Chapter 97: The Only One Called Niannian
A beautiful red ribbon fell limply onto the carpet.
Long, slender fingers with distinct joints unwrapped the exquisitely packaged “gift,” revealing a sweet and tempting candy hidden inside.
Gu Qinian had never liked sweets, but the candy before him was the only exception.
So soft, so sweet.
He tasted it freely, never having known that candy could be this delicious…
Gu Tang was sunk deep into the soft bedding, his whole body flushed red, yet he was still trying his best to fulfill the duty of being a little gift. Only when he truly could not take it anymore did he whimper softly, “…Is it enough?”
“How?”
The man lifted his face, surprised. “Do birthday gifts come with a time limit?”
Although there was no time limit, it could not possibly go on this long…
Gu Tang raised a hand to cover his eyes, too embarrassed to look at what the other man was doing.
Big Boss Gu had actually smeared birthday cake onto him and was then eating it away bit by bit…
Even childish Young Master Gu would never do something like this!
“I’m very satisfied with this birthday gift.”
Gu Qinian licked the cream from the corner of his lips with lingering relish, staring at the trembling little candy beneath him. “But since this gift was given to me, it’s mine now. You won’t take it back, will you?”
He leaned close to Gu Tang’s ear and said in a low voice, “It’s the first gift I’ve ever received. Don’t lie to me.”
A sudden ache pierced Gu Tang’s heart.
Without him in that world, how badly had his Niannian lived?
This was actually the first gift he had ever received…
Gu Tang failed to notice the man’s tea-like pitiful act. Covering his face with both hands, he obediently whispered, “I won’t take it back…”
“Good. Then I’ll continue.”
Gu Qinian curved his lips and kissed the young man’s trembling lips in a dense trail of kisses.
Although the little thing had bravely offered himself up as a gift, his body’s reactions did not lie.
He was both sensitive and easily shy.
A light touch was enough to stain his skin a vivid pink. His body curled up like a mimosa plant, trembling constantly, while pleasing sounds escaped uncontrollably from his throat…
Such inexperienced and innocent reactions showed that the little thing did not seduce people often.
At least, not in front of him.
Gu Qinian did not mind the young man taking the initiative.
No matter what motive the little thing had for using himself to tempt him, Gu Qinian still came out ahead.
Businessmen only cared whether something was worth it.
To him, the little thing was priceless.
A priceless treasure had taken the initiative to come close to him. No matter what he had to pay, he was willing.
Only…
From now on, Gu Tang could forget about ever leaving him again.
A dark glint flickered through Gu Qinian’s deep eyes, and the way he looked at the young man became even more frenzied.
For the moment, the man did not go any further. Gu Tang got a short chance to rest. Carefully, he opened his eyes, hoping to sneak a look through his fingers at what Big Boss Gu was doing.
He only glanced once, and his mind instantly buzzed hot.
The man was holding the “gift wrapping”—
or rather, the clothes that had just been stripped off him.
Those narrow eyes were half-lidded like a satisfied beast’s, the corners lifted in excitement, as he pressed his face against the pile of clothes and inhaled hard.
It made Gu Tang involuntarily think of his poor little teddy bear, the one Young Master Gu had taken away on a business trip and returned all wrinkled.
No way he had been doing this outside too…
“Are you a pervert?!”
Burning with embarrassment, Gu Tang snatched the clothes from his hands and threw them aside.
Back when he used to dream about Young Master Gu, he had worried that he himself was the abnormal one.
But now it seemed that compared to Young Master Gu’s abnormal behavior, his own dreams were nothing at all!
Gu Qinian had not gotten enough of it yet. Once the clothes were thrown away, he lowered his head and began sniffing and nuzzling all over the young man’s body.
There was some kind of scent on the little thing that bewitched him.
He was addicted to breathing it in and simply could not stop.
Gu Tang was already ticklish to begin with. How could he stand being rubbed and nuzzled all over like that?
He had been stripped bare, and seeing that the other man still had clothes on made him angry.
So he reached out and began undoing the buttons of the man’s shirt.
They were a married couple, after all. Nothing between them would be too much.
Yet in the next second, his hands were caught and pinned to either side of his body.
Gu Tang asked blankly, “…Are you going to keep your clothes on?”
Breathing heavily, Gu Qinian looked down at him with dark eyes. “Like this.”
“…”
Gu Tang could not understand it.
Usually, Young Master Gu was like someone with skin hunger syndrome. He wanted them pressed together without any barrier, always stripping himself quickly and helping strip Gu Tang too.
