Gu Xiaoer had been holed up at home these past few days, wholeheartedly preparing her design drafts. Time was already tight, and now she had to buckle down even more.
So, when Ai Le called and asked her to go out and clear her mind, she flatly refused.
Refused once... twice... thrice...
Forget it, Gu Xiaoer relented.
The man had disappeared for several days, and she had been fretting about it for just as long. It was a good idea to get out and clear her head, or she would really start to mold if she stayed cooped up at home any longer.
In a modest-sized coffee shop, Gu Xiaoer and Ai Le had only ordered two cups of coffee, but they had been sitting there for the entire afternoon.
Gu Xiaoer was half sprawled over the table, listless.
"Ah..."
"Mistress, that makes the one hundred ninety-ninth sigh since you met me today. Got a big grudge with me, have you? Is it that painful to see me?"
Ai Le knocked on the table in front of Gu Xiaoer, frustrated.
"I'm sorry, Ai Le, it's not because of you..." came the feeble reply.
"Then what's wrong with you?" Ai Le frowned at her, "Fallen in love, unable to restrain yourself?"
"Fallen in love? How could that be..." The two of them only had a rental relationship, what kind of outcome could there be. "It's just that there are some things I can't figure out."
"What's the matter? Tell me about it, let me give you some advice," Ai Le quickly became a semi-immortal figure, acting like an understanding big sister. With a girl's sixth sense and powers of observation, Gu Xiaoer was definitely going through something.
"Ai Le, what do you think it means when someone who is often in your life suddenly disappears without a trace one day?"
"That depends on your relationship with him; it's hard to say."
"Relationship?" Gu Xiaoer was confused, "Does a rental relationship count?"
Ai Le had an I-knew-it-all-along look, snorting through her nose to express her refusal to answer until Gu Xiaoer made things clear.
"Oh, come on, okay, it's the boyfriend that I rented. The contract wasn't up, and he just disappeared all of a sudden." Gu Xiaoer picked the most concise and clear explanation, but it seemed as if her relationship with Han Luoli could be summed up in just one sentence, and she laughed at herself in self-mockery.
"What!" Ai Le's voice spiked suddenly, "How long has it been and you're still in touch with that man?"
"Shh, keep it down." Feeling the stares of the people around, Gu Xiaoer quickly shut Ai Le up.
In a lowered voice, "Gu Xiaoer, my dear, I didn't expect you to be so wild! You're still in touch with a man you rented, do you want to turn the rental relationship into reality?"
"Not in touch anymore..." Gu Xiaoer murmured softly.
Ai Le breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, you scared me to death. Honey, I know your rented boyfriend is impressive, but think about it, what's the relationship between you two? What's rented is always rented; can such affection be real? You don't want to get caught up in your own act."
"Caught up in my own act..." Why did her heart twinge with pain?
"Xiao Er, you just said he suddenly disappeared. That means there isn't anything between you two that can bind you together, and he has no obligation to you. If - and I'm just saying if - you became intimate with him, he could be the type who'd just slap his butt and leave happily the next day."
"He's not that type of person. In fact, he's helped me a lot and even taken care of me, and none of that was his responsibility." Gu Xiaoer took Ai Le's words to heart, which only deepened her mood. She couldn't help wanting to say a few good words for Han Luoli.
"...If it's really as you say, then you should definitely clear things up with him. His background, family, age, work, or where he goes to school, you have to understand him from many angles before you can move forward. Otherwise, forget it!"
"Ah..." Another long sigh, making two hundred in total.
Her cell phone rang, Gu Xiaoer looked at the caller ID and said apologetically, "Looks like, I should go..."