He Only Shows His True Colors in Front of Me : Chapter 71

The two of them simply fooled around until noon when it was time for lunch, mostly because Sheng Yannian refused to let Gu Yuanqiao go.

Even after Wen Han showed up looking for them, Sheng Yannian still had no intention of releasing him. Having learned from the previous experience, Wen Han did not say much this time and instead returned later with Gu Yuanqiao’s work laptop.

Of course, Wen Han had a few moments of hesitation where he wanted to tell Gu Yuanqiao that Gu Yuanmu was looking for him, but remembering what happened last night, he also secretly wanted to watch Gu Yuanmu take a fall. Since Sheng Yannian had already stepped up to play the bad guy, there was no need for him to ruin the fun. As for Gu Yuanqiao, operating on the assumption that Wen Han would definitely mention anything important, he did not bother asking.

Just like that, within the small world of the office and amidst a sweet and clingy atmosphere, Gu Yuanqiao half heartedly listed out his to do list and tackled some tasks that did not require much brainpower. Sheng Yannian did the exact same thing.

Sheng Yannian closed his laptop, glanced at the employees walking out in twos and threes outside the office, and moved over to Gu Yuanqiao’s side. “Do you know who it was yesterday…?”

Gu Yuanqiao was taken aback for a moment, momentarily stumped by Sheng Yannian’s abrupt question, but he quickly recovered, which was followed by a trace of helplessness.

Was he asking so tactfully just to avoid ripping open old scars?

Before Sheng Yannian could figure out why Gu Yuanqiao suddenly started shaking his head with a low chuckle, he watched the other person take a sip of the already cooled black tea and say leisurely, “Who else could be that bored besides my good younger brother?”

Hearing this, Sheng Yannian frowned. “He knew about your…?”

The moment the question left his mouth, Sheng Yannian realized something was off. How could Gu Yuanqiao possibly expose his own weakness so easily? Yet how could it be such a coincidence with the elevator?

“He didn’t know,” Gu Yuanqiao shook his head. True enough, running so coincidentally into his exact weakness made it hard not to overthink. “But that didn’t stop him from wanting to make things unpleasant for me.”

Gu Yuanqiao let out a cold laugh. “He really did manage to stumble into it blindly.”

Sheng Yannian understood, thinking to himself that the relationship between these two brothers was even worse than he had anticipated. Since this was not a pleasant topic, and seeing Gu Yuanqiao’s mood sink again, Sheng Yannian immediately put on an unserious expression and sighed, “Ah, as expected, the waters of the Gu family run deep indeed.”

Gu Yuanqiao put down his teacup, glanced sideways at the person who seemed to be gloating, and raised an eyebrow. “I recall someone saying my younger brother was a little white rabbit earlier? What was it again… ‘a white rabbit born in a fox den’?”

“….” Sheng Yannian choked, finally learning what a boomerang felt like.

He had felt a bit secretly pleased earlier wondering if Gu Yuanqiao was jealous, but now he truly understood what it meant to suffer from loose lips. Yet seeing the craftiness shining in the depths of Gu Yuanqiao’s eyes, he understood that the other person was merely teasing him.

Sigh… Sheng Yannian sighed inwardly. If this were back at the beginning, he definitely would have snapped right back, but now, apart from finding the other person adorable, no other thoughts could possibly arise.

Gu Yuanqiao felt a creeping sensation from Sheng Yannian’s inexplicably deep and affectionate gaze, and before he could ask, he was pulled up by Sheng Yannian.

“Come on, taking you to eat.”

“Eat what?”

Hearing this question, Sheng Yannian turned back, mimicked Gu Yuanqiao’s expression from moments ago by raising an eyebrow at him, and then delivered what sounded like a rehearsed punchline.

“Spicy rabbit heads~”

“…Pfft.” Gu Yuanqiao blinked, taking a few seconds to process it before laughing. “Haha, you really are…”

He never expected Sheng Yannian to have such a humorous side.

