Chapter 92: Vows at Sunrise, Forever Begins
In truth, it did not really matter whether they looked for a room or not.
Gu Tang had already given all the staff on the island time off and sent them away with Jiang Yiwen.
At the moment, the entire island held only him and Young Master Gu.
No matter where they were or what they did, no one would interrupt them.
But the thought of being intimate out in the open beneath the sky was simply too embarrassing. Just imagining it made Gu Tang’s sense of shame explode, so he leaned close to Young Master Gu’s ear and softly told him the location of a room.
A few minutes later, Gu Tang was placed onto a large bed covered in spotless white sheets.
He had been carried the whole way there, and at some point his shoes had disappeared who knew where.
His little suit jacket had already been pushed down to his arms, hanging loosely from them, while Young Master Gu was busy untying the ribbon at the collar of his shirt, the one that had been tied into a bow.
It was as if he were unwrapping an exquisitely packaged gift.
As Gu Qinian worked at the ribbon, he muttered, “…Why is this so hard to untie?”
Gu Tang immediately became alert and grabbed his hand. “You can’t tear it!”
Gu Qinian lifted his eyes.
If Gu Tang had spoken even a second later, the shirt would already have been ripped into four or five little pieces in his hands.
He had just been about to start tearing it open.
“You can’t tear it…”
Gu Tang was panting badly. “Yiyi said she hand-stitched it for more than a month…”
Gu Qinian clicked his tongue and stared darkly at the delicate lace trimming the hem of the shirt around the young man’s waist, then made a decision—
“Then we just won’t take it off.”
Gu Tang: “?”
He glanced downward. Young Master Gu was already at the point of no return.
He was letting him off that easily?
The facts soon proved that Gu Tang had been overthinking it.
Not long after, the pure white little suit jacket had been stripped off and thrown aside, and the matching white trousers had been tossed onto the carpet too.
The only thing left on Gu Tang’s body was that troublesome shirt. The moment he moved a little, the thin, semi-transparent lace at his waist swayed with him, and his small rounded navel showed faintly through.
A hand clasped tightly around the slender waist beneath the lace.
Grabbing the ribbon at his collar, Gu Tang kicked his legs in humiliation. “Wait…”
Yet even as he spoke, the other man’s hand had already slid over his back.
“Hm?”
Gu Qinian suddenly made a puzzled sound.
Before Gu Tang could react, he was flipped over.
The moment Gu Qinian saw the style of the back of the young man’s shirt, his brow lifted in delighted surprise, as if he had discovered a whole new world.
Gu Tang curled in on himself shyly, not realizing that doing so only exposed his back even more.
A beautiful pair of shoulder blades spread there, like a fallen angel just about to unfold its wings. The diamond-shaped cutout in the design extended all the way down toward his tailbone, faintly revealing two little hollows at his lower back.
And lower still, the semi-transparent lace covered a full, rounded curve…
Gu Tang heard the sound of Gu Qinian swallowing.
Shuddering in embarrassment, he hurriedly tried to burrow into the blanket.
But his calf was caught, and he was dragged back out.
The lace panel was lifted completely and draped over his face.
With remarkable “consideration,” Gu Qinian said, “If you’re shy, keep it covered.”
But through the tiny gaps in the lace, Gu Tang could still make out every single one of his movements. That hazy, blurred view only made him more unbearably ashamed, until even his fingers trembled.
Gu Qinian kissed him through the thin lace.
Gradually, that delicate layer of fabric grew damp.
It clung stickily to his lips.
Gu Tang made a muffled sound. “Take it off…”
A low laugh came from above him, and the sound made his ears go numb and his heart tremble with it.
Little by little, Gu Qinian pulled the lace away from his face and, smiling, asked, “Like this… doesn’t it feel like lifting a bridal veil?”
Gu Tang’s face was red clear through, and his wet lashes trembled.
For one whole night, he became Young Master Gu’s bride.
By the end, he had cried until he could not even cry anymore. All he could do was let out pitiful little breaths and weak whimpers, mumbling that next time he would never wear clothes like this again.