So why, when it came to Big Boss Gu, did he like keeping his clothes on?
Did older men just prefer a hazy kind of beauty?
Then at least give him something to wear too!
But very soon, Gu Tang no longer had time to think.
He had thought he had enough experience to handle it, but in front of Big Boss Gu, who lifted weights all year round, he was utterly outmatched. Even his calves were trembling.
In his foggy state, he thought to himself that once he got back, he absolutely had to strictly forbid Young Master Gu from lifting weights.
Just in case he evolved the same terrifying stamina as Big Boss Gu…
His mind was a blur.
His vision was blurry too.
The Big Boss Gu in front of him gradually merged with Young Master Gu.
Gu Tang could no longer see him clearly. In his daze, he cried out without knowing whether he was saying “Niannian” or “Qinian.”
The young man’s eyes were half-closed and wet, his cheeks flushed deep red, and from his ripe-berry-red lips escaped a helpless little moan.
The instant he heard the name the young man called out,
Gu Qinian was struck like lightning. His movements stopped abruptly. “What did you just call me?!”
“…Hm?”
Gu Tang had no idea what he was saying. He only felt that everything had paused.
He thought it was over and wanted to turn over and sleep. Who knew that what awaited him next would be a stormy sea.
Before losing consciousness, Gu Tang’s final thought was—
He was never giving anyone a gift again.
This was pure suffering…
—
“Why is he still not awake?”
As he fed the little goldfish in the fish tank, Gu Tang muttered to himself.
After waking that day, he was still stuck in the world of this plot fragment.
Big Boss Gu had not awakened.
Only one thing had begun to change, making him more like Young Master Gu—
he had become extremely, extremely, extremely clingy.
Big Boss Gu wanted nothing more than to tie Gu Tang to his belt. He even followed him to the bathroom, as if afraid that if he turned around for one second, Gu Tang would vanish.
But company matters were busy. Even if Big Boss Gu had transformed into a clingy creature, there was no way he could keep Gu Tang by his side twenty-four hours a day.
So despite disliking small animals, Big Boss Gu had specially bought a tank of fish.
He put it in the house for Gu Tang to raise.
And they were not even ordinary goldfish.
They were rare breeds, every single one radiating the rich scent of money.
After feeding the little gold coins… no, little goldfish, Gu Tang clapped his hands and got ready to go watch some TV to pass the time.
To keep him from slipping away, Big Boss Gu had locked all the doors and windows.
Not even a fly could get in or out.
Gu Tang did not really care. His only goal was to awaken Young Master Gu. He had no urge to explore this world.
Besides, the house had everything, and there were even little goldfish. He treated it like a vacation.
There was just one thing he worried about.
Big Boss Gu’s mental state seemed to be getting stranger and stranger. If this kept going, who knew whether something would happen.
If only the system were here—then he could at least ask…
“Meow—”
Suddenly, he heard a familiar cat’s cry.
Gu Tang brightened and turned toward the window. “System!”
He could not open the locked window, but for the system, which was not bound by the rules of this world, it was easy.
A little cat paw with pink jelly-bean pads touched the window.
Click.
The window popped open.
The system jumped lightly inside. “Tangbao, why have you been locked in a little dark room?”
Gu Tang looked around. “It’s not dark…”
The villa’s windows were big, the light was abundant,
and the indoor lights were bright too.
The system shot him a look of exasperated disappointment. “I knew the male lead was abnormal. If nobody keeps an eye on him for even a little while, he’ll lock you up.”
“You’re not allowed to scold Niannian.”
Gu Tang looked unhappy. He poked the system’s little cat head. “Where have you been all these days?”
The system’s eyes darted around. “J-just wandering around this world.”
Gu Tang looked at the system’s glossy clean fur and its four pink little paws, then narrowed his eyes. “Doesn’t look like it.”
“A kitten that’s been running around everywhere wouldn’t be this clean.”
“…” The system flattened its ears like airplane wings and instinctively clamped its tail tight.
Gu Tang noticed the little movement at once. “What’s wrong with you? Did you hurt your butt?”
“N-no…”
The system backed away two steps.
Gu Tang rubbed his hands together and smiled wickedly. “Let me see!”
“Meow-aow—”
No!
The system jumped onto the table.
Gu Tang coaxed it. “We’re partners. We should care about each other.”
The system pointed at the fish tank nearby and grumbled, “Host, you’ve transferred your affections!”
Gu Tang huffed. “That’s because you ran off first and left me alone to deal with the mission.”
