Chapter 23

"I almost forgot. Here, Yaya gave this to you for your dad." Gu Wang took the letter out of his backpack. The envelope was tan and unsealed, with the principal's personal seal and the school's official stamp printed on it.

Gu Wang could guess that it was probably something like a thank-you letter from the School Committee to generous donors like the He Family.

He Qinghuan did not look at the letter. He slipped it straight into his pocket and looked at Gu Wang. "Any plans for National Day?"

Gu Wang was about to say no, but for some inexplicable reason, he nodded. "I'm going back to my grandma's hometown with her to visit relatives."

Then, afraid He Qinghuan might not believe him, he added, "I'll be very busy."

"I see..." He Qinghuan said casually. "I was going to ask you out for a meal." He looked a little regretful.

Gu Wang was perfectly solemn. "What a shame."

With that settled, it was time to go home. By the time He Qinghuan locked the classroom door, Gu Wang had already ambled over to the stairs.

He was wearing He Qinghuan's clothes, which were a little too big. He walked slowly, occasionally turning back to see whether He Qinghuan had caught up.

The early autumn sun was still scorching.

Sunlight spilled through the corridor like torn gold foil fluttering through the air.

Gu Wang stood in the shade by the stairs, watching He Qinghuan. This was the first time Gu Wang had properly looked He Qinghuan in the face. He seemed to glow all over.

Only when He Qinghuan was a few steps away did Gu Wang start down the stairs.

He Qinghuan was about to follow him, but suddenly stopped.

He called out to Gu Wang. "Wangwang."

Perhaps because He Qinghuan had called him that so many times today, Gu Wang answered quite naturally. "What is it?"

"Your pants are wet." A hint of amusement touched He Qinghuan's brow, adding a different cast to his otherwise clear, cool features and making him all the more dazzling.

"Where?" Gu Wang lowered his head. No, they aren't.

He looked up at He Qinghuan in confusion.

He Qinghuan descended two steps, leaving just one step between them. He looked down at Gu Wang and said softly, "Your underwear's wet, isn't it?"

Gu Wang jerked his head up in disbelief. He reached behind himself and felt a handful of damp fabric. "!!!!!"

He had been soaked through when he climbed out of the pool, and he had only changed into He Qinghuan's outer clothes. He had considered whether his underwear would get his pants wet, but since he would be going home after changing anyway, he had figured it should be fine as long as he did not sit down.

Then he had spent so long sitting in the classroom that he had completely forgotten about it!

The sweatpants were light gray, so wet patches were especially obvious. No wonder He Qinghuan had noticed at a glance, but having it pointed out like this made Gu Wang want to crawl into a crack in the ground.

The tips of Gu Wang's ears flushed red. He Qinghuan lowered his voice. "I have new ones in my changing room. I'll take you to change."

Thin-skinned, Gu Wang bristled at He Qinghuan's teasing. "No need. I like it this way."

The kid would not listen, so He Qinghuan ended up hauling him to the changing room.

Yue Feng had not wandered around either. He was lying on a poolside lounger, watching Gu Wang follow He Qinghuan dejectedly into the changing room. When he came out, he had changed his pants too?

What had they done that required a change of pants?

Yue Feng felt that his mind was a little dirty, and so were his eyes. Everything he looked at now seemed dirty.

Gu Dazhi and Du Liping were both home, having given themselves a National Day holiday. A car engine sounded outside, then left again after barely stopping. Gu Dazhi drew back the curtain for a look and saw only the rear of a black Bentley and Gu Wang entering the yard.

Gu Dazhi noticed that Gu Wang had changed clothes. That was not what he had worn out.

He had looked especially good and handsome when he left. Now he looked like some rebellious hip-hop teenager. It was a good thing his son was good-looking. Otherwise, tsk, tsk.

Gu Dazhi waited by the door, wanting to have a proper chat with Gu Wang. "Wang..."

Before he could go on, Gu Wang went straight upstairs without looking to either side.

Gu Dazhi said, "..."

Ungrateful little brat.

Gu Wang was in a hurry to go upstairs and change. Although He Qinghuan's underwear was new, it did not fit him. He was slimmer than He Qinghuan, and his underwear was a size smaller too. None of that was the point. The point was that this was He Qinghuan's underwear!

Gu Wang quickly changed out of it in his room. After hesitating for ages between throwing He Qinghuan's underwear away and keeping it to gather dust, he finally decided to keep it for now. Returning it was out of the question. He could not do something like that.

