Back Then, I Adored You

The folder was heavy and made a loud thud when it hit the coffee table. Qin Zhi’ai’s heart jumped. She did not look up for some time but, when she did, she looked at Old Master Gu in confusion.

Seeing Qin Zhi’ai’s perplexed look, Old Master Gu remained sitting straight up on the sofa with no intention of explaining to Qin Zhi’ai what was going on. Nanny Zhang, sitting next to Qin Zhi’ai, said in a pleasant-enough tone, “Miss Qin, perhaps you should take a look at what’s inside the folder.”

Qin Zhi’ai nodded and politely said to Old Master Gu before picking up the folder, “Grandfather, please have some tea.” She straightened herself and moved one step back after she ask Nanny Zhang to have some tea, too.

She did not immediately check the folder on the coffee table; instead, she nodded toward the bathroom and said gently, “I need to excuse myself for a moment. May I check it when I return?”

Old Master Gu continued to completely ignore Qin Zhi’ai, who stood there for a minute while waiting for a response. She suppressed her awkward feeling when she smiled at Old Master Gu before she walked to the bathroom.

After closing the bathroom door behind her, Qin Zhi’ai stopped there, leaned back against the door, and took her cell phone out of her pocket. She brought up the number for Gu Yusheng, typed a text message, and sent it to him. “Yusheng, your grandfather is here.”

She didn’t know what was in the folder, but she was not stupid and could tell that Old Master Gu was determined to break up her marriage to Gu Yusheng. She had not understood Gu Yusheng well before, thus she had always handled her issues with him by herself. This, however, was a different situation: Once she’d decided to be with Gu Yusheng, she had resolved that they would face everything together.

After the phone verified that the message had been sent, Qin Zhi’ai put it back into her pocket, opened the bathroom door, and walked out. Old Master Gu had not touched the fruit plate or tea she’d prepared.

Qin Zhi’ai sat down in the large chair that was farthest away from him and then reached out to pick up the folder on the coffee table. Without reaching inside, she could see a tall stack of photographs. As she stared at them, she carefully prepared what to say before turning to Old Master Gu. “Grandfather…”

“No need to explain to me,” he finally said for the first time since she greeted him in front of the gates. Qin Zhi’ai took the photographs out of the folder with suspicion. Her face turned pale after only glancing at a few of them. One photograph showed Qin Zhi’ai hugging a man, and another one showed her kissing a man. Yet another photograph showed her lying on a bed with a man. All the men in the photographs were different.

Qin Zhi’ai immediately recognized these photographs as captures taken from filming she was required to do as Liang Doukou’s body double. They looked more sexual than they were in actuality, mainly due to the clever angles from which they had been taken. In all the stills showing her lying in bed with a man, they all had clothes on underneath the blanket.

After taking the photographs, the postproduction company had edited these photographs by swapping in Liang Doukou’s face over Qin Zhi’ai’s face, but the originals were never circulated. Even more importantly, the men in the photographs were also body doubles or amateur actors, none of whom was popular.

No wonder Old Master Gu had been so angry since he’d arrived. Qin Zhi’ai tried to organize her thoughts while holding the photographs in her hands. She turned to Old Master Gu and said again, “Grandfather…”

“Is it you in these photographs?” he asked her.