Chapter 51: He Buried His Face in Gu Yang’s Scarf…
Gu Yang had never met his father, nor could he learn even the slightest detail about him from anyone else in the villa.
Whenever he asked, everyone would lower their heads in unspoken agreement, wearing expressions of deep secrecy.
The only person willing to talk about it was his mother.
The gentle and beautiful woman would hold him on her lap on sunny afternoons and, with a dreamy look of remembrance, softly tell him the story of how she had met his father.
Again and again.
And again.
Her forehead pressed against his while warm sunlight filtered through the glass windows. The white gauze curtains were stirred by the breeze, scattering fine specks of light through the room.
It was truly beautiful.
Like a dream repeating endlessly, filled with foam and rainbows.
Once again, she told him about the time they had skipped class to go on a date.
Which café they had gone to, what they had ordered, even how many euros the bill had come to.
As she spoke, the hands that had been holding his body slowly wrapped around him instead.
A warm dampness fell onto his shoulder.
Rain began falling in his world.
The foam and rainbows were washed away completely, and the dream returned to reality.
There was a new scar on the woman’s wrist.
A dark scab lay across the top, covering the scattered older marks beneath.
That too was a secret that could not be spoken.
This time not only everyone else, but even his mother herself would fall silent.
He did not understand what it meant.
Once, he held a table knife and mimicked the gesture on his own hand.
The nanny who came looking for him happened to see it.
He would never forget that expression of fear.
Shock and sudden understanding.
She looked at him, yet seemed to be looking at someone else.
The complex emotions in her eyes wrapped tightly around him.
The knife fell to the floor with a clang.
No one ever learned about that incident.
In this house, the nanny was the one who interacted with him the most.
She matched his clothes before he went out.
She supervised him during meals.
When he had free time, she took him out to play.
If he fell ill, she took him to the hospital.
And every afternoon he would enter the woman’s bedroom.
His mother was responsible for loving him.
The nanny was responsible for taking care of him.
He had believed that all families in the world functioned this way.
Once, he attended a family gathering.
The one who took him there was Gu Yuhui.
A family gathering naturally meant children, fathers, and mothers.
He quickly blended in with the other children while the adults chatted among themselves.
One child fell and sat on the ground crying.
A short-haired woman who had been chatting hurried over with concern, picked the child up, and gently comforted him.
The other adults joked about the small incident.
The woman’s husband laughed heartily, saying their child was simply spoiled and would never get up without being coaxed.
The atmosphere at the gathering was warm and harmonious.
“What a little crybaby, right?”
Noticing Gu Yang staring, the boy beside him leaned close and whispered in his ear.
His eyes narrowed mischievously as he smiled.
“That’s not it,” Gu Yang said, confused. “Isn’t that something a nanny should do?”
The boy’s smile faded, replaced by surprise.
Gu Yang stared at the crying child and the short-haired woman gently comforting him.
At that moment, Gu Yuhui returned from answering a phone call outside, his expression unpleasant.
He picked Gu Yang up immediately and apologized to everyone, saying they had to leave early.
The car sped all the way home.
Gu Yuhui sat in front, his expression never improving.
When they returned to the villa, he carried Gu Yang upstairs without saying a word.
He stopped in front of a room.
But after standing there for a long time, he only sighed wearily.
He set Gu Yang down and softly told him to go inside and take a look.
Gu Yang pushed the door open.
The room was dark.
Only the cold moonlight provided a faint glow.
The woman sat beside a rattan chair.
She wore only a white nightgown, with a blanket over her knees.
The chair creaked as it swayed in the quiet room.
She turned around.
Her face, even more beautiful under the moonlight, wore a gentle smile.
A ring of bruised purple marks lay around her neck.
She beckoned to him.
That day, the story she told was no longer about her first meeting with his father.
Instead, it was about her own mother and father.
She whispered the story quietly.
He listened silently.
It was still a romantic and lingering tale.
Her voice grew softer and softer.
More blurred.
Even the warmth of her touch gradually faded.
The light and shadows receded like the tide, breaking into countless fragments.
Only the final sentence remained in his ears.
“I saw them… holding hands… swinging from their necks like a swing…”
Gu Yang slowly opened his eyes.
His expression was still somewhat dazed.
He did not know how long he had slept.
A camera lens zoomed toward him little by little.
The monitor magnified the boy’s face clearly.
His beauty was not merely the superficial kind often seen in the entertainment industry.
Even his bone structure was exceptional.
When light fell on his face, the shadows formed natural contours that emphasized his sharp, three-dimensional features.
When his eyes slowly opened, there was an indescribable fragility and confusion about him.
