CH 75

Soon after Xie Luyu posted to Weibo, there were a lot of people asking what was going on. However, Xie Luyu had gone completely silent. Usually, he would’ve responded with a few words in the comments section.

Xie Luyu had originally been planning to do so, but, now, he didn’t have any energy to spare. 

He held onto the cell phone in his hand and zoomed in on the photo. After getting a clear look at the photo, he turned around to grab the divorce certificate on the table, haphazardly tossing the cell phone onto the coffee table with a clatter. It almost fell onto the floor.

Initially, Xie Luyu subconsciously moved to pick it up. However, the divorce certificate ended up being far too important. He seemed a little flustered, a little anxious.

His hands were shaky. He fumbled a bit with the little booklet before finally opening it up.

Beneath his photo and personal information was the personal information of another person. The name, Gu Qingchi, was clearly printed in the place where their name was supposed to be. 

Xie Luyu just stared. He didn’t move for a long time, a strange expression on his face.

The person that he regarded as his shame …

The partner that he never wanted to mention …

It was Gu Qingchi?

Xie Luyu didn’t understand what was going on.

His head was a mess, a thousand different thoughts racing through his mind. His argument with his parents. Gu Qingchi’s blank stare. That absurd, two-year marriage. His lawyer’s promise. Gu Qingchi’s occasional loss of emotional control. There wasn’t any coherent logic to the thoughts flitting through his brain.

Pan Xiaocheng couldn’t figure out what was up with Xie Luyu. He glanced at him and walked over to get his cell phone. Xie Luyu hadn’t deleted the photo yet. When he got his phone back, there was a zoomed in photo of someone’s personal information. Gu Qingchi’s name was sitting in the very center of the screen.

Pan Xiaocheng turned to look at Xie Luyu. He was just as shocked. 

“What’s going on? Is it someone with the same name?”

Xie Luyu didn’t move. He just sat there in despair. His voice was a little hoarse.

“I don’t know.”

Xie Luyu had never paid attention to his nominal partner. 

Everything regarding this matter had been a taboo topic, a personal grievance. It had been a representation of Xie Luyu’s weakness.

The amount of pride he had before was the amount of anger he had after.

He had been twenty-four years old at the time, six years into adulthood, two years out of college, no longer under the strict control of his family. He had thought that he was different from the teenager who couldn’t decide anything for himself that he used to be, but reality ended up serving him with a harsh slap to the face.

While he was in university, he’d already become financially independent thanks to the bit of talent he had in business. It hadn’t been anything worth mentioning compared to his family’s huge conglomerate, but he wasn’t that ambitious to begin with. It was fine as long as he had enough money to eat. 

Thus, when he decided to get into acting, he claimed that he wouldn’t inherit the family business, that he was going to be an actor for the rest of his life.

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In his mind, everything would be fine as long as there was enough money to spend.

It wasn’t until the elders in his family laid down an ultimatum that he realized that the little he owned was actually incredibly fragile. His flow of capital quickly dried up, seemingly overnight. 

Xie Luyu went from acting because he liked to act to acting because he had to act. Only in the entertainment industry would capital become an issue.

At that time, the biggest conflict between him and his family was the fact that he went against his family’s expectations and became an actor. Other than that, they could still somewhat get along with each other.

However, the marriage ordeal eventually caused him to finally cut all ties with them.

It had been an important time for Xie Luyu. His career had just started picking up when he was suddenly contacted by his family. He didn’t know what his family had been thinking, and he didn’t really want to know. Maybe they thought that he’d rein himself in if he settled down. Anyway, as long as he got married, he would receive shares in the family business. 

Xie Luyu hadn’t been moved, but someone else had.

He thought that this issue was done with, but it was just the beginning.

Even after so many years, Xie Luyu still hadn’t learned anything. He claimed to have given up, but, in the end, all she needed to do was give him a bit of sweetness and she would have him hook, line, and sinker. He thought that she was a little greedy, a little superficial, but that wasn’t a big deal. After all, she was his mother. She ought to have the best of the best. He was willing to spend everything he had on her.

However, even after all these years, even after he rebelled against the family, even after he started his own career, she still didn’t seem to understand that he wasn’t a doll or a possession, but a person, his own person. 

