Life is full of regrets
Jiang Xu, dragging his suitcase, stumbled to the entrance of Hoh Xil and knocked on the door outside the courtyard. "Lin Chaoying! Jiang Chuangu! Open the door!"
Zhou Pei ran out of the guesthouse, shouting, "I'm here!"
Jiang Xu: "What happened to your eyes?"
Zhou Pei: "It seems like I tripped and fell a couple of days ago, which caused this."
Jiang Xu noticed that the glass wall of the guesthouse was also broken. "How did you manage to make such a mess here?"
Zhou Pei explained vaguely, "It seems like it was just a strong wind a couple of days ago. It's okay, my sister has already found someone to fix it, it should be back to normal in the next couple of days."
Jiang Xu didn't suspect anything and asked, "How's Jiangchuan Valley doing lately?"
Zhou Pei helped him with his luggage. "Jiang Chuan Gu went out with his sister today. They've been doing well lately."
"Boss—" Qian Fei burst in through the door, shouting, and accidentally bumped into Jiang Xu who was in the way. She casually apologized, "Sorry."
Jiang Xu asked in confusion, "Who is this? Didn't Lin Chaoying say that the guesthouse was closed?"
Zhou Pei explained, "She's my sister's friend."
Jiang Xu entered the reception room on the first floor and saw a man and a woman having a heated conversation in the dining area. The man was wearing a trench coat, half-lying on a chair with his legs casually draped over the edge of the table, his expression conveying a sense of "you can kill me, I'm a cheater." The woman had her hands on her hips, her expression shifting between anger and helplessness as she talked on and on, making for a very vivid scene.
Finally, the woman waved her hand, pointed at the man and cursed a couple of times, then left with a dark face. When she got to the door, Jiang Xu blocked her way again, and she complained impatiently, "Where did this idiot come from? Why are you blocking my way?"
"Excuse me." Jiang Xu obediently stepped aside.
After everyone left, he couldn't help but ask, "Is Lin Chaoying involved in the underworld? These guys don't look like respectable people."
Zhou Pei quickly covered his mouth, "Brother! Don't talk nonsense, let me take you upstairs to your room first."
Jiang Xu: "By the way, I paid the room fee last time. It was for a month, right? Check how many days are left."
Zhou Pei put down his things, went to the front desk, and turned on the computer. "Nine days left."
Jiang Xu took out his phone, "Could you extend Jiang Chuangu's contract for another two months?"
“No need,” Zhou Pei said. “Jiangchuan Valley has renewed his room fee for another year, I can handle it for you.”
"A year?!" Jiang Xu exclaimed in surprise, "Jiangchuan Valley is going to settle down here?"
Zhou Pei said awkwardly, "I don't know either. He initially wanted to extend it for two more years, but I said let's do it year by year, and that's when he agreed."
Jiang Xu found it strange and sent a message to Jiang Chuangu on his phone: "Are you retiring? Daring to book a guesthouse in Jiaozhou for a year? Come back soon, I have something for you."
He then closed the chat window, thought for a moment, and said seriously, "Then I'll pay for six months."
"Oh!" Zhou Pei's subordinates moved swiftly, afraid the other party might change their minds. "Here, take the key you had before you left! The room has been cleaned for a long time! Have a pleasant stay!"
Jiang Xu refused his help, saying, "I'll go upstairs and pack myself. You don't need to see me off."
Two incredibly wealthy people! Double the room rate plus a yearly stay!
He secretly sent a message in the three-person group chat: 【@Sister Lin Chaoying, the person you know is really rich!】
Linlin: [?]
Zhou Pei: [Jiang Xu knew that Jiang Chuan Valley was extending its stay for another year, and also booked it for half a year!]
Linlin: 【!】
Lin Chaoying: [Did they notice the double room rate?]
Zhou Pei: [No, they haven't mentioned it at all.]
Lin Chaoying: [Tsk! You should have said you wanted three times the price earlier!]
Linlin: [Enough is enough.jpg]
Zhou Pei: [Sis, when are you coming back? There are a lot of people today, so I'll prepare dinner early.]
Lin Chaoying: [On the way, about an hour.]
Jiang Xu stood at the top of the stairs on the second floor, glanced up at the building, swallowed the complex and inexplicable emotions, turned around and pushed open the door to the room. The floor-to-ceiling windows inside the room offered a view of the setting sun.
Golden light enveloped him. He slammed the door shut, laid his suitcase flat, unzipped it, and sighed softly, a sigh filled with helplessness.
The documents and two gift boxes were arranged in a row on the table.
Sitting cross-legged to the side, silently gazing at the items, Jiang Xu's eyes unknowingly welled up with tears, which uncontrollably streamed down his face and dripped onto his collar. He casually wiped away the tears, his head slumped down, collapsing silently.
Jiang Xu knew that when these two items reached Jiang Chuan Gu's hands, the story of ATW-7 would come to an end.
Everyone was stuck in their own little world when it came to what happened back then.
When trapped in the group, everyone naturally yearned for the outside world and desperately tried to escape. However, when faced with the malice of the world, they wanted to turn back but found that everyone had already torn each other apart for this opportunity and there was no way to back down. They could only grit their teeth and walk into the thicket of thorns.
In the end, it seemed that only Jiangchuan Valley could overcome the thorns and reach the other side, only to be met with a new abyss.
Jiang Xu admitted that his indecisiveness and inability to handle conflicts within the team had caused everyone to become each other's deepest thorns.
Over the years, he has constantly regretted not being able to gather everyone together for a proper talk when he debuted, or if he could have gained a deeper understanding of some of their inner conflicts and helped them resolve them...
It seems he takes all the team's problems upon himself to alleviate his guilt.
