Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Shen Yan quickly turned off his phone, his face flushed and burning.

Shu Qianfei raised an eyebrow. "Yanyan, are you feeling unwell? Your face is so red?"

Shen Yan's reaction only confirmed Shen Lin's thoughts. Shen Lin's eyes lit up. "Brother, who is this... uh-huh!"

Shen Yan's voice was unsteady, his expression awkward. "Mom, I'm going to rest first," he said, pulling Shen Lin along.

If Shen Lin had struggled, Shen Yan wouldn't have been able to drag him with just his strength. But Shen Lin went along without resistance, letting Shen Yan drag him away.

Shu Qianfei noticed that although his face was red, he looked energetic, so she didn't ask further, casually saying, "You two seem to be getting closer."

But she hadn't forgotten Shen Lin's words and asked curiously, "Yanyan, what kind of habits does he have?"

Shen Lin was dragged away, and no one could answer her question.

After entering the bedroom, Shen Yan closed the door and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Now released, Shen Lin's eyes almost sparkled with curiosity.

"Brother, I really didn't expect it," Shen Lin said with a teasing smile. "Who is this person?"

Shen Yan gave him a sideways glance. "Don't you have Hu Chengyu's WeChat? Even if you don't, there's a note on top, right?"

The smile on Shen Lin's face froze instantly, his expression gradually twisting. "He really can go to great lengths."

"Brother, you weren't like this before. Did he introduce you to those shady circles?"

Shen Yan's chest heaved more violently. Seeing that Shen Lin was getting more and more out of line, he said sternly, "What nonsense are you talking about? Your mind is full of rubbish."

"That wound was obviously inflicted on him."

Shen Lin pulled a chair over and sat down. "I know it was inflicted on him. Otherwise, there wouldn't be an injury out of nowhere. But it seems they played quite intensely."

He was still thinking to himself that Hu Chengyu couldn't hold back. It had only been a few days, and he had already coaxed his brother into such play.

Fortunately, it wasn't his brother who got hurt. Otherwise, he would go find Hu Chengyu right away to settle things.

"Brother, listen to me, don't get involved with him," Shen Lin said seriously.

In that kind of circle, seven out of ten people are crazy.

Just as Shen Yan's redness had faded, it returned, and he was both angry and frustrated by Shen Lin's words. He quickly explained the situation, "So, it looks like Hu Chengyu's dad did that."

"Get those dirty thoughts out of your head."

To be fair, it wasn't entirely Shen Lin's fault. It was just that Hu Chengyu's back was too well-defined, and the wound didn't look bad. Instead, it added a bit of allure.

After hearing the explanation, Shen Lin calmed down but still asked hesitantly, "So, you guys aren't together yet?"

Shen Yan frowned. "What do you mean, 'not together yet'? Haven't I said many times that I won't, won't..."

Shen Yan hesitated, unable to finish the sentence.

"I don't feel that way about him anymore."

After Shen Yan finished speaking, he felt a momentary tightness in his chest.

Shen Lin looked at Shen Yan suspiciously, and when he realized he wasn't lying, his mood suddenly improved.

It was indeed a case of schadenfreude.

After the matter was cleared up, Shen Yan dismissed Shen Lin.

As he was being pushed to the door, Shen Lin suddenly said, "Brother, didn't you say you wanted to go to Zhu City?"

"Our school doesn’t have regular classes during the sports event, so I’ll take two days off. We can stay and play for a few more days."

He had been thinking about the fact that he hadn't been able to accompany Shen Yan to Cloud City last time.

Shen Yan was surprised; Shen Lin liked playing ball, and he wasn't bad at other sports either.

"Aren't you competing?"

Shen Lin said, "There are enough guys in our class, so they won’t miss me."

Shen Yan still thought it was inappropriate. This was about the collective honor of the class. Whether it was sprinting or basketball, Shen Lin was excellent. If he didn't participate, some classmates would surely gossip.

Seeing Shen Yan's frown, Shen Lin could guess his thoughts and said, "I get along well with my classmates, so I won’t get into a quarrel over something like this. As for those who really talk behind others' backs, we won't hang out with them."

"Besides, I’ve already spoken to Mom and the teacher."

Shu Qianfei knew that the person Shen Yan was meeting was She Wenjun. She had heard about her when she was younger but never had the chance to meet her.

Now that Shen Yan was getting along with her, professionally, it would be great if the master-level design guidance from She Wenjun could lead to future collaborations with the company.

Personally, she was even happier that her son had a good mentor.

But from a business perspective, since the company would eventually be handed over to Shen Yan and Shen Lin, it would be helpful for Shen Lin to get to know more masters in the industry.

Therefore, she readily agreed to Shen Lin's request for leave.

However, Shen Lin couldn't help but mutter, "Mom, you really do favor Brother."

After spending some time with her younger son, Shu Qianfei understood his personality and replied without hesitation, "That’s right, it’s not like it’s a new thing."

Hearing this, Shen Lin smiled and said, "Mom, how can you be like that?"

"But no matter how much you favor Brother, the more he’ll feel bad for me and take care of me even more."

The mother-son banter didn’t reach Shen Yan's ears, and even if it had, Shen Yan would probably just smile.

Whenever Shen Yan thought about how he treated Shen Lin in the past, he felt he hadn’t been good enough to him.

Shen Lin said, "I checked with Gu Jia, and you don’t have classes on Thursday and Friday, so it’s settled."

With that, he dashed off before Shen Yan could object.

