The discomfort in his body made Gu Xichi suck in a cold breath. The man on the floor slept deeply—even this didn’t wake him, which saved Gu Xichi a lot of trouble.

Clothes on the floor trailed from the doorway all the way to the bed, scattered everywhere in utter disarray.

Gu Xichi pressed his lips together into a straight line, frowning as his gaze swept over his shirt torn to shreds.

Unable to hold back for a moment, he cursed softly again: “Bastard.”

Picking through items on the floor, he finally found Bo Yu’s intact clothes. Gu Xichi hastily pulled them on, then drew out a stack of bills from his wallet and placed them on the nightstand.

The meaning was obvious.

They were both adults. After last night, they’d stay out of each other’s way, not interfering with each other.

Having done this, Gu Xichi scooped up his forgotten phone from the carpet, dusted himself off, and left decisively.

He didn’t consider the man’s reaction upon waking at all, nor did he care whether he had clothes to wear.

After leaving it unattended all night, as soon as he turned on his phone, countless bright red missed calls filled the screen.

Most were from Father Gu.

Out of sight, out of mind—Gu Xichi immediately swiped to delete them and contacted a car to pick him up downstairs at the hotel.

As soon as he got in the car, his bottom touched the seat, and Gu Xichi’s brow furrowed sharply. He then struggled to find the most comfortable sitting position.

“Just drop me off at Tianjiao Apartment Complex.”

Gu Xichi didn’t live at the Gu family home. The warm harmony of the four-person Gu family was incompatible with him. Rather than annoy people, he’d simply rented a small apartment near his company to live alone.

Coincidentally, it suited their wishes too.

He’d been on set filming these past days and hadn’t been home in a long time. As soon as he entered, before even turning on the lights, something soft silently wrapped around his pant leg.

A British Shorthair’s sweet meow echoed through the narrow space. Her claws scratched at Gu Xichi’s pant leg, somewhat anxious.

Gu Xichi bent down, scooping her into his arms, and casually turned on the light.

The apartment was fairly clean—he’d hired someone to come regularly to feed the cat and tidy up.

“Meow meow~” The silver-shaded cat rubbed against him in his embrace, silvery-white fur flying everywhere.

Gu Xichi extended a fingertip, pinching a bit of soft flesh under her chin, then stroked her: “A’Ci, you’ve gotten quite fat while I was away.”

The British Shorthair seemed to understand what he was saying. Her ears drooped as she let out a soft “meow.”

A’Ci was an abandoned cat, thrown out when a couple broke up. Only a few months old, she was forced to wander outside until Gu Xichi picked her up from the film set.

Back then she wasn’t like now—fur smooth, adorable and well-behaved. The whole cat was filthy, her fur tangled into clumps, so thin there was barely any meat on her, almost just skin and bones. Because of being abandoned, A’Ci was very guarded and unfriendly toward humans who approached her, having scratched many people.

Only with Gu Xichi was she different.

The youth bent at the waist, his clean white shirt tucked into his waistband, making his waistline appear extremely narrow.

His pupils were a golden amber color. When he smiled, his aegyo-sal puffed up, and his whole person bathed in light appeared warm and soft.

The first time A’Ci saw Gu Xichi, she gazed at him longingly, her little short legs fluttering as she followed step by step behind him. Long, soft meows sounded behind him, begging the youth to turn back and look at her once.

Ideally, to take her home.

But Gu Xichi never turned around.

Until one day of heavy rain, the dirty little cat got soaked. Her lake-blue pupils covered in mist, the entire cat trembled as she hid under the crew’s RV.

If Gu Xichi hadn’t been sharp-eyed enough to pull her out, she very likely would have died under the wheels.

That day, the British Shorthair who liked to cling to Gu Xichi got a home and a name.

She was no longer a stray cat, and she’d never be abandoned again. She had the best owner in the whole world.

The white fluorescent light overhead was blinding. Gu Xichi set her on the ground, his voice unable to hide his exhaustion: “Go play by yourself for a bit, okay?”

Seeing his appearance, A’Ci rubbed against his palm and obediently crouched to the side, no longer disturbing him.

His previously quiet phone rang again, buzzing incessantly. Gu Xichi sank into the soft bed, his face expressionless, but still answered.

Father Gu’s anger seemed to travel through the current straight to Gu Xichi’s heart: “Gu Xichi, where were you fooling around last night? Xiao Ning said you…”

A dull pain came from his chest. Gu Xichi closed his eyes, his voice somewhat hoarse: “I’m at my apartment. I didn’t go anywhere. If you don’t believe me, you can come check. Dad, are you satisfied?”

