“10086—they keep calling me with spam,” Shi Yuxing said without a hint of guilt, hanging up the call directly. Sorry, Xiao Zhou, it’s an emergency—you don’t want us all drowned in a pig cage, do you?
Gu Lingzhou’s gaze lingered on him. Shi Yuxing started ushering him out. “It’s getting late.”
“Did you change the ringtone I mentioned?”
“Huh? Oh…” Shi Yuxing suddenly remembered his ringtone, “Can’t Take This Hurt,” and felt a wave of embarrassment. “…I’ll change it now. What kind of music do you like?”
“Anything’s fine. I’ll get you something to eat.” With that, Gu Lingzhou stepped out. After a good while, Shi Yuxing cracked the door open, peeked out left and right, confirmed Gu Lingzhou was truly gone, then pulled his head back in and locked the door.
The phone rang for only a second before being picked up. A howl immediately erupted from the other end: “Wife—why aren’t you back yet?! You didn’t reply to messages, and you hung up on me—wah wah wah, the old man’s impossible to deal with! He’s been punching the wall in the guest room—I’m so scared! When are you coming back? Wah—”
“Sorry, I passed out after surgery today. Gu Lingzhou happened to be here, so I probably won’t make it back tonight.” Shi Yuxing explained in one breath. The sobbing on the other end stopped instantly. “What?! You passed out! Are you okay? I—I’m so useless—should I not have called? Is he gone?”
Shi Yuxing laughed. “Yeah, otherwise how would I dare to have a secret rendezvous with you?”
He could imagine the panicked expression on the alpha’s face at the other end of the line. In some ways, the 24-year-old Gu Lingzhou was actually quite similar to Xiao Zhou. Shi Yuxing wondered what the General looked like when he blushed—he wanted to compare it to the 18-year-old version. Maybe the 24-year-old Gu Lingzhou would awkwardly burrow into his arms? He pictured the scene, then shook his head. Never mind—that’d be a bit strange.
Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Gu Lingzhou was on the phone.
Shi Yuxing was bound to have unexpected incidents. This time, he’d been there in person. But if he weren’t, and no one informed him of Shi Yuxing’s condition—knowing Shi Yuxing’s personality, he probably wouldn’t tell him either. If something serious happened…
“Brother Gu, what’s up?” The voice on the other end was casual and cheeky.
Gu Lingzhou got straight to the point: “An Bao, I want to rehire you.”
“Didn’t you say before that you no longer needed me?” An Bao’s tone carried surprise. When Gu Lingzhou didn’t respond, he asked: “Still protecting your little wife?”
“Yeah.”
“General Gu, didn’t you say you’d protect her yourself once you came back? What—realized you can’t do it without me?”
An Bao fearlessly teased Gu Lingzhou, partly because he was an old friend—even a senior—and partly because his skills were solid; in an emergency, he’d be more than capable of protecting Shi Yuxing. If not for an injury that had damaged his tendons and bones, there might have been a second general in the empire rivaling Gu Lingzhou in rank.
“Find someone to keep an eye on him for me. Send me a report once a week. Name your price—I’ll transfer it.”
“We’re friends. The old rate is fine.” An occasional long exhale came through the receiver. “Lingzhou, aren’t you going to explain things to him? Why you left so suddenly back then.”
Gu Lingzhou answered with silence. An Bao went on: “You should tell him—it’d be better for both of you. I’ve been watching for three years, and I’ve seen it all. That beauty is stunning in every way—you’re a lucky man. And I’ve seen him keep his distance, turn down advances. With a wife like that, you’d better treasure him. Don’t lose him—or when the cockroaches come out of the woodwork, I’m afraid you won’t survive the pain of losing your wife.”
Gu Lingzhou was about to tell him not to say such things, but An Bao didn’t give him a chance.
“You’re a mute, you know that? If you’d just tell him everything, sing your own praises, I don’t believe he wouldn’t fall for you again. After all, on your wedding day, you ran off without a word and left him to clean up the mess. Let me give you some advice: while he still has some feelings for you, chase him—win him back. You’ve got the looks, the status, the money, the power. Besides your temper, if I had your setup, I’d lay it all out clearly and be holding a beautiful baby girl by now.”
Gu Lingzhou listened quietly, then frowned. “Shi Yuxing is married to me.”
A long silence on the other end. “Hah? Bro, you think I’d steal a brother’s wife?”
“…………”
An Bao blew out a smoke ring. A two-to-three-centimeter scar sat beneath his left phoenix eye. “Brother appreciates a beauty, but my type is gentle women. Your wife—gorgeous, sure, but her gentleness index doesn’t quite make the cut.”
An Bao let out another long sigh. Gu Lingzhou reminded him: “Cut down on the smoking. I’m hanging up.”
“Fine. I’ll have someone keep an eye out for you discreetly. You know you can count on me. And remember what I said, alright? That’s it—later.”
…
Shi Yuxing had just finished soothing the little puppy at home when the next second, Gu Lingzhou walked in carrying two large bags.
