SFBF CH67

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After lunch, Shen Qing went back to the outer room of their bedroom—the study that looked like a museum—and started gaming.

Maybe it was because the place was surrounded by world-famous paintings and all kinds of highbrow books, but his gaming form really picked up there. Every round, he dealt massive damage, got MVP again and again all afternoon, and the sheer joy of gaming rose to a whole new level.

Then he came to a conclusion: maybe this study was lucky for him.

Next door.

Gu Huaiyu had just finished a video conference. Li Hong came in to sort the documents and take away the computer, then came in again, this time holding an exquisitely wrapped gift box.

“President Gu, the wedding rings you ordered yesterday arrived this afternoon.”

“Good.”

Gu Huaiyu responded and lifted his head from the pile of documents, raising a hand to take the gift box.

He removed the elaborate outer packaging, opened the outermost box, and took out a small palm-sized case from inside.

When Gu Huaiyu opened it, two glittering matching men’s rings stood inside.

He stared at the rings for a long while, then took each of them out to examine them separately before carefully placing them back. Finally, he closed the lid.

“They’re fine.”

After saying that, he put the box into the safe at his side, then resumed reading a document.

“…”

Li Hong watched his boss lock the rings away with his own eyes. “…Uh, aren’t you going to give them to sir?”

Since people always treated sir as a single young man, Li Hong had come up with this plan for President Gu.

As long as sir wore a wedding ring, anyone who saw it would think twice and back off.

And this ring design had been the one President Gu painstakingly selected yesterday. It perfectly met his standards—a jewelry brand with over a hundred years of history specializing in wedding rings, designed by a famous designer, made from a special metal.

In every way, from the design to the materials, it had to be one of a kind in the whole world.

It had even been flown in overnight by private jet. You didn’t need intuition to know President Gu had been in a hurry.

So why was he putting it away now?

And not just putting it away temporarily…

He was locking it up outright!

“Oh, I get it,” Li Hong said. “You want to find a special occasion and timing…”

“Not for now,” Gu Huaiyu suddenly said.

After speaking, he even sighed faintly. Then, as if thinking of something else, he slowly lifted his head. “Don’t tell Shen Qing about this for now either.”

Li Hong: “?”

…He had originally been about to marvel that President Gu could actually be this romantic.

But from the sound of it, he wasn’t going to give them after all?

…

Then what was the point of having someone fetch them by private jet overnight?

Still, being stared at directly by President Gu was not a pleasant feeling. Li Hong’s first instinct was to agree immediately. “Understood, President Gu. I won’t reveal a single word to sir.”

“…But why aren’t you giving them to sir after all?” Li Hong asked, still worrying over it and still not understanding.

Their President Gu was always decisive and resolute when making decisions. He had never seen him hesitate.

So why this time…

If President Gu had suddenly changed his mind, then what about the fact that they had still been kissing and cuddling in the living room last night, to the point that the young master had seen them?

And this morning President Gu had urgently told him to contact the renovation crew, the main purpose being to remove the bed from sir’s original room—did he think Li Hong didn’t know?

Wasn’t that basically saying he wanted sir to stay with him all the time?

So if the relationship between the two of them had already gotten this good…

Thinking about how President Gu, for all his decisiveness, had actually never been in love before, Li Hong couldn’t help reminding him, “It feels like this kind of thing shouldn’t really be dragged out…”

His careful voice was filled with hints and reminders.

Gu Huaiyu didn’t seem annoyed by the meddling.

He only stayed silent for a moment in what looked like a dazed state before saying, “Let’s wait a little longer. We’ll talk about it after the surgery.”

Li Hong: “?”

Gu Huaiyu’s voice was flat, still as dead water. “I thought about it again. If I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to stay with him forever, then these rings… it’s better if they aren’t worn.”

“…”

At that point, Li Hong understood.

President Gu still wasn’t sure what would happen to his body in the future, so at such a critical moment, he didn’t want their relationship to develop further…

With President Gu’s personality, he didn’t want to give such a meaningful gift, because if someday he really… then it would hold sir back.