Father Gu’s emotions calmed slightly, but he was still aggressive: “You have a home but won’t return, insisting on living in some broken apartment. Is there something about this home that makes you dissatisfied?”

Even after experiencing so much hurt, he still longed for paternal love, for care, not baseless accusations and abuse.

Gu Xichi knew this was emotion left behind by the original—he was heartbroken.

Unfortunately, Gu Chengtian didn’t know that this body had changed its core. “Gu Xichi” would be sad about all this. He would not.

“Dad, if you really cared about me, you could have come to ask me what happened, instead of hearing Gu Yuning say I was fooling around and coming to accuse me without investigating clearly.”

After saying this, he decisively hung up the phone, then buried his head in the pillow, no longer thinking about anything.

He was too tired. The endless repetition had exhausted him physically and mentally. Combined with last night’s madness, it had drained all his energy.

He needed proper rest.

In the silent darkness, the youth’s hair was soft, his breathing shallow. He slept deeply.

Unfortunately, his dreams weren’t pleasant. He seemed to return to past days, repeatedly walking the path “Gu Xichi” had walked, doing what he had done, like a soul trapped in a puppet doll, unable to cry out no matter what.

Tears silently slid from the corners of his eyes. A’Ci tiptoed into Gu Xichi’s blankets, her big eyes full of questions.

Something seemed off about her owner’s return this time.

Was it because she ate too much?

A’Ci licked away Gu Xichi’s tears and lay beside him, resolving to eat two fewer cans of cat food today.

When he woke again, aside from the soreness between his waist, abdomen, and thighs, the fatigue and gloom had completely dissipated. Gu Xichi shook his head, regaining alertness.

The bathroom light was dim yellow, steam rising, making one’s head fuzzy.

White mist condensed into droplets upon touching the mirror surface. Gu Xichi wiped them away with one motion.

The person in the mirror had a pink flush on his face, and his left cheek still bore the impression of A’Ci’s paw pad—rather comical.

But looking further down became thought-provoking.

Gu Xichi exhaled, his fingertips touching the reddened skin. The skin was soft and elastic, not painful, but there were too many marks—they looked frightening.

…

That person last night must have been part dog…

The alarm on the vanity made a jingling sound. His agent Wen Xi’s call arrived as scheduled.

Ms. Wen was a decisive career woman who spoke briskly: “Gu Xichi, two hours. Wait for me downstairs.”

Gu Xichi acknowledged: “Okay.”

Recalling the previous plot slightly, Gu Yuning had brought Gu Chengtian to the hotel, saw him disheveled in a room with a strange man, immediately slapped him, then berated him for being shameless and indecent. Gu Xichi hadn’t even had time to explain before Gu Chengtian threw him out, nearly severing their father-son relationship entirely.

Fortunately, the kind-hearted Gu Yuning stopped it.

What had Gu Yuning said at the time?

Gu Xichi narrowed his eyes, his tongue against his palate, letting out an ambiguous laugh.

“Dad, big brother didn’t mean it. He usually hides it well. He didn’t intentionally try to anger you. Please forgive him this once.”

That one sentence directly pinned a huge label on him. All his explanations became pale and powerless, and he was beaten by Gu Chengtian with a golf club, breaking his left arm.

This also caused him to miss today’s audition.

Rising director Lin Shuangyi’s production.

Male lead Gu Yuning became an overnight sensation after this production, leaping to become a new top-tier star. The supporting roles in the production also had outstanding character designs, reaping considerable benefits from the series.

Only Gu Xichi, because he missed the audition, was lectured by Wen Xi and, due to the injury on his arm, rested for over three months without any roles to film.

Thinking about it now, Gu Yuning must have been quite afraid of him auditioning. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to use these despicable tactics to frame him.

Long, pale fingers rested on the edge of the vanity, tapping twice lightly. A smile played at the corners of Gu Xichi’s lips as he then used concealer from the makeup cabinet to completely cover the marks on his neck.

A high-collared shirt concealed all the suggestive scenery, only revealing glimpses of his extremely narrow waistline and heaven-defying long legs.

When Wen Xi arrived downstairs, Gu Xichi stood waiting for her under a streetlamp. His oversized shirt billowed in the wind, outlining the youth’s slender form.

As soon as he got in the car, Wen Xi glanced at Gu Xichi, noticing he was in good spirits, and casually asked: “Why so enthusiastic today?”

On ordinary days, though Gu Xichi was good-looking, he always lacked vitality. Clearly his features were gorgeous and captivating, yet his whole person looked gloomy, like a wilted moss, never seeing sunlight.

