After Fu Yan left, Gu Zhan sat alone on the bay window and lit a cigarette.

Outside, the night was ablaze with lights. Fu Yan’s apartment building was submerged in a sea of glittering windows, making it impossible to tell exactly where it was.

Gu Zhan took a long, almost numb drag. The nicotine traveled from his lungs to his heart, dulling some of the pain buried there. He didn’t know when it had started, but whenever Fu Yan appeared, no matter whether it was for good or bad, whether he was gentle or irritable, Fu Yan always stirred something painfully tangled inside Gu Zhan.

Perhaps it was because he clearly wanted to forget Fu Yan, yet could never completely do so. He deliberately kept his distance, yet Fu Yan kept appearing like a ghost that refused to leave. Just when he had finally sorted out his feelings, Fu Yan’s appearance had turned them into a tangled mess again. How was he supposed to start a new life with peace of mind?

Sometimes, in a moment of self-defeat, Gu Zhan thought that perhaps he should simply play along with Fu Yan. Once Fu Yan got bored and tired of it, he would naturally leave again, just as he had a year ago, and give Gu Zhan some peace. After all, judging from what had happened a year ago, it probably wouldn’t last very long.

The next morning, Gu Zhan went to the roadside as usual to catch a ride to work. Unexpectedly, the driver, Xiao Li, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Fu Yan was waiting there, just as he had on countless mornings in the past, ready to drive him to work.

Fu Yan had changed into a brand-new smoke-gray suit. His beard had been trimmed into neat stubble, accentuating the sharp lines of his profile and giving him a distinctly masculine air. When he saw Gu Zhan come out, he stepped out of the car with a smile and walked around to open the passenger door for him.

Gu Zhan shot him an annoyed look. “Where’s Xiao Li?”

Fu Yan smiled mildly. “I told Xiao Li to take the day off.”

“Does Mr. Fu have no sense of boundaries? He’s my employee. What gives you the right to send him home?”

Fu Yan leaned closer to his ear. “Considering our relationship, Mr. Gu, it hurts my feelings that you still treat me like an outsider.”

“You—” Gu Zhan glared at him angrily, but Fu Yan merely looked at him with an innocent, aggrieved expression.

If Fu Yan had been as confrontational as before, Gu Zhan wouldn’t have backed down even an inch. But now Fu Yan was acting like this...

His dark eyes had shed all their sharpness. He looked at Gu Zhan with the focused innocence of a small animal unfamiliar with the ways of the world. How was Gu Zhan supposed to keep being fierce with him?

Gu Zhan looked away. “I’ll drive myself.”

Fu Yan calmly caught his arm. “Your car is restricted today.”

Gu Zhan pressed his lips together and reluctantly stopped.

Fu Yan said gently in his low voice, “All right, get in. We’re going to be late.”

He opened the car door for him courteously and gestured invitingly. Gu Zhan couldn’t bring himself to slap away such a friendly gesture, so he got in.

The door shut with a heavy thunk. Inside the sealed cabin was the same familiar pinewood fragrance. Fu Yan was remarkably consistent in his tastes—the scent in his car had never changed all this time.

After fastening his seat belt, Gu Zhan closed his eyes and leaned back to rest. It was a convenient way to avoid having to interact with Fu Yan.

He didn’t even realize that the familiar pine scent made him relax. Just like countless evenings a year ago, after a long and exhausting day, he would sit in the passenger seat beside Fu Yan and close his eyes to rest. Sometimes he was so tired that he would unconsciously fall asleep. When they arrived home, Fu Yan would pat him on the shoulder, call his name softly beside his ear, unfasten his seat belt for him, and ask with a smile, “Tired?”

As his mind unconsciously wandered back to those memories, the familiar scent of aftershave suddenly filled his nose. For a moment, it felt so real that he seemed to have returned to a year ago.

But Gu Zhan quickly opened his eyes and warily glanced at Fu Yan, who had leaned toward him.

Fu Yan was bent over him, so close that Gu Zhan barely dared to breathe, afraid his breath might disturb Fu Yan’s eyelashes—even though, at that moment, he actually wanted to take a deep breath.