But clearly things were already crackling like thunder and lightning between them—even the young master knew.

So what exactly were you still forcibly holding back for, President Gu?

Besides, with sir’s personality, whether or not he could even be “held back” by you was another matter…

Li Hong wanted to say that.

But every time he opened his mouth, no sound came out. In the end, after weighing President Gu’s expression, Li Hong decided to say nothing.

This involved President Gu’s principles.

No one could persuade him otherwise.

So Li Hong simply nodded, indicating that he understood and absolutely wouldn’t say anything carelessly.

After that, he silently cleaned up the packaging boxes that President Gu no longer wanted and left the office.

As it happened, the moment he left and closed the office door behind him, he turned around and ran into sir.

Since he had just promised President Gu not to tell sir about the rings, the sudden sight of him gave Li Hong a huge fright. Instinctively, he hid the paper bag and boxes behind his back, patting his chest with one hand.

“…Sir, are you looking for President Gu?”

“Not really. I just wanted to go downstairs and check on the renovation progress…”

Shen Qing had also been startled by Li Hong. Seeing the usually steady Assistant Li so flustered, he looked at him curiously and asked, “Assistant Li, what are you holding?”

“…Just some things that aren’t needed anymore. I was about to take them away.”

Li Hong didn’t know what would happen if sir saw the outer packaging of the ring set…

After all, President Gu wasn’t allowing him to mention the rings, and judging by things, he wouldn’t be giving them any time soon.

And if sir saw the packaging and thought President Gu was going to give them to him, but then waited and never got them—or worse, thought President Gu intended to give them to someone else!…

Then Li Hong would never be able to escape the blame!

In that instant, after imagining countless melodramatic TV-drama developments, Assistant Li felt like he was about to lose his job.

But sir was still standing across from him, eyeing him suspiciously and showing no sign of leaving.

It made Li Hong not dare move at all!

Fortunately, at that moment the office door behind him opened. President Gu, seated in his wheelchair, came out and asked Li Hong, “Why are you still here?”

Li Hong: “…Just leaving, just leaving.”

Then, hugging the paper bag and packaging box, he ran off at top speed.

Shen Qing: “?”

Assistant Li was pretty lively…

“Ahem.”

Hearing a cough, Shen Qing withdrew the gaze that had been following Assistant Li and looked directly at Gu Huaiyu.

The two looked at each other, then asked almost at the same time, “Why did you come out?”

Shen Qing: !

Could this be the legendary Platonic harmony? How were he and President Gu becoming more and more in sync!

Shen Qing answered first. “Nothing much. I got tired from gaming, so I came out to move around a bit. And I thought I’d go downstairs and check on the kids.”

Even though gaming at high output and getting MVP all the time was fun, it was also exhausting.

Especially for a true salted fish like Shen Qing, winning a few rounds in a row and having some fun was enough. If he kept going, that would just be greed.

Besides, his body couldn’t take it.

He still needed to come out and walk around once in a while.

“Then let’s go together,” Gu Huaiyu said.

Shen Qing: “? You came out to move around too?”

Gu Huaiyu lifted his eyes to the young man, revealing his sharply defined jawline, his gaze unusually deep. “Weren’t you the one who said I should move around more?”

“I did,” Shen Qing said. “Then that’s great! …But shouldn’t your version of moving around involve getting up and walking a little more?”

What kind of exercise was sitting in a wheelchair?

Finger exercise?

“Getting up and walking isn’t impossible…”

His dark eyes seemed to catch the daylight filling the room, almost glowing. Gu Huaiyu looked at him, lips curving faintly. “But you’d have to support me.”

Shen Qing agreed instantly. “Sure!”

And not only did he agree, he immediately moved to help the big boss stand up right on the spot.

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

The young man had agreed so quickly that Gu Huaiyu was caught off guard instead.

“Ahem.”

Instinctively covering his chest, Gu Huaiyu lowered his eyes.

