He Only Shows His True Colors in Front of Me : Chapter 7

“Your place is nicely decorated,” Gu Yuanqiao commented while sizing up the living room.

The living room in Sheng Yannian’s home featured a very common minimalist luxury style. When the warm yellow lights came on, they cast a faint golden hue over the black walls, white ceiling, and polished porcelain tiles. A spiral staircase was positioned slightly toward the back of the living room, and the second-floor hallway was bordered by a glass railing that stood about waist-high. Standing there gave a clear view overlooking the entire layout of the living room. The inner side of the hallway presumably led to some bedrooms.

One side of the living room featured a full floor-to-ceiling window that reached roughly the height of the second floor. Because this house sat somewhat on the edge of the neighborhood without much obstruction, adding this glass pane allowed for excellent natural light indoors. However, none of that was enough to make Gu Yuanqiao offer a compliment. After all, while a house this large would be comfortable for a family of three, it felt too monotonous and lonely for just one person. But the sofa Sheng Yannian had chosen was not a rigid rectangle; instead, it was a curved sofa with a slight arc. Together with a few other pieces of furniture, these asymmetrical touches kept the house from looking too formal.

“You actually know about this stuff?”

Gu Yuanqiao’s body froze as he sat on the sofa. He looked at Sheng Yannian suspiciously, trying to figure out whether the other man was being sarcastic or asking a genuine question.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” Sheng Yannian did not think he had said anything strange just now.

“Nothing.” Gu Yuanqiao withdrew his gaze and gently stroked the sofa, saying succinctly, “Nice sofa.”

“I’ve finally found one good quality in you, you have decent taste.” The annoyance of having an uninvited guest barge into his home vanished instantly, replaced by a smile that Sheng Yannian found hard to suppress.

“The compliment wasn’t even for you, what are you getting so excited about by yourself?”

“Ahem…” Sheng Yannian cleared his throat and immediately pulled a straight face, saying stiffly, “None of your business!”

With that, he turned around and went upstairs, leaving Gu Yuanqiao alone in the living room.

Gu Yuanqiao rolled his eyes at the direction where Sheng Yannian had left. If this guy had even a third of his brother’s manners, he wouldn’t have earned a reputation as the textbook example of someone who was moody, fickle, and a textbook bully. These rumors did not come out of nowhere. Unlike Sheng Yannian, Gu Yuanqiao had comprehensively looked into him from various sources over the past month. Only after doing this research did he realize that the little wolf pup had grown up and genetically mutated into a mad dog. The labels included stealing other people’s lovers, being tyrannical and overbearing, breaking promises, possessing absolute power, and so on. Of course, the most ridiculous rumor among them was that Sheng Yannian had been lusting after his own biological brother for a long time, and that a bloody revolution would take place within the Sheng family in the near future.

The moment he heard this rumor, the proper decorum Gu Yuanqiao prided himself on almost crumbled completely. Leaving everything else aside, just based on Sheng Yannian’s overly twisted obsession and protective instinct toward his brother since childhood, if anything were ever going to happen, it would have happened long ago. Would that guy Meng Jinghang have ever gotten the chance to step in? What a joke.

“Your room is at the end of the second floor, don’t walk into the wrong one.” Sheng Yannian walked downstairs, trying his best to ignore Gu Yuanqiao’s meaningful gaze.

“Fine.” Gu Yuanqiao withdrew his gaze, leaning back against the sofa with his eyes half-closed.

He had gone out early this morning to look at houses and had reached Sheng Yannian’s doorstep without even having breakfast or lunch, waiting all the way until the heavy rain started before the man finally returned. After all that tossing and turning, leaning against the soft sofa now caused fatigue to instantly wash over him. Ignoring Sheng Yannian who was still nearby, he slowly let his mind go blank. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he could hear the sound of footsteps fading away from him.

Just as he felt himself about to fall asleep, a cloth-like object was tossed right onto his face, and his nose caught a faint fragrance.

Gu Yuanqiao reached out to pull the cloth off his face. Opening his eyes, he realized it was a bath towel.

“Go take a shower quickly.” Gu Yuanqiao saw the other man frowning, looking at him with utter distaste. “I don’t want my sofa getting wet.”

