Chapter 89

Qu Xuesong said, “Do you believe it?”

Lin Yuewei, who had already given up struggling on instinct, said: “...”

Believe your crazy ass. Couldn’t she show a little mercy and let her go?

Qu Xuesong stared at her for a while. Lin Yuewei still didn’t say anything, so Qu Xuesong let go of her, gave a familiar cold snort through her nose, flicked her hand, and walked off.

Wang Yuanyuan hurried over at a trot. “Weiwei, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Lin Yuewei watched her retreating back and said with lingering fear, “What the hell was that about?”

“I recorded the whole thing, so we don’t have to worry about them twisting the story on us.” Wang Yuanyuan pointed at the phone in her hand and straightened Lin Yuewei’s collar.

Lin Yuewei said, “I really don’t get it. What exactly was she trying to do? Should I ask Sister Chen about it?”

Wang Yuanyuan said, “If you want to ask, go ahead, but Sister Chen probably doesn’t know either.”

Lin Yuewei thought so too. Still uneasy, she went back to her little folding stool and sat down, telling Wang Yuanyuan to stay close and keep an eye on her. If Qu Xuesong came at her like that two more times, she was afraid she really would lose control and hit back.

No one had ever grabbed her by the collar and lifted her around like a chick since she was little. If she weren’t in the industry and unable to act freely, Lin Yuewei would have thrown a punch already.

Qu Xuesong strolled back to her own lounge. Her assistant, trailing behind her, finally couldn’t hold back and said, “Xuesong, wasn’t that a little too much today?”

“How was I too much?”

“Sure, she’s a newcomer, but she’s still from Guoshi Entertainment. Her agent, Chen Xuan, is no nobody. We’re all in the same circle; we might run into each other again someday.”

“No, what did I even do?” Qu Xuesong sat down in the makeup chair, picked up a comb from the vanity, and ran it through her long hair, which had been messed up by the wind outside, with an amused smile.

“You don’t know what you did?”

“How would I know? What did you see?”

“What did I see? Everyone on set saw it.” The assistant’s temper flared. “I also saw Lin Yuewei’s assistant record the whole thing on her phone. If someone buys a bunch of promo posts later saying you’re acting like a diva and bullying a newbie on set—”

Qu Xuesong raised a hand to stop her. She turned her head to look over, and the assistant shut up the moment she saw the expression on her face.

Qu Xuesong said with a fake smile, “Go on. Why did you stop?”

The assistant pressed her lips together and didn’t dare answer.

Qu Xuesong sighed theatrically and looked down at her from the corner of her eye. “Fang Wen, are you assuming that because your brother is my agent, you’re somebody too?”

The assistant shrank back. “...I didn’t.”

“Oh?” Qu Xuesong said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I think you’ve got quite a lot to say. Never mind you; even if your brother were standing here himself, I’d do what I want. It’s not your place to lecture me.”

A flash of viciousness crossed the assistant’s eyes. She lowered her lashes.

Qu Xuesong glanced at her freshly done nails and said, “Planning to go complain to your brother later? Say that I’m willful and won’t listen to company arrangements? I suggest you don’t waste your breath.”

She stood up and tapped the assistant’s shoulder with the comb. “I’ll call your brother right now. You’re fired.”

“Qu Xuesong!” The assistant lifted her eyes, not bothering to hide her disgust.

“Now you’re showing your true colors?” Qu Xuesong still wore that same painless smile. “Before you’re fired, I’ll give you a little life lesson: don’t think too highly of yourself, and don’t think too little of other people.”

The assistant flew into a rage. “You’re nothing but a woman who’ll sleep with anyone for money—”

Qu Xuesong swung the comb with lightning speed and slapped her across the face.

The assistant froze. A moment later, the swelling pain on her cheek surged up.

Qu Xuesong didn’t give her a chance to speak. She pointed at the door. “Get out.”

The assistant glared at her a few times, then left holding her face, half aggrieved and half furious.

Qu Xuesong stayed in the makeup room and waited, reading the script as she did. About an hour later, her phone finally rang; the caller ID showed her agent, Fang Lin.

Qu Xuesong answered flatly, “Has Fang Wen already told you?”

Fang Lin said, “Mm.”

Qu Xuesong asked, “So do you have anything to say to me?”

Fang Lin laughed. “No. Just calm down. The kid doesn’t know any better; sometimes she doesn’t know her place.”

Qu Xuesong pinched a corner of the script, frowning. “I don’t like people buzzing in my ear all day like a mosquito.”

“I know, I know. I’ve already lectured her. I’ll send you someone more obedient.”

