Chapter 57 Cannon Fodder Substitute Lover 5 Taking You to See His White Moonlight...

Xu Luo was stunned for a moment, her body instinctively wanting to run away, but Gu Qingyan had already walked over quickly and stood next to Li Qingran, his gaze shifting back and forth between Xu Luo and Li Qingran.

He had probably just washed his face quickly, and was still wearing the black suit he had on when he came in. His hair was slightly damp, and a few water droplets slid down his pale face, some gathering on his chin, and some dripping directly onto his suit jacket, creating a dark, wet patch.

A pair of long, narrow, dark eyes, whether washed with cold water or for some other reason, looked remarkably clean and bright, especially in the dim light. Far from being blurry, they appeared even sharper.

"you……"

Gu Qingyan narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Li Qingran and Xu Luo.

"know?"

Li Qingran pursed her lips, not because she was nervous, but because she found the scene somewhat funny.

A sugar daddy is questioning his two mistresses about whether they have a relationship.

What could possibly be the connection?

They're just colleagues.

Li Qingran's eyes flickered, then she lowered her head, partly to hide the smile in her eyes, and partly to avoid making eye contact with Gu Qingyan, lest she break character and burst out laughing, which is not something a qualified cannon fodder should do.

"No, I came back from outside and thought I should get to know my neighbors better since I just moved here. After all, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative."

Xu Luo gripped the doorknob tightly, his slender fingers appearing even whiter against the greyish-gold background. Seeing the lingering doubt in Gu Qingyan's eyes, his mind raced, and a slight smile suddenly appeared on his handsome face.

"I just didn't expect to run into Mr. Gu here, so you..."

Xu Luo paused, his gaze shifting from Gu Qingyan to Li Qingran. He parted his thin lips slightly, his voice soft enough for all three people present to hear.

"So, you are also..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Gu Qingyan and Li Qingran understood what he meant.

Upon hearing this, Li Qingran felt no emotion, even though Xu Luo's eyes showed shock mixed with a hint of pain—knowing he was not qualified but still unable to help caring about it.

But as soon as he brought the pastries over, Li Qingran already knew from that soft, sweet voice that the other party already knew his identity as the protagonist's lover. He had come to knock on the door with a bit of curiosity and a desire to see what kind of person would be completely forgotten by Gu Qingyan after becoming his lover, and would not see Gu Qingyan again until he logged off.

Moreover, anyone who hears the soft, cute system cheering for Xu Luo, saying things like, "Holy crap! Host, you really are something! You've reversed the roles of host and guest! Humph! What a scumbag! He turned around and went straight into another store after not even seeing us, and he still has the nerve to question us? Where does he get the nerve to do that!" and then sees Xu Luo's restrained and affectionate expression, won't feel guilty at all. They might even find it hilarious.

Sure enough, the mission participants were all top-notch actors.

Li Qingran lowered her eyes slightly, and at the same time raised her hand to gently rub the corner of her lips with her knuckles.

He was afraid that Gu Qingyan would discover that he was laughing, since the latter, unlike him, could not hear Xu Luo's system voice.

Just as Li Qingran had expected, Gu Qingyan, who couldn't hear the system's cheers, instantly changed his expression when he heard Xu Luo's meaningful words.

Although he has never deliberately concealed his affair, and sometimes even informs the other party in advance when signing the contract, he has never before been caught in a situation like this, where one mistress discovers that he is with another mistress.

Everyone knew that there were other colleagues, but the colleagues had never met each other.

Gu Qingyan hadn't expected the scene to turn out so awkward.

He was so embarrassed that he forgot his initial suspicions about Xu Luo and Li Qingran, and all he could think about was Xu Luo's injured gaze as he looked at him.

"No...it's mainly because this afternoon you—"

Gu Qingyan paused again as he spoke.

Because the reason that first came to his mind was really not very convincing.

