He Only Shows His True Colors in Front of Me : Chapter 8

The next day, Gu Yuanqiao woke up very early due to his biological clock. When he drew the curtains, he realized it was not much brighter outside than it was indoors.

The sky was weighed down by dark clouds, and the strong wind whipped the trees in the neighborhood back and forth as if they might snap at any moment. One didn’t even need to think to know how hard the rain would fall in a bit.

He pulled the curtains shut again, headed to the bathroom to wash up, and then made his way downstairs.

Just as he reached the top of the stairs, he caught the aroma of food, and his stomach rumbled right on cue.

Waking up to a delicious breakfast put Gu Yuanqiao in an exceptionally good mood.

When he arrived at the dining room, he saw Sheng Yannian sitting at one end of the dining table, sipping porridge while scrolling through his phone. On the seat opposite him sat a steaming bowl of porridge, and it was blindingly obvious who it was for.

“Morning,” Gu Yuanqiao said as he pulled out his chair.

“Morning,” Sheng Yannian replied politely, sparing him a glance for a single second.

After that brief exchange of pleasantries, Gu Yuanqiao picked up his spoon and brought the plain porridge to his mouth. The softly cooked, glutinous grains of rice instantly filled his mouth, the tender bits of meat melted the moment they hit his tongue, and the fresh flavor of the seafood gave his appetite a massive boost. The temperature was also just right, and as he swallowed this mouthful, a comforting warmth traveled all the way down his empty esophagus.

Gu Yuanqiao picked up a fried dough stick, dipping it into the plain porridge one moment and into the soy sauce the next.

His satisfaction was visible to the naked eye.

Sitting at the other end, Sheng Yannian had put down his phone at some point and was now focusing intently on eating his breakfast, though he didn’t miss the chance to observe the person across from him.

If someone had told him before that he would one day live under the same roof as Gu Yuanqiao and even eat breakfast together, he would have thought that person had lost their mind. But right now, let alone eating breakfast together so harmoniously, they had even done much more intimate things together.

Looking at Gu Yuanqiao’s deeply satisfied expression, Sheng Yannian’s mind inexplicably drifted back to that ridiculous night.

The other man’s mouth had been completely stuffed by him, struggling to take it all in, his eyes hazy from discomfort, and the corners of his eyes brimming with tears. The tip of his tongue had gently brushed past…

Just as he was thinking about it, Sheng Yannian saw Gu Yuanqiao extend the tip of his tongue to curl a stray grain of rice from the corner of his mouth back into his lips. Sheng Yannian found that fleeting flash of crimson blindingly sharp, and at the same time, an nameless fire surged straight into his mind.

“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath, then picked up his bowl and buried his face in his porridge to eat.

Since there were only two people in the entire house, Gu Yuanqiao naturally heard that random outburst of profanity. But he couldn’t be bothered to overthink it, as this breakfast made him very happy.

Ever since graduating from high school, he had lived abroad and eaten Western food constantly. However, he had always felt that he possessed a Chinese stomach and could never get used to Western meals. Over time, his passion for his three daily meals faded. He would eat when he was hungry and skip it when he wasn’t.

After returning to the country, he hadn’t properly enjoyed a Chinese meal due to constant business dinners. He never expected that the first meal to truly satisfy him would be prepared by Sheng Yannian. Thinking of this, Gu Yuanqiao spoke up to ask.

“Did you make this?” Gu Yuanqiao recalled last night’s dinner. Because time was tight, Sheng Yannian had made pasta. The taste was excellent, and even someone like him who didn’t care for Western food had surprisingly cleaned his plate. At that time, Gu Yuanqiao had formed a general assessment of Sheng Yannian’s cooking skills.

“Who else would it be?” Sheng Yannian snapped off a piece of the fried dough stick to eat, pausing at the end. “The fried dough stick isn’t mine, though.”

“The porridge is really good,” Gu Yuanqiao said with a smile.

Sheng Yannian didn’t respond but let out an ambiguous, soft grunt after putting the dough stick into his mouth.

He had a pretty good understanding of his own cooking skills, mostly because his older brother was incredibly lazy. If no one watched over him, his brother would skip meals constantly. To prevent his brother’s stomach from falling ill at such a young age, he had no choice but to personally take charge of his brother’s diet. Traditional Chinese and Western meals were a breeze for him, and when he had time, he even planned to study cuisines from other regions just in case. Very few people knew that he could cook, and right now, this uninvited guest was getting the benefits for cheap.

