I'm Rich - 19
Chapter 19
Xiao Ran was a hot commodity, his filming schedule meant there were always a few obsessive fans lurking around the set. After Guan Zhiyi was taken to the hospital by car, he was still fully done up in hair and makeup, which made it impossible for him to slip out past those fans. Besides, his manager wouldn't have allowed him to be photographed visiting a hospital.
Xiao Ran sat in the break room restlessly. "Any word from the hospital yet? How is she?"
"Ran-ge, don't worry," his assistant said. "It's probably just a sprained ankle. She'll be fine."
"How can I not worry? This is all because of me." He thought for a moment. "Does her manager know?"
"Already notified. And Zhiyi has an assistant with her now who can look after her."
"Fine…" Xiao Ran pressed his fingers to his brow, deeply irritated.
After all this time filming together, his relationship with her was nothing like it had been at the start. Seeing the girl get hurt because of him left a knot in his chest he couldn't untangle.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. In the end, he called Qi Chengyan directly. Given Qi Chengyan's relationship with Guan Zhiyi, he would surely be able to handle things and take care of her.
The phone rang a few times before Qi Chengyan picked up. "Hello."
"Ahem… Chengyan."
"What is it?"
"That, uh, Zhiyi got hurt on set today. I can't get to the hospital. Could you—"
"What? She's hurt?" Qi Chengyan's voice went sharp.
Xiao Ran scratched at his hair, awkward. "She fell off a horse. She's been taken to the hospital. And, well, this is on me. I accidentally hit the horse she was riding, spooked it—"
"Which hospital!" Qi Chengyan cut him off.
"Second Hospital."
Beep, beep, beep—
Xiao Ran still had more to say, but the call had already been hung up.
"…"
Qi Chengyan had been busy all day. He'd had a meeting scheduled for the afternoon, but after that one phone call, he drove straight out of the company lot, calling his assistant on the way to rearrange everything.
He drove fast and made it to the Second Hospital in just over half an hour. Inside, he headed straight for the VIP ward.
Liu Yun was already waiting downstairs. When she saw Qi Chengyan approach, she hurried to meet him.
"President Qi."
"How is she?"
"Ankle injury. It's already in a cast. Nothing else." Liu Yun said, "But the doctor says she can't put weight on it for at least a month. What are we going to do? The Imperial Court is still filming—"
She stopped mid-sentence under the weight of his stare.
Liu Yun cleared her throat awkwardly. "Er… of course, of course her health comes first. I'll work it out with the production team."
"Mm."
At the ward door, Qi Chengyan pushed straight in.
Inside, besides Guan Zhiyi lying in the hospital bed and her new assistant Mao Mao, there was no one else. The crew members from The Imperial Court who had followed her over had all been sent away by Liu Yun before Qi Chengyan arrived.
Guan Zhiyi had been talking to Mao Mao. When she heard the door, she turned her head and froze the moment she saw Qi Chengyan walk in. "How did you know I was here?"
"One of my company's artists got injured. Should I not come check on her?" Qi Chengyan's face was dark, his tone short.
‘For a company artist's sprain, the big boss wouldn't normally rush over in a panic.’ Thought Liu Yun, though she didn't dare say it out loud. She shot Guan Zhiyi a meaningful look, then turned to Qi Chengyan. "President Qi, Mao Mao and I will step out. Call us if you need anything."
"Mm."
Liu Yun pulled the bewildered young assistant out of the room.
Once it was just the two of them, Guan Zhiyi spoke. "Chengyan-gege, did Yun-jie tell you?"
Qi Chengyan walked to her bedside, frowning at her leg. "It was Xiao Ran."
"…Why would he call you?"
"Were you planning to hide it from me?"
"It's not that… it's just not a big deal. You didn't need to come."
"Your leg is like this and it's not a big deal?" Qi Chengyan let out a cold scoff. "I thought Xiao Ran knew how to ride. What kind of garbage technique lands you in this state?"
"It's not his fault," Guan Zhiyi said quickly. "It was an accident."
Qi Chengyan shot her a look of displeasure and pulled out his phone.
"What are you doing!" Guan Zhiyi sensed it immediately and grabbed his sleeve.
"Calling Yuanbai."
"No!!"
"This is serious. You don't get to be stubborn about it."
Guan Zhiyi yanked harder on his sleeve. "I can recover on my own. Don't tell him! Do you, do you even know what he'll do if he finds out?"
Qi Chengyan switched the phone to his other hand. "What will he do?"
"He'll get angry! And not just angry, he'll definitely drag me home. Then, then he'll get the whole family together, including Grandpa and Grandma, to lecture me, and then he won't let me act anymore. But you know I haven't finished The Imperial Court yet!" Just picturing it made her scalp crawl. "Ge, ge, I'm begging you. Don't tell him."
Qi Chengyan narrowed his eyes. "So you're not afraid of me getting angry?"
Guan Zhiyi shrank back and said in a small voice, "I'm sorry, but today really was an accident…"
Qi Chengyan stared at her, stone-faced.
