“I don’t know if you can handle spicy food, so I didn’t ask the owner to add chili; I brought it back separately.” Xuan Congnan placed two portions of spicy hot pot so full they were practically overflowing onto the table. In his other hand, he held a small plastic box containing chili seasoning, about the size of a palm. “If you want to add some, you can put a little in.”
Gu Shi politely declined, “I can’t eat it; it’ll cause internal heat.”
Xuan Congnan unwrapped his own portion of spicy hot pot and asked, “Afraid of breaking out in pimples?”
He nodded in acknowledgment and said, “A celebrity’s face is very precious; it’s definitely not allowed to break out in pimples.”
“Mm.” Gu Shi watched him unwrap the disposable chopsticks. “Can you eat spicy food?”
Xuan Congnan: “I can. But spicy food gives me diarrhea; my digestion is weak, so I don’t eat it anymore.”
The small box of chili sat lonely in the corner, completely ignored.
“The two portions of spicy hot pot came out to 51.5 yuan. Should I refund you the remaining money?” Xuan Congnan flicked a strand of hair that had fallen over his shoulder. The sofa and table were nearly on the same level; rather than sitting on the floor, eating required bending over.
Gu Shi looked down at Xuan Congnan’s wrist, his brow slightly furrowed as he ate very slowly, and said, “This meal is worth 10,000 yuan.”
Xuan Congnan cast him a sideways glance and said, “You’re the one who said it. Don’t say I’m swindling you.”
Gu Shi said, “Mm.”
He picked up a piece of imitation crab stick and asked, “What’s wrong with your wrist?”
A circle of finger impressions, tinged with a slight bruised blue, stood out sharply against the cold, fair skin of Xuan Congnan’s arms.
Xuan Congnan didn’t answer and merely said, “It’s nothing.”
Gu Shi gave a low response: “Mm.”
Hair slipped down from the other side. Even though it was tied up, the hair tie always loosened. Xuan Congnan had a lot of hair, and unable to find a suitable hair tie, looping it once was too loose, while looping it twice was too tight.
When he first started, he would always stubbornly loop it twice, making his scalp ache; after a while, the hair tie would also lose its elasticity.
There were spares in the bedside table in the bedroom, and Xuan Congnan thought about going to get them after finishing his meal.
“Here.”
A hand reached out. Xuan Congnan appreciated all beautiful things, and this hand was extremely well-suited to being drawn on sketching paper.
He lingered for a moment on Gu Shi’s hand before being startled by the black hair tie he was holding out: “You bought this?”
Gu Shi said, “Mm.”
Xuan Congnan put down his chopsticks and pressed a tissue to the corner of his mouth: “What did you buy this for?”
“Your hair is long.” Gu Shi looked at his long hair. “When I had clothes delivered today, I happened to buy a few hair ties along with them.”
Hair ties weren’t expensive. Xuan Congnan took it and said, “Thank you.”
Gu Shi said, “Mm.”
He picked up a piece of imitation crab stick and ate it very gracefully: “You’ve been growing your hair out for a long time, right?”
This hair tie must have been a large size; looping it twice provided just the right amount of tightness exactly the firmness Xuan Congnan had always wanted. Moreover, testing its elasticity, it didn’t seem like the kind that would easily stretch out over time.
“How much is a hair tie?” Xuan Congnan asked.
Gu Shi said, “Five hundred and twenty.”
Xuan Congnan: “…”
He tentatively asked, “How many did you buy?”
Gu Shi said, “Ten.”
Xuan Congnan: “…”
He immediately yanked the hair tie off and handed it back to Gu Shi: “Return them. My hair isn’t that precious.”
He pulled too hard, and a strand of his hair was yanked out, wrapping around the hair tie. Frowning, Gu Shi said, “I’m not good at dealing with merchandise issues with others; going back and forth to return things is a hassle. It’s just a hair tie; its purpose is simply to tie up your hair, not to kidnap you.”
He added, “I bought it, so you don’t need to return it. Just use it.”
With his hair loose, its glossy sheen made him practically glow, looking as gorgeous as a waterfall: “Even if you don’t want me to return them, I only need one. Hair ties like this basically don’t break easily, so why did you buy so many?”
Gu Shi said, “Spares.”
Xuan Congnan had never cohabited with anyone before and didn’t know if other people’s roommates were like this.
Buying and giving things away entirely based on one’s own whims.
Gu Shi said, “Just take it.”
Xuan Congnan said, “I’m not someone who stands on ceremony.”
He picked up the hair tie and tied his hair back up.
Gu Shi resumed eating, the tail end of his voice lifting lightly: “Mm.”
He picked the conversation back up and asked, “How long have you been growing out your hair?”