“…If you support me, it’ll be tiring.”

“It’s okay. I’ll just count it as exercise. I’ve gained some weight recently anyway, so I should move around more,” Shen Qing said, even pinching his own waist.

He didn’t know whether it was because he had drunk alcohol yesterday, but when he got up this morning, he felt like his waist had gotten thicker.

Some of the ten tops and N pairs of jeans he had ordered that morning had already arrived after lunch. Shen Qing had been too lazy to sort them, so he just hung them all in the closet, but he had tried on one pair—namely the light-colored jeans he was currently wearing. They felt even tighter than the pair from yesterday!

He didn’t care much about his figure, as long as he still looked okay overall.

But now…

The moment he thought of his body issue, Shen Qing suddenly burped.

Then he abruptly covered his mouth with one hand, looking like he might throw up.

Gu Huaiyu: “?”

President Gu’s face instantly showed surprise and concern.

Shen Qing said mournfully, “…I really can’t keep drinking milk with Duoduo and the others like this. Is there any way to get them to drink milk on their own?”

His voice was full of grievance. He felt that a large part of the reason he was getting fat was the whole milk!

“…”

While listening to him, Gu Huaiyu raised his brows slightly.

…No wonder the young man had smelled faintly of milk yesterday.

He had thought Shen Qing had changed his body wash.

So it had actually been from drinking milk.

The worried look vanished. Gu Huaiyu deliberately slowed his tone and even said with interest, “Drinking more milk is good. You’ll grow taller.”

Shen Qing didn’t take it seriously. “…At my age, I can probably only grow sideways.”

Then he lifted the hem of his shirt and looked at his faintly emerging little belly, pinching that thin bit of soft flesh again. Very seriously, the young man said, “…Looks like I really do need to start exercising.”

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

The hand resting lightly on the wheelchair arm tightened. His gaze swept over the beautiful, graceful line of the young man’s waist, then abruptly shifted away. For once, there was a trace of evasiveness in Gu Huaiyu’s eyes…

But Shen Qing seemed not to notice anything and asked him, “Do you think I’ve gotten fatter than I was two days ago?”

“…”

After a long silence, Gu Huaiyu adjusted his breathing and replied in an entirely normal tone, “You can’t get fat overnight, and a person can’t gain much weight in such a short time. It’s psychological.”

Shen Qing: “…But I really do think my pants are tighter…”

Before he could finish, Gu Huaiyu pulled down the hem of the lower shirt that Shen Qing had been lifting and let it fall back into place.

His eyes flicked toward a servant approaching from the distance, then he turned back to Shen Qing and said, “The weather’s cold. Don’t catch a chill.”

“…?”

Looking at his now-empty hand, Shen Qing felt the indoor temperature… it had to be at least in the twenties.

Where exactly was it cold?

Gu Huaiyu was already controlling his wheelchair forward. “Let’s go see what Gu Duo and the others are doing first.”

His back remained ramrod straight, his gaze fixed ahead.

Shen Qing: “…Oh, then let’s go.”

At this hour, Duoduo and Aozai were taking their afternoon nap.

At the babies’ bedroom door, Shen Qing gently pushed it open a crack and peeked inside. He saw the two little children lying side by side on Gu Duo’s bed, Aozai hugging his older brother as they slept. Both babies were sleeping like little pigs, all warm and cozy. Shen Qing quickly withdrew his head, not daring to disturb them.

He turned back and made a “shh” gesture to President Gu, then gently closed the door. A gratified expression spread across his bright face as he leaned close to Gu Huaiyu and whispered, “They’re sleeping so soundly.”

Under a room full of sunlight, the young man smiled like a flower in bloom.

In Gu Huaiyu’s eyes was reflected the distinct image of the young man’s smiling face. He blinked lightly, then after a moment nodded. “Mm.”

Since the babies were asleep, it was no wonder their dads looked so pleased.

The main reason was that Duoduo had originally refused to nap in the afternoon. No matter how sleepy he was, he could resist it and continue studying.

