Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Rong Yuan rarely found himself truly disliking someone, but Gu Chengzhi had succeeded in making him feel an extreme sense of revulsion.

Even with someone like Fei Wenxi, he could understand his motives. But Gu Chengzhi—he genuinely believed this person was pure malice.

A guy who grew up with every comfort, with parents who weren't harsh, even showed him favoritism, being the eldest son and grandson, really valued by the family—how'd he turn out like this?

In comparison, his Han Ge should have been the one who was cynical and cut off from everyone, right?

On the way back, Rong Yuan stewed over it, feeling upset.

He tried his best to hide it, but Gu Shenhan still noticed.

"What's wrong? You look like you've been bullied."

"I hate Gu Chengzhi," Rong Yuan said. "How can someone be so hypocritical? Isn't he tired of saying one thing and doing another?"

"What did he say?"

"Just that kind of thing? He even asked if I was adjusting to Lianshan, all fake-like."

"He's been that way since he was a kid. Don't let it get to you." Gu Shenhan soothed him like a child, ruffling Rong Yuan's hair. Seeing his cheeks puffed up like a little frog, he laughed. "If you keep sulking, I'll poke you."

"Poke? Again?!" Rong Yuan had been mulling over what Gu Chengzhi meant, his mind not entirely focused. The word "poke" made him think of something other than his cheek, and he blushed. "You can't poke anymore."

Gu Shenhan froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, his shoulders shaking. "You little pervert, what are you thinking? I meant I was going to poke your face."

Rong Yuan: "..."

"That's not what you said earlier!"

Rong Yuan's face felt like it was boiling, as if it might start steaming.

Still, it was good—at least it didn't affect his husband's mood. With that thought, he stopped being angry, but he didn't ask directly about his parents-in-law.

He figured if it were something easy to talk about, Gu Shenhan would have mentioned it long ago. Not bringing it up likely meant it was a difficult topic, so why push?

Many things would reveal themselves when the time was right.

Back home, Rong Yuan took a relaxing hot bath and fell asleep quickly in Gu Shenhan's arms.

He'd been dead tired these past two days and needed a good rest to recharge.

On Monday morning, Rong Yuan was woken by the alarm.

"Why set it so early?" Gu Shenhan asked. Usually, it went off at 6:30, but today it was 6:00.

"Aren't you already awake anyway?" Rong Yuan stretched and noticed Gu Shenhan had already showered and was wrapped in a towel. His waist and hips were covered, but the rest of his muscles were exposed—not overly bulky, but strong and refined.

"I'm going out of town to meet a client today, quite a distance." Gu Shenhan came over and gave Rong Yuan a good morning kiss. "Even if I can make it back tonight, it'll be late, so I'm leaving early. Of course, I might not make it back at all."

"Huh?" Rong Yuan said. "So I'm sleeping alone tonight?"

"Yeah, now you see you'll miss me?"

"No, not that!" Rong Yuan sat up and blinked. "Doesn't that mean I can finally get some proper rest tonight instead of serving my husband?! I'm going to watch a movie tonight!"

"You little old-timer!" Gu Shenhan pinched his cheek. "Who was it that begged me every day for a baby? Now you can't wait for me to leave?"

"You can't work that hard either," Rong Yuan retorted. "No sign of a baby yet, but the baby's daddy is almost worn out in bed."

Gu Shenhan thought back—they had been a bit excessive these past two days. But he was in his prime, with his beloved by his side. How could he remain unmoved? He wasn't a saint.

At least not with his spouse.

He couldn't help but grab his little wife's softest part again. "Get up. Let's have breakfast together."

Rong Yuan, with hair like a bird's nest, said, "I'll just quickly freshen up to have breakfast with you. I'll wash my hair properly later. It's gotten long."

Gu Shenhan helped smooth it down. "Get someone to trim it. Make an early appointment so it won't affect your time at Lianshan."

"Let's wait until you're back. Your hair needs attention too, Hubby. We'll do it together."

Gu Shenhan agreed. After breakfast, someone came to pick him up, and he left in the car.

Rong Yuan asked Xiao Ke, who stayed behind, "Lao Xiao, who was that picking up Han Ge? I haven't seen him before."

The man had arrived right on time, probably in a rush, so Gu Shenhan hadn't had a chance to introduce him before they left.

"Fang Yankai. He's the boss's executive assistant."

"Executive assistant?"

"Yes, the main assistant. He helps the boss with the more important company stuff. We work together—he handles the boss's work stuff, and I handle outside stuff."

"I see." After tidying up, Rong Yuan packed the embroidery he was working on for Yan Yu and decided to head to Lianshan early.

