I'm Rich - 40
Chapter 40
Up on stage, a boy band was performing, the music pounding, the entire venue bathed in blue spotlights.
Guan Zhiyi heard Qi Chengyan's words and blinked slowly. "Huh?"
"Isn't today your first awards ceremony? I came to watch."
She did have an award tonight. Best Supporting Actress. A significant recognition for her.
Guan Zhiyi looked into his eyes. A faint blue from the lights reflected in them, so beautiful they seemed capable of pulling a person in. She paused, a little dazed. "Oh..."
His care for her was the same as always.
But what she feared now was exactly this kind of care, it was too easy to stumble into it and drown completely, with no way to save yourself.
"And about you and him." Qi Chengyan glanced at Xiao Ran, his voice soft. "Don't get too close to him."
Guan Zhiyi lowered her eyes. "The internet is just making things up. Don't take it too seriously."
"Is that so."
Guan Zhiyi gave him an odd look. "Do you think I have something going on with Xiao Ran, just like my brother does? He and I are good friends."
Qi Chengyan had too much pent up inside him. Even hearing "friends" now grated on him. "Even if you're good friends, you need to keep your distance."
Guan Zhiyi frowned, displeased. "How have I not kept my distance? Right now the netizens are watching me so closely that being near anyone gets misread. I can't just stop talking to my friends because of rumors."
Qi Chengyan's eyes darkened. He was about to say something when another wave of screams erupted in the venue.
He looked up at the big screen on stage and saw that the performance had ended. The host's brief monologue had mentioned Guan Zhiyi and Xiao Ran, soon the camera swung to the two of them. On the big screen, they looked like a perfect pair.
Guan Zhiyi noticed herself on the screen too. She lowered her gaze slightly, adjusted her expression, and smiled for the camera.
With so many eyes on her, Guan Zhiyi naturally wasn't going to keep talking to Qi Chengyan. For one, she was afraid she'd end up arguing with him about the rumors. For another, she'd long since resolved to keep her distance from him. There was no need to say more now.
So she didn't deliberately look at him again. Going on stage, accepting her award, watching the performances... except for the occasional word with Xiao Ran, Guan Zhiyi only kept to herself, sitting upright.
Qi Chengyan could tell she didn't want to hear any more of his lecturing. He didn't push it. After all, talking wasn't convenient in this setting, and his purpose for coming today really was what he'd said: to watch her accept her award.
Still, watching the person right next to him say nothing to him while chatting and laughing with Xiao Ran on her other side, was grating on him no matter how he looked at it.
He couldn't help but start thinking about when exactly this kid had stopped clinging to him.
Could it be... she'd found someone she liked, and her heart and body had followed?
After the Starlight Gala ended, the celebrities filed out.
Guan Zhiyi went back to the backstage area with her castmates. Zhao Mingming's and Li Xuan's dressing rooms came first, so she and Xiao Ran continued walking deeper in.
"Any work tonight?" Xiao Ran asked.
Guan Zhiyi shook her head. "Going straight home to rest."
"Same here. Rare to not have to fly somewhere." Xiao Ran said, "Sorry about that photo last time. You don't know this, but your brother actually called to interrogate me."
Guan Zhiyi smiled. "My brother's just suspicious by nature."
"Still, your brother's not wrong to worry." Xiao Ran lowered himself slightly, closer to her ear. "Dating me really would be trouble."
"But I'm not dating you—"
"You could try."
Guan Zhiyi froze and looked at Xiao Ran in surprise. He was looking at her seriously, and for once, his ever-playful eyes held no trace of a joke.
"You..."
"I'll take you home." Suddenly, someone tugged her arm, pulling her away from Xiao Ran in an instant. Guan Zhiyi stumbled a step, realizing Qi Chengyan had appeared beside her at some point.
Thinking he might have heard what Xiao Ran just said, she felt a rush of embarrassment. "Mao Mao and Yun-jie are still waiting for me."
Qi Chengyan glanced at Xiao Ran, his expression cold. "I already told Liu Yun. Let's go."
"But I wasn't planning to go back to Yuhe..."
"Your brother wants you home. You have to go explain yourself to him."
Guan Zhiyi: "..."
Xiao Ran watched the two of them with an easy, amused look, he slowly straightened up and smiled. "Can you and Yuanbai take it easy? Your sister dating me pokes a hornet's nest in both your families? Look how unhappy you both are."
"Teacher Xiao—"
"If you know you've poked a hornet's nest, then stop stirring it up." Qi Chengyan said flatly.
Guan Zhiyi: "..."
Xiao Ran's brow arched slightly. "This is what they call beating apart a pair of lovebirds, you know... Tsk, parents these days are way too strict. Even someone like me doesn't pass your bar?"
There was clearly a chill in Qi Chengyan's eyes now.
Xiao Ran saw it clearly but still deliberately stepped on the landmine. "But as long as Zhiyi likes me too, you two can't be so heartless later. Right, Zhiyi?"
Guan Zhiyi was completely baffled. What had gotten into Xiao Ran?
"But I..."
