Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, winter had arrived.
The Yunque private room was devoid of its usual decadent atmosphere, the table now crowded with liquor bottles.
Gu Chengyu reclined in the sofa, his long legs casually propped on the coffee table. The cigar between his fingers had burned halfway down, yet he hadn't taken many puffs.
His expression was somber, lacking its usual lazy arrogance, instead betraying an indescribable irritation.
"Tsk, looking at Young Master Gu's face today, someone's feeling unsatisfied," Shen Que swirled his glass, smiling like an old fox. "What, got tired of your little fairy already?"
Qin Yu chimed in, egging him on: "No way? Last time we saw that girl, she was all delicate and sweet, looked like she could charm the soul right out of a man. Could Chengyu really be bored of her so soon?"
Gu Chengyu shot them a cold glance, said nothing, picked up a glass from the table, and downed it in one go.
He recalled the recent evenings. Whenever he sought her out, she was either buried in a script or her schoolwork, often ignoring him completely.
"Cut the damn nonsense," Gu Chengyu's voice was low, tinged with impatience. "Annoying."
Zhou Yu'an, seated in a single armchair slightly further away, looked up at Gu Chengyu upon hearing this, his gaze thoughtful, but he remained silent.
Shen Que and Qin Yu exchanged a glance, both sensing something was up.
This lord was genuinely troubled, and it was eighty percent related to that woman.
"Did you really have a fight?" Shen Que leaned in closer, his tone uncharacteristically serious. "That little girl seemed quite well-behaved, doesn't look like the type to make you angry."
"Fight?" Gu Chengyu scoffed, his tone complex. "Would she dare?"
He paused, poured another glass of liquor, his eyes dark and unreadable. "She's very obedient, knows exactly how to stroke my fur."
"Her sweet talk comes in sets, and when she looks at you with those eyes, it's as if you're her whole world."
"Then what are you so annoyed about?" Qin Yu was puzzled.
"Because she's too damn good at it!" Gu Chengyu suddenly grew agitated, slamming his glass down heavily.
"When she was using me to deal with Lin Shu, she was as docile as anything, cooing 'A-Yu is the best' one moment after another."
"Now that Lin Shu is gone, her career is thriving, she's popular at school... she doesn't need me as much anymore. Even putting on a perfunctory act to placate me seems like a reluctant chore."
"She used to come over on her own for kisses and hugs. Now? If I don't go to her, she can hug that script and read all night!"
The more he talked, the more displeased he became.
With his status, Gu Chengyu could have any woman he wanted. Yet he'd somehow grown attached to this little thing he hadn't taken too seriously at first, only to find she might have just been using him as a stepping stone?
"I've spoiled her for so long, given her everything she wanted, protected her like she was the apple of my eye, and this is what I get in return?"
His voice held grievance and anger. "What a heartless little creature."
The private room fell silent for a moment.
Qin Yu clicked his tongue. "Whoa, getting the cold shoulder? Young Master Gu, you've come to this?"
Shen Que, however, stroked his chin, analyzing: "Sounds like the girl is quite strategic."
"Clear objectives, knows how to leverage influence, cools off after achieving her goals."
"Smart, but also pretty ruthless."
Zhou Yu'an, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up. His voice was mild, but it hit the nail on the head. "Chengyu, if you see it so clearly, why do you still let her?"
Gu Chengyu was silent for a moment, then took another fierce gulp of liquor.
Of course he saw it clearly.
Having navigated the romantic scene for so many years, how could he not tell genuine dependence from false flattery?
That little girl felt gratitude towards him, dependence, even a strange sort of attachment, but it distinctly lacked that fervent, can't-live-without-you intensity.
He knew she might not like him all that much.
But...
"She's young, and she's good," Gu Chengyu's voice lowered, tinged with resignation.
"When she came to me, she was pure and untouched. I'm her only man."
He remembered her soft, helpless form curled in his arms, the way she cried with reddened eyes beneath him, and the fire in his heart inexplicably subsided a little.
"Maybe... she just hasn't fully awakened to it yet," he said, as if finding an excuse for her, or perhaps convincing himself.
"I'll give her a little more time."
He believed that as long as he kept spoiling her, protecting her, letting her grow accustomed to his presence and dependent on his provisions, one day that feigned affection would turn real.
There was nothing Gu Chengyu wanted that he couldn't have.
Including her genuine heart.
Shen Que and Qin Yu looked at each other, neither saying another word.
Zhou Yu'an was somewhat dissatisfied with this answer.
He picked up his glass and took a light sip.