“Sorry to trouble you, Brother Fang.”

“No trouble. Just focus on filming and take care of yourself.”

“Got it.”

“I’ve still got things to handle here. I’ll call you later.”

“Hang up first.”

Qu Xuesong ended the call and sank into her chair, closing her eyes for a brief nap.

***

Wang Yuanyuan poked Lin Yuewei’s shoulder. “Look, who’s that?”

Lin Yuewei followed her gaze. “Isn’t that Qu Xuesong’s assistant? Why isn’t she with her artist?”

Fang Wen was wandering around the set, checking her phone from time to time; her expression looked as if she’d suffered some grievance. Wang Yuanyuan said, “Looks like she got kicked out?”

“Looks like it to me too.” Lin Yuewei turned back. “Forget her. She’s got nothing to do with us. Hey—”

Wang Yuanyuan said, “I’ll go ask around.”

Wang Yuanyuan was an assistant, and Fang Wen was an assistant too. Although the celebrities they followed were on very different levels, no one would notice if the two of them got together.

Fang Wen made three or four phone calls in a row, but her cousin Fang Lin didn’t answer any of them. She was already annoyed and irritable when a voice suddenly sounded behind her: “Sister Wen, why are you outside?”

Lin Yuewei had just finished watching a scene in front of her when Wang Yuanyuan happened to come back.

Wang Yuanyuan leaned close to her ear and reported what she’d found out.

“Fang Wen doesn’t have much of a brain, and she was still angry, so it was easy to get it out of her. Didn’t Qu Xuesong act a little unfriendly toward you just now? Quite a few people saw it on set. Fang Wen went to talk her down a bit, and Qu Xuesong kicked her out, even said she was going to fire her.”

Lin Yuewei clicked her tongue.

Then she suddenly remembered and asked, “Does that count as acting like a diva?”

Wang Yuanyuan replied, “No. At most it’s a bad temper. She didn’t throw a fit on set, and besides, we don’t even know who was right and who was wrong.”

Wang Yuanyuan added, “Oh right, Qu Xuesong’s agent, Fang Lin, is her cousin. She’s probably on the phone trying to complain to her cousin right now. Tell me, isn’t she stupid? Unless Fang Lin is just as brainless as she is, complaining is pointless. If she really had the ability, with such a powerful cousin, she wouldn’t still just be an assistant; he’d have given her some random job long ago.”

What were Qu Xuesong and Fang Lin? Partners. They both had huge value to exploit in each other. Qu Xuesong had used Fang Lin’s connections to break into the top tier, and Fang Lin had also seen his status rise sharply because he’d pushed out a hot star like Qu Xuesong. They complemented each other; how could a mere Fang Wen damage the surface harmony between them?

Lin Yuewei snorted. “Maybe Fang Lin will end up apologizing to Qu Xuesong and telling her not to be angry.”

Wang Yuanyuan said, “Exactly.”

The two of them noticed someone looking over from their side and lowered their already small voices until they made no sound at all. In the end, these matters had nothing to do with Lin Yuewei; they only added a bit more to her impression of Qu Xuesong: bad temper, and definitely not someone to provoke.

Over the next few days, Lin Yuewei kept even farther away from Qu Xuesong. But she reported the incident to Chen Xuan, and when Chen Xuan heard that Wang Yuanyuan had recorded a video, she asked for it to take a look.

Lin Yuewei asked sharply, “Does this video have any use?”

Chen Xuan said, “Keep it for now. It’s not useful at the moment; that’s not something you need to worry about. Just focus on filming. I heard from the director that you’ve been pretty serious.”

“How could I not be serious?” Lin Yuewei said.

“Learn as much as you can. I’ll come see you in a few days.” Chen Xuan glanced at her watch. “I’m about to board now. Message me on WeChat if anything comes up.”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Lin Yuewei flopped backward, her back hitting the soft bedding. She grabbed the phone by the pillow and only then realized it was already Saturday. There were no holidays while filming; unless she deliberately checked, she wouldn’t notice at all.

[Two Trees: Are you back at the Gu residence?]

Lin Yuewei sent Gu Yanqiu a message, but Gu Yanqiu didn’t reply right away.

[Two Trees: Text me back when you’re done]

After sending that, Lin Yuewei went off to handle her own business.

***

Gu Yanqiu went to the Gu house that Saturday afternoon. Only Gu Feiquan was home, and he told her that Gu Huai and He Songjun had gone out shopping.