“I had no choice…” The system trailed off, carefully sitting down with its tail cushioning its butt. “I only barely managed to escape back!”
Gu Tang’s eyes widened. “You got locked in a little dark room too?”
As he said that, he sat down in a chair.
Then he suddenly sucked in a breath. “Hiss—”
He grabbed a cushion and placed it beneath himself.
The system looked him up and down. “Your butt’s hurt too?”
That word “too” was used with remarkable skill.
One person and one system turned their faces away at the same time, silently dodging the topic.
Gu Tang coughed lightly and got back to business. “I can’t wake Niannian up. What do I do?”
The system looked in surprise at his awkward sitting posture. “You’re already like this. How is it possible that you still haven’t woken him up?”
Gu Tang’s face turned red. “Could the method be wrong?”
“Let me check…”
The system could not understand it.
The male lead’s obsession with its host was so serious that even his hatred value could turn into heartbeat value.
How could it be that in a mere plot-fragment world, even after getting that physically close to the host, he still had not awakened?
It made no sense!
The system had always stayed hidden in consciousness before and had never had a physical form.
Gu Tang had never seen the system work before, so he curiously watched the little black cat on the table, wanting to see how it checked data.
Who knew the little black cat would curl itself into a ball and instantly perform the skill of falling asleep on the spot.
Gu Tang: “…”
He began to suspect
that maybe all those kittens who slept for over ten hours a day were actually systems in disguise.
Gu Tang watched a few episodes of TV before the system slowly woke up.
The little black cat arched its back in a stretch, butt raised high, and opened its dark green eyes.
“Host, I found it.”
The system licked its paws as it said, “Maybe the male lead still has some knot in his heart in this plot fragment, so he’s unwilling to wake up.”
Gu Tang did not understand. “What knot?”
The system shook its head. “That I don’t know. The host will have to figure it out himself.”
As it spoke, the little black cat stared longingly at the fish tank.
“Checking data made me hungry. Could I maybe…”
“No!”
Gu Tang blocked the fish tank with his body and threw a can of meat to the system. “Each one costs seven digits! You are not eating them!”
The system: “Wah…”
The host’s love would not disappear.
It would only transfer!
After eating and drinking its fill, the little black cat jumped back out through the same window it had come in through.
It said it still had other things to do, then ran off again.
Gu Tang had just shut the window when he heard the front door open.
“I’m handing him over to you.”
Jiang Yiwen had brought Gu Qinian back. The moment he saw Gu Tang, he brightened.
Once the difficult president was handed over to his personal life assistant, Jiang Yiwen could finally get off work.
Big Boss Gu could still stand on his own, but not very steadily.
The moment he saw the young man he loved, he stretched out his arms for a hug.
Gu Tang caught him and smelled alcohol in the man’s broad embrace. Surprised, he asked, “He drank too much?”
Young Master Gu had strong self-control and rarely drank, but his alcohol tolerance was actually very good.
In Gu Tang’s memory, aside from the proposal day when he had once been taken down by his father and two older brothers taking turns pouring drinks into him, he had never seen Young Master Gu this drunk.
By all logic, Big Boss Gu was even more mature. He should not be the type to casually drink himself into this state.
Gu Tang held the man tightly and asked with displeasure, “What happened?”
Who dared force his Niannian to drink?
“Nobody would dare force the president to drink!”
Jiang Yiwen suddenly felt the nervousness of reporting to the president’s wife. “It’s just that the president kept pouring drinks for himself. We couldn’t stop him even if we tried…”
They had originally gone out to discuss business. The deal had actually been successful.
But their president had seemed deeply frustrated.
He had kept drinking one glass after another until he had muddled himself silly.
“Got it.”
Gu Tang rubbed the man’s back, then turned to Jiang Yiwen. “You can go.”
Jiang Yiwen looked at Gu Tang’s slim little body supporting their tall president and reached out worriedly. “Can you manage alone? Do you need help—”
Before he could finish, their drunken president coldly uttered a single word—
“Scram.”
Jiang Yiwen: “Right!”
He cast Gu Tang a sympathetic glance.
Assistant Jiang did not dare waste even a second. He immediately rolled away.
Gu Tang could feel the low pressure radiating from Big Boss Gu’s whole body.
But at least, facing Gu Tang, the man still did not dare say that word.
He still had a sliver of reason.
He was not drunk beyond repair yet.
Gu Tang helped him to the sofa, then went into the kitchen and made him a bowl of hangover soup.