“Wear them. Just wear them for me.”
Young Master Gu kissed him as he coaxed him. “When we go back, let’s order a few more sets. We can try other designs too.”
Gu Tang shook his head and refused. “No!”
Gu Qinian said, “Just treat it as helping a friend’s business.”
Gu Tang: “Mm…”
The other man’s gentle kisses traveled slowly down along the edge of his shoulder blades, and even his toes curled up in shame.
Being kissed and coaxed like that,
who knew how much time passed before Gu Tang finally drifted off to sleep.
There were still undried tears clinging to his thick lashes, and someone kissed them away one by one…
—
The sound of the tide came to his ears, and faintly, the calls of seabirds could still be heard.
Gu Tang’s lashes fluttered.
His face felt a little itchy.
The moment he opened his eyes, Young Master Gu’s face filled his view.
How long had it been already…
Why was he still kissing him?
Only after seeing him wake did Gu Qinian lift his head. “You’re finally awake. You slept for so long.”
Gu Tang: “…”
And whose fault was that?!
Of course Gu Qinian knew it was his own doing. He kissed the young man’s furrowed brow. “You can be mad after this. First, let’s watch the sunrise.”
The sunrise?
Gu Tang looked around and only then realized he was not in the room.
He was sitting on the soft sand, with the deep dark sea stretching out in the distance.
When he turned his head, he saw a round sun slowly rising from the horizon. In an instant, soft sunlight spilled across both the sea and the beach.
He was being held tightly.
The other man’s chin rested in the hollow of his neck, rubbing lightly against him.
“Gu Tang…”
Gu Qinian suddenly called his name in a low voice.
“A long time ago, I was like that sea—dark and bottomless. And you were like that little sun.”
“Only after the sun appeared did the sea finally have colors other than black.”
Gu Tang’s heart stirred.
In his previous life, he too had once imagined sitting by the sea with the person he loved, watching the sunrise together.
He had never expected that extravagant dream would actually come true now.
Turning around, he leaned against the other man’s chest and said softly, “Without the sea, the sun would be lonely too.”
Gu Qinian tightened his arms around him. “We’ll always be together.”
Gu Tang felt the same way. “Mm.”
He tipped up his head and kissed the other man’s beautifully shaped chin. “What made you think of coming out here to watch the sunrise?”
Gu Qinian lowered his eyes to look at the beloved young man in his arms. “When I realized the whole island had only the two of us on it, I carried you out here.”
The moment he heard that, Gu Tang suddenly felt that something was off.
Inside the bathrobe he was wearing, it felt strangely cool…
He curled up his legs and asked with a red face, “Where are my pants?”
“I’m not wearing any?”
Pretending to be confused, Gu Qinian reached into the bathrobe and felt around. “Oh. I forgot.”
“You did that on purpose!”
Gu Tang reached out and pinched Young Master Gu’s cheeks, pulling them hard to both sides until that handsome face was completely distorted.
Gu Qinian was not afraid of pain at all. Instead, he pulled Gu Tang onto his lap.
This deserted island had fulfilled a hidden desire deep in his heart.
His possessiveness and obsession toward Gu Tang were too strong.
More than once, he had imagined whether it might be possible to trap the young man in a space that belonged only to him, where no one else could see him and he would belong to him alone.
But if he ever truly did that, he would certainly frighten Gu Tang badly.
So thoughts like those could only remain in his mind. He could not even say them aloud.
Yet the environment before him had unexpectedly fulfilled those half-crazed desires, and that made Gu Qinian even more excited than usual.
Gu Tang also knew there was no one around, but he still had his sense of shame. He pushed at Young Master Gu, who was acting completely without restraint. “…You can’t do that outside.”
“…”
Gu Qinian’s throat moved.
In order not to scare his precious one, he could only settle for the next best thing. “Then can I kiss you?”
Gu Tang shyly pressed his lips together. Seeing the hope in the other man’s eyes, and how pitiful he looked, his heart softened and he nodded.
