Gu Chengyu stepped out of the shadows, his face dark enough to drip water.
He walked to the bench, bent down, and with a motion that could hardly be called gentle, he scooped up the little drunk cat who was still mumbling in a daze, "I don't like dirty A-Yu," into a horizontal carry.
Su Qianqian was startled by the sudden lift, wrapping her slender arms around his neck. Her small face nestled dependently into the crook of his neck, unconsciously murmuring:
"A-Yu, where did you just go..."
She had no idea how cruelly ironic her intimate gesture seemed to Gu Chengyu at this moment.
The muscles in Gu Chengyu's arms, holding her, were taut, the knuckles still oozing blood, yet he seemed to feel no pain.
The more he had once adored this dependent, coquettish clinginess of hers, the more his heart felt carved by knives now.
All that intimacy he had believed was unique, all that attachment for which he had willingly offered everything—it turned out, it was all built on such a ridiculous and cruel foundation.
It was all fake.
Holding her, he strode through the garden, ignoring Zhou Yu'an's complicated gaze behind him, and headed straight for the car parked outside.
...
Cloud Peak Apartments.
Gu Chengyu kicked the bedroom door open and unceremoniously tossed the person in his arms onto the soft bed.
Su Qianqian was jolted dizzy by the fall, frowning in displeasure and whimpering as she tried to sit up.
But Gu Chengyu was already walking over with a cup of the bitterest hangover remedy he had just ordered someone to buy.
His eyes were icy, devoid of their usual tenderness. His large hand gripped Su Qianqian's chin, forcing her to look up.
"Drink it," he commanded, his voice cold and arrogant.
Su Qianqian wrinkled her nose at the foul smell, instinctively turning her head away to avoid it. "No... it's nasty..."
"You have no choice!" Gu Chengyu roared at her. Applying force, he pressed the rim of the cup to her lips and almost roughly poured the bitter liquid down her throat.
"Cough... ugh..." Su Qianqian choked, tears instantly welling up. She struggled to push him away but was trapped tightly in his embrace until most of the medicinal liquid was forced down her.
The remedy would take time to work.
Gu Chengyu released her, tossing the cup casually onto the floor where it shattered with a crisp sound.
He stood by the bed, looking down at Su Qianqian curled up on the sheets, coughing tearfully, his eyes churning with fury and agony.
Su Qianqian's drunkenness hadn't fully receded, but she was slightly more lucid now.
She looked up with confused, fearful tear-filled eyes at the man before her who was both familiar and a stranger.
His gaze was terrifying, as if he wanted to devour her whole, nothing like the A-Yu who usually doted on her.
"A-Yu..." she called out timidly.
"What's wrong? You hurt me just now..."
"What's wrong with me?" Gu Chengyu echoed as if hearing a great joke.
He leaned down, planting his hands on either side of her, completely enveloping her in his shadow. His sharp phoenix eyes bore into her:
"Su Qianqian, you tell me. What exactly does 'Su Su charging treasure' mean?"
Su Qianqian was frightened by the madness and pain in his eyes, stammering, "I-It's... it's what fills me with energy..."
"Lies!" Gu Chengyu cut her off sharply, making her body tremble slightly.
"You got close to me, depended on me, let me touch you, all just because I could make your body better. 'Filling you with energy' was just a way to mislead me, a disguised excuse!"
"Su Qianqian, in your heart, is there any difference between lying beneath me receiving my affection, and you taking a dose of tonic medicine?"
"Answer me!"
