Remembering Yu Yan’s cheerful voice on the phone, Gu Xichao’s gaze darkened slightly.
“So you’re saying that because I helped you, he came to resent me and decided to take revenge. Is that what you mean?”
“You could put it that way.”
A peculiar expression crossed Yu Wei’s face, as though he were reluctant to discuss the subject.
“Gege, even after everything I’ve been reduced to, whenever I face him, I still have no choice but to kneel and beg. Ever since we were children, he has always overshadowed me in everything, and all I could do was swallow my anger in silence.”
“I honestly can’t bring myself to say anything good about him. But if I speak badly of him, I’m afraid you’ll be unhappy.”
While waiting for the results from the room next door, Gu Xichao continued subtly drawing information out of Yu Wei.
“I won’t be unhappy. He and I… have nothing to do with each other anymore.”
“So when you fell into the water as a child, was Yu Yan responsible for that too?”
“To be fair, I can’t blame him entirely. At the time, both Father and his biological mother were gone. He was the pampered eldest son. If he disliked someone, he simply got rid of them. It was perfectly normal for him.”
Yu Wei continued:
“I’m an illegitimate child, and so are you, Gege. You must understand what it feels like to tread on thin ice in your own family.”
“That’s why you were always close to me. Naturally, Yu Yan came to hate you as well.”
Gu Xichao could understand Yu Wei’s circumstances. But if Yu Yan had used both his body and his feelings to deceive Gu Xichao merely because Gu Xichao had sided with Yu Wei when they were children—and had continued entangling himself with him even now…
That reason hardly seemed sufficient to explain four long years of revenge and obsession.
“Was he really that cruel even as a child? Didn’t your father or his mother ever discipline him?”
Yu Wei’s gaze deepened.
“Aunt Lan suffered from mental illness. I never met her… Perhaps mental illness can be hereditary.”
The remark grated on Gu Xichao’s ears. He frowned.
“Then do you know how his biological mother died?”
Yu Wei stared at him in surprise.
“What? You don’t know, Gege? Yu Yan never mentioned it to you?”
Gu Xichao shook his head.
Yu Wei was genuinely astonished. He had never expected someone as vindictive as Yu Yan to hide such an important truth from Gu Xichao.
It seemed Gu Xichao truly held a very important place in Yu Yan’s heart.
A trace of sympathy appeared on Yu Wei’s face.
“Aunt Lan took her own life. Yu Yan was quite pitiful too…”
Gu Xichao fell silent.
He vaguely sensed that Yu Wei was still hiding something from him, yet he could not see through it. Whatever remained concealed belonged to the very part of his memory he had lost.
“Xichao-gege, I can understand why Yu Yan turned out this way. After all, his mother suffered from mental illness. When something is already written into a person’s genes… it’s extremely difficult to change.”
Just then, a message arrived. Yu Wei checked his phone and read the words on the screen:
“The fish is in the water. Prepare to draw in the net.”
A faint smile appeared on his lips as he turned toward Gu Xichao.
“Gege, how much longer will your IT people need? I’m afraid Yu Yan will lose patience and take his temper out on me again.”
The filming location was not far from Xilin Manor. Yu Yan even turned down the wrap party and asked his driver to take him back to the estate.
He quickly changed into a new outfit, carefully paired it with earrings and rings, and styled his hair into a particularly fresh and handsome look.
From the garage, he selected the latest Aston Martin Valiant and drove away, already planning to smugly show off his new car to Gu Xichao when they met.
On the way, he stopped at a flower shop and collected the enormous box of deep crimson roses he had ordered in advance for Gu Xichao, placing it inside the trunk.
He even sprayed them with Gu Xichao’s favorite fragrance, so that the moment Gu Xichao opened the trunk, he would be greeted by a magnificent cluster of red roses.
Yu Yan had already used such romantic gestures to please Gu Xichao countless times in the past. Yet after two years apart, the thought of giving him flowers again filled Yu Yan with excitement.
When he imagined Gu Xichao receiving them, lowering his head to breathe in their fragrance, and smiling sweetly, Yu Yan felt as joyful and eager as he had on their very first date.
His heart pounded wildly, beating faster and faster.
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