Gu Qinian immediately stretched his neck out and leaned in.
At first, the kisses were only gentle, but gradually they grew more urgent.
His arms tightened around Gu Tang’s waist, refusing to let him go.
Gu Tang was getting kissed dizzy when suddenly the top of his foot felt itchy. He instantly came back to himself and let out a startled cry. “What is that?!”
The two of them looked down at the same time.
There on the sand were two crabs in the middle of mating, their nest disturbed.
The two crabs stood at Gu Tang’s feet, waving their claws at them as if angrily scolding them.
Gu Tang and Gu Qinian looked at each other.
Then both of them burst out laughing at the same time.
Gu Tang reached out and poked the solid chest of Young Master Gu. “How shameless. Even crabs know enough to find a nest first!”
Gu Qinian pulled him closer, burying his face in the young man’s neck as he laughed muffledly.
After laughing for a while, he began calling Gu Tang’s name over and over again.
Sticky and affectionate.
Gu Tang rarely ever saw Young Master Gu acting spoiled, so he could not help reaching out to rub his hair.
His Niannian’s hair was soft and silky, and it felt wonderful in his hand.
“We’re buying this island.”
Gu Qinian suddenly said.
Gu Tang froze. “That’s not necessary.”
“It is necessary.”
Young Master Gu was unusually firm. “No matter how much it costs.”
Gu Tang touched his fingers together. “The main thing is…”
“Aren’t we already the owners of this island? There’s no need to buy it a second time…”
Gu Qinian: “?”
Gu Tang looked at him helplessly. “Ah, so you really did forget. This was Dad Gu’s birthday gift to us, remember? He gave it to us when we were ten.”
Gu Qinian: “???”
The only part of birthdays that ever interested Gu Qinian was celebrating them with Gu Tang. As for how they celebrated or what presents they received, he never cared at all.
So every year, Gu Tang’s birthday gifts were Gu Tang’s, and Gu Qinian’s birthday gifts were also Gu Tang’s.
Back then, when Gu Quan had bought this island and given it to the two children as a tenth birthday gift, Gu Qinian had not even cared about the island’s coordinates. Gu Tang had looked at the map once, but at ten years old, there had been nothing else he could really handle.
All the later development on the island had been managed by Gu Quan.
“Dad Gu said that back then, he hoped that when we grew up, we would still have a place to play together, and that we would never be separated.”
Remembering those words, Gu Tang’s cheeks reddened again. “I didn’t expect that we really would end up together…”
Gu Qinian nodded. “Father finally did something decent for once.”
“So you should take over Gu Corporation and let Dad Gu retire. He’s working so hard.”
Gu Tang seized the chance to persuade Young Master Gu.
He had come with a mission.
When Dad Gu had reminded him about this island, he had been just about one step away from crying to him, “Please get Gu Qinian to come back and become the family head. I really can’t hold on much longer.”
Gu Tang had softened and promised that he would definitely find a way to let Dad Gu retire the way he wanted.
“Sure.”
Faced with Gu Tang’s request, Gu Qinian agreed immediately.
But he had one condition—
“The moment you marry me, I’ll take over Gu Corporation.”
Gu Tang’s eyes widened. “How can anyone use marriage as a condition? Niannian, you’re cheating!”
Gu Qinian played with his fingers, squeezing the ring finger that now wore a band. “You already proposed last night. Marriage is only a matter of time. Since that’s the case, sooner would be better.”
Gu Tang pressed his lips together. “After graduation…”
“After graduation we’ll get married?”
Gu Qinian grew excited. Before Gu Tang could say anything more, he kissed him deeply.
What Gu Tang had originally wanted to say was that they would wait and see after graduation, but the other man did not give him any chance to hesitate.
After they graduated from university, same-sex marriage just happened to become legal in the country, and Young Master Gu immediately dragged him off to get their marriage certificate.
When they were taking photos in the civil affairs hall,
it was the first time Gu Tang had ever seen Young Master Gu so nervous.