Before long, Gu Yuanqiao finished his porridge, and Sheng Yannian watched him carry his bowl toward the kitchen. He thought the guy was pretty well-mannered to know to clear his own dishes after eating, but a few seconds later, he saw Gu Yuanqiao sit back down with a massive, completely full bowl of porridge he had scooped himself.

“….” Sheng Yannian felt his facial muscles twitch uncontrollably, and he couldn’t help but snap, “Are you the reincarnation of someone who starved to death? Eating this much?!”

“It’s going to be eaten anyway,” Gu Yuanqiao said righteously, seeing absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Sheng Yannian looked at the slight upward curve of Gu Yuanqiao’s lips and the warmth in his eyes that perhaps even the man himself hadn’t noticed. The complaints that wanted to burst from his mouth rolled around in his throat before being swallowed back down. He stared for a moment, then turned his head away to finish off his leftover dough stick before the other man could notice.

His heart skipped a few beats; just now, he had actually found the other guy a little… a little bit cute…?

“Tsk,” Sheng Yannian thought to himself, deciding to get a physical exam as soon as he had time to see if something was wrong with his head.

On the other side, Gu Yuanqiao heard the noise and glanced up, wondering what was wrong with the second young master Sheng now. He was perfectly fine a moment ago, but now he was acting a bit irritable again.

He figured he might really need to carefully ponder those titles and rumors surrounding Sheng Yannian.

After breakfast, Gu Yuanqiao stood up to help his digestion, staring out the floor to ceiling window as if spacing out. People who knew him well would probably recognize that Gu Yuanqiao was in a good mood right now, one that could even be described as joyful.

Before he had stood there for long, a ringtone shattered the silence. Gu Yuanqiao picked up his phone to look, and his expression visibly darkened. He didn’t pick up immediately but first cast a glance at Sheng Yannian who was sitting on the sofa, and only then did he slowly answer the call and bring it to his ear.

“Hello?” A voice picked up, revealing neither joy nor anger.

Sheng Yannian didn’t say much. Before Gu Yuanqiao could speak again, he stood up and walked toward the second floor. He didn’t have that much curiosity regarding other people’s privacy, and last night could merely be called an accident.

Sheng Yannian walked into the study and sat in his office chair. Even though he couldn’t go to the company due to the weather, some work still had to be done. Especially the cooperation with Wanjia Real Estate; he had to ensure absolutely nothing went wrong.

When the study door was knocked on, Sheng Yannian glanced at the time and realized nearly an hour had already passed.

“Come in.”

With permission granted, the person outside pushed the door open and entered.

Gu Yuanqiao sized up Sheng Yannian’s study. The area to the left of the door was meant for receiving guests, complete with a sofa, a coffee table, and everything else needed. The right side was where Sheng Yannian worked, featuring an office desk, an office chair, and a large computer. The bookshelves were built into the wall. A single glance revealed they were filled with professional, incredibly boring books. On the leftmost wall, there seemed to be a hidden door, likely connecting to Sheng Yannian’s master bedroom.

“Something wrong?” Sheng Yannian put down his work and asked, leaning back against his chair.

Gu Yuanqiao didn’t walk forward but simply leaned against the doorframe, shifting his gaze back onto Sheng Yannian.

Just now at the dining table, he had already felt that the way Sheng Yannian wore his hair down seemed to suit his age group much better. It even made his usually sharp brow and eyes look a lot softer now.

“Do you have a spare computer? I need to use one,” Gu Yuanqiao said, keeping it brief and to the point.

“There’s a laptop kept under the coffee table, the password is 1290.” Sheng Yannian didn’t say much else; he didn’t expect Gu Yuanqiao to sit in his house for days without doing any work at all. In the past, because his secretary or some friends staying over would more or less encounter work emergencies, Sheng Yannian had simply bought a public laptop to keep on hand just in case.

“This computer is for public use, so if you work on any files or private documents, remember to wipe everything clean afterward,” Sheng Yannian couldn’t help but remind him.

