Gu Zhanran casually glanced at the actress beside him. His dark eyes seemed covered with a thin layer of frost, carrying an imposing aura even without anger. The actress instantly fell silent, like a squawking chicken whose neck had been grabbed, and sat obediently.
Because the lighting was dim, no one could clearly see Gu Zhanran’s expression or movements, but they could vaguely sense his powerful presence.
Fortunately, Peng Chenglang was bold enough and said bluntly, “President Gu, it’s your turn to tell a story.”
It was unclear whether he simply did not notice Gu Zhanran’s imposing aura, or if he was deliberately playing dumb to ease the tension.
Gu Zhanran’s horror story was just like him, simple, direct, and even carried a hint of dry humor.
“The fact that we’re holding candles here and telling horror stories is exactly the classic opening of a third-rate horror movie.”
Everyone: “……”
His voice was cool and low, like a draft of wind slipping through a crack in the window at night, sending a chill down everyone’s neck.
Actors, by nature, were good at imagining things. As soon as they followed his words into the scene, they could not help but picture all kinds of horror story scenarios.
Under the dim, flickering candlelight, someone suddenly cried out, and soon a series of gasps and trembling voices saying “don’t scare me” echoed one after another.
An Juexiao’s delicate brows furrowed slightly, not because she was scared, but because Su Lanxue was gripping her tightly. Peng Chenglang also joined in the chaos, howling that he was afraid and squeezing toward her.
Busy comforting Su Lanxue on one side while dealing with Peng Chenglang on the other, she actually felt less afraid.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, she lifted her gaze and looked at Gu Zhanran.
The dancing flame reflected on his refined, aloof face, adding an air of mystery, like a shadow emerging from the depths of darkness, something that could steal one’s soul.
She saw him smile faintly, the flicker of fire in his eyes deep and ambiguous, then he gently blew out the candle.
In an instant, his face disappeared into the darkness, but that faint smile lingered like a flame, searing into An Juexiao’s heart and leaving a deep mark.
Soon, it was the turn of the actress beside him. Her voice was soft and sweet, more like she was acting coquettish than telling a horror story.
But An Juexiao paid no attention to any of that, because her mind was filled with Gu Zhanran’s face.
If there really was a horror story, then perhaps it was this, her heart being occupied, unable to be cleared away no matter what.
As the night deepened, one horror story followed another.
Until the early hours of the morning, it was finally An Juexiao’s turn.
Only her candle remained lit. Although there were dim lights around, the surroundings were still shadowy, and she could feel everyone’s gaze focused on her.
Her grip on the candle tightened, her mind racing. If her brain were a machine, it would probably be roaring loudly right now.
All the common types of horror stories had already been told. Repeating them would be pointless.
What could she say?
After thinking hard, inspiration suddenly struck.
A horror story did not have to involve ghosts or spirits. Reality had its own kind of horror.
With this new idea, An Juexiao quickly said, “Being poor!”
Everyone: “???”
She added, “Having no money, is there anything more terrifying than that?”
Everyone: “………………”
It actually made sense. No one could refute it.
Her deadpan joke was even colder than Gu Zhanran’s, leaving everyone momentarily lost in thought.
In the silence, someone let out a soft laugh. The low, husky sound brushed past An Juexiao’s heart, and she recognized it instantly, it was Gu Zhanran.
With that one laugh, everyone seemed to snap back to reality and burst into laughter.
Peng Chenglang spoke first, “If I could, I’d give you the annual best horror story award, hahaha.”
After saying that, he kept muttering, “No, no, I have to share this horror story with my fans, hahaha.”
And so, the horror story gathering ended perfectly with An Juexiao’s deadpan joke.
She touched her cheek, feeling that what she said was not a joke at all, but the truth.
After the event, An Juexiao was pulled aside by Su Lanxue and Peng Chenglang to chat for a while. When she finally managed to get away, she saw that the actress who had been laughing so flamboyantly earlier was now standing beside Gu Zhanran, tilting her head up and speaking to him with a face full of admiration.
Gu Zhanran’s expression was indifferent. Even from several meters away, An Juexiao could feel the chill, and she could not help but admire the actress for her resilience.
At that moment, Su Lanxue returned with Zhang Xiaowan, who had come looking for An Juexiao.
Seeing the scene in the distance, Su Lanxue quietly stopped in her tracks, while Zhang Xiaowan exclaimed, “Isn’t that the Black Horse Prince?”
An Juexiao said helplessly, “What Black Horse Prince, stop giving him random nicknames.”
As she spoke, the actress seemed to notice them. She lifted her chin and shot them a deliberately provocative look.
Zhang Xiaowan immediately got annoyed. “Hey, what’s her problem?”