He had looked even more nervous than he had during their very first kiss.
Gu Qinian’s whole body was stiff, and he did not seem to know where to put his hands and feet. He stood in front of the camera looking both handsome and rigid.
In the photographer’s words, “like a life-sized human standee.”
Speechless, Gu Tang turned around and adjusted his tie for him. “Why are you panicking? It’s not like this is our first time taking a picture together.”
Although Young Master Gu never liked having his picture taken, Grandma Mei loved photographing the two of them. They had basically grown up under the camera, and the photo wall at the Gu residence was practically full by now.
“…” Gu Qinian took a deep breath.
Seeing him like this, Gu Tang could not help laughing. “How about I help you?”
Gu Qinian: “?”
The next second, Gu Tang rose on tiptoe and kissed him.
Click—
The very moment they kissed, the photographer swiftly pressed the shutter.
After that, the rest of the photo session went much more smoothly.
Young Master Gu smiled the entire time, the corners of his mouth practically reaching his ears.
Later, when their friends saw that set of wedding photos, every single one of them reacted with the exact same shock—
“So Gu Qinian actually can smile?”
“That’s unbelievable!!!”
—
Before, in order to exchange his compositions for money to help Young Master Gu, Gu Tang had given the songs he wrote to Gu Lin to release under the name Sugar.
Because of those new works, Sugar became wildly popular again.
Gu Lin came personally to ask Gu Tang to do some moderate self-promotion and sell a little more.
Gu Tang had already had his fill of the entertainment world and was not really that interested, but he was grateful that Gu Lin had given him the money from selling those songs in advance at the most crucial moment and had also helped him shoulder the risk, so he did not refuse and agreed to help promote them.
He uploaded a short video online of himself playing one of the new pieces.
Unexpectedly, just those few minutes of footage caused an enormous uproar.
First came the fans’ ecstatic celebration.
“Xiao Jiu! Wuwuwu! After so many years, I finally get to see my baby again!”
“Is that really Tangtang? Am I dreaming?!!”
“He looks so good!”
“My immediate reaction was: hi, wife!”
For some reason, that last comment, along with similar comments calling him “husband” or “wife,” was almost instantly reported and deleted.
Then, besides the fans, some ordinary internet users started criticizing too.
“He’s buying trending topics so aggressively. Is he trying to get famous again through marketing?”
The fans immediately fired back. “Why don’t you look at Tangtang’s net worth? He’s not even in the entertainment industry anymore, okay? Why would he need marketing???”
“We’re the ones afraid he’s too rich to come out and work!”
Then other users began questioning, “Stop acting so above it all. Did he even have authorization to play Sugar’s songs? Isn’t he just piggybacking on the hype?”
Copyright issues were serious.
At once, lawyers in the industry pointed out that if Gu Tang had played Sugar’s songs to gain traffic for himself without getting Sugar’s authorization, it really could involve copyright infringement.
“Oh wow, he’s crashed and burned.”
“Stop stanning him. Your idol just came back and now he’s about to go sew prison uniforms.”
“Not that far. He’s rich. He can just pay the infringement damages.”
…
The crowd watching the drama kept growing.
And just then, the president of Xinglin Media personally spoke out—
Gu Lin V: “Does someone need authorization to play their own songs?”
That single sentence landed like a bombshell.
“??? Wait, what? His own songs? Am I understanding this correctly?!”
“Tangtang = Xiao Jiu = Sugar. Baby, exactly how many surprise identities do you still have?!”
“And he’s also the young master of not one but two rich families!”
“I’m a casual passerby who just became a fan! I’m in love!!!”
For a while, more and more fans kept calling him husband and wife, and the reports and complaints came too quickly to keep up. Things were getting deleted slower than the comments were appearing.
Seeing that Young Master Gu was looking unhappy, Gu Tang pulled him close and kissed him noisily several times, then quickly posted two photos.
And so the internet and the fans saw a new update appear on Gu Tang’s official account—
One photo showed two tiny little boys holding hands as they walked into kindergarten together.
