Chapter 15
Once back in the car, Duan Yang’s face was as dark as thunder.
Yu Lin knew that he was always concerned about his pride, and after being ruthlessly rejected by Shen Yan today, he must be furious. So, he chose to stay silent to avoid provoking him further.
It took Duan Yang quite a while to suppress his anger before he asked Yu Lin, “What does Ling Sicheng mean by that?”
Yu Lin shook his head. “It’s hard to say. He completely refuses to communicate with us. As soon as the old man was admitted to the hospital, Secretary Wu contacted him right away, but he hasn’t visited the hospital at all.”
Duan Yang’s expression turned cold, his tone laced with disdain. “What a pretense. If he truly didn’t want to be involved with our family, why would he come back? I think he’s trying to play hard to get.”
Yu Lin opened his mouth, wanting to suggest that Duan Yang might be overthinking it, but ultimately said nothing.
Duan Yang wasn’t in the mood to talk; he was feeling annoyed.
He initially thought that marrying Shen Yan would resolve everything, but now Ling Sicheng had suddenly appeared, and that idiot Shen Yan even decided to run away at such a critical time—talk about adding fuel to the fire.
Meanwhile, in the private room, Shen Yan sat at a table full of his favorite dishes, with a gift box waiting to be opened, and he was in a good mood.
He thought that since Duan Yang’s family was wealthy and he could earn some money over the years, they must have been generous.
However, when he opened the gift box, he was dumbfounded.
What the hell?
A purse?
No, it was a ladies’ handbag.
Reluctantly, he rummaged through it inside and out, only to confirm that it was just a bag.
Shen Yan: “…”
Fortunately, he had a sister who was obsessed with bags and had picked up some knowledge about such things from her. He could tell it was from a high-end brand.
So, he immediately went online to search and found out it was a new release from this year, with a retail price over a hundred thousand.
After carefully comparing the actual item with the pictures online, he realized they were indeed the same model, and he couldn’t help but smile as he began looking for the purchase receipt, preparing to return it to the store.
However…
No receipt!
Damn!
So he was just given a purse he had no use for, after being promised he wouldn’t have to help out for free?
If he had known it would be like this, he wouldn’t have bothered helping, risking a run-in with Su Yunzhe, and being forced to jump back down the building. And now…
The more Shen Yan thought about it, the angrier he became. If Duan Yang were here right now, he could throw the bag right at his face.
But what could he do? It wouldn’t be good to approach Duan Yang and say, “Great Actor Duan, I think you got it wrong. I wanted money, not a bag.”
Although he really wanted to do just that, he held back and, after thinking it over, snapped a few photos of the bag and listed it on a second-hand website.
Though he wouldn’t get the original price, at least he could exchange it for some money to help him get through the month.
With that in mind, he felt less upset, put down his phone, and focused on eating.
Originally, they had ordered enough for three people, but he ended up eating alone, so he couldn’t finish everything. Plus, the food tasted good, so he packed up the leftovers.
Maybe Su Yunzhe wouldn’t come home for dinner, and he could make a meal out of it.
After finishing his meal and returning to Su Yunzhe’s home, it was nearly one o’clock in the afternoon.
He didn’t have a habit of taking afternoon naps, so he picked up his phone and settled into the sofa to revise his writing.
His new book was nearly ready, but unexpected events had kept him from finding an opportunity to release it these past few days.
At that moment, he corrected a few typos and registered as an author on a reading website, ready to publish his new work.
Then he continued writing for tomorrow’s update.
It seemed that Su Yunzhe’s house really suited him; whenever he felt tired and looked up, he could see the breathtaking ocean view, which cleared his mind and made writing flow smoothly.
By the time he felt his wrist start to ache, it was already evening.
He lazily leaned back on the sofa, staring into the distance, when suddenly he remembered something. He got up, went upstairs, grabbed a towel and a bathrobe, and dashed to the rooftop.
There was Su Yunzhe’s private swimming pool. When Shen Yan had seen it during the day, he had really wanted to take a swim, but it had been too sunny then.
Now, the sun had set, taking the daytime heat with it, leaving only the afterglow painting the clouds red.
Shen Yan stripped down and jumped in.
He was quite the homebody, not fond of going out or exercising, but swimming was a hobby he had maintained for many years. Back in school, he had even represented his school in swimming competitions and had come in first place.
After enjoying a few laps, he felt his entire body relax and swam to the edge of the pool, lying there to catch his breath.
