Chapter 12 A cigarette, a song, a cigarette.
Gu Yinyan returned to his car and called his secretary, Xiao Tang: "Postpone all of today's schedules and reschedule them for me."
Xiao Tang asked in confusion, "But..."
Do as I say.
His current state at work will likely draw criticism. He was supposed to meet with a client today, and it wouldn't be appropriate for him to go like this.
Xiao Tang could tell that President Gu had probably encountered some trouble today, as his tone left no room for negotiation; he rarely acted so impulsively.
She immediately replied, "I understand."
Gu Yinyan had already spoken, and Xiao Tang was quick-witted enough to know what excuse to use to dismiss him.
Just as she was about to hang up, Gu Yinyan added, "Talk to the property management and get the security footage from the garage elevator lobby. The rest is up to you."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
Gu Yinyan drove home.
A high-end, elegant detached villa, quietly situated in the city center.
The building's U-shaped design, with its front courtyard greenery acting as a natural screen, envelops the main structure. Gu Yinyan parked his car in the garage and went upstairs.
He first went to the basement on the lower level.
The elevator doors opened, revealing a full wall of embedded marine aquariums.
The deep blue hue transformed the basement into what appears to be an aquarium.
Gu Yinyan slowly stepped out of the elevator.
The villa's interior is decorated in a single, limited cool color scheme; all the colors are stored in the huge fish tank in front of them.
The glass tank is filled with a variety of colorful fish that swim leisurely around the coral.
Gu Yinyan put in a lot of effort to repair the fish tank in the villa.
Putting aside the effort required to keep the fish alive, the initial landscaping design and equipment configuration for the aquarium alone took a long time.
The water quality needs to be monitored regularly to maintain the balance of water temperature and salinity. Even each piece of coral needs to be carefully cared for and the algae removed.
With such a large fish tank, if a fish accidentally flips over belly up, a diver needs to go underwater to retrieve it.
With electricity, water, and maintenance costs added in, cleaning up afterwards is also a hassle. If an infectious disease outbreak occurs or the water quality deteriorates, a complete tank overhaul is necessary.
The entire process is so complicated that it can exhaust one's energy and effort.
However, Gu Yinyan didn't worry too much about these things; he specially hired a team to help manage them.
He built this fish tank purely for aesthetic purposes.
Arriving at the fish tank, Gu Yinyan bent down and peered through the glass to observe it.
The aquarium's filters and water pumps are carefully selected and processed to reduce noise to a very low frequency.
In the dim light, his three-dimensional features were reflected in the ripples of the water, and the entire tranquil ocean world was captured in his light-colored pupils.
Whenever he stays in this space and watches the fish swimming around as always, the unstable elements in his heart will calm down, and all his unease and restlessness will be soothed.
The suppressed emotions gradually subsided.
Gu Yinyan's gaze swept lightly over every corner of the fish tank.
He noticed a fish hiding under the coral. The fish was blackish-purple with a rounded orange patch on its caudal peduncle; it was a tang he had just bought last month.
—He died.
The fish were lying quietly on the fine sand at the bottom of the aquarium, and it looked like they had been lying there for a while.
Chicken heart-shaped juveniles are expensive, spoiled, and prone to mood swings, making them difficult to raise.
Judging from the fact that the skin isn't covered in white spots, it shouldn't have any parasites. However, this little guy seems too thin; you never know if he starved himself to death.
Gu Yinyan stared at the fish.
The irritation that had just subsided in my heart instantly resurfaced.
His pupils are positioned high, and occasionally a small portion of the whites of his eyes are visible below his eyes when he looks at things, making his gaze even more oppressive and contemptuous.
However, this very aspect is perfectly balanced by his gentle, narrow double eyelids and soft eyelashes, often giving people the false impression that he is a kind and humble person.
Gu Yinyan stayed in the basement for more than ten minutes.
The housekeeper was cleaning the living room when she saw Gu Yinyan return home. Worried that something urgent had happened, she asked, "Mr. Gu, why did you suddenly come back?"
"It's alright, Aunt Jiang. You go about your business." Gu Yinyan put his hands in his pockets and went upstairs.
As he turned around, the perceptive Aunt Jiang noticed the redness around his mouth, indicating an injury. She quickly caught up with him and asked at the bottom of the stairs, "Mr. Gu, are you injured? Do you need me to get you some medicine?"
Gu Yinyan then remembered that his lip was slightly chapped. He replied, "Please bring the medicine box up for me."
"good."
Gu Yinyan went upstairs to the second floor. Back in his bedroom, he went into the walk-in closet, took off his coat, and threw it into the laundry basket next to him, intending to have Aunt Jiang throw it away later.
After changing into comfortable clothes, Aunt Jiang knocked on the door and brought up the medicine box.
