buns, and sauce-filled meat buns. If you don't like buns, you have the option to choose small flower rolls, mini mantou, and mini youtiao. For drinks, we have soy milk, coconut milk with sago, century egg and lean meat congee, and red bean porridge. If you don't like Chinese food, there's also fresh milk, ham sandwiches, pineapple buns, and seaweed rice rolls to choose from. You can choose between a cheese sausage or a mini octopus sausage – of course, you can also have both."
Gu Yunchen reached the end of his persuasive offer. His eyes intently focused on Mu Cai and slowly said, "Are you really not coming?"
Mu Cai: "!!!"
Seeing Mu Cai's wide eyes, Gu Yunchen suppressed a smile and expressed in a rather regretful tone, "If you're not coming, all this food would go to waste. I'll have to see if anyone else wants to eat..."
Without hesitation, Mu Cai cut him off decisively: "I'll eat!"
-----
Author's Notes:
Gu Yunchen's thought was, "To capture a man's heart, first capture his stomach!"
No comments:
Post a Comment