His lips tightened slightly, his voice low and cold, carrying a hint of emotion he himself hadn’t noticed.
“You had your fun, didn’t you?”
Shau Kei Wan, Aohua Residential District.
The man carried her in a princess hold with one arm, her high heels and a handbag in his other hand, standing at the elevator door on the eighteenth floor.
He gave the woman in his arms a slight shake. “Which unit?”
Gu Xiangsi opened her eyes weakly and pointed to the right.
His gaze was indifferent as he scanned the surroundings, exuding a cold detachment, as if eager to be done with the nuisance.
With one hand, he fished out the keys from her bag, his brow unconsciously furrowing as he unlocked the door.
The room smelled of cigarette smoke, mixed with the heavy scent of perfume.
Had Gu Xiangsi brought a man back here?
He kicked open the slightly ajar living room door and saw a man and a woman on the sofa locked in a passionate kiss.
The man was shirtless, wearing only boxers; the woman had her face turned, clad in a thin camisole.
The man, interrupted, turned his head and glared at him with annoyance. “You her sugar baby or something?”
Xiao Li looked up, finally getting a clear view of Fu Sinian’s face. Her eyes visibly brightened, her tone turning flirtatious.
“Hey, handsome, your girlfriend’s drunk, huh? Want me to make her some honey water?”
As she spoke, she tried to move closer to him, deliberately pushing out her chest.
Fu Sinian didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids, completely disdaining a response. He merely swept a cold glance her way and shifted the drunken Gu Xiangsi slightly to the other side, creating a physical barrier.
His gaze landed on the room to the right. He inserted the key into the lock, turned it a few times, pushed the door open, and closed it behind him with a backhanded motion.
Outside, the man’s voice rang out.
“You’re not actually into that pretty boy, are you?”
Xiao Li’s voice followed. “Of course not. Let’s continue.”
Fu Sinian’s eyes swept over the cramped space, his brow furrowing slightly.
A nearly imperceptible scoff escaped his nose.
Gu Xiangsi, you’re living in a pigeon coop now?
The coldness in Fu Sinian’s expression hadn’t yet dissipated, but his attention had already shifted to the woman in his arms.
Outside the door, the shared apartment girl’s unrestrained laughter echoed.
A vein throbbed at his temple.
How could trash like this even share the same space as her?
Only when he caught sight of the pepper spray hanging behind the door did his Adam’s apple bob violently.
Gu Xiangsi’s room was small but clean and cozy.
As he laid her down on the bed, he instinctively cushioned the back of her head with his hand.
“Hey, you haven’t taken off your makeup.” Fu Sinian called out, watching as she curled into a ball and turned away.
His brow furrowed, his lips pressing into a tight line.
“My services don’t come cheap…”
Grumbling, he went to the bathroom to fetch makeup remover. Returning to the bedside, his gaze was focused but tinged with impatience, though his movements were deliberately gentle.
He told himself it was just his obsessive-compulsive tendencies acting up.
Just then, his phone rang. He set down the basin, walked to the balcony, and pushed open the window, letting the cold wind rush in.
“Young Master, that power bank was implanted with malware!”
Fu Sinian’s eyes turned icy. “Investigate any connections between Gu Xiangsi and Zhao Niesen. And look into her family background.”
After hanging up, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it by the window.
The smoke curled upward, obscuring the emotions in his eyes.
He glanced sideways at the figure curled up on the bed.
You little fox… just what are you up to?
Fu Sinian received a sudden call from Assistant Li, informing him of an overseas project that required his immediate attention.
He cast one last look at the woman on the bed, then stood and pulled open the door. The sounds of the couple next door, now on who-knows-what round flooded in again, grating on his nerves.
He turned and closed the door behind him.
“Let Jiang Liangchen handle the project,” he said into the phone. “Set up a video conference with me later.”
Assistant Li hesitated on the other end. “But-”
“If it’s not possible, cancel the collaboration.”
Fu Sinian cut him off and hung up without another word.
Next door, the man knocked twice on the wall, whether intentionally or not was unclear.
“Hey, man, you can’t be serious. Can’t even handle a woman?”
Fu Sinian leaned against the sofa, phone in hand, and glanced in the direction of the noise but didn’t respond.
The man continued shouting, “Need some lessons? Women, you gotta pamper and coax them.”
“If you can’t perform, maybe try some tadalafil?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the creaking of a bed and a woman’s moans seeped through the wall.
Fu Sinian frowned deeply and glanced at the person sleeping soundly on the bed, scoffing. “You’re sleeping just fine, huh?”
A sudden thought crossed his mind, and his frown deepened.
Had she been listening to this every night?
“No… stop!”
