Chapter 9, Question 9: "Jiang Yi, do you still love me?"

When Gu Lai woke up, there was no one beside her.

It's a bit creepy.

Gu Lai sat up abruptly, stunned for a long time as all her memories came flooding back. Before she could get out of bed to go to the bathroom, she grabbed her phone from the bedside table and turned on the front-facing camera, scrutinizing herself on the screen with the intensity of someone looking for a mistake.

Make eye contact, close your left eye, close your right eye, turn your head to the left, turn your head to the right.

Fortunately, there was no trace of her crying late last night.

The housekeeper had arrived, and the chef had prepared breakfast in the dining area. Gu Lai greeted everyone she met with familiarity, noticing that everyone spoke in rather reserved voices.

—Jiang Yi must still be at home.

The indoor area was quite large, but Gu Lai still spotted Jiang Yi at a glance.

Jiang Yi closed the glass curtain wall, letting the sunlight and cool breeze flow into the room without any obstruction. She lay on a recliner in the shade, holding sheet music in her hand, with a violin standing on the floor beside her.

However, she wasn't paying close attention. Before Gu Lai even got close, she looked over at the sound.

"A-Lai." Jiang Yi didn't get up, but saw her wave the sheet music in her hand.

Gu Lai was a little surprised. She hadn't seen Jiang Yi play the violin in a long time; it seemed like the last time was several years ago.

"Getting ready to practice the piano?" Gu Lai squatted down and peeked at the sheet music. It had no title, but the paper was new; you could almost smell the ink. "What sheet music is this?"

"It's just a random print of a piece I did before. I haven't practiced in a long time, and it sounds like I'm sawing wood." Jiang Yi chuckled. "If I practiced it properly, I would play this at the company's annual party."

Gu Lai became interested: "Have you chosen a piece?"

Jiang Yi looked at her: "Do you have any recommendations?"

Gu Lai subconsciously replied, "No, the Fenglu annual meeting isn't some small-scale event for the studio, so how could I offer any suggestions?"

She suddenly realized something was wrong after she finished speaking, but she couldn't say anything more.

Jiang Yi quickly glanced at the sheet music, then turned his gaze back and asked, "Do you have any plans today?" He paused, then explained, "I'm taking a few days off."

A few days off? How is that possible?

Even as a complete outsider, she knew that autumn to the end of the year was the busiest time for major brands and companies in the fashion industry. Moreover, there was no sign of completion yet regarding Jiang Yi's acquisition plan for Gianni. Her planned collaborations with emerging giants in e-commerce and the internet were progressing, and there were still several other factions within the company trying to suppress her.

Gu Lai still remembered the grand and complex plan that Jiang Yi had mentioned to her at the beginning of the year: to embrace digitalization and compete for emerging luxury markets.

Gu Lai asked, "Won't it have any impact?"

“Gree gets annual leave, so I can’t be denied the chance to take it too, can I?” Jiang Yi beckoned and handed the violin to Eileen. “That’s why I asked you, do you know of any activities you can take me out to relax?”

Gu Lai rubbed her temples and said, "City events, charity events, oh, and a few events from Fenglu and other brands, that's about it. I haven't joined any productions, so I'm not particularly busy. How about we go to a brand event? Director XL might really like to meet you, his super boss."

Jiang Yi's eyes clearly showed his speechlessness: "He wants to see me, but I don't want to see them."

"That's all. I haven't been filming recently either."

Are there any projects that have already been confirmed? Or those that haven't started filming yet?

"There is a project to be filmed with the Supreme People's Procuratorate next year, and other slots are still open and under negotiation."

When will that movie directed by Mu, which just finished airing, be released?

"By the end of this month."

"Oh... I remember you were saying you were interested in that director, the one who's all over the news, and his scripts? And He Xiaoqing's?"

"Hmm, it's not confirmed yet."

Jiang Yi stared at Gu Lai for a while, then suddenly smiled.

She is very beautiful when she smiles. Her thin lips, naturally red without any makeup, curve into a smile. Without any jewelry or makeup, her deep features alone can give her an imposing aura.

Gu Lai suddenly felt that her smile just now was helpless and tired, not at all like the fiery and passionate person she used to know.

She asked, "What's wrong?"

“Nothing much,” Jiang Yi continued, “Was the trending topic that day about the script? Did it not work out?”

Gu Lai nodded, then shook her head: "It's almost cold."

She shut up, looking somewhat listless, which probably meant that this was the end of it and it was time for the next topic.

But Jiang Yi, who had claimed to be able to read people's expressions last night, seemed unable to understand and continued to ask, "Why?"

"We talked for a long time. She rambled on and on, saying things that seemed plausible but were actually wrong. She said that the script changes were very offensive and sensitive, involving platforms and prototypes, and that the female lead's image wasn't very good, etc."

Gu Lai paused, remained silent for a while, and then said, "Anyway, that's how it is. We'll see."

Jiang Yi pulled out his phone from somewhere, swiped for less than half a minute, put it down, looked up at Gu Lai, and asked, "The 'Gansui' is related to He Xiaoqing? So some ridiculous things have happened?"

Gu Lai pursed her lips and said, "Actually, it's okay if I don't act. Isn't there Director He?"

It was obvious that Jiang Yi was hearing about this for the first time, since Gu Lai herself had not arranged any meetings, and she couldn't possibly be following any progress made by the studio.

Jiang Yi: "What kind of subject matter?"

Gu Lai: "Same-sex, love."

Jiang Yi asked quickly, "With whom?"

