When Zhao Muqing returned to the villa, it happened to be dinnertime. As he walked from his room down to the first floor, Shen Guanzhi was sitting on the lobby sofa making a phone call. “A single photograph. It should be somewhere along the path from my office to Room 012 on the basement floor. Sorry to trouble you.”
Just as Shen Guanzhi was about to end the call, Zhao Muqing quickly fished the photo out of his pocket and waved it in front of the other man.
“There is no need to bother anymore; the photo was found here in the villa. Sorry for the disturbance, goodbye for now.” Shen Guanzhi hung up the phone and took the photograph from Zhao Muqing’s hand. “Where did you pick this up?”
“In the classroom,” Zhao Muqing answered very naturally. Before he could let his curiosity run wild, his phone happened to ring right at that moment. He had no choice but to step away from Shen Guanzhi, hurrying over to the outer hallway to answer: “Shuqiao-jie, you are looking for me? What could it possibly be that cannot be sent via WeChat?”
“It is because you have not replied for half a day,” Li Shuqiao said with some dissatisfaction. “Short notice, tomorrow morning you are coming with me to Taoyu to attend a brand offline event.”
“I have work already?” Zhao Muqing was somewhat surprised.
“Keep dreaming. I am just taking you out to see the world and get acquainted with some people. Who knows, maybe someone will take a fancy to you, and then you will actually have work.”
Well, going there would not result in any loss anyway.
Zhao Muqing instantly had no spare energy to gossip about Shen Guanzhi’s affairs. As soon as dinner ended, he began preparing his attire in advance, hanging it on the clothes rack beside his bed.
In truth, ever since the incident with Xu Yingtang, Zhao Muqing had harbored an inexplicable negative impression of Taoyu City. Yet Taoyu City was a first-tier city within the province, on par with Dongyuan City, and many large-scale events simply could not bypass it.
For official public business, Zhao Muqing would usually travel using the studio’s vehicle, and his plane tickets were also reimbursed by the studio. Li Shuqiao accompanied him directly to the venue, which was reportedly an offline promotional event for a well-known perfume brand that required an invitation letter for entry.
Zhao Muqing tried searching for this brand online, discovering that it was backed by a major conglomerate, with the perfume brand being just one of its subsidiaries. Alongside that, there were numerous other sub-brands spanning luxury sectors such as apparel, jewelry, and luggage.
“Actually, they have expressed intent to collaborate with us,” Li Shuqiao said from the passenger seat. “Though it feels like they are just drawing a pie in the sky. We talk about collaboration back and forth, but it has been nearly half a year with no actual progress.”
The car parked at the designated spot, and Zhao Muqing followed behind Li Shuqiao as they entered the venue. Along the way, he exchanged brief greetings with quite a few people, though the moment he turned his head, he forgot all of their names completely.
The brand had invited a well-known film star to participate in the event as the spokesperson for the newly released product line, and the star was said to be extremely popular.
Led by Li Shuqiao, Zhao Muqing took a seat in a location with a decent view. Only then did he have the leisure to look around the interior of the venue. Aside from the massive crowds and the camera flashes that made it hard to keep his eyes open, there was nothing particularly difficult to handle.
“You might have to face this many people yourself in the future,” Li Shuqiao said, propping her head up. “There is nothing to panic about; once you see it more often, you will get used to it.”
Zhao Muqing did not pay it much mind. In reality, he had plenty of stage experience, so this was hardly enough to rattle him.
After the event concluded, the brand presented every attending guest with a commemorative gift set containing the newly launched perfume line in its entirety, with all available scent profiles included.
Zhao Muqing had not had much exposure to perfumes previously and only started paying attention after his modeling instructor brought it up. Wearing the appropriate perfume during formal occasions made it much easier to leave a favorable impression. Receiving a set of high-end perfumes without spending a dime put him in a great mood, and as he passed by a child selling flowers by the roadside, he casually purchased a few stems.
