Gu Yuan’an went mad.

It was said that he fell out of his hospital bed and bumped his head, and every day he muddledly repeated, “It’s not my fault,” and “It’s all Gu Yuning’s fault.”

Gu Qichi only learned about this matter much later.

At that time, he was preparing for the third recording of Strive! Actors!.

Speaking of which, this show was truly a bit miserable. First, Lou Shao was investigated and exposed for a bunch of dirty deeds after framing Gu Qichi, leading to his blacklisting in the industry. Now, Gu Yuning had done so many terrible things—not missing a single aspect—and was directly taken away by the police. It was estimated that he would spend the latter half of his life stepping on a sewing machine (in prison).

Netizens sharply commented:

[some where]: Gu Qichi is a contemporary phoenix undergoing nirvana. Every single demon and monster that gets close to him is taken out without fail…

[loving]: I originally wanted to call him a koi fish, but with the person upstairs putting it like that, it seems more fitting. Catching lawbreakers and criminals without missing a single one! [Doge Head]

[Clear broth boiled mutton]: Song Zhian, Gu Yuning, Lou Shao, and that xxx from the same company as him early on—these four people can gather a table for mahjong in prison! [Husky]

[People cannot live without sesame paste]: xxx is in charge of dancing, Gu Yuning can also sing, Song Zhian and Lou Shao will perform. I believe this year, the Dongcheng police station will welcome the most valuable gala performance in history! [Husky] Plus, their managers and staff will dance backup for them. A prison full of talents! [Husky]

[the story]: Could Gu Qichi be an undercover agent sent to the entertainment circle? Debuted for four years, still a newcomer. Striking down crime is his bounden duty! [Rose]

[happy new year]: I heard that the editor for ‘Strive! Actors!’ worked overtime all night until 5 AM this morning, mosaicking Gu Yuning out overnight, just so it could be updated normally at noon today. [Doge Head]

[Giving up on broken hearts]: I heard Lou Shao got this same treatment last time, but the time was even tighter. I heard they finished editing at 11 o’clock and released it at 12 o’clock, the editor almost fainted from exhaustion…

[The Phoenix Arrives]: Since you care so much about our Chi-chi wife, why don’t you come watch ‘Strive! Actors!’ at 12 noon today~ [Kiss] [Kiss] Actor Gu Qichi, bringing Lin Jing along, will come meet everyone~

[for everyone]: Gu Qichi’s fans are so stubborn, but his family’s fans are even more stubborn. A domineering CEO blocking fans from calling him wife, while the fans rush forward every day to provoke him, lining up in his Weibo comment section waiting to be blocked. [Soybean Laughing Crying] I’ve seen many types of toxic solo fans, and many types of CP fans, but I’ve never seen any like your family’s. [Cat Head]

[because ilove]: What domineering CEO? Gu Qichi’s husband? Can someone point the way?

An enthusiastic netizen @’d Bo Yu’s Weibo for this little cutie. Following the internet cable, the cutie dug up the Weibo of the legendary Dongcheng big shot, the President of the Bo Corporation.

Bo Yu’s internet handle was no longer that string of simple numbers, but simply his own name.
But apart from this name, it didn’t look like his own account at all.

His profile picture was a still of Gu Qichi playing Lin Jing in Strive! Actors! to be broadcasted this week. It hadn’t even been officially released yet, and looking at the angle, one could tell it was a selfie taken by Gu Qichi.
Not for any other reason, but because Gu Qichi’s selfie angles were truly a disaster. Bizarre phone placement positions, unexpected shooting angles… if it weren’t for that 360-degree perfect face of his carrying it, this would simply be a car crash scene.

Bo Yu’s profile picture had a yellow V (verified badge) hanging on it, and his fans had already reached 1.89 million.

The netizen’s gaze followed downward, stopping on that peculiar line of identity verification—
Actor Gu Qichi’s legal partner, current Chairman of the Bo Corporation.