But because Little Daddy had told him that human toddlers who didn’t get enough sleep would have their brain development affected, and Big Daddy had also said that balancing work and rest was the only way to go farther, Gu Duo had reluctantly started building the habit of taking afternoon naps.

And in order not to disturb the young masters’ nap, the construction team had stopped work and gone on break.

This was Tian Yi’s decision. He was mainly responsible for supervising the renovation over the past few days.

Of course, what he mainly supervised wasn’t really the progress and condition of the construction, but the safety of the young masters.

After all, with renovations going on, there would be more miscellaneous people in the house. President Gu wasn’t quite at ease, so he had assigned Tian Yi downstairs.

And fully understanding the boss’s intentions, Tian Yi’s first concern had also been the young masters’ comfort. Although the young masters didn’t feel disturbed, Tian Yi, knowing how precious naptime was to young master Duo, had directly ordered the workers to stop.

Even with work suspended, the treatment for the construction team was still generous.

It was said that the butler had even prepared a lounge on the first floor for them, where they could rest, eat snacks, and drink tea.

Since their wages were calculated by the day, their pay was the same whether they worked or not. Ordinary bosses would only urge them to hurry and finish the work so they could shorten the construction period by a day and save a day’s wages.

Even bosses who didn’t rush the schedule wouldn’t voluntarily ask them to stop work during the construction period. At most, they’d just give the workers a tiny break.

But the owners of this household were clearly different…

It was also the first time the construction crew had seen something like this. Just because the young masters wanted to nap and there couldn’t be any noise, they had all been told to stop and rest too.

Those must be two deeply cherished young masters.

The construction workers couldn’t help sighing over it.

“But those young masters really are well-behaved and not spoiled at all. This morning when we went in, whether we were measuring or drilling into the wall, the two young masters only asked one question at the start. After that, no matter what we did, they didn’t even glance over and just kept studying… If my kids were like that, I’d dote on them like this too!”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true. I heard the oldest one in this household is only in first grade. How on earth was that level of concentration cultivated? Do rich people have some kind of secret manual?”

Shen Qing and Gu Huaiyu happened to pass by this temporary break room and overheard the conversation inside.

Shen Qing, at that moment: …

He really wanted to say there was no secret manual, but heredity was real.

At that thought, he got very curious about how President Gu had studied when he was little…

Gu Huaiyu thought for a moment and said, “I don’t remember very well.”

Shen Qing: “? …You don’t remember how you studied when you were little?”

“Mm.” Gu Huaiyu nodded. His voice was calm. “Because I was always studying, and my attention was only on the knowledge itself, so I didn’t even realize I was studying, and never paid attention to it.”

Shen Qing: “…”

Put that way, it actually made sense.

A big boss really was a big boss. Even casual talk somehow turned philosophical!

Just then, someone walked out of the temporary break room—a worker who looked to be in his thirties, with a relatively youthful face and a body full of muscle.

He was carrying a thermos. The moment he came out and saw Shen Qing, he walked straight over.

“Brother, can I ask where the kitchen is? I want to get some hot water.”

Shen Qing saw the thermos in his hand and guessed they had run out of hot water for tea, so he naturally moved to take it.

“I’ll go get it for you,” he said. “You can just go back and wait.”

The moment he said that, Gu Huaiyu, standing to one side, immediately raised a brow and looked over.

The young worker sensed that the boss in the wheelchair seemed to have an unusual aura, but didn’t think too much of it. He only felt that the young man before him was both good-looking and warmhearted, the kind that made people feel warm inside just by looking at him, so he couldn’t help saying, “Thanks.”

At that moment, Tian Yi appeared out of nowhere. Before Shen Qing could touch the thermos, Tian Yi had already taken it first, and said to the young worker, “How can you let our sir fetch water?”

“Ah? Th-this… sir??” The young worker froze on the spot.

The owners of the house were important people, so before coming here, the foreman had told them that the family consisted of two male masters and two young masters, one of the masters being in a wheelchair. He’d only told them to know it and not gossip or cause trouble.

