Chapter 59: Nie Ying Breaks Down Again
The space inside the cabinet wasn’t large. They had to squat to fit inside. Song Yinxing was slightly bigger than Gu Yang, so it looked as if Gu Yang was enclosed in his arms.
Gu Yang’s expression clearly froze for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected Song Yinxing’s sudden movement.
His knee pressed against Song Yinxing’s body. In this almost half-kneeling posture, the outline of his shirt garter was completely visible. Song Yinxing could feel the full weight of him leaning diagonally against his body.
His ears were cold. The fabric of his suit was cold. Even the hands covering Song Yinxing’s ears were cold.
But Song Yinxing felt as if he were a porcelain jar set over glowing charcoal—growing hotter and hotter.
Those dark gray eyes were still fixed on him. When Gu Yang blinked, his eyelashes brushed lightly across Song Yinxing’s thumb like a butterfly landing softly, and his pupils were like the strange patterns on its wings.
Song Yinxing found it hard to read the emotions in them. The slightly moist eyes looked dazed—clearly looking at him, yet seeming to gaze at something much farther away.
That stretch of pale neck lay completely unguarded in his sight.
Countless times, Song Yinxing had woken from chaotic, unbearable nightmares. Even after waking, he often couldn’t tell whether he was in a dream or reality.
He would clutch the scarf Gu Yang had left behind and never taken back, using it as his comfort.
His breathing grew heavier. In the darkness, his vision thickened. Slowly, he moved the hand covering Gu Yang’s ear toward himself, closing the distance between them further.
Then Song Yinxing lowered his head and rested his forehead against Gu Yang’s shoulder.
A very light weight pressed there, sending a tingling sensation through him like an electric current.
In that moment, Song Yinxing revealed a certain vulnerability to him—a feeling that was entirely new to him.
Gu Yang knew about all the misfortune and darkness Song Yinxing had endured. He was the only person in the world who knew.
Only at this moment did that concept seem to break through the haze and imprint itself clearly in his mind.
“What I wanted to tell you that day—I didn’t finish,” Song Yinxing whispered. “I keep having the same nightmare. I dream that Nie Ying and his clique bully me. I’m isolated, helpless, unable to do anything. The dream is so long—so long it feels like I truly lived out an entire lifetime in it.”
“So I decided to strike first.”
There was supposedly a theory that people could occasionally glimpse versions of themselves in parallel worlds—something called… quantum entanglement? Gu Yang couldn’t quite remember the exact term.
He didn’t voice any doubts. Outside, the crude taunts and jeering continued loudly enough to cover their whispers.
“One secret for one secret.”
Gu Yang’s lips moved slightly as he spoke very softly. “Now isn’t it my turn?”
That hadn’t been Song Yinxing’s intention, but his heart shot into the clouds. Almost expectantly, he waited for what Gu Yang would say next, hoping to glean something from even a few words.
Those few seconds of silence stretched endlessly.
Finally, he heard Gu Yang speak again:
“Xie Wu’s older brother has a married-women fetish.”
“……”
The slightly sticky atmosphere shattered instantly.
Song Yinxing slowly lifted his head, looking bewildered. If this were a comic strip, three question marks would be floating above him right now.
Seeing the subtly aggrieved look on his face, Gu Yang’s gloomy mood suddenly brightened. He tried hard not to laugh, but his body trembled slightly.
Song Yinxing felt certain he was being teased again.
“His current new flame is that ‘Little Four’ I told you about before,” Gu Yang continued after suppressing his laughter.
A flood of embarrassing memories attacked Song Yinxing. He remembered the adulterous couple he’d seen while working at the hotel—the man’s current wife had once been a mistress, and the woman was the mistress’s younger sister, also trying to climb the ranks.
Gu Yang had wanted to tell him gossip about Little Four’s son back then, but Song Yinxing hadn’t known him well and had been afraid of getting into trouble, so he’d run off.
Now that the mood had already collapsed, Song Yinxing decided to just go all in. He had always wondered what Little Four’s son had done.
Just as he was about to ask, a text message notification sounded.
Because he didn’t want to miss emergency calls from the hospital, Song Yinxing usually didn’t silence his phone. Normally that wasn’t a problem—but in this setting, it was awkward.
Nie Ying stopped mid-rant. Suspiciously, he asked, “Whose phone just went off?”
His lackeys looked at each other. They all used the default Apple notification tone—clearly, that sound hadn’t belonged to any of them.
“It sounded like it came from over there,” one sharp-eared follower pointed at the wall.
Song Yinxing’s heart tightened. He looked apologetically at Gu Yang, mouthing “sorry.”
The rustling outside continued. Gu Yang wasn’t listening anymore. He pushed the cabinet door open from inside.
Staying hidden and being discovered would be too embarrassing, so he decided to go out on his own terms.
Nie Ying had only thought someone left a phone there. Instead, he watched as the cabinet opened and Gu Yang crawled out.
“Why are you here?” he blurted, pointing at him.
“Me?” Gu Yang replied lazily. “I’ve never crawled into a cabinet before. Just wanted to try it.”
Nie Ying thought it was absurd. He was about to sneer when Song Yinxing also climbed out.
There was no way Song Yinxing would let Gu Yang face them alone.
Watching two living people emerge from such a tiny cabinet, Nie Ying demanded, “What were you two doing in there?”