Identity verifications could be used like this?

The netizen crawled back along the internet cable and left a comment under the Weibo they had asked on: It’s the end of the world, hordes of zombies are scavenging for human brains. On the way, they met Bo Yu holding Gu Qichi’s hand. They hugged Bo Yu and took a bite, then spat it out in pain. The zombie said: ‘Ugh, a love brain.’

It instantly attracted a large batch of active, enthusiastic fans.

[ririyeye]: See that? In Bo Yu’s heart, the Bo Corporation isn’t even as important as Gu Qichi! What kind of god-chosen love brain is this! [Doge Head]

[I’m thinking of you]: In President Bo’s heart, no title can compare to the status of being Gu Qichi’s partner. [Husky]

[I’m just a broken wage earner]: A person working behind the scenes at Weibo here. That identity verification was bought by the President of the Bo Corporation by throwing money at Weibo to exchange for it! [Doge Head] The ‘current Chairman of the Bo Corporation’ at the back was forcibly added by our officials, President Bo didn’t even want it. [Doge Head]

[Hotpot must have shrimp paste]: My mom asked me to ask, where can I dig up a love brain like this? [Tears] [Tears]

[Family members]: Baby, I suggest you go look at the content of him bickering with Gu Qichi’s fans. It has already become my daily must-have to go with my meals! [Doge Head]

[You don’t know you’re beautiful]: Didn’t they say his husband was ugly and perverted? An old geezer in his forties or fifties? [Soybean Confused]

Bo Yu had indeed never shown his face.

His figure was hard to find in any of the major famous financial magazines, and the people who came looking for him to shoot interviews back then had all been rejected by him. Plus, a tall tree catches the wind; the Bo Corporation was a big target, and Bo Yu was frequently eyed by people. Bai Heng’s side strictly controlled the spread of Bo Yu’s private photos.

After Gu Qichi and Bo Yu’s marital relationship was exposed, the people most concerned were the netizens.

Gu Qichi was a public figure. As early as the previous few cyberbullying incidents, he had been dug up cleanly, not even leaving his underwear behind.
But this person Bo Yu was completely unfamiliar to the public.

Besides knowing the other party was the prominent President of the Bo Corporation and Gu Qichi’s husband, the information the public could gather about Bo Yu—aside from Old Master Bo’s gossip news—was about the ruthless methods Bo Yu used to ascend to power in the Bo Corporation.
Of course, there were also those rumors spread by those illegitimate children back then.

As soon as this netizen’s words came out, it immediately attracted many people to discuss it.

After experiencing the recent storms, Gu Qichi’s popularity rose with the tide, and in some aspects, he was almost surpassing some current top-tier traffic stars.
His fans’ fighting power was even more shockingly strong.

Although everyone was dissatisfied that their Gu Qichi wife had been snatched away, it had to be said that besides his face and figure being completely unknown, every other aspect of Bo Yu matched Gu Qichi very well.

Financial power, status, authority.
Bo Yu was second to none.

Furthermore, based on the mosaicked marriage certificate and the photo of him holding hands with Bo Yu that Gu Qichi posted, one could at least tell that Bo Yu was a young man. How could an old man’s hands be that tender? It wasn’t like he had injected hyaluronic acid into the back of his hands.

Their Chi-chi baby deserved to be matched with the best person in the world. How could it be an ugly, old pervert?

Besides, Old Master Bo had so many romantic affairs, finding so many mistresses, and every single one of them was exceptionally beautiful. It didn’t make sense for Bo Yu’s mother, as the main wife, to be ugly. Plus, Old Master Bo was considered quite suave and handsome when he was young.
No matter what, Bo Yu couldn’t be as ugly as a pot-bellied, fat-faced old bachelor…

[One more time]: Don’t, spreading rumors is breaking the law. The Bo Corporation’s elite legal team is waiting for you! [Lawyer Zhang Wei’s team.jpg]

