Chapter 41: So This is What a Home Feels Like?
As expected, this sentence acted like a shot of adrenaline, instantly rousing Qin Wan with excitement.
“Really? Gege, y-you mean it?” He turned his head to look at him.
His eyes held a hint of doubt.
After all, Rong Yi wasn’t suffering from just any ordinary illness.
To cure her required not only a massive sum of money but also finding a suitable organ donor.
It was incredibly difficult.
Qin Wan didn’t quite believe that he was valuable enough to Gu Xinglan to exchange for such an astronomical return.
The corner of Gu Xinglan’s brow arched slightly.
“It’s not difficult. As long as you stay obediently by my side, serve me well, and keep me happy, her life can be saved.”
Qin Wan’s fox eyes instantly went perfectly round.
A thoroughly excited light flashed in his clear, dark pupils.
He wanted to say thank you again, but didn’t speak.
He reached out and gently wrapped his arms around Gu Xinglan’s waist.
He twisted his body slightly.
Then, he tilted his head back.
And then, he kissed his lips deeply.
Gu Xinglan’s heart trembled.
This seemed to be the very first time Qin Wan had willingly and proactively initiated a deep kiss without being ordered or given overt hints.
The kiss was still completely uncoordinated, but Gu Xinglan could feel that it was full of absolute sincerity.
Because Qin Wan was deliberately mimicking Gu Xinglan’s own kissing techniques, sometimes tracing with the tip of his tongue, sometimes taking a gentle nip.
Gu Xinglan felt that those two instructional books were actually entirely redundant; he seemed to prefer learning these wild, instinctual methods directly from him.
However, whether it was a textbook kiss or a wild imitation, right at this moment, Gu Xinglan was thoroughly ignited by Qin Wan’s fully proactive kiss.
“Qin Wan, do you realize you’re injured?” Gu Xinglan gasped, stealing a breath of air.
“I know, it still hurts,” Qin Wan’s voice trembled slightly. “But I want to make Gege happy…”
Every word he spoke felt as if it was sinking straight through Gu Xinglan’s pores and into his body.
He felt a surging, boiling heat rush from his mind straight into his limbs and bones.
Unable to suppress his actions, he captured Qin Wan’s lips heavily, grinding against them fiercely.
His hand instinctively moved to unbutton the boy’s hospital gown.
But the moment he touched him, Qin Wan’s body involuntarily trembled.
The shred of rationality Gu Xinglan had left forced him to immediately halt his hand’s movements.
He didn’t dare touch further.
The unquenchable fire of desire burning inside him made his entire body ache with need.
He could only deepen the force of the kiss.
He kissed from his lips down to his neck.
On the delicate expanse of collarbone exposed by his collar, he left his mark.
He carefully avoided the areas with wounds, trying his absolute best not to hurt him.
Yet, he could still feel the person in his arms trying hard to suppress cries of pain, faint, broken moans slipping out from between his lips and teeth.
Gu Xinglan slowly came to a stop.
He licked his wet lips.
He looked down at the person in his arms.
He was still trembling slightly.
It wasn’t entirely the instinctual response of arousal from being kissed; part of it was surely the effort of enduring pain.
Gu Xinglan’s heart ached slightly.
“Qin Wan, you don’t have to do this,” he said softly.
Qin Wan looked up at him, a thin layer of mist pooling in his eyes.
“You’re injured, so just stay still and stop messing around,” Gu Xinglan’s voice sounded like a mild reprimand.
But from the expression on his face, Qin Wan sensed that it actually held a degree of genuine concern.
He blinked blankly, thinking that was highly unlikely.
It had to be his imagination.
He lowered his eyes slightly, his small face flushed red: “Mn, I understand, Gege.”
Gu Xinglan let out a deep breath and reached out to gently ruffle his hair.
A smile curled at the corners of his mouth. “Alright, let’s eat dinner.”
For the next week, Qin Wan stayed in the hospital to recover in peace.
Gu Xinglan left every morning and returned to the ward every night. They ate dinner together and slept together.
Every night, Qin Wan would tell him a bedtime story, and he would sit quietly by the bed, listening.
However, Qin Wan noticed that for some unknown reason, over these past few days, he would always fall asleep mid-story.
Because of this, he never knew when Gu Xinglan actually moved over to sleep on the companion bed.
A week later, Qin Wan’s wounds had mostly healed.
The Dean said he could go home to continue his recovery.
So Gu Xinglan brought him back to Shengshi Daguan Villa.
That evening, when Gu Xinglan came home from the company for dinner, he found the spread exceptionally lavish.
Zhang Sao was cheerfully directing the servants to bring plate after plate of dishes to the table.
Wang Shu was assisting from the side.