So the young worker had recognized that the one in the wheelchair should be one of the masters of the house.

But he had never imagined that the young man standing beside him was actually the other master!

Because both Mr. Li and Mr. Tian looked fairly young, he had automatically assumed this one was another assistant or something…

Not because the other man looked like an assistant.

It was just that this one was way too young, wasn’t he??

But on closer inspection, the man in the wheelchair also looked quite young.

…He just hadn’t dared look closely before.

Who would casually stare at a boss for no reason?

And the aura coming off that boss really gave the impression that he wasn’t easy to get along with, so there was even less reason to dare look…

The young worker suddenly felt awkward. He still didn’t dare look much at the boss in the wheelchair, and out of nervousness, looked a little more at the “sir” instead… He had just called him “brother”!

Sir was already smiling gently and saying, “It’s okay, it’s just fetching some water.”

Tian Yi said, “Even so, that won’t do. I’ll get it.”

Then he turned his head again and, somewhat helplessly, said to the young worker, “Didn’t we already tell you? There’s a phone inside the room. If you need anything, just call, and someone will come refill the water for you.”

After saying that, Tian Yi greeted President Gu and sir, then carried the thermos off to the kitchen.

Shen Qing didn’t take the small incident to heart, but the young worker suddenly looked absent-minded, staring at him the whole time.

Shen Qing thought that although Tian Yi had rushed over, his attitude had still been fine. The other party shouldn’t be so frightened over such a small thing, right?

Still, he kindly patted the man on the shoulder and casually said, “It’s fine, big brother. Just go back and rest.”

The moment his hand landed on the man’s shoulder, the stunned worker snapped back to his senses.

At the same time, the fingers resting on Gu Huaiyu’s wheelchair arm lifted sharply and stayed suspended there for a long while.

President Gu’s expression turned cold.

After that, the two of them left together and wandered to another area. Suddenly, Gu Huaiyu said, “You really are warmhearted.”

“I guess,” Shen Qing said. “Life’s not easy for anyone. We should be understanding toward each other.”

“…” Gu Huaiyu paused.

“What I meant is, did you really need to pat his shoulder when comforting him? …It seems you really like hooking shoulders with people.”

On his usually expressionless face, his brows were raised high, and his voice was very low.

Shen Qing: “Me? Do I?”

Shen Qing himself hadn’t really noticed. Was it an unconscious habit?

Gu Huaiyu raised a hand to his brow, reminding him: “Yesterday at the restaurant, it wasn’t just once that you were putting your arm around people.”

Shen Qing: “? …How do you know?”

He hadn’t even noticed it himself.

Gu Huaiyu lowered his hand, face blank again. “I saw it.”

Shen Qing: “…”

Well, thinking back to how the big boss had waited outside for over an hour last night, maybe that was when he saw…

But Shen Qing had been too drunk in the later part of the night, and really couldn’t remember making physical gestures toward anyone…

“Did I?” he asked again uncertainly.

“You did,” Gu Huaiyu said firmly. Then he suddenly turned to look at him, those phoenix eyes thin-lidded and sharp. “You almost kissed someone.”

Shen Qing: !

That one, he did remember…

It had been Shen Yuan’s idea—to have him try someone, just to test whether he liked men in general or just one specific male friend.

At the time, he’d really been drunk stupid, and had actually gone along with the idea of trying.

But in the end he hadn’t kissed anyone.

He just couldn’t do it.

No matter what, yesterday was yesterday and couldn’t be kept.

Now that Shen Qing had already confirmed his feelings, he immediately leaned over and hugged his husband. “Alright, then I’ll be more careful next time. I’ll only fool around with my husband from now on!”

Gu Huaiyu: “….”

This time Shen Qing had hugged him directly from behind. Because Gu Huaiyu was tall and long-limbed, and habitually kept his back very straight,

Shen Qing didn’t have to bend much at all to wrap his arms around him.

It was also his first time hugging him from behind. Usually the big boss sat in his office with the window at his back, so Shen Qing could only ever approach him from the side at most.

