After Becoming a Spare Tire, I Got Together with My White Moonlight - Chapter 33

Yan Guiqiu, held under Jiang Xuehe’s gaze, felt as though a remark that should have been lighthearted was spoken with unusual seriousness. It took her a moment to snap out of it, stiffly turning her neck and unconsciously shifting her gaze elsewhere.

But her hand tightened its grip a little more.

“Sometimes, a person can’t help but feel lonely,” Yan Guiqiu said softly. “I used to think that when I got older, I might just want to stay home and never go out.”

Jiang Xuehe said, “But you still have friends.”

Yan Guiqiu shook her head. “Friends are different.”

No matter how close the friendship, there are always boundaries.

Many would go to great lengths for their friends, but certain emotional voids can’t be entirely filled by friendship alone.

Still, these were thoughts Yan Guiqiu only dwelled on occasionally. She wasn’t usually one to wallow in melancholy.

“Things are fine as they are now,” Yan Guiqiu said, sweeping her gaze around the venue and changing the subject. “Let’s not talk about such sentimental things. We should hurry, I heard this place is huge. If we don’t, we might miss mealtime.”

Jiang Xuehe could tell she was a bit embarrassed and smiled, saying, “Alright,” without pressing further.

In that brief moment of distraction, the tour group ahead had already moved on. Jiang Xuehe simply took Yan Guiqiu down another path, pointing out some famous paintings on the walls and sharing a few words about them.

Yan Guiqiu listened with keen interest.

Whether she was genuinely intrigued or simply captivated because it was Jiang Xuehe speaking, only she knew for sure.

After wandering around for most of the time, it was indeed past lunch hour.

Yan Guiqiu didn’t feel hungry, but Jiang Xuehe checked the time and pulled her out to eat.

“Shall we come back this afternoon?” Yan Guiqiu asked.

“We can come another time,” Jiang Xuehe shook her head. “There’s no rush.”

They had bought tickets for an afternoon movie at the mall near Yan’s home, originally planning to grab dinner right after the film.

If they went back into the museum in the afternoon, they’d miss the movie.

Jiang Xuehe remembered Yan Guiqiu mentioning it a few times and seemed quite interested.

After leaving the museum, the two found a restaurant that was still open, had lunch, and then headed back. They took a short stroll around the mall before it was time for the movie to start.

Today’s film was rather long, a full two and a half hours. By the time they came out, the sky had already darkened.

But checking the time, it was only a little past five. The Yan family usually had dinner around six.

So, instead of calling a car, they decided to walk back slowly.

On the way, Yan Guiqiu flipped through the flower boat promotional images her sister had sent her, checking the address and time before turning to ask Jiang Xuehe for her opinion.

“There’s a flower boat at eight tonight. It’ll probably take about half an hour to drive there. Want to go see it?”

“Won’t you be too tired?” Jiang Xuehe glanced at the dark circles under Yan Guiqiu’s eyes that hadn’t yet faded.

“I’m not tired,” Yan Guiqiu assured her. “I could even pull an all-nighter without a problem.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Jiang Xuehe sighed.

“So, are we going tonight?” Yan Guiqiu asked.

As they chatted, they reached the front of the house. A car pulled over by the roadside, and from the back seat, Yan Guizhou called out, “Sis!”

“Just finished class?” Yan Guiqiu turned to look at her.

“I went to the company, and Mom and Dad are already home.” Yan Guizhou got out of the car, told the driver he could leave, then turned to her sister and said, “By the way, Sister Anchen just messaged me asking why you never reply to her messages.”

“Anchen?” Yan Guiqiu was taken aback.

“She said she sent you messages yesterday and still hasn’t gotten a reply. She even called, but you didn’t pick up, so she asked me what’s going on,” Yan Guizhou explained. “She was worried something had happened to you, she seemed pretty anxious.”

Yan Guiqiu had already pulled out her phone and started scrolling through it. After a moment, she tapped her forehead in frustration and sighed, “She probably called me on voice chat, right?”

After switching phones yesterday, she had completely forgotten to log back into her social media accounts.