Seeing that he didn't seem about to make the call, Guan Zhiyi sensed an opening and clutched at his sleeve, pressing her advantage. "I'll be more careful from now on, I promise. Just don't tell my family. And, Ge, the doctor said I just need a month to heal. It's not serious at all!"
"Not serious at all? Listen to yourself."
"Mm… it's, it's fine, really."
Qi Chengyan's brow was still furrowed. "What are you going to do for the next month?"
"The doctor said I can recover at home, so I'm planning to stay at my apartment. Mao Mao will come take care of me."
Qi Chengyan thought back to that assistant Mao Mao, with her thin little arms and legs. "She can take care of you when you're normal. In your current state, I wouldn't count on it."
"Yun-jie will come by sometimes too."
Qi Chengyan looked at her confident expression and felt even less reassured.
"You're coming with me. You'll stay at my place for the next month. I have people there who can take care of you."
"Stay at your place?! No way. Our homes are so close, how is that any different from staying at my own house?"
Qi Chengyan reached over and rapped her on the head. "Relax, it's not Grandpa's place. It's a separate property."
"Oh…"
"I won't be staying there anyway, you can recover there for the month. It'll be easier for my staff to look after you."
"But I don't think it needs to be that much trouble…"
"Fine. If you think that won't work either, I'll just call Yuanbai and let him handle it."
"No!" Guan Zhiyi's face fell. "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. I'll do whatever you say."
Qi Chengyan gave her a sidelong glance. "That's more like it."
**
The next day, Guan Zhiyi was discharged and got into the car Qi Chengyan had sent.
As for Qi Chengyan taking her away, Liu Yun had zero objections. In fact, she was downright eager, helping pack up Guan Zhiyi's things and loading them into Qi Chengyan's car.
In Liu Yun's eyes, this was the beginning of Guan Zhiyi's meteoric rise, and the sign that her own pockets would soon be overflowing.
Guan Zhiyi couldn't be bothered to shatter Liu Yun's assumptions, and Qi Chengyan let her think whatever she wanted. Because if not for that misunderstanding, there'd be no way to hide Guan Zhiyi's identity, and no way to explain their relationship.
It was two in the afternoon when the car pulled up to Qi Chengyan's private residence. When the door opened, Guan Zhiyi saw someone already waiting with a wheelchair. Qi Chengyan stood beside it, seeing her, he signaled for them to help her out.
"When did you get this place?" Guan Zhiyi asked as she was wheeled inside.
"Last year."
"Last year? You weren't even back last year."
"I didn't necessarily plan to live here at first. Your brother had them hold an extra unit and asked if I wanted it." Qi Chengyan said, "Good location. So I took it."
"Oh." Guan Zhiyi looked around. This cluster of villas was newer than their family's, the design more modern. Given the prime location, it was a solid investment whether he lived here or not.
"Your brother bought the one next door," Qi Chengyan said offhandedly.
"What?!"
Qi Chengyan laughed at her alarm. "Relax. That one didn't start renovations until the beginning of this year. He won't be coming."
Guan Zhiyi let out a quiet breath of relief. "You scared me…"
Once inside, Qi Chengyan gave her a brief rundown of the rooms and layout. Then he said, "For the next month there'll be someone here twenty-four seven to look after you. If anything else comes up, just call me."
"Oh."
"If you get bored…" Qi Chengyan thought for a moment. "I could have Hongxi come by occasionally?"
Guan Zhiyi nearly choked on her own spit. "Huh? That's, uh, not really necessary…"
Qi Chengyan glanced at her, his tone mild. "Did you two fight?"
"No… I just said it offhand."
Qi Chengyan had carved time out of an overloaded schedule to wait for Guan Zhiyi to arrive. After showing her around the house, he had to leave.
Once he was gone, Guan Zhiyi had someone help her onto the sofa. Filming has been relentless lately, leaving little time for sleep. Now that she could finally relax, she was out the moment she lay down.
When she woke, it was past six in the evening. The attendant nearby noticed she was awake and asked if she wanted dinner.
She was hungry.
"Yes, thank you."
"You're welcome, miss."
Since Guan Zhiyi couldn't move easily, the food was brought over on a small folding table. The spread was colorful and abundant, her mouth watered just looking at it. But once she picked up her chopsticks, she didn't move for a long moment.
"Miss Guan, is the food not to your taste?" the housekeeper asked.
"No." Guan Zhiyi said, "I just think it's a lot. Next time you could just make me a chicken breast salad."
"I'm afraid that won't do…"
Guan Zhiyi blinked. "Why not?"
"Sir instructed that you need to build yourself up. And with a bone injury, you need calcium."
"But I can't eat too much…"
"Sir anticipated that. He already gave instructions. Everything we make will be low-oil and low-salt, so you can get proper nutrition without gaining weight."
Guan Zhiyi murmured an "oh." "Thank you."
"Of course. It's what we're here for."
Guan Zhiyi picked up her chopsticks and took a rib. It was braised so tender that the meat slid clean off the bone. Her taste buds came alive. It was so delicious she could have cried.
With her easy-to-gain-weight constitution, she never dared touch food like this on set…
But this time, forget it. She was injured, after all. She had every right to indulge once!
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Author's Note:
Yep, this house is that house from the synopsis (a house with a story).
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