As soon as Xuan Chiyi got off the plane, he called his good friend.
The person on the other end of the line started complaining immediately, “I say, President Xuan, calling me every single day, more punctual than an alarm clock. Anyone who didn’t know better would think I was your wife. Can you stop pushing me? I’ve been looking for him the whole time.”
The person complaining was Xuan Chiyi’s good friend, Yang Ao.
Yang Ao’s family lived in Jiangcheng, and he had some connections there, which was why Xuan Chiyi asked him to help find Gu Yansheng.
At first, he thought finding someone would be pretty simple, but who would have thought that half a month would pass with absolutely no news?
During all the days Xuan Chiyi spent abroad, he called Yang Ao every single day to ask about the search results.
The two were longtime friends, and Yang Ao had never seen Xuan Chiyi be so persistent about finding someone.
Someone who could occupy Xuan Chiyi’s thoughts like this was either an enemy or a lover.
Yang Ao asked him whether this person named Gu Yansheng was an enemy or a lover.
Xuan Chiyi said neither, which only made Yang Ao even more curious.
Yang Ao had been searching for over ten days, yet he couldn’t find the person in the photo at all.
This made him wonder if the young man in the photo had already left Jiangcheng.
Otherwise, how could he possibly fail to find even a single person?
Looking at the person in the photo, Yang Ao looked left and right, but no matter how he looked at it, this still seemed like a minor. The very first time he saw the photo, he had exclaimed, “Old Xuan, isn’t this a minor?”
Xuan Chiyi glanced at him, “Do you think I’m that kind of person?”
Yang Ao still had a high level of trust in Xuan Chiyi’s character; Xuan Chiyi would never go messing around with a minor.
The person in the photo was genuinely gorgeous. Logically speaking, someone like this should be very eye-catching and much easier to find, but it was as if he had sunk without a trace. He simply couldn’t be found.
Xuan Chiyi looked at the photo on his phone. This photo had been obtained from Gu Yansheng’s coworker.
That person named Zhang Fang had several photos of Gu Yansheng on his phone, and it was quite obvious that these photos had been secretly taken when Gu Yansheng wasn’t paying attention.
Even while wearing a work uniform, Gu Yansheng was still drop-dead gorgeous.
Seeing Gu Yansheng’s photo appear on someone else’s phone made Xuan Chiyi extremely unhappy.
He bought these photos for the price of two hundred thousand and warned Zhang Fang to delete all of them, or else bear the consequences.
Having knocked about in the outside world for so many years, Zhang Fang knew who couldn’t be offended. Right in front of Xuan Chiyi, he deleted all of Gu Yansheng’s photos without leaving a single one.
Only then did Xuan Chiyi leave, satisfied.
Looking at Gu Yansheng in the photo, who looked refined with a slightly shy smile, Xuan Chiyi fell into deep thought. He always had a feeling that Gu Yansheng was afraid of him and was actively avoiding him.
What on earth had he done to make the other person dislike him this much?
Clearly, the person who asked him for help that day was Gu Yansheng, and the person who clung to him was also Gu Yansheng. Yet, the person who hid from him after waking up was likewise Gu Yansheng.
What on earth did Gu Yansheng take him for? A gigolo? Is that why two hundred yuan was left on the bedside table?
The more Xuan Chiyi thought about it, the more depressed he became, a surge of stifled frustration building up inside him. He had to find Gu Yansheng; he had to ask him in person why he was hiding from him, and what that two hundred yuan meant.
He, Xuan Chiyi, wasn’t the kind of person to pester someone relentlessly. If Gu Yansheng said he wasn’t willing, he wouldn’t force it either. Given his own conditions, what kind of person couldn’t he have around him?
“Song Ming, go to Jiangcheng again tomorrow.” After getting into the car, Xuan Chiyi dropped these words and closed his eyes, lost in thought.
Having followed Xuan Chiyi for many years, Song Ming naturally understood what he meant. “Don’t worry, President Xuan, I will definitely find him.”
“Hello, what flavor would you like? This chestnut flavor is our new item, and our customers’ reviews are very high. The taste is great, you should give it a try.” Inside a milk tea shop, a boy’s clear and sweet voice felt like a soothing hot spring refreshing the soul in this cold winter.
This boy was Gu Yansheng.
Having quit his job at the bar, Gu Yansheng quickly found his current job working part-time at a milk tea shop.
Because of his pretty face, a large number of people, both men and women, came to buy milk tea.
Several bold individuals even directly asked for Gu Yansheng’s contact information, all of whom were refused by Gu Yansheng with a smile.
“I’m sorry, my phone is with my boyfriend.”
It was yet another day of finding no results in the search. Yang Ao was losing his confidence; he had previously guaranteed to Xuan Chiyi with absolute certainty that he would find the person within two days.
As a result, half a month had passed without even finding a shadow.
Therefore, whenever he saw Xuan Chiyi’s call come in nowadays, he would panic. It was a blessing that Xuan Chiyi had been flying all over the country and abroad recently due to a company acquisition, otherwise he probably would have turned Jiangcheng upside down.
