I'm Rich - 61
Guan Zhiyi had already turned around while Qi Chengyan was speaking, and when she saw the figure standing at the entrance of the living room, it felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
When had this guy arrived? Did he just appear out of thin air? Did Qi Chengyan call him over?
That couldn't be right—before calling him over, Qi Chengyan definitely would have given her a heads-up!
Her mind spinning in utter chaos, Guan Zhiyi immediately dropped the strawberry back onto the fruit platter. "I, I was just..."
Guan Yuanbai frowned slightly, sensing something amiss, though he couldn't quite piece it together yet. "Weren't you out of town filming?"
"It wrapped..."
"When did you get back?"
"Yest, yesterday."
He had no idea she came back yesterday?
And if she had returned, why on earth was she staying here? Was she hurt again? Did she get into trouble again?
Guan Yuanbai gave her a thorough up-and-down inspection, but nothing seemed wrong.
Finally, his gaze suddenly dropped back to the half-eaten strawberry.
He had always known she and Qi Chengyan were close, but no matter how close they were, it shouldn't have reached this level of intimacy.
A sense of foreboding unexplainably pricked at Guan Yuanbai's chest. He looked at Guan Zhiyi, then at Qi Chengyan. For some reason, Song Qiaofei's boisterous, drunken voice from last night abruptly echoed in his head.
"I just saw Qi Chengyan hugging a woman!"
"He refused to leave the house just so he could stay in and pamper her!"
Guan Yuanbai paused for a moment, the sheer absurdity of the thought instantly dismissing those words. What nonsense—Song Qiaofei had been dead drunk last night, so hammered he probably hadn't even woken up yet today. You'd have to be crazy to believe anything he said.
Even so, Guan Yuanbai's tight chest refused to relax. He stared straight at Guan Zhiyi and asked, "Why didn't you tell me you came back yesterday?"
Guan Zhiyi froze in place, keeping her mouth shut.
Guan Yuanbai's heart grew a fraction colder.
Qi Chengyan spoke up. "Xiao Wu, go on upstairs first. I'll talk with your brother."
Guan Zhiyi swallowed hard. "...I'll just stay right here and watch."
"Go upstairs first."
Seeing the firm resolve in Qi Chengyan's eyes, Guan Zhiyi had no choice but to quietly set down the fruit platter and shuffle toward the stairs.
Guan Yuanbai narrowed his eyes. Looking at Qi Chengyan, he suddenly felt a profound sense of bizarre dread! Moreover, the expressions on both of their faces shattered any remaining disbelief he had toward Song Qiaofei's words.
It was unbelievable, yet he somehow had no choice but to believe it.
"Hold it right there." Guan Yuanbai strode forward, pointing at the sofa. "Sit."
Guan Zhiyi's gaze darted back and forth between the two men. "Am I supposed to leave or sit down?"
"Sit!" Guan Yuanbai took a deep breath and turned his attention to Qi Chengyan. "What's going on with her being here? What's with all the secrecy? Spit it out—what are you trying to tell me?"
Judging by Guan Yuanbai's expression, Qi Chengyan figured he had probably guessed the truth, even if he didn't quite want to accept it. Meeting his gaze head-on, Qi Chengyan said earnestly, "What I'm trying to say is that Xiao Wu and I..."
"Qi Chengyan!"
"..."
Guan Yuanbai stood with his back straight as a board, his pupils trembling. "Hold that thought."
The corners of Qi Chengyan's mouth twitched slightly. "Can't you let me finish a sentence?"
"No! I suddenly need to ask you—was that phone call Song Qiaofei made to you yesterday an audio or a video call?"
Qi Chengyan fell silent for a moment. "Video."
Following the pupil tremors, a tidal wave in the depths of his eyes loomed on the horizon.
Guan Yuanbai fixed him with a fierce glare. "So when he was on video call with you, Xiao Wu was right there beside you?"
"She was."
"Everything Song Qiaofei said was true?"
Qi Chengyan paused. "What did he say?"
Guan Yuanbai opened his mouth, but those exact words were too humiliating to repeat. He could only demand, "Regardless of what he said, the point is why the hell is this brat hanging out with you in the middle of the night?"
Qi Chengyan studied him for a few seconds. "Yuanbai, what you're thinking right now is probably exactly what I'm about to say."
"............"
"Xiao Wu and I are together. It happened not long ago."
Guan Yuanbai stared at him unblinkingly. What kind of nonsense was this? Together? With this little squirt?
"Are you out of your mind?" Guan Yuanbai hissed through clenched teeth after a long silence.
"I like her."
"Did she chase you?"
The two of them spoke almost simultaneously.
Guan Zhiyi, sitting a short distance away in a state of high anxiety, turned utterly deadpan upon hearing that question. "What is wrong with you... Why are you automatically assuming I chased him?"
Guan Yuanbai shot her a glare. "You keep your mouth shut right now."
