Gu Yanzhou received the text message while he was at the gym, shirtless with a towel draped around his neck. He had just stepped off the treadmill and was leaning against a makeshift bar to rest. His body was covered in sweat, with a few drops slowly falling from his hair, trailing past the corner of his eye and clinging to his eyelashes, causing him to squint uncomfortably as he looked at the screen.
The text notification sound was too loud, causing Chen Yang, Gu Yanzhou's manager who was working on the couch across the room, to look up and ask, "Who is it?"
'Do you have time for a meal?'
Gu Yanzhou read these six characters over and over again, then casually tossed his phone aside and opened a can of cold beer. Accompanied by the sound of the can's pull tab opening, he said, "It's nothing."
Chen Yang raised two fingers to adjust his glasses frame, and thinking of the recent gossip in the entertainment circle, he warned with a wandering train of thought, "You absolutely must not get involved in any romance. The paparazzi are always watching you... Even if you do, you can't hide it from me. I need to help you manage it, or it'll be trouble if you're photographed. The rumors about you and Yang Yinyin haven't died down yet, and they're forcibly pairing you two up just because you worked on one drama together."
Gu Yanzhou didn't respond.
He took two gulps of beer, then picked up his phone and headed upstairs, "Don't overthink it. I'm going up to take a shower. You can leave once you're done with your work. Remember to close the door on your way out."
"Oh wait," Chen Yang suddenly remembered something, "I heard Director Wang introduced you to that kid called Shao Si today?"
"What about it?"
"He's quite popular now, his career is on the rise, a new star in the industry. It would be good if you two could be linked together to generate some buzz, but we need to make sure there are no issues with his character. Otherwise, if you're portrayed as good friends and he gets into any trouble, it would implicate you too... Shao Si has been in the industry for five or six years now, and there haven't been any major scandals. His character should be fine."
He was making all these plans, not noticing Gu Yanzhou's increasingly furrowed brow. After finishing his thoughts, he asked expectantly, "What do you think?"
Gu Yanzhou paused his steps, then continued walking, "Not much."
Chen Yang was puzzled by this response. He vaguely sensed that his Yanzhou had a different attitude towards this Shao Si, and it seemed he wasn't particularly fond of him.
Meanwhile, Shao Si was sitting on the toilet lid, racking his brains on how to salvage this car crash of a situation.
Li Guangzong rushed into the bathroom with Shao Si's jacket, calling out, "Boss, are you still here? Which stall are you in?"
Li Guangzong knocked on each stall one by one. When he pushed open the door of the last stall, he saw Shao Si sitting comfortably and pretentiously on the toilet lid, holding his phone. One leg was half-bent, with his foot rudely resting on the toilet lid. His head was lowered, and the black hoodie and his hair made his neck appear particularly white against the contrast.
"Let's go, you were right, that Qi Ming is a complete idiot," Li Guangzong said. It seemed that during Shao Si's absence, he had endured some more torment. "That Yang Ze isn't a good guy either... We should avoid them as much as possible in the future. Are you coming? I've already asked the driver to bring the car to the entrance. And put that leg down quickly, if someone takes a picture, they'll say you have no manners and are damaging public property. Stepping on the toilet lid, put it down quick."
"Which paparazzi would be bored enough to come into the bathroom to photograph me," Shao Si raised his head, his face showing nothing but fatigue. He casually told him, "By the way, I accidentally asked your idol out for dinner just now."
Li Guangzong: "What?"
"I said I asked Gu Yanzhou out for dinner," as he spoke, he finally lowered the half-bent leg. Against the backdrop of ripped jeans, his leg looked particularly long and slender. "Gu Yanzhou, your idol."
After saying this, Shao Si held up his phone, showing him the screen.
— Do you have time for a meal?
— Sorry, I don't have time.
Li Guangzong was clearly still a bit confused. He didn't understand how his Shao Si and his idol, two people who had nothing to do with each other, suddenly became connected.
So he couldn't wrap his head around it for a while and could only repeat: "...Oh, you asked my idol out for dinner, and you were rejected."
Then after ten seconds, he widened his eyes and asked: "It's too sudden, why did you ask my idol out for dinner, what did you want to have dinner with him for?!"
Shao Si stood up, took his jacket from Li Guangzong's hand, and walked out: "You don't need to know why, anyway, I was rejected. Let's go, take me back to sleep."
He left stylishly, leaving Li Guangzong to belatedly ponder over the line 'Sorry, I don't have time'. He felt something was off. His idol was supposed to be the kindest person in the world, but those few words seemed a bit cold no matter how he looked at it.
After getting home, Shao Si slept like the dead. God knows what supported him to walk out of the bathroom after showering and then collapse onto the bed. His scenes for tomorrow didn't start until the afternoon, and he had no other engagements in the morning.
This was the most relaxed day he would have in the next three months. After this, he would be fully immersed in the "Undercover" production, filming day and night.