Today, Yang Ao received news that the person in the photo had been spotted somewhere, but when he went over to check, it was completely worlds apart.
Having run around outside all day, the assistant who had been tagging along with Yang Ao wanted to go buy a cup of milk tea to drink because he saw a long queue at that shop, meaning it must taste good.
Yang Ao frowned as he looked at so many people, “Are these people paid actors? Milk tea tastes the same, there’s no real difference. Isn’t this too exaggerated?”
The assistant said mysteriously, “I heard that one of the store clerks here is an extremely handsome guy.”
Yang Ao remained unimpressed. How handsome could he possibly be? He felt that the photo of the guy Xuan Chiyi sent him was the most handsome guy he had ever seen.
“Could he possibly look better than the person we’re looking for?”
The assistant thought about it and said very objectively, “Probably not.”
Yang Ao replied, “Then there you go.”
However, with so many people queuing up, it seemed the milk tea from this shop should taste pretty good, and he could take a look at the handsome guy the assistant talked about.
Yang Ao even thought to himself, if that little handsome guy turned out to be the person he was looking for, that would be great. In order to find him, Xuan Chiyi and he had already almost turned Jiangcheng upside down.
“Gu Yansheng, come over and help me move some things. The ingredients we ordered have arrived.” The store manager called out to Gu Yansheng from the back.
Gu Yansheng answered, and his nearby coworker told him to go ahead and help the manager move the things first.
Soon, it was Yang Ao and his assistant’s turn.
Looking at the two guys inside the milk tea shop, one cashier guy and one milk tea maker guy, Yang Ao felt somewhat disappointed. Were these two the legendary handsome guys?
Though they looked decent, they definitely couldn’t be considered gorgeous.
The assistant was also puzzled; he had just heard it from others. It seemed seeing it once was not as good as hearing about it a hundred times.
Fortunately, the milk tea from this shop really did taste good, and their purpose was to drink milk tea, not to look at handsome guys. After getting their milk tea, just as Yang Ao and his assistant left, Gu Yansheng came out.
The three of them happened to miss each other perfectly.
Gu Yansheng really liked his current job. Although it was busy and the salary wasn’t as high as the pay at the bar, the customers he faced were much simpler than those at the bar.
He didn’t have to socialize or entertain.
Gu Yansheng was an optimistic person. Every day, he just thought about how to peacefully survive. Rich or poor, he was always cheerful, provided, of course, that Xuan Chiyi wasn’t around and wouldn’t find him.
When he returned to his rented apartment, the landlord downstairs happened to be coming out with a plate of steaming hot dumplings, as if waiting for Gu Yansheng to return.
“Sheng-sheng, these are dumplings handmade by my mom. They’re delicious, have a taste.”
Li Hui also lived alone. His mother would come to visit her son once a month, and every time she came, she would stuff her son’s refrigerator full of all kinds of delicious food.
Her homemade kimchi, cured bacon and sausages, and handmade dumplings were peerless in taste.
Mother Li had seen Gu Yansheng a few times and really liked this kid, having tried several times to invite Gu Yansheng over for dinner.
How could Gu Yansheng possibly feel comfortable going over to someone else’s house for dinner?
Consequently, every time Gu Yansheng got off work, Li Hui would wait at the doorway holding the delicious food brought by Mother Li.
This time was no exception; Mother Li had wrapped a large batch of three-fresh-flavored dumplings and frozen them in the fridge.
Mother Li was experienced in life and saw at a glance that Li Hui liked Gu Yansheng. She liked Gu Yansheng too, as he was gorgeous and very polite, so she encouraged her son to go after him if he liked him.
It wasn’t that Li Hui didn’t want to pursue him, but he felt that although Gu Yansheng looked soft and gentle on the outside, his heart was extremely resilient.
He was also afraid of startling him, so pursuing Gu Yansheng couldn’t be rushed; he had to take it slow and gradually walk into his world.
The landlord was too enthusiastic for Gu Yansheng to refuse. Carrying the plate back to his room, Gu Yansheng thought to himself that he would buy some fruit to return the favor next time.
Fortunately, he had met a kind-hearted landlord here.
Half a month had passed since he ran into Xuan Chiyi. At first, he was worried about being found by Xuan Chiyi.
However, with so much time passing and his life remaining peaceful, Gu Yansheng felt a bit more at ease.
He thought that perhaps in Xuan Chiyi’s heart, he had long since been forgotten.
Perhaps, the moment he left Jincheng, the story would no longer develop according to its previous plotline.
Jiangcheng, a bar, inside a private room.
Xuan Chiyi absentmindedly swirled the wine glass in his hand, then absentmindedly downed it in one gulp, as if the lively atmosphere before him had nothing to do with him.
Yang Ao couldn’t watch anymore, “Old Xuan, we came out to have fun, cheer up! Anyone who didn’t know better looking at you like this would think you suffered a breakup.”
Xuan Chiyi gave him a faint glance, and Yang Ao knew he was in the wrong. “Fine, fine, my fault, my fault. But haven’t I been searching for him the whole time?”
Speaking of the matter of searching for someone, Yang Ao also found it strange, “Why can’t I find this person? Old Xuan, has he already left Jiangcheng?”
