Chapter 41
He Minglun was originally supposed to attend an event at the shopping mall today. However, due to the unexpectedly large number of fans, He Minglun, his manager, and bodyguards were suddenly separated by the surging crowd.
Seeing that he was about to be surrounded by fans, He Minglun didn't think twice. Noticing someone preparing to leave nearby, he quickly opened the car door and dove inside.
"I'm so sorry, but could you give me a ride? Is that okay?" Although it was phrased as a question, He Minglun hadn't actually considered the possibility of being refused.
The car he had chosen happened to be the one Gu Wan had parked there.
Gu Wan had just returned from a vacation a week ago, and for the past couple of days, she had been busy dealing with renting and repairing several houses and shops in City A that her parents had bought before they passed away. She hadn't even returned to the villa yet, so she had no idea when her wedding anniversary with Lu Yu actually was.
If Lu Yu hadn't messaged her, Gu Wan wouldn't have bothered to remember. But since Lu Yu had sent a message, now that Gu Wan knew, she couldn't pretend to forget. So she had come to the mall specifically to pick out a gift for Lu Yu.
She just hadn't expected to encounter this kind of situation.
Noticing that people around seemed to be taking photos, Gu Wan thought for a moment and swallowed the words asking him to get out of the car.
Gu Wan frowned and quickly sent a message to Lu Yu.
Beside her, He Minglun saw that she had no reaction and was even leisurely playing with her phone. Seeing that the fans were about to discover them, He Minglun became visibly anxious.
"Quick, quick! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"
If they didn't leave, they'd both truly be trapped here.
Gu Wan certainly didn't want to get mixed up in this kind of situation either. She sighed softly, then skillfully stepped on the gas pedal.
Noticing a car slowly starting up not far away, everyone was a bit nervous at first. But after carefully observing the license plate and car model, even the most devoted fans couldn't recall seeing this license plate at any of He Minglun's events. It wasn't the bodyguard's car or the staff van either. The crowd quickly withdrew their attention, not daring to linger, afraid they might miss their idol if they weren't careful.
Everyone just thought it was another customer's car from the mall. It wasn't until the car drove up close that people noticed there seemed to be a shadowy figure in the back seat.
He Minglun sensed trouble and almost instantly ducked down.
But by then it was clearly too late. Fortunately, by the time the fans' exclamations were heard, Gu Wan had already passed through the exit gate.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Gu Wan reacted quickly and continued to accelerate. As they passed the mall's huge screen, Gu Wan even spared a glance upward, quickly matching the person on the big screen with the one sitting in her car now.
The swarms of fans were relatively easy to shake off. The real challenge was the paparazzi and reporters following at a distance.
The paparazzi and reporters had cars too. It took Gu Wan nearly half an hour to finally lose them completely, thanks to her familiarity with City A's roads.
But they definitely got a photo of her license plate, Gu Wan couldn't help thinking.
Once they were finally safe, He Minglun looked back, let out a long sigh of relief, and only then remembered to take off the baseball cap he had been wearing. He ran his hand through his slightly messy hair, pushing it back, revealing his stunningly handsome face that was almost too dazzling to look at directly.
As expected of a big star, his looks were indeed top-tier.
Gu Wan paused for a moment, then averted her gaze.
Tch, another girl mesmerized by his looks. He Minglun couldn't help but think smugly, until he finally got a clear look at the face of the driver of the car he had randomly jumped into.
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He Minglun was momentarily stunned, unable to help but try to recall if he had seen her before in the entertainment circle.
"No way, am I really this lucky?" He Minglun couldn't help muttering quietly. To randomly get into a car and encounter such a high-caliber beauty.
About five minutes later, the car slowly pulled up along the riverside of City A. The lighting was dim here, and there were many tourists. Unless someone pressed their face against the window to look closely, it was impossible to tell who was sitting inside the car.
Seeing the girl in the driver's seat turn to look back at him, He Minglun cleared his throat and introduced himself: "Hello, I'm He Minglun. I'm very sorry for taking up your time."
When he gave his name, it seemed he hadn't even considered the possibility that she might not know who he was.