Gu Yuanqiao’s hand paused as he opened the laptop. Even though he knew the other man meant well, he still gave him a thoroughly complicated look and said, “Do I look that stupid to you?”

“….” Fuck, he really brought that on himself by talking too much.

Sheng Yannian rolled his eyes at the other man and went back to his own work.

The cooperation with Wanjia Real Estate was essentially finalized, but the longer it dragged on, the more he worried about unexpected complications. Sheng Yannian went over the relevant contents one last time and closed the final version of the document. Another two hours had passed.

He didn’t shut down the computer since he still had work to do later. He took a sip of his coffee, which had already gone cold, and leaned back slightly to relax.

As usual, he looked straight ahead, letting his gaze wander. So, unsurprisingly, he caught sight of a certain someone who was also working.

Since there was a height difference between the sofa and the coffee table, Gu Yuanqiao had placed a throw pillow on the floor and was kneeling on it to make his lower back more comfortable.

Sheng Yannian saw that Gu Yuanqiao’s back was perfectly straight without a single trace of discomfort, and his well-defined fingers were flying across the keyboard. His lenses reflected the light emanating from the computer screen, and his lips were slightly pursed, making his emotions impossible to read. One could very intuitively feel this person’s aura and working capability.

This Gu Yuanqiao was different from any version Sheng Yannian had seen before; he lacked the uncomfortable fake pleasantries, the sharp biting wit when trading barbs, and he wasn’t as cold as he had been last night.

He was like a vast ocean, seemingly able to accommodate everything, but no one knew what kind of energy lay beneath the calm surface. Sheng Yannian believed that no one would want to find out.

He recalled the evaluations of Gu Yuanqiao from various people around him, which all seemed completely different. Some said he was very gentle, very considerate, and very humble; others said he was incredibly hypocritical, a wolf in sheep’s clothing; of course, the majority of people praised him for his outstanding work competence, calling him a leader among the younger generation.

Perhaps because his day-to-day interactions with Gu Yuanqiao consisted of fooling around and bickering, he always ended up ignoring that third point.

While Sheng Yannian was still letting his mind wander, Gu Yuanqiao had already wrapped up his work at some point. The moment he turned his head, he saw Sheng Yannian staring at him in a daze. Although the other man averted his gaze incredibly fast once he snapped out of it, he still caught it.

“Young Mr. Sheng, why are you looking at me so sneakily? It’s not like I won’t let you look,” Gu Yuanqiao teased.

Sheng Yannian glued his eyes to his screen, cursing silently in his mind. His mouth remained stubborn: “Stop flattering yourself, why would I look at you?”

“You’ll have to ask yourself that.” Gu Yuanqiao stood up, holding the laptop, and walked toward Sheng Yannian. Because he had been kneeling for a bit too long, his legs were numb, so he walked slowly.

By the time he reached Sheng Yannian’s desk, Sheng Yannian had already calmed himself down.

Gu Yuanqiao placed the laptop on the desk, propped his hands on the surface, and leaned his upper body forward, looking down slightly at Sheng Yannian. His voice was low, sounding simultaneously distant and near.

“So~ why exactly is young Mr. Sheng looking at me?”

Sheng Yannian was caught off guard as Gu Yuanqiao’s face appeared right in front of him, incredibly close. He could see the fox-like eyes hidden behind the lenses, the thick, slightly curved eyelashes, and the dark mole under his left eye that was usually hard to see clearly. As Gu Yuanqiao’s mouth opened and closed, Sheng Yannian realized he hadn’t heard a single thing the other man said; he only felt that the red tongue inside the man’s mouth kept drawing his attention.

His body uncontrollably moved forward a fraction, and then he heard a soft chuckle, filled with triumph and teasing.

Sheng Yannian suddenly snapped back to his senses and slammed himself backward as if the person in front of him were a terrifying monster.

Gu Yuanqiao still had that expression with curving eyes and a smiling mouth. Seeing Sheng Yannian lose his composure made his smile grow even wider.

“A male fox spirit,” these words suddenly flashed across Sheng Yannian’s mind.

“Am I good-looking?” Gu Yuanqiao continued to smile, his voice practically carrying a hypnotic charm.

“Flattering… yourself,” Sheng Yannian said dryly. If one ignored his ears turning bright red, it might have been a bit more convincing.