Gu Yanzhou often came to visit Director Wang's set. If at first only Li Guangzong and Chen Yang, the two managers, were sensitive enough to feel that Gu Yanzhou's attitude towards Shao Si was a bit strange, after several instances, Shao Si himself also noticed it.
Even someone like him, who only filmed and slept every day, could sense Gu Yanzhou's vague rejection of him.
It wasn't very noticeable during normal encounters, with so many people around, Gu Yanzhou's attitude towards him was quite polite.
When he came to see Director Wang, the hot drinks he brought for the entire crew included a portion for him.
Until one time when Li Guangzong insisted on dragging him to thank 'Senior Gu'.
Shao Si refused, lounging in his chair with his legs crossed and the script spread on his lap: "I said thank you when I took the milk tea, why bother again? It's unnecessary, it seems very deliberate."
"...It's to improve the relationship, dad, to show that you're a very humble and eager to learn good kid." After spouting this nonsense, Li Guangzong finally couldn't help but reveal his ultimate goal, "If you don't go over, I won't have a chance to talk to my idol."
Shao Si only responded with a cold laugh, and after a while, he couldn't help but say: "Son, do you know how the paparazzi would write about this?... Drama queen."
Li Guangzong: "..."
However, the heavens seemed to be on the side of the 'drama queen'. Just as Shao Si finished speaking, he saw Director Wang waving at him from afar, calling him over: "Xiao Si, come here for a moment, bring your script, let your Senior Gu give you some acting tips."
Hahahahahahahaha, awesome!
Li Guangzong coughed, afraid he might laugh out loud.
So Shao Si, left with no choice, walked over with his milk tea and script: "Hello, Senior Gu."
Gu Yanzhou: "Hello."
At this moment, Gu Yanzhou had taken off his jacket, with three buttons of his shirt undone. His expression was gentle, but looking down from his collar, his collarbone and the faintly visible chest gave off a sense of aggression.
Shao Si was really not good at chatting with people, especially colleagues, so he didn't know what to say next: "Senior Gu, which scene should we discuss?"
"I'm really sorry," Gu Yanzhou discreetly raised his wrist to check his watch, then picked up his jacket and stood up, nodding slightly to him and Director Wang, "I just remembered I have something to attend to. Another time, definitely another time."
Shao Si: "..." What's the meaning of this?
Afterwards, Li Guangzong comforted him: "He's a big movie star, it's normal to be busy, try to understand... As long as the milk tea is hot and tasty, that's what matters."
This incident was considered over.
Busy filming every day, casually chatting and fishing for information from anyone in the crew who had contact with Yang Yinyin, the fulfilling life made Shao Si quickly forget all about Gu Yanzhou. He didn't even notice that the 'another time' Gu Yanzhou mentioned when he left never came.
The name Gu Yanzhou appeared in Shao Si's ears again when Li Guangzong was helping him take photos to post on Weibo. While casually scrolling through the follower list, he discovered that Gu Yanzhou hadn't followed him back.
Shao Si was in the car at the time, memorizing his lines, leaning back in his seat as if boneless: "Can I unfollow him?"
Li Guangzong was very worried: "Dad, that's not a good idea, people will make a fuss over nothing. He might have forgotten... My idol is very busy... Why don't you interact more with your fans instead?"
Shao Si: "Oh."
However, Li Guangzong discovered that his Shao Si had surprisingly started to check Weibo more frequently.
Of course, this "frequent" was still nothing compared to other celebrities. At most, it was just once every seven or eight days, when he would discreetly pull out his phone halfway through a meal to scroll through it.
Li Guangzong found it hard to believe that Shao Si was unusually concerned about the fact that "Gu Yanzhou hadn't followed him back."
Although he also knew that Shao Si cared about this follow-back mostly due to male pride, and it had nothing to do with who the other person was.
Moreover, Shao Si pretended not to acknowledge his own little thoughts, explaining to him: "I just go on Weibo to keep up with current news and events."
Li Guangzong's chopsticks trembled: "Is that so?"
"What else would it be? Why would I constantly check his profile for no reason? Look—that child who was kidnapped and taken to a remote mountain village was found a few days ago, after eight years. Little Zai, take a look, it shows that our country's crime-solving ability is quite good and deserves praise."
Li Guangzong thought to himself, this nonsensical talk, damn, I almost believed it.
"Look at this too," Shao Si put down his chopsticks after finishing his meal, swiped the screen a couple of times with his finger, and read it out to him like a news anchor, "The total online views for 'The Widow Who Returned to the Village' have exceeded one billion, setting a historical precedent among similar rural romance-themed dramas."
Even though the voice in his ears was pleasing to listen to.
The tone was clear and a bit cool, with a habit of ending in a husky note.
He had always thought that if Shao Si wasn't an actor and switched to singing, he would definitely become famous.
But Li Guangzong still couldn't help breaking his chopsticks in anger: "Shao Si, don't let me hear those six words 'The Widow Who Returned to the Village' again!"