Bickering back and forth like this every few days didn’t affect his mood, but Xuan Congnan was someone who detested trouble.
He wanted to completely break away from Xuan Ye’s household.
Now that he was on his own, even if he moved out to live elsewhere, Zhuo Yajun would still claim that he was a person of the Xuan family in life and a ghost of the Xuan family in death.
Forget it. Generally speaking, life was still stable, and he hoped it would stay that way.
The morning breeze blew across his face. Wearing long sleeves and long pants, Xuan Congnan jogged along the lake in the park, the long hair at his forehead already damp with sweat.
Before coming out, he had asked Gu Shi if he wanted to run together, to which Gu Shi replied, “I can’t go out.”
Xuan Congnan had only asked out of routine courtesy anyway, so upon hearing this, he merely nodded and had no interest in getting to the bottom of it.
When changing into his sneakers, he thought of that 20,000-yuan sum and raised his head to say, “What do you want to eat? I’ll bring back breakfast.”
Gu Shi said, “Whatever you eat, I’ll eat.”
The seaweed and vegetable rice sushi from last night hadn’t been finished and was in the small fridge; it could serve as a part of breakfast.
Otherwise, it would go to waste, especially with the weather being so hot now.
Gu Shi’s remark of “good that you broke up” deeply resonated with him. An ex-boyfriend who treated him as someone else’s substitute breaking up with him was indeed for the best.
“Xiaoxuan, out running again.” The early-rising elderly people doing morning exercises in the residential compound waved and greeted Xuan Congnan.
Xuan Congnan waved back: “Mm.”
Just as he ran a few meters past them, an elderly woman said to an elderly man, “This child is truly self-disciplined.”
The surface of the lake rippled gently with the breeze. Xuan Congnan took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling as though he could run two more laps.
A long queue had formed at the entrance of the breakfast shop. Young women munched on sandwiches while hurrying toward the subway station entrance, and taxis parked by the roadside waiting for customers. Xuan Congnan’s eyes scanned continuously through the lively, bustling scenes before him.
Suddenly, he thought: if Gu Shi were here, would these people look at him the same way those people did last night?
When leaving police station, Officer Li seemed to have said, “Put on your mask properly and don’t cause traffic congestion.”
Xuan Congnan gradually slowed his pace, bent over with his hands on his knees to rest.
After regulating his breathing, he straightened up, pulled out his phone, and opened the browser to search for the name “Gu Shi.”
No TikTok, no Weibo, no various mobile games—his phone ran too slowly, and he never downloaded useless clutter.
Three minutes later, Xuan Congnan looked at the basic information provided by the browser and stood silently for a long time.
Top traffic celebrity, actor.
60+ million fans.
Xuan Congnan tucked a stray lock of long hair that had fallen forward behind his ear, scratched his forehead with the tip of his index finger, recalled a phrase his classmates used to say, and murmured, “CPU burnt out.”
Entangled with a person like this—even if it was only for a month of cohabitating—if his fans or some media spotted them, would he still be able to live in peace in the future?
Thinking about it now, Xuan Congnan felt a lingering trace of fear that Xuan Zhuoyao had come over this morning.
If he hadn’t made Gu Shi go back to the bedroom and lock the door, a big-mouthed gossip like Xuan Zhuoyao would definitely have spread it everywhere.
No, he couldn’t afford to have such a dangerous and uncertain factor lingering in his home.
Xuan Congnan opened his balance, stared at the 20,000 yuan that had just been deposited yesterday, and prepared to transfer it back to Gu Shi.
He was reluctant. He needed to save money.
He opened his bank account instead, which showed a savings balance of 688,512.88 yuan.
Adding these 20,000 brought it to just over 700,000.
It took him six years to save this much money, and every single dime came with immense difficulty. He needed even more.
At this rate, when on earth would he ever save twenty million? When would he be able to…
Perhaps there was never any possibility of it in this lifetime.
Without these 20,000 yuan, his progress would drop back by another notch.