Guan Zhiyi immediately swallowed her anger, too cowed to talk back.
Qi Chengyan said, "I chased her."
Guan Yuanbai turned back to look at him with a look that clearly asked what on earth is wrong with your brain.
"You—you chased her? Have you lost your damn mind?!"
Guan Zhiyi: "..."
Qi Chengyan replied, "My mind is completely fine."
Guan Yuanbai's face turned ashen. "No, you chased her... When did you even start liking her? Wait, Qi Chengyan, don't tell me you've been harboring these kinds of thoughts all along?"
"It only started after I came back from abroad..." Qi Chengyan looked slightly embarrassed here, adding, "Don't overthink it, I'm not that much of a beast."
Guan Yuanbai went completely expressionless. "You're acting pretty beastly right now."
"...Fair point."
Guan Yuanbai: "?"
Guan Yuanbai felt like the sky was caving in. Up until now, no matter what, he never would have warped his perspective to suspect a romantic relationship between Qi Chengyan and his younger sister. They were simply too close; ever since they were kids, the two of them had basically grown up right under his nose. How could anything else possibly exist between them?
Besides, he knew Qi Chengyan inside and out. The man always weighed his actions carefully and maintained immaculate boundaries—how could he possibly lay a hand on this little squirt?
Just when had he turned into a beast? How come he hadn't caught wind of it at all?!
"Ge, actually... it's not entirely true that he chased me," Guan Zhiyi chimed in, seeing the two men locked in a stalemate. "I've liked him for ages, it's just that none of you knew about it."
Guan Yuanbai felt a slight wave of dizziness. He looked over at her in utter disbelief. "Weren't you dating Hua Hongxi before? Weren't you head over heels for him!"
"When was I ever head over heels... wait." Guan Zhiyi froze as a sudden realization hit her that she seemed to have completely glossed over this detail from the start. She offered an awkward laugh. "Ge, I don't think I ever told you, but Hua Hongxi and I were never actually together."
Guan Yuanbai pressed a hand to his temple. Having already been thoroughly rocked by the earlier revelation, hearing this now left him completely devoid of waves. "...Go on?"
Guan Zhiyi inched backward, terrified that the man opposite her might rush over and give her a sound thrashing. "It's just that... pretending to be with Hua Hongxi before was just to stop Dad from setting me up on blind dates..."
"And?"
"So I never liked him in the first place."
"..."
Guan Zhiyi offered, "Ge, um."
"...I need to go outside and cool my head." Guan Yuanbai abruptly stood up and strode toward the door.
Guan Zhiyi instantly made a move to follow, but Qi Chengyan pressed her back down. "I'll go."
Qi Chengyan followed Guan Yuanbai out into the small courtyard. Hearing footsteps approaching from behind, Guan Yuanbai spun around and pointed a finger at him. "Alright, spit it out—should I punch you now or should I punch you now?!"
Qi Chengyan stood his ground, looking mildly helpless. "We've known each other for so long, let's skip this step."
Guan Yuanbai scoffed. "Trying to play the friendship card? Back in school, whenever I said I'd beat up anyone who messed with Xiao Wu, you were always the quickest to chime in."
"Those guys had ulterior motives."
"And you don't?"
"I like her."
Guan Yuanbai choked, his head throbbing at the sheer surrealism of having his best friend confessing to his own younger sister right to his face.
Qi Chengyan continued slowly, "You know how I treat her normally. Are you really worried about leaving her with me?"
"Don't... give me that crap," Guan Yuanbai muttered. "When exactly did you two start?"
Qi Chengyan thought about it. "Back when Xiao Wu was filming that drama that just wrapped. A little over two months ago."
"T-two whole months." Guan Yuanbai massaged his brow. "You two are really good at hiding things!"
"It wasn't hiding. She was stuck on set all the time, and we barely saw each other, so we agreed to tell the family once she wrapped," Qi Chengyan explained. "I was actually calling you just now to set up a time to talk about this, whoing-knowing you'd end up showing up at my place."
"You—"
"Yuanbai, calm down." Qi Chengyan gave Guan Yuanbai's shoulder a soothing pat, looking entirely serene.
Guan Yuanbai looked like he wanted to throw up blood. He stared at him for a long, hard beat before grinding out through his teeth, "Qi Chengyan, you absolute freak."
Qi Chengyan sighed melancholically. "At first, I thought so too, considering we practically watched Xiao Wu grow up. But then I figured, there isn't a single thing wrong with my feelings for her, and besides..."
"All right, shut your trap, I'm leaving." Unable to stomach another word, Guan Yuanbai turned and marched toward the exit.
Qi Chengyan tailed right behind him. "Hold on, I'm not done."
"I'm not listening."
"You need to listen. Look, I haven't been to your new place yet anyway, let's head over there and chat."
"Get lost, get lost, get lost."