In that instant, he looked like the cross-section of crystal when it fractures.
The camera moved closer.
From the slight arch of his brows, to his long thick eyelashes, pale cheeks, and lightly pressed lips, every detail was captured in close-up.
The prolonged gaze of the camera made Gu Yang uncomfortable.
His brows slowly knit together.
His expression grew cold and weary.
His previously lowered gaze lifted, and he stared directly into the camera without emotion.
He Ming’an stepped sideways, blocking the lens.
He gave the cameraman behind it a warning look to stop.
Only then did the cameraman snap out of it.
Cheng Zishi finally noticed something was wrong.
He stood up to check the camera, said a few words to the cameraman, and then walked over to Gu Yang.
“Sorry. I’ll have him delete that footage just now. My apologies for the trouble.”
Gu Yang said nothing.
The slight irritation that had risen earlier disappeared instantly.
Like raindrops falling onto a raincoat, sliding off without leaving any trace.
He slowly lowered his face back onto his folded arms.
Cheng Zishi sighed inwardly and casually glanced toward Lu Ran.
Compared to the days before when Lu Ran wore a dark expression, he now seemed to have reluctantly gotten used to the cameras.
Lu Ji, who sat in front, stood up and walked outside.
Seeing this, Cheng Zishi followed casually.
“What is it?”
Before Cheng Zishi could catch up, Lu Ji had already turned around.
Straightforward as always.
But Cheng Zishi had a similar personality and went straight to the point.
“You don’t like Lu Ran either, do you?”
“A fake young master who took over someone else’s nest.”
“He stole your identity, enjoyed years of luxury in your place, and now shamelessly pretends nothing happened and continues sharing the same life with you.”
Cheng Zishi had originally intended to summarize briefly.
But as he spoke, he actually became angry himself.
He sneered.
“Completely shameless.”
Lu Ji stared at him in surprise.
In all these days, it was the first time he had heard someone comment on his background like this.
Sure enough, after leaving the Lu family, there were still plenty of normal people in the world.
But he still asked cautiously,
“What do you mean by saying this?”
Since things had reached this point, Cheng Zishi spoke frankly.
“When it comes to dealing with Lu Ran, I can help you.”
“Why?” Lu Ji frowned.
He remembered that Cheng Zishi was signed to an entertainment company under the Lu family.
Although Lu Ji had already begun making moves against Lu Ran, outsiders did not know this.
Cheng Zishi had nothing to do with it.
If he chose the wrong side, he could end up in serious trouble.
“I overheard something from Gu Yang before,” Cheng Zishi said. “Lu Ran will screw me over sooner or later. I might as well strike first.”
If Lu Ran really were the Lu family’s young master, he might have had to swallow the grievance.
But since he was fake—and had even been deliberately swapped at birth—things became much easier.
When Gu Yang’s name was mentioned, the defensive wall in Lu Ji’s heart loosened slightly.
Still, he didn’t reveal everything.
He asked calmly,
“What do you plan to do?”
Cheng Zishi pointed at the cameras inside the classroom.
A sharp smile appeared on his face.
“Public opinion is a very important weapon.”
—
Nie Ying sat in a small restaurant, a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he waited.
His eyes were dark and gloomy.
Several cigarette butts were scattered on the table, showing he had been there quite a while.
People nearby kept glancing at him.
But no one dared approach to stop him.
Even the waiter could only swallow his anger.
Looking at him, it felt as if even a passing dog might get kicked.
Just as his patience was about to run out, the person he was waiting for finally arrived.
Nie Ying looked coldly at the somewhat aged woman before him.
His so-called biological mother.
Hu Xian.
“You were the one who asked me to meet, yet you still made me wait this long.”
Hu Xian lowered her head awkwardly and said nothing.
In fact, she had not arrived late.
But she dared not argue, afraid of angering him and ruining the rare opportunity to meet.
Nie Ying had only been venting and did not intend to leave immediately.
After criticizing the woman, he began criticizing the environment.
“You asked me to eat here, and you picked such a shabby place. It’s so cheap-looking I’m losing my appetite.”
He looked around in obvious disgust.
The place was terrible.
The tables had transparent plastic covers, and he could clearly hear conversations coming from every direction.
Hu Xian raised her head in shock.
She had not expected him to say such things so loudly.
Wasn’t he supposed to be the eldest young master of the Nie family?
Hearing his words, the other diners clenched their chopsticks angrily.
Were they supposed to be worthless people?
Just eating a meal and still getting insulted.
It felt like they had become background characters in some ridiculous melodramatic novel.
Nie Ying obviously had no intention of eating in the crowded hall.