He couldn't very well tell Xu Luo that it was because she didn't answer his calls in the afternoon and wasn't home when he came over that he had to settle for Li Qingran, who happened to live next door. Although he didn't have much of an impression of this lover, it was better than nothing, and it was better to have come all this way for nothing.

While what he said wasn't wrong—after all, everyone knows he has many lovers, and if one doesn't seize the opportunity, there will always be another who can.

But for some reason, Gu Qingyan just couldn't bring himself to say it. And strangely enough, the first thing that came to his mind when he was stuck wasn't Xu Luo, who looked eight-tenths like Jiang Ming, but Li Qingran, who looked nothing like him when her collarbone was covered...

He was afraid that if he said that, Li Qingran would be sad, unhappy, or angry that he was the Plan B.

Gu Qingyan lightly bit his tongue, his Adam's apple bobbing. Under Li Qingran's gaze, he ultimately failed to give Xu Luo a satisfactory explanation.

He didn't even explain, he just asked coldly,

Why didn't you answer my call this afternoon?

Because he was still asleep at that time, and another 'Xu Luo' unfortunately fell in love at first sight with the lover next to you, and decided to temporarily abandon you as his target to steal your partner.

Xu Luo twitched the corner of her mouth, inwardly grumbling, but outwardly maintaining a wronged expression.

“My part-time boss doesn’t allow me to make or receive phone calls during work hours. He’ll deduct money if he hears my phone ring. I had no choice but to silence it.”

Gu Qingyan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, "It still hasn't been opened."

"Hmm." Xu Luo frankly took out his phone and showed it to Gu Qingyan. "Mr. Gu, look, it's still on silent mode."

Xu Luo turned on his phone and held the screen up between Li Qingran and Gu Qingyan. It was indeed on silent mode, but this wasn't something his boss had asked him to do; it was something Xu Luo had set himself to prevent Gu Qingyan from calling again and interfering with his relationship with Li Qingran.

Xu Luo knew perfectly well that Li Qingran knew what had happened, but he also knew that the boy wouldn't tell the truth.

At this moment, they are like grasshoppers tied to the same rope.

Although Li Qingran didn't think so, he really didn't intend to expose Xu Luo.

Making things difficult for the main characters is not his job.

Before achieving complete freedom, Li Qingran had a very clear understanding of herself—a tool to facilitate the development of the main characters' relationship.

So, when Xu Luo handed the phone to Gu Qingyan, casually revealing his scalded hand (from when he accidentally burned himself while fighting with Li Qingran over the kettle), before Gu Qingyan could speak, Li Qingran exclaimed in surprise:

"Oh dear, Mr. Xu, what happened to your hand? Did you burn it while working?"

“…Hmm.” Xu Luo paused. Although he had expected Li Qingran to cooperate, he hadn’t anticipated that she would be this cooperative…

Xu Luo pursed her lips, thankfully she hadn't lost her composure in front of Gu Qingyan.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gu, I was planning to check my phone after visiting my neighbors, but I didn't expect..." Xu Luo paused, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Gu Qingyan and Li Qingran several times, before continuing in a calm voice:

"I never expected to run into you here with Mr. Li."

Xu Luo's tone was resentful, like that of a powerless wife who had discovered her husband's infidelity.

Li Qingran blinked but didn't say anything. Instead, 888 kept exclaiming in his mind, "I've learned something!"

[This guy's got some skills! He was originally at fault, but after what he said, the whole thing seems to have turned out to be the protagonist's fault.]

[Therefore, host, in future missions, you must learn to strike first. Regardless of who is at fault, first present what is advantageous to you, then repeatedly attack the loopholes in the other party's behavior. In this way, even the weak can turn into the strong!]

Just like Xu Luo now.

After he said that, Gu Qingyan was clearly speechless.

However, unlike what 888 and Xu Luo's system guessed, he was not confused by Xu Luo's logic.

It was because when he looked at Xu Luo's face, which bore an eight-tenths resemblance to Jiang Ming's, he suddenly felt a sense of exhaustion and confusion.