[Chi-chi’s little plane tree]: Sister Wen Xi and several big fans all said that Bo Yu looks decent and treats Chi-chi very well. From her tone, you could hear Sister Wen Xi’s resentment, yet he still managed to get a ‘looks decent’ compliment. From this, it can be seen that Bo Yu definitely looks quite good. [Rose]

[Walking on a long road]: What are Gu Qichi’s fans so anxious about? What if Gu Qichi really married a messy old geezer, and that’s why he didn’t dare to post a photo? You fans must be worried sick. [Cute]

[You’ll know when you get there]: Who’s anxious? Where did this sour chicken come jumping out from? You’ve spread pornographic rumors so many times, have you ever succeeded once? [Soybean Confused]

[Gu Qichi and Bo Yu harmonious for a hundred years, have a precious son soon]: Sorry, the Plane Trees are very satisfied with our sister-in-law! If you have free time to spread rumors about our sister-in-law, why not go buy two stocks from the Bo Corporation to save your constantly deteriorating brain juice? [Cute] [Cute]

[Because the results are the same]: Do Gu fans still not accept that Gu Qichi is a bottom? They’re even calling out ‘sister-in-law’ now… Sorry, my focus is so strange. [Facepalm Crying]

[hewodoid]: Is there any doubt that Gu Qichi is the ultimate big top? [Soybean Confused]

[A place named after you]: It would be weirder if Gu Qichi was the ultimate big top… [Soybean Confused]

While the arguments raged incessantly online, Gu Qichi knew nothing about it. He was concentrating on studying the four new scripts distributed by the program group.

This time, he logically accepted Director Jiang An’s invitation and became his team member.
And during the last public acting election, because of her outstanding performance, Yu Sheng was also voted into second place, successfully meeting up with Gu Qichi.

Su Ming, on the other hand, went into Teacher Yi Zhiyin’s group.
After all, with the top three all going into Teacher Jiang An’s group, the faces of the other three directors wouldn’t look too good.

The theme of the scripts this time was the future, sci-fi, and choices involving unknown lifeforms.

Gu Qichi was actually very hesitant about the scripts this time.

The official team for Strive! Actors! was truly good at picking scripts. The original screenwriting team they invited was also very impressive, with novel themes and a great challenge to the actors’ acting skills, fully testing an actor’s line delivery and acting ability.

The scripts this time were still two classic remakes and two original scripts.
The scripts Gu Qichi valued were these two original ones.

One was a story about a female protagonist escaping to outer space during the apocalypse and her bionic man. It mainly reflected on human nature during the end of the world, and the taboo, deeply touching romance between a bionic man and a human could arouse the audience’s interest.

The other was an alternative version of a mermaid story.
Under the increasingly severe environmental pollution in human society, the living spaces of other lifeforms were gradually encroached upon, and the oceans were severely polluted by oil. The merfolk, who had been silent for thousands of years, were forced to move out of the ocean, return to land, and negotiate with the human representatives of the Intergalactic Alliance.

Before choosing a topic, Su Ming seemed to see his inner conflict and even came to ask him about his specific thoughts.

Gu Qichi actually wasn’t disgusted by Su Ming’s approach; in fact, he appreciated Su Ming very much. Because Su Ming wasn’t only a good actor, but also a good opponent. Gu Qichi sincerely felt regret that he had been forced by Gu Yuning to leave the circle previously.

Su Ming: “I feel like you’re very interested in both of these original scripts.”

Gu Qichi nodded: “That’s why I’m conflicted. But didn’t the PD say the way we choose scripts this time will change? If we can be the first to snatch the challenger actor into our group, we can have the right to choose first.”

Su Ming was deep in thought. To be honest, they couldn’t determine the thoughts and mindset of the challenger actor, which meant there would be many unknown variables in this selection, and the direction of the scripts would also become very perplexing.

Thinking of this, Su Ming sighed helplessly: “Gu Qichi, which script do you like better?”

