Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Free?” The man named Ye Xuan seemed to snort in contempt at the term. “Miss Gu, you’ve forgotten again how Uncle Gu sponsored the orphans at the orphanage but didn’t restrict our freedom. We’ve never been anything but free.”
“Is that so?” Gu Yanran gave a slightly tired smile. She had no energy to argue over semantics with him. Turning away, she looked out the car window and replied dryly, “Consider it my incorrect use of words, ok? I’m really tired. I don’t want to argue today.”
“No one is arguing with you.” Ye Xuan leaned over to look at Gu Yanran to see that she did appear worn out. He pressed her. “Go sit over there. I’ll drive.”
Gu Yanran looked back at Ye Xuan’s SUV parked behind her car and pouted. “Then what about your car?”
“I’ll leave it here and get someone to tow it back once we return.”
Gu Yanran truly had no more energy to drive. She shifted over to the front passenger’s side and curled up in the soft seat, biting her nails and staring blankly.
Ye Xuan started the car and asked her, “Where to?”
“Back to the manor,” Gu Yanran said wearily, as if she were full of thoughts but couldn’t speak. Ye Xuan was quiet for a while, driving the car onto the highway and opening the windows to allow the slightly cool night’s breeze to bring in the ocean’s humidity. It served to refresh their minds. Gu Yanran decided to close her eyes to rest. “I’ll sleep for a bit. Remember to wake me up when we get there.”
“Ok.” Ye Xuan answered sullenly.
He drove the entire way back to Gu manor in the countryside. The traffic was smooth and very quiet, so it took less than 15 minutes to arrive at the manor’s entrance.
Ye Xuan got out first, then opened the door and stood to the side like a doorman. “Miss Gu, we’re here.”
Gu Yanran’s eyelids fluttered, her long eyelashes gently trembling as she slowly opened her eyes. There was a moment of confusion until she saw the tall iron gates before her, as well as the bright street lamp in front of the gate and the tall figure standing underneath it. She went blank for a second and murmured, “Why can’t you be him?”
“Miss Gu?” Ye Xuan frowned and bent over inside the car to hold her arm. “Wake up. We’re here.”
Gu Yanran suddenly woke up and allowed Ye Xuang’s strength to pull her out of the car. Rubbing her groggy eyes, she said, “Thank you. I’ll go in now. What about you? Do you want to stay the night?”
Ye Xuan’s car was still on the shoulder of the highway, and it was already late in the night. He wouldn’t be able to find anyone to tow it. “You want me to stay here for the night?” Ye Xuan’s braced himself against the great iron gates with one hand to block Gu Yanran’s way inside.
She looked up at his face with surprise—strong brows, large eyes, a tall and straight nose, hooded lids. These were all standard features of a mixed-race child, and he was an especially handsome one, too.
“Ye Xuan…”
“You missed me?” Ye Xuan stubbornly refused to let go, walking forward and lowering his head so his question was spoken against Gu Yanran’s lips.
Gu Yanran wanted to say no, but Ye Xuan had already latched onto her lips to block the word and prevent her from refusing. Gu Yanran moaned as he lifted her up to walk through the great iron gates. Intertwined with each other the whole way, their clothes were thrown down in a path. By the time they reached the living room in the manor, they were anxiously aroused by each other.
…
Gu Yanran was in a foul mood, and Ye Xuan’s appearance was like the perfect antidote to allow her to temporarily forget all her recent troubles. She could fully enjoy the pleasures of intimacy between a man and a woman with him. After they finished, she covered herself in a towel and went to the bathroom to shower. Seeing the marks all over her body, she shook her head and went straight to the shower to rinse off.
After showering, she came out of the bathroom to see Ye Xuan also washed up. He had changed into pajamas and was leaned against her bed reading a magazine. It was a fashion magazine Gu Yanran had carelessly left on the side table to kill time at night before sleeping. Ye Xuan was completely disinterested in the things women read, but it felt fairly awkward not having something to hold onto at a time like this.
Gu Yanran sat in front of the vanity and used the blowdryer to dry her hair. Ye Xuan set down the magazine and cradled the back of his head with his hands as he watched her get dressed. After Gu Yanran had applied her night cream, she walked over to the bed wrapped in a nightgown and said to him, “Xuan, this is the last night. Let’s break up.”
“Break up?” Ye Xuan couldn’t hold back a snicker. “Since when were we ever together?”
Gu Yanran didn’t speak. She looked down snobbishly, the corners of her lips slowly pursing.
“…It doesn’t matter if you look at me like that. From the moment you saved me, I swore that my life belonged to you. I will follow only you for the rest of my life.”
“Xuan, we were still young back then,” Gu Yanran said blankly, sitting on the bed and pressing Ye Xuan’s palm against her cheek. “I guess we had a good time together, so let’s end it on a good note, too. I’ll marry in the future and have my own family and husband. He won’t be happy that I have a ‘close male friend…’”
“I don’t care if he’ll be happy or not.” Ye Xuan looked at her obsessively. “During the 10 years of boarding school in the US, my happiest moments were reading the letters you sent me. It’s been so many years, and you sent me one every week without pause. Until Uncle Gu had his accident… I was committed to you long ago even though you were still young, so you didn’t know…”
Gu Yanran covered his mouth with her hand. “Stop talking. It’s all in the past. We are grown up now.”
