Chapter 29 PART 1
Yan Yang languidly sprawled on the soft couch in the guesthouse room. One arm hung down, sunlight warming his broad back. He looked utterly comfortable.
He rolled over, thinking that if he were Lin Zheng, he would definitely come to a place like this. The environment, the local customs—everything was fantastic. It was definitely the number one choice for heartbreak recovery.
Yan Yang was a man who enjoyed life’s pleasures. In every aspect, his pursuit was hedonism above all else. Everything else came second.
He had been to many places, but honestly, none could compare to this one.
This trip was only possible because he’d managed to persuade Gu Lin to let him come along. On the one hand, he worried that Gu Lin would lose control if he actually found the person. On the other hand, he wanted a few days of rest.
The thought of the end of this short vacation and the mountain of work waiting for him even sparked a fleeting thought: “Maybe I should just settle down here.”
“Um, I’ve sent the meeting materials for those two companies to your email. Tomorrow, you’ll attend the meetings in my place and cast the votes. Let me know the results immediately after,” a voice said.
“Okay, Mr. Gu. May I confirm your return time?” Assistant Shen said from the video call.
Gu Lin rested his hand on the edge of the laptop, tapped his fingers a few times, and said, “It’ll probably be delayed by about three days, but no later than five days.”
Assistant Shen nodded and made a note. He then briefed Gu Lin on the progress of the ongoing large-scale projects. Everything was progressing as expected, and two projects were particularly favored by the board of directors.
Hearing that Gu Lin would be staying for another three to five days, Yan Yang felt elated. Then, an idea struck him. He pulled out his phone from his pants pocket and replied to a WeChat message: “Honey, I need to assist Mr. Gu with work for a few more days and can’t go back yet. I’m working now, don’t miss me too much, brother will bring you a gift when I get back.”
Gu Lin was working; Yan Yang was appeasing his boyfriend.
After Gu Lin finished his work and closed his laptop, Yan Yang was still chatting.
My Treasure: “I want to see you. I haven’t seen you for days.”
Yan Yang had just finished reading the message and hadn’t had time to reply when a video call came through.
Yan Yang: “???”
Remembering that he’d just claimed to be working, Yan Yang sprang up from the couch, sat in the spot where Gu Lin had just been, opened his laptop, straightened his hair, and then answered the video call. “Look, I’m working,” he said to the person on the other side of the phone.
On the other end of the video call was the guy he’d been with in the rest room that day.
The guy was stunned, then asked coldly, “Yan Yang, are you in a hotel?”
Yan Yang’s bed was visible in the background.
Yan Yang plastered on a smile and blew a kiss at the person on the screen. “Yeah, I’m in a hotel working.”
The guy’s face darkened. “But didn’t you just say you were at the airport waiting to transfer?”
Yan Yang’s forehead beaded with sweat: “…………”
Before Yan Yang could explain, the other side hung up after a harsh, “You’re dead when you get back!”
Yan Yang felt like he’d been sentenced. For a moment, he couldn’t speak.
After a long pause, he finally managed to squeak out, “It’s over. My ancestor is going to explode.”
Yan Yang looked at Gu Lin, who was leaning against the window with a cup of coffee, and said seriously, “Gu Lin, why don’t we just settle here? Let’s not go back.”
Gu Lin glanced at Yan Yang and then walked away.
Yan Yang’s gaze followed the figure heading towards the door. “Don’t ignore me, Gu Lin! Help me think of a way! I don’t want to die!”
Unfortunately, Gu Lin only left behind a heartless figure disappearing at the doorway.
Yan Yang caught sight of the jade pendant on the bedside table. “Hey, you left your ‘xiangsi kou’ (lovers’ knot).”
This time, Gu Lin heard him. He returned, picked up the jade pendant from the bedside table, and left without even a glance at Yan Yang.
Yan Yang: “Hey, hey, do you have to be so heartless?”
The small bar was almost empty during the day. Gu Lin sat down at the counter, and the bartender asked, “What can I get you?”
