“We are here.”
Gu Yulan found the keys. After entering, he noticed that the room appeared to have been kept quite clean. He lowered the person from his back onto an old sofa in the living room, only to realize that the youth had fallen asleep without him noticing. He glanced around, noting the layout was likely a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment.
Both of them were drenched from the rain. Wearing these wet clothes was incredibly uncomfortable, and if they did not change, they might catch a cold. Since the youth was already asleep, Gu Yulan planned to find some clothes for himself first.
There were two bedrooms, one on the left and one on the right. He pushed open the one on the left and saw books arranged on the desk and a teddy bear at the head of the bed, guessing that this was likely the youth’s room. He took off his wet clothes and removed the tourniquet from his shoulder. The bleeding had stopped, and the wound did not seem very deep.
He opened the wardrobe, intending to pick out a set of clothes for the youth to wear. Unfortunately, the clothes in the wardrobe were all too small for him to wear. In the end, he chose a bath towel to wrap around himself.
When Gu Yulan stepped out of the room, the person who had been lying on the living room sofa had vanished. A wave of panic shot through his heart. Just then, he heard a sudden clattering sound. He followed the noise toward the back and pushed open a door. In a dim corner, he saw a dark shadow squatting there, moving continuously as if it were gnawing on something. Objects were scattered across the floor.
“Is that you?”
Little Mute.
Gu Yulan was not sure if it was him. This eerie scene looked quite terrifying. The sound of gnawing and chewing continued. At that moment, Gu Yulan’s mind uncontrollably recalled horror movies he had seen before. A chill slowly crept up from his feet, and his hair stood on end. Gu Yulan took a deep breath, endured his fear, and fumbled for a nearby switch.
With a click, the lights in the room snapped on. When he saw the youth’s figure in the corner, he let out a long sigh of relief. He walked closer and realized that the youth was actually hugging a radish and gnawing on it.
Xie Yizhou was simply too hungry. After he woke up, he immediately went to the kitchen to forage for food. Aside from the long-lasting radishes on the floor, everything else was grains that required time to cook. He was so desperately hungry that the feeling in his stomach felt like a death warrant, making his eyes turn green with hunger. Thus, he had simply grabbed a raw radish and started eating.
Gu Yulan watched the youth devouring the radish and did not know what to feel. Was this stuff even fit for human consumption? Furthermore, they had just been in the rain, and he did not know if the youth had sustained any injuries. What if he got sick from eating that? He grabbed the youth’s hand.
“This cannot be eaten.”
Xie Yizhou’s hand shook, and the radish in his mouth suddenly fell. He looked up abruptly, meeting Gu Yulan’s eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he blinked. After hesitating for a moment, he pulled another radish from his chest and held it out to Gu Yulan’s mouth.
You want to eat?
Gu Yulan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and took a bite of the radish offered to him. Xie Yizhou could not help but nod, thinking, “I knew he was hungry too.”
In the next second, his body was suddenly lifted into the air. He felt arms go under his armpits and around his legs as he was picked up. He struggled for a moment but was quickly and ruthlessly suppressed, leaving him stunned.
Gu Yulan chuckled at the sight. “You should not waste your energy. Stop making these useless resistances.”
Xie Yizhou blinked, looking quite dazed. At that moment, an untimely growl echoed from his stomach. Both of them froze. Gu Yulan laughed, realizing the youth was truly famished. Thinking about him being hungry enough to gnaw on radishes made him feel both amused and pained.
He placed the person on the living room sofa and handed over the clothes he had found earlier. “Here, go change your clothes first. I will make something to eat.”
Xie Yizhou felt the dry clothes in his hands. Upon hearing Gu Yulan’s words, his eyes instantly lit up. Gu Yulan smiled helplessly at the sight. It seemed he really was starving.
“However, you must promise me one thing.”
Xie Yizhou tilted his head, a trace of confusion in his eyes. What is it?