“Really am what?” Seeing Gu Yuanqiao start smiling again, Sheng Yannian’s mood lifted as well.

“Childish!” Gu Yuanqiao deliberately straightened his face to give his evaluation, though the smile in his eyes could not be hidden.

“Childish it is then~” Sheng Yannian admitted it so readily that he caught him off guard. “Anyway, I am younger than you~”

He wore the expression of someone completely shameless, which coaxed another laugh out of Gu Yuanqiao.

Fortunately, there were hardly any people left in the office area; otherwise, anyone hearing two company executives discussing such childish topics would surely have their jaws drop in shock.

The two of them took the elevator downstairs. That morning, Sheng Yannian had still been worried about whether Gu Yuanqiao might experience any physical discomfort, but the other person looked completely calm and relaxed.

Sheng Yannian realized he had been worrying needlessly; after all, the person in question was Gu Yuanqiao, someone who had never been a weakling needing excessive protection.

When the elevator reached the first floor and the doors opened, the two had already switched back to their normal, friendly social distance, walking shoulder to shoulder with a gap of two to three fists between them, given the heavy flow of people in the lobby.

Meanwhile, in a corner, Gu Yuanmu had been staring fixedly at the elevator doors, watching countless batches of people pass by before he finally caught sight of Gu Yuanqiao.

Seeing that Gu Yuanqiao was completely unharmed and even chatting and laughing with Sheng Yannian, hatred surged even deeper in his heart. He had spent the entire morning being discussed like a monkey in a zoo and running up and down stairs, while the person responsible for it all was standing there laughing and chatting away? How could this be fair?!

Gu Yuanmu barely concealed his hatred for Gu Yuanqiao, staring at that retreating back as if he wanted to tear him apart alive. Yet within moments, he reined in all his emotions, transforming back into his most common everyday appearance: pitiful, fragile, and delicate.

“Brother…!”

Just as Gu Yuanqiao was chatting happily with Sheng Yannian, he heard that familiar affected voice calling out again. Without needing to guess, he knew who it was, and a flash of impatience crossed his eyes before he turned around with his smile intact.

Sure enough, he saw Gu Yuanmu standing a few steps away, looking exceedingly hesitant to approach.

Sheng Yannian naturally turned to look alongside Gu Yuanqiao, but unlike Gu Yuanqiao who could maintain a smile, his face darkened the moment he clearly identified the person, and the air pressure around him dropped immediately. He certainly did not believe the person was here to offer a sincere apology.

The previously somewhat noisy crowd around them grew quiet the moment Gu Yuanmu made his entrance and delivered his opening line. Almost unanimously, everyone’s gazes converged on the three of them, spotlighting them like a stage center under a theater light.

The three actors turned a blind eye to those gazes, though Gu Yuanqiao, accustomed to this routine, could not help feeling speechless inside. At times, he genuinely wondered if Gu Yuanmu had some kind of histrionic personality disorder, pulling the exact same stunt every single time.

“What is it, Yuanmu?” Gu Yuanqiao smiled warmly, acting entirely as though he had no idea Gu Yuanmu was the one who had trapped him in the elevator yesterday, or rather, as if he did not care even if he knew.

“Brother…” Gu Yuanmu took a couple of steps forward, tears gradually welling up in his eyes. “I know I was wrong…”

“What…”

Before Gu Yuanqiao could say anything, Gu Yuanmu continued on of his own accord. “I understand now that you were only being strict with me yesterday because you had high expectations and wanted what’s best for me. But I failed to understand your good intentions, let my temper get the best of me, and took my anger out on the maintenance sign, which ended up trapping you in the elevator for so long…”

Gu Yuanmu lowered his head, conducting a public self-criticism of his mistakes.

“I truly know I was wrong… but, but I just felt wronged. I’ve been working so hard. I know I’m not smart, and everyone dislikes me and thinks I’m holding them back, but I am genuinely trying… I just wanted you to notice me, Brother…”

As he spoke, a couple of teardrops actually fell down his cheeks, portraying remorse, self-blame, and timidity to absolute perfection.

