Chapter 7
“Hmm? Are we there?” Shen Yan was a bit surprised. When he looked up, he found the car had stopped in a place he didn’t recognize at all. He glanced at Su Yunzhe in confusion. “This… doesn’t seem to be near my home.”
Su Yunzhe wore a half-smile that seemed to mock him. “I said it’s not on the way; what are you thinking? Get out; I’m in a hurry.”
“…”
Damn!
Shen Yan nearly let out a curse but managed to swallow it back, squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth: “Thank you, President Su!” After saying this, he opened the door and slammed it shut behind him.
Inside, however, Su Yunzhe appeared to be in a good mood, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as he pressed the gas and sped off.
With a belly full of frustration and nowhere to vent it, Shen Yan pulled out his phone to check the route home while silently cursing Su Yunzhe.
What kind of person is this? He knows it’s not on the way, yet he pretends to give me a ride? Is he just showing off that he has a car while I don’t?
What a waste of effort!
At that moment, the navigation app had already mapped out his route: walk ten meters to the Qingshuiwan subway station, then take Line 3…
Ten meters?
Shen Yan was astonished. He looked up and surveyed his surroundings, discovering that the subway station was right behind him…
So… it seemed he had misunderstood his benefactor; it wasn’t about showing off a luxury car.
But couldn’t he have just said from the start that he was dropping him off at the subway station? Why make it sound like something else?
Meanwhile, after confirming the meeting time and place with Shen Yan, Duan Yang tossed his phone aside, finally relaxing a bit.
“Good that Miss Shen agreed. The old man has poor eyesight and won’t see any flaws.” Yu Lin handed Duan Yang a bottle of water and asked, “Was she with Su Yunzhe just now?” His tone was tinged with curiosity.
After his early morning call with the old man, Duan Yang had been worrying about how to handle the situation tomorrow, and he hadn’t had a sip of water yet. Now that things were settled, he relaxed and downed half the bottle in one go, nodding. “It seems so.”
Yu Lin chuckled. “Now you should believe they’re indeed that kind of relationship, right? Someone saw Su Yunzhe leaving with a drunk Miss Shen last night, and now they’re still together at this hour. It’s easy to imagine what happened after the banquet.”
Duan Yang didn’t respond.
Yu Lin wasn’t wrong. After the banquet, the two had left together, and they were still together the next morning. Even with his eyes closed, he could figure out what was going on.
Actually, before calling Shen Yan, Duan Yang had still harbored doubts about Shen Yan’s identity. He sought Shen Yan’s help mainly to appease the old man, but he also wanted to use this opportunity to test him.
Shen Yan had a kind heart, and the old man treated him very well. Thus, Shen Yan had always shown concern for the old man. If he learned that the old man had suddenly suffered a heart attack, he would naturally show genuine worry.
However, when this person named Shen Yan heard about the old man being hospitalized, he had no reaction. Instead, he agreed rather eagerly upon hearing about the compensation, being blatantly opportunistic.
The real Shen Yan wouldn’t behave like that.
So he figured he was probably overthinking it. This Shen Yan didn’t seem to be the real Shen Yan at all.
At this time, Shen Yan had transferred several subway lines and finally returned to his rented room, feeling hot and exhausted. He had no idea that, unbeknownst to him, Duan Yang had already ruled out any suspicion against him.
The old air conditioner had a terrible cooling effect. After taking a shower, Shen Yan emerged to find the less-than-ten-square-meter living room still felt like a steam room.
His wet hair clung to his neck, and he quickly began to sweat again after just showering. Annoyed by the heat, he had no other choice but to repeatedly splash cold water on his face. After more than half an hour, he finally calmed down, but then his stomach started protesting.
It was already two in the afternoon, meaning he had skipped two meals and was indeed hungry.
He tossed his phone aside and headed to the kitchen to prepare instant noodles, but upon seeing the familiar packaging, his appetite vanished in an instant.
Since escaping from Duan Yang’s villa, the few meals he had eaten were all instant noodles. He felt that if he continued eating like this, even his sweat would start to smell like instant noodles.
But what could he do? He didn’t know how to cook at all.