Suppressing his irritation, he demanded, “Fu Yan, what are you doing?”

“Don’t be so nervous.” Fu Yan smiled softly and reached over to adjust his seat belt. “It wasn’t fastened properly.”

Gu Zhan lowered his eyes and glanced at it. Sure enough, the seat belt across his chest had twisted around itself.

Fu Yan patiently untangled it, then smoothed it down twice.

“There.”

He returned to the driver’s seat and placed one hand on the steering wheel, but didn’t start the car. Instead, he looked at Gu Zhan warmly and said seriously, “Gu Zhan, I was an idiot before. I want to sincerely apologize to you today. I was stupid enough to think that only benefits could move you, that I had to become powerful enough to attract your attention and make you stay for me alone. I was wrong. From now on, unless you willingly agree, I promise I won’t force you to do anything.”

“Tsk.” Gu Zhan’s voice was full of disdain. “You make it sound so nice. Then why did you send Xiao Li away today?”

“You can’t deny me even the chance to pursue you, care for you, and look after you, can you?” Fu Yan gazed intently at him. “And I’m going to keep doing it until you agree to get back together with me.”

“So the hard approach didn’t work, and now you’re switching to the soft approach?” Gu Zhan said. “Fu Yan, you really don’t need to go to all this trouble. Let’s lay everything out today. Is it especially exciting for you when I reject you and keep you at arm’s length? Is it because the Young Master Fu has never been turned away before, so the more I resist, the more thrilled you get? We’ve known each other for a long time. I’m not someone who’s willing to die rather than surrender. If you haven’t had enough, I can give you what happened that night right now. I just hope that once you’ve had enough, you’ll leave and we can each live our own lives. Then neither of us has to bother the other anymore.”

Fu Yan chuckled and leaned a little closer. “That night... give it back to me? You did it willingly?”

Gu Zhan refused to back down. “Yes.”

Fu Yan narrowed his eyes with amusement. “Now? Here?”

“Fine.” Gu Zhan forced himself to say it.

“What an enticing proposal.” Fu Yan’s tone turned suggestive. “It seems we’ve never tried it... in a car.”

He lowered his gaze to his watch. “Unfortunately, I have a meeting at ten. I’m afraid we won’t have enough time.”

He leaned close to Gu Zhan’s ear and whispered, “After all, Mr. Gu, surely you haven’t forgotten how long my ‘time’ lasts.”

Gu Zhan turned his face away viciously, unwilling to respond.

Fu Yan smiled contentedly. “I’ll take you to work first.”

He lightly hooked a finger under Gu Zhan’s chin, his voice magnetic.

“I’ll come back for the rest tonight.”

With that, he started the car.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

That afternoon, Chen Lang called Gu Zhan and invited him out to play cards.

The main reason was that a funding application Chen Lang had submitted had been stuck for some time. He had arranged to meet the president of the bank involved, hoping to strengthen their relationship and smooth things over.

Chen Lang did quite a bit of business with this bank, and Gu Zhan had accompanied him to several social engagements before. Normally, this had little to do with Gu Zhan, but coincidentally, the bank president’s son had joined them for dinner before—and he was gay, as well as quite taken with Gu Zhan. Several times, he had openly or subtly hinted that he was interested in him.

Unfortunately, Gu Zhan had no interest in him. But Chen Lang was exceptionally good at networking. How could he give up such a perfect opportunity to build a closer relationship?

That afternoon, when the bank president mentioned that his son had some free time and would be coming over to play, then he casually asked, “Is Mr. Gu free?”

Chen Lang immediately understood what he meant and called Gu Zhan, doing his best to persuade him to come.

Normally, Gu Zhan would have found some excuse to decline.

But today...

He remembered what Fu Yan had said that morning, apparently intending to come pick him up after work. He deliberately wanted to make things unpleasant for Fu Yan, hoping the Young Master Fu would realize how difficult this was and give up.

So he agreed to Chen Lang’s invitation.

He knew that if Fu Yan came looking for him that evening and couldn’t find him, he would certainly ask Xiao Chen. So he specifically instructed Xiao Chen to tell Fu Yan:

“He went to play bridge with the son of President so-and-so. He’s not sure whether he’ll be coming home tonight.”