The two stared at each other. Shi Yuxing put down his phone, his gaze dropping to the two “bombs” in Gu Lingzhou’s hands. “Do I need to start a competitive eating livestream to finish all this?”
“I guessed you’d like them,” Gu Lingzhou explained, setting the large bag of snacks on the desk.
It was true that Shi Yuxing liked snacks, but this was a hospital, not a KTV. He couldn’t exactly lay all these snacks out on his desk and eat them openly—was he supposed to hand them out to patients?
Still, Shi Yuxing thanked him and accepted them.
Gu Lingzhou opened the insulated bag and took out a large metal container, stamped with a dolphin-shaped logo from the ocean-themed restaurant they’d visited together. “You didn’t… pack me a steak, did you?”
Gu Lingzhou didn’t deny it. Shi Yuxing glanced at the clock—it was almost midnight. His jaw dropped. This guy had actually gone out and gotten him a steak? Didn’t that restaurant say they didn’t do takeout? Money really could make the world go round.
He opened the container—sure enough, a steaming steak was inside, still beautifully plated even in the metal box. For presentation’s sake, the chef had even added some vegetable garnishes. Carved carrot flowers ringed the outer edge, and the sliced steak sat in the center, drizzled with sauce. Getting this metal box to look like a work of art—the chef had really put in the effort.
Shi Yuxing exclaimed: “Amazing—they even cut it for me.”
Gu Lingzhou’s gaze shifted from the container in his hands to Shi Yuxing’s smiling profile.
The rich second-gen who’d hit on Shi Yuxing at the banquet, the front desk mentioning someone who sent flowers, the girl in the ward who wanted to be his wife.
“You’re a mute, you know that? If you’d just tell him everything, sing your own praises, I don’t believe he wouldn’t fall for you again.” An Bao’s words suddenly echoed in his ears. Shi Yuxing picked up his fork and unceremoniously speared a piece.
His cheeks bulged, peach-blossom eyes narrowing, lips curving up involuntarily at the taste—faint smile lines appearing on his cheeks like a little cat’s whiskers. He really did look like a little cat eating.
Gu Lingzhou’s Adam’s apple shifted as he watched Shi Yuxing pick up a second piece.
“I cut it.”
Shi Yuxing was about to take the second bite, his fork hovering in midair. Those tea-colored eyes moved, looking at him, with sauce still at the corner of his mouth.
Gu Lingzhou noticed, pulled a tissue from the desk, and reached out to wipe it. But the moment his hand got close, Shi Yuxing’s neck pulled back, creating a small fold of skin under his chin. The pose was undeniably awkward. Shi Yuxing stared at Gu Lingzhou for a second, then opened his mouth and took the bite of beef, snatched the tissue from Gu Lingzhou’s hand, casually wiped his mouth, and mumbled: “Thanks.”
He’d saved the moment without making things awkward.
After that, Shi Yuxing caught—almost imperceptibly—a curve at the corner of the lips of this usually aloof general, an expression that seemed nearly impossible to see on the 24-year-old Gu Lingzhou’s face. Shi Yuxing froze for a few seconds—not for any other reason, but because the person smiling right now was the 24-year-old Gu Lingzhou. The one who’d abandoned him on their wedding day. The husband he’d met more often on-screen than in reality.
Not the 18-year-old. Not the 32-year-old.
This was insane!!!
Shi Yuxing suddenly shot up from his swivel chair, the wheels rolling it back a distance.
Gu Lingzhou stared at him, startled by his movement. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Should I call a doctor?”
The doctor was standing right in front of him—what doctor? Shi Yuxing just didn’t understand. Could it really be true, as the 32-year-old Gu Lingzhou had said, that the 24-year-old Gu Lingzhou hadn’t been indifferent to him after all?
“…I can promise you this: in this lifetime, I will only love you. The 24-year-old me loves you. The 18-year-old me loves you.”
The Gu Lingzhou before him was filled with concern, stepping forward to steady him.
The 18-year-old Gu Lingzhou, eyes brimming with tears, begging him not to divorce.
The 32-year-old Gu Lingzhou, eyes rimmed red, reaching out to hold him.
They all overlapped with the eyes before him—still that clear black and white. “Yuxing, are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
Shi Yuxing bit his lip, standing still, his gaze complex as he looked at him. Though they were barely an arm’s length apart, it felt like a chasm lay between them. He didn’t understand Gu Lingzhou—didn’t understand the 24-year-old Gu Lingzhou. He didn’t know why he could be so cruel one moment and so caring the next.
Finally, Gu Lingzhou took hold of his wrist, those worried eyes scanning his face. Shi Yuxing felt as if every breath he took carried a question—perplexed, unable to figure out why Gu Lingzhou was so fractured.
Just as Gu Lingzhou assumed he couldn’t speak and was about to go get a doctor, Shi Yuxing’s lowered lashes suddenly lifted—his gaze sharp as a blade, ready to cut through that veil of ambiguity.
He needed the truth. A definitive answer.
Not a husband who blew hot and cold.
His rosy lips parted, and he asked—
“Gu Lingzhou, do you love me?”
Leave a Reply