Spilling the Tea on the Movie Star Who Won't Leave Me Alone - Chapter 27

After having dinner with Gu Jingxuan, Xu Chi was personally escorted home by him, draped in Gu Jingxuan’s coat and gifted with a soft “goodnight” from the man himself.

Back in his apartment, Xu Chi sat on the sofa clutching the coat. He buried his face almost entirely into the fabric; it felt as though Gu Jingxuan’s warmth and scent still lingered there. He hadn’t even had his fill of the scent when a notification chime rang out from Weibo.

Opening the app, Xu Chi discovered that Gu Jingxuan had followed him. As one of only twenty people Gu Jingxuan followed on the platform, Xu Chi practically leapt off the sofa. He followed Gu Jingxuan back in a heartbeat and began rolling around on the carpeted floor, grinning ear to ear.

Initially, he had been too afraid of Gu Jingxuan finding out about his main account, so he had never dared to follow him. But the second Gu Jingxuan followed him, he couldn’t help but reciprocate immediately.

Ding—

A WeChat notification made the phone in his hand vibrate. When he saw the sender’s name, Xu Chi’s face flushed red for no reason.

“What’s this? Playing on your phone the moment you get home?”

Gu Jingxuan’s car was currently stopped at a red light. He had remembered to follow Xu Chi while scrolling through Weibo, but he hadn’t expected his “little one” to follow him back almost the very next second. He immediately sent Xu Chi a message. He didn’t even notice the light turn green until a chorus of horns erupted behind him, forcing him to put the phone away and focus on driving.

Xu Chi couldn’t hide his smile. Holding the phone with both hands, he carefully typed out a reply to Gu Jingxuan, word by word.

“I just saw the notification and took a look. Brother Gu, you followed me?”

Fearing it might have just been an accidental slip of the thumb, Xu Chi had to ask, even if it all felt like a dream. He wanted a definitive answer.

Gu Jingxuan didn’t hit another red light for the rest of the trip, so he didn’t have the energy to check his phone. It wasn’t until he reached his garage that he saw Xu Chi’s reply from twenty minutes prior. Looking at the message, he could imagine Xu Chi’s slightly cautious expression. He smiled and replied:

“Of course. If it wasn’t me, did you think it was another Gu Jingxuan?”

Xu Chi was currently soaking in the bathtub. Hearing the vibration of his phone on the vanity, he reached for it instantly. After reading the reply, he couldn’t stop laughing.

“Hehehe, I’m very happy.”

Gu Jingxuan sent a voice message while taking off his shoes.

“Get some rest early. You didn’t seem to have much energy today. Don’t stay up late; sleep early. We have to head back to the set tomorrow.”

Xu Chi listened to that voice message over and over again, eventually saving it to his favorites. Only then did he seriously type out, “Okay, Brother Gu should sleep early too,” and hit send.

Lying in bed and looking at those two words, Gu Jingxuan felt a slight sense of emptiness in his heart. He really wanted to hold Xu Chi.

“Goodnight, Little One Xu.”

Having bathed, gained Gu Jingxuan’s follow, and confirmed that the man didn’t hate or distance himself from him, Xu Chi slept exceptionally soundly that night. He woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and even went downstairs to run a few laps around the small garden.

When Lin Tao drove over to pick him up and found the apartment empty, he panicked, thinking something had happened to Xu Chi. Just as Xu Chi opened the front door, his phone began to ring. Seeing Lin Tao standing in the living room, slowly turning around with a look of utter disbelief, Xu Chi pressed the ignore button.

“My ancestor! You’re actually out of bed?” Lin Tao walked a circle around Xu Chi, as if trying to verify if this was the real person.

Xu Chi generously spread his arms, letting Lin Tao inspect him from head to toe.

“It’s me. I just got up early, why are you so shocked?”

Shocked was an understatement; Lin Tao suspected Xu Chi had been body-swapped. Usually, no matter what methods he used, he couldn’t get the guy out of bed within half an hour. Lin Tao had specifically come thirty minutes earlier than usual today for fear of being late. Seeing Xu Chi not only awake but fully dressed and ready to go was a massive shock.

Lin Tao nodded, emphasizing his surprise. “I’d be shocked if you were up by 8:00 AM. It’s not even 7:00 AM yet and you’re already up before I even called you. You tell me, should I be shocked?”

Hearing the blatant disdain in Lin Tao’s voice, Xu Chi didn’t bother arguing. He grabbed the steamed buns Lin Tao had left on the dining table and sat on the sofa to eat.

He remembered promising Gu Jingxuan that he would take on Director Jiang’s new project, and he knew he should mention it to Lin Tao. However, he wasn’t sure if Director Jiang would still want him. Even though Gu Jingxuan sounded certain, Xu Chi felt that since he had rejected the Director so firmly before, there was likely no hope.

I’ll wait until Brother Gu talks to me about it before telling Lin Tao. No point making him worry for nothing now.

Unexpectedly, Lin Tao spoke up first. He opened his phone and pulled up several documents for Xu Chi.

“Take a look. These are the scripts and roles the company has picked out for you recently.” Seeing that Xu Chi’s hands were occupied, Lin Tao scrolled through the tablet for him. “They’re all decent scripts, but there’s not much of a breakthrough compared to your previous roles.”

Xu Chi was never picky about the scripts the company gave him. His manager, who had never actually shown his face, was incredibly hands-off with him. Out of all the artists in the company, Xu Chi was the only one whose affairs were handled entirely by a single assistant.

Lin Tao had wanted to suggest the company provide more assistants or a new manager several times. But Xu Chi hated trouble and didn’t want the company to think he was demanding. He would often say, “The scripts the manager gives me are fine, no need to change things. It’s too much trouble.”

However, while the company provided many scripts, they were almost all “leftovers” that others didn’t want—mostly roles as the tragic male lead. In the two or three years since his debut, Xu Chi had been pigeonholed as the face of melodramatic romance leads.

Lin Tao assumed Xu Chi would just pick a comfortable, less cliché role like usual, but to his surprise, Xu Chi pushed the tablet away.

“Brother Lin, can I wait a while before taking a new job?” Xu Chi was worried that if he took a job now and Director Jiang’s project went through, he wouldn’t have the time to handle two productions.

Lin Tao was even more astonished. Far from asking for a break, Xu Chi used to beg the company for more roles. Lin Tao frowned and scrutinized him. “Chizi, are you the original version? You haven’t been possessed, have you?”

Xu Chi knew what he was thinking and laughed it off. “I’m just tired from filming Director Jiang’s current project. I want to rest for a bit.”

“That’s true. Director Jiang is very strict with actors. Then let’s rest for a while.” Lin Tao was genuinely loyal and cared for Xu Chi. He turned off the tablet, planning to request a vacation for him.

In the past, Xu Chi would have accepted the scripts. But not now. Now that he had a connection with Gu Jingxuan, he wanted to get closer. He didn’t want to be known forever as just the “Number One Melodramatic Lead.” He wanted to become even better, to have enough strength to stand by Gu Jingxuan’s side.