Because You Cared

Faced with the "female fan" who had appeared out of nowhere, Chu Ge was so embarrassed he could have dug a two-bedroom apartment out of the floor with his toes. Still, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and scrawl a crooked autograph for her.

The female fan ran off, apparently satisfied, and everyone's gazes turned to amazement. Chu Ge, on the other hand, found the rest of the gathering increasingly unbearable. It felt as though he were sitting on needles; all he wanted was for it to end so he could go back to Qiu Wuji.

Fortunately, everyone had settled down with families and careers. Wives and children were waiting watchfully at home, and Lin Wuyang and the others held public-sector jobs, so they could hardly go wild drinking. The gathering ended fairly early.

As everyone exchanged farewells, Old Hong, who had gone to pay the bill, came back. He stared at Chu Ge for a long moment with a strange expression, then sighed. "A famous author, huh."

Chu Ge asked in bewilderment, "What now?"

"Someone in a private room upstairs said they were your fan and paid the bill before I could."

"Holy shit..." This time, the crowd went even wilder than when the "female fan" had appeared.

A fan was just a fan, after all. It wasn't as though you were guaranteed to get to fuck her, and marrying a fan was a possibility a million miles away.

But someone paying his bill had actually happened, right in front of them. Wasn't this the treatment a renowned writer got? It was worlds apart from their original image of him holed up at home writing smut.

Now their gazes held more than amazement-they were practically reverent. Just as Qiu Wuji had said before, society really did respect an established writer.

Yet Chu Ge felt no pride whatsoever, because both fans were fake.

The female fan had been Qiu Wuji in disguise, for whatever strange reason... As for the person who had paid the bill, it could only have been Zhang Qiren.

He instinctively glanced at Lin Wuyang, who was looking back at him with a meaningful gaze. "Want to talk?"

Chu Ge hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Sure."

"Keep in touch when you have time, famous author!" The gathering finally broke up amid everyone's astonished praise of Chu Ge. He smiled along and said goodbye to them one by one. In the end, he and Lin Wuyang left the hotel together and strolled toward the nearby river.

As they passed the parking lot, Lin Wuyang gestured with his chin. "There. The G-Wagon. Zhang Qiren's. At least it isn't a Rolls-Royce."

Chu Ge smacked his lips but said nothing.

Not long after the Tank 300 had come out, Zhang Qiren had declared it his dream car. Back then, Chu Ge had even teased him for having such a wild streak despite his scholarly looks and glasses...

Well, the wild streak was still there. The price had just gone up nearly tenfold.

You damned liar.

Lin Wuyang asked, "How much do you know about this roommate of yours?"

Chu Ge felt an unusual force acting on him, as though he would be unable to keep himself from telling the truth.

Something stirred in his mind. He let the force enter, then found himself sighing involuntarily. "I used to think I knew him very well. Now it seems I knew nothing."

Lin Wuyang nodded. His ability had clearly taken effect. That was the truth.

His gaze softened, and he felt a little guilty about using his ability on an old classmate. "Yeah," he said quietly. "It's perfectly normal that you didn't know."

Chu Ge followed his lead. "What exactly does he do?"

"On paper, he's the legal representative of a nightclub." Lin Wuyang lit a cigarette. "Want one?"

Chu Ge waved it away and asked only, "The legal representative of a nightclub-what does that mean? Something shady?"

"People instinctively assume nightclub owners must be a little shady, but that's a stereotype. It isn't necessarily true," Lin Wuyang said. "Besides, a legal representative... Sometimes they're just there to take the fall. They can also give us a convenient way to close a case and leave it at that."

Chu Ge's expression darkened.

A fall guy?

Lin Wuyang continued, "So all it tells us is that he has the authority he's supposed to have on paper. It doesn't mean he's the actual owner. If you're asking me what it means, I don't know."

Chu Ge said, "He can't have taken over more than a few days ago, right? Doesn't that mean he probably hasn't done anything wrong?"

Lin Wuyang exhaled a cloud of smoke and shook his head. "I don't know whether he's done anything wrong. Our investigation was called off."

Then he smiled. "Otherwise, I wouldn't even have had time to come today. I suppose I should thank them for giving me a day off."

Although Lin Wuyang kept saying he didn't know, and even sounded as though he were making excuses for Zhang Qiren, Chu Ge could still tell that he was watching Zhang Qiren as an important lead. Given how the two had behaved at the entrance, they had clearly already crossed swords.

Those "excuses," then, weren't what he really believed. He simply couldn't share his own conclusions with an ordinary civilian like Chu Ge.