Being told off like that, Gu Yuanqiao finally noticed the waves of coldness coming from his calves and forearms, which were the areas where his clothes had been soaked by the rain. The waterlogged fabric clung tightly to his skin, a feeling that was naturally quite uncomfortable.

“I don’t have any clean clothes.”

“…Tsk.” Sheng Yannian stared at Gu Yuanqiao for a long while before finally giving in. He turned his head away and said impatiently, “Go shower first, I’ll get them for you.”

“Then I’m really troubling you, young Mr. Sheng~”

“You!”

“Hmm?” Gu Yuanqiao still looked at him with a smile.

“…Just go take your shower!”

After Gu Yuanqiao went upstairs, Sheng Yannian estimated the time and went to grab some of his spare clothes to deliver to him.

Sheng Yannian arrived at the bedroom door and raised his hand to knock, but to his surprise, the door was not fully shut at all. With just a gentle tap, the door uncontrollably swung open, leaving a small gap. The gap was just wide enough for a clear line of sight, and Sheng Yannian happened to see Gu Yuanqiao standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window making a phone call.

Gu Yuanqiao stood in front of the window with a bath towel wrapped around his hips. His bangs were pushed back, revealing a smooth and broad forehead. Water droplets trickled down from the tips of his hair, sliding past his neck, collarbones, and abs before disappearing into the fabric at his waist. Perhaps because he had just finished showering, a faint flush of pink tinted Gu Yuanqiao’s face and some of his skin.

Sheng Yannian inexplicably felt his throat go dry. Feeling guilty, he turned his head, preparing to leave the spot.

Right at the moment he turned around, he heard Gu Yuanqiao’s emotionless voice.

“Dead?” The voice was flat and indifferent, as casual as asking whether the other party had eaten yet.

Sheng Yannian’s pupils dilated instantly, and he turned back to look at the man inside the room.

Gu Yuanqiao looked no different from usual, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly as if he were in a great mood. But there was not a hint of warmth in his eyes, and the words he spoke were enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

“They were too impulsive, but it doesn’t matter.” Gu Yuanqiao raised his hand to open the upper window a crack. The evening breeze brought a touch of coldness, clearing the flush from his face.

“Have Jiang Xuewen and those few people arrived? Remember to show them some proper hospitality.” Gu Yuanqiao let out a scornful sneer. “I originally thought about sending a grand gift to their parents, but what a pity… forget it, giving this gift to themselves as a souvenir is also quite nice.”

Sheng Yannian frowned as he listened, piecing together which incident they were talking about from Gu Yuanqiao’s fragmented words.

In high society and wealthy families, there were often unspeakable secrets or methods. Basically, no family could be considered completely clean. This was true domestically, let alone for the Gu family whose assets were mostly overseas.

However, because he had been educated from a young age to believe that the law was the ultimate safeguard, Sheng Yannian did not agree with the private solutions those families used behind closed doors.

Just as he wanted to listen further to what else Gu Yuanqiao might say, the other party seemed to notice his presence.

He saw Gu Yuanqiao’s mouth move, but the words that came out were: “You guys… handle it yourselves, I still have some business to take care of here.”

Hanging up the phone, he turned around and leaned against the glass window, crossing his arms over his chest in a completely careless manner.

“Eavesdropping on an adult’s conversation is wrong~” As their eyes met, the playful words slowly drifted into Sheng Yannian’s ears. It would have been better if his gaze weren’t so indifferent.

Having been caught, Sheng Yannian did not flinch either. He opened the bedroom door wide and stated the facts plainly: “I came to bring you clothes.”

Gu Yuanqiao withdrew his gaze: “Come in.”

Sheng Yannian placed the clothes on the nightstand. Turning around, he noticed that Gu Yuanqiao had sat down on a small armchair and poured himself a small glass of whiskey.

“You certainly don’t make yourself a stranger.”

“Good liquor.” Gu Yuanqiao raised his glass, gesturing toward Sheng Yannian.

Under the effect of the lights and the glass, the dark amber liquid refracted a brilliant glow, causing Gu Yuanqiao to squint his eyes for a moment.

Sheng Yannian stared at Gu Yuanqiao, watching him cast his eyes down to take sip after sip of the liquor, wondering what the man was thinking.