Gu Xiangsi let out a low cry and abruptly sat up in bed.
Her eyes flew open, taking in the familiar surroundings before she realized she was in her own home.
She pressed a hand to her throbbing forehead, her mind a foggy mess.
What had happened yesterday?
But as her gaze swept the room, she froze.
There was someone lying on her sofa.
The morning light spilled through the gaps in the curtains, casting a slanted glow across the man’s profile.
He didn’t seem to be sleeping well, his brows were furrowed, casting faint shadows under the light. His nose was sharp, his lips well-defined.
His long lashes fluttered slightly with each breath.
The sofa was too narrow for him, forcing him to curl his legs. One arm rested on the armrest, fingers curled unconsciously, yet it did nothing to diminish his composed aura.
Why was Fu Sinian in her apartment?
Oh no… had she blacked out last night?
As if drawn by some unseen force, Gu Xiangsi walked over and leaned down, instinctively shielding the harsh light with one hand. Her index finger traced the contours of his face almost involuntarily.
This face, she had once known it by heart.
Back then, he would curl up in her arms like an affectionate puppy, begging for hugs and pleading for her to say his name over and over.
But in the end, they had missed their chance.
Lost in thought, she didn’t notice his eyes suddenly opening until their gazes locked.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively tried to pull back, but his arm shot out, wrapping around her waist and yanking her down.
Caught off guard, Gu Xiangsi tumbled onto him, her entire body pressed against his.
Flustered, she braced her hands against his chest and stammered, “Y-you’re awake.”
Fu Sinian’s voice was rough with sleep, low and husky as he asked,
“Am I good-looking?”
Gu Xiangsi nodded reflexively.
The man smirked, his tone teasing.
“Gu Xiangsi, I have serious doubts that you’ve been secretly in love with me all these years.”
“N-no!”
Gu Xiangsi hurriedly denied it. “Don’t flatter yourself. I just saw you sleeping so deeply and thought the light might bother you, so I tried to block it.”
Even as she spoke, she knew the excuse sounded flimsy.
“Is that so?”
He nodded slowly, but his gaze drifted downward, lingering somewhere on her. “But I have reason to suspect you’re trying to seduce me.”
A smirk tugged at his lips. Only then did Gu Xiangsi look down and realized the top button of her shirt had come undone. The collar gaped open, revealing far too much.
His eyes remained fixed there, unmoving.
“Stop looking!” Gu Xiangsi snapped.
“Then where is your hand right now?”
The man raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t expect that after all these years, you’d still be this… desperate.”
Gu Xiangsi froze, then looked down, her entire body stiffened.
He actually…
Flustered, she yanked her hand back, her cheeks burning red. “You-you’re disgusting!”
“Gu Xiangsi.”
The man’s voice deepened, carrying an unshakable certainty. “For men, mornings like this are a normal reaction.”
Seeing her face flushed like a ripe peach, he restrained himself and let go of the hand resting on her waist, shifting his gaze slightly away.
He cleared his throat.
For a moment, he had the strange illusion that they were back in the early days of their relationship when he loved teasing her just to see her blush.
Seizing the opportunity, Gu Xiangsi quickly straightened up.
The man also sat up slightly. As her eyes inadvertently swept over his right hand, she noticed some redness and swelling around his wrist. Frowning, she asked, “You’re hurt?”
Fu Sinian glanced at his hand and replied indifferently, “From beating up a scoundrel.”
After a brief hesitation, Gu Xiangsi got up and fetched the first aid kit. Returning with ointment and a cotton swab, she said, “Let me apply some medicine for you.”
As she gently dabbed the ointment onto the swollen area, she tentatively began, “Last night, I-”
“You nearly got yourself sold off.”
The word “sold” made Gu Xiangsi freeze.
Fragmented memories of the chaotic night before flashed through her mind, bits and pieces coming back to her.
“Thank you for bringing me home.”
After finishing with the ointment, she thanked him earnestly. When she looked up, she saw Fu Sinian rubbing his left wrist, deliberately stretching his slender fingers toward her.
“Gu Xiangsi, my hand is sore.”
Frowning, she glanced at his hand, only for him to add, “About what happened in the car, trying to weasel out of it?”
The words “in the car” struck her like thunder. Gu Xiangsi’s mind buzzed as she suddenly recalled her own disgraceful behavior the night before, how she had unknowingly drunk something spiked and lost control.
And how Fu Sinian had used his hand to…
Her face burned crimson. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at him, stammering,
“I-you could’ve pushed me away!”
“Pushed you away?” Fu Sinian chuckled lowly, his tone laced with a cold edge. “You seemed to be enjoying yourself quite a bit yesterday!”
“Was my service not satisfactory?” he asked.