Gu Yinyan opened the door and took it: "Thank you."
When the door opened, Aunt Jiang was shocked by the injuries on Gu Yinyan's face. She had never seen Gu Yinyan like this before; it was obvious he had been in a fight.
Aunt Jiang secretly wondered who was so bold as to hit President Gu? After thinking about it, she guessed it was probably just a few young men fighting amongst themselves, whether for a woman or for power.
Gu Yinyan, carrying the medicine box, noticed the changing expressions on Aunt Jiang's face. She was probably watching too many short dramas and was imagining things. He leaned against the door frame and interrupted her.
"Aunt Jiang, please prepare lunch for me. I'm not going out today."
Aunt Jiang suddenly came to her senses and replied repeatedly, "Okay, okay, I'll go right away."
Gu Yinyan closed the door.
Standing in front of the full-length mirror, he took out iodine swabs and anti-inflammatory ointment from his first-aid kit, slightly raised his chin, and gently treated his wounds in front of the mirror.
Gu Yinyan frowned and gently applied ointment to the corner of his lips with his finger, occasionally feeling a slight stinging sensation.
It was just a minor soft tissue contusion, nothing serious compared to Xie Yun's broken nose.
If he hadn't offended him first, he wouldn't have used such a brutal method.
Gu Yinyan looked at his face in the mirror, slowly applying the medicine while recalling the past.
What did Xie Yun say again?
They asked Liang Yizhi if she had touched him, and also asked how many times they had slept together.
Xie Yun brazenly flaunted Liang Yizhi's private affairs in front of him. As a friend, he couldn't stand it; as a man, he despised and scorned him from the bottom of his heart.
Gu Yinyan inwardly mocked himself, thinking that he must have been out of his mind to take the blame for Liang Yizhi's adultery.
With Liang Yizhi's character, how could she possibly talk about breaking boundaries, meeting new people, or "playing tricks"? It's simply impossible for her.
-
Meanwhile, Liang Yizhi had arranged to have dinner with Gary today.
Gary's real name is Wei Shixian, which seems too serious and old-fashioned compared to his appearance and profession.
He works as a live-streaming sales host for a clothing brand. Perhaps influenced by his profession, Gary always dresses himself up very meticulously, which caught Liang Yizhi's eye.
Liang Yizhi said honestly, "You know what, you actually look quite handsome dressed like this."
Gary laughed and said, "It's alright, isn't it? I had the same hairstyle the day we met."
"The lights in the bar were too dim that day... I didn't really see you clearly." Liang Yizhi touched her nose shyly.
That day, the dance floor was flashing lights, and she only caught a glimpse of Gary's outline. Judging from his voice, she felt he was easy to get along with, so she added him on social media.
Gary didn't mind at all: "That's even better, it means we're compatible because of our looks, not our appearance."
They walked side by side in the mall. Because it was a weekday afternoon, the mall was not crowded and was rather quiet.
Gary said, "It's quite a coincidence that we can meet up even on weekdays. I used to be able to meet up with my friends on weekends because they all had to work."
Their jobs are quite similar, and their schedules are not fixed; their monthly schedules depend on their work arrangements.
Liang Yizhi, holding her bag in both hands in front of her, asked curiously, "Is being a live streamer tiring? I often see on my phone that you have to talk non-stop for four or five hours. It's really physically demanding."
Gary sighed: "That's right, I almost faint from lack of oxygen every day when I'm at work. But actually, talking isn't scary, what's scary is the boring comments on the public screen."
When Gary first started streaming, his schedule wasn't ideal, resulting in low viewership and few people in his chat room. Knowing he wasn't doing well, he worked even harder to keep the stream going and prevent the audience from going cold.
But this quiet live stream attracted a group of extremely bored people who deliberately sent comments to nitpick, saying his voice was too effeminate and that his foundation shade was too pale.
Gary tried to ignore the harassment and focus on explaining the product, but the comments remained on the public screen because no new people were posting, so they just wouldn't go away.
He couldn't help but focus on them, and couldn't help but correct his mistakes as he spoke, which made his mouth unable to keep up with his brain, and he became even more flustered.
Later, as he streamed more and more sessions, he mastered more streaming skills and learned to ignore malicious comments.
Gary: "They're just venting their emotions online for no reason. If I'm actually attacked by them, then they've achieved their goal. My state will also affect everyone watching the live stream, and even the people around me. I don't want to spread malice like this."
Liang Yizhi nodded, agreeing with him wholeheartedly: "You have a really strong mentality, so there's a reason why you're doing so well now."
"You flatter me!"
They were having a lively conversation when they realized it was getting late, so they moved on to a restaurant for dinner.