As for sleeping… well, when they slept, Shen Qing basically had no consciousness!

Feeling the big boss’s broad back for the first time, Shen Qing realized that although Gu Huaiyu looked thin, his shoulders were much broader than his own.

And they were perfectly level shoulders too, which was why his neck looked so long.

This kind of touch really did feel wonderful. Up close, he could even smell that grassy, woody scent on him…

Shen Qing unconsciously inhaled deeply, tightening his arms a little.

At that moment, he heard the motionless Gu Huaiyu, still in his arms, suddenly ask in a low voice, “Do you also like hugging other people this much?”

Shen Qing: “…No. I only like hugging you.”

“…”

Gu Huaiyu slowly closed his eyes for a moment, then gradually turned his head to look at the young man behind him. “Do you think the two of us look like a married couple?”

“What?” Shen Qing didn’t understand the question at first, and loosened his hold a little.

But Gu Huaiyu suddenly said, “Nothing.”

Then, seizing the opening, he controlled the wheelchair forward.

“Come on, let’s go back upstairs,” he said.

Then, seeing that Shen Qing hadn’t moved, he suddenly swung the wheelchair sideways and raised a brow high. “What, still want to look at that ‘big brother’ from the construction team a little longer?”

“…?”

The big boss’s mood seemed to have dipped again. Shen Qing had no idea why, so of course he followed him.

Since the kids were asleep and they couldn’t play with the babies—ah, no, since they temporarily couldn’t keep the babies company—they ended up returning to the third floor together.

The two of them went to the gym at home.

If they were going to practice walking, this was naturally the most convenient place, since the equipment was complete.

There was even rehabilitation equipment.

Clearly, Gu Huaiyu had used those rehab machines before.

But after they arrived, President Gu no longer let Shen Qing help him. He said he could walk by himself and told Shen Qing to go exercise on the other side.

“Alright.” Shen Qing agreed and prepared to go back and change into workout clothes.

Then he realized something felt a little off… The original owner’s workout clothes were all very tight and body-hugging. That normally wasn’t an issue—he didn’t mind, as long as the style wasn’t too exaggerated and didn’t come with weird tails or something.

But now it felt different.

The thought that Gu Huaiyu was here too, and might watch him run or stretch in especially tight clothes…

Suddenly made him feel embarrassed.

When he hadn’t liked this person, everything felt irrelevant.

But once he did like him, he started wondering whether he looked good in the other person’s eyes, whether his workout form was correct, whether he looked cool…

The moment he imagined Gu Huaiyu watching him exercise with that scrutinizing gaze… Shen Qing immediately said with a flushed face, “I suddenly remembered, I think I tore my workout clothes. Maybe I should work out another time.”

Gu Huaiyu: “?”

In the end, their two-person workout session turned into the big boss walking on the rehab equipment while Shen Qing sat nearby watching.

President Gu was really tall.

Tall, lean, and broad-shouldered. When he walked on the assisted equipment, his face looked cold and stern, his expression resolute and strong. Shen Qing couldn’t help starting to imagine how handsome he must have been two years ago, before he started using a wheelchair.

And Shen Qing also realized that Gu Huaiyu didn’t actually seem to have a walking impairment. He appeared to be simply physically weak, with little strength in his legs. With support, once he adjusted a little, he could stand and walk upright. Sometimes he even looked almost like a normal person, walking as usual.

Although it clearly wasn’t easy—his chest rose and fell dramatically during the process, he occasionally coughed for a long time, and looked terribly weak—

it didn’t seem like he had injured his legs before. When he walked, he didn’t appear to be in the kind of enormous pain most people in rehabilitation endured.

That made Shen Qing curious all over again about why Gu Huaiyu had insisted on using a wheelchair before.

But the reason didn’t seem that important.

Shen Qing wasn’t that intensely curious. Besides, the big boss had already said he would wait until after the surgery to tell him…

The moment he thought of that surgery, and then of Gu Huaiyu’s future condition… Shen Qing felt a sudden tightness in his chest.

