Chapter 37: We Are Even
Gu Yulan hung his head, his expression one of gloom that Wen Yan had never seen before.
He looked up sluggishly, panic flashing instantly. His expression distorted for a second before transforming into the gentle smile Wen Yan used to see most often on his face.
“Yan-yan, why are you here? Did he force you? This is illegal imprisonment…”
Wen Yan only felt a chill run through him.
The expression in the shadows just now was too terrifying. The instant transition was obvious. Wen Yan frowned, looking at Gu Yulan’s face.
Was that the true face under the mask?
“Yan-yan…” Gu Yulan’s voice grew weaker, his gaze turning to glare hatefully at the man beside Wen Yan.
Pei Zhouye intimately wrapped his arm around Wen Yan’s waist and raised an eyebrow provocatively. “Baby, hurry up and break up with your ex-boyfriend.”
Wen Yan wanted to push him away, but Pei Zhouye’s strength was astonishingly great; he couldn’t break free no matter what.
He simply ignored Pei Zhouye’s harassment and locked eyes with Gu Yulan.
Gu Yulan’s expression changed from shock to rage.
“He touched you?”
Their posture was intimate, and the redness and swelling on Wen Yan’s lips hadn’t faded; the skin was even broken.
Gu Yulan kicked the table violently, trying to stand up, but the bodyguards beside him immediately moved to press him back down.
“Wen Yan! You wouldn’t let me touch you, but you let him kiss you!”
“You’re just like them, aren’t you? I thought you were different! What did he give you to make you throw yourself at him…”
The furious roar echoed in the small space.
Wen Yan stood where he was, his eyes rimmed with red, trembling all over with anger.
Pei Zhouye felt the trembling of the person in his arms. He hugged him, kissed Wen Yan gently on the forehead, and let go immediately before Wen Yan could react.
“Go ahead, baby. I’m rooting for you.”
Saying such words in a low voice was a bit comical.
But no one could smile.
“You motherf*cker!” Gu Yulan’s eyes were splitting with rage, veins bulging on his forehead. His shoulders struggled violently under the bodyguards’ hold, like a trapped beast provoked to madness.
Wen Yan walked step by step toward Gu Yulan. The curses in Gu Yulan’s mouth paused for a moment, then erupted again.
“Wen Yan, I treated you so well, and this is how you repay me? I loved you so much, yet for a little money, you got with him…”
A punch landed fiercely on his left face.
Gu Yulan looked over in disbelief, and another punch smashed into him ruthlessly.
Wen Yan’s breathing was rapid, his hands shaking violently. He couldn’t feel the pain of his fist hitting bone. The insults Gu Yulan shouted and the words from the surveillance footage today swirled in his ears.
“Canary,” “For money”… how ridiculous these phrases sounded coming from Gu Yulan’s mouth.
Wen Yan forced his trembling voice steady, each word seeming to be squeezed out of his throat: “Gu Yulan, the way you look right now is truly disgusting.”
Gu Yulan, whose head had been knocked to the side, let out a cold laugh and slowly turned back. “Are you going to listen to him and break up with me? You want to break up with me to be with him?”
Pei Zhouye leaned lazily against the wall, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, watching quietly.
This was Wen Yan’s own affair. Once Wen Yan finished handling it face-to-face, he would help clean up the mess.
“Wen Yan, don’t you regret it.”
Pei Zhouye suddenly sneered, frowning slightly as he looked over. “What is there for him to regret about being with me?”
Gu Yulan turned a deaf ear, only staring at Wen Yan, his gaze gloomy.
“I regret it. I regret ever being with you,” Wen Yan spat out every word, his heart aching violently.
Before becoming lovers with Gu Yulan, he had always regarded Gu Yulan as a close friend, a senior worthy of trust.
“Even now, I am still grateful that you were willing to step in and save my father back then. But you went around spreading rumors that I was kept by you, lying to me that you were with me because you liked me.” His voice was so low and hoarse it was almost broken, yet every word cut like a knife. “Gu Yulan, what did you take me for? A plaything for you to show off? or a tool you prepared to give away later to help you climb up?”
Gu Yulan’s pupils contracted sharply. He subconsciously wanted to reach out and grab Wen Yan’s wrist. “Yan-yan, those words were just to fool others. I never…”
“Fool others?” Wen Yan violently threw off his hand, sneering. “Two million. I will return it to you with interest. From now on…”
Pei Zhouye had bitten through his cigarette at some point. He straightened up, his gaze landing heavily on Wen Yan’s trembling back.
Wen Yan took a deep breath, speaking clearly:
“We are even.”
“Don’t ever appear in front of me again.”
He didn’t even know if this counted as a breakup. To Gu Yulan, they had never truly been together.
Pei Zhouye came over, took Wen Yan’s hand, and walked out. Wen Yan seemed to have lost his senses, allowing him to lead him by the hand.
The door closed.
Wen Yan felt cold all over, his vision dizzy.
After leaving the door, it was completely dark outside, illuminated only by the lights along the manor’s small paths.
“Wen Yan, you need to rest.” Pei Zhouye was surprisingly gentle and emotionally stable.
He hugged Wen Yan’s stiff body, patting his back lightly to comfort him. “It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past. It’s okay now.”
“Is it my fault?” the person in his arms asked muffledly.
Pei Zhouye stiffened for a moment. “How could it be your fault? He lied to you…”
He didn’t finish his sentence.
“Then why was I deceived by him and entangled by you? Pei Zhouye, can you stop torturing me? I’m already unlucky enough; this isn’t fun at all.”
Wen Yan’s voice trembled with tears.
He hadn’t cried much before, but it seemed all the tears from his childhood to adulthood had flowed in this one month.
“What will it take for you to let me go?” Wen Yan asked.
Pei Zhouye let go of Wen Yan and shook his head stiffly.
Impossible. He could never let Wen Yan go in this lifetime.
“You broke up with him. You can be with me now, Wen Yan. You don’t have a boyfriend anymore…”
Wen Yan laughed out of anger.
Even at this moment, Pei Zhouye still thought that what he had minded before was that he couldn’t be with him because he had a boyfriend.
“I’ll tell you one more time.” Wen Yan’s tone was exhausted. “I won’t be with you because I don’t like you at all. You are vile, hateful, condescending, and never consider other people’s feelings.
“My tolerance for you isn’t because I’m willing to tolerate you, but because you saved my life before, and because you forced me until I had no choice.”
He took a breath, avoiding Pei Zhouye’s dark gaze, and continued:
“Whether I go to school, go to work, or even go home, you cling to me. Even just now, I had returned to school, yet you followed me again. I know, there is no place in this world that you, Young Master Pei, cannot reach.
“You made me see Gu Yulan’s true colors and break up with him, but I’m not particularly grateful to you.
“I don’t like you at all. Your pestering is annoying. In fact, I’ve started to hate you.”
“Then what will it take for you to fall in love with me?”
Wen Yan had said such a long string of words, but seeing that somewhat disappointed and low gaze, he suspected Pei Zhouye hadn’t listened to a single word.
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