Chapter 52

“Young CEO Tao, Gu Nan still hasn’t come out… He hasn’t eaten lunch, what if he—” Li Shengping’s voice sounded distorted over the phone, the elongated tail of his sentence dripping with ominous implications.

Tao Zui frowned, trying to suppress the irritation rising in his chest, but his voice still carried a hint of anger: “What if what? It’s just one or two missed meals; he won’t starve to death. If you really have nothing else to do, go help Chen Lu with the editing.”

“……Oh.”

After hanging up, Tao Zui paced back and forth in his room, his unease growing with every step.

Could something really have happened? Gu Nan’s state when he returned to the hotel this morning hadn’t been right—he hadn’t spoken or acknowledged anyone… Tao Zui’s words had been based on professional experience, but they hadn’t aligned with Gu Nan’s own history. What if Gu Nan didn’t respond to his approach and instead favored the “tender offensive” of the original story’s protagonist?

…Could he change his strategy now?

Should he go take a look? Whether or not the problem was solved wasn’t the point; if the person ended up gone because of a few words he said, where would he even go to plead his case?

At this thought, Tao Zui could no longer sit still. He bolted out of his room, skipped the elevator, and sprinted up the stairs to Gu Nan’s floor. He didn’t stop until he reached the door, catching his breath for a long moment before knocking.

Receiving no response, he knocked harder, shouting, “Gu Nan, let’s go eat! Gu Nan!”

Still, there was no movement inside.

Tao Zui grew panicked. Resisting the urge to kick the door down, he fished his phone from his pocket and called Gu Nan. The call connected—he could vaguely hear the ringing tone through the door—but until it timed out and hung up, no one answered.

Tao Zui was thoroughly terrified now. His phone slipped from his palm and clattered to the floor. He threw himself against the door, kicking and shouting, his voice laced with a terror and tremor he himself hadn’t noticed.

“Gu Nan! Gu Nan! Don’t do anything stupid, Gu Nan!! We don’t have to film anymore! I have money, I can pay the contract termination fee! Gu Nan!!!”

The thunderous kicking and shouting drew the entire floor out. Wu Zheng and Tian Xiujun stared, dumbfounded, at Tao Zui kicking the door, frozen for a second before crowding around.

“What’s wrong, what’s going on? CEO Tao, you are…?”

Tao Zui was out of his mind with fright, the corners of his eyes turning red, ready to burst into tears: “Gu Nan, he…”

Before he could finish, the door opened. Gu Nan stood behind it, covered in shampoo bubbles, wrapped in nothing but a bath towel. He looked utterly disheveled, staring at the crowd with a mix of anxiety and confusion: “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Wu Zheng scanned Gu Nan up and down, his expression indescribable: “…Are you taking a shower?”

“Ah… yeah.” Was that not obvious? Gu Nan’s confused gaze swept across the crowd before landing on Tao Zui. Seeing the red corners of Tao Zui’s eyes and the tears threatening to fall, his heart skipped a beat.

“At this hour?” Tian Xiujun asked suddenly.

Gu Nan glanced at him, biting his lip in embarrassment: “I… felt a bit unwell earlier, so I washed my face, but I got my clothes wet, so I just…”

“So you just happened to take a shower, is that it?” Tao Zui’s voice was icy, sounding very much like if you dare say yes, I’ll kill you.

Gu Nan swallowed: “Well…”

“Taking a shower, are you? Go on, keep washing, I’ll watch you do it!” Tao Zui gritted his teeth, shoved Gu Nan back inside, and slammed the door shut right in front of everyone.

“This…” The crew members living on the floor looked at each other, then at the tightly shut door, and finally at Wu Zheng.

Wu Zheng waved his hand: “What are you looking at? Scram. It’s their company’s business, don’t meddle.”

Once the others dispersed, Tian Xiujun and Wu Zheng headed toward the restaurant downstairs. “Aren’t you afraid they’ll start fighting? How is Gu Nan supposed to be on camera tomorrow?”

“Fighting?” Wu Zheng scoffed. “Depends on what kind of fighting.”

Tian Xiujun: “What other kind of fighting is there? Don’t tell me they’ve trained for it?”

Wu Zheng: “I don’t know if they’ve trained, [read the original at bailiantales.com]but Gu Nan definitely won’t be the one taking the loss.”

Tian Xiujun: “How do you figure? Isn’t that man Gu Nan’s boss? Would Gu Nan dare to hit his boss?”

Wu Zheng: “…I’m quite surprised you managed to become an actor with such good acting skills.”

Tian Xiujun: “Is that a compliment?”

Wu Zheng: “Oh, absolutely.”

Tian Xiujun: “……Alright.”

The two entered the elevator together. Inside the room, the two stood by the bathroom entrance—one clutching his bath towel awkwardly, the other with hands on his hips, pointing his chin toward the bathroom: “Wash! Go on! I’m watching!”

The hotel heating was set high; even shirtless, it wasn’t cold. Yet Gu Nan felt a chill along his spine, his voice trembling: “I really didn’t hear the knocking… the sound of the water was too loud…”

“Heh,” Tao Zui sneered, “Did I blame you?”

“……” Your attitude is worse than blaming me.

Gu Nan didn’t dare speak. His eyes scanned Tao Zui’s still-red eye corners, looking stolen content at the lingering tears on those slightly upturned lids. He suddenly felt a spot in his heart collapse like lemon-flavored cotton candy—soft, sweet, and laced with a hint of tartness.

