Chapter 47 "You're not marrying her anyway, so why do you care so much?"

“When did you first meet Luo Xing?” Gu Shiyan’s voice was low and magnetic, with a faint smile lingering on his lips, though the smile never reached his eyes.

Su Mo pretended to ponder, her tone calm. “It must have been quite a while ago. Back then, I knew she was chasing after you.”

Gu Shiyan took another drag, the cigarette’s tip accumulating a length of ash.

Su Mo watched him from the side.

Setting aside the innate aloofness and coldness that radiated from his very bones, he indeed had the kind of allure that could easily make women swoon.

Most young men his age still carried an air of immaturity, but he possessed a maturity unusual for his peers.

His thin lips parted slightly, smoke drifting between the two of them.

The scent of tobacco was rich in Su Mo’s nose. She had worked part-time in all sorts of entertainment venues for years and had long grown used to such smells.

“Do you take me for a fool?” Gu Shiyan held his cigarette in one hand, while his other toyed with his lighter, the sound of it flicking interwoven with the crackle of burning tobacco.

The crisp sound was sharp as a blade, stripping Su Mo’s defenses layer by layer.

It dawned on Su Mo only then—Luo Xing’s infatuation with Gu Shiyan was common knowledge throughout the school.

If she’d truly known Luo Xing for a long time, then back at the hospital, she should have been aware of the connection between Gu Shiyan and Luo Xing.

He had exposed the flaw in her story without a hint of mercy.

Su Mo recalled that day by the teaching building, when she’d thought Gu Shiyan had stubbed out his cigarette because she happened to walk by.

Now, it seemed she had misread him.

He was never one to show even the slightest mercy to women.

“So you called me out here just to ask that?” Su Mo crossed her arms, eyeing him with a hint of amusement.

“Don’t you already know exactly what I want to ask?” Gu Shiyan’s hoarse voice fell into her ears.

His tall frame closed in, the ember of his cigarette nearly grazing her cheek.

Startled by the heat, Su Mo instinctively took a step back.

He let out a soft laugh. “Afraid now?”

Su Mo lifted her chin. “I don’t know what you want to ask. Like I said, it was a coincidence.”

Gu Shiyan’s gaze fixed on her, searing like red-hot pincers, as if every inch of her skin might burn under his scrutiny.

“Still treating me like a fool?”

With that, Gu Shiyan pressed the burning cigarette directly into her palm.

Scorching! Painful!

Her entire hand, palm to forearm, trembled uncontrollably.

Yet she did not move, and the cigarette was extinguished in her palm.

There was no pity in the man’s eyes; he only curled his lips into a smile. “You’re pretty good at enduring pain.”

Su Mo closed her eyes for a moment.

Gu Shiyan now indeed found Su Mo intriguing. After all, only in the psychiatric ward did he often encounter people so recklessly unafraid, so intent on playing him for a fool.

The cigarette butt still pinched in Su Mo’s hand, Gu Shiyan acted as if nothing had happened and returned to the private room.

Ji Rutang was the first to come over and look at his palm.

It was empty—

“Hey!” Ji Rutang sighed, rare for him to lose to Lu Xingjian. Before, he never missed a guess.

Lu Xingjian wore a faint smile. “Your car’s mine now.”

“Hey, take it easy with my new car, will you?” Ji Rutang, ever shameless, clung to Lu Xingjian, insisting he promise not to mistreat his precious vehicle.

Gu Shiyan had no interest in their game. He grabbed his jacket from the wooden rack and left.

As he walked out, he glanced at his phone. Apart from a few familiar numbers, there was also a strange one.

Gu Shiyan ignored it, instead dialing Special Assistant Song.

“Assistant Song, I need you to look into someone...”

There was a pause, as if the other side was seeking permission.

Then Assistant Song replied, “Young master, Mr. Gu has instructed that you’re no longer permitted to use his connections. He says… it’s part of your inheritance.”

Gu Shiyan: “...”

So the old man still remembered how he’d said he didn’t care about the inheritance that day.

“Fine, then tell him—as his grandson, I’m entitled to the inheritance. Now I’ve decided I care—how about that?”