"What do you mean by feeling exhausted and confused?" In a quiet bar with melodious piano music playing, the bartender in a black and white uniform asked the man sitting at the bar who was staring intently at his glass.

"Do you remember that time we went hunting abroad?" Gu Qingyan asked.

"Actually, the prey in that hunting ground was all raised in captivity specifically for hunting. They weren't wild at all, and were all the same—timid and boring. You even told me it wasn't interesting and that you wanted to leave early. But just before you were about to ride away, a wild deer suddenly darted out, lively, powerful, and full of life, and almost instantly caught all of our attention."

"...So what? Weren't we talking about your bunch of stand-ins?" The bartender's lips twitched slightly, somewhat confused by Gu Qingyan's meaning.

Why did you bring up hunting?

“Because I think these two things are very similar.” Gu Qingyan looked up at the bartender, his eyes as bright as when he spotted the wild deer.

"Don't you think that when you suddenly discover something unique among all the same things, it gives you a refreshing feeling? When you go back to look at those same things, you feel aesthetic fatigue, and your mind becomes confused, with a sense of bewilderment as to what you are doing?"

"Have you gone mad from collecting Jiang Ming figurines?"

The bartender got goosebumps from Gu Qingyan's description.

"You might as well just say you've fallen for someone else; that would be better than trying to explain things to me with these analogies."

Gu Qingyan: "That's not what I meant."

Bartender: "Yeah, I understand. It's just that one of your stand-ins doesn't look like Jiang Ming, and you're surprisingly interested in him, right?"

Gu Qingyan: "..."

Bartender: "Just say it directly, there's no need to hide anything. It doesn't mean you have any moral problems. After all, you two broke up a long time ago, it's normal for you to have a second spring in your life."

Gu Qingyan lowered her eyelashes, a hint of struggle appearing between her brows, "But..."

"No buts!" The bartender interrupted Gu Qingyan abruptly, slamming the glass he was holding onto the bar counter. He then leaned close to Gu Qingyan and said earnestly:

"If a guy can make your heart flutter, regardless of his inner qualities, he must at least be top-notch in appearance, right? If you don't seize the opportunity with a top-notch person, it'll be like a top-notch wine. Even if you don't want to drink it, there will be plenty of people lining up to buy it. By then, when you want to drink it again, it will be gone."

"Moreover, I advise you to make a decision sooner rather than later, not just because good wine waits for no one."

"...Then what else is it because of?" Gu Qingyan frowned upon hearing this.

"You don't know?" The bartender gave Gu Qingyan a mysterious smile, then spoke in a low, hoarse voice, like a devil's whisper, carrying a message that seemed to come from hell itself.

"Jiang Ming is going back to China."

As the bartender wiped the glasses, he spoke casually, "I don't know the exact time, but the news came from the Chu family. You should know how long their second young master has liked Jiang Ming. The news he spread is most likely true, which is why I advised you to settle your restless heart as soon as possible. Otherwise, people who waver back and forth will end up with nothing."

Gu Qingyan tightened his grip on his wine glass, looked up at the bartender, and asked, "How did you know I would waver?"

"Then tell me now, when you heard the news that Jiang Ming was about to return to China, was your first reaction one of surprise or distress?"

"..."

Gu Qingyan couldn't answer.

The bartender chuckled. "Look, you big romantic. Actually, your feelings for Jiang Ming aren't that deep. It's just an obsession. Now that you finally have a chance to let go, you'd better seize it, or you'll regret it."

Gu Qingyan curled her lips slightly, "Then how can I be sure that my love for him is true?"

Before today, he had no impression of Li Qingran at all. It was only because Xu Luo was not at home and he did not want to go home empty-handed that he turned into the house next door in front of Li Qingran's house.

He hadn't exchanged more than a few words with the other person after entering. The other person was very clear about his identity, and he didn't know whether his uneasy heart was because the other person didn't look like Jiang Ming, or because the other person also had similarities to Jiang Ming.

