A President's Out-of-Body Experience

There was no phone signal in the mountains of O City, it would not be easy for him to get in contact with Gu Xiaoshan.

He wanted to fly to O City again, but was stopped. It was too dangerous, he was not allowed to go there. When he paused, he thought about it, and also did not really dare to go to O City himself, as he did not know how he was going to face Gu Xiaoshan.

Renzi was feeling rather feeble, as though a heavy rock was pressing upon his heart. Suffocating on the pressure, his chest even hurt a little. He closed his eyes, lying back down on his bed, and heard a knocking on his door a moment later. Gloomily, he asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

Renzi was somewhat surprised to hear the familiar voice. “Ah Xuan?”

It turned out that Yu Yuntao had heard that Renzi was unhappy, and it happened to be the weekend as well, and so he brought Zhi Xuan back to the house with him. Zhi Xuan commented that Yu Yuntao was quite caring and considerate towards him, but why was his behaviour towards his younger brother just like that of a heterosexual? His patience with Renzi was not even as good as Zhi Xuan, who was not even related to Renzi.

Zhi Xuan opened the door and entered, a plate of snacks in his hand. “It’s so late already and yet you haven’t came down, I brought some breakfast here for you.”

Renzi picked up a small biscuit, chewing on it. His mouth felt dry, and he eyed Zhi Xuan. “Do... do you mind what happened in my brother’s past?”

“Huh?” Zhi Xuan was not involved in the matter of Old Mister Gu criticising Renzi, and so did not know what Renzi was referring to. He could only make a wild guess, “You mean things like your brother getting into street fights and drinking heavily in the past?”

Renzi was stunned. “My brother used to get into street fights and drink heavily?”

“Uhh...” Zhi Xuan discovered that he might have spoken a little too much, and hurriedly took his words back. “No, I was just making a wild guess. What could your brother have done in the past?”

“It’s about his ex-boyfriends... Like his first love or something?”

Zhi Xuan laughed. “He always says that his first love is me. Of course, his ex-boyfriend is me as well.”

“He says this too?” Renzi was taken aback.

“Yes.” Zhi Xuan responded. “Everyone always says this. This is what I tell him too.”

Renzi was shocked, “Really?”

Zhi Xuan smiled. “Who cares if it’s real or false? As long as you’re happy.”

Renzi finally understood. “This, this is a ‘trick’ right?”

Zhi Xuan burst out laughing. “It can be thought of it that way. Actually, dating a person, sometimes there’s no use being honest. It may even create trouble, we might as well just use these tricks.”

Renzi was unable to cheer up. “Isn’t this lying? How is lying good?”

“There’s also no need to lie all the time.” Zhi Xuan shared his morals with Renzi. “Actually, you can also choose to not lie.”

“What’s the trick of not lying?” Renzi asked.

“You’re really too honest.” Zhi Xuan could not bear watching any longer. “For example, when he asks you something that you don’t have a good answer for, you can reply him with another question and not respond. Distract him, and you’ll naturally change the topic. Like this, wouldn’t everything turn out fine?”

Renzi did not seem to agree with him. “Isn’t this being dishonest? I don’t like to be like this.”

Zhi Xuan laughed. “You wouldn’t like being honest even more!”

Renzi wanted to object, but heard his phone ring. It was an unfamiliar number, and he answered it, looking puzzled, before his face changed to an expression of shock. “Huh? Hubby?”

Zhi Xuan felt it was too mushy, and so quietly left.

Renzi had thought that Gu Xiaoshan was in the mountains, and without any phone signal there, they would not be able to keep in contact. So, he was extremely surprised. “When we were in Country C, didn’t you say that there wasn’t any signal in the mountains?”

“You can still make a call through the internet. If that doesn’t work, there’s also the satellite phone. There’s bound to be a way.”

Renzi pursed his lips. “Then when I was looking for you then, why did you say that there was no signal and no way of getting in touch?”

At that time, Renzi was still pursuing Gu Xiaoshan, and Gu Xiaoshan was still avoiding getting into a relationship. Naturally, Gu Xiaoshan would have thousands of excuses to ignore him. Now, Gu Xiaoshan saw him as his lover, and even if he was on the moon, he would be able to find a way to contact him.

Gu Xiaoshan could only say, “How could that be the same?”

Renzi thought about how he had passionately chased after Gu Xiaoshan then, and how Gu Xiaoshan ignored him.

Renzi then remembered those words Old Mister Gu spoke, and his heart sank like a stone hurled into the sea.

Gu Xiaoshan did not hear Renzi’s reply, and thought that the reception was bad. “Can you hear me?”

“Mn.” Renzi slowly responded.