“I’m not drinking it!” Big Boss Gu refused.
“You don’t get a choice.”
Gu Tang directly straddled the man’s lap, pinched his chin, and forcefully poured it down. “Try spitting it out if you dare.”
Gu Qinian: “…”
He drank it unhappily.
Not a single drop dared leak out.
After feeding him the hangover soup, Gu Tang wiped the broth from the man’s sexy thin lips. “What exactly is this knot in your heart that you can’t untie? Tell me.”
The system had said Big Boss Gu could not wake up because of a knot in his heart.
And today he had come home drunk.
So clearly, something was bottled up inside him.
It would be better to ask while he was drunk and get the truth out, so Gu Tang could “prescribe the right medicine.”
Gu Tang looked into the man’s red-rimmed eyes, but the other person said nothing at all, his thin lips pressed into a straight line.
It was as if he were sulking with him.
“Is it because of me?”
Gu Tang tentatively poked the man in the chest. “What did I do to you?”
No way.
He had been unbelievably obedient in front of Big Boss Gu, even more obedient than he was in front of Young Master Gu. If he wanted a kiss, Gu Tang kissed him; if he wanted to touch, Gu Tang let him; if he wanted to—
Never mind, that could not be said.
If he said it, it would get censored.
In short, he had satisfied everything he possibly could. What else could Big Boss Gu still be unhappy about?
Gu Qinian remained silent.
Gu Tang lost patience. “Fine, don’t say it then. Get changed and go to sleep.”
He took off the man’s suit jacket. But when he started undoing the buttons of the shirt underneath, the other man suddenly threw a tantrum.
Gu Qinian shouted, “I’m not taking it off!”
Gu Tang: “?”
Someone with a cleanliness obsession came home and did not want to change clothes?
Had older age changed his personality??
While he was still puzzled, both his wrists were grabbed.
Gu Qinian’s tone was so sour it practically dripped. “Do you often help him like this too?”
Gu Tang blinked blankly. “Who?”
Big Boss Gu let out a cold snort and spat out a completely unexpected name:
“Niannian!”
Gu Tang: “???”
Before he could react, he was forcibly kissed.
The alcoholic scent invaded his mouth, and since Gu Tang was the type to get drunk after one cup, his head immediately began to spin.
“Does that other man also kiss you like this all the time?”
“Do you think he’s better than me?”
“I’m just his substitute!”
Those few shouted sentences made Gu Tang’s head buzz. Combined with the alcohol, they made him dizzy. Angry, he slapped the man once. “Why are you shouting so loudly?!”
Being yelled at by his little angel all of a sudden sobered Gu Qinian by about thirty percent. He looked a little stunned.
“Get up! I can’t move you!”
The little angel looked furious.
Gu Qinian swallowed, then lifted the little angel from his lap and obediently stood up.
Gu Tang lazily leaned against the sofa and ordered him, “Take off your clothes!”
It was so unhygienic to come home and not change.
Wasn’t he supposed to be a cleanliness freak?
Big Boss Gu obediently removed his jacket.
“So this whole knot in your heart is because of that…”
Gu Tang lightly kicked the man in the shin. “A substitute? Gu Qinian, you really are good at imagining things!”
Big Boss Gu was being scolded by the little angel, but he did not dare talk back.
He had never been this spineless in front of anyone else.
Only with this young man—if he angered him until he ran away, he would have no little angel anymore…
Gu Qinian pressed his thin lips together tightly and endured the scolding without complaint.
“Take it off. Why did you stop moving?”
Seeing that Big Boss Gu had removed only his jacket, Gu Tang stood and started undressing the shirt underneath.
But both his hands were pinned by the other man again.
This time Gu Tang did not indulge him. “If you won’t let me take it off, then don’t even think about touching me again.”
“…”
Gu Qinian pressed his lips together. “You’ll be frightened…”
“I won’t.”
Gu Tang thought that he and Young Master Gu were legally married, and on top of that they had slept together since childhood. What was there on his body that Gu Tang had not already seen?
How could he possibly be scared?
Yet the moment he pulled open Big Boss Gu’s shirt, his whole body froze.
His pupils shrank slightly.
“This…”
The man’s strong body was covered in mottled scars.
They looked like old wounds from a long time ago.
Gu Tang instantly realized these were the marks left from Big Boss Gu’s childhood abuse in that cruel orphanage.
They had scarred over…
All at once, Gu Tang’s eyes turned red.