“Ask whatever you want to ask.” After a few sips, the glass hit rock bottom. Gu Yuanqiao placed the glass on the table without refilling it.

“You…”

Seeing that the other man frowned the moment he opened his mouth, Gu Yuanqiao interrupted him with a scoff: “Let me clarify in advance, I didn’t break any laws.”

“Then you…”

Sheng Yannian only spoke half his sentence, but Gu Yuanqiao understood.

“I merely let the victims’ families know what they deserved to know. As for what they did afterward, I have no way to interfere.”

“You showed them the evidence?”

“Uh-huh, though out of humanitarian concern, I blurred out the faces.”

“You shouldn’t have shown it to them.”

“Why? They have the right to know,” Gu Yuanqiao countered coldly, resting his cheek on his hand.

“Even so, it shouldn’t have been you.”

“What difference does it make? The outcome is the same no matter who informs them.”

Sheng Yannian was at a loss for words and said nothing more. Long ago, he had realized that Gu Yuanqiao’s thought process was different from ordinary people, and he didn’t think arguing about morality and the legal system with him here would be of any use.

He looked at the man sitting there. Perhaps because that layer of clothing had been stripped away, the coldness inherent in his bones was seeping out through his skin bit by bit.

Sheng Yannian walked toward Gu Yuanqiao step by step. He obviously knew that Gu Yuanqiao was not that kind-hearted; if his own interests hadn’t been harmed, he wouldn’t have cared whether those victims lived or died.

Humanitarian concern? What a joke, he just wanted to use someone else to do his dirty work.

Sheng Yannian stood right in front of Gu Yuanqiao, the two of them extremely close, their knees brushing against each other imperceptibly. He looked down at the man whose smile didn’t reach his eyes. He leaned down, cutting the distance short instantly, close enough that he seemed to smell the aroma of the whiskey.

The other man raised an eyebrow as if his interest had been piqued, but other than that, his expression remained entirely unchanged.

Sheng Yannian leaned lower and lower, and Gu Yuanqiao’s smile grew wider and wider.

Like a liquor-filled chocolate, he exuded a sweet and intoxicating aroma to lure his prey into the trap.

Just as their faces were about to overlap, Sheng Yannian tilted to the side, brushing past Gu Yuanqiao’s hair, while his hand reached straight for the liquor bottle on the table.

Once he grabbed what he wanted, he stood up quickly, fully taking in the sight of Gu Yuanqiao’s eyes widening slightly in shock.

Like a child whose prank had succeeded, he gave Gu Yuanqiao a sly smile:

“You shouldn’t drink too much alcohol at night.”

“Little brat,” Gu Yuanqiao quickly recovered his composure and let out a light scoff.

He stood up, pushing Sheng Yannian away and breaking the suddenly intimate atmosphere that had just formed. Walking to the bedside, he quickly pulled on the clothes Sheng Yannian had brought. The two of them were similar in height, but Sheng Yannian had a larger build, so the clothes fit him somewhat loosely.

“What’s for dinner?” Once a person relaxes, their stomach is bound to start making noise.

Sheng Yannian had already put the liquor away. “You’re hungry?”

“Yeah,” Gu Yuanqiao didn’t deny it. “I haven’t had a single drop of water all day up until now.”

“….” Sheng Yannian looked at Gu Yuanqiao with a complicated expression. Was he actually proud of that? “And yet you still drank alcohol? Even a teenager knows that drinking on an empty stomach is bad for you.”

“I had no choice, I was thirsty, and this bottle of liquor was the only thing I found in your room,” Gu Yuanqiao said matter-of-factly.

“Couldn’t you go to the kitchen to pour some water yourself?”

“Young Mr. Sheng~ you were the one who told me not to wander around or touch things, how can you blame me now?”

Looking at Gu Yuanqiao’s innocent act, goosebumps practically rained down all over Sheng Yannian.

“Dry your hair and get downstairs, I’m making dinner.” After saying that, he quickly left the room. He felt like staying in the same room with Gu Yuanqiao for another second would take years off his life.

“Humph~” Having enjoyed the sight of Sheng Yannian fleeing in panic, Gu Yuanqiao went to the bathroom to dry his hair in a fantastic mood.

“A stubborn but soft-hearted brat,” he thought.