“You are not allowed to get off the sofa, and you are not allowed to eat any more raw radishes.”
Hearing this, Xie Yizhou tentatively licked the corner of his mouth. He hung his head somewhat aggrievedly, rubbed his stomach, and nodded gently. Seeing the youth agree, the smile on Gu Yulan’s face widened. He could not resist reaching out to ruffle the youth’s fluffy head.
“I will have it ready soon. Be good.”
Xie Yizhou watched Gu Yulan enter the kitchen and began to wait silently. The atmosphere was quite wonderful. Suddenly, 0377 spoke up at an inopportune moment.
“Are you sure this young master, who has never lifted a finger in his life, knows how to cook? I think you would be better off gnawing on raw radishes to stave off the hunger. What if you get poisoned?”
Xie Yizhou froze, thought seriously, became slightly suspicious, and frowned deeply.
At that moment, Gu Yulan hurried into the kitchen, cutting off the expectant gaze behind him. He looked at the items in the kitchen and fell silent for a few seconds. Cooking; these two words were extremely foreign to him. Appearing in the dictionary of his life for the first time, he felt a bit at a loss.
However, he had already made a grand promise. Thinking of the youth’s expectant gaze, he had to make this meal today no matter what. Gu Yulan looked at the pots and pans in the kitchen as if they were a formidable enemy.
Add water, boil the water, add noodles?
This stuff should be noodles, right?
Under Gu Yulan’s careful preparation, a pot of noodles that was nearly overflowing was soon cooked. To summarize, he had added too little water and too many noodles.
“It is ready!”
A voice suddenly called out from the kitchen. Xie Yizhou’s eyes brightened instantly. Soon, he saw Gu Yulan emerging from the kitchen carrying a full pot of food. His eyes lit up, and he immediately ran off the sofa. Seeing the youth’s impatient look, Gu Yulan said with a smile, “Do not be in a hurry. Be careful, it is hot.”
He handed over a bowl of noodles. Xie Yizhou smelled the food and, disregarding everything else, began to eat immediately.
Gu Yulan asked somewhat nervously, “Try it and see how it tastes?”
Xie Yizhou kept his head down and ate, having almost no time to respond. Seeing him like this, the anxiety on Gu Yulan’s face turned into confidence. The taste must be good. After a long day of being busy, he was also quite hungry. Although the appearance was not great, the taste should be fine, right? Otherwise, the youth would not be eating so happily.
However, he was mistaken. The moment he took a bite, he nearly spat it out. The taste was hard to describe; it was both sweet and salty. It tasted very strange. He stopped eating after just one bite. But as he watched the youth eating with great relish, the look in his eyes gradually changed. A trace of emotion rose in his heart, mixed with a bit of pity.
“How about…”
Do not eat it. Do not force yourself just because I made it.
Gu Yulan opened his mouth, but in the end, he chose to stay silent. Xie Yizhou did not notice this change in Gu Yulan. His entire mind was on the food. As for the taste, he did not care much because he was simply too hungry. All he wanted was to fill his stomach and replenish his spent energy.
Seeing the youth eating happily, Gu Yulan had nothing to do and began to look at the room’s decor. Suddenly, a family portrait hanging on the wall caught his attention. It showed a family of five, everyone with a smile on their face, looking very happy.
He first noticed the youth standing to the left of the mother in the photo. Whether it was the eyes or the build, he looked eighty percent similar to the youth currently eating noodles. However, there were still some very significant differences. The youth in the photo had a smiling face and a gentle, calm aura, with a small black mole at the corner of his mouth.
Gu Yulan snapped back to his senses. He seemed to recall the butler mentioning that the youth had an older brother who had also died in that car accident. Based on the timing, the boy in the middle surrounded by everyone was what the youth looked like as a child. The boy in the photo had a chubby round face, snow-white skin, and a bright, cheerful smile while being held by his brother’s arm.