The other showed two opened marriage certificates.
In the marriage certificates, two strikingly good-looking young men stood side by side. One was their Tangtang, and the other, smiling brightly, was none other than the Gu family’s young master, who was also the hottest rising star in the business world at the moment.
The internet instantly lost its mind!
“I had just fallen in love and now I’m heartbroken, wuwuwu—”
“From kindergarten all the way to marriage certificates. Who’s jealous? I’m jealous!”
“Tangtang is adorable, President Gu is so handsome, and for a moment I don’t even know which one I should envy more…”
“Am I the only one who wants to see their wedding ceremony?!!”
A lot of people wanted to see the wedding ceremony.
But Young Master Gu refused.
On the wedding day, Gu Tang was dressed so beautifully that letting close friends and family see him was already the absolute limit of what Gu Qinian could tolerate.
If there were any more people than that, he would have gone insane.
So the wedding was held on their private island.
Only the two families and the friends who had shared their lives from childhood onward were invited.
While helping Gu Tang into a newly designed wedding outfit, Jiang Yiyi cried so hard that tears streamed down her face. “Wuwuwu, Gu Qinian, that brat, really got the bargain of a lifetime!”
When the two grooms kissed,
their friends set off fireworks.
Brilliant sparks shot into the sky and burst open with a bang, the flashes lighting up the still sea below.
When Gu Tang and Gu Qinian finally parted, they stood under the flower arch hand in hand, smiling at each other.
At their wrists, one jade-green and one white little gourd lightly bumped together.
Below the stage, Su Mei wiped her tears. “Thank goodness, thank goodness I gave our darling the gourd that old man told me to pass on…”
Otherwise, their precious darling might never have become her grandson-in-law!
“Mom, stop being superstitious. What does the gourd have to do with the two of them making it this far?”
The moment Gu Lin said that, Su Mei smacked him.
“Your nephew got married before you did. If you had any sense, you’d hurry up and bring your mother a daughter-in-law too!” Su Mei glared at her son.
Gu Lin rubbed his nose and said nothing, instinctively glancing toward the Yu family’s seats.
Unfortunately, that was exactly when his eyes met Yu Yang’s smiling gaze.
Gu Lin’s cheeks turned red instantly, and he did not dare move again.
Su Mei still had not noticed anything. She turned to ask Gu Quan, “Our darling belongs to our family forever now, right? He won’t leave anymore, right?”
Gu Quan’s face was full of relief. “That’s right. He won’t leave anymore.”
The two children were finally married.
He could finally retire!
“Tomorrow we’ll leave and dump Gu Corporation on our son!”
Excitedly grabbing his wife’s hand, Gu Quan said, “I’m taking you traveling around the world!”
Shen Ningqing: “…”
As expected of father and son.
The son wanted to kick the father out of his position, and the father wanted to dump the company on the son, and both of them were doing it all for their wives…
Could they be any less pathetic?!!
Under the rose-covered flower arch,
Young Master Gu’s ears were bright red.
Holding Gu Tang’s hand, he added an extra line after their wedding vows in a completely unguarded tone. “We’ll stay together forever, right?”
“You won’t fly away, and you’ll never leave me, right?”
Gu Tang could never understand why Young Master Gu was always worried that he would fly away.
It was not as though he had wings.
Looking into Gu Qinian’s black eyes, glittering with unease, he nodded solemnly. “Right.”
“We’ll stay together forever and never part for all eternity.”
The darkness in the other man’s eyes settled, and he looked at him with shining focus.
Amid the dazzling fireworks filling the sky, the two of them kissed deeply once more…
—
And yet after marriage, Gu Tang finally learned that some promises should not be made too fully.
He had promised Young Master Gu that they would always be together.
But accidents still happened.
Originally, Gu Tang had felt that the little apartment he and Young Master Gu had in the capital was more than enough. There was no need for anything bigger. But the Yu family insisted on buying him a villa, saying that their youngest son would not be allowed to suffer outside.