Indeed, that was the case. He Minglun, 27 years old this year, had debuted as an idol ten years ago and was now a very famous big star in the entertainment industry. Among his peers who had trained together, some had faded into obscurity, others had their careers implode due to scandals, so he did have reason to be proud.
Gu Wan nodded, indicating that she understood.
What's with this cold attitude? He Minglun complained quietly.
Seeing that he was still sitting there not moving, Gu Wan had no choice but to speak up and ask why he wasn't getting out of the car.
"...Are you kicking me out?" Hearing her speak so bluntly, He Minglun was momentarily incredulous. For a split second, he even wanted to point at his own face and ask her, come on, this is He Minglun, the big star He Minglun, how could anyone say such heartless words to this face, especially when the speaker was a woman.
However, Gu Wan just sighed: "What else? You've already taken up a lot of my time. I still have things to do today."
Although if she went back to the villa now... it probably wouldn't be in time anyway.
Earlier, to avoid the paparazzi and reporters, she had driven her car in almost the opposite direction of the villa.
As she spoke, Gu Wan couldn't help but glance at the beautifully wrapped gift box she had placed on the passenger seat.
He Minglun followed her gaze and of course also saw the big Dior logo. But He Minglun still felt it was no big deal, mainly because he thought things couldn't be that coincidental. Randomly getting into a car whose owner was a cool, aloof beauty that you could hardly find even in the entertainment industry was one thing, but for this beauty to also happen to have urgent business, there couldn't be such a coincidence. He might as well go buy a lottery ticket.
So He Minglun very casually said: "What's the problem? Worst case, I'll compensate you double."
Gu Wan smiled: "Today is my wedding anniversary with my husband."
Ma-married?!
No wonder she was so indifferent towards him. So she was already married. He Minglun successfully found a reason.
But He Minglun quickly fell silent again.
This was indeed something he couldn't compensate for.
But...
"But I don't have my phone with me..." He Minglun searched all his pockets before remembering that he had handed over his wallet, phone, and even his keys and room card to his manager before going on stage for the event. Now that he was separated from his manager, he was empty-handed. If he got out now, he'd be left wandering the streets.
Gu Wan didn't mind lending him her phone to use, but... he couldn't even remember his manager's phone number.
Gu Wan couldn't help but open the car window a crack, letting in a bit of the still chilly February wind.
"So, this means I have to take you back to your hotel, right?"
He Minglun clasped his hands together in a prayer pose: "Please, please."
The big star who shone so brightly on screen now had a face full of pleading, looking pitiful.
However, Gu Wan just took out a few hundred-yuan bills from her wallet and coldly told him to go outside and take a taxi.
But how could a few hundred yuan be enough! Without a phone, if something unexpected happened, he wouldn't even know where to cry. He Minglun considered his own worth quite high; what if he got kidnapped?
Thinking of this, He Minglun shuddered and almost exerted twelve parts of his acting skills.
"Please, kind person, I promise I'll repay you when we get there!"
Gu Wan thought, no wonder he's a star, and no wonder he acts for a living.
In the end, the car started moving again.
About forty minutes later, Gu Wan finally found the manager's furtive figure in a corner of the hotel, just as He Minglun had said.
"I knew you'd find a way to come back here!" After all, where else could he go without bringing anything?
The manager first let out a long sigh of relief, then shifted his gaze to the girl who hadn't even gotten out of the car, just sitting there with the window half-open, her head lowered, doing who knows what.
After all this fuss, it was already nearly eleven o'clock at night. It would take at least an hour to drive back to the villa now, how could they make it in time? Once midnight passed, the anniversary would be over.
There was no point in going back now. Remembering that a shop lease contract was due for renewal tomorrow and she still had to go sign it, Gu Wan simply decided not to go back.
She could always make it up to Lu Yu with some extra gifts later.
Just as Gu Wan sent the message back and looked up, she saw the manager looking at her, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating.
To be honest, the manager didn't know how to thank her at that moment. It was He Minglun who had recklessly climbed into her car and insisted she drive him back. If it were an ordinary girl, giving her a handbag, cosmetics, or an autographed photo would have been enough, but... the manager's gaze fell on the bag with the D brand logo on the passenger seat, feeling that her circumstances seemed quite good, not like someone who lacked these things.