After changing, Gu Wang went downstairs.

Watching him come down, Gu Dazhi asked, "Why did you run off when I was talking to you? And so fast?"

Gu Wang sat on the sofa, picked up an apple, and crunched away at it. "The clothes were too hot."

"Whose clothes were you wearing? I remember you weren't wearing your uniform when you left this morning. Who brought you back just now? A boy or a girl?" Gu Dazhi fired off a barrage of questions. Even Du Liping looked over.

Gu Dazhi did not feel at all that he currently resembled an old father protecting his cub.

Gu Wang answered indistinctly, "A boy. I was helping a teacher find someone at the swimming pool in the Comprehensive Building and fell into the pool. He lent me some clothes."

That was not wrong. That was how it had happened.

Gu Dazhi found those explanations reasonable, but he had another question. "This classmate of yours is pretty rich, isn't he?"

Du Liping frowned. "Gu Dazhi!"

Gu Dazhi felt wronged. "That's not what I meant. I was just asking."

Not wanting to see them bicker, Gu Wang quickly said, "His family is pretty rich, and he's a decent person too."

Gu Dazhi sighed. "Wang, you need to be discerning when you make friends. Rich or poor, their character matters most."

Gu Wang agreed with that. "Mm-hmm."

The Gu Family had grown to its current scale, its operations expanding ever further, yet had remarkably never lost sight of where it started. Gu Wang felt that however awful the Original Host had been, he had at least truly been dealt a very good hand. Unfortunately, he had played it terribly.

Of the seven days off for National Day, Gu Wang spent four or five having fun at home, without forgetting to create the illusion for his family and social media friends that he was studying hard. In reality, high school material was a breeze for Gu Wang, very simple, and he could study other things.

He had wanted to become a director before, but he had no connections. In that industry, an outsider with no background, resources, or connections would only end up as cannon fodder, so Gu Wang had taken the steady, practical route and chosen computer science.

Now, he wanted to do something he liked.

At first, he had worried that he might be too selfish. Strictly speaking, this was the Original Host's life, after all. Then he scrolled through the Original Host's social media posts and found one that read-[There's nothing I like. If I have to name something, there are two things. First, He Qinghuan. Second, making films for other people.]

Gu Wang breathed a sigh of relief. Then there was no conflict. He also felt it was quite a coincidence that he and the Original Host both liked making films. That made sense. Without some connection, he would not have become the Original Host.

There was no need to study the high school curriculum anymore, so Gu Wang was teaching himself university courses in directing.

Because he liked it, he found it easy to immerse himself in it.

With two days left of the National Day holiday, Gu Wang received a call from Song Zhiyan and Shen Zhao.

"Wangwang, want to go soak in some hot springs? There's a newly opened Hot Spring Resort. It's about to rain and get colder, so I think it's perfect weather for hot springs."

Beside him, Shen Zhao scrambled to speak too. "Yeah, yeah! We haven't seen each other for days. Come see whether I've lost weight."

Song Zhiyan said, "Shen Zhao, could you be any more disgusting?"

Gu Wang stretched and yawned. "When?"

Song Zhiyan answered at once, "I have a license. I'll pick you up."

Song Zhiyan had started school late and was a year older than him and Shen Zhao. He had gotten his driver's license the previous summer.

Gu Wang agreed. "Okay, I'll get ready to go. I'll wait for you at the intersection."

Song Zhiyan said, "Great! Remember to bring clothes."

Gu Wang closed his book and gave a soft "Mm."

After hanging up, he looked out the window.

Dark clouds piled densely together, uneven in thickness. The wind swept up fallen leaves in the yard and carried them all the way onto the road, stirring up a pool of golden waves.

Gu Wang had checked the forecast. The temperature would drop after National Day.

This hardly counted as good weather, but the wind had swept the dust from the air, leaving it refreshingly clean.

He went downstairs carrying a paper bag. Gu Dazhi was playing chess against himself. Seeing that Gu Wang clearly intended to go out, he was startled. "It's about to rain. Where are you going?"

Gu Wang said, "To the hot springs."

The chess piece in Gu Dazhi's hand fell to the floor. "You've got a pretty comfortable life. Last time I went to the hot springs with a client, your mom ignored me for a week." As he spoke, he steered the conversation toward himself.

