Chapter 30: She thought the question would be about divorce or reconciliation.
Jiang Yi ultimately did not receive a clear answer.
If there's one thing Gu Lai learned most quickly from her over the years, it's probably the art of conversation. Getting an answer from Gu Lai directly isn't really an option.
But what's the cost?
The memories of those arguments and cold wars that started inexplicably still hang silently in the sky like an inescapable haze.
It would be a lie to say she wasn't disappointed, but she wasn't surprised either.
Gu Lai didn't reply to that long, harshly worded message. When it was mentioned again on the phone last time, Gu Lai only left her with a long silence.
Looking back, these seemingly friendly communications only brought the already tense situation back to normal; the deep-seated problems remained between them, and nothing was resolved.
This year's Spring Festival came earlier than usual, just a few days after the annual party. Jiang Yi felt lonely and bored at home, and didn't want to deal with useless relatives. After conspiring with her young lover Marc to persuade Jiang Jueming to go on a winter vacation, she also quickly went to I country for a holiday and stayed until spring.
So she and Gu Lai maintained a casual relationship, occasionally she would take some landscape photos, or Gu Lai would share some photos.
After the New Year, there's no need for even this little bit of contact anymore, since none of her social media accounts are blocked and she can still see Gu Lai's updates.
Gu Lai returned from Guizhou Province, participated in charity events, attended industry conferences, and officially announced her involvement with the film "Gansui"...
For a moment, Jiang Yi even felt as if she were experiencing the daily life of living alone after her divorce in advance.
The place she was staying at couldn't really be called a home, nor could it be considered a vacation estate; to be precise, it was a property located in Country I. The scenery was certainly beautiful, and the price was comparable to what Jiang Yi lived in back home. However, apart from the housekeeping team, she was all alone, and she felt that the place was empty and like a haunted house.
Logically, Jiang Yi would prefer to go to the warmer and more suitable Southern Hemisphere. Many of the people she knows like to vacation there during the winter, so she wouldn't be all alone.
However, the fashion industry is always busy at the beginning of the year. The autumn/winter fashion week takes place in this city at this time, and the headquarters of Gianni, which was acquired, is also located here. Jiang Yi felt that staying in Milan would provide the atmosphere for work, and he could also retreat to Lake Como for a vacation. The plan seemed more perfect.
Moreover, if she were to go to the Southern Hemisphere and interact with people she knew, she wouldn't want to deal with the question, "Oh, where is your partner?"
But she found that she still couldn't stand being alone.
The reason why Jiang Yi was always surrounded by people before Gu Lai was the same. She didn't like small, luxurious spaces, and even large spaces that satisfied her needed others to fill them with life.
A beautiful lover who can provide emotional value is essential.
Gu Lai had also asked her this question, which was brought up on the eve of their wedding after they had been together for three years.
Compared to Jiang Yi's womanizing ways, Gu Lai's romantic history was remarkably clean. Jiang Yi wasn't surprised at all that she brought up the topic; in fact, he thought she was being too late, perhaps too cautious and slow to react.
Jiang Yi was taking her hiking on a snow-covered mountain at the time. It was Gu Lai's first time, and she was already panting heavily after reaching the summit. She paused for a while and slowly wrote "Jiang Gu" on the snow. However, there were too many strokes, and by the time she got to the "page" part, the "grass" radical had become somewhat blurred by the wind.
Jiang Yi watched her write the whole time, recording a video with his camera. Halfway through writing a page, Gu Lai suddenly stopped, turned to her, and asked if she had ever brought anyone else here before.
Jiang Yi realized that Gu Lai hadn't noticed her recording and assumed she was taking pictures. So she didn't turn it off and continued recording Gu Lai, while she stood behind the camera and said that she had climbed other snow-capped mountains a few times, and the last time she climbed a snow-capped mountain with others was back in college.
Gu Lai seemed slow to react, as if she were on a snow-capped mountain peak. After staring at her for a while, she abruptly asked if she was her ex-boyfriend from university. Jiang Yi found the term amusing and firmly denied it, saying it was more like a lover.
She had originally intended to say, "Don't worry, this is my first time visiting Haba Snow Mountain too," but the camera was right there. So, Jiang Yi, unusually, picked up the emotional intelligence and patience she usually displays at work and explained a bit more.
Jiang Yi told Gu Lai that back then, when climbing snow-capped mountains, she would follow the school team or other professionals. She didn't have the patience or the ability to take an amateur as a burden when challenging a peak several thousand meters high.
Gu Lai asked her what she and her lover would do.
Jiang Yi bluntly stated that it was about companionship, venting, and doing "i".
Originally, Gu Lai should have been one of these people, but the truth is that Jiang Yi could have many people like that, but there was only one Gu Lai.
Perhaps, in essence, she needs Gu Xi more.
When Jiang Yi saw the photos of Gu Lai and Kong Kang'an laughing and talking in the news, he felt a sense of wistful relief.
If it were in the past when the couple were deeply in love, she would have paid attention to the collaborations of these rumored individuals from the beginning, and then see if the opportunity arose to fly to the filming location to spend a few days with Gu Lai.
Before she used the same-sex theme of "Full House of Spring" as a reminder during that argument, Gu Lai seemed to think of herself as a very trustworthy and magnanimous lover, but only Jiang Yi knew that she was not at all.
The premise that she could perform so well was that she understood Gu Lai's character, had some self-confidence, and, more importantly, had enough information to cover up those worries.
There is no lover who is completely without possessiveness.
Jiang Yi placed the cursor on Kong Kang'an's face, clicked the mouse several times, and finally closed the webpage.