Gu Qichi struggled for a long time, pursed his lips, and finally, his gaze landed on the otherworldly mermaid script. Comparatively, he wasn’t as interested in the bionic man’s love story. Instead, he wanted more to see just how stunning the special effects the Strive! Actors! program group would produce by burning their budget.

He hadn’t tried this kind of animal character persona yet.

Gu Qichi picked out the mermaid one. Su Ming nodded understandingly: “Just as I guessed. It suits you very well, and it also suits Director Jiang An very well.”
“I guess I’m out of luck this time. I hope next time, we’ll have a chance to act together.”

Su Ming smiled and reached out his hand. Gu Qichi reached out his hand and said, “Okay.”

He didn’t know if Gu Qichi’s luck was truly getting better recently, like being possessed by a koi fish. The challenger actor who came was a good sister of Yu Sheng’s in the circle, and also a popular traffic flower from the same period—Ruan Song.

As soon as the other party came on stage, she set her sights on the otherworldly mermaid script and successfully joined Director Jiang An’s group. Gu Qichi also successfully chose his desired script and role.
Playing the apocalyptic Mermaid King in the script.

Meanwhile, Yu Sheng and Ruan Song respectively played the Starship Captain and the vicious villain hindering the progress.

The theme of this script was very good, and the character personas were very attractive, so much so that Gu Qichi had been soaking in the film crew recently without leaving, faintly neglecting Bo Yu.

New Year’s Day was coming soon. The Bo Corporation building remained brightly lit late into the night recently. All employees were working hard to rush their work, and even Bo Yu was no exception.

Mountains of documents, difficult clients, and collaborations requiring flying all over the world left Bo Yu truly exhausted.

One night, Bo Yu rushed home from the airport, covered in travel dust, only to find not a single light on in the villa, and Gu Qichi was nowhere to be seen. He suffered a bit of a mental breakdown.

Opening WeChat, he found that Gu Qichi had sent a message long ago, saying he had to shoot a big night scene today and couldn’t come home tonight, telling Bo Yu to remember to eat the food the auntie cooked.

Bo Yu looked at the steaming hot dishes in the incubator, sighed helplessly, barely took two bites, and impatiently tugged at his tie, a dry depression permeating between his brows and eyes.

He didn’t want to eat all alone by himself. He wanted to be with Gu Qichi.

Now their relationship was known to everyone. Although he was the sugar daddy sponsor for Strive! Actors!, there wouldn’t be any absurd rumors like the ones during Xing Tian Qing anymore.

Bo Yu took a shower in the bathroom, changed his clothes, then found a private restaurant to order some late-night snacks, intending to go visit the Strive! Actors! program group.

Dongcheng’s nights always darkened very quickly, and in winter, it was so pitch-black you couldn’t see your own fingers.

The weather gradually turned cold, the temperature dropping sharply to negative ten-plus degrees. Even wrapped in a thick down jacket, the cold couldn’t be stopped from seeping into his body.

Gu Qichi rubbed his hands together and covered his ears, which were frozen red, trying to warm himself up.

In the distance, Yu Sheng’s figure gradually approached. She walked to Gu Qichi’s side, sat down without avoiding suspicion, and tossed several hot packs into his arms.

Gu Qichi took them slowly and sluggishly, exhaling white mist from his mouth that blocked his face.
He said in a muffled voice: “Thank you, Yu Sheng.”

Yu Sheng was much more freeze-resistant than him, and didn’t carry the baggage of a female celebrity. She draped a green military coat over her body, wore a classic ‘Bald Strong’ (a cartoon character) plush hat on her head, held a hot water bottle in her hands, her cheeks frozen bright red.

Illuminated by the lights, Yu Sheng’s eyes were bright and shining, as if containing beautiful stars.

“Gu Qichi, yesterday you talked up to that parenting variety show. Today it’s time to talk about the story after that. When exactly did you guys get married?”

Yu Sheng leaned closer and closer, impatiently waiting for Gu Qichi to narrate his “plain and waveless” romance.