The Pinduoduo order showed that the 1.2-meter-wide simple wooden bed and mattress bought last night had already been shipped.
Xuan Congnan thought to himself that Gu Shi was only staying for a month, which would pass quickly.
Returning home belatedly and empty-handed, Xuan Congnan pushed open the door to see Gu Shi making a phone call in the living room. Remembering that he had forgotten to buy breakfast, he gripped the doorknob, pulled it shut, retreated back outside with a “bang,” and left.
Gu Shi’s cry of “Congnan” didn’t even make it out before he was already gone without a trace.
“Gu Shi? Where are you right now? Ancestor, can you stop playing disappearing acts!” The agent’s voice was practically cracking.
After finishing an advertising endorsement shoot yesterday afternoon, he should have been able to head back that evening, but Gu Shi had performed a live magic trick of human disappearance right on the spot and couldn’t even be reached, scaring him half to death.
The agent said, “You still have work today, get back here!!”
The agent chattered away endlessly on the other end, but Gu Shi didn’t take in a single word. He simply said, “Something came up, hanging up.”
Xuan Congnan’s expression didn’t look right; it was as if something had exceeded his range of understanding. Fearing that Xuan Congnan wouldn’t return, Gu Shi picked up the face mask on the table, pressed it to his face, and prepared to chase after him.
The door opened from the inside. Xuan Congnan grabbed empty air where the handle should have been and raised his eyelids in puzzlement.
He had bought a few steamed buns and two cups of eight-treasure porridge downstairs. Standing face to face with Gu Shi in the doorway, neither of them spoke.
Then, Xuan Congnan snapped back to his senses first and hurriedly pushed Gu Shi back into the living room, asking, “Are you going out? Is someone coming to pick you up?”
Gu Shi said, “No.”
Xuan Congnan asked bizarrely, “Then you want to go out in broad daylight just to be watched like a monkey in a zoo?”
Gu Shi took off his mask: “I saw your complexion didn’t look too good and thought you weren’t coming back.”
Xuan Congnan found it even more bizarre. “This is my home,” he said.
Gu Shi replied, “True.”
“There are still some sushi rolls in the fridge, and I have steamed buns and porridge here,” Xuan Congnan said, placing the breakfast on the table. “If you’re not full, buy some more yourself.”
Gu Shi said, “I’m full.”
“I broke into a sweat running, so I’m going to take a shower first.” Xuan Congnan walked into the bedroom, locked the door, and came out about twenty minutes later.
Ignoring his half-dry long hair, he sat down on the sofa wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and light blue jeans, picked up a meat bun to bite into, and proactively broke the ice: “I… am rather out of touch with the internet.”
The moisture at the tips of his hair condensed into droplets and dripped onto his clothes. Gu Shi raised his gaze and said, “Mm?”
He understood: “You went online?”
Xuan Congnan poked open a cup of porridge with a straw and said, “I like a quiet life.”
Gu Shi: “I am very quiet.”
“I know,” Xuan Congnan took a sip of his porridge and said, “but your status is special. I don’t have time to pay attention to those internet things, nor do I watch TV though people who don’t recognize you like me are rare. If others were to spot you here…”
“I’ll be well-behaved,” Gu Shi interrupted him, “and won’t let others see me.”
That didn’t sound like something a mere roommate would say… Xuan Congnan glanced at him.
He couldn’t understand what on earth was driving Gu Shi to be so stubbornly determined to stay here. Xuan Congnan had lived here for nearly three years, yet today felt as though he had just moved in, as he quietly glanced around the room’s arrangement. There was nothing out of the ordinary could there be gold and diamonds hidden beneath the floorboards?
Xuan Congnan said, “The bed is bought, and you can stay here. But we need to establish three rules.”
Gu Shi sat upright and attentive: “Go ahead.”
“First, when you handle work and leave my place, you must be fully disguised and leave quickly so no one else discovers you,” Xuan Congnan stated. “Second, even though we hit it off and are roommates for a month, it’s inevitable we might run into each other outside in the future. If that really happens, you cannot nod at me, let alone speak to me or greet me, and I will do the same to you.”