“Want to pick one?” Zhao Muqing handed the bunch of roses in his hand toward Li Shuqiao.
“You are actually giving me one?” Li Shuqiao eyed him suspiciously for a moment. “You do not have any ulterior motives, do you?”
“How could I? Since nobody else is giving you any, I am just helping you digest some inventory.”
“Nobody is giving me any, yet you still buy them.” Li Shuqiao picked a single rose from the bunch and placed it inside the car.
“This is called helping someone clock out early.” Zhao Muqing let out a light laugh. Just as he opened the rear car door and prepared to get in, he suddenly noticed a familiar black sedan turning into the end of the street and parking in front of a flower shop not far away.
Upon closer inspection, the license plate looked rather familiar as well.
“Jie, wait for me here for a moment.” Just as Zhao Muqing was about to leave, he paused to think and added, “If I take too long, just leave without me.”
“Hey, look at you.” Li Shuqiao watched Zhao Muqing’s receding figure and frowned.
When Zhao Muqing walked up to Shen Guanzhi’s car, the man had already finished buying flowers and returned to the driver’s seat. “I heard from Shuqiao that you came here for an event.”
“Yeah, what a coincidence?” Zhao Muqing leaned against Shen Guanzhi’s car window. He did not quite understand what was wrong with himself, but he always possessed an inexplicable thirst for knowledge regarding Shen Guanzhi. “Where are you headed?”
“None of your business, step back.”
“Buying flowers for a girlfriend?” Zhao Muqing retreated awkwardly. “Then I really should not be intruding.”
The movements of Shen Guanzhi inside the car paused for a split second. “What are you talking about?”
“First you carry a woman’s photograph around everywhere, and now you are buying flowers. It is pretty hard for me not to think that way.”
“Get in the car.” Shen Guanzhi seemed unwilling to converse with Zhao Muqing any further and directly rolled the window up. Zhao Muqing had no choice but to get in. After he took the passenger seat, Shen Guanzhi told him to look back, and what entered his line of sight were white and yellow chrysanthemums.
“I am sorry,” Zhao Muqing felt a wave of guilt and awkwardness wash over him. “I did not know your girlfriend had passed away.”
“That is a photograph of my mother,” Shen Guanzhi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do not let your imagination run wild.”
Zhao Muqing froze. He truly had not expected Shen Guanzhi to possess such a youthful photograph of his own mother. Yet this also reassured him greatly, as it meant the storyline of this world had not completely derailed, and Shen Guanzhi still had a chance to fall in love at first sight with the protagonist Shou, keeping future developments firmly within Zhao Muqing’s grasp.
“Her friend mailed it to me, a photograph from many years ago. Yesterday was the first time I saw it too.” Shen Guanzhi started the engine. All the way through, the scenery grew increasingly desolate until the car finally came to a halt. Gazing out the window, Zhao Muqing realized Shen Guanzhi had brought him to a cemetery.
“Your mom must have treated you very well when you were young, right?” Zhao Muqing stepped out of the car alongside Shen Guanzhi.
Holding a bouquet of chrysanthemums in his arms, Shen Guanzhi walked deeper into the cemetery. “At least to me, she was a good person.”
He finally stopped in front of a gravestone. Zhao Muqing remained standing quietly behind him, watching as he wiped his mother’s photograph clean, bowed toward the gravestone, and finally placed the chrysanthemums down.
Influenced by Shen Guanzhi, Zhao Muqing bowed as well.
“She was a ballet dancer, very busy, traveling all over the country for performances.” Shen Guanzhi paused. “Neither she nor my father had time to look after me, so they hired a nanny.”
Zhao Muqing recalled the details from the news reports; this nanny was presumably the mother of Xu Cheng, who later took in a young Shen Guanzhi. “Why did she leave you?”
He added as an afterthought: “If you do not wish to speak of it, you do not have to answer.”
“Suicide.”
Zhao Muqing was too shocked to speak.