As the young master of the Shen Group, he had lived a life untouched by manual labor since birth; he had never set foot in a kitchen. The skill of making instant noodles was something he had learned from his roommate in college, and it was probably the best cooking skill he possessed.
He also couldn’t afford to order takeout every day…
However, today seemed like a good day to treat himself, especially since he would have income coming in tomorrow.
Thinking this, Shen Yan tossed the instant noodles aside and happily ordered takeout on his phone.
While waiting, he scrolled through the messages Duan Yang had sent, making sure he wouldn’t expose himself tomorrow. Yet, his gaze unintentionally fell on the original owner’s photo.
Shen Yan found it quite fascinating; they looked alike, but it was clear they were two different people.
There was a subtle mole on the outer corner of Shen Yan’s right eye, which he covered up with makeup when he dressed as a woman.
He wondered if it was because of this mole that his friends used to say he looked like a seductive vixen when he smiled, incredibly alluring.
In contrast, the original owner had an extremely youthful and shy smile, which even hinted at an underlying insecurity. Although he had a pair of exceptionally beautiful eyes, his gaze always darted away, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.
The photos Duan Yang had sent were all like this; the person in front of the camera seemed particularly restrained. Not only did his eyes wander, but his posture also appeared stiff.
When Shen Yan had read the book, he found him quite detestable, feeling he was utterly useless—no matter how he was bullied or framed, he would just endure it, as if he was born to suffer.
But now, looking at the clean and soft-looking person in the photos, he didn’t find him detestable anymore. He thought perhaps his previous views had been too subjective.
The original owner’s life trajectory was entirely different from his own. Shen Yan had been cherished by his family since birth, but what about the original owner?
Before the age of six, the original owner had also enjoyed a happy and complete family life, being the beloved child of his parents and the young master of the Shen family.
But when he was six, his mother suddenly passed away, and the father who had always adored him instantly turned cold. After the funeral, he brought a strange woman and a child of similar age into their home, telling him that they were his new mother and brother.
From that day on, his life underwent a tremendous change. Everything that once belonged to him became the property of the new brother; even the bedtime stories his father used to tell him were now exclusively for the brother. He became the most superfluous presence in that family.
He had protested, but that resulted in a brutal beating and being locked in a dark attic for a full twenty-four hours. He cried his heart out, his throat eventually too hoarse to make a sound, yet no one came to his aid.
They even threatened him, saying that if he misbehaved again, they would send him to an orphanage.
A six-year-old child was terrified, and from that moment on, he dared not resist anymore.
Temperament and character are indeed shaped by one’s environment.
Shen Yan thought, if he were thrown into the original owner’s life at the age of six, would he do better than the original owner?
He believed not; most likely, he would end up just like the original owner.
After all, six years old is really too young to cope with the upheavals of life.
The takeout arrived quickly, leaving Shen Yan little time for contemplation.
After filling his stomach, he nestled on the sofa, holding his phone and typing. He had already outlined most of his new story, and now he was ready to start writing the main text.
In truth, he preferred typing on a computer to using his phone, but unfortunately, his current financial situation didn’t allow him to buy a new computer, so he had to make do for now.
Time always passed quickly while writing. By the time he finished the first chapter in one go, it was already dark outside.
Shen Yan felt a bit tired, lazily leaning back and not wanting to move.
The old apartment had poor soundproofing, and the sounds of hurried footsteps and friendly exchanges between neighbors occasionally drifted in from the hallway outside.
“Hey, Uncle Zhang, where are you coming back from?”
“Where else? I’ve been working overtime all day; I’m rushing home to cook for my grandson.”
“Your grandson is coming? No wonder you bought so many groceries.”
“Yeah, it’s the weekend. He said he hasn’t seen Grandpa in a long time and wanted to visit. Gotta go, can’t chat; I need to hurry back and make his favorite braised pork!”
Shen Yan couldn’t help but smile, a soft look in his bright eyes as he recalled something, though he didn’t know what.
After a moment, he stood up to stretch and went to the kitchen to boil the instant noodles he had set aside earlier. Then, he took a shower and went to bed.