As he gradually gained freedom due to his fame, he desperately tried to reconcile with Jiang Chuan Gu and Li Chao, and desperately tried to take a few people with him to represent ATW-7 and leave the country...
Jiang Xu often dreams of those two years when he was 14, of a dozen or so people practicing hard in the underground studio...
He didn't know how long he sat there. The sun gradually set behind the mountains, and the dark sky pressed down. He sat blankly on the ground.
A knocking sound came from the door.
When Jiang Xu stood up, his legs were numb, and he limped to open the door.
Jiang Chuan Gu's expression was not good, and his eyes were filled with heavy sorrow. "You looked for me."
Jiang Xu nodded and pointed to the items on the table, "President Guan and the others have something for you."
Jiang Chuan Gu entered the house, picked up his things, and prepared to leave. With his back to him, he said, "Jiang Xu, thank you for all these years."
"Huh?" Jiang Xu didn't react and stood there.
Jiang Chuan Gu returned to his room, each step incredibly difficult. He slammed the door shut, and with his last ounce of strength, sat down at the coffee table. The things he was holding scattered on the floor. He covered his face, letting out suppressed sobs…
He heard everything.
He overheard Lin Chaoying and Kong Yue's conversation on 12th Street.
I heard Lin Chaoying ask Scarface if he had face blindness, I heard her talk to Kong Yue about the wound behind Li Chao's ear, and I heard her tell Kong Yue all her guesses about "The Prince Replaced by a Civet Cat".
Hearing her instructions not to let Kong Yue say it aloud, she first tried to find a way to verify whether the scar was face blind.
He recalled the faint rustling sounds he heard inside when he knocked... Li Chao crawled towards the door, not to run, but to block it...
After being treated so brutally, Li Chao even had to pick at the skin behind his ears until it was raw...
Jiangchuan Gu broke down in tears, unable to tell whether it was from the unbearable pain or his body's failure to recover. His whole body was numb, and he felt waves of pain as if he had been hit by a stone. He looked helplessly out the window.
He thought: If I jump now, it won't hurt as much as it did for you, right?
Jiangchuan Gu wiped away the messy tear stains on his face and opened the file: Termination Contract.
There was also a note inside: Gu Zi, I've trapped you for so many years. Read this contract carefully, sign it, and send it back. You can do anything after that. I believe you are not the murderer. I believe in the police, and I believe in you even more.
The first small gift box contained a meal card.
The second gift box contained a pair of headphones.
He noticed that the headphones were the same model as the ones they had broken together before, and the serial number on the meal card was 3018XXXXXX.
For Jiang Xu's 18th birthday, it wasn't just Jiang Xu who prepared the cake; others also prepared gifts.
Jiangchuan Valley saw the note inside the gift box. Upon opening it, he saw it written in childish, insect-like handwriting:
Jiangchuan Valley, we blocked your contact information a long time ago. We're using this to express our attitude.
So many years have passed, and I admit that I hated you when I was a kid. Not just you, I hated everyone in ATW-7, the staff, and even the CEO. Back then, we would argue and fight every day for a few more lyrics or a few more stages, and we would insult and fight each other on public platforms for external opportunities.
Do you remember the fans saying that our fifth generation group was the worst generation in HQ?
Later, as your career flourished, everyone naturally resented you. They resented that you remained untainted by the mire, that you could work diligently in this filthy environment, and that you deserved to rise so quickly.
But the night you won Best Actor, we were all huddled around Jiang Xu's phone, even more nervous than you were.
During the time you were being attacked online, a few of us secretly cursed those marketing accounts behind your back. Jiang Xingxing even used a secondary account to help you fight back against the attacks.
Unexpectedly, the relationship actually broke down later...
I won't say anything more; in the end, we're the ones who let you down.
If we have the opportunity to meet, I hope to apologize in person.
I'm giving you these two things to tell you that we believe you didn't kill Le Chao.
Signed by: Jiang Xingxing, Zhao Yuanfan, Shen Hao, Su Xi, Qi Zeren.
When Jiangchuan Gu opened his phone, his hands were trembling. The hashtag 【ATW-7 Team Spirit】 was prominently displayed on Weibo. When he clicked on it, he saw that six people had forwarded the police's announcement that Jiangchuan Gu was innocent.
He took a deep breath and put the gift down.
Thirty-one-year-old Jiangchuan Gu finally received this apology. The gift he hadn't received when he was eighteen was finally delivered thirteen years later.
He threw his earphones and meal card into the trash, opened the contract, signed it, and then posted it on Weibo:
I hereby solemnly declare that Mr. Li Chao is my best friend. He has always selflessly helped me and everyone around him.
Please stop all acts of spreading rumors! Otherwise, I will pursue this matter to the fullest extent!
Having been in the industry for 18 years, I am very grateful to my fans for their unconditional support. To me, you are a gift from fate.
You have given me your time, money, and love, and lifted me up to where I am today.
I remember when I first had 300,000 fans and 8,000 people in my super topic, I was confused and in pain, and I was once soaked by a sudden downpour.
Because of you all, I gradually realized my significance as an idol, actor, and star.
However, I regret to inform you that due to personal circumstances, I have chosen to withdraw from on-screen work and officially terminate my contract with HQ, returning to behind-the-scenes creative work.
My fans and friends, I apologize again for causing you to be caught in a negative public opinion storm because of me.
Finally, I still want to answer the question you care about most: I will eat well, rest well, and try to live a happy life.
I know that your love is so selfless, and my response seems so insignificant. Please accept and love yourselves unconditionally, just as you love me.
Thank you all for your unwavering support and companionship through thick and thin.
May everyone be free from worries and have all their wishes fulfilled.
Jiangchuan Valley.
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