Yet the current youth looked nothing like he did as a child; they were completely different. If it were not for that car accident, he would have always been the child spoiled by his family. Gu Yulan’s heart felt a bit sour.
“Hey…”
Gu Yulan turned to the youth eating noodles. In a slightly raspy voice, he said, “How about I be your brother from now on?”
Compared to an impulsive and fleeting attraction, a pure brotherly bond seemed more suitable for them. Hearing this, Xie Yizhou looked up. Seeing the serious expression on Gu Yulan’s face, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes. He could not help but blink, not understanding why Gu Yulan was suddenly saying this.
Receiving no response for a long time made Gu Yulan feel a sense of nervousness due to his impulsive decision. What if the youth rejected him? What if the other person could not accept it and suddenly confessed to him? How should he reject him then? For a moment, Gu Yulan thought about many things. However, he quickly dismissed them one by one. There should be no other extra feelings between them aside from brotherly affection.
With slightly reddened ears, Gu Yulan said, “Just consider it my way of repaying you for saving my life… how about it?”
This was the first time he had ever gone out of his way to offer to be someone’s brother. 0377 suddenly chimed in with a bit of noise.
“Hurry up and agree! How can such a good thing happen? By the way, if you do not agree soon, his face is going to turn as red as a monkey’s butt.”
Xie Yizhou did not hesitate. He was just starting to feel sleepy after eating, and his concentration was slipping. To him, having an extra brother or one less brother did not seem to make a difference. He let out a yawn and nodded.
Seeing the youth nod, Gu Yulan’s hanging heart finally settled. Once Xie Yizhou was full, he headed toward the room. He was very tired now and only wanted to sleep. Watching the youth’s departing back, Gu Yulan remembered that he had forgotten to ask him about the phone.
At that moment, he noticed an old-fashioned telephone on the cabinet. However, he was in no hurry to call. He still needed to wait a bit. Gu Yulan’s eyes darkened; he wanted to know exactly who wanted to kill him! Everything that had happened recently was incredibly strange.
Previously, he was in the light while the enemy was in the dark; he had no idea who had made the move. But now, it was different. Gu Yulan closed his eyes. Now there was only one person who could help him. He used that old-fashioned telephone to dial a number that was both familiar and strange.
In the middle of the night, after the butler learned the news of Gu Yulan’s car accident, he was immediately jolted awake from his sleep. He drove to the scene of the accident in a frantic rush. However, the person in the crashed vehicle was missing. After a preliminary investigation, bloodstains were found by the river, and the bridge’s guardrail had been smashed.
The moment Gu Qishan received the news, he went to the scene. Seeing the luxury car smashed to pieces, his heart tightened. This was indeed Gu Yulan’s car, the one he had personally bought for him when he turned eighteen. A lot of blood was spilled on the ground at the scene, and the bloodstains disappeared at the broken railing of the bridge.
Soon, the police found a red truck downstream and discovered a body inside. According to the autopsy report, the person died by drowning. The time of death matched the time of the accident last night, and the damage on the railing also aligned. The police found Gu Yulan’s blood and fingerprints on the bridge railing, suggesting a high probability that he had fallen into the river.
In the police station, Gu Qishan looked at Zhou Yichen with a look of surprise. Beside Zhou Yichen stood Su Jianyang, whose eyes were red. The moment he saw Gu Qishan, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
“Chairman, why are you here?”
“I should be asking you, why are you here?”
As soon as Gu Yulan had his accident, he received the news and rushed to the police station. If something happened to Gu Yulan, the person who would benefit the most was the man in front of him. Having been in the business world for many years, he had heard plenty about the power struggles in wealthy families. Therefore, the first person he suspected in Gu Yulan’s accident was Zhou Yichen, his illegitimate son.
“Director Zhou, do not forget your identity.”