Gu Xiaoshan could hear Renzi’s unhappiness, but thought that he was being unhappy about how then he ran into the mountains to avoid him. He laughed, “Then was different from now. The signal tower had not been built then, so there was no way of getting in contact with you.”

This was completely a lie.

Renzi instead asked, “It really is like this?”

“Mn.” Gu Xiaoshan vowed solemnly, “What else could it be?”

Instead, he heard Renzi say, “At that time, you didn’t like me at all, didn’t you.”

Renzi was very blunt, and it could always give Gu Xiaoshan a surprise at any time.

“What nonsense, I’ve always liked you very much. Haven’t I always been very good to you?”

Isn’t this the trick where you would answer a question with a question to avoid answering the original question? Renzi laughed wryly. “Yes, you’ve always been pretty good to me. Except for that time when I started chasing you, and you avoided me like avoiding the plague.”

“You’ve misunderstood it.” Gu Xiaoshan felt that Renzi’s mood did not seem quite right, and so tried coaxing him with lies. “I was only too busy at that time.”

“You’re still lying to me!” Renzi gritted his teeth. “You think I’m an idiot? As if I wouldn’t know if you’re really busy or not!”

“Mn, I wasn’t, I wasn’t.” Gu Xiaoshan spoke in a pacifying tone, “You’re right. I’m really a huge bastard, so I’ll be even nicer to you from now on, alright? Can you forgive me?”

Renzi answered in a low voice, “Then why did you start being nice to me again?”

“Of course it’s because I like you.”

“Then why did you suddenly like me?”

“Uhh...” Gu Xiaoshan really could not think of an answer to this question.

How did he suddenly like Renzi, like him to the point where he could not extricate himself, to the point where he was about to lose his rationality?

Renzi heard Gu Xiaoshan’s loss for words, and his heart became even more anxious. “If I didn’t chase you like how I did, we would never have started dating, right?”

The answer could only be “yes”.

If he told the truth.

If Renzi had not suddenly expressed his feelings for him, he believed that the two of them would have been best buddies for life. They would definitely not have become a couple like they were now.

Gu Xiaoshan felt an invisible pressure on him. He could even imagine how Renzi’s current expression was like through his tone. He must look extremely helpless, and his eyes might even have reddened. Gu Xiaoshan definitely could not tell the truth, but neither did he want to lie to him, and so spoke gently, “How can there be so many ‘ifs’ in the world? Then, what if you’re not Yu Yunren, and what if I’m not Gu Xiaoshan? What would happen?”

In the end, Gu Xiaoshan still employed the tactic he used the most often, and did not answer the question directly but routed it in another direction to make the other person bewildered and fall into the trap in his words.

Renzi’s heart chilled, and he continued, “Then... At that time, were you engaged to Mu Chutong?”

Gu Xiaoshan was taken aback, and suddenly understood what was fishy about the situation the past couple of days. “My dad looked for you?”

“So it’s true?” Renzi’s heart had turn cold completely. “So Mu Chutong and you did pledge to marry each other in the past without parental consent?”

To use the phrase “pledge to marry each other in the past without parental consent” in this situation was quite humorous. However, Gu Xiaoshan could not bring himself to laugh, and only said, “Listen to me...”

“I won’t listen, I won’t listen!” Renzi shouted, then hung up.

Gu Xiaoshan heard a beep and his call was cut off. Feeling an anxiety he had never felt before, he tried calling Renzi again, but naturally, his call did not go through. He was really astounded that Renzi who had always been frank and direct would suddenly become a person who would not listen to his explanations, and even hung up on him and refused to acknowledge him.

A while later, he received a message from Renzi. “You don’t have to call me. Although I’m foolish, I’m not that foolish. You’re always like this, you know I’m stupid, so you refuse to tell me the truth, and keep lying to me. You’re too insincere towards me. I hate you, I want to split with you.”

Seeing this message, Gu Xiaoshan was frozen for a long time. By the time he came back to himself, his phone had automatically locked itself. He wanted to unlock it, but found that his fingers were so cold and stiff that it seemed as though they could not move.

When his doorbell rang, Gu Xiaoshan needed a few seconds before he reacted. When his head turned, his neck even creaked, like rusty gears slowly swiveling around.

The doorbell rang a couple more times. It was sharp and pressing.

Gu Xiaoshan then stood up, straightening his sleeves and walking towards the door. Opening it, he saw a tall, thin and fair man standing outside — Mu Chutong. Gu Xiaoshan frowned, and closed the door without thinking.