"Guan Yuanbai—"
Guan Zhiyi had no idea what Qi Chengyan and Guan Yuanbai went off to discuss in private, only knowing that the two of them had been gone for ages without returning.
While she was waiting, her phone suddenly rang. Snatching it up with eager enthusiasm, she discovered the caller was Liu Yun.
"Hello..."
Liu Yun asked, "What's wrong? You sound completely lifeless."
"Nothing."
"Oh. Well, we've got the group interview for Emergency Department tonight. Should I come pick you up, or..."
"I'll drive over myself later. You just wait for me there."
"Alright, that works too."
Guan Zhiyi had plenty of free time ever since she wrapped up filming, with her only scheduled itinerary being this group press event for Emergency Department.
"You're still staying at President Qi's place, right?" Liu Yun inquired.
"Mhm."
"Got it. Well, enjoy your sweet time together then, just don't be late tonight."
"Okay..."
With her mind entirely consumed by how those two had settled things, Guan Zhiyi hung up the phone, scurried over to the door to peek outside, and found neither of them in sight.
With no other choice, she drifted back into the room. A little while later, she finally heard Qi Chengyan step back inside.
She immediately darted over to him. "How did it go? Is he alright? Did I accidentally stress him to death?"
Qi Chengyan tapped her on the forehead. "Why would he be mad at you?"
"Then..."
"If anyone's getting chewed out, it's me. I'm the one who ran off with his precious little sister, after all."
"So he got mad at you? Did he yell at you?"
"Yelling is just the baseline," Qi Chengyan said. "Don't worry, though. I made him a promise."
"What kind of promise?"
"To take good care of you, of course."
"Is that even something you need to promise..." Guan Zhiyi mumbled. "You've always taken good care of me."
Qi Chengyan smiled softly. "All right, go pack your luggage in the room a bit. You're heading over."
"Huh? Going where?"
Qi Chengyan pointed toward the opposite side, looking rather helpless. "Your brother won't let you stay here. He told me to make you move back over."
The moment she heard she would have to separate from him, Guan Zhiyi's face fell into a miserable pout.
On second thought, though, it made sense. If her brother found out about this and still let her stick to Qi Chengyan day in and day out without a break, he wouldn't be her brother anymore.
Guan Yuanbai didn't leave that day either. After waiting in the living room for a bit, he watched as Guan Zhiyi sauntered in, dragging her feet.
"Ge," she murmured, standing before him.
Guan Yuanbai pointed toward the room on the left side of the upper floor. "Tonight, you're sleeping in that room."
"......Oh." Guan Zhiyi cast a wary, cautious glance at him. "What did you guys talk about just now? Took you so long."
"Long? Do you think three days and three nights would be enough to talk through the stuff you two kept behind my back?"
"It wasn't that dramatic."
"Heh."
Though his tone remained sharp, his expression had evidently softened quite a bit. Guan Zhiyi coaxed, "Oh, stop being mad. You know best what kind of person Cheng-gege is. With me being with him, what is there for you to worry about, right?"
Guan Yuanbai lifted his eyes to shoot her a chilling, dagger-like glare.
Of course he wasn't actually angry anymore. As she said, he knew very well what kind of person Qi Chengyan was—precisely because he knew him so well, the whole thing felt utterly baffling.
What on earth had been going through his head to make a move on a kid he'd watched grow up? Good grief, and here he used to trust the guy so much, genuinely believing he treated Guan Zhiyi like a younger sister.
A beast... an absolute beast...
Even so, while his mind muttered those thoughts, another part of him replayed the scene from earlier when Qi Chengyan had pulled him aside to speak to him alone.
He knew his friend was somewhat emotionally detached when it came to romance; growing up, he had never once seen him pay any real attention to any woman. Because of that, he had never imagined a day would come when Qi Chengyan would tell him that he deeply loved someone, that he desperately wanted to protect her, and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life by her side.
Was he moved?
Definitely.
It was just that the target happened to be his own sister, so alongside that emotional stirring came a lingering, powerful urge to punch someone.
"Ge, I need to head out later. I..."
"I literally just yelled at you to come back and you're already sneaking out on a secret date?"
"No! I have work tonight, really!"
Guan Yuanbai let out a soft hrumph.
Guan Zhiyi pressed on. "Oh come on, I'm serious, I have an interview. Say, did you drive your car over? Can I borrow it?"
Guan Yuanbai issued a stern warning. "You're coming back here to sleep tonight, understand? You aren't married yet—what kind of picture does it paint running over to someone else's house all the time?"
Why hadn't he ever lectured her about how it looked when she was constantly running over to Qi Chengyan's house before...
Though she thought this privately, Guan Zhiyi didn't dare say it out loud, merely nodding obediently. "Got it, got it~"
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Author's Note:
Guan Yuanbai: Let me see whose house just collapsed~ Oh. It's mine.
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