“Brother, I’m begging you, please forgive me… I’ll be obedient from now on, I won’t throw tantrums anymore, please don’t send me away… please don’t hate me…..”

Gu Yuanqiao froze, putting on an expression of astonishment while keeping his eyes entirely devoid of warmth.

Some onlookers had already begun whispering among themselves. Especially upon seeing Gu Yuanmu’s sincere twin trails of tears, they felt that yesterday’s company notice might have been a bit too harsh. No matter what, Gu Yuanmu hadn’t done it on purpose, and the incident was merely an accident. Besides, if Gu Yuanqiao truly cherished his younger brother, how could Gu Yuanmu possibly look so terrified? At this thought, some people looked at Gu Yuanqiao with scrutinizing and suspicious gazes, wondering if he perhaps wasn’t as kindhearted as he appeared on the surface.

Gu Yuanqiao could feel the shift in those gazes. Playing the weak victim in public was a trick Gu Yuanmu used repeatedly with guaranteed success. The other person had bet on the fact that he cared about his reputation and would not tear off his polite mask in public, thereby elevating himself. After all, most people naturally sympathized with the weak, projecting themselves onto them and feeling indignant on their behalf.

“How could I blame you?” Gu Yuanqiao suppressed his disgust, raised a hand to gently ruffle Gu Yuanmu’s hair, and smiled as warmly as a proper older brother. “You didn’t do it on purpose, and besides, I didn’t suffer any injuries, did I?”

“Brother… did you really forgive me?” Gu Yuanmu looked up with an expression of immense gratitude.

“I never blamed you in the first place, so what is there to forgive?” Gu Yuanqiao smiled helplessly.

Seeing the atmosphere set up to this point, Gu Yuanmu seized the moment to bring up his ultimate goal.

“Then can Brother cancel that notice…”

If he truly had never blamed him, how could he possibly have issued a notice that was so clearly meant as retaliation?

“…What notice?” This time, Gu Yuanqiao’s confusion was entirely genuine.

He hadn’t really checked his phone since yesterday, but even if he had, he wouldn’t necessarily have seen the notice Sheng Yannian posted. While he did have group chats, his work coordination and schedules were usually handled directly by Wen Han, and he didn’t manage the chat groups himself. Thus, it was truly unlikely that he knew about Sheng Yannian banning Gu Yuanmu from taking the elevator.

Gu Yuanmu paused for a second, thinking inwardly that the person across from him was putting on quite an act, though outwardly he maintained the facade. “Brother… you’re still blaming me, aren’t you…”

Sheng Yannian, who had been watching the two put on a display of brotherly affection from the sidelines, finally made a move when he saw Gu Yuanmu reaching out to pull on Gu Yuanqiao. He stepped sideways to block in front of Gu Yuanqiao, catching both Gu brothers off guard.

“Director Yannian?” Gu Yuanmu asked weakly, not understanding why Sheng Yannian was sticking his nose into this.

“Are we that close?” Sheng Yannian rejected his attempt at familiarity right off the bat, staring coldly down at Gu Yuanmu.

Sheng Yannian was nearly a full head taller than Gu Yuanmu, looking down at the person before him with unmasked contempt. His facial features already leaned toward an aggressive look, and when he wasn’t smiling at all, he looked fiercely unapproachable, let alone right now when he was genuinely pissed off.

Aside from a few elders in the family, Gu Yuanmu rarely encountered anyone who treated him with such a lack of courtesy, and he actually took half a step back in surprise.

“Sheng, Director Sheng…”

“I posted the notice. What use is it to beg Gu Yuanqiao?”

The moment Gu Yuanmu mentioned the notice, Sheng Yannian figured out what this grand performance was all about. He also thought Gu Yuanmu had quite the nerve to come asking for favors when he couldn’t even handle half a day of consequences.

