Chapter 31
Shen Yan didn’t sleep well that night. The mattress, without proper bedding, was too hard, making it impossible to get comfortable. Worse, just a door away, he could clearly sense someone else was awake.
Although Su Yunzhe tried to move as quietly as possible, the novelty of having someone else stay over amplified Shen Yan’s awareness of every sound.
It was almost dawn before he drifted off into a fitful sleep. When he woke up, it was nearing noon.
Still groggy, Shen Yan felt as if he hadn’t rested at all. His dreams had been fragmented and chaotic, leaving him disoriented and drained.
He lay in bed for a while, hoping to fall asleep again, but it was futile. Resigned, he pushed himself to get up and stepped out of his room.
Su Yunzhe was still asleep.
Sunlight streamed through the uncovered living room windows, pooling onto Su Yunzhe, casting him in a golden glow.
Shen Yan hesitated, then tiptoed over. “Hey, Su Yunzhe?”
He wanted to suggest that Su Yunzhe move to the bedroom, thinking it might be too bright for him to rest properly in the living room.
But his voice was soft, as if he were reluctant to wake him.
Standing this close, Shen Yan noticed the exhaustion etched under Su Yunzhe’s eyes.
He must’ve been truly worn out to sleep so deeply, even in this environment.
Shen Yan’s mind wandered back to the scene from the previous night—finding this man at the end of the alleyway, waiting for him in the dark.
After spending a week abroad, the first thing Su Yunzhe did upon returning was come to see him, without even calling ahead. And when he found Shen Yan wasn’t home, he simply waited outside, smoking by himself.
“What were you thinking, Su Yunzhe?” Shen Yan murmured unconsciously, lost in thought.
Suddenly, the sleeping man opened his eyes. Their gazes met.
Shen Yan froze, startled, a strange sense of guilt bubbling up inside him. His voice, tinged with nervousness, shifted. “You’re awake?”
“Am I handsome?” Su Yunzhe asked instead, ignoring the question.
Disheveled, his hair a mess, voice raspy, and shirt slightly unbuttoned, he looked up at Shen Yan with a teasing smirk. Even like this, he exuded a maddening charm.
Flustered, Shen Yan averted his gaze and muttered dismissively, “Not at all.”
But internally, he felt relieved. It seemed Su Yunzhe had just woken up, so he probably hadn’t heard Shen Yan’s earlier rambling.
Su Yunzhe shifted onto his side, propping his head up with one hand, the smirk deepening. His gaze was sharp, foxlike, as if he knew exactly what Shen Yan had been up to.
The uneasy feeling returned, and Shen Yan’s heart jumped into his throat. He couldn’t shake the suspicion that Su Yunzhe not only heard him but also realized he’d been watching him for a while.
For a brief, absurd moment, Shen Yan wanted to either knock him out or bury himself in embarrassment.
Instead, he turned on his heel, throwing out a hurried, “If you’re awake, get up and tidy the living room,” before retreating to the bathroom to freshen up.
Whatever. If he heard, he heard. Shen Yan barely understood his own thoughts—what could Su Yunzhe possibly glean from them?
When Shen Yan emerged, the living room was spotless.
The furniture had been returned to its original positions, the blanket neatly folded on the sofa. Su Yunzhe stood on the balcony, speaking into his phone.
Shen Yan figured he was probably busy with work.
After all, he remembered how his older brother always had endless tasks to tackle after returning from trips abroad.
“Wait for me. I’ve booked us a table at a nice restaurant.”
Shen Yan was debating whether to order delivery for Su Yunzhe when the man ended his call and walked inside, casually announcing their lunch plans.
A nice restaurant?
Shen Yan felt conflicted.
He wanted to try good food, of course, but… he didn’t want to go with Su Yunzhe.
More accurately, he didn’t want to see Su Yunzhe at all.
After an internal struggle, he steeled himself, stomped over to the bathroom door, and started to protest, “President Su, why don’t you—”
“Could you grab my razor from my suitcase?”
Before Shen Yan could finish, Su Yunzhe interrupted, so Shen Yan begrudgingly fetched the razor and returned. “Last night, I—”
“I invited Qin Mofeng. Don’t you want to know how he’s doing?”
