Chapter 113 Day 4 of Transmigrating into a Vintage CEO Novel

Chapter 113: The Fourth Day of Being Thrust into an Old-School CEO Novel

The huge space suddenly fell silent, broken only by the occasional wind outside the window.

They both moved at almost the same time.

They headed in different directions, but they ran into each other again at the corridor entrance to the side-wing guest rooms.

The corridor lamps gave off a dimmer light, stretching their shadows long against the dark walls.

"An... Yi." Gu Mingzhi was the first to stop, his low voice exceptionally clear in the silent corridor. He repeated the name, letting it roll off his tongue like he was tasting it.

An Yi stopped too, turning his head slightly to look up at him. The light drew a sharp line of light and shadow across his delicate face, making his beautiful eyes look deeper and harder to read in the dim light.

"Something up, Uncle?" An Yi's eyes curved, his tone gentle.

Gu Mingzhi didn't answer immediately. He just looked at An Yi, his gaze moving from those calm eyes to his slightly pursed, pale lips, and then to the slender wrist exposed from the sleeve, with faint cyan veins visible.

"I was just thinking," Gu Mingzhi began slowly, his voice low and magnetic, giving the quiet space an indescribable vibe. "Your name sounds very nice."

Hearing this, the corners of An Yi's mouth lifted slightly. The smile was faint but instantly dissipated the air of detachment around him. "Not many people say that. You're the second."

Gu Mingzhi raised an eyebrow. He leaned in a bit, close enough that An Yi could smell the faint whiskey and cold woody cologne.

"Oh? Really?" His tone lifted slightly. "Who was the first?"

An Yi didn't back away. He didn't even blink. His voice stayed calm and clear, but his expression softened slightly, like he was remembering something warm and distant. "A... dummy."

He thought of Ji Zishi's figure, and a faint, almost imperceptible trace of nostalgia flickered in his eyes, accompanied by a soft, breathy laugh.

Their eyes locked, and the air froze.

In the corridor, a wordless tension quickly built up between them.

Gu Mingzhi keenly caught the subtle change in An Yi's expression and got lost in thought.

A dummy?

Mentioning someone with that tone and expression... it was probably not an ordinary relationship.

An old flame? Otherwise, why would he show such a nearly gentle, nostalgic expression?

After a moment of silence, Gu Mingzhi was the first to straighten up, breaking the stifling closeness. His face was expressionless, but something had settled in his deep, dark eyes.

"Is that so?" he said flatly, his tone unreadable.

"Good night, Uncle," An Yi nodded slightly, his voice still polite and proper.

"Good night." With that, Gu Mingzhi turned and disappeared into the deeper shadows of the corridor, his steady steps echoing.

----------

The next day, sunlight streamed through the tall windows of the studio, turning dust motes into sparkling gold flecks.

The air was thick with the rich, distinctive scents of turpentine, linseed oil, and paint.

An Yi stood before a blank canvas, fiddling with a clean oil brush.

He wore a loose sweater, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing a slender, delicate forearm.

The studio was a quiet room in the annex of the Gu family's old mansion, previously unused and only recently set up by the original owner a few days ago.

Take things as they come and make the best of it.

The original owner seemed to have a particular interest in art, especially oil painting, but not An Yi.

In his previous life, he had profound skill in ink painting, his ink landscapes and flowers-and-birds paintings were once worth a fortune.

But oil painting was a completely new field for him.

He mixed a bit of cobalt blue and attempted to make the first stroke on the canvas.

The texture of oil paint was totally different from the watery diffusion of ink wash painting. It was thick and opaque, with a directness and intensity unique to Western art.

Just then, the comments came alive:

"Fuck! I knew it!"

"Ahhh! Gu Xinghui, you total bastard! He actually snapped at our Weiwei because of that Lin Xinman?! And then he tells himself he's 'sacrificing' for Weiwei?!"

"Gross!"

"They're fighting in the office! Ahhh! I feel so bad for Weiwei!"

"I mean, Lin Xinman is a socialite from a wealthy family, good-looking and rich. Why would a rich socialite go to someone else's company to play the side chick?"

"Exactly! That logic doesn't work at all!"

"Blame the author! The author must have gotten their brain scrambled!"

"Classic scene: the villainess flaunts the jade bracelet from the ML's mom, the FL is heartbroken, and the ML blames her for being unreasonable!"

"So classic..."

"Classic of classics! I'm cringing so hard I could excavate Barbie's Dreamhouse!"

"Gu Xinghui, remember how you groveled in front of Grandpa yesterday? You only have guts to bully your wife!"

"Whatever! Loser!"

"..."

An Yi's brush hand paused slightly.

Oh? The story's already at this point?

He could practically see the scene playing out in the CEO's office right now:

Meng Nianwei, stubborn and fragile, holding back tears; Gu Xinghui tugging at his tie, torn between 'the bigger picture' and his frustration at the FL for 'not understanding'; and Lin Xinman, with that perfect, innocent-but-smug smile, expertly stirring the pot.

He remembered that in the original book, the OG An Yi happened to be out, bumped into the crying FL, comforted her like a gentle confidant, and fell for her because she clung to him.

But current An Yi had zero interest in playing the pathetic backup love interest.

He just raised an eyebrow, treating the comments like a podcast completely unrelated to him.

He even casually picked up a fruit tart from the side table, took a bite, and squinted in satisfaction at the crispy crust and tangy filling.

"Tsk, they're really going at it," he murmured to himself, a lazy, gossip-loving tone in his voice.

He kept dabbing at the canvas, letting the noisy comments become background noise.

The "live feed" of that drama seemed to come to a temporary halt with the female lead crying and running out of the office.

An Yi continued drawing for a while, feeling a bit tired, so he washed his hands and decided to go out for some fresh air.

He strolled out of the annex and wandered aimlessly along the garden path behind the old house. The winter garden was somewhat bleak, but the neatly trimmed evergreens and carefully arranged landscape stones still had a charm of their own.

Then, at the corner of a path lined with camellia shrubs, he ran into Gu Mingzhi.

Gu Mingzhi seemed to have just ended a phone call and was putting away his phone.

He wasn't wearing a suit today; he had on a dark cashmere turtleneck and matching trousers, with a long black coat over them. He lacked some of yesterday's sharpness, taking on a more casual, lazy air, but his imposing presence remained undiminished.