The car sped along the road.
From a distance, Gu Xichao could already see that building—at once familiar and strangely distant.
Xilin Manor.
The villa held far too many memories.
For a fleeting moment, Gu Xichao could still see it being consumed by raging flames two years ago.
And yet now, it stood intact before him once more.
He had not had the chance to examine it carefully the last time he was here. Only today did he realize that Xilin Manor seemed even more refined than before, though every corner of it radiated a sense of artificial splendor.
Gu Xichao drew a deep breath and slowly walked forward.
He followed the garden path until he finally stopped before the gates of Xilin Manor.
A tiny scanner concealed within the door swept across his entire face.
A sweet mechanical voice immediately sounded:
“Mr. Gu, you have been away from Xilin Manor for two years and forty-three days. Welcome home.”
Home?
Gu Xichao let out a cold laugh.
He had not had a home for a very long time.
Once everything here was over, he would return to living alone.
No expectations. No attachments.
And no one would ever be able to hurt him again.
The door silently slid aside, revealing the familiar hallway beyond.
A breeze brushed past Gu Xichao.
He closed his eyes, and countless fragments of memories flashed before him. All the happiness and pain he had deliberately buried were crushed beneath his unwavering steps.
He had come here to end everything.
When Gu Xichao entered the main hall, he saw no one.
Only the faint aroma of food lingered in the air.
He walked into the dining room.
Five dishes and a bowl of soup had already been arranged on the long table, steam still rising from them. Every dish had once been among his favorites, and even their positions on the table were exactly the same as they had been years ago.
At the center of the table sat an exquisitely arranged bouquet of fresh flowers.
Candlelight flickered softly among the petals.
It was clearly a candlelit dinner that someone had taken great care to prepare.
Gu Xichao slowly frowned.
What was Yu Yan trying to pull this time?
“Welcome home!”
Yu Yan suddenly appeared behind him.
Gu Xichao had not heard his footsteps at all. Startled, he instinctively stepped backward and fell directly against Yu Yan’s chest.
Yu Yan smiled brightly, as though the person who had threatened Gu Xichao during today’s livestream had been someone else entirely.
He steadied Gu Xichao and said cheerfully:
“Xichao, I ordered dinner from the restaurant you used to love most. Come sit down. If I hadn’t been so busy today, I would’ve cooked for you myself.”
“Cut the nonsense. What exactly did you go through all that trouble to force me here for?”
Gu Xichao’s voice was cold.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. Eat something first. Once your stomach is full, we can talk.”
Yu Yan enthusiastically led him to the dining table and pulled out a chair for him.
“President Gu, won’t you do me the honor just this once? Consider this dinner my apology to you. How about it?”
Gu Xichao’s expression darkened.
He had returned tonight to settle everything with this brat. He had no intention of fighting or scheming against him.
Perhaps sitting down for a proper meal and calmly resolving everything at the table was not such a terrible idea.
Besides, Gu Xichao had been rushing around all day and truly had not eaten a proper meal.
Yu Yan opened the bottle of Romanée-Conti he had prepared and turned to Gu Xichao.
“Would you like some?”
Noticing the wariness in Gu Xichao’s eyes, he laughed.
“Do you think I’m the same kind of despicable coward as President Li and Chairman Chen, using drugs to take advantage of someone?”
“No. Alcohol makes it too easy for things to go wrong.”
Gu Xichao waved him off.
“All right.”
Yu Yan poured himself a glass and drank alone.
By the time he had finished nearly half the bottle, his cheeks had gradually flushed, making him appear slightly tipsy.
“Eat a little more. The food overseas can’t be that good. You’ve lost so much weight.”
Yu Yan placed more food into his bowl.
Both his words and his movements came so naturally that it felt as though they had returned to two years ago, when they had still lived together in this very place.
Without a word, Gu Xichao used his chopsticks to move the food back onto Yu Yan’s plate.
Yu Yan did not become upset. He simply continued eating.
Gu Xichao had barely eaten anything before he began to feel full.
He set down his chopsticks and looked at Yu Yan.
“I’m finished. You should tell me now why you wanted me to come back.”
He lowered his head to check his watch, then pointed at its face.
“Every minute of my time is valuable. And a superstar like Yu Yan charges an astronomical appearance fee. We should avoid wasting each other’s time.”
“Look at this dining room. You once said it would be wonderful if we could see the lake outside while we ate.”
As Yu Yan spoke, he reached out and pressed a switch on the wall.
With the quiet hum of machinery, the floor-to-ceiling glass doors slowly retracted to either side.
One panel after another folded away, revealing a glass terrace extending directly over the lake.
When the enormous glass doors had fully opened, the interior and exterior seemed to merge into one.
The night breeze drifted in from the lake, carrying cool, damp air.
In the distance, moonlight stretched across the water, while tiny ripples shimmered all the way to the shore.
Gu Xichao’s pupils contracted slightly.
He immediately looked away, a bitter, helpless smile appearing on his lips.
“Xilin is more beautiful than it used to be, isn’t it? I had the designers restore most of it exactly as it was, at a one-to-one scale. But there are still many things that are different. Let me show you around.”
Yu Yan stood, walked over to Gu Xichao, and held out his hand.
“Is this why you threatened me with that money and the truth about my fake death?”
Gu Xichao looked at him coldly.
“A dinner and a villa. What are you trying to prove by showing me all this?”
He brushed Yu Yan’s hand aside.
“This isn’t the Xilin Manor from before, and it certainly isn’t my home. None of this has anything to do with me anymore—including you.”
“From now on, this will be your home.”
Yu Yan spoke calmly.
“What exactly do you want from me?”
Gu Xichao shot to his feet.
The chair scraped violently against the floor, producing a piercing sound.
Yu Yan stared into his face.
His dark gaze held an almost obsessive possessiveness.
“I want us to start over. I want you to stay by my side.”
Hearing him say those words so casually, the anger Gu Xichao had suppressed for so long finally erupted.
He strode forward and charged straight at Yu Yan, gripping his collar so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“The moment you chose to deceive me, the two of us became parallel lines destined never to cross again!”
“You were the one who lied to me, so why are you acting like the wounded one now? Haven’t you already made me suffer enough over the past two years?”
“You took my money, reclaimed your family’s empire, and became a man with limitless power and fame. What could you possibly still be dissatisfied with? What else do you want from me?”
Yu Yan stared into the eyes inches from his own and abruptly fell silent.
You were the one who forced your way into my life.
You were also the one who severed everything between us.
You were the one who left without saying goodbye.
And you were still the one who stepped in to drink on my behalf…
Yu Yan had prepared countless vicious words.
Yet when he looked at Gu Xichao’s face, he found himself unable to say any of them.
They remained locked in that standoff for nearly half a minute before Yu Yan finally spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Two years ago, you left without even saying goodbye and flew somewhere far away. Now you’ve come back, pretended you don’t know me, and you’re trying to abandon me all over again?”
“Don’t even think about it!”
Gu Xichao had thought Yu Yan was being sincere, but hearing him try to justify himself now only made the whole situation seem utterly absurd.
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