Mu Chutong was taken aback, not expecting that Gu Xiaoshan would close the door without saying anything. He hurried stuck his foot out to block the door from closing. “You’re not letting me go in? At the end of the day, I’m now your business partner in this rural as hell luxury hotel of yours, shouldn’t you at least entertain me or something?”

“It’s now too late.” Gu Xiaoshan said coldly, “If there’s anything, we can discuss it tomorrow.”

It was only when Gu Xiaoshan spoke did he realised that his throat was tight. Like a dry desert, his voice was hoarse. Mu Chutong too noticed that Gu Xiaoshan did not seem quite right, his voice was not right, his expression looked even worse. His face was abnormally pale, and cold sweat was beading on his forehead.

Mu Chutong asked, “What’s wrong, are you ill?”

“It’s nothing.” Gu Xiaoshan attempted to close the door again.

Mu Chutong still held the door open, a proper look on his face. “Your dad offered me money to do something bad.”

“Hmm?” Gu Xiaoshan stared at Mu Chutong.

Mu Chutong smiled, “Would you offer five times the amount he did?”

Gu Xiaoshan sneered, and tried closing the door again.

Mu Chutong again prevented the door from closing with even greater strength. “Three times?”

Gu Xiaoshan still tried to close the door.

Mu Chutong laughed pacifyingly. “Two times, two times. At this rate, I’m about to lose out!”

“1.5 times.” Gu Xiaoshan spoke resolutely.

“You’re so miserly!” Mu Chutong glared at him and scolded. “Is this how much Yu Yunren is worth in your heart?”

“No, it’s how much you’re worth.”

Mu Chutong huffed out a laugh. “Fine, fine! Then I still hold quite a good price.”

Gu Xiaoshan walked away from the door, and Mu Chutong followed behind him. When Gu Xiaoshan sat down onto the couch, he discovered that his knees were weak, as though he was still exhausted. He really had to thank Mu Chutong for coming, as his mind was still twisting itself over what was happening with Renzi, and he did not know how long would he be in that state.

Still, by the time he had the energy to start thinking, all his brain could think of was the reality that Renzi wanted to split with him.

This made him unable to breath.

Split?

He took out his phone, and looked at Renzi’s message again, confirming that he did not see the word “split” wrongly. That word was an eyesore, like a needle piercing right into his eyes.

Sitting across, Mu Chutong noticed that Gu Xiaoshan’s eyes were turning bloodshot, yet his face was pale, and asked him, “Are you really not ill?”

Gu Xiaoshan looked up, pinning him with his cold eyes. “You looked for my father?”

Gu Xiaoshan had always like to smile. Even when he was angry, there was still a smile on his face. This cold look was very compatible with his willow leaf-like eyes, and caused chills to run down people’s spines. Mu Chutong shuddered, and hurriedly clarified it. “No, no, no, I wasn’t the one who looked for your father! It was your father who looked for me!”

Gu Xiaoshan did not speak a word, only considering Mu Chutong, as though assessing if he was lying.

Mu Chutong was uncomfortable with his gaze, and continued explaining, “Think, what status do I have now? You think I’ll be able to look for your father? He was the one who came looking for me himself, and even mentioned about our previous engagement!”

Gu Xiaoshan finally gained a comprehension of the situation, and the corner of his mouth quirked up. “Oh? He has changed his mind, and wants you to be part of the Gu family?”

“Hah, he did say that, but as for what he was actually thinking...” Mu Chutong leaned back into the soft couch, speaking leisurely, “As if he would actually like me? I think he’s unable to get rid of Yu Yunren, and so wants to use me as a way of dealing with him. Once I’ve settled it for him, he would definitely burn the bridges between us. Dealing with me would definitely be easier than dealing with Second Young Master Yu, right?”

Gu Xiaoshan smiled, “At least you understand what’s going on!”

“If I can’t even see this, I’ll have wasted my years of living.”

Gu Xiaoshan touched the screen of his phone, sighing, “But there’s someone who can’t understand...”

Mu Chutong saw the melancholic look on Gu Xiaoshan’s face, only to find it very novel, and scrutinised this rare expression closely. Gu Xiaoshan placed his phone on his palm, feeling as though it weighed over a thousand pounds, and his wrist too ached.

He had totally forgot that in front of him was a living person, and again started thinking about Renzi, mumbling, “Does Renzi really want to split with me?”

Over there, Mu Chutong had completely been cast aside, and felt a little awkward. Looking for something to say, he opened the box of cookies on the coffee table as he asked, “I’ll split some with you?”

“Split?” Gu Xiaoshan suddenly exploded, roaring, “Split my ass! You’re not allowed to split!”

Mu Chutong was completely shocked, and immediately closed the box of cookies as he shoved one into his gaping mouth.