In the distance, he could see a few yachts returning, tiny against the sea. From his position, they looked pitifully small, but they reminded him of the last time his family had gone out to sea together, causing him to feel a wave of melancholy.
He quickly shook off these annoying feelings and turned to swim a few more laps, only to suddenly hear footsteps coming up the stairs.
Su Yunzhe was back?
As the thought flashed through Shen Yan’s mind, he swiftly climbed out of the pool and hurriedly grabbed his bathrobe to put it on.
Su Yunzhe had already come upstairs.
Shen Yan didn’t have time to dry off, so his clothes stuck to him awkwardly, making it difficult to put them on properly.
He fumbled to tie the sash, worried that Su Yunzhe might catch a glimpse of his very masculine body, all while awkwardly greeting Su Yunzhe to distract him.
“President Su, you’re back…”
But when he looked up to see Su Yunzhe, his words got stuck in his throat.
Su Yunzhe was only wearing swim trunks!
Shen Yan had always thought Su Yunzhe was handsome enough to outshine many male stars under Yun Kong Entertainment, but seeing him without a shirt was even more stunning—his physique was impressively sculpted.
His lines were smooth and powerful, clearly the result of consistent training.
Shen Yan couldn’t help but swallow hard, unable to tell if he felt envy or jealousy. He forgot that his heated gaze was glued to Su Yunzhe’s eight-pack abs.
Su Yunzhe hadn’t expected Shen Yan to be there and certainly didn’t expect to walk in on such a tantalizing scene.
At that moment, Shen Yan was barely managing to wrap the bathrobe around himself, his damp hair also bundled inside it, with a single strand sliding down his long, fair neck to rest just above a place that invited imagination.
Because he hadn’t dried off, the thin bathrobe clung to his skin, almost revealing the flesh underneath.
Water droplets dripped down from where the robe covered him, gliding from his thigh to his calf…
Su Yunzhe narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling a bit parched.
Just as he contemplated whether he should take some action, he suddenly noticed the fiery passion in Shen Yan’s eyes, almost as if he were about to drool over his abs.
Su Yunzhe couldn’t help but chuckle and walked over to Shen Yan, leaning in to whisper teasingly, “Do you like what you see?”
Shen Yan snapped back to reality, realizing Su Yunzhe had approached him without him noticing, playfully watching him.
He quickly averted his gaze, awkwardly clearing his throat as he stammered, “President Su, you’re back quite early.”
Damn! What a huge embarrassment!
He was supposed to be a girl; girls should be reserved. How could she be drooling over a man?
Shen Yan couldn’t help but curse himself for being so foolish. Yet, Su Yunzhe only shot him a knowing glance filled with meaning before turning and diving back into the pool.
At this moment, Shen Yan just wanted to escape the awkward situation and didn’t think much about Su Yunzhe’s strange attitude. He simply greeted Su Yunzhe and went downstairs.
“Why don’t you have a drink with me?”
But before he could make a hasty exit, Su Yunzhe spoke up.
Shen Yan turned around to look at him. Su Yunzhe had just completed a lap and was now leaning against the spot where Shen Yan had been earlier, facing away from the ocean. His arms were stretched out over the edge of the pool, wet strands of hair falling over his forehead. The droplets trickled down his straight nose, sliding down to his neck and then along his well-defined chest before splashing back into the pool.
The scene was incredibly sexy.
After a single glance, Shen Yan turned and hurried into the adjacent lounge to grab some red wine, unable to suppress his inner thoughts. How could Su Yunzhe dare to suspect he wanted to seduce him? In this situation, Shen Yan was starting to wonder if Su Yunzhe was genuinely trying to seduce him.
Speaking of which, Shen Yan’s interests did tend to lean towards men, but unfortunately, Su Yunzhe was not an option. First, Su Yunzhe was the main antagonist in the original story; although Shen Yan hadn’t paid much attention to Su Yunzhe’s scenes while reading, he knew Su Yunzhe didn’t meet a good end.
Second, the original story clearly stated that Su Yunzhe was heterosexual and had a strong aversion to homosexuality.
So Shen Yan could only hope that Su Yunzhe would never realize he was a man and would never dare to have any thoughts about him.
By the time he retrieved the wine, Su Yunzhe had stopped posing so seductively and had begun swimming again, seemingly engrossed in it.