“……I’ve thought carefully about what you said earlier… thank you. I think… I’ve found a way.”

“Really?” Tao Zui’s eyes lit up, instantly forgetting everything that had just happened, his entire demeanor turning cheerful: “I knew you could do it! You’re so smart, of course you can…”

Before he could finish, a clump of foam, unable to bear the weight of life, slid off Gu Nan’s head and landed with a plop on the floor between them.

Tao Zui and Gu Nan looked down simultaneously, then Tao Zui looked back up at the foam that had mostly vanished from Gu Nan’s head.

“Ahem, go rinse off… don’t you feel uncomfortable?”

Gu Nan murmured a response, turned around, and entered the bathroom. Just as he was about to close the door, he hesitated and looked back at Tao Zui: “You… really want to watch?”

“……Who the hell wants to watch!” Tao Zui roared, grabbing the bathroom door handle and yanking it shut so hard it nearly hit Gu Nan’s nose.

Gu Nan jumped back, touched his nose, and watched the bathroom door shuddering in the aftermath.

That was close…

Turning the shower back on, standing under the warm water, Gu Nan bailiantales.comclosed his eyes, and that vivid scene replayed in his mind.

[Right, I believe in myself, and I believe in my own judgment—I absolutely wouldn’t misjudge a person.]

Even in his memory, Tao Zui’s expression of raising an eyebrow made Gu Nan’s heart flutter just as it always did.

If love from parents is unattainable, then… what about romance?

Gu Nan lowered his head and rubbed his face. The brows and eyes visible through his fingers no longer held a shred of confusion, but instead revealed a hint of danger.

It was like a beast awakening from its slumber, crouching in the grass, watching its prey as it slowly approached—calm, rational, yet filled with desire and craving.

Meanwhile, Tao Zui was standing by the bed, inspecting the large water stain on the sheets, and suddenly gave an inexplicable shudder, goosebumps rising on his skin.

“Strange… is the heating broken?” Tao Zui muttered, walking over to the radiator to touch it. Finding it working normally, he dismissed the matter, turned around, and continued to ponder the stain on the sheets.

Such a large water stain—it must be tears… Gu Nan isn’t a child anymore; he couldn’t have wet the bed, right? Tsk, he really cried miserably. No wonder he ran off to wash his face… did Gu Nan cry like this in the original novel?

Tao Zui stroked his chin, tilting his head back to recall the plot.

It seems… no? The novel only said that after the protagonist shou heard about Gu Nan’s situation, he rushed over. Gu Nan, who had locked bailiantales.com himself in his room and refused to see anyone, let the protagonist shou in the moment he heard his voice. Then the two embraced tightly, the protagonist shou gently comforted Gu Nan, whispering all sorts of trivialities into his ear.

They stayed like that for I don’t know how long. When the protagonist shou brought up his parents, Gu Nan asked a few questions about the protagonist shou’s relationship with his own, using that as an opening to tell his own story. Gu Nan did cry during that time, but it was just silent tears. How did the novel write it again? Right, “Not until Qiu Jiaze felt the dampness on his shoulder did he realize Gu Nan was crying.”

The reason Tao Zui remembered so clearly was that not long after that segment came their boat scene. The author had placed that segment on an overseas website, forcing him to spend money to buy a VPN just to see it.

…I have to say, it was pretty spicy.

Thinking about that spicy boat scene, Tao Zui’s eyes began to drift.

Although the plot might just be one possible development, the abilities of the characters involved were based on facts. For example, Gu Nan’s acting skills, Fifth Zou’s dancing, Zeng Yinuo and Chen Xing’s creative abilities—even the supporting character Long Feifei was just as capable and ambitious as written in the novel.

If that were the case, then in the boat scene the author wrote, Gu Nan’s ability in that area, just like the file he needed to edit later, was… naturally gifted…

“Ahem ahem ahem ahem ahem!” Tao Zui was suddenly choked by his own saliva, coughing earth-shakingly. Gu Nan just happened to emerge from the bathroom and rushed over.

“Why are you coughing so hard? Did you catch a cold?”

Tao Zui waved his hand and lifted his head: “It’s nothing, just accidentally choked… Why aren’t you wearing clothes!”

I’m dying! I was just fantasizing about Gu Nan’s heroic figure in bed, and now he’s appearing half-naked! Being wrapped [read the original at bailiantales.com]in a bath towel with wet hair is just way too much of a “post-coital” vibe!

Gu Nan lowered his head to look at himself wrapped in a bath towel, tilting his head innocently: “I just came out to get my clothes…”

“T-then go get them already!” Tao Zui’s eyes darted everywhere; the moment he caught a glimpse of skin, he shifted his gaze as if stung.

Perhaps due to the results of his swimming training, Gu Nan’s muscle lines were even more beautiful than before. His abs were increasingly defined—mermaids, shark muscles, all there. Plus, the hormone-exploding look of the bath towel casually wrapped around his waist made Tao Zui feel his heartbeat like a drum, his nose itching, ready to spurt blood any second!

“Oh.” Gu Nan responded, not understanding the reason, and turned around to take his change of clothes from the wardrobe and entered the bathroom.

Closing the bathroom door, Gu Nan looked at the change of clothes placed on the vanity, curled his lips into a smile, put the clothes he’d just taken down, and looked at himself in the mirror.

Trust is certainly good, but wouldn’t it be better if we could take it a step further?