Her phone wasn’t flooded with 99+ messages every day. When her friends got busy, they might go a whole month without checking in. Song Anchen was one of the more diligent ones, but even she usually only reached out every couple of days.

Besides, if it were urgent, they could always call directly, so it hadn’t crossed her mind.

She logged into her accounts, and after the pages loaded, a flood of unread messages popped up. Aside from news notifications, most were from Song Anchen.

Yan Guiqiu scrolled through the message history, finding only a partial message from today. After a moment’s thought, she decided to call Song Anchen directly.

Song Anchen answered the phone, and the first thing she blurted out was, “Is Yuyin with you?”

“Yuyin?” Yan Guiqiu was confused. “Isn’t she on set?”

“She said she had a couple of days off and even went to your school looking for you. Yesterday, she told me she bought a ticket to Ningcheng,” Song Anchen continued, “You haven’t seen her?”

Yan Guiqiu moved the phone away and checked her call logs and message history again there wasn’t a single message or call from Gu Yuyin. But it was possible she’d missed something after switching phones.

“No,” Yan Guiqiu paused, then asked, “When did she say her flight was?”

“I’m not sure exactly, but she mentioned it was a morning flight,” Song Anchen replied.

A morning flight no matter how delayed, she should have arrived by now.

Yan Guiqiu turned to her sister and asked if anyone had come looking for her. Gu Yuyin knew her home address.

But Yan Guizhou shook her head and said she hadn’t seen anyone.

She had left for class after lunch, and by then, their father and Mrs. Meng had already returned home. Their father had been home all afternoon, so if anyone had come by, he would have called Yan Guiqiu directly.

“I tried calling her, but her phone is off,” Song Anchen continued on the other end. “She wouldn’t have gotten lost, would she? After all, she’s somewhat of a public figure.”

Song Anchen didn’t dare say more.

In the past, Gu Yuyin would often go off the grid while traveling for filming, so being out of touch for a day or two usually wasn’t a big deal. She had been navigating the world on her own for a long time and was far more alert than those of them who followed a more conventional path.

Song Anchen had initially assumed Gu Yuyin had turned off her phone to avoid being bothered, but now that she heard Gu Yuyin hadn’t reached Yan Guiqiu, she started to worry.

“She’s probably fine. Maybe she went to a relative’s house,” Yan Guiqiu reassured her. “I’ll try calling her again later and let you know if I hear anything.”

After hanging up, Yan Guiqiu’s expression grew serious.

Jiang Xuehe, who had been listening nearby, asked, “Should we call the police?”

Yan Guiqiu shook her head, scrolling through her contacts to call Gu Yuyin. As expected, the phone was turned off.

After a moment’s thought, she composed two text messages and sent them.

“Let’s wait until tomorrow and see,” Yan Guiqiu said. “She didn’t send me a message in advance, so she probably has something going on. Maybe she’ll be fine once she’s done.”

If A-Luan was a bit unreliable, Gu Yuyin had a knack for attracting mishaps.

Whenever plans were made, some unforeseen circumstance would inevitably cause delays.

For instance, when she and Yan Guiqiu had planned a trip together, just a month before departure, the film crew suddenly announced they needed to shoot on location somewhere else, requiring the cast to arrive three months early.

The reason given was that the mountain scenery during that period was most suitable and would look best on screen.

The film’s director was a heavyweight in the industry, aiming for awards with this project, so everyone was striving for perfection. The actors, hoping to boost their careers, naturally had to comply with the crew’s arrangements.

No one could argue with that. Gu Yuyin had no choice but to cancel her travel plans with Yan Guiqiu and rush off to join the crew.

Unlike A-Luan, who often canceled at the last minute, Gu Yuyin usually encountered issues well in advance. Sometimes it felt like she was tempting fate even when meeting face-to-face, a sudden call with an unavoidable reason could pull her away.

She probably felt a bit embarrassed about it herself, so she gradually stopped making firm plans for minor matters. Instead, she’d drop by unannounced and discuss things on the spot.