Shen Yan heard Aunt Wang exclaim from the living room, followed by Shen Lin’s quick apology. Finally, Shu Qianfei said, "You little rascal!"

Shen Yan wasn’t sure what Shen Lin had done, but he heard Shu Qianfei’s cheerful laughter.

Shen Yan had a smile on his lips after closing the door.

It sounded like things were lively at home.

After washing up and taking his meds, Shen Yan lay in bed, his mind preoccupied.

He picked up his phone and opened the chat with Hu Chengyu again.

Even after looking at the photo of the bare back once more, Shen Yan still felt his heart race.

"I’m a normal guy; it’s only natural for my heart to race when I see a photo like this..."

Shen Yan muttered to himself softly, trying to psychologically prepare himself.

Unable to resist, he tapped the image, and it expanded to fill the screen.

The red, swollen marks became clearer.

He winced, imagining how much it must hurt.

Why would Uncle Hu hit Hu Chengyu?

Could it be because Hu Chengyu refused the arranged marriage?

Other than that, he couldn’t think of any other reason.

Forget it, none of my business.

His finger hovered over the image again, and the options appeared, his gaze landing on 'delete.'

Ultimately, he chose to save it.

He held his breath while making the choice, only exhaling once he’d decided.

When the call notification popped up, he almost dropped the phone, feeling like a guilty kid caught in the act.

Shen Yan considered hanging up but decided to answer, wanting to figure out what was going on.

Neither of them spoke at first, then after a moment, Shen Yan heard Hu Chengyu’s deep voice, "Shen Yan."

"Hmm."

Hu Chengyu: "Don’t you have anything to say?"

Shen Yan was silent for a moment, wanting to ask what happened between him and his father? Why did he send such a photo?

But what he asked was, "Does it still hurt?"

"Yes, it hurts a lot."

Shen Yan was stunned, glancing at his phone, was this really Hu Chengyu?

He had thought that with Hu Chengyu’s cold personality, he would have just said 'a minor injury.'

Come to think of it, something had been off since Hu Chengyu sent him the photo.

Hu Chengyu wasn’t the type to show his injuries to outsiders.

Hu Chengyu didn't hear Shen Yan's response and continued, "I was hoping you could help me apply some medicine, but I missed you and you must have gone home?"

Shen Yan nodded, knowing the other person couldn't see him, and said, "Uh-huh."

Another silence followed. After thinking for a moment, Shen Yan asked, "What made Uncle Huo hit you?"

Hu Chengyu didn't reply immediately, and Shen Yan had to wait a moment before hearing him say, "It was nothing much."

That was typical of Hu Chengyu. Even when asked, he wouldn't say much.

But why had he shown him the injury in the first place?

The conversation didn't last long, but after hanging up, Shen Yan found it hard to sleep.

The next morning, his complexion wasn't great.

Shen Lin, seeing this, was startled. "Did you encounter a demon?"

It was as if his energy had been drained.

Shu Qianfei, passing by, knocked on Shen Lin's head. "Watch your tongue."

"Yan Yan, are you feeling unwell? I'll ask Lao Wang to take you to the hospital."

Shen Yan shook his head. "Mom, I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well. I just need some rest."

Shu Qianfei frowned. "Then take the day off. Don't go to school today."

Shen Yan said, "It's not that serious. I can rest at school."

Shu Qianfei indulged him in everything, as long as he remained healthy. Although reluctant, she agreed. "I'll have Lao Wang take you later. If you're not feeling well, you must tell me..."

She wanted to give more instructions, but her assistant called, and she had to leave after briefly instructing.

Shen Lin snorted. "Did Hu Chengyu keep you up all night?"

Shen Yan didn't directly deny it, changing the subject. "Hurry up and go to school. You're going to be late."

Shen Lin huffed, somewhat envious that Shen Yan didn't have morning classes.

After eating and resting in the car, Shen Yan felt better when he got to school.

It was only noon when he arrived, with his class not starting until 2:30. He could rest in his dorm for a while.

He quickly messaged Gu Jia, asking if he needed to bring him food.

Gu Jia replied quickly, saying no need.

Since they were using WeChat, Shen Yan noticed the typing status above the chat box, like when Gu Jia was "typing" and then there was no activity.

Shen Yan: Is everything okay?

In the dorm, Gu Jia glanced at Hu Chengyu, who was sitting in Shen Yan's spot in the dorm, reading. He didn't know what to say.

Hu Chengyu had been waiting since nine o'clock.

For almost three hours, Gu Jia didn't dare to snack, worried his snacks might annoy Hu Chengyu.

That's why he was torn about telling Shen Yan that Hu Chengyu was waiting in the dorm. Hu Chengyu had asked him not to tell Shen Yan when he arrived.

Wuwu, Hu Chengyu’s voice was soft, but his cold, imposing presence made Gu Jia’s legs go weak as he stood in front of him, his face expressionless.

When he had encountered Hu Chengyu with Yan Yan before, Hu Chengyu had just seemed a bit distant.

But now, he was genuinely terrifying.

The last three hours felt like an eternity to him, but at least Lu Zhao was there to keep him company.

After hesitating for a while, Gu Jia secretly sent a message to Shen Yan: "Yan Yan, %%&￥￥" (a string of random characters).

Suddenly, Hu Chengyu’s voice cut through the silence, startling Gu Jia so much that he almost dropped his phone. "Is Shen Yan back?"

Shen Yan, who was already downstairs at the dorm, looked at the garbled message from Gu Jia with confusion and replied with a simple question mark: "?"