An Juexiao watched as if it were a joke. “She’s quite interesting.”
Seeing An Juexiao smiling, Zhang Xiaowan wondered if she was missing a screw. “Sis, you’re still laughing? Aren’t you angry?”
“What’s there to be angry about? Gu Zhanran is young, handsome, rich, and well-connected. If people don’t try to get close to him, that would be strange,” An Juexiao said sincerely.
“Gu Zhanran, truly worth it,” she sighed. “But that actress picked the wrong person to provoke.”
Zhang Xiaowan: “……”
Su Lanxue: “……”
An Juexiao added, “But based on my intuition, she’s probably about to be finished.”
Just as Zhang Xiaowan and Su Lanxue were about to ask if her intuition was reliable, the situation over there confirmed her words.
The actress seemed to have hit a wall. First, her heavily made-up face darkened noticeably, then with a frustrated expression, she stomped her foot and stormed off angrily.
An Juexiao said animatedly, “See, I told you so. Looks like she’s not just done for, she’s completely frozen out.”
Zhang Xiaowan asked curiously, “Sis, how can you be so sure?”
She did not have much faith in men’s self-control, especially when faced with a beautiful woman throwing herself at them.
An Juexiao lifted her chin even higher. “Gu Zhanran treats me the same way too, gentle, polite, like a refined gentleman.”
She gave a light cough. “My charm is not any worse than that actress’s.”
Zhang Xiaowan: “…………”
Su Lanxue: “…………”
Su Lanxue laughed. “So after all that, you’re just pleased with yourself.”
As the three girls were talking, Gu Zhanran looked over.
Su Lanxue tactfully gave An Juexiao a push, then pulled Zhang Xiaowan away.
An Juexiao stumbled right in front of Gu Zhanran and said awkwardly, “Hi, what a coincidence. I wasn’t eavesdropping on you.”
“There was nothing inappropriate for you to overhear between us,” Gu Zhanran said, then asked, “After listening to horror stories all night, will you be able to sleep later?”
An Juexiao insisted stubbornly, “Of course I can. They’re just horror stories, nothing to be afraid of. I can sleep so deeply I even snore, you know.”
Gu Zhanran smiled. “Snore?”
Her face warmed under his smile, and she quickly added, “Exaggeration, just exaggeration.”
“Mm.”
As if worried he did not believe her, she added again, “I don’t actually snore when I sleep.”
Gu Zhanran gazed at her. His dark eyes were like the dense night outside the window, as if something might emerge from them at any moment.
Only after speaking did An Juexiao realize how ambiguous her words sounded. Wait, whether she snored or not had nothing to do with him, they were not sleeping together!
“I’m going back to my room. You should rest early,” she said hesitantly.
“Good night.”
She turned around and hurried off.
After walking for a bit, she noticed Gu Zhanran following behind her. Pretending not to notice, she quickened her pace, but when she reached her room, he was still right beside her.
She had no choice but to say, “President Gu, you don’t have to be so polite. You don’t need to walk me back.”
Gu Zhanran paused. “My room is next to yours.”
“……” An Juexiao wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it. What an idiot, she had been overthinking!
Then Gu Zhanran witnessed what could only be described as lightning speed, card swipe, door open, door shut.
An Juexiao disappeared into her room in an instant, leaving behind a faint lingering fragrance.
Gu Zhanran looked at her door number for a moment before calmly entering his own room.
An Juexiao flung herself onto the bed, hugging a pillow and rolling around several times before finally calming down a little.
She heard the sound of a door closing next door, and instinctively pricked up her ears, but heard nothing.
Wow, why was the soundproofing in this hotel so good.
She shrugged regretfully, then habitually took out her phone and scrolled through Weibo.
As expected, Peng Chenglang had posted about the horror story gathering. His fans were laughing wildly and replying that Sister Xiao was telling blunt truths.
Thanks to his post, An Juexiao gained another wave of followers.
His fans were playful, continuing the horror stories in the comments.
“Once, I went to Beicheng on a business trip and stayed in a hotel. There were no single rooms left, so I stayed in a twin room. In the middle of the night, I suddenly needed to use the bathroom. Half asleep, I got up and saw the other bed…”
Reading this in a hotel room, An Juexiao felt her scalp tingle.
Knock knock.
The sudden knock on the door made her jump off the bed.
“Ahhh!”
The knocking outside seemed to pause, as if startled.
Her face turned pale as she heard Gu Zhanran’s slightly urgent voice from outside.
“An Juexiao, what happened?”
Hearing his voice, her heart settled a little, and she shakily got out of bed.
Soon, the door opened, and a pitiful face peeked out cautiously.