Before sleeping, he considered calling Su Yunzhe to ask if there was anything he needed to do tomorrow, as his contract with Su Yunzhe didn’t mention he could ignore his benefactor on weekends.
However, after pulling up Su Yunzhe’s number, he changed his mind. At this time, calling Su Yunzhe might make him think he was hinting at something.
Why would he do that? He only planned to take two hours at the hospital tomorrow morning; it was unlikely Su Yunzhe would need him precisely then.
So, he put his phone down and went to sleep.
The next morning, he arrived at Beishan Hospital as agreed. Duan Yang was waiting for him outside in a nanny van, accompanied by a professional makeup artist, but Shen Yan turned down the offer.
After clearing the area, Shen Yan changed clothes in the nanny van, checked himself in the mirror, and then stepped out.
Since he was originally Shen Yan, dressing up as himself should be fine. As he walked down, both Duan Yang and Yu Lin stared in surprise.
Shen Yan waved his hand. “Hey, don’t just stand there, tell me if it looks good!”
He intentionally disguised his voice to sound like a girl’s. As soon as he spoke, Duan Yang and Yu Lin both realized that the person in front of them was Shen Yan, not Shen Yan.
“It’s very similar, but the voice…” Yu Lin glanced at Duan Yang, looking a bit troubled.
Duan Yang immediately pulled out a voice recording of the original owner from his phone and played it for Shen Yan, urging him to imitate it.
Shen Yan pretended to mimic the voice a few times but failed completely. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I can’t do it; there’s no way to learn this.”
Of course, he could learn it easily and didn’t even need to; he just had to speak normally. But right now, he was playing the role of a girl, so how could a girl sound exactly like a guy? Especially a guy he didn’t know? It was normal that he couldn’t imitate it.
Duan Yang didn’t push him any further. “Alright then, just say you have a cold and your throat feels uncomfortable. You shouldn’t have to talk too much; Grandpa probably won’t notice.”
Duan Yang was right. The old man lit up with joy when he saw Shen Yan, eagerly asking him questions, completely oblivious to the change in voice.
This was Shen Yan’s first time meeting Duan Songtao, yet he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and obediently sat with the old man, chatting.
At that moment, Shen Yan received a call from Su Yunzhe, causing his heart to skip a beat. He thought, What a coincidence!
With trepidation, he answered the call, and Su Yunzhe’s voice came through immediately: “Wait for me at the entrance of Beishan Hospital in half an hour.” Then he hung up.
Shen Yan froze. Beishan Hospital?
What a stroke of luck! He was right there at Beishan Hospital; all he had to do was find a restroom, change his clothes, and take off the wig before heading downstairs to meet him.
Shen Yan breathed a sigh of relief, happily chatting with the old man for a bit longer. Just when he thought it was about time to change, Duan Songtao’s secretary came back after answering a phone call and said, “Old Master Duan, President Su is here to visit you; he’s already downstairs.”
Duan Songtao beamed with joy, grinning from ear to ear.
But Shen Yan was completely dumbfounded.
Holy crap!
Wasn’t Su Yunzhe here for a medical appointment? Wait, how did he not know that Su Yunzhe had a connection with Duan Songtao? The book never mentioned it!
Well, maybe he had just skipped over that part.
But it was useless to dwell on that now; he needed to leave immediately. He absolutely could not run into Su Yunzhe in this getup in this place.
Duan Yang was thinking the same thing. He immediately explained to Duan Songtao, “Grandpa, you know I’m in a secret marriage with Shen Yan; we can’t let President Su bump into him; it would be hard to explain. Let Shen Yan leave first.”
Duan Songtao wasn’t unreasonable; he understood the messy rules of the entertainment industry. After chatting with Shen Yan for a bit more, he let him go.
Shen Yan didn’t dare waste any time and quickly stood up to leave. However, as soon as he stepped out the door, he instantly pulled his foot back.
Duan Yang followed him and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Shen Yan’s face went pale as he pointed outside. “He’s coming up; he’s about to come in!”
While he explained, he looked around. Just as he saw Su Yunzhe about to enter, he swiftly darted into the restroom. Almost simultaneously, Su Yunzhe walked in.