But if he offered something more valuable, the manager worried she might read too much into it. He feared that because of this small incident, she might have further entanglements with the celebrity under his management in the future.
Although He Minglun had now transformed his image, he still had his roots as an idol. If rumors were to spread, it would still affect him.
The manager didn't want He Minglun to have too much interaction with non-celebrities outside the industry.
Seeming to sense the other's dilemma, Gu Wan didn't say anything, but it was impossible not to ask for any compensation - she had been forced to drive around City A in circles for so long tonight.
So Gu Wan thought for a moment and said, "How about having Mr. He write a few words for me?"
Gu Wan remembered that when he first debuted, Qianqian seemed to have liked him, though she wasn't sure if Qianqian's tastes had changed after all these years.
For such a simple request, the manager of course wouldn't refuse. He took out paper and pen almost in the next second.
Fortunately, it was already late at night, and most of the fans had left, so He Minglun had plenty of time.
When he wrote "To Qianqian", He Minglun couldn't help but speak up: "Your name is Qianqian? As in the 'Qian' from 'lush and flourishing'? It's quite a nice name."
However, upon learning that Qianqian was just the girl's best friend and that the girl in front of him didn't like him at all, He Minglun was visibly displeased.
But Gu Wan didn't care whether he was happy or not, she just continued to recite some words she had thought of.
About five minutes later, He Minglun, looking at the paper that was now filled with writing for more than half a page, finally couldn't hold back anymore. He gritted his teeth and said, "Is there no end to this? Do you think you're writing an essay?!"
He Minglun had thought writing a few words of blessing would be enough, but he hadn't expected her to keep dictating more and more, with no sign of stopping.
This wasn't just a blessing at all, it had become a full-fledged letter.
However, Gu Wan said, "You wouldn't want others to know that you treated a stranger like a hired driver, would you?"
The implication was clear: I'm not charging you money, so you're complaining about writing a few more words?
Damn, she's so heartless!
In the end, He Minglun still swallowed his anger and finished writing this "letter" of several hundred words.
Ignoring his heavily signed name, Gu Wan took the paper in her hand, examined it for a moment, and finding no issues, she commented, "Not bad handwriting."
"Of course," He Minglun said proudly.
"I've specially practiced it. You can watch the 21st episode of 'Daily Life of Celebrities'."
Before Gu Wan could say anything, the manager beside them couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. What's wrong with him today? Why is he talking so much?
The manager cut off the two abruptly and subtly hinted whether she could keep tonight's events to herself.
Gu Wan nodded indifferently. Since she had gotten what she wanted, she naturally didn't plan to linger any longer.
However, just as she was about to close the car window, she saw He Minglun appear again, then stuff a large bag of things into her arms.
He Minglun couldn't accept that there was actually someone who didn't like him.
The more he thought about it, the more it bothered him. He Minglun packed up and gave her his only complete collection - every CD and poster from each TV show, every event, and every movie since his debut.
This entire set would fetch quite a sum if sold on the market, but he didn't care.
Seeing his confident and proud look, Gu Wan couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Alright, I'll watch them when I have time," Gu Wan nodded "reluctantly" under his burning gaze.
"What's with that attitude, as if I'm begging you..." He Minglun grumbled dissatisfied.
After a while, He Minglun asked as if casually, "Ahem... want to add each other as friends?"
The manager couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath, his expression looking as if he might faint the next second.
However, before the manager could open his mouth to stop him, Gu Wan had already flatly refused.
"No need."
"It's getting late, I should go now. Goodbye."
Although she said goodbye, Gu Wan didn't really think they would meet again.
Gu Wan waved her hand, her tone light. A few seconds later, all that was left for the two was the sight of her car leaving stylishly, soon disappearing like a drop of water merging into the sea, never to be found again.
Such is the nature of chance encounters - just a trivial interlude in life.
It wasn't until the manager's constant urging voice came that He Minglun suddenly snapped back to reality.