“You scared me to death,” she said, her gaze resentful, looking rather aggrieved.
At that moment, Gu Zhanran thought of a small animal acting spoiled, looking at you with innocent, watery eyes, making you want to pat its head.
He apologized honestly, “Sorry.”
An Juexiao sniffed. It was not really his fault, she had scared herself by reading ghost stories in the middle of the night.
“What is it, coming over so late?” she asked.
Gu Zhanran said helplessly, “The bathroom in my room is broken.”
Five minutes later.
Listening to the sound of running water from the bathroom, An Juexiao felt like she was in a live horror story broadcast.
Flustered, she messaged her friend Gu Keqing.
An Juexiao: Gu Zhanran is showering in my room!
Gu Keqing: In this kind of heat, it makes sense to shower afterward.
They were both adults, so “afterward” obviously meant after that.
An Juexiao: Not afterward!
Gu Keqing: Before, then?
Gu Keqing: Remember to use some nice-smelling body wash, it makes the process more enjoyable.
Gu Keqing: But why aren’t you showering with him? That’s no fun at all.
An Juexiao: …
It took her quite a while to convince Gu Keqing that Gu Zhanran showering was neither before nor after anything, he was simply borrowing her bathroom.
Gu Keqing: So in the end, he’s just borrowing your bathroom? Oh my, and you’re already losing control over this? Calm down.
Gu Keqing: The enemy hasn’t even moved, and you’re the one flailing around on your own.
An Juexiao suddenly felt that Gu Keqing made a lot of sense.
Exactly, he was just borrowing the bathroom, what was there for her to get so worked up about?
With that thought, she put down her phone and looked toward the bathroom.
At some point, hotels had all started favoring glass-partitioned bathrooms, and this one was no exception.
The bathroom was separated by frosted glass, with a wooden divider between the room and the bathroom that felt almost unnecessary.
Gu Zhanran’s silhouette flickered faintly behind the frosted glass, moving in a way that made An Juexiao’s thoughts wander.
She pressed her lips together, then was pulled back to reality by the buzzing vibration of her phone.
Gu Keqing: Hey, seriously, how’s Gu Zhanran’s body?
Gu Keqing: Hello?
Gu Keqing: Helloooo!
Gu Keqing: Don’t tell me you two have already… you know.
Seeing that wording, An Juexiao’s eyelid twitched. Gu Keqing’s choice of words was truly something, no wonder she studied screenwriting.
Even so, Gu Keqing had good sense. When she noticed An Juexiao was not replying, she stopped messaging.
Sitting on the bed, her mind in a mess, An Juexiao opened Weibo again and continued reading horror stories.
She needed something to steady her nerves.
Yes, horror stories to calm herself down.
After all, there was someone in her bathroom who made her far more unsettled.
She had no idea how many stories she had read. In any case, she had not really absorbed any of them, when she suddenly heard the water stop.
Then the glass door slowly opened.
Gu Zhanran walked out with damp hair. Wrapped in a bathrobe, he looked more relaxed and alluring. Droplets of water slid from his hair down his neck, then along his defined collarbone and toward his chest.
An Juexiao only glanced once before she felt too embarrassed to keep looking.
She was afraid that if she looked any longer, she might do something improper.
After a moment of shy hesitation, she suddenly came to her senses. Wait, with such a fine sight right in front of her, would it not be a waste not to look?
Wasting it would be both a crime and a shame.
Having convinced herself, she boldly lifted her gaze, only to meet Gu Zhanran’s deep, damp eyes.
“Do you have a hair dryer?”
Fresh from his shower, even his voice carried a trace of warm, damp allure.
“Yes, yes.” An Juexiao quickly found a hair dryer and handed it to him.
When he took it, his warm, damp fingers brushed against hers. She suddenly grew curious, what would it feel like to hold that hand?
The room filled with the dull, monotonous hum of the hair dryer.
Watching Gu Zhanran awkwardly use it, An Juexiao could not help but smile.
He paused and looked at her in confusion.
“You really dry your hair like a typical straight guy,” she said. “That technique is not good, it damages your hair.”
He replied honestly, “Usually a stylist takes care of it.”
An Juexiao: “……”
So what if you’re rich!
Seeing that he looked somewhat troubled, she volunteered, “Let me help you.”
“Alright.” Gu Zhanran smiled faintly and handed her the hair dryer.
His smile was actually very slight, but in An Juexiao’s eyes, it already counted as a full smile.
Her pale fingers moved through his dark hair as the gentle warm air blew over it, giving him a sense of being softly taken care of.
As she dried his hair, she could not help thinking, as expected of a wealthy young master, his hair was as smooth as silk.