Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Rong Yu'an brought the hair back and decided to do something. So over the next two days, he spent two hours each day painting in the recreation room.

The paper was the most ordinary white rice paper, and the ink was only black ink. He painted six pieces in total, each different, and after drying them, he chose the one he thought looked best and took a photo with his phone.

After dinner, he opened Gu Shenhan’s WeChat. He typed “Brother Han” but then deleted it and rewrote: Honey, can I go out tomorrow?

Gu Shenhan had just finished showering and was wiping his hair. When he saw this text, he knew that Rong Yu'an was intentionally using pinyin to practice, so he replied in text as well: You never asked me before when you went out. Why so well-behaved this time?

Rong Yu'an: I want to go to Li Ruiqiu's shop.

That hairdresser?

Gu Shenhan: What are you going to see him about? Want to get your hair sewn back on?

Rong Yu'an was stunned. Can cut hair really be reattached?

He looked at the dark strands in the box: No. I want to ask him about something else.

Gu Shenhan said, “Come up and tell me.”

Rong Yu'an thought about it and decided to go up. He never went to the third floor before, but since Gu Shenhan had deliberately taken him up there once, did that mean he could go anytime now?

Rong Yu'an slipped on his sheep slippers, taking the stairs two at a time, and softly knocked on the study door.

Gu Shenhan’s voice came from the other side: “Your husband is here. Where are you knocking?”

Rong Yu'an saw that he was only wrapped in a towel around his waist and quickly turned his head: “You, how could you…”

Gu Shenhan walked over and pressed him against the wall: “Tell me, why do you want to go find Li Ruiqiu?”

Rong Yu'an: “…”

The scent was so sharp, like snow, like a fierce wind… No, this isn’t the time to think about that.

His nostrils couldn’t help but twitch, and Rong Yu'an shuffled sideways like a crab: “I can't tell you yet. But I promise, I'll only be out half a day, and I won't run around. It's just that Lian Dong has the day off, and Li Ruiqiu's shop is a bit far, so I'm afraid I might get lost. So I'll have to ask you, honey, to arrange for someone to take me.”

Gu Shenhan watched his little movements and shifted to follow him: “I could send someone to take you, but then there's no one to take me. Shouldn't I get something in return?”

Rong Yu'an muttered under his breath, “Can't you drive yourself?”

Gu Shenhan laughed: “So? You going or not?”

Rong Yu'an thought about it; he really couldn’t do this alone, he had to ask Li Ruiqiu for help, so he said, “I'll go. Tell me, what do you want in return?”

Gu Shenhan stared intently at the person opposite him, then after a moment: “I want to kiss you.”

Rong Yu'an's eyes widened, round like a cat's: “Kiss… me?”

Gu Shenhan tucked his hair behind his ear: “Yes. Who was it that kissed me and ran off? A finger kiss counts as a kiss. You have to take responsibility. You've ruined my purity, so you have to make it up to me.”

…That's a bit much, don't you think? You're a grown man, what purity do you have?

Rong Yu'an didn’t know where to put his hands: “I just touched your mouth with my finger. I didn't actually do anything to you.”

Gu Shenhan gently rubbed his lips: “But your finger touched your own mouth first, right? And then you touched me with it. Isn't that what it meant?”

Rong Yu'an wished he could crawl into a hole in the floor.

But Gu Shenhan didn’t give him a chance to escape: “An An, I think you need to answer one question for me. Did you just want someone to be with, or did you want to be with me? Think it over carefully before you answer.”

Rong Yu'an lowered his head and didn’t speak.

At first, it was definitely just wanting someone to be with, so he wouldn’t feel so unsettled, like a piece of driftwood.

But not anymore. Now, he wanted to be with Gu Shenhan more. Among all the people in Cui Xi Garden, only Gu Shenhan made him happiest.

Gu Shenhan didn’t hear an answer, so he lifted his little husband's chin: “Speak.”

Rong Yu'an dared not say it.

He didn’t know if Gu Shenhan’s words about loving his original self meant that Gu Shenhan accepted him in any form.

Even if he was just a Little Antique, always slow to adapt, would that be okay?

If so…

Rong Yu'an suddenly felt a glimmer of hope, like the impulse that had made him “kiss” him with his fingertip. He asked, “Honey, if one day you find out I'm different from what you think, will you still want me?”

“Different? Different how?”

“Like, maybe I'm not the person you think I am. Maybe I'll never get those memories back, maybe it'll take eight to ten years or even longer to learn to speak English. Or maybe, many things will take a very, very long time for me to understand.”

“Isn't that who you are now? You don't think I love some imaginary version of you, do you?”

Rong Yu'an froze: “Brother Han, do you… like me?”

Gu Shenhan slowly stroked Rong Yu'an's neck: “Don't change the subject. Answer me—do you just want anyone, or do you want me specifically?”

