Let Me Take Care of You

After that night, the two reconciled, and Yu Yaochen came to pick him up for work every day.

At the same time, Gu Yuechen made a surprising discovery: every time they met, he no longer saw Yu Yaochen's engagement ring.

He did not know whether Yu Yaochen had stopped wearing it altogether or simply did not wear it in front of him.

But either way, it had nothing to do with Gu Yuechen. What he wanted was the final outcome.

On his day off, Gu Yuechen made the rare trip to the little Western-style house to see Yu Yaochen.

Yu Yaochen was especially happy to see him. "It's so cold out. Aren't you freezing? You should have told me, so I could have picked you up."

Gu Yuechen stretched out his arms and wrapped them around Yu Yaochen's lean waist.

"I wanted to surprise you."

Yu Yaochen looked at him helplessly and raised a hand to rub his head.

"Come in."

Gu Yuechen nodded, then let go of him.

Yu Yaochen immediately took Gu Yuechen's hand, passing the warmth of his palm to him.

After they entered, Yu Yaochen went to the kitchen to make tea, while Gu Yuechen sat on the sofa and looked around in boredom.

"This tea was a gift from one of my uncles. It smells especially nice. Try it." Yu Yaochen came out carrying two cups of tea.

Gu Yuechen took only one sip before setting his cup down. Then he said, "You still haven't told Doctor Pei, have you?"

The sudden topic made Yu Yaochen pause.

"No, not yet."

Gu Yuechen frowned. "Then why hasn't he come looking for you here?"

The last time he had come to the little Western-style house to sleep with Yu Yaochen, he had deliberately left something in the trash can in the small room.

Though it was risky, he wanted Pei Huanyi to notice that Yu Yaochen was cheating, so he could prepare in advance and secure more benefits for himself.

But judging from this, Pei Huanyi apparently had not noticed.

"I told him he doesn't need to come here to find me," Yu Yaochen said.

Gu Yuechen blurted out, "Why?"

Yu Yaochen glanced at him, not taking his excessive reaction to heart.

"Before I completely dissolve the engagement, I don't want the Pei Household to discover your existence." A rare solemnity appeared in Yu Yaochen's expression. "If they find out, things will become troublesome."

"What if they refuse to let you dissolve the engagement?" Gu Yuechen suddenly thought of this serious problem.

Yu Yaochen smiled at him. "They won't. Trust me. Whether they agree or not, I'll dissolve it."

With those words, Gu Yuechen finally felt at ease.

He picked up his teacup again and took a sip, then smiled. "It really does taste good."

"If you like it, take some home to brew."

The smile at the corners of Gu Yuechen's lips faded a little. He set down his cup and said in an indifferent tone, "Forget it. I don't have any tea ware at home. It doesn't deserve tea leaves this good."

Hearing that, Yu Yaochen could not help but feel sorry for him.

When he had discovered that Gu Yuechen was hiding his home address, he had more or less guessed that his family might not be well-off.

But he had not expected things to be this bad.

Yu Yaochen had grown up cherished by his parents and could not understand why there were parents in this world who gave birth to children but did not raise them.

He did not dare imagine how Gu Yuechen had endured it all. It must have been very hard.

Yu Yaochen reached out, picked Gu Yuechen up, and settled him on his lap.

He leaned down slightly, pressed his face against Gu Yuechen's neck, and said softly, "You've worked hard. From now on, let me take care of you."

After a pause, he added, "And your grandmother."

When Gu Yuechen heard those words, his heart trembled for no reason.

The feeling was strange, making Gu Yuechen somewhat irritated.

He pushed against Yu Yaochen's chest, his expression blank. "I can take care of myself and my grandmother."

Yu Yaochen curled his lips into a smile and did not argue.

"Yuechen, is there anything you want to learn?"

"What?" Gu Yuechen did not understand.

Yu Yaochen patiently explained, "Is there anything you're interested in? Languages, art, horseback riding—anything."

Gu Yuechen rolled his eyes. "How could I afford to learn any of that?"

Ever since his family circumstances had been exposed, Gu Yuechen had become increasingly candid, speaking without any pretense.

"It's fine. I'll pay." Yu Yaochen said, "Whatever you want to learn, I can make it happen."

He wanted to make up for the childhood Gu Yuechen had missed out on.

But Gu Yuechen misunderstood Yu Yaochen's meaning, thinking Yu Yaochen looked down on him for lacking refinement.

What use would it be even if he learned? He was not going to marry Yu Yaochen anyway.

Besides, he had no talent. If he went, he would probably only feel even worse about himself.

"No." Gu Yuechen said coldly, "I don't want to learn anything."

"Then do you want to study?" Yu Yaochen continued, "I looked into it a couple days ago. You can start with adult education, and once you meet certain requirements, I'll take you abroad to study. How does that sound?"

"I'm stupid, and I don't have any foundation."

Yu Yaochen encouraged Gu Yuechen gently. "It's okay. I can teach you, or I can hire a tutor for you. You aren't stupid. You just never had the chance to study. What you lack is an opportunity. Once you have one, you can become an outstanding person too."

Seeing Gu Yuechen risk everything to falsify his résumé just to get a job made Yu Yaochen's heart ache.

He hoped Gu Yuechen would never have to do such things again and could find a satisfying job openly and honestly.

"What do you think?" Yu Yaochen kissed his cheek, smiling with his eyes. "Don't feel pressured. Let's just treat it as giving it a try."

Gu Yuechen did not want to keep discussing this topic.

He and Yu Yaochen would not go far. Once the engagement was dissolved, he would disappear completely from Yu Yaochen's world—block and delete him, the whole package.

And Yu Yaochen wanted to spend money on his education?

It would already be merciful if Gu Yuechen did not expose Yu Yaochen's filthy deeds to the media.

"We'll talk about it later." Gu Yuechen gave a vague reply, then stood and pushed Yu Yaochen down onto the sofa.

Yu Yaochen looked at him in surprise, then watched as Gu Yuechen began unfastening the buttons of his clothes.

"I want it." Gu Yuechen said expressionlessly, "Come to think of it, we haven't done it in a long time."

Of course, he did not want to do it with Yu Yaochen.

But he was afraid that if he did not take some action, Yu Yaochen would keep chattering on about this meaningless topic.

"Wait." Yu Yaochen's breathing grew a little heavy as Gu Yuechen's hand slipped inside his clothes. "This is... the living room..."

"What's wrong with the living room?" Gu Yuechen did not care.

Yu Yaochen's handsome face had already begun to redden. Both hands rested on Gu Yuechen's shoulders, but he did not use any force, as though he were hesitating.

"It's not very appropriate." Yu Yaochen's voice carried a trace of desire. "It feels a little strange."

"But I want to try it." Gu Yuechen raised his eyes to meet Yu Yaochen's gaze.

He was waiting for Yu Yaochen to push him away.

Then he would have an excuse to lose his temper at Yu Yaochen and shift the topic from earlier.

But he had underestimated Yu Yaochen's tolerance for him.

After a long while, Yu Yaochen let go and slowly closed his eyes.

Gu Yuechen's brows drew together, a flash of mockery passing through his eyes. He said in a frosty voice, "Turn around. Face away from me."

He could *Yu Yaochen, but he did not want to see Yu Yaochen's face.

Yu Yaochen paused, then obediently turned around and knelt on the sofa as Gu Yuechen had instructed.

Gu Yuechen took off both their clothes. Just as he was about to take the next step, the sound of someone entering a password suddenly came from outside the door.