Therefore, she was now nothing more than Mrs. Cheng to him.

When Xie Luyu received notice that he was now married, he’d actually been the very last person to know about it.

Xie Luyu had been out of town at the time. In his line of work, there was no such thing as free time. By the time he found out about it, Mrs. Cheng had already moved his nominal partner into his residence. He only owned one residence at the time. It had been given to him by his family when he turned eighteen.

Xie Luyu had wanted to divorce right away, but it didn’t work out. Mrs. Cheng hadn’t lived all these years for nothing. She had every single document she needed. She even had Xie Luyu’s handprint. 

She even brought out medical documents to prove that his so-called partner had depression. Xie Luyu was at a disadvantage, be it ethically, legally, or morally. Mrs. Cheng demanded that Xie Luyu fulfill his responsibilities.

Xie Luyu didn’t want to keep getting involved with her, so he had to accept the loss. However, he didn’t want to send money to Mrs. Cheng. He first got his hands on a property division agreement. Then, he spent the next two years living apart from his so-called partner, proving that the marriage had broken-down, and got divorced.

As for his residence, Xie Luyu never returned to that place.

From his point of view, he had done his best to provide for the other party’s food, clothing, and shelter. 

However, his image of this person had now come to life. He was a living person, not a cold symbol of his mother’s callousness. Xie Luyu could no longer handle this matter without getting his emotions involved.

Xie Luyu started thinking. What if Gu Qingchi had also been forced into it? Wouldn’t that mean that Gu Qingchi also resented this marriage? Wouldn’t Gu Qingchi also hate anything and anyone related to this joke of a marriage?

After blanking out for a bit, Xie Luyu suddenly realized that he was twenty-five years old at the time. Gu Qingchi would have been twenty. He’d only just become an adult. He was probably still a student.

If even he had been powerless to stop it, then what about Gu Qingchi? 

Xie Luyu started flipping through the other documents on the table. This was the first time that he was opening these documents. At the time, he’d left all of the divorce proceedings to the lawyer. He hadn’t wanted to give them even a single glance.

He got up from the sofa and knelt in front of the coffee table, quickly skimming through the documents. Xie Luyu moved everything that he’d already read to the side. Soon after, he found what he was looking for—the divorce settlement.

His eyes were fixed on a line of text. He didn’t move. According to the prenuptial agreement, all property and income from before marriage would belong to their respective owners.

Therefore, once the marriage ended, Gu Qingchi would no longer have the right to live in Xie Luyu’s house. At the same time, Xie Luyu would no longer have to provide for Gu Qingchi’s living expenses. 

Gu Qingchi had been temporarily living in Xie Luyu’s house. Gu Qingchi’s living expenses had also been charged to Xie Luyu’s card. Xie Luyu didn’t put a limit to how much he could spend, but, as long as there was the slightest movement in his account, Xie Luyu would receive a short notification.

At first, Xie Luyu thought that he’d be bled dry. However, he found that it was actually only every now and then that a tiny, insignificant amount would be withdrawn. It was as if he was raising a hamster that was able to buy things for itself. That tiny amount of money seemed to be enough for him. This continued all the way up until the divorce. He never received any more notifications after that.

Xie Luyu remembered all of this very clearly.

The first time Xie Luyu saw Gu Qingchi was in the changing room of a western restaurant. Gu Qingchi had been working there as a waiter. At the time, it had been eleven o’clock at night. Gu Qingchi had glanced over at him. He looked tired. 

Several thoughts flashed through Xie Luyu’s mind. Why did Gu Qingchi become a waiter? Did Gu Qingchi try to resist as well? Did Gu Qingchi hate him at the time?

In the end, he didn’t think, and he didn’t want to think. Everything else was unimportant. Within the chaos of his mind, only one thought remained.

It was very tiring to be a waiter.

Xie Luyu had placed this person within the depths of his heart. No matter what this person chose to do, Xie Luyu was always hoping for him to succeed. 

⁂

As soon as Xie Luyu posted to Weibo, the hashtags immediately hit the trending list and jumped to first place.

#XieLuyuHiddenMarriage

#XieLuyuDivorceCertificate 

Several related hashtags followed.

