A few more days passed, and Sang You recovered from his cold. Gong Ze bought a large pile of gifts for him.
Luxury store delivery trucks pulled up one by one at the Sang residence. The gift boxes piled up like several small mountains inside the house, left for the young master to choose from.
The level of luxury was no less than what Sang You had enjoyed before his parents disappeared.
With this move from Gong Ze, the private gossip at the Sang residence about the young master’s worth having plummeted now that his parents were gone was thoroughly debunked.
This also served as Gong Ze’s silent warning:
‘Just because your parents are gone doesn’t mean Sang You doesn’t have a fiancé backing him up.’
Firm and domineering, he shut down every gossiping mouth.
The corner of Sang You’s lips twitched upward for a moment before he forcefully pressed it back down.
The beautiful young master, just recovered from his minor illness, had a rosy flush to his cheeks, brimming with renewed vitality — even more strikingly gorgeous than before. He walked through the envious gazes of the crowd, his delicate chin held high, like the most beautiful caged bird.
While signing for the gifts, he deliberately glanced slowly at the two aunties who had gossiped before.
Seeing their uneasy, guilty expressions, Sang You’s previous frustration instantly vanished, replaced by a secret thrill of excitement.
When Gong Ze came home for dinner that evening, the young master — who used to deliberately hide in his room to eat, using it as a way to express his displeasure — was now wearing silk pajamas, his jade-white, soft feet slipping into slippers as he descended the stairs, deliberately making a tapping sound to draw Gong Ze’s gaze upward.
Under Gong Ze’s watch, Sang You kept a straight face, crossed his arms, and walked down the stairs. Then he chose the seat closest to Gong Ze’s left, pulled out a chair without looking sideways, and sat down.
“Why are you looking at me?”
The sickly, beautiful young master pursed his lips and — unable to fully swallow his pride — muttered softly, “I’m hungry!”
This sentence was like a clear signal that the cold war had ended. The cold, expressionless man showed a look of surprise, his pupils widening slightly.
Seeing him so astonished, Sang You felt a small, secret thrill of pride, though his expression remained stiff. “Can’t you hear me? I said I’m hungry.”
The auntie was the first to react. Beaming with excitement, she immediately chimed in, “Right away! I’ll get the young master his bowl and chopsticks right now. Please wait a moment!”
The auntie didn’t even ask Gong Ze.
Anyone who works as a servant in a wealthy household is sharp. The mountain of gifts that morning, combined with Gong Ze’s past behavior of doting on Sang You as if wanting to personally care for him — all of it helped the auntie glean something about this new master’s feelings.
When the fresh bowl and chopsticks were brought out, Sang You had just picked up his chopsticks when a hand reached into his line of sight and gently placed a piece of vegetable at the bottom of his bowl.
Sang You looked up at the man eating in silence.
This time, the corner of his lips truly couldn’t be hidden — it curved upward — yet he stubbornly and deliberately found fault with the man: “With all these meat dishes, you give me a vegetable.”
What a fussy little thing. Gong Ze pretended to darken his expression, then — just as Sang You started to feel a flicker of fear — said, “You’ve been eating light food for days because of your cold. Eating meat right away will upset your stomach. Tomorrow I’ll have the auntie make you some soft, tender steamed meat.”
Hearing this, the last traces of fear and doubt in Sang You’s heart vanished completely.
Gong Ze really does like me!
Satisfied, Sang You held his bowl and chopsticks and ate that piece of vegetable.
The cold, strained relationship between the two gradually warmed over the course of this dinner.
Gong Ze had grown up in an orphanage. Most children in orphanages eat quickly — eat too slow and other kids will snatch your food. Even though Gong Ze had learned dining etiquette as an adult and deliberately corrected his ‘poor habits’, he still ate much faster than others.
But after finishing, the man didn’t leave. He sat in his place, unhurriedly sipping tea, occasionally using the serving chopsticks to silently add food to Sang You’s bowl.
Even if he didn’t say it out loud, the fact that Sang You was willing to come downstairs and have dinner with him made the man happy inside. Even the harshness between his brows softened a little.
The servants noticed this.
Sang You noticed it too.
That’s just how people are — once they know they’re special to someone, that they have privileges, they start acting spoiled, clingy, and unreasonable.
They enjoy being the object of someone’s favoritism.
Sang You’s last shred of wariness disappeared entirely.
And from that day on, every time Gong Ze came home for dinner, Sang You would descend the stairs like a proud little peacock spreading its magnificent feathers, basking in the fiery gaze the man tried to hide, secretly delighted, and then they would eat together.
The young master — young, simple, and naive — loved the feeling of being pursued and adored by Gong Ze.
Even when Gong Ze was at the company, it felt like gifts for Sang You never stopped arriving.
Precious trinkets covered the carpet, making it difficult for the servants to even clean.
From fear and hatred to complete fearlessness.
