Chapter 44
Perhaps even she hadn't noticed the glimmer of interest that flashed in her eyes at that moment.
In an instant, Lu Yu felt as if he had plunged into an icy abyss.
After a while, Lu Yu managed to steady himself and said, "If that's the case, it works out perfectly. The company has just sponsored a TV drama, and the lead actor is this male celebrity called He Minglun. The director has specifically designed several shots to advertise our company's products. I was originally planning to have someone from the marketing department handle it, but since you... like him so much, it saves the marketing department the trouble."
Lu Yu noticeably paused before saying the word "like."
However, Gu Wan didn't notice this, as all her attention was drawn to Lu Yu's words.
"Me?" Gu Wan never imagined that her casual mention would immediately lead him to come up with a solution, and one that would allow her to interact with He Minglun up close.
Gu Wan felt that the man before her seemed to be overly considerate.
While Gu Wan had double standards when it came to relationships, she wasn't the type to take advantage of her admirers. In simple terms, she didn't like owing favors to others.
Gu Wan believed in exchanging benefits. Once she accepted someone's kindness, she would eventually have to repay it. Especially knowing Lu Yu's feelings for her, Gu Wan didn't think she could ever repay such a debt. Rather than that, it was better to refuse from the start.
With this in mind, Gu Wan rejected the offer without hesitation.
"No need, I can manage on my own."
It was just being a fan, after all. Though Gu Wan had never been one herself and was a complete novice, Xia Qianqian used to be a hardcore fan. She had even participated in idol rankings and attended offline fan meetings. Gu Wan figured she could always ask Xia Qianqian for advice if needed.
However, Lu Yu would never agree to that.
Because feelings deepen gradually through admiration and distance. What might be just a tiny seed today could, with time and further nurturing, grow into a towering tree.
Seeing that Lu Yu absolutely refused to back down, and even resorted to using the excuse of "just consider it as helping the company," Gu Wan's brows furrowed involuntarily.
It was unusual, truly unusual.
Gu Wan was almost certain that Lu Yu had other intentions.
Gu Wan initially wanted to ask about it, but then felt it didn't really matter. She didn't care, or rather, there were few things in this world that she cared about anymore. It didn't matter what he was thinking or planning to do. Since he insisted, Gu Wan simply agreed without much thought.
"Alright then."
Afterward, Gu Wan casually picked up a DVD and started watching it.
What Gu Wan didn't know was that after Lu Yu returned to his study, he still couldn't help but explode.
Looking at the completely destroyed printer, Lu Yu's chest heaved violently. No one knew how much he had wanted to shout out earlier, or how much self-control it had taken not to grab her shoulders and tell her to stay away from that celebrity, to not be interested in him, and certainly not to fall for him.
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But Lu Yu couldn't do that.
Not only could he not do it, but he also had to push for them to meet more often.
After a while, when Lu Yu finally calmed down, he took out his phone and sent out a few messages. The light from the phone screen illuminated his face, which was terrifyingly grim at that moment.
The so-called entertainment industry is nothing more than a battlefield of fame and fortune. Lu Yu didn't believe that pure flowers could bloom in such a muddy pond.
And things indeed turned out as he had expected. While it was true that He Minglun hadn't been involved in many rumored scandals, it was only because he had handled these matters well, not because he was truly well-behaved.
Looking at the photos sent back from the other end of the phone in no time, all featuring actresses or models who had been intimate with He Minglun, with the poses of the men and women getting increasingly intimate, Lu Yu couldn't help but sneer coldly.
There was no way Gu Wan would be interested in such a man.
It was a pity that, fearing it might trigger Gu Wan's rebellious nature, he couldn't show her these things directly. It would be better to let her discover it gradually on her own.
She would definitely discover it.
Thinking this way, the malice that had been churning in Lu Yu's chest like a poisonous ulcer finally subsided a little.
Inadvertently raising his head, Lu Yu caught a glimpse of the lingering distortion on his face reflected in the metal strips on the study wall.
One glance was enough, and Lu Yu quickly looked away.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed. True to his word, in less than a week, Gu Wan received news from the marketing department.
At nine in the morning, Gu Wan boarded a plane with two employees from the marketing department, heading to a film city several provinces away.
The marketing department employees hadn't expected that the boss's wife would be joining them this time. Just as they were discussing who should appear on camera, the top floor office had already arranged everything.
At first, the two wondered if their boss's wife was planning to enter the entertainment industry. But given her status, was there any need for that? If it was just a whim, couldn't she or Mr. Lu simply invest in a movie themselves and have her play the lead role?
It was only during casual conversation on the journey that they learned it was because the boss's wife wanted to be a fan.
But who pursues their idol like this? Aren't fans usually content to admire from afar, through screens? And which fan gets to be their idol's sponsor?
Oh, right. It's their shareholder and boss's wife. That explains it.
Since this sponsor was a solid gold leg to hold onto, when Gu Wan and the other two arrived at the film city, they were immediately greeted with a warm welcome from the director and the crew. Gu Wan could even feel the enthusiasm radiating from everyone.
It was well known that this sponsor had been particularly generous, even improving their meals considerably. Under these circumstances, how could everyone not have a good impression of the three?
For the sake of the money, the director had even planned to adjust the shots carefully, striving to present the sponsor's products in the best possible light.
As for the actor sent by the sponsor to appear on camera, was that important? Not really.
That is, until the director saw Gu Wan and learned that she would be the one responsible for advertising the product on camera. Even the well-experienced director couldn't help but be a little shocked.