Gu Lin: “The same as yesterday.”
Gu Lin had stayed at this bar last night.
The bartender prepared his drink.
“He left alone that day, right?” Gu Lin asked.
The bartender handed Gu Lin his drink, then his gaze flickered. “Yes, I’ve already told you, he left alone.”
Gu Lin’s gaze swept over the bartender’s eyes before he took the drink. “Thank you.”
“Although I don’t know why you broke up, he was a very interesting person,” the bartender said.
Gu Lin smiled faintly.
The bartender looked at the man who seemed somewhat promiscuous: “I think you should cherish him.”
Gu Lin looked at the bartender. His gaze wasn’t terrifying, but it still made the bartender feel apprehensive.
Then, Gu Lin lazily lowered his eyes, as if talking about something ordinary: “He dumped me.”
As soon as Gu Lin said that, the bartender looked as if he’d heard something unbelievable.
The bartender carefully looked at the man before him and sighed, “How is that possible?”
Compared to the two of them, the man in front of him seemed more likely to be the one to cheat, the bartender thought in amazement.
Gu Lin shrugged. “That’s how it is. So, who did he leave with?”
The bartender was taken aback, not expecting Gu Lin to be so alert.
But he’d promised not to reveal any information.
Just as he was thinking about how to change the subject, several shirtless men carrying surfboards walked into the shop and greeted him, “Hello, Mr. Barry.”
The bartender felt relieved and said to Gu Lin, “I have to get to work,” before going to greet the men.
The men sat not far from Gu Lin.
One of the men, a blond, fair-skinned man, looked around and asked the bartender, “Mr. Barry, wasn’t Zheng here today?”
The “Zheng” Galen referred to was Lin Zheng.
Hearing Lin Zheng’s name, Gu Lin’s eyes moved slightly.
Galen said, “It’s a pity I didn’t see him. He’s such a perfect boy, cute and funny. Honestly, he’s totally my type.”
The bartender sensed something was wrong. Seeing Gu Lin still nearby, he quickly found a topic to stop them: “Galen, the same as yesterday?”
Galen thought for a moment. “Yes, but double.”
Another man beside Galen picked up where he left off.
Bartender: “Hey, Jim…”
Jim: “Hey, I also really like Zheng. He said he liked me too, and praised my muscles as being especially attractive.”
But the bartender was too late to stop Jim from saying what he shouldn’t have. He anxiously looked at Gu Lin, expecting to see sadness and grief, but unexpectedly, he saw no such emotion on his face. Gu Lin showed no expression whatsoever.
The bartender thought: Maybe this is a good thing?
Oh no, he wasn’t sure. Although that face showed no expression, it still gave him a strange, chilling feeling.
After a while, the bartender brought Gu Lin a plate of vegetable salad with a chicken breast on top and said, “If your tastes are similar, I think you’ll like this.”
Gu Lin understood the bartender’s implication.
Yan Yang came out from the next room and sat at the counter. He heard the bartender’s words and looked at the vegetable salad in front of Gu Lin. “Tsk, Little Chick actually likes to eat this kind of thing.”
Gu Lin rested one hand on the counter and picked up a fork with the other. “He usually eats light in the morning.”
Yan Yang: “You know him well.”
Gu Lin did know. During the time Lin Zheng stayed with him, he’d almost figured out all of Lin Zheng’s habits.
These habits were discovered through their time together, but some of them were less a matter of observation and more a matter of having a premonition, which then proved completely accurate.
He found it amazing.
Initially, he’d approached Lin Zheng out of a whim, but later he found that being around Lin Zheng brought him an inexplicable sense of peace. Lin Zheng always had an aura that felt familiar to him.
This aura had appeared after Lin Zheng’s car accident, as if, as if he and Lin Zheng had known each other for a very long time.
But when he tried to recall, he couldn’t remember anything, only a vague feeling.
He couldn’t describe the feeling exactly, but it made him inexplicably want to be kind to this person, to protect him, and to prevent him from getting hurt.