In the end, it took only half a month for Sang You to become completely comfortable throwing his young master tantrums at Gong Ze, bossing him around to do this and that.
Faced with the gifts Gong Ze sent — gifts that conveyed a desire almost devouring him — Sang You still maintained a little reserve.
After all, he was the one being pursued. He had to keep up some young master dignity.
Besides, it was already generous enough of him to forgive Gong Ze.
Sang You was still upset about Gong Ze forcing them to sleep together and become bound by flesh.
Besides, the one he liked wasn’t him — it was Brother Qin Chuan…
The beautiful young master thought to himself.
Ever since he learned that Gong Ze liked him, Sang You no longer felt afraid when facing Gong Ze. Instead, he had regained that sense of being pampered and taking things for granted, just like when he was the young master of the household.
What’s more, Sang You had found a new source of amusement.
When he noticed that one day — after he wore a somewhat sheer outfit — Gong Ze’s eyes locked onto him and couldn’t look away, Sang You’s eyes glinted with mischief.
From then on, Sang You, who used to prefer cotton pajamas, began deliberately wearing silk, satin, low-cut, leg-baring sleepwear in front of Gong Ze.
Every time he did this, Gong Ze would appear restrained and forbearing, the veins on his neck and the backs of his hands bulging — yet he never made a sound.
After strutting in front of him and returning to her room, Sang You would burst out laughing, flopping onto the bed and laughing nonstop at having successfully teased the man.
Or he would cry “Ouch!” while clutching some part of his body, pretending to be hurt. Once, the man didn’t even have time to grab the coat draped over his arm — he rushed over so quickly.
His brow furrowed with alarm as he frantically examined Sang You’s fingers. When he couldn’t find any injury, the man would freeze, then darken and glare at him terrifyingly.
“Are you going to hit me?”
Sang You shot back, completely unafraid.
“If you do that again, you’ll see how I deal with you!”
Gong Ze warned coldly.
But the next time, the time after that, and the time after that —
He still fell for Sang You’s tricks.
“Pfft.” Sang You mocked him. “Haha, idiot. How do you keep falling for it every time?”
And the answer was something even the newborn puppy at the Sang residence knew.
— When it came to Gong Ze, who adored Sang You, even if his young master lied ten thousand times and pretended to be sick ten thousand times, he would never become the boy who cried wolf.
Sang You took endless delight in watching him panic, pressing his advantage and practically climbing all over the man.
The punishment Gong Ze threatened never came.
Gong Ze’s indulgence and longing for Sang You greatly satisfied Sang You’s vanity.
He provided emotional value in abundance.
After tiring of those games, Sang You would pretend to bring up Qin Chuan in front of Gong Ze. Whenever he praised Brother Qin for being so outstanding, Gong Ze would stay angry for a long time.
Those long, narrow eyes — as if drawn with a brush — would stare over darkly. The servants and butler around them wouldn’t dare breathe too loudly. But in his heart, Sang You was thinking instead of that night when Gong Ze’s eyes had turned red with rage, his voice choked with emotion.
Why are you looking at me like that?
Do you think putting on that expression will make me afraid?
To others, this man was terrifying. But to Sang You, he instead stirred a thrilling, heart-itching feeling.
In recent days, Sang You had witnessed Gong Ze’s power. Everyone inside and outside the household was wary of him.
But Sang You wasn’t afraid!
The young master held his head high as he walked past him, his delicate little chin and pale, sickly yet beautiful cheeks carrying a trace of smugness, leaving the man behind as he headed upstairs.
He thought he had the man wrapped around his finger.
He strung Gong Ze along for days.
This was punishment, he told himself. Who told Gong Ze to use his status as fiancé to do that kind of thing to him while his parents were away? It hurt so badly!
Gong Ze liked him, so he simply wouldn’t give him any sweetness — let him stew!
Sang You rolled around on the bed, covering his mouth as he laughed, his eyes crinkling with joy.
Before, Sang You had hated Gong Ze mainly because he suspected Gong Ze had harmed his parents.
Now that Gong Ze had been cleared as a suspect, that hate was naturally gone.
The only thing left between Sang You and Gong Ze was that night of passion.
Even though Sang You was still angry about it, thinking about how much Gong Ze liked him — and that Gong Ze was his legitimate, proper fiancé —
Thinking that what was done was done —
Thinking about how the Sang family’s vast business needed someone to manage it, and how deeply Gong Ze loved him — since his body had already been taken by Gong Ze, maybe just going along and marrying him wasn’t such a bad idea…
Besides — besides, he hadn’t noticed it before, but now that he looked closely, Gong Ze was actually very handsome…
An image surfaced in his mind: the man talking with his assistant, the confidence and strategic poise that inadvertently showed in his brow.
Two rosy blushes crept onto Sang You’s pale cheeks.
He wavered, unsure whether to choose Gong Ze.
But he didn’t realize that the very act of considering it meant his heart had already wavered — already begun to lean one way…
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