SFBF CH99

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The three guest rooms in the guesthouse were set up in a row along one side of the courtyard, while the master suite was situated independently on the opposite side.

As their conversation came to a close, Shen Qing and his family bid farewell to Gu Duo’s classmates right there on the small arched bridge.

Counting the bodyguards, Gu Duo’s group was quite a grand spectacle, making the presence of his three classmates feel a bit lacking by comparison.

He Qi even hid directly behind Qian Jing. Astonished as he watched those bodyguards from Gu Duo’s family spring out from who knows where, he now truly believed that Gu Duo was someone he couldn’t afford to cross.

Meanwhile, Qian Jing, aside from being curious about Gu Duo, grew extremely intrigued by his dads as well!

However, he was only curious and didn’t dare to ask.

Compared to him, the housekeeper whom his father had specifically sent to look after his daily meals and living arrangements was utterly unsettled—what had he just seen?

…Why did it look like he just saw that person?

But shouldn’t that person be in a wheelchair?

And wasn’t that person living in seclusion and never coming out?

How could he possibly appear here??

Then again, if it really were that person, buying a whole guesthouse in a matter of a few hours didn’t seem like a difficult or unreasonable feat at all…

By the time the housekeeper finally snapped out of his shock and stupor, classmate Gu Duo’s family had already departed.

Yet this didn’t stop him from seeing Gu Duo’s dad—the one wearing the baseball cap—cross through a deliberately designed bamboo grove and hold hands with a very tall man, looking quite intimate.

Gu Duo was holding his younger brother, trailing close behind them with a completely accustomed, unfazed look on his face…

That very tall gentleman was clearly classmate Gu Duo’s other dad!

The housekeeper, who had long known who classmate Gu Duo’s dad was: …

Fortunately, his family’s young master was sensible.

During his time as classmate Gu Duo’s peer in the training camp, he hadn’t provoked the other party.

Otherwise, it would really be troublesome to deal with.

…No, what was he thinking? The top priority was to quickly inform President Qian that President Gu had made an appearance here!

And he wasn’t in the sickly state that everyone assumed him to be in.

…That person wasn’t even sitting in a wheelchair right now!

On the way toward the master suite, Shen Qing would occasionally look back.

Sometimes it was to check if the two pups behind him were keeping up like little tails, and sometimes it was to look back at the few people still standing on the arched bridge.

“What are you looking at?”

Gu Huaiyu suddenly spoke up: “Is there someone you know over there?”

The voice sounded faint and smooth at first listen, yet the trailing tone pitched up slightly higher than usual.

“No,” Shen Qing said, following up with an amused explanation, “I was just curious—someone over there seemed to recognize you.”

Gu Huaiyu neither confirmed nor denied it, merely glancing at the young man as the corners of his lips curved up slightly: “You observe quite carefully.”

Shen Qing said: “Of course.”

“It’s not rare for someone to recognize me,” Gu Huaiyu added.

“…Is that so?” Shen Qing said: “I feel it’s still quite rare. After all, you aren’t sitting in your wheelchair.”

Gu Huaiyu: “?”

Shen Qing intentionally winked at him: “Isn’t the wheelchair your true form?”

In specific settings, when someone mentioned the surname Gu and a wheelchair, most people would think of Gu Huaiyu. Thus, even though President Gu lived in seclusion and rarely appeared in public, he was still easily recognized.

Having spent a long time around the big boss, Shen Qing had seen this situation often and noticed the pattern. He couldn’t help finding it intriguing; aside from praising how people in Huacheng’s high society circle focused heavily on gathering intelligence, his primary feeling was that the wheelchair really was the big boss’s true form.

Of course, Shen Qing thinking and saying this was built on the foundation that he knew the big boss was almost recovered, was only using the wheelchair because he hadn’t fully regained his strength and adapted to walking again, and that their relationship had advanced by leaps and bounds.

If it were anyone else, Shen Qing wouldn’t make such a joke.

But if this person was Gu Huaiyu…

Hearing Shen Qing say the wheelchair was his true form, Gu Huaiyu let out a soft laugh, his eyes filled with the sight of the young man’s exaggerated winking.

Objectively speaking, however, President Gu maintained his composure, nodded, and said: “What you said makes sense, too.”

“The person in the courtyard just now probably saw me in the past.”

Saying that, Gu Huaiyu called Gu Duo over to ask about the identities of those three classmates.

Although Gu Duo usually seemed cold and detached, appearing indifferent toward his classmates at the training camp, he could state everyone’s name, some of their family backgrounds, and even information about the people accompanying those classmates at this moment.

“The one who recognized Big Dad should be Qian Jing’s housekeeper uncle.”

Gu Duo wasn’t sharp enough to notice that someone among the group behind Qian Jing had recognized his Big Dad.

However, the moment Little Dad described that person’s appearance, Gu Duo knew who it was.

Gu Duo frowned slightly, finding it hard to accept that he hadn’t noticed the change in expression on the person opposite him earlier.

Yet, remembering how his Little Dad had lectured him earlier not to hold himself to excessively high standards, he consciously relaxed his brows.

