ABRBEPAEI 50

Chapter 50: Gu Ye’s Two Faces

A little after 3 PM, Gu Fei was sitting at his desk, working. He had changed clothes, and the weariness on his face had lessened considerably. He had returned to his usual serious, proper, and unapproachable, indifferent demeanor.

A knock sounded at the door. Gu Fei didn’t take his eyes off the documents in front of him, only saying softly, “Come in.” He had expected an assistant or secretary, but it wasn’t.

“Oh, Gu Ye is still working. Truly a busy man.”

Accompanied by footsteps, a teasing voice echoed in the office. Gu Fei finally looked up from his documents, seeing An Jing walking in with a smile, seating himself uninvited on the sofa.

Gu Ye seemed to be in a good mood today, his expression far more approachable than usual. He even joked good-naturedly, “Even when I’m busy, I’m not as busy as a big star.”

“What wind blew you here?” Gu Fei stood, walked to the sofa next to An Jing, poured a glass of water, and pushed it towards An Jing.

An Jing thought for a moment. “Hmm… the southeast wind.”

“I just finished an offline event and happened to be passing by, so I came up to brush up my presence. Otherwise, I was afraid that Gu Ye, with your many responsibilities, would forget your childhood friend.”

Gu Fei: “I see you in the entertainment headlines every day.”

“Oh, that’s great then.” An Jing said, picking up the glass and taking a sip.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, observing Gu Fei. As a longtime friend, he noticed that Gu Fei was different today, like a dry desert that had been moistened by dew.

“I say, Gu Ye, you’re a little off today, aren’t you?”

His gaze, as if transformed into substance, scanned the man from top to bottom, inside and out. The man being examined remained calm and composed, unreadable, completely concealing his thoughts.

Hmm… one idiom could summarize it: spring breeze triumphant, or beaming with happiness. It wasn’t just a surface appearance; his usual stoic face didn’t reveal much, but it emanated from within.

Gu Fei poured himself a glass of water and took a sip, remaining silent for a moment before speaking calmly, “I’m perfectly normal.”

An Jing: “No, you’re not.”

Gu Fei: “…”

“Okay, I won’t dwell on this. Are you free tonight to get together?”

Gu Fei responded, “Okay.”

“It’s settled then.” An Jing looked at his friend, whose clothing and daily life were as serious and proper as an old cadre, and couldn’t help but advise, “Gu Fei, I’ve noticed that your life is only work. This isn’t good. If you continue like this, you’ll be a lonely…”

His voice trailed off. An Jing widened his eyes uncontrollably, looking at the person walking out of the rest room. He swallowed nervously and stammered the last three words, “…old bachelor.”

Lin Qingyan, who had just come out of the rest room, also froze.

“…”

When he had been held by Gu Fei in the same bed, Lin Qingyan had been nervous and ashamed, but he didn’t know when he fell asleep. He admired himself for being able to sleep in such a strange atmosphere.

When he woke up, he didn’t even know where he was. The man beside him was gone. He got out of bed, opened the door in a daze, still rubbing his sleepy eyes.

Then, he was shocked by the scene before him.

If his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, if he wasn’t dreaming, if he wasn’t hallucinating, then the man sitting next to Gu Fei who was also looking at him… was that An Jing?

An… Jing?!

Lin Qingyan gasped, his body reacting faster than his mind. He immediately turned back into the rest room, quickly closed the door, and covered his face with his hands.

On the other side, An Jing stared at the closed rest room, his shock no less than Lin Qingyan’s. The boy who had just woken up from Gu Fei’s private rest room was a contestant he had interviewed some time ago, Lin Qingyan?

He had a deep impression of Lin Qingyan, so he recognized him immediately. That wasn’t the shocking part. The most shocking thing was that he had come out of Gu Fei’s rest room, not someone else’s!

Gu… Fei!

The Gu Fei he had just said would be a lonely old bachelor!

An Jing stiffly turned his gaze to his friend, forcing a smile onto his face. “Friend, you should explain what’s going on here, hmm?”

Gu Fei remained with his unyielding calm expression, saying lightly, “Exactly what you saw.”

An Jing raised his eyebrows. “What? Hmm?”

“Exactly that.” Gu Fei didn’t want to explain further.

“…” An Jing wasn’t stupid. Gu Fei’s words, combined with his unusual demeanor, made it clear what was going on. Others only knew the rumors of the cold and aloof Gu Ye, who didn’t favor women.

But he had truly felt it for all these years; the rumors weren’t exaggerated. The real Gu Fei was like that – following strict rules, keeping himself pure, and maintaining a regular life schedule like an ascetic monk.