Since their last cooperation, the relationship between Gu Yanqiu and Gu Feiquan had undergone a subtle change. It wasn’t something the eye could see, but psychologically, both of them felt that something had quietly shifted.

Gu Feiquan came down from upstairs and stood by the sofa. “Do you want to go to your room, or sit in the living room and wait?”

“The living room. I can see them first.”

“That works. I want to see too.” Gu Feiquan sat down before she did, so it wouldn’t look as if he was deliberately staying, as though Gu Yanqiu were the one copying him.

Gu Yanqiu glanced at him suspiciously.

Gu Feiquan pretended not to notice and asked the servant to bring over two glasses of water.

“Want to watch TV?”

If it had been earlier, Gu Yanqiu might have thought Gu Feiquan was deliberately provoking her and trying to put on airs, but now she looked at him with a hard-to-describe expression and said nothing.

Gu Feiquan realized what he’d said and awkwardly shut up.

This was the place where Gu Yanqiu had lived for more than twenty years; Gu Feiquan had only lived here for a few months, and yet he’d already naturally started treating himself like the master. Habit, once it settled in, was truly frightening.

The two of them drank their water in silence for a while.

The servant was in the kitchen making some small pastries, and none of the other staff were lingering around the living room. Gu Yanqiu finally broke the silence and asked Gu Feiquan, “About the thing I asked you last time...”

Gu Feiquan shook his head.

Gu Yanqiu said, “You didn’t ask, or what?”

Last time, Gu Yanqiu had asked Gu Feiquan to verify whether Shen Huaiyu knew about He Songjun’s existence and whether she’d had any contact with Gu Huai after marrying him.

Gu Feiquan said, “After I got back, I went through all my memories from childhood to now. I really didn’t find any suspicious trace of your mother. I also asked my mom, but you know how she is; she has deep resentment toward your mother. The second I mentioned your mother’s name, she completely lost control of her emotions and started cursing without restraint. I tried probing indirectly a few times, and besides getting angry, she also said whether I’d forgotten the grudge between our families. Hearing parents go on and on gets really annoying, you know.”

Gu Yanqiu didn’t know. She had never once been nagged at by Shen Huaiyu since she was little.

Gu Feiquan went on, “She also kept urging me to find a girlfriend. One night, I wasn’t I going to talk to you about something? When I went home and changed clothes, she saw me and thought I’d met a girl I liked, and she kept telling me to hurry up. Sigh.”

Gu Yanqiu immediately caught the key point and frowned. “Why did you go home to change clothes?”

Gu Feiquan: “...”

He explained, “I got my suit dirty with coffee at the company.”

Gu Yanqiu nodded. “Oh.”

Gu Feiquan emphasized it again. “My suit really was stained by coffee.”

Gu Yanqiu looked at him strangely. “I heard you. Why are you saying it again?”

Gu Feiquan fell silent.

Gu Yanqiu thought: So weird.

She said, “If there’s a chance, help me ask again.”

“I...” Gu Feiquan almost blurted out, Why should I help you ask again? After all this time, you still haven’t told me anything. The words surged to his lips, but for some reason he swallowed them back. “I’ll do my best.”

Gu Yanqiu gave him a nod. “Thanks for your trouble.”

Gu Feiquan said quietly, “No need to be polite.”

Gu Yanqiu glanced at him again.

Gu Feiquan not only sat opposite her feeling uncomfortable all over, but her occasional glances also made him restless and uneasy, as if he was about to give himself away, even though he didn’t know what exactly he could possibly give away.

He couldn’t take it anymore and stood up. “I’m going back to my room.”

Gu Yanqiu said, “Oh. Go ahead.”

Gu Feiquan glared at her and went upstairs.

Gu Yanqiu: “???”

Why did Lin Yuewei like glaring at her, and now this cheap brother liked glaring at her too?

Speaking of Lin Yuewei, Gu Yanqiu pulled out her phone, unlocked it, and stared at the wallpaper on her home screen, which was a selfie Lin Yuewei had sent her. She drifted off for a bit, wondering what Lin Yuewei was doing now; she was probably filming hard again.

Gu Yanqiu scrolled through Lin Yuewei’s Weibo once more, checking in like clockwork, and left a comment under each post from top to bottom. By the time she got to the twentieth one, the sound of a car came from outside.

Gu Yanqiu put away her phone and smoothed away the smile on her face.

Gu Huai and He Songjun came in hand in hand. If she ignored the fact that she was the daughter of Shen Huaiyu and Gu Huai, and the fact that Gu Huai had remarried quickly after his wife’s death, Gu Yanqiu thought she would probably offer her blessings to this couple, who did seem very much in love.