That must be why they couldn’t find him.
Xuan Chiyi had also thought about this point.
If Gu Yansheng had left Jiangcheng, where on earth could he go to find him?
Xuan Chiyi downed the wine in his glass in another gulp.
He had been drinking that day too. Could that day have simply been a dream he had while drunk?
That was impossible. Xuan Chiyi knew his own alcohol tolerance; he never got drunk. Besides, the scratch marks on his arm and back the next day were completely real.
He had spent a fantastical and bizarre night with a little male student.
What was even more unbelievable was that the little male student had run away, while he seemed to have fallen into it.
So, where on earth did Gu Yansheng go? They had already searched every single bar in Jiangcheng and couldn’t find anyone named Gu Yansheng.
Watching the bustling crowd on the street, Xuan Chiyi realized for the first time that finding someone could be this difficult. He used to think he was omnipotent and could accomplish anything, but now, he couldn’t even find a single person.
Suddenly catching sight of a familiar-looking back ahead of him, Xuan Chiyi hurried forward, only to realize he had mistaken the person, as the back just looked very similar.
Gu Yansheng had simply vanished from his world just like that.
Xuan Chiyi returned to the hotel, the same hotel as before, the same room as before.
Only this time, he was all alone.
Zhang Fang never expected that buying milk tea would lead to running into Gu Yansheng.
Gu Yansheng’s outstanding appearance made him the most eye-catching person no matter where he was or what kind of clothes he wore.
Back when they were at the bar, everyone wore the same ugly-as-hell work uniforms, but on Gu Yansheng, it somehow managed to give off the vibe of a prince straight out of a fairytale.
Just like now, both wearing work uniforms inside a milk tea shop, Zhang Fang spotted Gu Yansheng at a single glance.
When Zhang Fang saw Gu Yansheng, he felt a bit guilty. That night, he had clearly seen that sleazy old man spike the drink with drugs, yet he hadn’t told Gu Yansheng.
He was cowardly; he didn’t dare.
He didn’t know what happened afterward, and he didn’t dare ask, but the next day Gu Yansheng suddenly quit his job. He figured something must have happened to Gu Yansheng that night.
Later, when Xuan Chiyi came to the bar looking for Gu Yansheng, he had even sold Gu Yansheng’s phone number.
At the mere thought of this, Zhang Fang felt too guilty to look Gu Yansheng in the eye.
Gu Yansheng knew nothing about all of this. Seeing his former coworker actually made him quite happy, and he even recommended a few well-reviewed milk teas to him.
While waiting for the milk tea to be prepared, Zhang Fang tentatively probed, “Gu Yansheng, why did you suddenly quit?”
Gu Yansheng smiled, “Nothing much, I just wanted to change jobs after working one for too long.”
Zhang Fang let out an “oh,” then asked, “Did you change your phone number?” Later on, when Zhang Fang tried calling Gu Yansheng again, it had turned into an out-of-service number.
Gu Yansheng replied that his phone had broken, so he just changed his number in the process.
Zhang Fang asked again, “Then has anyone come looking for you afterwards?”
Gu Yansheng said no.
He suddenly remembered to ask Zhang Fang, “Nobody came looking for me after I left, right?”
Zhang Fang thought about it, “One person came looking for you, but our boss said you had already quit and didn’t know your phone number, so that man left.”
Gu Yansheng asked, “Was he tall and big, and looked very fierce?”
Tall and big fit the description, but that man didn’t look particularly fierce.
Zhang Fang nodded.
Gu Yansheng understood; sure enough, Xuan Chiyi had come looking for him. Fortunately, he had quit early.
When leaving, Gu Yansheng asked him a favor: if anyone ever came looking for him, to just say they didn’t know where he was.
When Zhang Fang returned to his rented apartment, he received a call from home.
“Fang, your dad’s health isn’t good again, he’s hospitalized once more. The hospital admission fees and medical expenses all cost money. Can you spare a bit of cash? Your younger sister and brother’s tuition fees are due immediately.”
Hanging up the phone and looking at the cramped rented room, Zhang Fang felt suffocated.
Where on earth was he supposed to get this much money? Out of his monthly salary, he only kept the absolute minimum for living expenses and rent, while sending the rest back home.
Both his younger brother and sister were in high school; they studied hard and were very sensible.
The family relied solely on their mother’s labor because his father had been paralyzed in bed after getting injured working in a factory many years ago, losing his ability to work and leaving his mother to support the entire family all by herself.
Zhang Fang flipped through his phone, thinking of asking the boss to advance a month’s salary, but the boss hadn’t replied to him yet.
While waiting, he suddenly scrolled across an unfamiliar phone number.
This number was the one Xuan Chiyi had left him previously, stating that if he ever saw Gu Yansheng, he should give him a call, and there would be a heavy reward.
Zhang Fang wrestled with the thought for a long time, silently chanting in his heart: Gu Yansheng, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.
After a long while, Zhang Fang dialed that number.
“Mr. Xuan, hello. May I ask if what you said last time still counts? I know where Gu Yansheng is.”