“She once loved my father deeply, even giving him the gemstones her maternal grandfather left behind.” Shen Guanzhi’s gaze remained fixed on the gravestone. “After he left, my mother could not accept reality and chose to end her life.”
Zhao Muqing sighed inwardly. Being a brainless romantic is truly unwise.
“I keep having a recurring nightmare where my mother is holding me to sleep, but when I wake up, there is no one by my side.”
Shen Guanzhi finally shifted his gaze, his eyes landing on Zhao Muqing’s face.
“I walk out of the room and see my mother’s body. She will never open her eyes again.”
Without knowing why he felt such an impulse, Zhao Muqing took a few steps forward and pulled Shen Guanzhi into an embrace.
“How could she just abandon you like that?” Zhao Muqing patted Shen Guanzhi’s back.
“She certainly did not completely fulfill her responsibilities toward me, but she had it hard too. She ruined her career for the sake of marriage, and in the end, she lost even her husband.”
Zhao Muqing looked closely at Shen Guanzhi’s face. On the surface, he appeared entirely calm, but upon closer inspection, a trace of deep sorrow could be detected in the depths of his eyes.
“Do you still have nightmares?”
“Occasionally.” Shen Guanzhi hesitated for a brief moment before raising his arms to wrap them around Zhao Muqing’s waist in return. “Perhaps you have played a part in stopping them.”
Zhao Muqing gave a faint smile. “Looks like you really cannot live without me.”
“I did not say that.” Shen Guanzhi let go of him. “We should leave.”
After departing from the cemetery, the two of them returned to the sedan. Before getting out of the car, Zhao Muqing left the roses behind on the vehicle, and before Shen Guanzhi could drive off, he shoved the flowers back into the man’s hands. “For you.”
“Red roses?” Shen Guanzhi looked down at the flowers in his arms, momentarily stunned. “Did you buy these specially?”
“Not really, I just saw they looked pretty and bought them on a whim,” Zhao Muqing observed Shen Guanzhi’s expression with amusement. “Though for now, let us just pretend I bought them specifically to cheer you up.”
“Thank you, they are very pretty flowers.” Shen Guanzhi placed the roses aside temporarily and started the car.
Zhao Muqing was reasonably satisfied with Shen Guanzhi’s reaction. “Are we heading back to Dongyuan?”
“Did you book a plane ticket?”
“Tomorrow’s flight, Shuqiao-jie even booked a hotel for me.”
“I am heading back to my old residence, it is nearby,” Shen Guanzhi slowed the vehicle down. “Do you want to come?”
Hearing this, Zhao Muqing realized that Shen Guanzhi had spent his childhood living in Taoyu City before eventually relocating to Dongyuan City.
“Sure.” Zhao Muqing agreed without a second thought.
Upon arrival, Zhao Muqing discovered that the place where Shen Guanzhi grew up was just an ordinary apartment, looking nothing like the home of someone fabulously wealthy.
“The bathroom is at the very end.” Shen Guanzhi pushed open one of the bedroom doors, fished a set of clothes out from inside shortly after, and handed them over to Zhao Muqing.
Once Zhao Muqing had cleaned up and changed into the fresh clothes, he wandered around the apartment and eventually noticed that Shen Guanzhi was in a first-floor room with the door unlocked.
“Come in.” Shen Guanzhi was wearing an ordinary white shirt, sitting quietly on the edge of the bed.
Zhao Muqing sat down beside him and, raising his eyes, saw that the roses had been simply arranged inside a glass bottle on the bedside table.
“Are you going to sleep now?” Seeing that Shen Guanzhi was not moving, Zhao Muqing reached out and poked the back of the man’s hand.
Shen Guanzhi reacted swiftly, catching Zhao Muqing’s wandering hand in a firm grip.
“Zhao Muqing,” Shen Guanzhi met Zhao Muqing’s gaze. “Are the rumors about you all true?”