Even knowing that the man before him was only one small piece of Young Master Gu’s soul, and that all he had to do was wake him up—
even though once he woke, these scars would no longer exist,
and the past pain would also vanish—
Gu Tang’s heart still ached. He gently hugged him and pressed his lips to the ugliest scar on his chest. “As long as I’m here…”
“I’ll protect Niannian.”
“Niannian doesn’t have to go through these things.”
The man held by the little angel stiffened all over.
Gu Qinian looked at the young man kissing him so gently in disbelief. “You… what did you just call me?”
“Niannian.”
“You are Niannian.”
“From beginning to end, there has only ever been you.”
Gu Tang cupped the man’s face and looked into those dark, deep eyes, speaking slowly and clearly.
Gu Qinian shook his head in disbelief. “Impossible.”
“The first time we met, you called me that too. But before that, we didn’t know each other at all, and you yourself said you had called the wrong person.”
“I’m just a substitute…”
Gu Tang was so angry he wanted to bite him.
Getting jealous of himself was really something else.
Being abused as a child had not created a knot in his heart, but somehow jealousy had.
It was absurd!
“Did we really not know each other?”
Gu Tang pinched the man’s cheeks and pulled them outward. “Think carefully again.”
A faint sting came from his face.
That sensation felt very familiar.
It was as if the young man often pinched him like this…
Images flashed through his mind. The forceful rush of memories made his head pound.
It seemed he and Gu Tang had known each other for a very long time.
They had grown up together and stayed together all along.
Their first kiss when love had just begun to bloom, their intimate moments when they lost themselves in passion, the wedding vows beneath the rose arch, sleeping in each other’s arms every night…
Could anyone really be that happy?
Was it possible to be that happy?
He envied that man in the memory…that person whom the young man called “Niannian” every single day.
Gu Tang hugged Big Boss Gu’s head and kneaded his two reddened ears. “Niannian, if you don’t wake up soon, I’m going to divorce you.”
Gu Qinian jolted awake and blurted out, “No divorce allowed!”
“Could it be… even now you still can’t remember?”
Gu Tang took the man’s hands and placed them inside his own clothes, his big round eyes full of grievance.
Gu Qinian’s breathing instantly turned heavy as he pressed him down onto the sofa. “Let me think more carefully…”
Blushing, Gu Tang kissed every single scar on his body.
Maybe it was just his imagination.
But with every kiss, the scars seemed to gradually fade…
The concept of time became blurry.
Who knew how long passed before Gu Tang slowly woke up.
Before even opening his eyes, he pushed at the man lying on top of him and complained hoarsely, “You thought about it way too carefully…”
And for way too long.
The man stayed silent, holding him tightly.
Gu Tang lazily opened his eyes a little. The moment he saw the person before him, his eyes widened.
Unable to believe it, he reached out and touched the smooth firm chest in front of him.
Gu Tang: “Where did they go?!”
Those ugly scars were all gone—not one remained!
Gu Qinian let out a low laugh and caught Gu Tang’s slender pale wrists. “You still want more?”
That familiar expression.
That familiar tone.
He was back!!!
Gu Tang had not even had one full second to feel happy before he realized something was wrong. His face reddened in fury. “Get out!”
After crossing through for so long, only a single dazed moment had passed in the real world.
Young Master Gu still had not finished!
Gu Tang: I strongly advise you not to be so outrageous.
“I only just…”
Gu Qinian pulled his sweet soft lover into his arms and coaxed, “One more time. Just once.”
Gu Tang scratched at his chest in embarrassed anger.
Young Master Gu did not dodge at all. In a green-tea little voice, he called, “Brother…”
“!”
Gu Tang’s waist went weak.
Young Master Gu looked at him pitifully. “Can’t I, brother?”
Hearing him call like that, Gu Tang’s heart softened.
If Gu Tang had not existed, Young Master Gu would have ended up just like the Big Boss Gu in the plot fragment.
Even standing at the top of the pyramid, he still would have been covered in scars.
Fortunately, Niannian did not have Big Boss Gu’s memories…
“Do whatever you want…”
Gu Tang mumbled, grabbed a pillow, and covered his face with it.
He just let him have his way.
In the end, everything became muddled again until he fell asleep from exhaustion.
“Gu Tang?”
Gu Qinian held him in his arms and called softly.
Gu Tang gave a faint little “mm,” not even opening his eyes. He seemed deeply asleep.
Gu Qinian looked at him with dark, profound eyes. After a long while, he lowered his head and kissed the young man’s forehead. “Thank you for coming to find me…”
“So I wouldn’t be alone.”
