Referring to - 19

Chapter 19

Guanlan Bay was located in the central area of ​​S, and the Gu family lived on the top floor of the ‘best building’ in this community. Lin Zixi stood on the balcony, looking at a multitude of tall buildings in the distance and the river scene nearby, and could not help but sigh in his heart that his gold master daddy was really rich.

However, no matter how rich Gu Zecheng was, it had nothing to do with him because it all belonged to his unborn half-siblings. While watching a bird’s-eye-view of the night scene, young actor Lin could not help but wonder why his dad was still single and ‘childless’ until now.

Gu Zecheng, who was standing beside Lin Zixi, took out a case of cigarettes from his pocket, drew one, and held it between his fingers. When groping for a lighter, he found that he was not carrying it, so he turned around to go back to the house to get it.

Young actor Lin had gone through arduous training in the entertainment circle for a few years. He could not be said to be a master of worldly wisdom, but at least he still had some eyesight. He quickly fished out his own lighter and reached out to light the cigarette for the man beside him.

Gu Zecheng glanced at him in surprise, took a drag of the cigarette, and exhaled the smoke slowly before saying, "I thought you didn't smoke."

Lin Zixi, who was originally rushing to be courteous, was like a minor getting caught smoking by his parents when he heard those words. He straightened his body reflexively and hid the hand holding the lighter behind him, "No, no, ah... I don't usually smoke, but sometimes I smoke to refresh myself when I shoot night scenes.”

At first, Dad Gu only spoke such words casually, but seeing how Lin Zixi now looked like a kid who was caught doing bad things, he could not help but feel a little funny. He took a cigarette from the case and handed it to him. "I didn't accuse you for it…. A smoke?"

Lin Zixi accepted the cigarette readily, lit it himself, and took two drags of the cigarette to suppress his shock.

Gu Zecheng looked at Lin Zixi’s fingers holding the cigarette then at his lips puffing forth smoke and took a drag of the cigarette himself. Then he suddenly asked, "Did your body-shape class teach smoking?"

"No, ah." Young actor Lin was stumped by this question.

Which body shape class would teach this, ah?!

    

Except, his gold master daddy's smoking gesture was handsome and charming, just like he had been taught in a class.

Lin Zixi stared at his dad’s hand holding the cigarette for a long time. When he realized that he was actually fascinated watching Gu Zecheng smoking, he could not help but feel a little embarrassed and hurriedly tried to cover it up by taking a few drags of the cigarette. Then he took out his mobile phone, bowed his head, and scrolled his Moments madly.

Gu Zecheng watched him play with his mobile phone and remembered one thing, "You didn’t play your drawing card game again these days?"

What drawing card game, it was a large-scale, European-style turn-based mobile game…. Although, for Lin Zixi, the essence of the game indeed seemed to be drawing cards to collect the characters.

As a result, since Dad Gu cheated and drew out all the orange cards for him, young actor Lin's interest in this game had been declining day by day. Some time ago, he was too busy concentrating on filming, so he simply stopped playing.

"Yes…. Since you helped me get all the orange cards, I felt like I’ve come to a successful end, and then I gradually stopped playing." Lin Zixi took the last drag on his cigarette and put the cigarette butt into the lotus-shaped ashtray while smiling in a self-deprecating way, "I’m this kind of person, I guess. One of my shortcomings is that I always have three-minute enthusiasm. After the time passes, my enthusiasm fades, and I start to disregard what I got."

Hearing him say this, Gu Zecheng suddenly and inexplicably felt uncomfortable, and he blurted out, "The same is true for relationships?"

Lin Zixi had never been in a (romantic) relationship during his twenty plus years of life and had no experience in this matter. He initially wanted to answer casually, “I can’t say for sure. Maybe yes." But somehow, looking at Dad Gu's surprisingly serious face, he suddenly felt that it would be better not to let his dad think he was a scumbag.

"I haven't been in a relationship with anyone, so I don't know. But..." He looked into Gu Zecheng's eyes and said with the most sincere expression, "If I really have someone I love, I’ll definitely be faithful and constant to them forever. "

It went without saying that Lin Zixi's peach blossom eyes were naturally seductive, and they were even more amorous under the dim light. Gu Zecheng's heart beat faster for a second when he was stared at by those eyes, and he could not help but evade that seemingly inviting gaze. To cover it up, he began to watch the cruise ship on the river nearby.

