Chapter 61: Ulterior Motives
No one helped him. Gu Qingxu staggered upright on his own, bracing himself against the railing. After glancing around to make sure no one had witnessed that embarrassing moment, he quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Gu Yang let out a soft “ah,” looking from Gu Qingxu to Song Yinxing—but he didn’t move an inch.
“You saw me get hit and you just stood there like some lord? Would it kill you to move and give me a hand?” Gu Qingxu snapped. “Song Yinxing, have you lost your mind?”
Song Yinxing stared at him expressionlessly. Those pitch-black eyes were dull and lifeless, almost unsettling.
“What did he do to you?” Gu Yang asked curiously. It was his first time seeing Song Yinxing like this.
From within that body, he could feel a surge of furious malice—raw and naked. It struck directly at the heart.
Perhaps malice itself was a kind of power.
Unconsciously, Gu Yang pressed a hand to his chest, feeling it.
“He…” Song Yinxing’s lips moved slightly. He frowned, face icy. The turbulent emotions surging inside him made him feel nauseous.
The person standing in front of him could be Gu Qingxu—or Nie Ying—or even Ding Ziyu.
But in the end he only said, “My younger brother was beaten up last night because of him. He’s still in the hospital.”
Before Gu Yang could respond, Gu Qingxu’s face filled with incredulity.
“Huh? Are you sick, Song Yinxing? I wasn’t even in Jiangcheng last night! What, you think I can hit someone through the air?”
“And who even is your brother? Do I know him? What level is he that I’d rush back just to beat him up? Do you know how valuable my time is?”
His indignation didn’t sound fake—but Song Yinxing’s expression grew colder.
“You hired some thugs. What does it matter whether you were in Jiangcheng?”
“Weren’t you the one who said you’d make me regret it?”
“Me? Hire thugs to beat you?” Gu Qingxu pointed at himself, fingers trembling with anger. “I’m not some hooligan like Nie Ying. Where would I even get connections like that?”
Song Yinxing fell silent.
He suddenly realized he’d been influenced by Gu Qingxu’s previous threats. Thinking it over, such crude tactics did seem more like Nie Ying’s style.
But Gu Yang looked suspicious. Hadn’t He Ming’an said before that Gu Qingxu had been privately targeting Song Yinxing?
“But didn’t you say you’d make him regret it?” Gu Yang asked.
“Yeah, I did want to find an opportunity to warn him,” Gu Qingxu said, actually laughing in exasperation when Gu Yang questioned him on Song Yinxing’s behalf. “But I haven’t even had time to do anything yet!”
“These days the subsidiary’s swamped with audits and evaluations. I’ve got school too. You think I’m free?”
That punch hadn’t held back at all—his cheek was still burning. “All you have to do is throw money around! I have a lot more to consider.”
Gu Yang frowned, speechless.
No one forced Gu Qingxu to take on so much. He’d insisted on shouldering it himself. Why make it sound like Gu Yang was some heartless boss?
Besides, he spent Gu Yuhui’s money—not Gu Qingxu’s.
Realizing he’d hit the wrong person, Song Yinxing closed his eyes briefly and murmured an apology to Gu Yang.
No matter what, Gu Qingxu was Gu Yang’s younger brother. He’d been too impulsive.
Gu Yang shook his head casually. “It’s fine.”
Of course it’s fine for you. I’m the one who got hit.
Gu Qingxu still held his cheek. Honestly, he wanted to punch back—but if they started fighting here and word spread, he’d become gossip in their circle overnight.
He was already furious. Yet after waiting, he didn’t even get an apology from Song Yinxing.
It wasn’t that he desperately wanted one—but why was Song Yinxing apologizing to Gu Yang? And Gu Yang even presumed to forgive on his behalf?
Was he some kind of doormat?
Thinking that he’d apparently taken that punch on Nie Ying’s behalf made him even angrier. There was no way he’d let this slide.
“Using violence on campus. You’ve got guts,” Gu Qingxu said coolly once he’d steadied himself. “If I report you, your scholarship this semester will probably be gone.”
That hit Song Yinxing right where it hurt. It mattered immensely to him.
Still, he didn’t panic. He waited for what would come next.
Just as Gu Qingxu regained his usual rhythm and prepared to press further, a cold hand suddenly pressed against his face.
Gu Yang lifted his chin, examining the injury.
Gu Qingxu froze, not daring to move.
“Skin’s not broken. It’ll swell down in a couple days,” Gu Yang concluded calmly. “Let it go.”
Gu Qingxu stared at him, expression shifting unpredictably. In the end, he merely sneered and walked off.
Watching his retreating figure, Song Yinxing lowered his gaze and apologized again.
“I was too impulsive. I acted before clarifying things and made it awkward for you.”
Unexpectedly, Gu Yang placed a hand over his chest.
Song Yinxing stiffened but didn’t dare move.
“You really dislike Gu Qingxu?” Gu Yang asked. Something felt off. Song Yinxing’s reaction had been too intense.
After all, this Song Yinxing hadn’t yet gone through the original plotline’s events.
