Chapter 193 Be Confident, Remove the "Ifs"

Zhou He gave a wry smile. "Be more confident. Remove the 'ifs.' Young Master Gu, I'll come again at nine o'clock tomorrow."

He left with his backpack slung over one shoulder, his back view appearing so lonely and forlorn.

The assistant brought the cat out. "Young Master Gu, this cat isn't a purebred, but it's very docile."

Shi Nianzhi took the cat from her assistant, held it in her arms, and gently stroked it.

The orange tabby was probably too fat, so it lay there lazily and obediently, letting people pet it without showing any aversion, and didn't even meow once.

When Shi Nianzhi looked at it, he lazily licked his paws.

Cats are very charming animals, and their every move shows their disdain for humans.

Shi Nianzhi brought the cat to Lu Jiunian and asked, "Do you like it?"

Lu Jiunian did not respond.

Shi Nianzhi threw the cat on him. Lu Jiunian seemed startled, then looked down at the big orange cat beside him.

The big orange cat, its tail held high, seemed unhappy about being thrown down like that, and gave Lu Jiunian a fierce meow.

Lu Jiunian gripped the toy car tightly in his hand.

After barking, the orange cat lay down next to Lu Jiunian's legs, its tail wagging back and forth, looking leisurely and content.

Lu Jiunian seemed to be frightened by the cat and dared not move.

He stood frozen for a long time. Shi Nianzhi walked over and picked up the cat again. "I knew he didn't like cats. He doesn't like any furry animals."

The assistant instinctively reached out to take the cat from Shi Nianzhi's arms, saying, "Then I'll take it back."

Shi Nianzhi picked up the cat and put it on the sofa, saying, "Never mind, I like it."

He stroked the cat from head to tail, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

Zhou He indeed came again the next day.

Almost a week has passed.

Lu Jiunian has already begun initial treatment.

Gu Yuanyuan said she was coming back, and she really did, but she didn't bring Su Hengyi back with her.

I don't know why.

“He wanted to come back, but I didn’t let him come with me. He’s been too tired lately, and I wanted him to rest. You know, his health has been a bit weak ever since he was injured. It would take him such a long time to fly back, and he wouldn’t be able to stay for more than a few days, plus he would have to deal with jet lag. I felt so sorry for him. Of course I would care about my own husband and not let him suffer like that.”

Gu Yuanyuan said these words to Shi Nianzhi with a smile, her eyes filled with happiness.

Only Zhou He, hiding in the corner, noticed Gu Yuanyuan's unease; his deliberately tense back was a sign of both defensiveness and fear.

Zhou He wondered, what is Gu Yuanyuan afraid of?

It's nothing more than the lie being exposed.

Shi Nianzhi poured Gu Yuanyuan a cup of tea. Gu Yuanyuan picked up the teacup, lowered her head, and took a sip.

He lowered his eyes, finally suppressing all his emotions.

But in reality...

"I'm asking you one last time, are you coming back with me or not?"

Su Hengyi sat behind his desk, opened a book and flipped through it. He didn't even lift his eyelids when he heard this.

"What will my parents think if you don't come back with me? Will they think we're not getting along?"

That's your problem.

“We’re married, we’re family. I don’t expect you to treat your grandfather the way I treat your grandfather, but you should at least give me some basic respect, right?”

"If you don't like it, you can get a divorce."

Su Heng turned a page of his book. He sat under the lamplight, looking so indifferent.

Gu Yuanyuan got angry, walked over, snatched the book from his hand, and started tearing it apart. "Divorce? I, Gu Yuanyuan, will never get a divorce, unless I am widowed!"

Su Heng stood up, showing no anger at all at Gu Yuanyuan's act of tearing up the book.

"Whatever."

Their monotone voice mirrored the stagnant state of their marriage.

Gu Yuanyuan threw away the book he had torn in half, and hugged Su Hengyi from behind. "I am a person, Brother Su. I am not air or an ornament."

"I can't give you what you want."

"Why can't I give it to him? If you can give it to Mu Guangcheng, why can't you give it to me? What do I lack compared to him?!"

Gu Yuanyuan knew perfectly well that this was a taboo subject, but he insisted on saying it anyway.

Sure enough, the air pressure around them dropped several degrees instantly, and Su Heng got angry.

He forcefully pulled away the hand that Gu Yuanyuan was holding around his waist and quickly left the study.

"Smack—"

Gu Yuanyuan broke something.

Su Heng didn't turn around.

Gu Yuanyuan's eyes were bloodshot. He roared, "You still keep his photos hidden and look at them every night. Do you think I don't know?"

Su Hengyi walked back and looked at Gu Yuanyuan coldly, revealing a fierce look in his eyes for the first time.

"Pick it up."

The picture frame was broken, but the photo was still intact. In it, Mu Guangcheng was sitting in an empty classroom at noon, holding a bowl of braised beef noodles, talking to someone, his eyes crinkling with laughter.

Gu Yuanyuan was furious. He questioned Su Hengyi, "How many photos of Mu Guangcheng did you take? Su Hengyi, are you a fucking paparazzi?"

Su Hengyi's voice, as if chilled to ice, seemed to be trying his best to suppress something, "Pick it up, and I'll pretend nothing happened."

Gu Yuanyuan squatted down fiercely. He didn't know where he got a lighter, but he lit it, picked up the photo, and started burning it.

Su Hengyi's pupils contracted, and he reached out to snatch it.

Gu Yuanyuan obsessively and frantically threw the burning photo far away, watching it shrink in the flames as he gripped his wrist.

He glared at Su Hengyi, "I burned it for Mu Guangcheng for you. Do you think he would be so touched to receive it over there? You're married now, but you still think of him so much."