Gu Dazhi and Du Liping had a good relationship, still as sweet as newlyweds after all these years. Gu Wang frequently had their affection paraded before him. At first, he could be a very appreciative audience, but later, he could no longer stand Gu Dazhi. It never ended.

"Your mom was like this when she was young too..." Gu Dazhi went on by himself.

Gu Wang's phone rang. Song Zhiyan said they were almost there. "I'll be right out," Gu Wang said.

After hanging up, Gu Wang looked at Gu Dazhi. "Dad, I'm not coming home tonight. I'll be with Song Zhiyan and the others. I'm leaving now."

He ran off so quickly that before Gu Dazhi could tell him a little story about his and Du Liping's unique romance, he was already gone. He felt that Wangwang was still too impatient.

Grandma Gu came out of the kitchen shelling peanuts. "At your age, have you no shame?"

Gu Dazhi said, "..."

Gu Wang wore a thin, dark red trench coat with the collar turned up, half his chin hidden inside. His jeans made him look tall and long-legged. He had a fine figure and drew plenty of eyes as he walked.

Song Zhiyan pulled up beside Gu Wang. Shen Zhao opened the door. "Wangwang, I recognized you at a glance. You're the best-looking!"

Song Zhiyan said, "Shen Zhao, if you love giving compliments so much, how about giving me one?"

Shen Zhao smiled brilliantly. "Sure! Yanyan is a dumb fucking idiot!"

"..." Song Zhiyan said, "Just wait. Let me find my knife."

The Hot Spring Resort was far from the city, a two- or three-hour drive. Shen Zhao kept talking the entire time, so it was not boring.

"Mei Li came to my house yesterday. My mom thought she was my girlfriend. I said she wasn't, and she said that made sense, I couldn't find someone that pretty." Shen Zhao rolled his eyes, getting angry just talking about it.

Song Zhiyan chimed in too. "Mei Li is hard to shake off. Wangwang, you'd better watch out. She's enrolling after National Day."

Both he and Shen Zhao had been pestered so much by Mei Li over the past few days that they were scared of her. Half the reason they were going to the Hot Spring Resort was to hide from that woman. Most of National Day had passed, and she had given them no peace for most of that time.

"I know." Gu Wang nodded. Mei Li had not appeared early in the book. When she appeared later, she had left him with a fairly good impression. He did not know what she would be like now.

If she was as clingy as Song Zhiyan said, Gu Wang would find it a little hard to bear. The sort of person Song Zhiyan described was precisely the kind he was worst at dealing with.

Unreasonable and relentless.

The Hot Spring Resort was situated somewhere in a remote scenic area. Before they even entered the mountains, they could see white mist far thicker than elsewhere from a great distance.

The white mist rolled and piled in layers, forming distinct masses before the wind scattered them again.

After leaving the parking lot, Song Zhiyan handed their reservation card to the front desk. Someone nearby came over to guide them upstairs to their rooms, introducing the resort's facilities and roughly what they could do along the way.

"The hot springs are all out back, with pools for groups, pairs, and individuals. There's gaming on the basement level. The first floor is the lobby, and the second has the usual entertainment facilities, including pool tables, an internet café, and bowling. The third floor is the dining area, featuring specialty dishes from several countries. It's very good."

The whole building was U-shaped. Standing outside, they could not see its far end, perhaps partly because the mist obscured it, but the building truly was vast and grand.

Song Zhiyan had booked a presidential suite. Since Gu Wang liked sleeping alone, he had also booked a separate room for him. Once they put their things away, Shen Zhao tugged Gu Wang along to the hot springs.

Before they could soak, Song Zhiyan and Shen Zhao got into a fierce argument over which spring to choose.

Song Zhiyan said, "Why do you want to soak in the Beauty Spring?"

Shen Zhao said, "Then why do you want to soak in the Horsewhip Spring?"

Song Zhiyan said, "You're a fucking idiot!"

Shen Zhao said, "You're a dumbass!"

Expressionless, Gu Wang looked at the staff member standing helplessly nearby. "We'll take the Top Scholar Spring."

Song Zhiyan said, "..."

Shen Zhao said, "..."

Gu Wang kept things simple when it came to hot springs. Wearing only swim trunks, he went straight into the water.

Hearing another commotion behind him, he turned to look. Shen Zhao was wearing a pair of baggy floral shorts, and Song Zhiyan