But Gu Yuanqiao merely raised an eyebrow, knowing when to stop, and didn’t continue to provoke him.

He pulled over an empty chair from the side and sat down opposite Sheng Yannian. Just like that, the office desk suddenly felt half as large.

“Something wrong?” Sheng Yannian looked at Gu Yuanqiao warily, terrified the other man would utter something shocking again.

“I have a business deal here, do you want to talk?” Gu Yuanqiao smiled, switching back to his usual business-minded expression.

Seeing that the other man’s expression was not a joke, Sheng Yannian also reined in his emotions, interlocking his fingers on the desk. “Let’s hear it?”

“You should also know what my family does abroad, Calista Hotels. It’s considered the top luxury hotel chain globally. Basically, this hotel exists in every developed country. A big reason I returned to the country this time is that I want to bring the hotel here. And S City, as one of our first-tier cities, is my first stop.”

Sheng Yannian didn’t miss the fleeting flash of absolute determination in Gu Yuanqiao’s eyes. He naturally knew about Calista; it was incredibly popular last century, and nowadays, basically any family with a bit of wealth and influence had more or less heard of it. The hotel was originally said to have been built by a man back then for the woman he loved. After the couple passed away, their children didn’t want to waste the resources, so they converted it into a hotel. They never expected the business to grow more and more prosperous, eventually expanding overseas. A big reason this hotel was loved by the wealthy was due to its design and service. Every country’s Calista was different, but they all conformed to local characteristics and culture.

It reached a point where during its most legendary period, it was teased by financial newspapers that Calista had become one of the markers of whether a country had developed successfully.

However, with the development of the times and the stratification of wealth classes, Calista was now known more among the wealthy elite, while its visibility among ordinary citizens had dropped significantly.

But it was undeniable that cooperating with Calista was virtually a guaranteed profitable venture.

“Then why choose to cooperate with us?” As far as he knew, Gu Yuanqiao should have quite a few options. Although the Sheng family was considered a big player in S City, they weren’t the only ones. Once this piece of prime real estate was accepted, it would bound to shatter the existing balance. Cooperating with other families afterward would likely become very difficult.

“Why?” Gu Yuanqiao hadn’t expected Sheng Yannian to ask this, since this was basically a windfall dropping from the sky. “Professionally, I’ve set my sights on a piece of land and want to use it as the site for Calista. And the ownership of that land lies with your Sheng An Group. Personally…”

Gu Yuanqiao switched to a relaxed tone and continued, “For my first partner after returning to the country, I naturally want to choose someone whose background I know well or am a bit familiar with, otherwise what if I get scammed?”

“….” Looking at Gu Yuanqiao’s smiling face, Sheng Yannian silently thought to himself that it was far more likely for other people to get scammed by him.

“Besides, young Mr. Sheng has been mingling in S City for many years, so if I need to find people to cooperate with in the future, I might even have to learn a thing or two from you.”

Sheng Yannian let Gu Yuanqiao’s polite pleasantries go in one ear and out the other. He believed that if there were a glass of wine here, the guy would probably shamelessly drain it first as a toast, putting on a perfect show.

“You’ve managed to say both sides of the argument yourself,” Sheng Yannian said expressionlessly.

“Haha,” Gu Yuanqiao still maintained a flawless smile. “So, are we cooperating, Mr. Sheng?”

“Send me the contract to look over.”

Gu Yuanqiao, completely prepared, pushed the laptop that had been neglected this entire time right in front of Sheng Yannian.

“You were typing this up just now?”

“Yeah.”

Sheng Yannian skimmed through it roughly; the key points weren’t ambiguous at all.

“You had this idea from the very beginning?”

“No, I thought of it after making that phone call.”

Sheng Yannian glanced at him, and the other party clearly didn’t intend to explain further. He didn’t push either, but carefully read through the contract.

The contract was written very comprehensively; it was hard to believe it was the product of a spontaneous idea that took just over two hours. Even some clauses that might need to be filled in by himself were thoughtfully left blank. It was an incredibly upfront contract, completely free of traps and deception. It even felt more favorable to his side.

“You…” After reading the contract, Sheng Yannian looked at Gu Yuanqiao with some conflict. “Are you this… with everyone you cooperate with?”