Gu Qishan narrowed his eyes. He scanned the slightly tired-looking Zhou Yichen with a wary gaze. The moment Su Jianyang saw Gu Qishan, he panicked and immediately hid behind Zhou Yichen. His face was a bit pale, fearing that Gu Qishan would find out that Gu Yulan had this accident because of him.
Zhou Yichen instantly noticed the wariness in Gu Qishan’s eyes and a bitter smile appeared on his face. “Chairman…”
The surrounding police and Su Jianyang were all very surprised to see this scene. Gu Qishan’s angry expression at this moment made it seem as if Zhou Yichen were the murderer who had killed Gu Yulan. How could that be! This was simply too absurd. Mr. Zhou was clearly a kind and good person! Even if Gu Qishan was upset because Gu Yulan was missing, he could not just wrongly accuse a good person!
Seeing the atmosphere turn delicate, a police officer took the initiative to say, “Mr. Gu, this Mr. Zhou is the person who reported the accident.”
Zhou Yichen stood tall and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Chairman, whether you believe it or not, this was indeed a coincidence. Last night I went to pick up a friend, and I did not expect to encounter an accident scene on the road. At the time, all I could think about was that saving lives was the priority, so I immediately called the police. I did not expect the one in the accident to be Young Master Gu.”
He met Gu Qishan’s eyes, and his expression instantly dimmed. “My friend can testify for me regarding what happened last night. Please believe me.”
Su Jianyang summoned his courage and rushed out, standing directly in front of Zhou Yichen and looking straight at the stern Gu Qishan.
“Mr. Gu, please do not vent your anger on other unrelated people. If you want to blame someone for what happened to Gu Yulan, then blame me!”
“Jianyang, do not say anymore; this has nothing to do with you.”
Zhou Yichen wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Su Jianyang’s eyes were red, and he said with a sob, “Gu Yulan came to the glass factory and risked danger because he wanted to save me. If he had not come to the glass factory, he would not have had a car accident on the way to escape.”
Hearing this, Gu Qishan looked shocked. “Who are you? What is your relationship with Gu Yulan!”
Su Jianyang bit his lip and said, “Gu Yulan; he, he likes me.”
The image of the youth Gu Yulan had brought to the company a few days ago instantly appeared in Gu Qishan’s mind. He looked at Su Jianyang’s red eyes; there was some resemblance in their features. He was a bit unclear; which one was the real one?
Since things had already reached this point, there was no need to hide anything. Mr. Zhou had helped him a lot. If it were not for Mr. Zhou’s help, he might have been sold to some nightclub when he woke up last night. At the thought of this, Su Jianyang’s body shivered. If he could not even manage to say a few words for Mr. Zhou, then he would be less than human.
Su Jianyang directly recounted the entanglement between him and Gu Yulan, as well as the events of last night, from beginning to end. After hearing this, Gu Qishan’s face turned pale, and he looked at Su Jianyang with anger. It was all because of this man that Gu Yulan had the car accident! Seeing Gu Qishan’s angry look, Su Jianyang was frightened, but fortunately, Zhou Yichen quickly shielded him.
“Chairman, this matter has nothing to do with Jianyang. He is also a victim!”
Seeing the situation was not right, the police immediately stepped in to intervene. “Mr. Gu, I can understand your feelings, but please calm down. Do not make things difficult for innocent people, and please accept our condolences.”
Hearing this, Gu Qishan let out a cold laugh. “What condolences? Are you hoping something happens to my son?” He never believed that Gu Yulan would die. Gu Qishan said with a pale face, “I want to see him alive or see his body. Until then, I do not believe anything!” After saying this, he turned and left.
It had rained all night yesterday, causing the river to become turbulent and the water level to rise. Looking for someone in the river was undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack. Everyone had given up hope of Gu Yulan’s survival. Zhou Yichen watched Gu Qishan’s back, which had suddenly stooped a bit, and as he turned to leave, he secretly curled his lips.
Even though Gu Qishan intended to hide the news of Gu Yulan’s car accident, the rumors soon spread as if they had grown wings.