Sure enough, Fu Yan came to Slungshot that evening, only to find that Gu Zhan wasn’t there. Just as expected, he asked Xiao Chen where Gu Zhan had gone.

Although Xiao Chen felt somewhat guilty, she could only follow her boss’s instructions and repeat the exact words.

Xiao Chen noticed the faint displeasure rising in Fu Yan’s eyes. She watched as Fu Yan clenched his fists and stormed away like he was about to go start a fight.

Xiao Chen immediately called Gu Zhan to report what had happened.

At that moment, Gu Zhan was at the club playing bridge with a group of people. When he saw Xiao Chen calling, he smiled slightly at the bank president’s son.

“Yu Xing, play for me for a while. I’m going to take a call.”

Yu Xing froze, looking somewhat overwhelmed by the honor.

He was in his early twenties and still studying abroad. Shy by nature, he had always stood obediently behind his father watching the games.

After learning that his son was gay, Yu Xing’s father had worried himself sick, afraid his precious son would get involved with the wrong people and get himself into trouble. He also thought his son was too introverted, so whenever he had the chance, he brought him out to broaden his horizons.

By chance, Yu Xing had met the elegant and refined Mr. Gu for the first time, and his face had immediately turned red.

A father knows his son best. After they returned home, his father coaxed and pressured him until Yu Xing honestly confessed his feelings.

To his surprise, his father didn’t object. After all, Mr. Gu was young, accomplished, and successful. If he really got together with his son, he would certainly be a suitable match.

Once he knew, Yu Xing’s father frequently tried to bring the two together. He was familiar with Chen Lang, naturally asked him for help, and once Chen Lang found out, practically everyone knew.

Although everyone knew about Yu Xing’s feelings for Gu Zhan, Yu Xing himself remained awkward and bashful, always trying to hide them. He didn’t dare initiate conversations with Gu Zhan, yet whenever Gu Zhan spoke to him, he would panic and retreat.

Now, he was blushing furiously, so nervous that he didn’t know what to say.

Seeing him like this, Gu Zhan took the initiative to pull him into his own seat and said gently, “It’s fine. Just play however you like. If you win, it’s yours. If you lose, I’ll take the loss.”

Someone nearby teased, “Wow—Mr. Gu is so considerate.”

“Yeah, I wish I could play cards for Mr. Gu too.”

“Does that have anything to do with you? Look where you are!”

“Hahaha—”

Everyone laughed and joked around. Gu Zhan joined in with a couple of laughs, but poor Yu Xing’s cheeks were as red as ripe apples.

Gu Zhan stepped outside to answer the phone.

“Hello, Xiao Chen.”

“Hello, Mr. Gu. Just as you expected, Mr. Fu really did come by. I repeated exactly what you told me.”

“Oh? How did he react?”

“Mr. Fu... Mr. Fu seemed really angry. When he left, he looked like he was about to go pick a fight with someone...” Xiao Chen’s voice grew quieter and quieter, afraid she had done something wrong.

“All right. I understand.”

Gu Zhan hung up.

That was exactly the reaction he wanted from Fu Yan.

Back when Fu Yan was still with him, he had always been extremely sensitive about these things. He could never understand why Gu Zhan had to attend social engagements, and he could never accept Gu Zhan putting on an act with other people for the sake of business.

Gu Zhan could actually understand why Fu Yan couldn’t accept it.

Fu Yan was a lofty and wealthy young master. Naturally, he never needed to compromise for anything. He could always preserve the nobility of his spirit and soul.

Whether Fu Yan had simply not had enough and wanted another round, or whether he really meant it when he said his feelings were sincere, Gu Zhan wanted him to understand that although they appeared to belong to the same circle, they were fundamentally different kinds of people.

He wanted Fu Yan to realize that they weren’t suited for each other, so that Fu Yan would come to his senses sooner rather than later and retreat in the face of difficulty.

Gu Zhan returned to the private room after his call.

Chen Lang smiled. “Mr. Gu, you’re finally back. Little Yu’s card skills aren’t very good. His dad is almost about to win everything from him. Hurry up and teach him.”