“Of course not.” Gu Yuanqiao saw what Sheng Yannian wanted to ask. “I am a businessman, and I don’t do things that harm my own interests. As for this contract, you can understand it as my sincerity or my stepping stone to open up the S City market. I don’t mind conceding some of my own interests to an old friend and my first partner.”

Sheng Yannian observed the other party; just like this contract, he was completely upfront and filled with sincerity.

But Sheng Yannian had, after all, traded wits and barbs with Gu Yuanqiao for so many years, and knew exactly what kind of person he was. When a child quieted down, they were bound to be plotting trouble.

He thought about it and decided to test the other party.

“This contract is very good, and there aren’t any major issues. You don’t even need to concede that much profit to me. A fifty fifty split is fine.”

Sheng Yannian could feel the air freeze for a split second the moment his words left his mouth.

“The condition?” Gu Yuanqiao said sharply.

“The condition is that Calista’s relevant security systems and equipment must be purchased from and use Kiwi Technology’s.”

Gu Yuanqiao silently looked at Sheng Yannian, the curve of his lips not changing a single fraction. But Sheng Yannian could tell that the warmth in Gu Yuanqiao’s eyes from before had transformed into scrutiny and calculation.

Calista had its own independently developed security system and had always used its own. This significantly reduced external expenses and protected customer privacy. If they purchased externally…

“I know what you’re worried about,” Sheng Yannian spoke up at an unhurried pace. “Calista has its own security system, but domestic and international environments are different after all. If your security system needs to pass the relevant reviews here, who knows how long it will take. Secondly, your security system isn’t comprehensive; some areas are still easy to find vulnerabilities in, and besides, yearly maintenance and updates must cost a lot of extra money, right? While Kiwi Technology’s security system hasn’t been officially launched yet, the entire company is already using it, and it’s currently performing beautifully. It just needs an opportunity to face the public.”

“I only need Calista to use our products and system for three years, the price will be at a ten percent discount off the market rate, and maintenance and upgrades will be free during those two years. Regarding privacy, I will set up a separate encryption key for you, and I can guarantee that the highest system permissions will belong only to you and me.”

Gu Yuanqiao still didn’t say anything, so Sheng Yannian had no choice but to continue speaking.

“During these three years, you can absolutely compare Calista’s security systems and performance both domestically and abroad. I believe our product is the optimal choice. After three years, if you still want to continue cooperating, I can guarantee you will receive even more favorable terms than usual.”

Gu Yuanqiao lowered his eyes. The confidence and passion in Sheng Yannian’s eyes weren’t faked. The other man truly believed in their product. But… Kiwi Technology… it wasn’t that he hadn’t heard of it, it was just that compared to some tech giants that had already grown massive, it was simply too inconspicuous. He naturally knew that Kiwi Technology belonged to Sheng Yannian personally and had nothing to do with the Sheng An Group.

Gu Yuanqiao looked back at Sheng Yannian. The other man looked completely calm, but his slightly stiffened spine still gave him away.

After a long while, Gu Yuanqiao let out a sigh. Forget it, just like he needed Sheng An Group’s stepping stone to open up S City’s hotel market, Kiwi also needed Calista to truly open up S City’s tech market.

“Draft the contract, and then send me some of Kiwi’s relevant products, whether launched or unlaunched. I need to do a market evaluation and investigation with my team.”

“Deal!” Sheng Yannian was a bit excited. If this deal went through, in a sense, it would count as the first massive deal he had negotiated entirely on his own.

Kiwi was different from Sheng An Group; it was founded through a partnership with a close friend during his sophomore year. It counted as his true blood, sweat, and tears, his baby.

Gu Yuanqiao leaned back against his chair as notification sounds continuously went off on his phone. Sheng Yannian’s enthusiastic display made him want to chuckle a bit.

“Ha, little brat, quite cute,” Gu Yuanqiao chuckled silently to himself.

Faced with the male fox spirit Gu Yuanqiao, the silly little pup Sheng Yannian shows his level of expertise is still far too shallow!

Author’s Note

(It’s fine, Mommy will let you rise up in the next chapter!)

A quick preview: confinement, toys, riding, holding and fucking…

A happy chapter for the puppy~ let’s guess how many rounds the two of them go? Heheh.