Su Yunzhe interrupted again, casually shaving in front of the mirror.
Shen Yan paused, slightly taken aback. “I am a bit worried about him, but… if I’m there, won’t it make it harder for him to speak freely?”
“Why would it? I’ll be there too,” Su Yunzhe said, raising his head to meet Shen Yan’s eyes in the mirror. His expression turned oddly serious. “Besides… eating takeout every day isn’t exactly healthy, is it?”
For some reason, Shen Yan felt a pang of guilt. Scratching his head, he muttered, “It’s not like I want to. I’ve actually tried following online tutorials a few days ago. But, well… I think I just don’t have the talent. I made a mess of the kitchen, and the food ended up inedible.”
He sighed in defeat. “So, I gave up. Sometimes you just have to accept your limits. Cooking is one of those impossible challenges for me!”
Su Yunzhe, now done freshening up, turned around and ruffled Shen Yan’s hair with a chuckle. “At least you’re self-aware. Alright, get ready. We’re heading out.”
“Fine,” Shen Yan agreed absentmindedly. It wasn’t until he was changing clothes that he realized—wait, hadn’t he decided not to go? Why had he obediently agreed?
He tapped his forehead lightly in frustration. Recently, he felt like his brain and body were acting independently, entirely out of sync.
But since he’d already said yes, he might as well go. After all, the food promised to be good.
Dressed and ready, Shen Yan followed Su Yunzhe out.
Su Yunzhe’s car was parked at the end of the alleyway. This wasn’t a main road, and with no property management, private cars were parked haphazardly, leaving only a narrow path to drive through.
Neither of them noticed the black car parked just behind Su Yunzhe’s vehicle. Inside sat Duan Yang and his manager, Yu Lin.
As they watched Su Yunzhe and Shen Yan drive off, Duan Yang’s expression darkened. “Are you sure… he’s really Shen Yan?”
Yu Lin nervously sipped from his water bottle. “He should be!”
“What do you mean, ‘should be’?!” Duan Yang snapped. “You’re the one who swore he wasn’t, and now you’re telling me he is? Do you even have a brain?”
“Yang-ge, I’m just as confused as you are! Su Yunzhe isn’t gay. How could his ‘woman’ actually be a man in disguise?”
“And now? Are you telling me Su Yunzhe’s suddenly gay?”
Yu Lin wiped sweat from his brow. “That… doesn’t seem likely.”
“You also know it’s unlikely? Then what the hell did you just see? Did Su Yunzhe come out with that ‘woman’ or not? He just got back from abroad last night and left her place this morning. Don’t tell me he brought his luggage here just to have breakfast!” Duan Yang’s frustration was palpable.
Initially, when Duan Yang suspected this ‘woman’ was Shen Yan, Yu Lin had vehemently denied it.
Fine. Duan Yang had believed him. After all, sexual orientation wasn’t something you could fake. It didn’t make sense that Su Yunzhe would sleep with a man.
But this morning, Yu Lin had come to him again, this time claiming the ‘woman’ really was Shen Yan in disguise.
He’d even provided evidence: Shen Yan wasn’t living with Su Yunzhe and was instead staying alone in a rundown area. This suggested they weren’t romantically involved or in some kind of sugar daddy arrangement.
It had sounded reasonable, so Duan Yang had rushed over to confirm.
And then he’d seen what he just saw.
This was Yu Lin’s idea of “not that kind of relationship”?
On top of that, there were rumors spreading from FLW’s higher-ups. Word had it that Su Yunzhe had already introduced this ‘woman’ to his family and might even be planning a wedding.
Duan Yang hadn’t believed it at first—rumors always got exaggerated.
But now, seeing this level of care and effort, he couldn’t help but reconsider. Su Yunzhe had just returned from abroad, clearly exhausted, yet had come straight here instead of going home. The implications were obvious.
If marriage was on the table, it wouldn’t be surprising at all.
But then… did Su Yunzhe really not know whether his significant other was male or female?
Duan Yang felt like a fool for ever trusting Yu Lin’s nonsense.
“Yang-ge…”
“Shut up!” Duan Yang barked. “Find Shen Yan. Stop wasting time on irrelevant people!”