If he only worked on it in the evenings, it might take four or five days to finish, but he didn't want to delay that long.

Saying three days was leaving some wiggle room; in reality, if he worked fast, he could finish in two.

When Yan Yu sent a message at noon, Rong Yuan was on break. The Lianshan Group headquarters had a library and a snack bar where employees could go during breaks. The snack bar was crowded, but few people came to read, so Rong Yuan embroidered in the library.

At first, the librarian, a man in his forties, didn't know what he was up to. When he saw the embroidery, he was stunned.

When you take something to the highest level, it becomes art, and people can't help but admire it.

Rong Yuan was so focused he didn't notice the crowd gathering around him. He snipped a thread with small scissors, carefully tucked in the end, and continued.

The magnolia petals were lifelike, bursting with vitality, as if about to bloom. With each stitch, he was giving them life.

Yan Yu saw the picture Rong Yuan sent him: "Bro! That quick?!"

Rong Yuan replied, "It's just a small piece, so it doesn't take long."

The color scheme wasn't complex, and he didn't need to switch threads often.

"It should be done tonight," Rong Yuan said.

Yan Yu responded, "Are you free tonight, Xiao'an Gege? If so, I'll come pick it up."

Rong Yuan said, "Yeah, sure."

Gu Anran also saw Rong Yuan's work and exclaimed, "I didn't know Second Sister-in-law was this skilled! You're incredible!"

She had seen embroidery before, but rarely pieces with such spirit. She'd only seen this kind of quality at exhibitions by famous masters, some even displayed in important government buildings.

"Let me embroider something for my little sister-in-law when I have time."

"Of course, I'd love that," Gu Anran said. "But I'm about to start school. I only have one more week at the company before I need to prepare to go back."

She studies in the UK, starting school in early October, so there aren't many days left.

"And Second Sister-in-law, please don't call me 'Little Sister-in-law.' Just call me by my name. Otherwise, people might think I'm your aunt."

"Huh?" Rong Yu'an hadn't thought about that. He looked around left and right. "Really?"

"Really. I swear, if I'm lying I'm a dog."

Rong Yu'an suddenly realized that sometimes his way of speaking did sound a bit weird to others. But he'd been paying attention lately and thought he'd improved.

Gu Anran said, "It's not a big deal, really, but people don't really use that kind of address much, so don't worry too much about it. I should have mentioned it earlier, but I was a bit embarrassed, afraid you'd be upset. Now I'm sure you won't be."

Rong Yu'an truly didn't mind, and he was grateful for her reminder. He didn't say he'd definitely embroider something for her, but he made a mental note of her returning to school in a week.

Today was a day of learning in the customer service department. Rong Yu'an locked his unfinished embroidery into his employee locker and continued listening to the management staff explain their daily tasks.

He had filled up quite a few notebooks but hadn't organized them uniformly.

He noticed someone using a computer to organize information—it was much faster than handwriting and could be printed. He planned to do that after completing a month of learning.

He chose a month instead of a week because he decided to practice typing.

He couldn't do that at the company, so he'd do it at home, using the keyboard in Gu Shenhan's study.

He'd already learned pinyin, so this shouldn't be difficult. He just needed time.

He had dinner with Yan Yu.

He told Butler Zhang in advance that a guest was coming, so he asked the butler to prepare a slightly more elaborate meal.

They ate in the small dining room on the second floor. Yan Yu told Rong Yu'an, "Xiao'an Gege, I've made up my mind. I'm going to find a suitable place and move out of Tianque."

Rong Yu'an hadn't expected him to decide so quickly but supported it. "Then I'll help you move when the time comes. As for the house, Han Ge said he'd buy me one, so we won't have to pay rent. So maybe you could wait a bit? Once I've settled in, we can move in together. Also, Xiao Yu, you need to understand: moving out is so we can start our own business and support ourselves, not for anyone else."

He had learned that Yan Que had another lover, so he didn't want Yan Yu to think doing all this would win Yan Que's heart.

Yan Yu poked at his rice, silent for a long time.

Rong Yu'an looked again and saw that his little brother was crying.

Such an optimistic kid, yet he didn't even dare to lift his head while crying. Big tears fell into his bowl of rice, and he just kept shoveling food into his mouth, seeming to forget to take any vegetables.

Rong Yu'an felt a pang of pity. He moved closer and patted Yan Yu on the back.

Yan Yu said, "Hey, Xiao'an Gege, you don't need to comfort me. You know, my brother is a grown man. He's known I like him for a long time. If he felt the same, he would have shown it long ago. He's just avoiding me so I can slowly figure things out on my own, because he doesn't want to hurt me. I know all that."

"You're still young. There will be plenty of chances to find someone better."