Su Hengyi broke free of Gu Yuanyuan's grasp and grabbed Gu Yuanyuan's neck.

"Bang----"

Gu Yuanyuan hit the back of his head on the table, and his face contorted in pain.

But she opened her bloodshot eyes and glared fiercely at Su Hengyi, "And the wedding photos, burn them for Mu Guangcheng to see too. He probably never imagined you'd marry me, ha—"

Gu Yuanyuan had been suppressing his feelings ever since he was married, having been treated so coldly by Su Hengyi. Today, he finally snapped.

Su Heng gave Gu Yuanyuan a severe beating.

Gu Yuanyuan retaliated without hesitation, though he suffered more losses than he gained. However, he was also ruthless in his fight, smashing a vase directly onto the back of Su Hengyi's head.

Su Heng picked up Gu Yuanyuan and was about to press her face down into the broken pieces of the vase.

Gu Yuanyuan closed her eyes, her jaw clenched tightly.

Su Hengyi stopped.

He recalled the time when he had a high fever and was in the pain of losing Mu Guangcheng, when he was in a daze and the only time he was truly awake.

All I could see was Gu Yuanyuan's face covered in sweat. He was in so much pain that his face was as pale as a ghost, yet it was full of determination.

"Brother Su, I'll take you out, almost there, almost there. You think this little bit of glass can trap me?"

As he spoke, the pain caused his legs to buckle, and he collapsed to his knees, his knees lacerated by sharp shards of glass. Even so, his hands remained behind his back, tightly holding the person on top of him, refusing to let go.

He staggered several times before finally standing up, tears streaming down his face from the pain, his clothes soaked with cold sweat.

He shuddered with pain with every step, yet he insisted on carrying Su Heng out.

Shi Nianzhi said, "Gu Yuanyuan's pain receptors are naturally sensitive, and he is more afraid of pain than normal people."

The anger in Su Heng's eyes was eventually replaced by confusion. He threw Gu Yuanyuan aside, stood up from the ground, and wiped the blood from his neck.

Gu Yuanyuan was stunned for a moment. Her anger subsided, but when she saw the injury on Su Hengyi's neck, she felt annoyed again.

He stood up and walked towards him, "I—"

Su Heng gave him a cold look and left.

Gu Yuanyuan clenched her fist.

......

Shi Nianzhi called out to Gu Yuanyuan, "You came all this way back because you wanted to see Lu Jiunian go crazy, didn't you? Why are you sitting here in a daze? Lu Jiunian is upstairs. Go see him for a while and then go to your parents' place. Come stay with me tonight."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yuanyuan got up to go upstairs, but then suddenly asked in confusion, "Why did you choose to stay here?"

"Didn't you know? Your dad turned your bedroom into a nursery."

"The house is so big, with so many rooms, why are you touching mine?!"

"I don't know, go back and ask your dad."

Gu Yuanyuan: "......"

When Shi Nianzhi suddenly said that, it seemed like he knew something again. "My dad is avenging you. Didn't he bully you when I was in school? He did it on purpose."

Gu Yuanyuan leaned back on the sofa. "Forget it, let them be. Anyway, Lu Jiunian smashed all the figurines I treasured most in my bedroom."

He used to think that if they got married, he would let Su Hengyi stay in his bedroom for one night. But now that things are like this between him and Su Hengyi, whatever.

Gu Yuanyuan seemed very irritable.

He picked up his phone and headed upstairs. "I'm going to take pictures of Lu Jiunian. If he bullies you after he gets better, I'll throw this stupid face at his face."

Zhou He wanted to go, but didn't, waiting for Shi Nianzhi to see him.

He said, "It's time, I'm going back."

Shi Nianzhi glanced upstairs.

Zhou He left without saying a word.

Gu Yuanyuan really took a lot of pictures of Lu Jiunian, and the family had dinner together the next evening.

Shi Nianzhi brought Lu Jiunian along as well.

The meal went fairly well and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

After dinner, Shi Nianzhi took Lu Jiunian home, and Gu Dongxuan and his wife went home. Gu Yuanyuan originally got into the car with Shi Nianzhi, but got out halfway and said that his friends knew he was back and invited him to go to a bar.

Young people always have social obligations, so Shi Nianzhi let him go.

late at night.

But then she received a call saying that Gu Yuanyuan was fighting with someone at a bar, and that Shi Nianzhi should go over there immediately.

Without saying a word, Shi Nianzhi got up and dressed. When he left, Lu Jiunian was still asleep.

Shi Nianzhi felt that Lu Jiunian wouldn't wake up so easily, and that he could quickly deal with Gu Yuanyuan's matter himself, so he didn't bring Lu Jiunian along.

He rushed to the bar, only to find that the people involved in the fight had already been arrested, and the place was a mess with blood everywhere.

Shi Nianzhi's brow twitched, and he immediately asked the person in charge.

Upon learning which hospital he was in, he rushed over. Fortunately, Gu Yuanyuan was only seriously injured and had no major injuries. After all, he had a group of close brothers who would protect him in a fight; the nickname "Brother Yuan" wasn't given lightly.

Zhou He had already arrived. With him taking care of Gu Yuanyuan, Shi Nianzhi, still worried about Lu Jiunian, went back first.

But when he returned to the bedroom, he found that Lu Jiunian was not in bed, and his beloved toy car was gone.

"Lu Jiunian!"

In the middle of the night, Shi Nianzhi woke up all the servants and bodyguards and told them to look for him.

They searched the villa inside and out, and finally the bodyguard came over with a wrecked car. "Young Master Gu, Third Master has been kidnapped!"