The director thought, "As expected of a big company, they truly have a wealth of talent. To so easily find an employee with both ability and beauty, and of such a high caliber of beauty at that. If I hadn't been certain I'd never seen this face in the industry before, I would have thought the company valued this sponsorship so much that they specially invited a celebrity."
Just as the director was pondering whether someone high up in the company intended to promote this delicate flower, he was suddenly informed that the person he thought was a delicate flower was actually a company shareholder herself.
For a moment, the director felt overwhelmed with honor.
This... isn't this taking things a bit too seriously?
Later, when he heard that her real target was actually the male lead of this production, the director gradually calmed down.
Meanwhile, He Minglun, who had involuntarily widened his eyes the moment Gu Wan appeared, found himself unable to control the upward curve of his lips after his initial daze.
Xia Qianqian had been incredibly busy with work recently and only found out about all this after everything had basically been settled. After hearing Gu Wan's explanation, she immediately couldn't help but curse inwardly.
Lu Yu, what a scheming man!
The reason idols are idols is that distance creates beauty. When you actually interact with them, it's completely different from what you see on screen.
The camera adds filters and is full of fantasy. Moreover, most of the beauty is imagined by fans from a perspective of admiration. Xia Qianqian had seen through this, which was why she had stopped being a fan and no longer paid attention to the entertainment industry. So, faced with Gu Wan's current situation, she had only two words to say—
"Run away!!"
Of course, Gu Wan wouldn't run away. After all, the director had already made arrangements, so Gu Wan simply stayed.
As Gu Wan interacted more with He Minglun, she gradually discovered that accompanying his confidence and flamboyance was also a bad temper.
Because everything had always gone smoothly for him, He Minglun was full of self-assurance. But it was also because of this smooth sailing that he habitually expected others to do things his way whenever he encountered something that displeased him.
Of course, He Minglun wouldn't treat Gu Wan like this, but he showed no mercy to others in the film crew. Apart from a select few, everyone else had to revolve around him. But since he was practically the pillar of the entire drama, the director pretended not to notice and cheerfully let him have his way.
Then there were the body doubles. It was understandable for period martial arts dramas, but even modern dramas seemed to require many scenes with stand-ins.
Noticing Gu Wan's gaze, a young man who bore a slight resemblance to He Minglun and was quietly eating from a lunchbox nearby gave a shy smile before quickly looking down again.
When Gu Wan later asked He Minglun about it, he casually replied, "It's always like this."
It wasn't just the body doubles; it was the same with dialogue coaches.
These things seemed to have nothing to do with Gu Wan, but when she looked at He Minglun's still strikingly handsome face again, she inexplicably felt that the aura surrounding him was not as bright as before.
Completely oblivious to the change in Gu Wan's expression, He Minglun broke new ground this time by using a kiss double for filming.
Looking at the young man tilting his head up, seeking praise, Gu Wan just smiled without saying a word.
Half a month later, He Minglun inadvertently saw that one of his ex-girlfriends seemed to have come to the film city for a shoot. The moment he saw her, He Minglun suddenly felt a wave of panic. Almost without thinking, he pulled her into a corner before she could speak.
For some reason, He Minglun felt inexplicably anxious, instinctively not wanting Gu Wan to know about some of his past affairs.
The entertainment industry was nothing more than a place of fame and fortune, and almost everyone was like this. Before meeting Gu Wan, He Minglun never thought there was anything wrong with it, but now... something seemed different.
However, the woman opposite him thought he still had feelings for her. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, then took advantage of his momentary confusion to stand on tiptoe and kiss him.
Stunned for a few seconds, He Minglun hurriedly pushed her away.
What He Minglun didn't know was that this scene had been fully witnessed by another person - the very one he least wanted to see it.
...
Standing at a distance, Gu Wan slowly withdrew her gaze. Sensing movement beside her, she didn't even turn her head.
"So, this was your purpose?" she asked.
Lu Yu's heart tightened for a moment, but he quickly relaxed again.
Even if it was deliberate, so what? Even if it was fake, as long as it happened, it would be real to her.
The next second, Lu Yu indeed noticed a fleeting weariness in Gu Wan's eyes.
He had merely added fuel to the fire at the final moment.
There would never be another nine years for Gu Wan to fantasize and let feelings deepen, nor would there be another day of losing a loved one and feeling like dying from the pain. So the little seed would forever remain just a little seed, never to grow into a towering tree.
Having done all this and obtained a satisfactory answer, Lu Yu also clearly knew that her reckless devotion back then was a miracle that could never be replicated.
Watching everything unfold in the distance, Gu Wan just felt it was utterly meaningless.
After experiencing such things twice, Gu Wan had completely lost interest in matters of the heart.
So-called infatuation was nothing more than this.
She seemed to have passed the age where she would lose her head over love.
When He Minglun hurriedly returned to the film set, he discovered that Gu Wan had already left at some point.
Meanwhile, on a private jet, Lu Yu watched Gu Wan, who had fallen asleep at some unknown time. Large swathes of her smooth, black hair were scattered across the seat. A flight attendant approached with a blanket, instinctively wanting to cover her.
However, before she could act, Lu Yu spoke up very politely.
"I'll do it."
After the attendant left, Lu Yu draped the blanket over Gu Wan, carefully tucking it in.
Looking at her serene sleeping face, Lu Yu gently tucked her hair behind her ear. In the quietness, one could faintly hear a man's barely audible voice:
"I won't let you leave me."
"Ever."
Gazing at the reflection of those brooding eyes in the glass window, after a long moment, Lu Yu seemed to smile.