Young actor Lin, however, thought that his dad was not interested in his view of love, but he felt that this was a rare opportunity to inquire discreetly about his parents' story back then. So he pretended to casually bring the topic to Gu Zecheng, "What about you? It’s also rare for such a successful person like you to still be single until now."

When Gu Zecheng was unexpectedly asked about himself, he at first wanted to give a casual and perfunctory answer, but seeing Lin Zixi's focused expression, he suddenly didn't want to lie to him, "Actually, I’ve had two or three relationships in the past, but we broke up later…. There’re too many variables in life, and the forever thing is often just an empty talk uttered impulsively."

Young actor Lin looked at his dad in surprise, "You don't look like someone who’ll impulsively talk about forever."

"Of course I didn't say that." Gu Zecheng shook his head, "If I promise someone forever, naturally, I’ll continue to walk hand in hand with the other party no matter what kind of twists and turns we encounter." 

This statement was actually in line with Lin Zixi's understanding of his dad. He rolled his eyes and continued to try worming facts out of his dad, "But you’ve said these sweet and empty words to your first love, right?"

Gu Zecheng, standing beside him, was in a daze, as if he was reminiscing about something. After a long time, he finally answered, "I haven’t…. At that time, there’re so many things, and it’s all very chaotic, so it ended before it began…."

Listen to those words…. It did not even begin, and here he was. If it had not ended early, wouldn’t he have had enough siblings to form a soccer team by now?!

Young actor Lin complained in his heart, but he was full of understanding on the surface, "It's puppy love that was broken up, right?!"

Who knew that his dad actually shook his head, "It's not just that."

Thus, Lin Zixi’s spirit of gossip was completely awakened at once, "What is it then, what is it?"

However, Dad Gu refused to say more this time. He just took out another cigarette and motioned Lin Zixi to light it for him.

Lin Zixi took out the lighter and obediently lit a cigarette for him for the second time. He initially wanted to continue to question his dad, but someone called him at this moment.

When he saw the caller’s name on the phone screen, he did not dare to stay in front of his dad a second longer.

"I'm going to answer the phone!" Lin Zixi covered the phone number with the name ‘Mrs. Lin Jing’—aka Lin Zixi's mom whom back then put her hand to a minor, was separated, and ended up giving birth to a child alone and whom also seemed to have some other secrets—and embarrassedly fled from the balcony back to the bedroom prepared for him.

"Mom... what's the matter?" Young actor Lin asked in a low voice after the call was connected.

"You're not filming now?" The voice on the other end of the phone, which sounded far younger than her real age, sighed and said, "It's your little sister…. Her classmates have been playing the popular Battle of the Kings on their mobile phones recently. She also followed them and played the game every day instead of studying, and her mid-term exam results suddenly fell out of the top 100 in her grade. Her dad and I have told her off so many times, but it was useless. She listens to your words the most, so you talk to her well, okay…. It’s bad if she continues like this!"

Of course Lin Zixi knew about the mobile game Battle of the Kings. This game now was not only popular in his little sister's class but had become a big hit nationwide, and some stars had been playing it on livestream recently. He just didn't expect that Zhou Qianqian, who had always been stable in the top ten of her grade, also became a member of the legendary harmful ‘primary school gamers’.

Lin Zixi and his little sister had the same mother but different fathers, and they were quite different in age. It stood to reason that their relationship should be delicate.

However, who made young actor Lin looked very good and a popular star to boot, so that he was fortunate enough to be ranked second—the first place was a member of a certain teenage idol group, which was decided after a bloodbath that should not be mentioned—in Zhou Qianqian and her classmates' ‘Most Admired Person List’ all year round.

The NPC heroine Lin released a mission that was not the main thread but could not be skipped. The player Lin Zixi had to accept the order and call the mission object, NPC Zhou Qianqian. During the half-hour call, he was almost dragged into the abyss of Battle of the Kings, a MOBA type mobile game, by the other party.

Fortunately, he resisted the temptation and finally used the condition of ‘enter the top ten in the grade at the end of the term and get a reward of a certain teen idol's signature; enter the top three in the grade and get a reward of a 15-day trip to Europe during the winter vacation’ to barely persuaded his little sister.

After Lin Zixi finished his phone call, his large-scale xuanhuan drama Po Tian Ji also finished airing. Gu Zecheng had already returned to the living room and was chatting with the old lady.

Young actor Lin could only sigh inwardly that he had missed a golden opportunity. He had no other choice but to ask about his dad and mom’s past again later on.

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