He Songjun was the quintessential little woman. No matter how much hatred she felt for Gu Huai in her heart, in this setting she couldn’t help revealing a few traces of genuine happiness; even the smile she gave Gu Yanqiu carried a rare sincerity. “Yanqiu, why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”

Gu Yanqiu said, “I told Big Brother.”

Gu Feiquan, who had also come down the stairs after hearing the car and was standing on the landing: “???”

He Songjun looked at Gu Feiquan reproachfully. “You child, why didn’t you let us know your little sister was here?”

Gu Feiquan said, “...I forgot.” He took the blame calmly.

Gu Yanqiu raised a brow.

Gu Feiquan turned back and looked up the stairs behind him, quickly smothering the corners of his mouth.

With his calm face restored, Gu Feiquan came over to take the shopping bag from Gu Huai and clicked his tongue. “Mom, really, why did you buy so much again?”

“Your dad told me to buy it.”

Gu Huai smiled indulgently from the side, like an ordinary husband doting on his wife.

For some reason, Gu Feiquan glanced in Gu Yanqiu’s direction, and his eyes met her lowered long lashes. A sudden bitterness rose in his chest; after setting the shopping bag on the sofa, he stopped speaking.

After noticing his son’s odd mood, Gu Huai also looked over. A trace of hesitation and pain flashed in his eyes.

Gu Huai paused and said, “Yanqiu, come with me. I have something to say to you.”

He Songjun and her son watched as Gu Huai and Gu Yanqiu went upstairs.

The smile on He Songjun’s face gradually disappeared. She said to Gu Feiquan, “Can’t you be a little more promising? When have you ever seen your dad go find you alone to talk?”

Gu Feiquan was in a bad mood and didn’t want to put on an act with her. He said bluntly, “If you’ve already got the advantage, don’t act innocent.”

“When have I ever gotten the advantage and acted innocent?”

“You know yourself.”

“Say that clearly!”

Gu Feiquan shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded upward. “You know damn well Dad only called her away because he feels guilty for neglecting Gu Yanqiu. However you look at it, she’s still Gu Huai’s biological daughter. Don’t go too far.”

“How am I going too far? It’d be best if Gu Huai never paid attention to her.”

“Mom.” Gu Feiquan frowned deeply.

He Songjun instantly blew up. “What’s wrong with you? Recently you’ve been taking her side, and even speaking up for her dead mother. Whose son are you exactly? Or has that woman cast some spell on you, making you—”

“Mom,” Gu Feiquan cut her off sharply, anger in his voice. “Watch what you say!”

“I won’t watch it. I’m going to say it. Do you still remember who brought our mother and son to this point? Aside from her damn, and now very much dead, mother, it’s that little bast—mmph—”

Gu Feiquan clamped a hand tightly over He Songjun’s mouth and fixed her with a fierce stare.

He Songjun: “Mmph mmph!” (Let go!)

She bit down on the web of his hand. Gu Feiquan winced, but he didn’t release her; frowning, he warned her, “Don’t talk nonsense again.”

She was, after all, his biological mother, and He Songjun couldn’t bear to keep biting. She nodded. Gu Feiquan let go, and He Songjun immediately started throwing a tantrum. “A rebellion! A rebellion! My son’s hitting his mother!”

Gu Feiquan: “...”

He Songjun shouted, “Where are you going? Stop right there!”

Gu Feiquan headed upstairs without looking back, leaving her cursing and complaining behind him.

Gu Huai led Gu Yanqiu into the study and handed her a book, saying it was something he’d been reading lately and that he wanted her to read it too. It was obvious that Gu Huai hadn’t known how to deal with things downstairs just now, and had hurriedly brought Gu Yanqiu upstairs to create the current situation.

Looking at the white hair at Gu Huai’s temples, Gu Yanqiu suddenly said, “Does my mom love you?”

Gu Huai kept his head down and ran his fingers along the edge of the desk. After a long moment, he finally gave a bitter smile and said, “Is that question that important?”

“It’s not important to me, but isn’t it important to you, Dad?”

“No.” Gu Huai shook his head and looked at her. “It’s not important to me either. She spent the second half of her life by my side, and even in the end, I was the one with her until the very end.”

“Dad.”

“Mm.”

“Really not important?” Gu Yanqiu met his gaze and asked again.

Gu Huai’s eyes suddenly reddened. He lifted his face and looked at the study ceiling. His throat worked; he opened his mouth, but in the end all he did was gesture for her to leave.

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

Gu Yanqiu backed to the study door and pulled it shut.