As she opened the "Application for Divorce Registration" and the instructions sent by her lawyer for the hundredth time, her housekeeper, Eileen, called her.
“Sister Jiang, I apologize for bothering you. There’s something that concerns Sister Gu, but she might not know about it.” Eileen’s tone was grave, and there seemed to be the sound of typing on a keyboard. “Mr. Gu Chengdong, who is also Sister Gu’s father, passed away just before the New Year. He was driving against traffic and collided with another car. He and the other driver died on the spot, and Sister Gu’s mother, Ms. Luo Ou, who was in the passenger seat, was seriously injured. There was no one else in the other car, and there was no fault on their part.”
Jiang Yi didn't immediately understand what it meant.
Father, mother, and these two names were all too unfamiliar to her.
Both of them had very distant family ties. Jiang Yi and her mother, Jiang Mei, had a simple mother-daughter relationship based on a money trust, and Gu Lai's relationship was even less close. Gu Lai's initial choice to enter the entertainment industry instead of following arrangements had already worsened her already strained relationship with her family. Later, her family's disdain for her "climbing the social ladder" and her inability to resist her greed for money directly disheartened Gu Lai, leading her to sever all ties.
However, even after severing all ties, Gu Lai could only do her best to forget him. Gentle people tend to think the best of things, and Gu Lai was no exception, still hoping that after giving him alimony, they could live peacefully together.
So Jiang Yi maintained this false expectation for her, just as he maintained many false yet beautiful illusions, protecting her occasionally hateful but eternally precious idealism.
Now, tell Jiang Yi that one person is dead and the other is injured, and in this way, just as she is choosing to try to accept being the ex-wife's sister who is gradually distancing herself and barely maintaining a superficial harmony.
Jiang Yi asked, "Is Aunt Luo receiving treatment now? What are the specific details?"
Eileen: "Emergency surgery. Someone was arranged to sign the consent form on my behalf. I am now out of danger and conscious."
Jiang Yi: "Then... what about Uncle Gu?"
Eileen's tone was somewhat complicated: "After the forensic examination, Ms. Luo Ou refused to allow cremation, saying it should just be left as is."
"..." Jiang Yi asked, "Has the other party filed a lawsuit? How much compensation are they demanding?"
Eileen: "Negotiations are still ongoing. The deceased driver was a able-bodied man, and they are demanding 1.4 million in compensation, but Ms. Luo Ou is refusing... Mayer has already sent a lawyer over."
Jiang Yi was silent for a moment before asking, "Does Gu Lai know?"
Eileen unconsciously spoke with a hint of caution: "I don't know yet. Ms. Luo Ou doesn't have Sister Gu's contact information, nor does she have anyone to look after her there."
“I understand,” Jiang Yi paused and said, “First, try our best to negotiate and appease Ms. Luo Ou, and apply for a flight route for me. If there isn’t one in the next two days, we’ll buy the ticket.”
Eileen said, "The flight route has already been applied for. It will land in Dingcheng and arrive around the day after tomorrow."
Jiang Yi hung up the phone, opened the pinned contact, and dialed.
When the phone started beeping, a strong sense of regret and heart palpitations washed over me.
Perhaps someone else should be the harbinger of doom.
Perhaps she shouldn't have called again after so long, just for this matter.
According to her plan, when she contacts him again, it should be...
"Hello," Gu Lai answered calmly, "What's up?"
Jiang Yi found her voice somewhat unfamiliar.
Her lips moved, but she couldn't utter a word.
After about half a minute of silence, Gu Lai spoke again. This time, all the background noise disappeared, leaving only her voice, clear, calm, and gentle.
She asked, "What do you need to tell me?"
"Yes... my parents were in a car accident, one died and the other was seriously injured."
Gu Lai was on the set of "Full House of Spring" when Jiang Yi called and she was still discussing the scene with Kang Suru.
They rarely call directly anymore; they usually send messages first to see if they have time.
Therefore, when her assistant handed her the phone, she saw the words "AAA Jiang Yi" on it, and her heart skipped a beat.
Gu Lai still remembers that at the end of that video call, Jiang Yi told her to give him a little more time.
Even she didn't know what she was thinking. She both hoped and rejected it. She wanted to close her eyes and walk forward despite the mess on the ground, but she was also afraid that the remnants of the past would mercilessly pierce her again. She just wanted to turn around and leave.
But this time, the choice was given to Jiang Yi, and she herself agreed to it.
Gu Lai left, got into the car, and spoke while holding her phone, but she didn't expect to receive such a response from Jiang Yi.
She thought the conversation would involve divorce or reconciliation, A or B, but it turned out to be a completely unrelated "or".
The result was completely different from what she expected, and she didn't even have time to react.
"What?" Gu Lai asked blankly, "What did you say? What car accident?"
"Gu Shuzai's Aunt Luo was in a car accident... My parents were in a car accident."
Jiang Yi switched to a clearer form of address, stating that her father was unknown. Gu Lai's reaction relieved her earlier unease, and she briefly recounted the information Eileen had given her.
“There are people taking care of you there now, do you... want to go there?”
Gu Lai didn't know how to react to this news.
She listened quietly, followed by a long silence. Perhaps her reaction left Jiang Yi somewhat bewildered, or even misjudging the situation. After a long while, she heard Jiang Yi softly say, "Please accept my condolences."
Gu Lai's anger suddenly flared up.
There was shock and sadness at the sudden death of her parents, whom she had long grown tired of, as well as dissatisfaction with her lover for merely covering up the truth for so long, and a fear and grief that she didn't know where it came from.
What else could she possibly lose?
"Is that all?" Gu Lai suddenly wanted to laugh. "Is that all you wanted to say? Is there any bad news?"
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