“Ten years,” Xuan Congnan said. “Do you think it’s very strange too?”
“No,” Gu Shi shook his head. “It looks great.”
“Thank you,” Xuan Congnan said.
Gu Shi asked, “Why did you say ‘too’ just now?”
Xuan Congnan said, “My previous roommate thought it was strange.”
“Is that why you moved out to rent a place?”
“Hurry up and eat; the soup is running out.” Xuan Congnan urged Gu Shi to focus on his meal. “Anyway, I’ll cut my hair in a couple of years.”
Having agreed to meet Zhang Que at the art studio in the afternoon, Xuan Congnan cleaned up the trash for both of them, planning to take it downstairs to throw away shortly.
“Are you coming back to eat lunch in the afternoon?” Gu Shi followed him to the door and asked.
Xuan Congnan changed his shoes: “Not necessarily.”
Gu Shi said, “Come back and eat.”
“Takeout is delicious, but eating too much of it isn’t good for your health,” Xuan Congnan looked up and said. “If I’m not eating from a cafeteria, I only know how to cook plain noodles.”
Gu Shi said, “I can cook.”
Xuan Congnan was surprised, repeating, “You can cook?”
Gu Shi: “Mm. I cook very well.”
Xuan Congnan said, “So confident?”
Gu Shi nodded: “Mm.”
With a celebrity’s schedule packed so full, where would he find the time to learn this? Xuan Congnan said, “Did you pick it up because you acted in a cooking show?”
“No,” Gu Shi smiled slightly, very lightly. “I knew how before I became an actor.”
While throwing the trash into the bin, Xuan Congnan was still thinking about that smile.
Why flash such a meaningful smile to someone he’d barely met?
Returning that evening, Xuan Congnan bought groceries and dumped them all on Gu Shi to cook.
The kitchen was crude, equipped with only a stove and a gas burner; once Gu Shi stepped inside, there wasn’t room for a second person to stand.
Xuan Congnan had bought a few tomatoes, ten eggs, two yuan’s worth of water spinach, a small winter melon, and some peeled shrimp.
Combined together, it made a nutritionally balanced meal.
Using these ingredients, Gu Shi made scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried water spinach, and shrimp and winter melon soup.
When he was little and couldn’t move out from the Xuan household, Zhuo Yajun had made Xuan Congnan cook to wait on their daily routines. Xuan Congnan refused, and purposely cooked the food as unpalatably as possible, causing all of them to get food poisoning and end up in the hospital.
For this, Zhuo Yajun had needled him while hooked up to an IV: “Always boasting about being some kind of genius who can learn anything at a glance, but in reality, you can’t even cook a meal.”
Growing up, Xuan Congnan only knew how to cook plain noodles for himself. Seeing Gu Shi’s practiced movements, he really looked like someone who knew how to cook.
It smelled so good.
Sitting down at the table to sample the shrimp and winter melon soup first, Xuan Congnan’s eyes lit up slightly.
Gu Shi watched his every move: “How is it?”
Xuan Congnan picked up his bowl to ladle more soup and offered unreserved praise: “Delicious. You’re amazing.”
Gu Shi said, “Mm.”
He asked, “Can you come back for lunch tomorrow?”
“Running back and forth all the time is a hassle,” Xuan Congnan picked up a stalk of water spinach. “After you order takeout, don’t open the door immediately when the delivery worker arrives. Have him leave the takeout at the door, and only open the door to get it after he’s gone. That way, he won’t see your face.”
Gu Shi looked down at his bowl and said, “Eating too much takeout isn’t good for your health.”
Xuan Congnan: “.”
What he had said that afternoon came flying back like a boomerang.
Gu Shi said, “You buy the food and bring it back, and I’ll transfer the money to you.”
“Cough…” Xuan Congnan put down his soup bowl, glanced sideways at Gu Shi, and asked, “Every day?”
Gu Shi said, “Every day.”
Xuan Congnan: “Send a little less so I can accept it with a clear conscience. A few hundred will do.”
Gu Shi paused and immediately said, “Alright.”
From then on, every day at noon, Xuan Congnan would buy food at the cafeteria and pack it to bring home, while Gu Shi transferred 2,000 yuan daily.
Xuan Congnan wasn’t polite about it whenever it was sent, he accepted it.
On the third day, the simple wooden bed and mattress arrived together.
Gu Shi had paid 20,000 yuan in rent, and initially, Xuan Congnan had intended to let him live in the bedroom.
But after learning they were both gay, he felt it was inconvenient.
20,000 yuan in rent didn’t change that.
“I’ll move the sofa into the bedroom; is it okay for you to live in the living room?” Having taken tens of thousands of yuan from the guy, Xuan Congnan lacked confidence when speaking. “Anyway, it’s only for a month, and there are still twenty-some days left.”