He knew Gu Fei too well, which made it even more unbelievable.

The amount of information was overwhelming. An Jing slowly sorted through the complex and indescribable thoughts in his mind. He couldn’t connect a small trainee with the CEO of Gu Corporation.

The only connection was that the kid was a trainee at Yi Hua Entertainment, and Gu Fei was the owner of that entertainment company; loosely speaking, they were boss and subordinate.

An Jing’s Adam’s apple bobbed. After a moment of contemplation, he asked with difficulty, “So, you like men?”

Gu Fei neither nodded nor shook his head, but calmly asked, “Does he look like a girl?”

An Jing: “…” So, the friend he’d known for so many years actually liked men. No, that wasn’t the most important thing… Didn’t Gu Fei’s words just now mean he admitted he liked that kid?!

Damn!

“Gu Fei, you, you, you…”

Gu Fei: “Aren’t you busy?”

An Jing’s brain was about to short-circuit. He didn’t realize what Gu Fei meant until Gu Fei confidently said again, “I’m very busy.” He finally realized that the man was subtly dismissing him.

He laughed and cried, cursing, “Gu Fei, do you still consider me a good brother?”

Gu Fei said, “I’m not trying to get rid of you, it’s just that if you stay, the kid won’t dare come out.”

“?!” An Jing suspected his ears were malfunctioning. How could Gu Fei say such a thing? However, seeing Gu Fei’s calm and confident demeanor, he couldn’t help but laugh and cry, gritting his teeth and saying, “Fine, I’ll go!”

“Gu Fei, you absolutely have to come out tonight!”

Gu Fei mercilessly refused: “No time. In a few days.”

“…”

An Jing felt everything was wrong. Just as he reached the office door, he suddenly stopped, turning back to look at the closed door, his expression a mix of emotions.

He remembered something. The last time he went to the Tomorrow Star’s audition site, he ran into Gu Fei outside. When he asked why Gu Fei was there, Gu Fei’s reply was that he was sending his family’s child to the audition.

At the time, he naively thought it was Lu Yuqi. Now, thinking back carefully, Gu Fei was clearly talking about Lin Qingyan. How could Gu Fei, a busy man, have so much free time to send his cousin for an audition? He’s not some twenty-four filial cousin.

Gu Fei, well done. Turns out you have two faces.

Lin Qingyan felt he should have checked the almanac before going out today. How could he keep encountering these embarrassing and speechless incidents? He frantically scratched his hair.

Gu Fei opened the door to the rest room and saw the boy hiding in the corner, pulling at his hair. His fair face was almost crumpled into a bun, with a few strands of hair sticking up, looking quite comical.

Seeing the man standing at the doorway, Lin Qingyan instantly jumped up like a startled bird, his hands unsure where to put them, leaning forward, trying to peek outside.

The man’s tall figure blocked his view.

“An Jing is gone,” Gu Fei walked towards the boy, reaching out to press down on the few strands of unruly hair on his head. He said softly, “What’s wrong? Are you afraid of him?”

Lin Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Gu Fei, then awkwardly shifted his gaze, saying weakly, “Actually, not really. An Jing is a mentor at Tomorrow Star’s. He was there when I auditioned last time, so it was quite surprising to see him just now.”

Thinking about it now, Gu Fei knew An Yu, and An Jing was An Yu’s older brother, so it was normal for him to know Gu Fei. He just didn’t know… if An Nanyi and Gu Fei knew each other.

Gu Fei looked at the boy’s awkward movements. “An Jing is my childhood friend.” As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the boy’s downcast eyes widen slightly, then he tried to calmly say, “Oh, I see.”

“Did you sleep well just now?”

Lin Qingyan couldn’t keep up with Gu Fei’s speed in changing the subject. Perhaps because he had just woken up and had been startled, his mind was still muddled. He nodded blankly.

After nodding, he asked Gu Fei if he could go home.

Actually, this question didn’t need to be asked. He could go wherever he wanted; it was his freedom. But the boy was so well-behaved, like a child carefully asking a parent if he could go out to play.

This time, Gu Fei didn’t stop him. He couldn’t push the person too hard. “Don’t rush. Go to the washroom to tidy yourself up before going back.” His gaze lingered on the two strands of unruly hair on the boy’s head, which had stubbornly sprung back up after he’d pressed them down.

“…” Lin Qingyan went into the washroom with an embarrassed expression.

Gu Fei had his driver send Lin Qingyan back. As soon as he left, Assistant Yang knocked and entered.

“Mr. Gu, I’ve sent the DNA samples to the testing center. The staff there said the results will be available in seven days.”

“Mm, I understand.”

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