During the meal, Liang Yizhi received a phone call. When she picked it up, she saw it was He Man.
She gestured apologetically to Gary and answered the phone: "Hello?"
"Yizhi, do you know what I heard?" He Man's voice sounded a little distant; she must have put the phone on speakerphone and placed it aside.
Liang Yizhi followed up by asking, "What's wrong?"
He Man: "Gu Yinyan, he's been beaten up!"
She laughed as she spoke, clearly gloating: "It's truly pathetic that our dignified CEO Gu would have such a day. Tsk tsk tsk—"
Gu Yinyan?
Fighting someone?
Liang Yizhi was a little shocked and couldn't process the information for a moment. She immediately asked, "Why did they fight? Who did he fight with?"
“This is interesting.” In response to Liang Yizhi’s questioning, He Man said slowly, “It is said that Xie Yun did this. Xie Yun went back to Mingju this morning. I guess he couldn’t accept being out of work for a while, so he went back to the company to beat up his boss to vent his anger. After all, Gu Yinyan fired him.”
"Xie Yun made the call?" Liang Yizhi was increasingly shocked as she listened.
Xie Yun was gentle and always polite. She had rarely even seen him lose his temper. Yet he would actually hit someone, and even hit Gu Yinyan.
What right does he have to hit Gu Yinyan?
Liang Yizhi grew angrier the more she thought about it. Without thinking too much, her heart clenched, and she asked He Man, "Where is Gu Yinyan now? Is he alright? Have you seen him? How does he look?"
“I just went to his house to borrow his car and met him briefly,” He Man deliberately exaggerated, “He looked terrible.”
Liang Yizhi said urgently, "No. I'll go see him now."
She grabbed her belongings from the table and stuffed them into her bag: "By the way, what happened to your car? Do you need my help?"
"Something happened... but it's a long story, let's talk about it next time we meet. The car has been sent for repairs, and I'm temporarily borrowing Gu Yinyan's car. He has a lot of cars, so it doesn't matter if I crash two of them. Don't worry about it, you curious little thing."
After hanging up He Man's call, Liang Yizhi looked apologetically at Gary: "I'm so sorry, Gary, something happened to my friend, and I have to go see him now. We've almost finished eating, what do you think..."
Gary overheard her phone call and knew the situation was serious, so he waved his hand dismissively: "It's okay, it's okay! We've all finished eating, you can go ahead, it's about time anyway. Or should I give you a ride?"
Liang Yizhi politely declined, saying, "It's no trouble for you, I can just take a taxi. I had a great time meeting you today, let's meet up again next time!"
"Okay. Then be careful on the road."
Liang Yizhi grabbed her coat and bag and paid the bill on her way out of the restaurant. She had promised to treat everyone, so she couldn't forget; otherwise, it would look like she had skipped out on the bill.
Liang Yizhi hailed a taxi and arrived at the residential area where Gu Yinyan's family lived. Security was tight there, and outside vehicles were not allowed to enter, so Liang Yizhi simply got out of the car at the gate and walked in.
Upon arriving at the door, the light gray stone exterior exuded a chill, while warm yellow lights shone from the walls, and all around was quiet.
Liang Yizhi rang the doorbell a few times, but no one answered. She thought for a moment and opened her WeChat app; Gu Yinyan had given her the password before.
After entering the password, Liang Yizhi conscientiously found a pair of slippers to change into, calling out, "Gu Yinyan? Where is he? Are you home—"
Her voice was bright, and the living room on the first floor had a high ceiling, so her voice echoed softly between the four walls.
No one responded. Liang Yizhi quieted down and seemed to hear faint music flowing indifferently.
She glanced at the second floor and, sensing that the sound wasn't coming from up there, began to grope her way towards the direction of the sound.
The heels of the slippers slid and patted the floor, one after another, making a pattering sound.
The closer they went, the closer the music got. Liang Yizhi followed the sound and found it was coming from the study in front of Gu Yinyan's courtyard.
She knocked on the door, but no one answered. Liang Yizhi then tried pressing the doorknob, and the door opened directly.
Music seeped out little by little from the narrow crack in the door, its melody melodious and lingering.
The room was dimly lit, with faint light streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
A faint white mist rose from the sofa by the window, gathered into a wisp, and drifted upwards, then dispersed into nothingness with the singing.
Liang Yizhi was taken aback, and then knocked twice on the door.
Gu Yinyan was leaning back on the sofa, his head tilted back.
Hearing the sound, he turned around and glanced indifferently at the figure behind him. He lowered his hand and stubbed out his cigarette in the glass jar.
"You're here?"
The shimmering light went out.
He folded the cigarette butt a few times in his hand until all the sparks were gone, then threw it away and wiped his hands with a tissue.
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