Suddenly, it didn’t feel like enough.

Even though every day was full and happy, it still felt like this kind of time wasn’t deep enough, wasn’t enough to become a memory worth engraving, wasn’t enough to become unforgettable…

While the big boss was still repeatedly training his muscles, Shen Qing secretly took out his phone and searched:

[Things couples need to do…]

The search bar quickly offered many smart suggestions. The first one was:

[Is it normal for couples to do it every day?]

Shen Qing: “…”

He quickly clicked the second one:

[100 things couples must do together]

The page jumped open, listing things such as: holding hands while walking down the street together, riding a Ferris wheel together, riding a roller coaster together…

Shen Qing: …

Those didn’t seem very suitable for him and President Gu.

Scrolling further down, there were also things like planting flowers together, cooking together, brewing coffee together…

Mm, those could be backup options… but only backup.

He took a screenshot of the page first, then kept scrolling. There were also wearing couple outfits, exchanging rings, using couple mugs…

That one worked!

His gaze stopped on that page. Considering their household’s financial situation, those items were the easiest to satisfy!

For matching outfits, he could just check President Gu’s other clothing sizes and place an order directly.

As for rings…

Shen Qing looked at his own hands.

He wasn’t in the habit of wearing accessories and had indeed never worn rings.

And President Gu… his hands were empty too.

This was good!

It also happened to connect to the question Gu Huaiyu had asked downstairs earlier about whether they had the look of a married couple. Maybe someone had seen Shen Qing and failed to recognize him as Gu Huaiyu’s partner, which had upset President Gu?…

Although it didn’t feel like President Gu had ever been insecure about being in a wheelchair, Shen Qing had still heard Assistant Li mention by accident that President Gu had recently been diligently practicing walking, as if he had finally come to terms with it and wanted to leave the wheelchair behind.

So was there perhaps, even just a tiny little bit, a reason that President Gu had finally decided to let go of the wheelchair—because he wanted to look like a married couple with Shen Qing?…

Forget it, no matter what.

Shen Qing had already decided on rings, and just as Gu Huaiyu finished another set of rounds and sat down to rest, Shen Qing hurried over.

He sat right beside President Gu, grinning as he took hold of one of the man’s hands, lifted it, and suddenly laced their fingers together.

Gu Huaiyu had let him do whatever he wanted all this time. But at the moment their fingers interlocked… his pupils suddenly contracted!

“…What are you doing?”

Shen Qing carefully compared the thickness of their fingers, smiling as he lowered his eyes. “I want to prepare a pair of rings for us.”

“…”

Sweat dotted his pale face. Gu Huaiyu lifted his lids and slowly turned to look at the young man, his voice hesitant.

“…What made you think of preparing rings?”

“Because that’s how we’ll have the look of a married couple!”

Shen Qing glanced at him too, unconsciously pouting a little. “Neither of us has anything on us that marks us as belonging together. When outsiders see us, they don’t even think we’re a family. Isn’t that too much?”

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

He tried to pull his hand from the other’s grip.

Shen Qing noticed at once, and instinctively held onto it tighter, refusing to let him withdraw it.

For a moment, he wasn’t sure whether Gu Huaiyu just didn’t like wearing rings, or whether he didn’t like wearing matching rings with him.

Shen Qing said, “Don’t be so stingy. Aren’t you my husband? Is wearing matching rings with me really that difficult?”

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

He couldn’t help looking at him again.

Shen Qing met his gaze directly, even pouting again. He didn’t look hurt, exactly, but he was definitely not pleased.

…

Gu Huaiyu fell silent, tightening the corners of his lips.

A moment later, he gripped the young man’s hand in return.

His long, slender fingers curled slightly, cold to the touch. Gu Huaiyu’s long, fine lashes kept fluttering.

After another long silence, he suddenly said, “No need to measure.”

Shen Qing: “?”

Gu Huaiyu said, “I already have rings here.”

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