Zhang Sao said with a beaming smile, “Xiao Qin Xiansheng, eat a little more. Hospital food can never compare to a home-cooked meal.”
Wang Shu nodded. “Exactly. Zhang Sao specifically made a lot of your favorite dishes today. Make sure you eat plenty!”
Qin Wan smiled and thanked them both.
Gu Xinglan was also in a very good mood.
Looking at the bustling, lively atmosphere in the dining room and the people chatting and laughing, he felt a brief moment of daze.
So this is what a home feels like?
Speaking of the concept of “home,” Gu Xinglan was actually entirely unfamiliar with it.
Before he turned eighteen, his mother was still alive. But the feeling of home held none of the warmth one would imagine.
To be precise, the ingrained impression of “home” to Gu Xinglan was one of tension, and even terror.
His mother was a gentle and beautiful woman, but she came from a humble background.
Back then, his father, Gu Feng, was deeply captivated by her beauty, and pushing back against the immense pressure and criticism from the entire family, he married her.
Everyone thought it would become a legendary tale of unyielding love.
Who could have predicted that Gu Feng was a paranoid, dark lunatic with a borderline psychopathic need to control his lover?
Added to that was the Gu family patriarch fanning the flames from behind the scenes.
Thus, after they married, Gu Feng completely severed his mother’s ties with her maiden family and cut off all her social interactions.
He locked her inside the villa, keeping her entirely caged.
In Gu Xinglan’s memories, he had no maternal grandfather or grandmother.
He had never once seen his mother step outside alone either.
Without Gu Feng’s permission, she wasn’t allowed to speak to any man.
Even while watching a TV drama, if his mother’s gaze lingered on a male actor’s face for half a second too long, it would invite Gu Feng’s vicious beatings and abuse.
In Gu Xinglan’s memories, as long as Gu Feng was home, he would never see a smile on his mother’s face.
Only when it was just mother and son at home would she smile at him and tell him what was in her heart.
His mother had told him countless times to never, ever grow up to be a man like his father.
Born as a human being, one must preserve their innate kindness.
If not, there would be no difference between a human and a wild beast.
But unfortunately—whether it was out of fear of Gu Feng’s despotic power, or because he was inherently exactly the same kind of person as Gu Feng down to his bones—
As Gu Xinglan grew up, he eventually grew into the exact image of the person he hated and despised the most.
When he was young, he had no power to protect his mother.
As he gradually grew older and finally gained the power to protect her, his mother had already developed severe depression.
The day after Gu Xinglan’s eighteenth birthday, his mother committed suicide.
One year later, Gu Xinglan sent Gu Feng down to apologize to her in hell.
From that point on, his already shattered home thoroughly disintegrated.
Leaving only him alone.
So at this moment, watching Qin Wan chatting and laughing with Zhang Sao and Wang Shu in the dining room, smelling the aroma of the food drifting through the air, he dazedly felt that this was the feeling of home he had never once experienced.
“Gege, come quickly, let’s eat!” Qin Wan’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.
Gu Xinglan smiled, nodded, and sat down right next to Qin Wan.
“Let’s eat.” As he spoke, he leaned over and pressed a light kiss to Qin Wan’s forehead.
Qin Wan found it a little strange.
He had never heard of a pre-dinner kiss routine before!
But he could tell that Gu Xinglan was in an excellent mood right now.
Through their interactions over this period of time, he seemed to have learned how to decipher some of the man’s emotions from his face.
Even though his judgments were often wrong, right now, he was absolutely certain Gu Xinglan was happy.
Using the serving chopsticks, Qin Wan placed a piece of cream-baked Australian lobster onto his plate.
“Gege is in a good mood today, so eat a little more!”
He said with a bright smile.
Gu Xinglan’s gentle gaze fell on Qin Wan’s smiling lips, and then shifted up to his equally smiling, exquisite fox eyes.
“Mn. Coming home makes me happy, of course,” he replied.
Naturally, Qin Wan didn’t grasp the deeper meaning behind those words and just gave a symbolic nod.
“Gege, I originally wanted to cook a few dishes for you myself, but Zhang Sao wouldn’t let me.”
Zhang Sao, bringing out the final dessert, cheerfully nodded along. “Exactly! Xiao Qin Xiansheng hasn’t fully recovered yet, how could we let you get near the grease and smoke in the kitchen!”
As she spoke, she shot a glance at Gu Xinglan.
“Xiao Qin Xiansheng, if you want to cook for Shao Ye, the days ahead are long. You’ll have plenty of time!”
The smile on Gu Xinglan’s handsome face deepened.
Zhang Sao and Wang Shu exchanged a look, both of them pressing their lips together to hold back their smiles.
Then they turned and exited, closing the large dining room doors behind them.
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