Shen Yan didn’t call out to him. After pouring two glasses of red wine, he placed Su Yunzhe’s glass to the side and sat down at the pool’s edge, dipping his feet into the water while sipping wine and admiring the distant scenery.
It was already getting dark, the evening glow in the sky fading away, and the evening breeze was drying the bathrobe clinging to his body, bringing a sense of comfort and ease.
This unexpectedly stirred up feelings of homesickness in him.
Why did he like Su Yunzhe’s house so much? It probably wasn’t just because he liked the sea; it was more because it reminded him of his old home.
He was afraid of falling into these emotions, knowing it would make him vulnerable.
But he understood that he couldn’t afford to be weak in this situation. From now on, he would have to face and solve everything himself in this world.
So he quickly dismissed those thoughts and grabbed his phone to distract himself.
To his surprise, there were a few new messages on WeChat.
He was a bit taken aback.
Since leaving Duan Yang’s house, he had discarded all the original social media accounts, including WeChat, which he had re-registered, leaving him with fewer than ten contacts.
He opened the latest message, which was from Lu Xiaoqing—“Miss Shen, the HR department has prepared your salary card. Do you have time to pick it up, or should I deliver it to you?”
Shen Yan was surprised. From what he knew, Lu Xiaoqing was Su Yunzhe’s senior assistant and the head of the CEO’s office.
Although Lu Xiaoqing had been polite to him in their previous meetings, wouldn’t it be over the top to offer to personally deliver his salary card?
Since signing the contract with Su Yunzhe, Shen Yan had only been to Yun Kong Entertainment once during the anniversary celebration, so he naturally had no idea that the gossip about him being Su Yunzhe’s lover had spread throughout the company.
Moreover, Lu Xiaoqing had personally seen Shen Yan spending the night at Su Yunzhe’s place, so their relationship had already been confirmed in her eyes.
Given that Lu Xiaoqing had reached her current position, she was obviously savvy and wouldn’t dare to treat Shen Yan carelessly.
Shen Yan, not fully understanding the situation and not wanting to trouble anyone, replied, “Thank you, Sister Lu. I’ll come by tomorrow.”
After all, Su Yunzhe would also be going to the company tomorrow, so it wouldn’t be a hassle for him to hitch a ride.
Besides Lu Xiaoqing’s message, he also received a friend request from Shen Jiaqi.
The friend request read: “Sister Shen, it’s Jiaqi. I wanted to apologize to you.”
Shen Yan glanced at it and quickly clicked to decline.
He didn’t care whether Shen Jiaqi was genuinely apologizing or had ulterior motives. It was best to avoid people like that.
After resolving those two matters, he aimlessly scrolled through his friend circle.
There wasn’t much to see, given that his few friends were all like Su Yunzhe and Duan Yang, who rarely posted anything.
However, there were exceptions, like Qin Mofeng.
Shen Yan had just added Qin Mofeng yesterday, and in just twenty-four hours, he had posted no less than ten updates, mostly complaining about his new boss.
Shen Yan scrolled through Qin Mofeng’s posts, unable to resist developing a keen interest in his new boss. He really wanted to know what kind of person would drive someone as carefree as Qin Mofeng to such extremes.
Just then, Qin Mofeng updated his status again—”Ling Sicheng, you old bastard!”
Attached was an unrelated grid of photos, showing Qin Mofeng sitting at a barbecue stall, skewers in hand, drinking beer.
Shen Yan chuckled; Ling Sicheng must be Qin Mofeng’s new boss. If he could make Qin Mofeng think about him while eating skewers, he must be quite a character.
“What are you looking at?”
Su Yunzhe, who had swum several laps, stopped beside Shen Yan, leaning against the edge of the pool while gently swirling his wine glass.
The messy hair on his forehead softened the cold aura he naturally exuded, making him appear surprisingly gentle at that moment.
Shen Yan held out his phone. “Brother Feng’s WeChat moments are really funny.”
Su Yunzhe glanced at it, pausing momentarily at Ling Sicheng’s name before looking at the photos and rubbing his stomach. “I’m hungry.”
Shen Yan hadn’t felt hungry before, but with that comment, he suddenly felt his own stomach rumble. In his mind, he could almost smell the barbecue wafting from Qin Mofeng’s pictures.
Although Shen Yan was from a wealthy family, he had no qualms about food, especially during his college days when he often went out late at night with friends to eat skewers after studying.
Sitting in open-air stalls, eating questionable lamb skewers and drinking large buckets of cheap beer, it was simply the best.