The instant the door closed, she saw Gu Huai cover his eyes with his hand.

She turned around and found Gu Feiquan standing at the door.

Gu Feiquan’s face was dark. He invited her again, saying, “Talk?”

After hesitating for a long while, Gu Yanqiu nodded.

The two of them went to the rooftop terrace on the top floor.

The autumn wind howled, their clothes whipping in the gusts. Gu Yanqiu looked out into the vast sky and asked, “Can I trust you?”

Gu Feiquan, standing a few steps away, looked toward the farthest point of her gaze and replied, “I’m not the same as my mother. If you don’t trust me, you can still change your mind and not tell me now.”

“I know you’re not the same as your mother.”

“When did you realize?”

“Probably the last time you agreed to help me.”

“I thought I hid it pretty well.”

“Then why did you answer me just now?”

“Which line?”

“The one where I said I was going home.”

“Maybe because I’m kind?” Gu Feiquan lowered his head and laughed.

Gu Yanqiu also smiled. “Then I’m kind too.”

“Since two rare kind people in this world have met, let’s get to know each other again.” Gu Feiquan turned toward Gu Yanqiu and held out a hand. “My name is He Feiquan. Nice to meet you.”

“Gu Yanqiu. Me too.”

“By the way, I’ve never thought about taking what belongs to you.”

“I never thought you could take what’s in my hands either.”

“Pretty arrogant, aren’t you?”

“Try it and you’ll know.”

The two of them clasped hands and looked at each other with a smile. Their faces, each bearing two points of resemblance to the other, reflected in one another’s eyes, tugging at the bloodline that connected them.

After they let go, Gu Yanqiu said, “I’m going to tell you now.”

Gu Feiquan said, “Wait.”

Gu Yanqiu said, “What is it?”

Gu Feiquan brought three fingers together and swore to the sky, “If I let anyone else know what you tell me today, then may I be poor and destitute for the rest of my life and die an unhappy death.”

Gu Yanqiu: “...”

Gu Feiquan flashed a grin, all white teeth. “Double insurance.”

After a while, she turned her face away and murmured with a light laugh, “...So childish.”

The childish big boy Gu Feiquan didn’t hear that. He urged, “Hurry up, hurry up.”

Gu Yanqiu told him everything she had found out about her mother, leaving some parts hidden; even so, what she revealed was enough for Gu Feiquan to digest for a while. Gu Feiquan raised a hand and closed his own jaw, saying, “Since your mother was gay, why did she marry Gu Huai?”

“I don’t know. Maybe something happened in her relationship.” Gu Yanqiu had previously gone to find Uncle Jiao, the family’s former driver. He said that the first time her father met her mother was on a snowy day; she had been wandering the street in a daze when his car brushed her and knocked her down.

“Did she break up with someone? Or did her girlfriend die?”

“I don’t know who her girlfriend was.” Gu Yanqiu shook her head.

She had asked her great-uncle, as well as a few other elderly villagers found by Mr. Liu, and none of them knew what the female classmate Shen Huaiyu had once brought home was called. Forget the name; they didn’t even know her surname.

“My great-uncle said that back then everyone in the village just called her ‘the college student.’ College students were so rare; why would they need a name? One title was enough. The college student was shy and afraid in the village, and she was almost always with my mom. Whatever the villagers asked, my mom answered; no one even needed to know her name.”

“Where did your mother go to school?” Gu Feiquan thought about it and asked.

Gu Yanqiu said, “C University.” Once they’d found Yangqing Village, it was easy to find out where exactly her mother had gone to college.

Gu Feiquan said, “How about starting from C University? First check her closest classmates or dorm mates. By probability, classmates or dorm mates are the most likely to develop same-sex feelings; after that, students from the same grade, and then expand to the whole school.”

“Wouldn’t that be too much work?”

“Are you stupid?” Gu Feiquan lightly flicked her forehead with a bent finger. “Your mom was that beautiful; would people in her class and grade not remember her? She might even have been a campus beauty. Ask who that campus beauty was close to back then, and wouldn’t you be able to find out who her girlfriend really was?”

Gu Yanqiu, who had been fogged over by successive shocks these past few days, was struck like lightning into sudden clarity. She immediately wanted to call Mr. Liu, but then she belatedly glanced at Gu Feiquan and reached up to touch her own forehead.

“Did you just...”

Gu Feiquan swiftly hid his hand behind his back and shook his head frantically. “No. I didn’t do anything.”

Author’s Note: Will the truth be uncovered? ╰(*°▽°*)╯