Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Accept the fact that you are not loved...

Gu Xingyan moved closer to Ruan Chao.

He carefully pried open his eyelids and blew out the dust inside.

The two of them were so close that they could clearly feel each other's breathing.

It has the aroma of rich wine, and a unique flavor of the Nguyen Dynasty.

It's like the sweet taste you get from eating too much sugar.

Gu Xingyan's breathing was disrupted for a moment, but he quickly adjusted himself.

"Try it. Does it still hurt?"

When Ruan Chao unconsciously reached out his hand to rub his eyes, Gu Xingyan reacted quickly and grabbed his fingers.

"Don't rub it, or it will come back to you."

Ruan Chao blinked his eyes. There were many tears accumulated in his eyes, and every time he blinked, a drop or two fell down.

Her eyelashes were wet and looked a little pitiful.

"Well...it seems to be okay." His voice was still a little hoarse, with a hint of nasal noise.

Gu Xingyan: "Don't look around anymore. There's nothing to see here."

Dirty, shabby, messy.

He is incompatible with the young master who was brought up with a coquettish nature.

…

Gu Xingyan took out the key and opened the door.

Nguyen Chao followed in.

The room is very small, probably only about 30 to 40 square meters.

The kitchen and living room are connected, the bathroom is near the entrance, and the bedroom is at the back.

The lighting is not very good and it is a bit dark, but it is clean and tidy.

All items are categorized and placed where they should be. Although there are many things, it does not appear messy.

Nguyen Chao only looked at him for a few seconds and then politely looked away.

Gu Xingyan asked him to sit on the sofa and poured him a glass of water.

"Wait for me here. I'll get you some clothes."

Nguyen Chao took the cup of water.

The cup has a cute waving cat pattern on it, and there are two cute little cat ears on the armrests...

Ruan Chao's expression changed slightly. He didn't expect that Gu Xingyan, who looked so cold and indifferent, would actually use such a cute cup. It was really a contrast.

Nguyen Chao has no way of controlling his facial expressions, and his thoughts can be easily seen through.

Gu Xingyan glanced at him and whispered, "The cup was given as a gift when you bought something at the supermarket."

Okay, okay.

Like something you would do.

Nguyen Chao took two sips of water.

Gu Xingyan went to the bedroom to find clothes for him.

It came out soon.

Pull out a white shirt and dark-colored casual pants.

"They are all washed clean." Gu Xingyan handed the clothes to Ruan Chao.

Ruan Chao took it and smelled the fresh scent of detergent on it.

The fabric of the tentacles is also very soft.

"If you don't like it, I'll find another one for you."

"No, I'll wear this one."

It’s good to have clean clothes to wear, and the Nguyen Dynasty is not very picky.

In any case, it was better than the clothes stained with wine. Just by smelling the odor, Ruan Chao felt his head was foggy and he began to feel dizzy again.

Gu Xingyan asked him to go to the bedroom to change clothes and waited for him in the living room.

Ruan Chao nodded, walked into Gu Xingyan's bedroom and closed the door.

He took off his dirty clothes and changed into the clothes Gu Xingyan gave him.

The sleeves of the shirt were a bit long and didn't go past my fingers, so I had to roll them up a lot to show my wrists. The pants were also a bit loose and kept falling down.

Ruan Chao carefully held up his trousers with one hand and opened the door with the other hand. He poked his fluffy little head out, looking a little embarrassed and a little awkward.

"Gu Xingyan, do you have a belt?"

"The pants don't fit."

Gu Xingyan stared at the slightly red tip of his ear, watching the red halo spread upwards little by little, gradually dyeing the entire ear.

He said, "The belt is in the left closet."

After getting the answer he wanted, Ruan Chao closed the door with a bang.

The bedroom is very small, with only a single bed, a bedside table, and a wooden three-door wardrobe.

The wardrobe takes up nearly one-third of the space.

Nguyen opened the leftmost closet door.

He didn't know what he saw, but his vision suddenly froze, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his fingertips holding the handle turned white.

The inside of the closet was covered with scratches, and in some places the paint layer was even broken, revealing the dark wooden lining.

Nguyen Chao observed it carefully.

These marks of varying depths looked like they were made by someone scratching with their fingernails, who had hurt their hands because they had used too much force, and there were also dark traces of dried blood left on them.

Is someone locked in the closet?

Who could it be?

Ruan Chao thought of Gu Xingyan who was waiting for him in the living room.

His breath caught in his throat.

There was a sudden knock on the door, interrupting his thoughts.

"Ruan Chao, are you ready?"

He replied in panic: "...No, wait for me a moment."

Gu Xingyan paused for a few seconds and asked, "Have you found the belt?"

He was so absorbed in the scratches in the closet that he completely forgot that he was looking for his belt.