Gu Qingyan thought that he couldn't even be sure of his own heart, so how could he rashly drag the boy into the murky waters of his emotions?

"Never mind." Gu Qingyan took a deep breath, smiled at the bartender, and then put on an indifferent attitude:

"Good wine waits for no one because it has been ownerless from the beginning, but I am different from him. At least for now, he is still my lover."

So he doesn't need to rush, he can take his time.

It's not too late for him to go find the other person once he has truly figured out his own feelings.

The bartender pursed his lips upon hearing this, but didn't try to persuade him further. After all, you can't reason with a fool. He simply looked at Gu Qingyan and asked,

"If Jiang Ming goes back to China for a gathering, will you attend?"

Gu Qingyan withdrew his gaze and said in a low voice, "We'll talk about it later."

Perhaps he would attend, but not to rekindle old flames, but to verify the conclusion he drew from Xu Luo today—whether he truly had no feelings for Jiang Ming left, to the point that when the other spoke, his heart didn't even flutter, as if the other was a stranger, a stranger who could no longer stir any emotion in him...

"Okay, I'll give you the address later. Whether you come or not is up to you, but..." The bartender hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help saying another sentence.

"Don't be idle during this time. Spend more time with the stunt double."

"What are you doing?"

"What can you do? Declare sovereignty, of course!" The bartender rolled his eyes.

"Otherwise, if someone lives there alone every day, clearly in a single lifestyle, it's easy for them to attract romantic attention."

"No way." Gu Qingyan frowned upon hearing this, somewhat tempted, but after thinking it over, he decided to temporarily halt the search for a stand-in. As for whether the other party would be misunderstood as single or something,

"He probably doesn't go out much."

The two pairs of shoes the boy left by the door were old models, but they looked quite new, indicating that he didn't go out much.

Besides, he only wanted to stay in peace and quiet for two or three days. In such a short time, he probably wouldn't attract any romantic attention.

That's what Gu Qingyan thought.

However, the bartender felt that Gu Qingyan's idea was a bit too confident.

After all, some romantic opportunities can't be avoided just by staying home.

For example, right now.

10:25 a.m.

"Mr. Xu?"

"Didn't we agree that you would call me Lolo?"

"But--"

"There's nothing to say but," Xu Luo, his personality suddenly changed, leaned close to Li Qingran, his breathing a little rapid, but his eyes crinkling.

"Ranran, you know that, right?"

Li Qingran blinked. "Know what?"

"Of course, we're all stand-ins."

Xu Luo moved closer to Li Qingran, but just as he was about to kiss her lips, a cold finger stopped him.

"So what?" he heard the boy ask him in a low voice, "We're all stand-ins, so what?"

"Do you want to compete with me, or should I just withdraw?"

"Neither." Xu Luo's eyes were still sparkling. At this moment, Li Qingran pressed her fingertips against his forehead and scrutinized him with indifferent eyes. He did not feel ashamed at all. He only felt that his body was more excited, and his blood was boiling.

When he spoke again, his voice was tinged with a hoarse warmth.

"I just want to say that we are friends on the same side. I'm not here to compete with you; I'm here to help you..."

"Today is the day Jiang Ming returns to China. Ranran, do you want to go and see what the person Gu Qingyan truly likes looks like...?"

I want you to remember that this is the person Gu Qingyan likes.

That way, you won't fall for Gu Qingyan like the other lovers, just like in the story.

That way, I can ensure that in the later parts of the story, you belong completely and utterly to only one person...

Xu Luo's smile grew even brighter, and for a moment, it was even hotter and more dazzling than the sunlight outside.

He said, "Ranran, don't stay in the house all the time."

"Let me take you out to play."

"Let me take you to meet Gu Qingyan's white moonlight, and then we'll count how much we resemble him, okay?"

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Author's Note: The bartender to Gu Qingyan: You'll regret this!

The author's message to Xu Luo: You'll regret this too! [heart emojis]