Gu Zhan smiled. “Sure. Let me take a look.”

He sat down beside Yu Xing. At first glance, the two were sitting quite close together.

President Yu exchanged a glance with Chen Lang and smiled in satisfaction.

After one round, Yu Xing wanted to give his seat back to Gu Zhan. Seeing that he still seemed reluctant to stop, Gu Zhan pressed him back into his seat.

“Want to keep playing?”

Yu Xing lowered his head and nodded.

“Then keep going.” Gu Zhan teased him lightly. “I happen to like teaching people. Will you let me indulge in being a teacher for a while?”

Yu Xing’s face instantly turned red again. He didn’t dare look at Gu Zhan anymore and could only nod repeatedly.

“Hahaha—”

The private room erupted in laughter.

Gu Zhan’s intention had been to make Fu Yan come over and witness this scene.

Unfortunately, he waited and waited, but Fu Yan never came.

This time, Mr. Gu’s calculations had truly gone awry.

After Fu Yan angrily left Slungshot, he didn’t come looking for an explanation. Instead, he went home.

For the past few days, Fu Yan had been hiding in his apartment in a depressed state, skipping work and leaving a mountain of tasks unfinished. Today, he worked all day. He also hadn’t been home for quite some time. Since Gu Zhan was busy with a social engagement, he decided to go home first, have dinner with his parents, and then go pick Gu Zhan up.

When he arrived home, the housekeeper had already arranged an entire table of dishes.

Yet despite the feast laid out before him, no one was there.

The housekeeper pointed upstairs, then toward the first-floor bathroom, wearing an apologetic expression.

Fu Yan walked to the bathroom and pushed open the half-closed door.

His father was wearing a white undershirt, squinting at himself in the mirror as he combed his hair.

Fu Hongping rarely looked like this. Even at home or when he was ill, he always wore neat loungewear or matching silk pajamas, keeping himself tidy and dignified.

The most weathered he ever looked was probably while dyeing his hair.

His thinning, graying hair hung over his forehead, and because he was afraid of getting hair dyed on his clothes, he wore an old but still decent white T-shirt.

When he saw Fu Yan enter, he greeted him through the mirror.

“You’re back?”

“Mm.”

Fu Yan walked behind him and took the fine-toothed comb from his hand.

“Dad, let me do it.”

Fu Hongping handed him the comb and studied his reflection in the mirror.

“Your father really is getting old. No matter how much I dye this white hair black, I can’t make myself young again.”

Fu Yan looked at the deep wrinkles around his father’s eyes.

“Dad, you built everything from nothing and spent all these years running such a huge company. It must have been hard.”

“Oh? Now you know your dad worked hard? Didn’t you used to say your father was too materialistic, that all I cared about was money, that I didn’t care about you or your mother? Other kids had both parents participating in school activities and playing games with them, while you only had your mother...”

“Oh, Dad, how many years ago was that? Why are you bringing it up again?”

Fu Yan was already in his thirties, yet his father was still bringing up his kindergarten days. It was rather embarrassing.

“Haha, so you know how to feel ashamed after all?”

Fu Yan gave an awkward smile. Then, through the mirror, he looked seriously at his father.

“Dad, don’t worry. You won’t be alone anymore. The Fu family still has me.”

Fu Hongping smiled in satisfaction and patted Fu Yan’s hand on his shoulder.

“Speaking of which, I heard you didn’t go to the office at all last week?”

Fu Yan lowered his head.

“I ran into some trouble. But don’t worry, Dad. I won’t do that again.”

“That’s good. You’ve grown quite a lot this past year. I’ve seen it all. Don’t be afraid of running into trouble. A person has to go through some difficulties in life, otherwise they never really grow up.”

“Mm.”

Fu Yan nodded.

He really had changed a great deal over the past year, all because of one person—Gu Zhan.

If it hadn’t been for Gu Zhan, he might never have understood whether a businessman like his father could genuinely care about family and emotions. If it hadn’t been for Gu Zhan, the privileged young master who had grown up with everything handed to him might never have understood the difficulties other people faced.

Seeing him lower his head in silence, Fu Hongping blinked and asked,

“Why did you stop talking? Are you thinking about that someone?”