Gu Yang struggled to think. It felt like being a long-term vegetative patient—unable even to swallow food instinctively.
“I… I don’t have any particular issue with him,” Song Yinxing said softly. “It’s just that when it involves my brother, I lose my composure.”
In his previous life, after being forced to drop out and losing his mother, he’d barely managed to keep going. A large part of that strength came from Song Zihan.
His own life was ruined—but at least his brother could have a better future.
It became an obsession. He worked day and night, scrimping on himself, paying off debts bit by bit and pouring everything else into his brother’s education.
When Song Zihan failed the college entrance exam, he paid for a repeat year. The second attempt was even worse. He gritted his teeth and paid exorbitant tuition for a private university.
It became his lifeline.
So when he discovered that Song Zihan had started gambling in college and accrued massive debts, the mental strain he’d forced himself to endure for years collapsed all at once.
Looking at his pale, dazed brother—too ashamed to meet his eyes—Song Yinxing momentarily saw his biological father instead. The source of all his misfortune.
Then he saw Nie Ying holding an IOU, openly admitting it had been a trap.
Old debts unpaid, new ones added. Nie Ying’s triumphant expression made him physically sick.
The acid rising in his stomach burned his throat. He wanted to vomit everything out.
“Now you’ll never escape.”
That demonic voice again. It always heralded hell.
He had no strength left to resist. He closed his eyes and resigned himself to the cage Nie Ying had built.
That was the final memory of his previous life.
It was also the ending of The Arrogant Young Master’s Long Road to Chasing His Wife.
Gu Yang turned to the final page of the novel.
Reading it straight through again was shocking.
It was absurd.
Was this something carbon-based lifeforms could even come up with?
There was nothing but coercion and abuse. Not a trace of love.
Not even a little.
Gu Yang had never been in love. Everything he knew about it came from his mother.
When you love someone, you think about them constantly.
Just knowing you’ll see them makes your heart flutter.
When you’re together, your heart races and your whole body feels warm.
Eventually, naturally, you join hands in harmony.
None of that appeared in the novel.
“Your heart’s beating really fast,” Gu Yang said seriously.
His hand still rested over Song Yinxing’s chest. Each beat pressed against his palm—strong, vibrant.
A heartbeat meant life.
Song Yinxing covered Gu Yang’s wrist with his own hand. His gaze was complex, shadowed with darkness like an approaching storm—but when it settled on Gu Yang, it softened into harmless drizzle.
“I must’ve looked ugly just now.”
He couldn’t even control his emotions and lashed out at an innocent Gu Qingxu. Surely Gu Yang wouldn’t think well of him now.
“No,” Gu Yang murmured softly, following his heart. “I liked it.”
Gu Qingxu walked back with a dark expression.
He’d forgotten what he’d originally come for. And with his face like this, he couldn’t casually return.
He decided to skip class and go home.
But just after turning a corner, he ran into He Ming’an.
“Oh, isn’t this Little Gu? What happened to you?” He Ming’an greeted him with a smile, sounding surprised.
Sometimes the people you least want to see are the ones you run into.
Gu Qingxu refused to look weak. He sneered. “Of course it was your expensive recruit, Song Yinxing.”
“It’s one thing to use our money to support special admissions students. But letting them get this bold—what do you think the regular tuition-paying students will think?”
He pointed provocatively at his injured cheek, smoothly shifting his embarrassment into a challenge.
He Ming’an’s smile paused briefly before returning. “Since you’ve put it that way, I should give you a proper response.”
Only then did Gu Qingxu notice the camera beside him.
On its display screen was a clear recording of Song Yinxing punching him.
He’d seen it and still asked knowingly.
Gu Qingxu ground his teeth.
He Ming’an removed the memory card, holding it between two fingers. “I’ll submit this to the school board. The administration, parent representatives, and student council can decide on disciplinary action together. How does that sound, Little Gu?”
“And we could even announce it at the school assembly, so other students—”
Before he could finish, Gu Qingxu snatched the memory card, threw it to the ground, and crushed it underfoot repeatedly.
Was this bastard afraid he hadn’t been humiliated enough?
Looking at the shattered pieces, He Ming’an smiled again. “If you’re doing that, I’ll take it as you’ve chosen to let this go.”
Gu Qingxu sneered. “I don’t need you to uphold justice for me.”
“You’re always with Gu Yang, aren’t you? What’s going on lately? Seems like he’s spending more time with Song than with you.”
“Gu Yang can spend time with whoever he wants,” He Ming’an replied lightly. “Why would I interfere? We’ve known each other for years. If I were constantly suspicious, wouldn’t that be ridiculous?”
Gu Qingxu hated that tone of seniority.
He’d investigated before. When he arrived at the Gu household, He Ming’an and Gu Yang had only known each other for about a week.
And just before that week, the He family had been at the center of some sensational gossip.
The He and Gu families had never been particularly close.
Back then, it had been He Ming’an who extended the olive branch—approaching Gu Yang, who stood quietly at banquets avoiding social interaction.
So was it really strange for Gu Qingxu to suspect that his motives weren’t pure?