“It wasn’t Brother who—” Gu Yuanmu blurted out, almost revealing that Gu Yuanqiao had been angry and demanded it.

“Wasn’t what?” Sheng Yannian chuckled coldly and asked in return.

“No, nothing…” Gu Yuanmu gritted his teeth and swallowed the rest of his sentence. After all, malicious speculation was one thing, but spelling it out clearly was another. “Then Director Sheng, my brother has already forgiven me, so could you please…”

“No.” Sheng Yannian cut him off flatly before Gu Yuanmu could even finish.

“W, why?” Gu Yuanmu stared in a daze, never expecting Sheng Yannian to hit him in the face so bluntly.

“Do I need to explain my reasons to you?” Sheng Yannian answered the question with another question, caring not a whit about how others viewed or thought of him, nor possessing the patience to preserve anyone’s dignity. He spoke in a volume that was neither too loud nor too soft.

“When you put on this little act to beg your brother now, to put it bluntly, you’re just roasting Gu Yuanqiao over an open fire. If he blames you, then he’s narrow minded and aggressive, refusing to let things go over a suspected ‘accident’ with his own younger brother. If he doesn’t blame you, then everything is wonderful, harmonious brothers, a magnanimous older brother and a foolish younger brother. Whether this older brother is truly magnanimous remains to be seen, after all, the younger brother just cried so pitifully in public.”

“So in your eyes, Gu Yuanqiao being trapped in an elevator for hours was just bad luck, deserved it, and didn’t require anyone to take responsibility, is that it?”

By the end of his sentence, Sheng Yannian’s words were tainted with raw anger. While he didn’t advocate violence, he really wanted to punch Gu Yuanmu right now.

“No, I didn’t…” Having his hidden intentions exposed, Gu Yuanmu’s face flushed white and red in turns. Having never experienced being stripped bare like this in public, he had absolutely no idea how to respond.

“Yes you did.” Sheng Yannian interrupted him again, taking another step forward to stare right into his eyes. “You calculated that Gu Yuanqiao has a good temper and wouldn’t contradict you in public to cause you embarrassment, which is why you picked a crowded place to bring this up. But I am not like your brother, my temper isn’t as good as his. Someone has to pay a price for what happened yesterday. Not letting you take the elevator is already sparing you because you’re Gu Yuanqiao’s brother, otherwise do you think you’d even be allowed through the doors of Sheng’an?”

“Y, you’re abusing your power!” Driven to this point, Gu Yuanmu abandoned his pitiful, delicate persona altogether.

“So what if I am?” Sheng Yannian replied with a disdainful, cold hum, admitting it openly. “I don’t care whether you did it on purpose or not, the harm you caused Gu Yuanqiao is a fact. You think you can just brush it off lightly because it wasn’t intentional? Keep dreaming, and besides, it’s debatable whether you were even unintentional to begin with.”

“Director Sheng, what do you mean by that?!” Gu Yuanmu demanded angrily.

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

“You!”

Gu Yuanqiao, who was being shielded behind him, had never anticipated this turn of events either. Unspoken truth aside, the feeling of being protected… wasn’t bad at all.

He listened with a sense of novelty as Sheng Yannian argued fiercely on his behalf. The person standing in front of him had completely switched into battle mode, as if ready to pounce and rip apart anyone who dared to pose a threat to him. It gave him a strong sense of security.

Still, Gu Yuanqiao had no intention of letting the two of them keep arguing, knowing that making a huge scene wouldn’t reflect well on Sheng Yannian either.

He chimed in at the right moment, pulling on Sheng Yannian’s sleeve. “Yannian.”

Just that gentle call dissipated more than half of the hostility radiating from Sheng Yannian, who turned around immediately to look at Gu Yuanqiao.

Pulling him slightly back, Gu Yuanqiao said to Gu Yuanmu, “I believe there must be some misunderstanding here. Why don’t we do this, Yuanmu? Let me talk things over properly with Yannian first, so don’t rush.”