After being reminded by Gu Xingyan, he began to search frantically. He almost turned through all the drawers below, but there was no sign of the belt.

"...I can't find it." Ruan Chao gave up and began to question Gu Xingyan, "Did you remember it wrong? It's not in the cabinet on the left at all."

Gu Xingyan: "Do you want me to help you find it?"

Ruan Chao thought about it and held up his trousers with both hands to prevent them from falling off suddenly.

"want."

He said the word "want" loudly, fearing that Gu Xingyan might not hear him.

There was no way he could leave the house without a belt, and we couldn't let him go home with his pants held up, that would be so embarrassing.

Gu Xingyan pushed open the door and walked in.

At first glance, I saw Ruan Chao standing in front of the closet, looking a little helpless.

Nguyen Chao's body shape was too different from his. His clothes and trousers were baggy and didn't fit him well.

Perhaps because she was in too much of a hurry to get dressed, she didn't button up her shirt completely, and the collar was open all the way to her collarbone, exposing her slender neck completely. If she looked a little lower, she could see a small, bright red mole.

It is a very beautiful red color, which forms a sharp contrast with the delicate white skin next to it, and exudes an inexplicable charming scent.

Gu Xingyan's eyes were fixed on the small mole, as if he wanted to remember its position and shape clearly.

His eyes were so focused that it was hard not to notice something was wrong.

When Ruan Chao looked at him with a frown, he spoke in a calm voice.

"Your buttons..."

Ruan Chao: "What's wrong with the button?"

Gu Xingyan: “It’s not buttoned properly.”

Ruan Chao lowered his head and found that a few buttons had indeed fallen off.

But his hands were tied to his pants to prevent them from falling down, so he couldn't free his hands to take care of other things.

Seeing this, Gu Xingyan came forward, helped him button up the remaining buttons, straightened his collar, and straightened out his messy sleeves...

Gu Xingyan's expression was so natural, as if taking care of Ruan Chao was a common thing for him and had been engraved in his habit.

Ruan Chao was a little uncomfortable, half of his body was stiff, and the place where Gu Xingyan touched felt like being brushed by a light feather, and it was itchy.

…

Gu Xingyan easily found the belt that Ruan Chao had been unable to find. Ruan Chao was afraid that Gu Xingyan would suddenly want to help him tie the belt, so he immediately snatched it away.

Tie it up as quickly as possible.

Gu Xingyan didn't care. His eyes were fixed on the clear scratches inside the closet. His eyes grew darker, as if he was remembering some unpleasant past events.

"Did you see it all?"

Ruan Chao blinked and pretended to be stupid: "What did you see?"

“Those traces.”

Now to say that I didn’t see it seems a bit too deliberate.

Nguyen Chao said nothing.

Gu Xingyan said self-consciously, "I drew it when I was a child."

His tone was too calm, without any ups and downs, and he spoke in a cold voice, as if he was telling someone else's story, "My mother disliked me for not listening, saying that I always cried and was very noisy and annoying, so she wanted to lock me up, and she would let me out when I stopped crying."

Gu Xingyan was silent for a moment and continued.

"But she doesn't keep her word. She usually doesn't think of me until the next morning."

He spoke too lightly, as if he had glossed over all those painful days.

Ruan Chao was so angry when he heard this that he almost cursed.

Locking a child in a closet for a night... is this something a human being could do?

That's too much.

They maliciously swapped someone else's child and didn't even treat him well... They are worse than animals.

He seemed to be able to imagine little Gu Xingyan, feeling scared and wronged, calling for his mother in a crying voice in the closet. However, because his mother never responded to him, he could only scratch the door with his hands, his nails were bloody, but he still couldn't open the closed door.

Ruan Chao pursed his lips and asked, "How old were you at that time?"

"Three? Or four? I can't remember."

When he grew older, the woman found that locking him in the closet was no longer feasible because he would run out on his own, so she changed to another way to torture him.

For example... locking him in the bathroom, tying him to the radiator with a rope, or simply locking him outside the door and making him sleep in the cold and damp corridor.

Sometimes he really doubted whether he was her child. Otherwise, why would she be so cruel to him, not only reluctant to give him a little motherly love, but also treating him like an enemy.

He still remembers the look of deep hatred and grief in that woman's eyes when she looked at him.

It was as if he had done something to her, a wrong that could never be undone.

At that time, he was just a very young child. He was always hungry, skinny and small, with pitifully thin arms and legs. There was only a layer of flesh covering his bones, and he couldn't even walk smoothly... How could such a child who had no power to resist do something to disobey his mother?

…

Not every parent is born loving their children.

Some parents are born with hatred and hostility towards their children. No matter how miserably the child cries, they will not lend a hand to him, but will only watch with a cold smile.

It is very difficult to accept the fact that you are not loved.

But fortunately, Gu Xingyan had accepted it a long time ago.