Today was different.

This was the first time Wen Xi felt an emotion called happiness from Gu Xichi. Unconsciously somewhat amazed, she kept studying him.

Gu Xichi didn’t mind her gaze, leaning carelessly against the back seat. The nanny van’s space was cramped, so Gu Xichi’s long legs had to curl up, angled to one side.

“Just thought of some interesting things.”

“Wen Xi, do you still have the script?” He turned his head to ask her, then added: “I want to look at the third male lead’s part.”

Wen Xi paused, handing him the script from the compartment while saying: “You’re in good form today. Keep it up. When you have nothing to do, smile more. When you smile, you’re much better than those digitally-enhanced top stars.”

She wasn’t wrong at all. Gu Xichi was the most handsome person she’d ever seen. The youth had gorgeous features, red lips and white teeth, peach-blossom eyes with upturned corners, clear gaze—beautiful like someone who walked out of a painting.

Otherwise, Wen Xi wouldn’t have pursued him for half a year to sign a contract.

Unfortunately, Gu Xichi’s constitution was somewhat mystical. Not only did he not explode in popularity in the entertainment industry, he also attracted plenty of trouble, with countless anti-fans.

Terms like “plastic surgery face,” “fake person,” and “pretentious” endlessly appeared associated with him.

Gu Xichi appeared cool and detached, turning a blind eye to these comments, but Wen Xi knew it wasn’t like that. Gu Xichi cared very much about outside evaluations of him. She’d caught him many times hiding in the break room crying.

Wen Xi thought for a moment, considering carefully: “Has the schedule been too full recently? Should I give you time off to rest and recover your energy?”

Gu Xichi was reading the script very seriously, his thumb and index finger twisting the page corner. Hearing this, he turned his head: “No need, Sister Wen. I just want to focus on filming lately.”

He had a reputation for being controversial, or more accurately, a flop—normally he had barely any schedule. Where was there room to talk about rest?

Understanding that Wen Xi was worried about him, Gu Xichi continued: “I really like this third male lead role. I might be quite busy going forward. Sister Wen, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

The nanny van sped along. By the time they reached their destination, Gu Xichi had already reviewed the plot for the third male lead Shen Qingye in his mind and had a grasp on the role.

He just didn’t expect that the first person he’d see after getting out wasn’t Lin Shuangyi, but Gu Yuning.

The other was obviously also stunned. The smile at the corners of his lips froze, but quickly returned to natural.

He had bright golden hair and ran up to Gu Xichi pretending to be well-behaved.

Gu Yuning: “Big brother, why are you here?”

To anyone watching, it would seem like an affectionate scene.

Gu Xichi lowered his eyelids. Long lashes cast a faint shadow. His gaze was light but carried a layer of frost. He leaned down slightly toward Gu Yuning, his tone very soft:

“Next time you put on an act, make it more convincing. Gu Yuning, this appearance of yours is truly nauseating.”

“Idiot. Good luck.”

---

Author’s Note:

Gu Xichi: Bastard
Bo Yu: I want to be wifey’s dog hehe

PS: A’Ci’s backstory is something I heard when visiting a classmate to pet their cat. A couple broke up and neither wanted the American Shorthair at home, so they just threw the cat out in a cardboard box. When the cat’s original owner came back to check, they learned about this. By the time they went to look for it, the American Shorthair had already been run over by a passing car. It was only three or four months old at the time, just a tiny little thing.

So if you all raise cats, I hope everyone can treat them well no matter what, treat a life well, or find them a suitable new owner. After being abandoned, kittens are really miserable. My family has a stray cat who, because she was hurt, never trusts people, doesn’t dare approach people, and is very guarded. All creatures have spirits. Protecting kittens is actually accumulating good fortune for yourself. I hope we can all be kind people.

I also hope little Xichi can continue living happily with A’Ci forever, because he will never abandon his cat. A’Ci will always have an owner who loves her.

PS: By the way, many readers caught the use of “她” (feminine “she”) when writing about A’Ci. This isn’t a typo—I deliberately used “她.” Because A’Ci is little Xichi’s family, his daughter, an independent individual. She’s very human-like, very spiritual, able to perceive Gu Xichi’s emotions and do her utmost to comfort him. Her significance to Gu Xichi is extraordinary—she’s not just a pet cat. She’s family that Gu Xichi will care for a long, long time, so I use “她” instead of the animal “它.” I feel the animal “它” doesn’t have that subtle feeling π_π so readers, please don’t catch A’Ci next time! (^_^)