Gu Yang countered, “What were you doing out here just now?”
Nie Ying had been badmouthing them. His followers looked a bit awkward, since the subjects of their insults were standing right there.
But Nie Ying had no such conscience. He raised an eyebrow, completely unashamed.
“You heard it, didn’t you?” he drawled. “If you didn’t catch it clearly, I can say it again.”
“Your gambling addict dad and your short-lived mom.”
Malice practically overflowed from his grin. “Was just going to curse you a couple times in private, but you had to come eavesdropping. What a pathetic bastard.”
His followers laughed along.
Song Yinxing stared coldly at Nie Ying’s face.
“What? Did I say something wrong?” Nie Ying sneered. “Then please, top student Song, correct me.”
“Nie Ying,” Gu Yang called softly.
Nie Ying’s eyelid twitched as he looked over.
“Are you really that bothered by being a housekeeper’s son? Why are you always so obsessed with other people’s parents?”
Gu Yang even wore a faint look of pity and sympathy.
Nie Ying instantly snapped again.
The tactic might have been overused—but it worked too well.
He kicked over a chair and roared like a dragon, “Shut up!”
His shout echoed down the corridor. Guests who were about to head to the garden for the fireworks paused.
“Where did that come from?”
“Sounds like Third Young Master…”
His followers hurried to calm him. “Brother Nie, it’s your grandfather’s birthday banquet. Making a scene won’t look good.”
Nie Ying took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He hadn’t completely lost his mind—better to endure for now.
Unfortunately, fate didn’t cooperate. The door opened from outside, and a crowd peeked in.
Old Master Nie coughed lightly.
The onlookers stepped aside.
Aside from the overturned chair, the room was intact.
His expression eased slightly. At least the brat knew some restraint.
He didn’t want trouble at his own birthday banquet. Smiling mildly, he said, “Isn’t this Gu Yuhui’s nephew? What are you chatting about here?”
He intended to smooth things over quickly—but Gu Yang scanned the crowd and spotted Gu Yuhui.
He walked over, tugged lightly at his uncle’s sleeve, and pointed at Nie Ying.
“He just tried to hit me.”
Nie Ying’s eyes widened. He hurriedly looked at his grandfather. “I didn’t!”
Damn it—he had barely managed to hold himself back. How dare Gu Yang turn the tables like this?
Gu Yuhui looked at Gu Yang, a faint smile on his lips.
Nie Runhua’s face darkened ominously.
He had worked tirelessly for his father’s eightieth birthday, even preparing expensive gifts, finally earning some approval—only for his son to ruin it.
He shot Nie Ying a vicious glare, then forced a smile. “Yuhui, kids arguing is normal. We adults don’t need to make a big deal of it.”
Gu Yuhui smiled back.
“If I remember correctly, A-Ying is already eighteen. And our Xiao Yang is nearly an adult too. Hardly children anymore.”
Nie Runhua’s smile vanished.
That was a direct slap in the face—but Gu Yuhui didn’t care.
He had inherited the Gu family early, with no one above him restricting him. Nie Runhua, though of the same generation, still worked under his father—and with all the recent scandals, his standing had dropped further.
“Oh? The chair’s even cracked. Quite a strong kick,” Gu Yuhui remarked casually, then looked at Gu Yang. “Did that scare you?”
Gu Yang nodded.
His uncle’s smile deepened.
Among schoolkids, what really happened was obvious at a glance. But he liked indulging Gu Yang—and was willing to back him up.
“Uncle Nie, we came sincerely to celebrate your eightieth birthday. We didn’t expect such a scene,” Gu Yuhui said, turning to Old Master Nie.
Old Master Nie’s face was grave. “It’s my unfilial grandson’s fault. I’ll have him go back and reflect.”
“Grandpa!” Under his father’s increasingly dark stare, Nie Ying panicked. He even kicked a follower to get them to speak up.
The followers were miserable. This wasn’t their place—but they feared being blamed later.
“We were here too,” one forced out. “Brother Nie—Nie Ying—didn’t try to hit anyone…”
Gu Yang said coolly, “Aren’t you all together? You just ganged up to bully us.”
That was a dangerous accusation. Afraid of affecting their family businesses, one hurried to clarify:
“Gu Yang, don’t twist things. Brother Nie was just calling you a bastard—we didn’t say anything!”
Gu Yuhui’s smile faded, replaced by genuine displeasure.
Old Master Nie noticed immediately. At his birthday banquet, he didn’t want further trouble.
“How could the Nie family raise a child like you?” he said coldly.
“Second son, you should reflect as well. Take your son home. No need to come to the company for now.”
“Dad!” Nie Runhua’s face turned pale. Without access to the company, he would lose even more ground.
“You can call me Dad all you want—go home and think!” Old Master Nie snapped.
It was settled.
Nie Runhua had tried so hard to keep his troublesome son out of sight tonight—only for it to backfire spectacularly.
He looked at Nie Ying as if at an enemy and shoved him toward the door.
Nie Ying bit his lower lip, unwilling, and shot Gu Yang a resentful look.
Gu Yang silently mouthed:
“Housekeeper’s son. Housekeeper’s son. Housekeeper’s son.”
The anger lodged in Nie Ying’s chest nearly made him choke. His face turned ashen, and he staggered as he walked out, almost stumbling forward.