Remembering all this made his mouth water, and the more he thought about it, the more he craved it.
“Hey? I saw a barbecue grill in the lounge just now. How about we have a barbecue?” Shen Yan was always the most proactive when it came to food. As he spoke, he jumped up and ran towards the lounge, eager to check for charcoal.
Seeing him run barefoot, full of anticipation, Su Yunzhe paused for a moment, then got out of the pool, wrapped a bathrobe around himself, and followed Shen Yan into the lounge to help him bring out the grill.
He had initially just planned to grab a quick bite, but now he found himself going along with Shen Yan’s enthusiasm.
Su Yunzhe’s home was well-stocked with everything, even a large batch of bamboo skewers.
Su Yunzhe said these had been bought by Qin Mofeng last time, along with the grill and charcoal, which now benefited Shen Yan.
Shen Yan didn’t know how to grill, so he could only assist Su Yunzhe by taking out all the ingredients from the fridge, washing them, and skewering them.
By the time he returned with the ingredients, Su Yunzhe was already fanning the charcoal, rolling up his sleeves.
His actions had a strong sense of the bustling street life, but Su Yunzhe carried it out with effortless elegance, not diminishing his poise at all.
Shen Yan glanced over and set the ingredients down.
Su Yunzhe casually picked up a few skewers of squid to start grilling but suddenly remembered something. He dropped the squid and grabbed Shen Yan’s wrist, pulling him close.
Shen Yan was startled and instinctively tried to pull away, only to see Su Yunzhe shoot him a cold glare. “Didn’t I say not to get your hands wet? Are you ignoring me?”
With that, he dragged Shen Yan downstairs.
Shen Yan was taken aback and quickly grabbed him. “President Su, that’s not necessary.”
As he spoke, he managed to break free from Su Yunzhe, tearing off the bandage that had been damp and dried on his ring finger. He extended his hand to Su Yunzhe. “Look, it’s already healed!”
It had been just a tiny cut, and after two days with a bandage on, it was perfectly fine.
Shen Yan genuinely didn’t expect Su Yunzhe to be so fixated on this issue.
Su Yunzhe carefully examined Shen Yan’s fingertip. The cut had closed up, but there was still a faint mark that stood out against his nearly transparent skin, which was particularly bothersome.
He lightly touched the mark, contemplating whether to have someone bring over some scar ointment.
But he saw Shen Yan gazing at him eagerly. “President Su, I’m really hungry. Can we eat first?”
His expression and voice were impossibly soft.
Su Yunzhe’s expression darkened slightly as he released Shen Yan and muttered, “Stay still,” before finally getting back to grilling the squid.
Shen Yan watched as a small smile unconsciously crept onto Su Yunzhe’s lips. He realized that Su Yunzhe was actually quite a nice person.
Whenever Shen Yan made a request, Su Yunzhe almost always obliged.
Curiosity piqued, Shen Yan wondered why Su Yunzhe disliked Duan Yang so much. Based on his own interactions with Su Yunzhe these past few days, it didn’t seem like he held grudges.
Except for the occasional comments that could rub people the wrong way, Su Yunzhe was generally very graceful.
So what exactly had Duan Yang done to make Su Yunzhe dislike him so much?
On the other hand, it had to be said that Duan Yang was quite annoying just by doing nothing, right?
The night before, because Shen Yan had impulsively wanted barbecue, the two of them had been busy until eleven before finally coming down from the rooftop. By the time they finished showering, it was almost midnight.
Shen Yan remembered he needed to go to the company to pick up his salary card today, so he got up at eight in the morning.
Su Yunzhe looked surprisingly energetic; despite having stayed up late with him, he had already finished his morning workout, taken a shower, and was sitting in the dining room, refreshed and ready for breakfast.
Shen Yan mooched off a breakfast and a ride, arriving at Yun Kong Entertainment around ten.
He didn’t go up with Su Yunzhe, wanting to avoid any suspicion, so he wandered around for another twenty minutes before finally getting in the elevator.
The CEO’s office was on the same top floor as Su Yunzhe’s, and when Shen Yan entered the elevator, he was alone. By the time the elevator passed ten floors, it was packed.
Shen Yan noticed that everyone’s expressions changed when they saw him, showing strange reactions.
It seemed like a surprise, but it was more than just that. It was as if they were holding back their curiosity and gossip when encountering a celebrity, unable to say anything in front of him, leading to an uncomfortable look.