“Mr. Gu says, if you care now, you have to tell him in person, face to face.”

Gu Shiyan had been staying at a hotel these past days. Although Gu Liang had frozen his cards, in the capital, he hardly needed them—with the title of Gu Taihua’s grandson, he carried more weight than money ever could.

Clearly, the old man was forcing him to return home.

Gu Shiyan hung up.

He sat in his car, lit a cigarette, and didn’t start the engine until dusk was falling.

By the time he reached Tiandi Mansion, night had already descended.

He went in, parked the car himself in the garage, then strolled unhurriedly back.

Anyone with eyes could see he was deliberately wasting time.

Standing at the door, he glanced at his watch—the hour hand pointed to ten.

He headed for the rear garden, gazing at Luo Xing’s window as the lights flickered on and off. Only then did he go inside.

He headed straight for the old man’s study.

...

When he came out, it was nearly midnight. Even Gu Shiyan had to admire himself for enduring two hours of pointless conversation with the old man.

Upstairs, the neighboring door was closed.

—Learned your lesson?

Was she wary of him now?

Whether out of curiosity or some other impulse, by the time Gu Shiyan realized it, his hand was already pressing down on the doorknob.

With a soft click, the door opened.

—Not locked after all.

She’d learned a little caution, but not quite enough.

The room was still lit. He glanced inside; a movie was playing, paused automatically at the end credits.

He pressed a slight bulge in his pocket, then stepped lightly in.

The curtains were drawn tight, blocking any draft, yet the window was open, and the wind made the drapes flutter.

The faint glow from the screen spilled through the dimness, illuminating Luo Xing’s face.

Next to her, a glass of milk was still one-third full.

Gu Shiyan set what he’d brought beside the glass and quietly left, closing the door behind him.

Then he returned to his own room.

...

“Xingxing, up so early again today?”

Gu Yunzhi was helping the maids serve breakfast. The old master preferred Chinese fare—simple soy milk and fried dough sticks, millet porridge, and the like.

“I fell asleep while watching a movie last night. Slept early, so I woke early,” Luo Xing replied, a piece of candy in her mouth, covering her lips as she spoke.

“Candy first thing in the morning?” Gu Yunzhi asked casually.

Luo Xing smiled and nodded. “I think the young lady who brought my milk last night left it. I didn’t see it then, only this morning—so I ate it. Not bad, strawberry flavor.”

No sooner had Luo Xing finished than Gu Shiyan brushed past her, mimicking her tone, his voice rough and sleepy from just waking. “Strawberry flavor, huh...”

Then, with a touch of mockery, “Like a kid.”

Luo Xing hadn’t expected Gu Shiyan to be back. She stood frozen, staring at him. “When did you get back?”

He seemed to have teleported—he hadn’t been home last night, yet now he was suddenly behind her, giving her a fright.

“Just now. Teleported back,” he said, already at the dining table, pulling out the chair next to Gu Taihua’s.

Luo Xing also noticed he was dressed in a formal suit today—unlike his usual easy-going, casual clothes.

He must have serious business to attend to.

She didn’t ask further.

Sitting beside Gu Yunzhi, they all ate in silence.

After breakfast, Gu Taihua looked at Luo Xing as if he had something to say.

Sensing his gaze, Luo Xing walked over to him.

The two entered the study.

Gu Shiyan lounged on the sofa, the game interface displayed on his phone, but his eyes kept drifting toward the old man’s study.

The previous night, the old man had asked him to look into that person, and today he was to attend an auction for him.

The auction was a joint event between Kesheng Group and TH.

The old man was expected to make an appearance, but with his health declining, Special Assistant Song had been attending in his stead for some time.

The study door opened. Gu Shiyan looked up to see Luo Xing, head lowered, being led away by Special Assistant Song, destination unknown.

Gu Shiyan leaned forward.

Only when the game interface grayed out did he realize he’d been ambushed by a mage hidden in the bushes.

His teammate cursed him half-heartedly.

Gu Shiyan ignored it, rose, and walked to the study, watching Gu Taihua, who was wearing reading glasses at his desk. “Where did you send her?”

Gu Taihua didn’t even look up. “You’re not marrying her—why do you care so much?”

“...”