Chapter 22: Damn Hand, Stop Groping Me

Chapter 22: Damn Hands, Stop Groping

When he drove into the neighborhood earlier, he saw his cousin and Gu Yunlang, and knew the mother and son were home.

The fact that he couldn't even get into his own damn house infuriated him.

He pounded on the door for a long time, but there was no sound from inside—though it did draw the attention of plenty of neighbors.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, you've got some nerve, not opening the door, huh? Alright, I'll go to the welfare home right now and take back that jinxed little brat!"

With that, he gave the door another vicious kick and stormed off as the neighbors stared and whispered.

Gu Sai clung to his mother's neck, scared and unwilling to leave her.

His mother held him and comforted him: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Mommy's not gonna give you up. His signature alone doesn't mean a thing. As long as I've got breath in my body, no one is taking you away from me."

"Tomorrow we're moving, and he'll never find us again. We'll never have to take another beating."

Back then, they were full of hope for the future, but life doesn't always work out the way you hope.

That night, her husband drove drunk to the welfare home but accidentally ran over and killed his own cousin—Gu Yunlang's father—in the neighborhood, and was sentenced to prison for it.

For Gu Sai and his mother, this should have been their chance to escape their misery, but Gu Yunlang's mother ended up resenting them instead.

"If you hadn't locked him out, how could he have been driving like a maniac around the neighborhood? How could he have killed my husband?!"

She came to Gu Sai's house to cause trouble every day, and Gu Yunlang was poisoned by her ranting as well.

"Son, remember this: Gu Sai's family killed your father. If you ever defend Gu Sai again, you're an ungrateful wretch! They're your father's murderers—you have to make them pay for what they did!!"

Ten-year-old Gu Yunlang was too young to know right from wrong. All he knew was that his once-happy family had been torn apart because of Gu Sai's family.

From then on, he began to hate his aunt and uncle, and he hated Gu Sai. When he saw people bullying Gu Sai at school, he no longer stepped in to help—he even told his friends to ice him out.

Gu Sai's mother sold their house and car, handing over every penny to Gu Yunlang's family. After a year or two, she finally managed to get a divorce from her husband in prison.

The day she received the divorce decree, she took Gu Sai and left the city, heading somewhere no one knew them to start fresh.

Gu Sai worked hard and always did well in school. So his mom wouldn't have to struggle, he took on part-time jobs during college. From print modeling to TV commercials, he'd now started getting roles in TV dramas. He didn't make anywhere near what big stars made, but he'd managed to save up a decent amount.

But as luck would have it, the world is small, and the entertainment industry is even smaller—he ran into Gu Yunlang again.

Gu Yunlang said he was still as much of a coward as when they were kids. Gu Sai was silent for a moment, then said, "Maybe so, but this lilac was yours first. It's yours."

Gu Yunlang gritted his teeth, chased after him, and shoved the flower at him, annoyed: "Here, take it. I don't want it, so no one can say I'm bullying you!"

Gu Sai didn't take it. He waved his hands, saying: "No, no, you're not bullying me. This flower is yours!"

"Just take it when I tell you to!" Gu Yunlang grabbed Gu Sai's hand and forced it into his hand.

"What the... is going on here?"

"No idea. Usually in this segment, guests are tearing each other apart over items. Last episode, Gu Yunlang strung Mi Qi up from a beam to snatch a puzzle piece from him. But with Gu Sai, it's like they're playing nice and giving each other the last cookie?"

"Oh~ such double standards? So can I start shipping them now?"

"Don't just ship anyone, okay? They're childhood friends—it's different! Our Yun Lang is a total straight guy."

"Anyway, if I did this show with my childhood friend, we'd have killed each other before filming ended. No way we'd be that brotherly."

"Just take it!"

"I don't want it. I'll find one somewhere else."

"You're so slow, you'd never find one if you searched for a million years!"

Just as Gu Sai and Gu Yunlang were shoving the flower back and forth, Chen Wang walked up with the group.

Seeing Gu Yunlang holding Gu Sai's hand, his expression immediately turned icy: "What are you two doing?"

He stepped forward, shoved Gu Yunlang aside, and pulled Gu Sai behind him.

He remembered clearly how Gu Yunlang had treated Gu Sai when the cameras weren't rolling—the nasty things he'd called him.

Gu Yunlang got pissed just looking at him. He was convinced this guy had threatened or strong-armed Gu Sai in the bathroom last time.

"What we're doing is none of your business," Gu Yunlang said coldly. "And what right do you have to butt into my and Gu Sai's business?"

"Not gonna lie, is Brother Wang overreacting a bit?"

"Ahhhh, so Brother Wang and Gu Sai definitely have something going on!! Wow, the Wang Sai ship is real!"

"Come on, I just started shipping these childhood friends."

"The childhood friend never beats the new guy."

Gu Sai quickly stepped between them, explaining: "Don't fight, don't fight. Mr. Gu was just trying to give me a lilac."

Chen Wang's face darkened even more: "Why's he giving you flowers? He just hands you flowers out of nowhere and you take them?"

Gu Yunlang: "Movie King Chen is pretty free, huh? Aren't you supposed to be helping Guan Yujia win silver coins? Why are you butting into Gu Sai's business?"

Chen Wang: "Gu Sai is on my team. It's only natural for me to look out for my teammate."

As the two got in each other's faces, Gu Sai feared they'd come to blows at any moment. He pushed them apart with one hand each: "Stop it, let's just talk this out."

But of course, his hands happened to land right on both their chests.

His right hand on Chen Wang's chest: "Ahhh, master, you're the best, I love you to death!! Aina Aina, I like you, be with me!"

His left hand on Gu Yunlang's chest gave a whistle: "Hey, beautiful, wanna be friends?"

His butt chimed in too: "Such a memorable moment—I can't even describe it, so I'll just clap to celebrate!"

With that, his two butt cheeks clapped together.

Gu Sai: "You, quit making it worse!"

His right hand took the chance and squeezed Chen Wang's chest. His left hand wasn't about to be outdone and squeezed Gu Yunlang's too.

Gu Sai: "Damn hands, quit groping, cut it out!"

Chen Wang and Gu Yunlang looked down at Gu Sai's hands, both looking totally shocked.

Chen Wang grabbed his wrist and gritted his teeth: "Are you comparing which one's bigger?"