Gu Shi lowered his gaze and said, “Mm.”
Xuan Congnan said, “Third, you must not tell anyone that you are living at my place.”
He glanced at the tabletop: “Your phone is vibrating.”
Gu Shi snapped out of it and pressed the answer button.
The call volume was turned up to maximum, and since Xuan Congnan was sitting close by, he could hear some sounds coming from the other end.
It probably wasn’t an important call, as Gu Shi didn’t walk away to listen in private.
The agent’s furious voice came booming through: “Gu Shi, what right do you have to hang up on my call! What right do you have not to answer my calls!”
Gu Shi pulled a steamed bun from the plastic bag and ate it as if it were a French steak.
Elegant and dignified.
His tone was cold: “Didn’t hear it.”
The agent demanded, “Where on earth are you?! Tell me quickly! I’m coming to pick you up! Stop messing around, will you!”
“A friend’s place. You can’t come.” Gu Shi took a slow, unhurried sip of his porridge.
“What friend could you possibly have there that I don’t know about! Don’t lie to me!” the agent asked. “Why can’t I go?”
Gu Shi glanced at Xuan Congnan and obediently reported, “He won’t let anyone know I’m living at his place.”
Xuan Congnan: “…”
The agent roared: “How come you were never this obedient before?!”
Gu Shi hung up the phone, temporarily blocked the agent, and explained, “My agent.”
Xuan Congnan maintained a poker face: “Rule number three of our three rules was something I just said.”
Third, you must not tell anyone that you are living at my place.
“My apologies,” Gu Shi said in a low voice with a good attitude. “I hadn’t managed to agree to it yet just now and thought it was allowed.”
Not mentioning names was a minor issue. Xuan Congnan said, “You aren’t allowed to say it from now on.”
Gu Shi nodded immediately: “Mm.”
After a pause, he asked, “Can’t I even tell family?”
Xuan Congnan gave him a suspicious look: “Hm?”
Gu Shi said, “If my family calls and asks where I am, can I tell them? They’re elders, so they definitely want to know my location and whereabouts; otherwise, they’ll worry.”
Family…
Xuan Congnan made a concession, saying, “Family is fine.”
Gu Shi said, “Alright.”
“I have a class at nine-thirty this morning and am heading to school now. I won’t be back at noon, so handle your own lunch. Do whatever you want, as long as you firmly remember the three rules.” Xuan Congnan slid a glass water cup into his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and said, “You can send a message if anything comes up, and I’ll reply when I see it. However, my phone runs rather slowly, so sometimes I don’t receive notifications.”
Gu Shi stood up to walk him to the door and called out, “Congnan.”
They had only known each other for a day, but this name rolled off his tongue so naturally and resolutely, as if they had known each other for a very long time.
Xuan Congnan turned around. Aside from knowing Gu Shi was an actor, there was no record of a person named Gu Shi in his previous memories.
“What is it?” he asked.
The houses in this residential compound were all older constructions, lacking code locks or fingerprint locks. Locking the door required using traditional brass padlocks, which every household bought themselves.
Gu Shi said, “Can you give me a spare key to the house?”
Each lock came with three original keys, and Xuan Congnan always carried two when he went out, keeping them separate.
This was to prevent losing them all and having to smash the lock open.
A new lock cost 6 yuan, after all.
One of the keys had always been tucked deep inside the side pocket of his backpack. Without taking out his everyday keys, Xuan Congnan unzipped his bag, pushed aside his sketchbooks and lead and charcoal pencils, rummaged to the very bottom, and fished it out.
A blue dolphin keychain was attached to a gleaming silver key. The dolphin was lively and dynamic, looking as though it were leaping through an ocean bathed in sunlight.
Xuan Congnan handed the spare key to Gu Shi and said, “A single key is too lonely, so I’ll give you the keychain too. Don’t lose it little dolphins cost two yuan, you know.”