Behind him, Luo Qianqian also involuntarily moved closer. Her hands were frozen stiff, but she still wanted to pull out her phone to record some new material.

Luo Qianqian truly liked Yu Sheng too much! The other party was beautiful and sweet-talking, didn’t put on airs, and was a huge CP shipper just like herself, being very amiable and approachable towards Luo Qianqian. She was also wholeheartedly trying to develop Gu Qichi into her good gay bestie, pestering Gu Qichi to tell the story of him and Bo Yu.

If it were anyone else, Gu Qichi could definitely righteously refuse.

But Yu Sheng was too enthusiastic, and enthusiastically so in just the right way. She wouldn’t make people feel disgusted, nor would she make people feel she was taking liberties.
When refused, she wouldn’t speak, just staring pitifully at Gu Qichi, stopping just short of writing “Gu Qichi, you don’t treat me as a good sister” in her eyes.

Gu Qichi was most afraid of this kind of person, and found it hard to refuse.
Over time, Yu Sheng managed to coax quite a few words out of him.

He estimated today would be another tough battle. Gu Qichi sighed, looked at Yu Sheng dressed in such a rough and festive manner, and helplessly supported his forehead.

If there were a plate of dried fruits or melon seeds in front of them right now, Gu Qichi could unsurprisingly guess that Yu Sheng could chat with him all night over this plate…

“After the parenting variety show, it was very quick…” Gu Qichi stuck the hot pack inside his down jacket, slowly saying: “It wasn’t that romantic, stop imagining things. Bo Yu and I were originally just a commercial marriage…”

Hearing this, not only did Yu Sheng not lose interest, she became even more excited: “Awesome! To think it’s a sweet trope of marriage first, love later! I am a country dog, I love to see this! You continue, you continue!”

In the back, Luo Qianqian nodded in agreement, her expression agitated and excited. If she could grow a tail behind her, it would definitely materialize into reality at this moment, wagging happily.

There was nothing happier than hearing the actual person narrate the sweet moments!
Teacher Yu! You’re so good at this!
You are my god!
Luo Qianqian was wildly doing seal claps in her heart.

Just as Gu Qichi was about to speak, Yu Sheng suddenly interrupted him. Her gaze was piercing, her lips trembling: “Right, I saw a comment today that really broke my heart, I even personally used an alt account to tear into them…”
“Tell me, is Bo Yu old?”

Under the lights, tears faintly shimmered in Yu Sheng’s eyes.

Thinking of those absurd and funny rumors about Bo Yu, Gu Qichi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Bo Yu is only a few years older than me.”

Yu Sheng put her heart at ease, the burning soul of a CP shipper re-igniting in this cold winter day.

She almost wanted to go forward and grab Gu Qichi’s hand, but thinking of the reincarnated-vinegar-jar look on Bo Yu’s Weibo, she tactfully grabbed Luo Qianqian’s hand behind Gu Qichi instead. Her gaze was sincere, her tone earnest: “Xiao Chi baby, tell me, compared to ordinary people, how many points would Bo Yu score on his looks?”

Her voice was actually a bit weak.

All along, her imagination of Bo Yu was a tall and mighty, Korean-style double-door refrigerator-plus-large-thermos type of domineering CEO, a perfect match for Gu Qichi, practically a match made in heaven.

These past two days, a rumor popped out of nowhere saying Bo Yu was an old, wretched, perverted geezer, almost fatally striking Yu Sheng down on the spot.

She had no way of accepting that her beautiful-as-an-immortal good gay bestie’s marriage partner was like that!

No matter what, the other party had to look somewhat decent, right…
Couldn’t be too much worse than Gu Qichi…
Preferably taller, with broader shoulders, and a better figure…

Yu Sheng stared at Gu Qichi, crying softly.

Gu Qichi looked away, not meeting Yu Sheng’s eyes. The tips of his ears turned slightly red, and he whispered:
“Compared to people in the entertainment circle, he could score ten points.”