Gu Shi said, “Alright.”
These past few days, Shen Qian kept coming to the school, and Xuan Congnan avoided him. Whether going to class or heading to the art studio, he first had to scout out whether the surroundings were safe, leaving Xuan Congnan feeling irritated.
Coming home for lunch every day had somehow become a haven, plus he got to pocket 2,000 yuan.
However, Shen Qian knew where his rental place was.
Xuan Congnan was afraid that if Shen Qian couldn’t corner him at school, he might track him down to the rental place and there was still a Gu Shi inside.
Though he was happy to receive 2,000 yuan every day, the potential future celebrity effect worried Xuan Congnan.
He just wanted to live a stable life.
With celebrities being so busy, why did Gu Shi spend all day cooped up at home without going out? Aside from eating, it was cooking.
When a day passed and it was time to leave the art studio, Xuan Congnan stood far back by the window and looked out. Shen Qian was parked downstairs by the art studio, still driving that black Maybach.
It had been many days; he never knew Shen Qian liked him this much before.
Xuan Congnan frowned. Being the only one left in the art studio, he locked the door and left through another exit.
“Gu Shi, do you know how many jobs have been canceled these past few days? People online are cursing you to death, especially me—I’m practically getting shredded to pieces. They’re all saying I’m the one stopping you from working, but how could I have that kind of ability? You have an exclusive interview tonight, and it still hasn’t been pushed back. Are you sure you’re still not going to tell me where you are?” Without shouting or yelling, the agent was thoroughly exhausted, sounding like he was about to cry. “I’ve managed you for seven years. Even though you’ve always done things your own way and others can’t sway your decisions, you’ve never been like this before. Can you tell the difference between work and messing around? When you were 18, an unscrupulous agent tried to force you to dine with a corporate executive, and you beat the guy up and got shelved. But now you have fame and status, and I’m a good agent when have I ever made you dine with anyone?! Besides, if I dared to do that, wouldn’t your parents tear me to shreds? But you can’t throw a diva tantrum just because you’re a top celebrity now and have a good family background.”
“I want to tell you too,” Gu Shi said coldly to the phone. “He won’t let me.”
Agent: “Who won’t let you?!”
Gu Shi said, “Him.”
The agent went crazy, roaring, “Who is ‘him’?!'”
Gu Shi said, “Can’t say. We have three rules.”
“Ahhhhhhh, dammit—why weren’t you this obedient before?!” The agent viciously yanked at his own hair. “Just watch me go complain to your mother!”
Within a few minutes, he truly did file a complaint, and Madam Gu’s call came through.
Gu Shi answered in silence.
Madam Gu, whose name was Meng Xiaozhu, spoke in a soft voice with a gentle southern cadence: “My son.”
Gu Shi responded, “Mom.”
“Oh,” Meng Xiaozhu said cautiously, “Xiao Hu just called me, saying you’ve been missing for ages and that Mommy hasn’t seen you on her phone either. I thought you were busy so I didn’t dare ask where are you right now? What are you doing? Why aren’t you working at all? Before, when your dad and I told you to take a rest, you wouldn’t take it seriously at all. Last month, your younger brother was even saying you’re a workaholic.”
Certain details of the three rules could be disclosed to family.
Gu Shi said, “Watching someone so he doesn’t run away.”
Meng Xiaozhu drew in a breath, then immediately said, “Oh, go ahead then, go ahead! Mommy will help you pay the penalty for breach of contract!”
“Click.”
The front door made a sound from the outside.
As soon as he pushed the door open, Gu Shi was—just like the past few days—busy with some trivial chores in the living room.
Xuan Congnan watched him sweep the floor and clean the tabletop.
“Wipe it again, and you’re going to strip the finish right off the table,” he said.
Gu Shi stopped: “I won’t wipe it anymore.”
There was no sofa left in the living room, so Xuan Congnan placed his backpack at the foot of Gu Shi’s bed, dragged over a plastic stool to sit on, and then sat with his arms crossed, staring intently at Gu Shi.
Gu Shi lowered his gaze a beat too late, looked at himself, and asked, “Is there something dirty on me?”
Xuan Congnan scrutinized him: “Gu Shi, don’t you have any work at all? Your career drive is this low?”
“I have work.” Gu Shi immediately said with a serious expression, “My career drive is very strong. There’s an exclusive interview tonight, and I’m heading out right now.”
He began searching for the formal wear he needed to wear for work, dug out the mask he had washed and stopped wearing, along with a newly bought hat, and said, “I’ll be back around ten o’clock. Remember to leave the door unlocked for me.”
When he left, he took the little dolphin key Xuan Congnan had given him.