Rong Yu'an's ears were burning red, his toes curled, making the little sheep faces on his slippers bob up and down.

He didn’t dare look at Gu Shenhan: “I want… I want to be with you… mmm!!!”

Gu Shenhan already understood the unfinished words. He wrapped his arm around Rong Yu'an's waist, stroked his neck, and kissed him, letting him feel his breath and heartbeat in that confined space.

Rong Yu'an's mind went blank, empty. He struggled but couldn’t break free, so he had to let Gu Shenhan press and grind against his lips.

The air seemed filled with the scent of pine and cypress, steady, deep, like the weight of nature.

The wall was cold, but his body kept heating up.

Rong Yu'an felt both scared and anxious, with a hint of embarrassing anticipation. When he was finally released, his legs gave way, and he nearly slid to the floor.

Gu Shenhan caught him and chuckled softly: “Can't stand on your own already?”

Rong Yu'an felt like he was about to combust on the spot.

He wondered if the person across from him wasn't human but a big tiger, whose strength and heat he could feel even from a distance.

He touched his mouth, forgetting why he had come upstairs: “Is this what a relationship is like?”

Gu Shenhan said, “Yes. I'm showing you how much I like you. Do you hate it?”

Rong Yu'an slowly shook his head. He looked up seriously at Gu Shenhan, as if trying to see the reason behind his actions. But all he saw was raw desire, which made him quickly lower his eyes.

Gu Shenhan liked him even more, stroking Rong Yu'an's lips: “An An, you wanna do it again?”

Rong Yu'an was so startled that he slipped out of his arms and fled, stopping at the stairway: “If we do it again, my heart's gonna jump out! I need to calm down!”

It feels like he can still hear his heart thumping like crazy!

So this is what it's like? Scary yet thrilled, anxious yet hopeful, wanting to become one with the other.

So scary, yet so joyful.

Rong Yu'an, cut it out! How can you think about these things?

But we already kissed, so what's the big deal in thinking about it (*︶*)...

Gu Shenhan took a whiff of the air, smelling books and ink, and a moment later, he went back and called Old Qian: "Help me find someone to design a batch of invitations."

Old Qian said, "See? I knew you'd come back to me for this."

Gu Shenhan didn't argue: "Have you gotten any good paper in lately?"

Old Qian said he had indeed received a batch, and Gu Shenhan without a second thought told him it was his.

Afterwards, Gu Shenhan surfed online for a bit and spent a while picking out things couples might use for... you know.

Rong Yu'an had been back for ages before he remembered he was supposed to get Gu Shenhan's approval to go see Li Ruiqiu.

However, he didn't dare go up again. So he simply sent a voice message asking Gu Shenhan if it was okay or not.

Gu Shenhan naturally agreed, and also asked Rong Yu'an: "Why don't you just move upstairs to live?"

Rong Yu'an said: "Not for now."

He had never known that just one kiss could cause so many unprecedented strange reactions in the body. If I move up there now, what if we can't control ourselves and ended up having a baby?! The wedding hasn't even happened yet—the thought alone felt like the world was ending.

Gu Shenhan said: "Then I'll come down to find you. We can talk about wedding preparations."

Rong Yu'an's heart was racing: "Can we wait until tomorrow? It's getting late."

He did care about the wedding, but he didn't want to talk about it today. The blush on his face hadn't faded yet.

It's strange—he used to think that once they were officially married, they could do anything with each other. But now he suddenly felt that Gu Shenhan was right.

Falling for each other slowly, then getting closer. This isn't polite formality, but that heart-throbbing feeling. Thinking about it makes your heart feel like it's coated in honey. If he had just settled for anyone, how could he ever experience this?

Rong Yu'an looked at himself in the mirror—his lips were still red and a bit swollen. He subconsciously licked them lightly, then quickly put on a serious expression and scolded himself in the mirror: "Be proper, Rong Yu'an!"

Luckily, the wound on his face had completely healed, and the scar wasn't as bad as he had feared—only a very faint, almost invisible thin line, not ugly. Gu Shenhan probably hadn't noticed it.

The medicine he applied during that time was indeed very effective.

Rong Yu'an couldn't contain his joy. The next day, he took the bundle of long hair to find Li Ruiqiu.

Xiao Ke drove him there, and he even stopped Xiao Ke from going in, leaving Xiao Ke clueless about what he was up to.

Naturally, when Gu Shenhan asked Xiao Ke, he got no information.

In the afternoon, Rong Yu'an received several packages.

Then he locked himself in the recreation room. He told Aunt Lu not to call him until it was time for Gu Shenhan to come home for dinner.

Aunt Lu readily agreed.

Meanwhile, Gu Shenhan received an unexpected message:

"Say that again—what do the Fei family want the lawyer to do?"