Yu Lin opened his mouth to explain but was cut off by Duan Yang’s glare. Swallowing his words, he reluctantly stayed silent.
Even he was confused. He’d hired a private investigator to track Shen Yan, and all the evidence had pointed to this woman named Shen Yan being the person they were looking for.
There shouldn’t have been a mistake. That was why he’d confidently reported the findings to Duan Yang.
Yet the moment Su Yunzhe stepped out, everything seemed less certain.
Meanwhile, at the restaurant, Qin Mofeng slouched in his seat. Despite having a rare free afternoon, he looked even more listless than the previous night.
Perhaps it was the familiarity of seeing Su Yunzhe that allowed him to lower his guard, or maybe it was lingering frustration from the argument he’d had with Ling Sicheng the night before.
“What’s going on with you? You look half-dead,” Su Yunzhe asked after Shen Yan put his chopsticks down.
Qin Mofeng seemed immune to alcohol—despite drinking heavily the night before, he had been drinking non-stop since they sat down, barely touching the food on the table.
Normally, when he and Su Yunzhe were together, Qin Mofeng would talk far more than Su Yunzhe. But today, even though Su Yunzhe showed rare concern, Qin Mofeng just kept his head down and drank.
Shen Yan glanced at Su Yunzhe, wondering if Qin Mofeng was holding back because of his presence.
Su Yunzhe shook his head slightly, indicating it wasn’t about Shen Yan. Without pressing further, he simply joined Qin Mofeng, matching him drink for drink.
Before long, the two of them turned the restaurant into a makeshift bar, downing baijiu like it was water and creating an atmosphere more fitting for a street-side food stall.
As Shen Yan pondered how he was going to get these two drunkards home, Qin Mofeng suddenly slammed his glass onto the table with a loud thud.
Su Yunzhe looked up. “Ready to talk?”
Qin Mofeng kept his head down, silent and unmoving. Shen Yan started wondering if he had fallen asleep when, after a long pause, Qin finally spoke.
“I slept with Ling Sicheng!”
Crash!
The glass in Su Yunzhe’s hand slipped and shattered on the floor.
He turned to Shen Yan. “Ling Sicheng… is a woman?”
Shen Yan, still processing what he’d just heard, stared wide-eyed at Qin Mofeng, unsure if he’d misheard.
“Like hell, he’s a man!” Qin Mofeng roared, as if unleashing a flood of pent-up frustration.
“I was drunk! Damn it, I shouldn’t have meddled that night. I saw a group of guys harassing him at the school gate. Even though I can’t stand him, he’s still a colleague, and I couldn’t just let him get beaten up right in front of me. So, I stepped in. He thanked me and insisted on buying me dinner. I’d been working late, hadn’t eaten, and was starving, so I agreed. And then… well…”
Qin Mofeng trailed off, slamming his fist onto the table.
Su Yunzhe, still trying to process, asked, “I thought you prided yourself on being able to hold your liquor?”
“He set me up!” Qin Mofeng growled through clenched teeth.
“Set you up how? Got you drunk and slept with you?” Su Yunzhe asked.
“Who slept with who? I slept with him!” Qin Mofeng snapped, then immediately felt ridiculous for arguing the point. “You know my tolerance. That night, I barely had a few beers and some baijiu. How could I possibly get drunk? And the next morning, he was acting completely normal, even asking if I wanted coffee. I was stunned! How calm can you be unless you planned the whole thing? Damn it! The thought that I actually slept with a man makes me sick to my stomach!”
“Did you feel sick while you were sleeping with him?”
The quiet voice startled everyone. Shen Yan, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, his tone light but cutting. He didn’t even look up as he continued, “Were you disgusted while you were in the act? Or did you only feel disgusted when you woke up and realized he’s a man?”
Su Yunzhe noticed something off about Shen Yan and turned to him. “What’s wrong?”
Shen Yan looked up and gave him a faint smile, shaking his head. “Nothing. I just think Ling Sicheng got the raw end of the deal. Gets slept out of nowhere and then gets called disgusting for it.” He stood abruptly. “Anyway, I’ll head out first. You two can continue talking.”
With that, Shen Yan left the restaurant without looking back.