Gu Qingchi’s scandal had been completely left behind. After all, one was an actor who had just started getting popular, and one was a veteran actor who had been standing at the top for many years. There was still a very large gap between the two of them.

This explosive piece of news didn’t just throw his own fans for a loop. Even passers-by couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. They all rushed over to Xie Luyu’s Weibo to take a look.

There were two photos. The first depicted the front cover of a little booklet. The little red booklet had a line of gilded text that read “Divorce Certificate”. Then, there was a photo of its contents. 

The divorce certificate had headshots accompanying it. It had the certificate holder’s personal information on one side and their headshot on the other. Underneath it was the name, gender, and other personal information of the ex-husband or ex-wife. The bottom part was entirely blurred out.

[Ahhh, the most important part has been blurred out! Who is it!? Who managed to snag my idol!?]

[This is my first time seeing a divorce certificate, and it turned out to be my idol’s divorce certificate! Also, not to get off topic, but I didn’t know that divorce certificates came with photos. I want to know who the ex is so badly!]

[Holy shit, holy shit! I don’t even know what to say! I was still making fun of him for being single a couple days ago, and now you’re telling me that he’s not? Although you’re single again, this is still a betrayal to our single’s alliance! What happened to our agreement to be single together?] 

[Is this real? This has to be fake. This is photoshopped, right?]

[Don’t lie to yourself. There’s no way the photo would look this ugly if it was photoshopped.]

[If you think about it, Xie Luyu’s situation really is similar to Gu Qingchi’s. Those cyberbullies really have gone too far. They make issues out of everything. Did Xie Luyu post this because he got angry?]

[I don’t even have the guts to say anything under Chi Chi’s Weibo. Xie Luyu’s Weibo is so peaceful. I’m so distressed for Chi Chi. He didn’t even do anything. Thankfully, Xie Luyu’s come out and said something. They’re really too much. People are way too quick to criticize these days.] 

All of the replies to this comment were something along the lines of “let’s not mention that” or “let’s take this somewhere else”.

Gu Qingchi’s fans were still so frightened that they didn’t dare speak up, even if the post was denunciation of cyberbullying.

Due to Xie Luyu’s post, Gu Qingchi’s Weibo finally quieted down.

Everyone was stunned by the fact that Xie Luyu was a divorcee. Xie Luyu had made a name for himself very early on, and there was a lot of conversation surrounding him. There wasn’t a moment in which the camera wasn’t on him. Basically, everything he did was under the eyes of the public. No one ever suspected that Xie Luyu was secretly married. 

Over the past couple of years, he’d been working nonstop, one work after another. Netizens even managed to dig up his schedule from back then and discovered that it had been packed.

This incident even resulted in a wave of discussion regarding how exactly these celebrities managed to hide their marriages.

All of this commotion also attracted the attention of several heavyweight media outlets. Official news networks mentioned it as well, focusing on the issue of cyberbullying in particular.

The online abuse towards Gu Qingchi stopped because of Xie Luyu’s intervention. 

Before all of this went down, there were still marketing accounts trying to control the rhythm of the conversation around Gu Qingchi. However, if these accounts were to point the gun towards him now, it would mean they were also pointing the gun towards Xie Luyu.

Xie Luyu’s fan base had always been easy-going, but that didn’t mean they were easy to mess with. If Xie Luyu said the word, they wouldn’t show the slightest mercy.

⁂

Gu Qingchi still didn’t know about what was going on. He didn’t use Weibo. He didn’t spend much time online either. He lived as though he was cut off from the rest of the world. The only exception were the video games that had been introduced to him by Xie Luyu. It was at times like these that the benefits of such a lifestyle came to light. 

It was just that he felt a little depressed after that interview. His depression had gotten visibly worse from before.

Ordinarily, Xiao Ke or Ye Li definitely would have noticed. Starlight was a very human and understanding company. They paid special attention to the mental health of their artists. They even arranged regular appointments with psychologists.

Ye Li and Xiao Ke also attached great importance to this regard. Whenever Gu Qingchi felt down, they would make an exception and buy milk tea in order to comfort him.

However, at this moment, there were far too many things waiting to be dealt with. Plus, Gu Qingchi’s new residence was too far away. They didn’t have spare energy to worry after Gu Qingchi.