"But none of them will be my brother." Yan Yu forced down his rice. "When I was little, my dad used to beat me, and I never knew my mom. Back then, my brother was working as a net bar manager near my home. Sometimes I didn't dare go home, so I'd sneak into his place, and he'd give me food and drinks. Later, my dad disappeared, and no one took care of me. My brother has been looking after me for twelve years."

"..."

"He took me to the doctor, provided for me, bought me clothes, and sent me to school. How can I ever find someone better than him?"

Rong Yu'an used the serving chopsticks to place a piece of fish on Yan Yu's plate, not knowing how to comfort him.

Yan Yu cried even harder. "Boo hoo... Xiao'an Gege, why do they not want me? I haven't done anything wrong. My mom didn't want me, my dad ran away, and my brother raised me. But why can't he love me?"

Rong Yu'an thought of his own past and felt a lump in his throat. He hugged Yan Yu and patted him. "It's okay. There will be someone more suitable for you in the future."

Yan Yu suddenly wiped his tears and snot with his sleeve. "That's right! I can't cry!"

Rong Yu'an was stunned by his quick action. "Maybe... maybe you should change your clothes first?"

Yan Yu said, "I'll finish this first. Just two bites left. That jerk Yan Que made me waste such a delicious meal."

He sniffled a couple of times, shoveled the rest of his rice into his mouth, took a few bites of vegetables, and set down his bowl.

He wiped his face with the other sleeve. "I'm done crying, bro. Let's go change clothes. Lend me a set for now, and later we'll figure out how to get into the clothing business."

Rong Yu'an said okay and led him to look through the wardrobe. Yan Yu picked out a tracksuit and changed into it. Then Rong Yu'an said, "Xiao Yu, I also have something to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"It's about..." Rong Yu'an lowered his voice. "About Han Ge's parents. Do you know where they are? Why haven't I ever seen them? You and Yan Ge have known Han Ge for years—do you know the reason?"

"Well..." Yan Yu bit his lip hesitantly, unsure whether to say.

Rong Yu'an said, "If you know, tell me. I feel like I can't just ask Han Ge directly. If it were easy for him to talk about, he would have told me already. And you know what? That Gu Chengzhi actually used this to provoke me."

Yan Yu frowned. "That damn Gu Chengzhi just won't go away. I do know something about Han Ge's parents' matter, but... Xiao'an Gege, you have to swear you won't let Han Ge know I told you."

Rong Yu'an swore to the heavens. "I promise I won't let Han Ge know you told me. Otherwise, may I never make money in my business!"

Yan Yu glanced around to make sure no one was there, then whispered, "Han Ge... he's the child of his mother and his third uncle."

...? Rong Yu'an didn't understand at first.

Yan Yu said, "I mean, Han Ge's nominal father is the Gu family's second son. His wife... with the younger brother... and then Han Ge was born. The current third aunt of the Gu family is a different woman; the original one divorced. This is a taboo in the Gu family, and few people know about it. I only know because my brother is close to Han Ge."

Rong Yu'an tightened his grip on his chopsticks.

No wonder Gu Shenhan kept asking him repeatedly whether he had someone else outside. Was he afraid that Rong Yu'an would secretly find someone else too?

"Liang Zheng probably knows more about this, because my brother and Han Ge met in college. But Liang Zheng has known Han Ge much longer. The Liang and Gu families have business dealings, so they grew up together."

"But I can't easily ask him. It's more convenient to ask you."

"That's true. I heard that, at first, the Gu family didn't plan to drive Han Ge's mother out, considering she had given birth to him. But the feud between the two brothers over the same woman—and the fact that there was still the third uncle's original wife—caused too much trouble, so... Han Ge's biological mother left. Not long after, Han Ge's nominal father, the Gu family's second uncle, also passed away."

"Why didn't they take Han Ge with them? He was so young."

"Because they didn't end up together after leaving. The Gu grandmother certainly wouldn't let her grandson go with an outsider. But her second son wasn't the biological father of this grandson. So Han Ge's situation was awkward. Gu Chengzhi and the others probably used this to bully him when he was young."

"No wonder he never talks about it."

"I guess he doesn't know how to bring it up. It's a pretty hard thing to talk about. So, Xiao'an Gege, now you understand why, among his brothers, he's actually closer to my brother and the others?"

Rong Yu'an truly hadn't expected it to be this reason. He had thought maybe his parents-in-law had some disagreement with the Gu grandparents, which was why they never came back. But it turned out to be this.

So the Gu grandmother wrote "Harmony brings wealth to the family"?

But this family was too hard to keep harmony...

Rong Yu'an now wished even more for a child to come along soon. That way, maybe Gu Shenhan would feel better?