“Brother!” Gu Yuanmu was clearly dissatisfied with this outcome. He hadn’t endured public scrutiny just to walk away with an ambiguous answer.

“Yuanmu,” Gu Yuanqiao sighed lightly, showing no irritation, only difficulty. “This isn’t our company after all, and the person who issued the notice isn’t me. Even though Yannian and I are friends, I can’t dictate his decisions. Do you understand?”

“I… see.” Gu Yuanmu clenched his fists, forced to compromise. Making any more of a scene would only make him look unreasonable.

“As long as you understand. Take it easy these past few days, and if it’s inconvenient, you can work from home. Just like when we were in Country Y, alright?” Gu Yuanqiao smiled considerately.

“Thank you, Brother.”

The two exchanged a few more hypocritical remarks, and Gu Yuanqiao wrapped up the conversation just as Sheng Yannian was starting to lose his patience again, pulling him away to get lunch.

With that, the grand drama came to a close, and the onlookers had eaten their fill. Everyone walked away with fresh perspectives on the two members of the Gu family, though neither of the main parties cared much about that.

—

In the car, the two of them sat in the back row, and Sheng Yannian was still fuming slightly.

“Tsk, why didn’t you let me finish talking?”

“If you kept arguing, we wouldn’t even have time to eat.” Gu Yuanqiao knew Sheng Yannian was standing up for him, so he overlooked the other’s somewhat fiery temper.

“So you were just going to let him bully you?” The mere thought of Gu Yuanqiao’s passive stance stoked Sheng Yannian’s anger further. “Just for the sake of so-called reputation, you let yourself be a punching bag? Are you an idiot, people like that only push their luck!”

Gu Yuanqiao was amused by Sheng Yannian’s indignant expression, and felt a touch of curiosity. “You think he was bullying me?”

“Well, obviously?” Sheng Yannian wore an expression that said ‘what on earth are you talking about’. “You have to show strength, otherwise people will never stop encroaching on you.”

“But in the eyes of outsiders, he is still my brother.” Gu Yuanqiao lowered his gaze, lost in thought.

“So what if he’s a brother? Not even the king of heaven matters in a case like this!”

Gu Yuanqiao fell silent, genuinely feeling that in certain aspects, Sheng Yannian cared about personal boundaries even more than he did.

“Sigh.” Gu Yuanqiao sighed softly. “He’s still family, after all.”

“Cut it out, you’re not that softhearted.” Sheng Yannian rolled his eyes.

Caught in the act, Gu Yuanqiao didn’t get angry, neither admitting nor denying it. “I was just maintaining the Gu family’s image. Having two brothers screaming at each other over trivial matters doesn’t look good.”

“Yet some idiot was bursting with self-satisfaction over a temporary, petty win.” Sheng Yannian finished the rest of the thought in Gu Yuanqiao’s mind.

Gu Yuanqiao gave Sheng Yannian a surprised look.

“What? You think I don’t understand?” Sheng Yannian gave a light hum, turning his head to look earnestly at Gu Yuanqiao. “I just dislike dealing with insincere people, but that doesn’t mean I’m clueless about those double-dealing games.”

Gu Yuanqiao understood. After all, Sheng Yannian had reached this position in corporate leadership as well. He couldn’t resist reaching out to ruffle Sheng Yannian’s hair. “Yes, yes, yes, I shouldn’t have underestimated you.”

“Don’t treat me like a kid.” Sheng Yannian pouted and slapped Gu Yuanqiao’s hand away. “Anyway, with me around from now on, nobody is taking advantage of you.”

“My reputation is already shot anyway…” Sheng Yannian muttered under his breath, not caring all that much.

Gu Yuanqiao smiled without speaking, offering no promises. Watching Sheng Yannian’s full-of-fight expression, he thought silently to himself that he wouldn’t ever let anyone take advantage of him either.