That way, if something came up unexpectedly, she wouldn’t have to cancel another appointment.

But not answering her phone at all was unusual.

Perhaps her phone had broken unexpectedly.

Besides, Gu Yuyin was an actress, a public figure of sorts. If this turned out to be a false alarm, it wouldn’t reflect well on her.

Yan Guiqiu thought this way, but she still felt uneasy. Before and after dinner, she had dialed Gu Yuyin’s number five times.

Finally, at a quarter past seven in the evening, on her sixth attempt, the call went through.

The familiar voice answered immediately, launching into an explanation.

“My phone broke as soon as I got off the plane,” Gu Yuyin explained. “But I ran into Han Xiaoxiao right after, and she gave me a ride. I ended up joining a class reunion, and my phone just finished charging after being repaired.”

Gu Yuyin had arrived after noon. While exiting the airport, someone bumped into her, and her phone hit the steps, screen going black.

Since it contained some important records, she decided to get it repaired, but she didn’t have enough cash on hand for a taxi.

Just as she was fretting, she ran into a high school classmate who was in town for a wedding and offered her a ride.

Han Xiaoxiao stayed with Gu Yuyin until her phone was fixed, then dragged her to a pre-wedding class reunion. Gu Yuyin had been close to her back in the day, and since Han Xiaoxiao had just helped her out, she felt she couldn’t refuse.

At the time, she hadn’t seen any messages on her phone, and amid the noisy gathering, she hadn’t noticed her battery dying.

By the time she realized, it was already this late.

“Why didn’t you just call me?” Yan Guiqiu asked, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Gu Yuyin replied. “But I didn’t get a chance to book a hotel, and I doubt there are any rooms available now.”

“Then just come stay at my place. There’s a guest room.” Yan Guiqiu didn’t see any problem with that and asked, “So where are you now? Should I come pick you up?”

“Alright.” Gu Yuyin gave an address and added, “Could you bring some honey water or milk when you come?”

“Have you been drinking?” Yan Guiqiu asked.

“Yeah, it’s a party.” Gu Yuyin’s side was interrupted by someone calling her name, and she hurriedly said into the phone, “Come whenever you’re free. I think they’ll probably keep the party going until late at night.”

After hanging up, Yan Guiqiu first sent a text to Song Anchen to let him know she was safe, then told her parents that a friend would be staying over for the night.

Ms. Meng asked who it was, and when Yan Guiqiu said it was Yuyin, she immediately remembered.

“The one who came over during the New Year, right?”

Yan Guiqiu hummed in agreement.

On the other side, Yan Guizhou stole a glance at Jiang Xuehe.

Jiang Xuehe noticed her gaze and turned to look at her, her expression calm as she smiled and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“That’s my sister’s friend,” Yan Guizhou whispered in explanation for her sister. After a moment’s thought, she lowered her voice even further, “How about I ask my parents to take you to see the flower boats later?”

Jiang Xuehe simply shook her head, but before she could say anything, she heard Yan Guiqiu calling her from the other side.

“Sorry, Xuehe, we might not be able to see the flower boats tonight.” Yan Guiqiu looked at her apologetically. “I’ll take you to see the lanterns next time.”

Jiang Xuehe didn’t seem too bothered. “It’s fine, there will be other chances.”

Yan Guiqiu breathed a sigh of relief, said goodbye to her parents, and took Jiang Xuehe’s hand as she headed out. “We should still be able to catch a taxi at this hour.”

Yan Guizhou, who was left behind, blinked in confusion and asked her sister, “Where are you going?”

Yan Guiqiu replied, “To pick up Yuyin.”

Yan Guizhou asked, “Why drag Xuehe along for an extra trip in the middle of the night?”

Yan Guiqiu answered with complete confidence, “I’m scared of walking alone at night. Is it wrong to bring my girlfriend along for courage?”

Yan Guizhou thought back to the time at the amusement park when her sister had calmly walked out of the haunted house, followed by a crowd of wailing children, and fell silent for a moment.

“…”

Alright then.

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