"They want to apply to the judicial authorities for a psychiatric evaluation of Little Young Master Rong," Xiao Ke said. "After Little Young Master Rong fell into the water and received treatment, the hospital did record some special behavioral evidence against him. Fei Wenxi admits he had threatening intent, but he insists he didn't really mean to hurt anyone—that it was because Little Young Master Rong suddenly acted excessively that led to his accidental injury."

"Bullshit accidental injury! Who gave him the nerve? Fei Wenxi couldn't have come up with this on his own!"

"So I suspect someone communicated with him. From what Lawyer Wu said, they don't necessarily have to do this—they just know clearly that doing this won't bring them much actual benefit. They only know that Little Young Master Rong's situation is special and want to use that to make you back off."

"So that's why Gu Chengzhi has been quiet all this time—he was waiting for me here. Tell Zhou Song to call me back as soon as possible."

"Okay, President Gu." Xiao Ke hung up and soon contacted Zhou Song, who then called Gu Shenhan: "President Gu, you wanted to see me?"

"Lao Xiao should have just filled you in on the actual situation. I want to know: if the Procuratorate approves the evaluation application, does my wife need to testify in court?"

"No," Zhou Song said. "But if the Procuratorate approves the application, the evaluation must be conducted at a specialized institution."

"Can family members accompany him?"

"There are two situations: if the person being evaluated is a minor or unable to control their behavior, with self-harm or aggression, accompaniment is allowed. In other cases, accompaniment is usually not permitted. Based on what Lao Xiao told me, the wife will most likely have to undergo the evaluation alone."

Just then, Gu Chengzhi sent a voice call request.

Seeing this, Gu Shenhan first ended the call with Zhou Song and answered: "Rare—big brother actually takes the initiative to contact me."

Gu Chengzhi laughed: "You and Xiao An haven't been back to the mansion for dinner in a long time. The family is very concerned about Xiao An's condition, so they asked me to find out when you'll be free."

Gu Shenhan said: "We'll naturally return when it's time. But whether big brother will still have the energy to welcome me and An'an with a smile by then, that's hard to say."

Gu Chengzhi snorted: "Then I'll wait and see."

Gu Shenhan ended the call and arranged to meet Liang Zheng.

·

Rong Yu'an had been "in seclusion" in the recreation room. It wasn't until mealtime when Aunt Lu came to call him that he realized how much time had passed—it was already dark outside.

He called out to the door: "Aunt Lu, I'll be right there!"

Then he quickly picked up the scissors, snipped a thread, and examined the finished product in his hand.

Gu Shenhan had washed his hands and was sitting at the dining table. Seeing him come out, he said: "Next time, don't wait for me. If you're hungry, eat first."

Rong Yu'an said: "I was just making something today, so I didn't feel hungry. Honey, look!"

He showed off like a treasure a small round embroidery hoop from behind him, only slightly larger than a bowl: "Is it pretty?"

Gu Shenhan saw that it was embroidered with a pair of black swans, their necks entwined in a cold lake. The piece was small, each swan only the size of an egg. Every stitch was perfectly placed, and under the light, the swans' "feathers" reflected a natural luster, as if alive.

Such skill! And he used to say he wasn't good at it. Gu Shenhan held back a teasing remark: "Did you embroider it with your hair?"

Rong Yu'an nodded: "Mm. The reason I went to see Li Ruiqiu was to ask about dyeing. But he said the hair dyeing process for hair embroidery is different from regular hair dyeing, so I didn't do it there. Instead, I bought some red embroidery thread as a substitute. The black part is my hair, and the red beak is stitched with thread. I want to make you a desktop ornament. What do you think?"

Gu Shenhan smiled: "Sure. But I'll put it in my study. If I take it outside and someone takes it, I'd be heartbroken."

Rong Yu'an said: "Who would take something like this?" But he was still very happy hearing that.

He sat down across from Gu Shenhan and was about to eat together when he suddenly noticed Gu Shenhan wasn't in high spirits. He asked, "Honey, what's wrong?"

Gu Shenhan thought for a moment, then decided he should tell Rong Yu'an the truth. He briefly explained the Fei family's intention: "They want a lighter sentence, so they'll certainly use some tricks. At this point, it's not certain that the application will be approved—it's just a possibility. But don't be afraid. The judicial authorities just want to get to the truth."

Rong Yuan was still pale with fright: "Psychiatric evaluation?"

Gu Shenhan said, "Right. Don't be nervous. You currently have some issues with cognition, but these are not mental problems. They might just be going through the motions and need your cooperation, that's why I'm telling you."

All the joy drained from Rong Yuan's face: "Then can I still come back?"

Gu Shenhan said, "Of course. We're still having a wedding. If you don't come back, who would I marry?"

Rong Yuan said, "Okay, got it."