"It's not decided yet." Gu Lai frowned slowly. "What's wrong?"

Jiang Yi turned her head and silently cursed, her lips forming an F. After cursing, she stared at the shimmering surface of the pool, sighed silently, and turned back to Gu Lai.

Gu Lai was sitting next to her on a recliner, speaking with her face turned to the side. She reached out and touched Gu Lai's face, her touch light and cool.

"Actually, I'm jealous," Jiang Yi said. "Tell me when you go to film, and I'll visit the set more often."

Gu Laizhen was surprised to learn that this wasn't her first time filming a romance movie. She had previously planned to participate in a lesbian film, but she didn't sign a contract in the end, and Jiang Yi didn't react much at the time.

She paused for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry."

"You're not genuinely sorry, and I don't want to hear you apologize to me."

Gu Lai's expression changed, and Jiang Yi pressed his index finger to Gu Lai's lips, as if to suppress her unfounded words: "A Lai, I don't want to interfere with you, I just hope you tell me, so that I don't have to figure it out from the itinerary that Ge Li told me."

“It’s still in negotiations. I haven’t signed a contract or finalized my role yet, which is why I haven’t told you.” Gu Lai gently pulled her index finger away and said helplessly, “If you find it annoying, I won’t take the role. There are plenty of famous directors and screenwriters out there. It’s not a big deal.”

Jiang Yi even showed a hint of helplessness. She and Gu Lai stared at each other for a long time, then she glanced down at the fingers being pinched, before looking up again: "I don't want you to do this for me, nor do I need it. I just need you to tell me, to inform me, not to make me guess, that's all."

Gu Lai remained silent for a long time before asking, "Am I being secretive?"

"I have no idea why you were angry that day, or why you suddenly calmed down," Jiang Yi said softly. "I didn't want to bring it up, because it would upset me, but does keeping it a secret really make it all go away?"

"It's impossible, of course it's impossible, but you need to make it clear, right?" Gu Lai smiled. "What if I say I'm tired?"

Jiang Yi was taken aback.

“I’m exhausted. I know you’ve been working non-stop, and I’ve advised you not to, but you didn’t listen and still rushed back for our anniversary. I canceled everything and waited for you all day. I should have been touched, but I wasn’t; I was just exhausted. You ask me why I’m angry? I don’t know. I’m angry at myself and at you.”

"That's just how life is, isn't it? Whether I'm being unreasonable, throwing a tantrum, or arguing, there's no reason for things to stay deadlocked forever, so I called you. As for the argument, if you really want to know, I happily woke you up this morning, and you gave me a hard time. Do you want to apologize?"

Jiang Yi remained silent, just staring at her. Gu Lai suddenly felt incredibly bored and that she had been being unreasonable. She got up to leave when she was suddenly pulled back.

"I'm sorry," Jiang Yi said, looking at her.

This time, it was Gu Lai's turn to freeze.

In her mind, Jiang Yi was a powerful and flamboyant monarch, a high and mighty immortal, whose language system was a pirated dictionary that did not include the word "apology".

Now that Jiang Yi was sitting right in front of her, she suddenly said "sorry" in her usual matter-of-fact tone, leaving Gu Lai at a loss for words.

"I really didn't expect that meeting Camilla on our anniversary would become a trending topic. I should have insisted on contacting you and making things clear the day before I left the country. I was overthinking things when we argued on the phone a few days ago. I'll try to change my morning grumpiness, but I really can't keep up with all the work."

After speaking calmly, Jiang Yi asked her, "Anything else?"

Gu Lai's brain is really not as sharp as Jiang Yi's. If she hadn't mentioned herself, she would have almost forgotten that Jiang Yi had made it to the trending topics.

But she didn't know what to say, feeling that Jiang Yi's tone was like, "What else do you want to cause trouble for?"

Gu Lai felt as if she had been torn in two.

One voice said that Jiang Yi was angry, which was understandable. They had spoken very harshly just now, and Jiang Yi was like that when she was being sarcastic. But she had always been straightforward with them, so she was indeed apologizing. They should just let it go.

But another voice, like a devil, said, "Hurry up, Gu Lai, tell her you're angry. See if she's still acting like a rational, understanding, and exemplary legal partner. See if she truly loves you."

Humans are always easily swayed by the devil.

"What else can I say?" Gu Lai smiled. "With your rationality and sincerity, what more can I say?"

Jiang Yi closed her eyes briefly. When she spoke again, her expression remained calm. She said softly, word by word, "Gu Lai, you're being unreasonable."

Gu Lai's eyes welled up with tears, but her smile deepened: "You're rational. No matter what, I can't compare to you. I can't compare to you in anything."

Jiang Yi raised his voice: "Gu Lai!"

Gu Lai was interrupted and burst into laughter, but tears unexpectedly streamed down her face. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, unsure whether she was laughing or crying. She looked at her reflection in Jiang Yi's eyes and couldn't tell.

She said, "The tone you used when you spoke to me just now was very much like how you talk to your subordinates. I was really scared, and I was also scared of how we had nothing to say to each other when we watched the movie yesterday. Jiang Yi, when did our conversation become nothing more than polite, perfunctory questions and answers?"

“Sometimes I even feel that all we need between us are people like Ge Li and Zhou Shanshan, who are transparent to each other, perfect, and do not interfere with each other, just like a qualified marriage partner. But it won’t work, Jiang Yi. I am an ordinary person who is particularly emotional, impulsive, and childish. I can’t do it.”

She paused, then asked, "Jiang Yi, do you still love me?"