Gu Tang had no choice but to accept it and move with Young Master Gu into the small three-story villa.
They did not want their newlywed life constantly interrupted, so they only had the helpers come during the daytime to clean and cook. Aside from that, the two of them handled daily life themselves.
Today was their first day after moving in.
Since it was already close to evening by the time they finished moving, Gu Tang did not call the helpers over. He planned to tidy up a little and then go to bed with Young Master Gu.
But halfway through cleaning, a familiar notification sound suddenly rang in his mind—
[Host! I got you a new mission!!!]
Gu Tang was baffled. “? What new mission?”
[Host, don’t tell me you forgot?]
[Didn’t you say before that you wanted to do new missions and save up plot coins? After the final plot was completed, there normally wouldn’t be any more missions. I spent ages applying before it finally got approved!]
With that reminder from the system, dead memories began to revive.
Gu Tang remembered.
Before, when he needed a huge amount of money to help Young Master Gu escape the double pressure of both the Gu family and the Yu family, he really had asked the system whether there were any more missions he could do.
After that, the system had said it would go apply for more, and then there had been no further news.
So he had simply forgotten all about it.
Gu Tang: “…Is it too late to regret this now?”
[Nope!]
[If you don’t finish the mission that was approved for you, your existence in this world might get erased!]
Gu Tang did not really understand it, but it sounded terrifying. “Then I’ll do it!”
He had to stay with Young Master Gu for his whole life.
He absolutely could not get deleted!
[Host, listen carefully. The mission is: “Torment the male lead and make him lose all control.” Reward: one hundred plot coins!]
Gu Tang was shocked. “That’s so much money?!”
[Don’t think only about the money!]
[This mission won’t be easy. Have you thought about how to do it?]
“I’ll give it a try.”
Gu Tang stood up and walked to the door just in time to see Young Master Gu, fresh out of the shower, coming toward him in a bathrobe.
The moment he saw him, Gu Qinian’s lips curved up. “Tangtang, why did you come out? Did you get tired of waiting?”
As he spoke, he reached out to hug him.
Gu Tang bit his lip and used the door to slam him outside. “…T-tonight, you’re not allowed into my room!”
His wife was gone from his arms, and his nose had nearly hit the door too.
Gu Qinian: “???”
Gu Tang pressed his ear to the door and listened.
There was not the slightest sound outside.
“Will this work or not?”
He muttered softly, not sure whether refusing to let Young Master Gu into the room counted as tormenting him.
Before marriage, Young Master Gu had at least known how to restrain himself. After marriage, it was as if he wanted to be physically fused to him. Making him stop for one night was not necessarily a bad thing…
Thinking of Gu Qinian in that bathrobe, Gu Tang’s face involuntarily burned red.
But outside was just too quiet.
Had Young Master Gu really gone obediently to sleep in the next room?
Gu Tang quietly pulled the door open a crack.
No one was there.
He pushed it open a little wider.
Smack—
A hand caught the edge of the door.
Before Gu Tang could close it again, that hand forced the door wide open.
Gu Qinian looked at him with bloodshot eyes. “You said we’d always stay together. Then why are you shutting me out?”
Before Gu Tang could answer, he was picked up.
Not in a proper embrace, either.
He was hoisted over a shoulder by the backside.
Gu Tang’s face turned scarlet. Kicking his legs, he smacked Young Master Gu once. “What are you doing?”
Gu Qinian did not fight back, nor did he put him down. “Fine, if I’m not allowed in your room, then we’ll go to another one. There are plenty of rooms anyway.”
“Take your pick.”
And just like that, Gu Tang was carried into another room.
As he struggled, he whispered to the system, “Does this count as completing the mission?”
The system stammered.
[I-I guess so…]
After all, the main system had judged that the male lead really had been tormented.
And not lightly, either.
As for exactly what had been tormented, the innocent little system had no idea.
The moment it saw the host being placed on the bed, the entire range of its vision suddenly went dark—
It had been blocked again.
[End of Main Story]