Sure enough, Lin Wuyang's next words were, "It looks like you really didn't know anything about him before... But from what I've seen now, you two are pretty close, not just passing acquaintances. He might let something slip around you. If you learn anything about him in the future, I hope you'll tell me." Chu Ge didn't answer immediately.

Lin Wuyang said, "You know the difference between personal loyalties and public duty. Surely you wouldn't let friendship... Hell, even if we're talking friendship, aren't I your classmate too?"

Chu Ge smiled. "I'm guessing the only reason I haven't been hauled in for questioning is that an old classmate's looking out for me?"

Lin Wuyang waved a hand. "That has nothing to do with our friendship... Things haven't reached that point. We can't haul in everyone who's ever had contact with someone, can we? Like I said, he might just be taking the fall. I'm not targeting him personally."

"Right... If there really is anything bad going on, I'll tell you." Chu Ge asked, "By the way, which nightclub was his again?"

"It's no secret. There's no harm in telling you," Lin Wuyang said. "The Divine Miracle Nightclub. You probably haven't heard of it... And you'd better not go there."

Chu Ge's expression turned very grim.

"All right, enough of that. My wife's waiting for me at home." Lin Wuyang patted Chu Ge's shoulder. "Who would've thought we'd have a famous author among our classmates? Looking forward to the day your book makes it onto TV."

Lin Wuyang left. Chu Ge remained standing quietly by the river, watching the water. He looked as though he were thinking about something-or waiting for someone.

Sure enough, only after Lin Wuyang had vanished completely from sight did Qiu Wuji appear beside him. She smiled. "That constable has quite a sense of public duty. He couldn't forget his case even on his day off, and he wasn't willing to accept having it called off. He still wanted to investigate on his own."

"Yeah... It's because of people like him that ordinary people can live in peace." Chu Ge sighed. "At today's gathering, I really felt that those silly kids we used to be had all grown up. Especially Lin Wuyang. He once got caught watching *** in the dorm and nearly had his name posted in a schoolwide disciplinary notice. Who would've thought he'd become a protector of our city?"

"What are 'hairy films'?"

"Oh, we call the people in our neighboring country to the north 'the hairy ones.' Films they make."

Qiu Wuji gave him a sidelong look, plainly unconvinced.

Chu Ge said, "What are you looking at me for? Anyway, what was that all about, coming here to play the cute fangirl?"

Qiu Wuji harrumphed twice. "I'd already planned to come today before I went back. Weren't you always worried this gathering would make you lose face? So I came to help you save face."

Thinking back, Chu Ge realized she did seem to have asked twice when the gathering was, and had mentioned going back early. So she had already been planning this then? But that acting of hers really was... far too cute. He could never have imagined Qiu Wuji doing something like that.

He truly didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "How did you even think of putting on an act like that? Didn't you say this was a shallow, worldly concern?"

Qiu Wuji said casually, "Because I could see that you cared. I didn't want worldly distractions like this to disturb your state of mind for cultivation. That was my perspective as your master. From another perspective, no one gets to look down on my Father God."

Chu Ge turned to look at her profile, and Qiu Wuji calmly met his gaze.

The river flowed slowly eastward, silent and still. A late-summer evening breeze brushed past, sweeping a stray lock of Qiu Wuji's hair across her cheek.

Chu Ge instinctively reached out to brush it away. Qiu Wuji stepped half a pace back and asked sternly, "What are you trying to do?"

Chu Ge withdrew his hand and said quietly, "I didn't feel embarrassed... But still... thank you."

"Why weren't you embarrassed anymore?"

"Because you liked it."

Silence settled over them again. There was only the soft sound of the river flowing past them, flowing through their hearts.

"Good, then. Your state of mind has improved. You aren't quite so worldly anymore." Qiu Wuji took a deep breath and changed the subject with a stern expression. "Isn't it time we discussed something else?"

For a moment, Chu Ge failed to follow. "What?"

Qiu Wuji squeezed her hands together, making her knuckles crack. "How would the person who made me walk into a wall like to die?"

Chu Ge went pale.

How did I forget about that... I'm really dead this time...

I forgot to set the time for the scheduled post. I'm an idiot...

Thanks to the awesome Nine Lemons for becoming an Alliance Leader.

Thanks to Sleeps Three Times a Day for the 2,000 tip; Long Road, Then Stay, and Book Friend 202109040159946749 for the 1,500 tips; and Yishanjin v for the 1,200 tip...

(End of chapter)

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