“You were still young back then, and you saved me and then got really sick because of it. Uncle Gu sent me to the United States to attend boarding school, and I went for a whole 10 years. I didn’t think that Uncle Gu would be comatose when I came back.” Ye Xuan punched the bed with his other hand, “I saw on the news how you were taken hostage by those gunmen the other day. Yanran, can’t you see? You can’t be without me. You asked me to leave, and then something like that happened. Tell me, how can I feel reassured letting go?”
Gu Yanran stared at Ye Xuan. Her heart was moved. Since Gu Xiangwen’s accident, she had been supporting the entire Gu family alone. There were few people in the family to begin with, and with the incredible family fortune resting on her shoulders, she felt like a disobedient child flaunting the immense wealth to the public. No wonder it attracted so many greedy eyes and she was already at the brink of collapsing. Ye Xuan had abandoned his studies to rush back to Barbados as soon as Gu Xiangwen had the accident. He’d helped her and was completely loyal.
Even though Ye Xuan was very good to her and she had feelings for him, too, he was only one person with limited capabilities. There was no way he could protect her or her family. She needed stronger support.
“Ye Xuan, we really aren’t meant for each other.” Gu Yanran sighed, propping her head on one hand to allow her long, wavy hair to fall down and obscure half her face. “I don’t want to upset my husband in the future. You… should go.”
Hands trembling, Ye Xuan half-knelt in front of Gu Yanran to take her hand to beg. “Yanran, are you really not going to give me a chance? I can help you, I really can help you!”
“You can’t help me,” Gu Yanran stated calmly, “and I don’t want to ruin your life. Ye Xuan, you should have your own life, find a nice girl, and fall in love. You’ll marry and have your own family. Have a few kids of your own. Soon, you’ll forget everything here, and maybe you’ll wish nothing more than for it to have never happened at all.”
“Yanran!”
“Ye Xuan, we really aren’t right for each other.” Gu Yanran was completely calm, her tone emotionless. “You should go and never come back. Don’t blame me for being heartless if you show up again.”
“You’re really kicking me out?!” Ye Xuan appeared very hurt. He slowly stood up to look down at the silent Gu Yanran. He waited for her reaction.
Gu Yanran’s expression was unchanged as she nodded. “I’m not kicking you out, I’m just letting you live your own life.”
Since Gu Yanran was being so insistent, Ye Xuan no longer had any reason to stay. Stone-faced, he quickly rushed out of the room but didn’t forget to slam the door shut for her as he left.
Gu Yanran looked in the direction of the room with a wry smile. She took out her phone to call Huo Shaoheng’s number.
“Mr. Huo?”
Huo Shaoheng saw that Gu Yanran was finally calling, so he took his time putting on the Bluetooth headset and allowed it to ring several times before finally answering, “Miss Gu, what is it?”
Gu Yanran froze for a second and secretly thought that Huo Shaoheng was a good actor. She knew how badly he wanted to see her father, Gu Xiangwen, but he pretended to be so casual about it. Gu Yanran broke into a smile. “Yes. Did Mr. Huo forget? Didn’t you promise to send my father to your nation for medical care?”
“Oh, about that. I do remember, but Miss Gu didn’t seem to be in a rush, so there’s no reason for us to be in a rush, either. Barbados is a pretty nice place. I guess we are traveling on the taxpayer’s dime.”
Huo Shaoheng put one hand in his trouser pocket and held a cigar with the other as he stood in the hotel’s smoking lounge to watch the blue skies and white clouds outside the window. Earlier, Mr. Mike had already given him a letter of approval stating that Gu Nianzhi’s identity was completely legal and her Barbados citizenship would be reinstated shortly.
Barbados was a commonwealth country, so Gu Nianzhi automatically gained a commonwealth citizenship. But with this, it also meant that her Huaxia citizenship was nullified. However, Huo Shaoheng wasn’t worried. As soon as they returned to the Empire, he would help Gu Nianzhi apply for Huaxia Imperial citizenship and emigrate as a naturalized Huaxia citizen. Until all the citizenship procedures were complete, Huo Shaoheng had to keep all this a secret from Gu Yanran. He wanted to see what tricks she had up her sleeve.
As expected, Gu Yanran became uncertain from Huo Shaoheng’s words and finally replied, “Please don’t be angry, Mr. Huo. I didn’t mean to delay things, but you know that the gunmen are at large. I’m afraid to reveal my father’s whereabouts too quickly.”
Huo Shaoheng snorted internally, but his tone was more baritone than ever. “We don’t need to discuss the past. It’s better that we meet your father soon, and then we can discuss how to get him on the flight.”
Gu Yanran nodded. “It’s already late right now. If Mr. Huo is free at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, you can come to the Mandala Manor in the countryside. This is another property belonging to our family. You can find it on the map.”