"It's fine, it's fine, no rush. Plenty of time." Xiao Ran winked at Guan Zhiyi. "If these people really won't agree, then we can just date in secret. No need to tell any of them."
Without waiting for either of them to react, he waved at Guan Zhiyi and turned to leave.
There weren't many people left in the backstage corridor now, just the occasional staff member passing through. Qi Chengyan withdrew his gaze from Xiao Ran and said to Guan Zhiyi, "Let's go."
Guan Zhiyi looked back. She didn't see Mao Mao or Liu Yun anywhere. They'd probably been told by Qi Chengyan and wouldn't be coming for her at all. With no other choice, she followed him.
Due to the sheer number of celebrities, the venue was tightly sealed and highly private, there was no fear of being photographed. Once they reached the parking garage, Guan Zhiyi got directly into Qi Chengyan's car.
Qi Chengyan had driven himself today. After getting in, he turned on the AC and took off his jacket, placing it on her lap.
"Put it on."
Guan Zhiyi was still wearing the pale blue dress. He had to admit she was breathtaking today, impossible to look away from. But the first moment he'd seen her dressed like this, there'd been a tight, unhappy feeling in his chest.
Bare back, bare arms, bare legs. Really economizing on fabric.
Guan Zhiyi looked at the jacket on her lap, feeling the lingering warmth of him brush over her. It was warm, but in that instant, her heart resisted.
She loved his gentleness to the extreme, yet hated his gentleness to the extreme all the same.
"I'm not cold. You wear it." She handed the suit jacket back.
Qi Chengyan looked down at the jacket, the anger he'd suppressed all night nearly surging up. "Are you throwing a tantrum with me?"
His voice sounded severe, and because it was so cold, it gave the impression of impatience. Guan Zhiyi's heart flinched, but she held her ground. "How am I throwing a tantrum?"
"Just because I told you not to get too close to Xiao Ran, you're upset?"
"I..." Guan Zhiyi took a soft breath, her temples buzzing. She gritted her teeth. "Fine! I am upset. Why do you all have to control me so much? How old am I? I can't even have friends?"
Qi Chengyan's pupils contracted slightly. He steadied himself before speaking. "It's not that you can't have friends. It's that—"
"It's that Xiao Ran is too famous right now, and if I get photographed with him, I'm the only one who gets bashed." Guan Zhiyi finished the sentence for him, speaking spitefully. "So what? I don't care about all that!"
"You—"
"Did Guan Yuanbai send you here to lecture me? Then your mission's accomplished!" Guan Zhiyi's head was a tangled mess. What she was saying now wasn't what she truly felt. She knew being photographed with Xiao Ran wasn't good, and she'd definitely be more careful going forward. But looking at Qi Chengyan right now, she couldn't help wanting to lash out.
What right did he have to control her like this? Why did he have to control her like this? She'd already used so much effort to keep her distance from him.
Guan Zhiyi tossed his suit jacket aside and turned to open the car door. But the moment it opened, she was pulled all the way back.
Her dress was backless. The momentum of falling backward brought her against a warm body. She froze for a moment, realizing she'd landed in his arms.
She paused for two seconds and immediately tried to shift forward.
But before she could move, Qi Chengyan's helpless voice came from behind her. "I was just reminding you of a couple things. Why are you this angry with me? Are you really that upset?"
He was right behind her when he spoke, his breath warm, his voice softened, trying to coax her.
Guan Zhiyi pressed her lips together, her nose inexplicably stung. She was angry at him, but even more, she was angry at herself.
"You started it."
Qi Chengyan sighed softly, turning her around to face him. "I didn't lose my temper... Fine. I won't say anything now. Just don't get out of the car."
Guan Zhiyi turned her head away, not looking at him, but her nose stung more and more.
Qi Chengyan watched her, silently picked up his suit jacket again and draped it over her.
"Put your seatbelt on."
Guan Zhiyi ignored him.
Qi Chengyan paused, then leaned across to pull the seatbelt from her side.
Guan Zhiyi hadn’t expected him to suddenly lean so close. When she turned her head, her nose nearly brushed against his shirt, and that faint, familiar scent drifted into her senses—the one she knew so well.
"Crying now?" He saw the glisten in her eyes as he pulled the seatbelt.
Guan Zhiyi shifted back without a sound, but the seatback was right behind her. There was nowhere to go. She could only turn her head away again. "I'm not crying..."
The two of them were very close now. Qi Chengyan's gaze unconsciously dropped to her lips, so near... He paused slightly, then clicked the seatbelt into place.
"Really not?"
"Really not!"
Qi Chengyan sat back in his seat and turned to look at her again. She was staring out the window, refusing to look back.
Qi Chengyan sighed, reaching over to pat her head. "Gege knows he was wrong. I won't raise my voice at you again, okay?"
"..."
"Not talking? Still upset?"
Guan Zhiyi: "...No."
"Good. Then I'm driving now. No sudden crying on the way."
"...I'm not a child. And I said I'm not crying!"
Qi Chengyan's mouth curved faintly, tenderness unspooling in his eyes. "Okay. I know.”
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