Too many people.
If someone saw him and spread rumors, wouldn’t the title “nanny’s son” become even more real?
He must have lost his mind to agree to come here.
He raised his voice and called for the restaurant owner.
The owner cursed inwardly.
He had already heard the commotion earlier and hoped to avoid trouble.
But apparently it wouldn’t let him go.
For the sake of business, he put on a smile and walked over.
“Sir, how may I help you?”
“Arrange a private room.”
“I’m sorry, sir. It’s dinner time now and we’re quite busy. The private rooms have large round tables, so it may not be convenient for just the two of you.”
Nie Ying had no patience for explanations.
He sneered, pulled out a stack of cash, and threw it directly at the owner’s face.
“I’m booking the place. Is this enough?”
The owner froze.
It had been a long time since he had seen paper cash.
His expression shifted repeatedly.
Running a small business, the scattered bills on the floor were clearly a considerable amount.
If a rich young master wanted to throw money at him, there was no reason not to pick it up.
But bending down to pick up the money felt like breaking his own spine.
The owner took a deep breath.
“Please come this way to a private seat,” he said politely, leading them inside.
At the same time he gestured to an employee to collect the money and put it in the register.
The other diners had completely stopped eating.
They had thought it was a film crew shooting some cheesy drama.
Some people even secretly filmed the entire scene from the moment Nie Ying first spoke.
Once inside the private room, Nie Ying finally relaxed.
He tossed the menu to Hu Xian.
After struggling internally for a long time, she hesitated before speaking.
“How could you say those things outside just now? So many people were eating there—you dragged them all into it.”
Nie Ying glanced at her coldly.
He hadn’t expected this timid woman to lecture him.
Hu Xian shrank under his gaze.
She knew she had no right to control him, but she still worried about his future.
“What can they do to me?” Nie Ying sneered.
“Even if I beat them up today, at most I’d pay some medical expenses.”
That statement went far beyond Hu Xian’s understanding.
She didn’t even know how to respond.
Seeing her expression, Nie Ying felt his irritation rising again.
Ever since his background had been exposed, he had constantly felt something was wrong.
As if he should not be living this kind of life.
He should still be living as before.
Carefree.
With people rushing to serve him as followers.
Maybe even finding someone to entertain himself with whenever he wanted.
Where had everything gone wrong?
…
Song Yinxing lay on his bed at home, his brows tightly furrowed.
It seemed he had fallen into a terrible nightmare.
He was dreaming again about what had happened before.
After finally gathering enough evidence of the bullying carried out by Nie Ying and his group—not only against himself but against many others—some victims had even been willing to testify alongside him.
He organized all the materials and submitted them to the school.
But the justice he had expected never arrived.
Instead, he was pushed and shoved into the equipment room storage area.
Some people restrained him.
Others punched his stomach until he curled up.
Then, laughing, they tore the complaint letter into pieces and stuffed them into his mouth.
They poured dirty water down his throat and forced him to swallow it.
His last bit of innocence and hope was completely destroyed.
At first he thought that humiliation was the worst of it.
But it was only the beginning.
He heard their laughter.
Each twisted sentence crashing against his ears.
“Brother Nie, I brought something good today. Perfect for entertaining our top student.”
“Isn’t that a curling iron? Lots of girls in our class use those. What, you planning to style his hair?”
“You’ve never experienced how powerful this thing is. Last time I grabbed the wrong end and burned two blisters on my hand. I specially borrowed this today so our top student can taste it too.”
He watched helplessly as the heated curling iron approached.
The air warped around the hot metal plates.
His heart pounded faster and faster.
His pupils widened.
The people around him laughed louder.
Their figures twisted and distorted, like monsters baring their claws.
The moment the scorching metal touched him, unbearable pain seared through his soul—
Song Yinxing jolted awake.
He gasped for breath.
Cold sweat soaked his back.
His limbs were still stiff, unable to fully escape the nightmare.
After a long while, he finally sat up mechanically.
But the cold feeling inside him did not fade.
This was clearly his home.
Yet it felt incredibly unfamiliar.
The surroundings twisted and blurred in his vision until he could barely recognize them.
In his daze, his hand touched something soft and fuzzy.
It was the scarf Gu Yang had forgotten when he visited.
Song Yinxing had planned to return it to him someday.
He looked at the scarf.
Then, unconsciously, he slowly buried his face in it.
There was a faint scent on the fabric.
Not artificial perfume.
He had smelled it before that day when he held Gu Yang and his face had brushed against Gu Yang’s neck.
His violently beating heart gradually calmed.
Under that indescribable sense of reassurance, the pounding slowly eased.