He paused, then added: “A perfect score is ten points.”

The hand she was holding tightened abruptly. Yu Sheng had just been about to advise Gu Qichi not to have too much of a love brain and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, when she directly met Luo Qianqian’s gaze.

Luo Qianqian was exceptionally agitated, stopping just short of pulling her hand and screaming.

She panted, her gaze firm: “Teacher Yu, I swear in the name of my CP, Teacher Bo… ah no, President Bo is very handsome!”
“Ship them with peace of mind!” She quietly leaned close to Yu Sheng’s ear: “Our CP is the truest in the world!”

Yu Sheng asked her with her eyes: Really?

Luo Qianqian nodded firmly, even more sonorous and forceful than Hua Mulan joining the army: Guaranteed real, truer than diamonds.

Real couples were the best to ship! Her Teacher Chi-chi and President Bo were simply going to sweeten her to death, okay?!!

…
…
…

Gu Qichi was currently exchanging friendly interactions with Yu Sheng and Luo Qianqian, maintaining a just-right distance, a normal social distance.

But falling into the eyes of a certain vinegar jar who came to visit the set, it was an entirely different matter.

Bo Yu slowly rolled down the car window, looking at a burly man leaning close to Gu Qichi, and frowned impatiently.

How could there be someone with such poor taste by Gu Qichi’s side?

Bo Yu irritably tapped his fingertips against the steering wheel a few times, his gaze assessing this burly man beside Gu Qichi.

The hat they were wearing was actually a big dog-skin cotton hat, and the military coat on their body piled up bulkily. Although the person looked sturdy, they looked very weak at a glance…
Someone like this definitely couldn’t compare to himself.

And Yu Sheng, who had been treated as an invisible love rival by Bo Yu and remained completely oblivious: “…”

Bo Yu turned to look at the ordered food in the back seat and began to ponder a very serious question.

Gu Qichi valued his work very much, had a strong career ambition, and loved being immersed in the time spent learning and acting in a film crew.

Bo Yu felt this was very good, but also very bad.

Gu Qichi was able to concentrate entirely on doing the things he wanted to do and liked to do, no longer heavily constrained like before. Moreover, working with an international big director like Jiang An would also allow him to learn a lot, progress rapidly, and increase his popularity.

But him joining a crew and acting for a long time was very unfriendly to Bo Yu.

To tell the truth, the acting profession was busy and hard, and at the same time, it doomed Gu Qichi to not having much time to accompany his partner.

But the relationship between Bo Yu and Gu Qichi—truthfully speaking, they had only truly been together these past few days. It was the sweetest honeymoon period.
Bo Yu possessed surprisingly strong possessiveness towards Gu Qichi; how could he endure Gu Qichi not being by his side for months on end?

President Bo looked at his own wife, who attracted bees and butterflies, feeling utterly depressed.

Was there any way to accommodate Gu Qichi’s identity as an actor while also ensuring the two of them wouldn’t be frequently separated?
Wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds?

The tip of Bo Yu’s tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek, his emotions unpredictable. His long, straight eyelashes cast a layer of faint shadows beneath his eyes, concealing the dark, unclear emotions within.

A flash of inspiration struck his mind. Bo Yu thought of the comment left by Gu Qichi’s fan under his Weibo this morning—

“You cling to your wife so much, you might as well find an after-marriage variety show and tie yourself to his waistband.”
“After-marriage variety show?! Great idea! I also want to see my Xiao Chi wife!”

Bo Yu’s hand stopped. He took his phone out of his coat, dialed Bai Heng’s number, his tone brooking no argument:

“Bai Heng, go make preparations. The Bo Corporation can consider investing in a married couples’ after-marriage variety show.”

---

Author’s Note:

Bai Heng: …
Bai Heng: Love brain, bah.
Yu Sheng: Forget it, both of them are love brains. Bringing them together smells so good, hehe.