“Someone from the Qian family might indeed recognize me,” Gu Huaiyu said.

“Mhm…” Shen Qing asked directly out of ignorance: “What kind of family is the Qian family?”

Aside from the protagonist-related figures and the villain’s family, Shen Qing realized he knew almost nothing about the other families in Huacheng, as if he were in a fake book world.

“They mainly deal in financial bonds and financing. I met their President Qian a few times in the past…”

Next, Gu Huaiyu used concise words to briefly introduce them to Shen Qing.

The two pups beside them also perked up their ears to listen.

Duo Duo consciously wanted to collect information; regardless of whether it was useful, he memorized it all, classifying and storing it in his mind for when it might come in handy one day.

Ao Zai was purely listening for gossip.

Sitting there with wide eyes, he was curious about everything the adults talked about.

“Oh, hearing you put it that way, I can rest easy.”

The Qian Group currently had a total market value of several hundred million, which was considered quite excellent given the current downturn in the financial industry.

Furthermore, the Qian family didn’t belong to the old-money upper-class families; it was President Qian—Duo Duo’s classmate’s father—who had relied on his unique vision to struggle his way up to where he was today, which was why President Gu had a relatively deep impression of him.

And Shen Qing saying he was relieved carried another layer of deeper meaning—right now, the outside world, including the main Gu family residence, was sizing up President Gu’s physical condition.

Even though no one voiced it out loud, Shen Qing knew.

Relying on the original plot, he knew that the dynamic in the book New World only shifted after Gu Huaiyu died and several prominent Huacheng families joined forces to swallow up President Gu’s assets.

Before Gu Huaiyu died, it could be said that not a single family in all of Huacheng stood a chance against him.

Because of this, harboring ill intentions, people were constantly observing President Gu’s health, speculating about how he was doing, whether he could recover, or if he would drop dead soon.

Needless to say, those who coveted their family assets naturally hoped for the latter.

…Perhaps someone had already reached out a hand, like the person in the home’s previous medical team who attempted to harm Gu Huaiyu through swapping his medicine…

Based on this, Shen Qing had been managing the entire household very strictly recently.

Though it seemed like a relaxed environment on the surface, everything—from staffing to the household’s food, drinks, and daily expenses—was handled with greater caution, and the servants kept a tighter lid on their mouths.

Including Gu Huaiyu’s sudden appearance inside Xingcheng today, someone would later specifically instruct those trainees not to leak any information or whereabouts concerning President Gu.

After all, the current situation was that the enemy was in the dark while they were in the open.

Gu Huaiyu wouldn’t die, so the future trajectory of this book would change. As a salted fish, Shen Qing still knew that if he wanted to continue being a salted fish, he had to take things seriously and be extra cautious during this special period.

Thus, revealing as little information as possible about President Gu to the outside world was necessary.

And the reason Shen Qing inquired about the Qian family was actually because Qian family’s housekeeper had seen that Gu Huaiyu was no longer in a wheelchair.

He didn’t want the fact that President Gu was nearly recovered to be known by outsiders so soon.

It was to prevent anyone from acting out of desperation.

It was also because of the main Gu family residence… whenever he thought of Gu Huaiyu’s father’s attitude toward him, Shen Qing didn’t want their household affairs reaching that family’s ears.

Before Gu Huaiyu made a full recovery, Shen Qing didn’t want any unpleasant matters that might affect President Gu’s mood to occur.

Now that he knew President Qian was smart, possessed good judgment, and wasn’t close with other wealthy families, he roughly knew that President Qian wouldn’t let his staff or child talk recklessly outside, which was why Shen Qing said he was relieved.

Everything went unsaid, yet without Shen Qing having to explain anything, Gu Huaiyu had already guessed his thoughts.

He spoke directly to Shen Qing: “Rest assured, the Qian family won’t talk out of turn.”

Shen Qing gave an “Mm” and said: “Alright then.”

Afterward, he quite naturally smiled like a little fox again, a brilliant light gleaming in his eyes.

Seeing him like this, Gu Huaiyu’s eyes grew bright and filled with admiration, though he suddenly let out a somewhat helpless sigh: “You…”

He dragged out his tone in a rare manner.

With a puzzled look, Shen Qing pressed: “What about me?”

Gu Huaiyu didn’t answer, merely looking at him, and then looking at Duo Duo who stood straight as a scallion behind his side; the answer was already self-evident.

Shen Qing: …

Alright, he understood. What President Gu meant was that he told Duo Duo not to worry, yet he himself was constantly worrying!

Shen Qing wasn’t convinced. Regarding such a huge matter as protecting their assets, if he could still remain idle and completely ignore it… then he wouldn’t be a salted fish, but someone completely devoid of desires!

However, before he could flare up, Shen Qing felt a chill at his neck.

Gu Huaiyu’s long fingers rested on the back of his neck, the fingertips applying slight pressure, tapping lightly against it.

“But I like it,” he said.

Shen Qing: “…”

At such close proximity, Shen Qing felt that if the pups weren’t still by their side and so many others weren’t present… President Gu would probably come right over and kiss him.

Shen Qing raised an eyebrow suddenly.

Here, Shen Qing also understood President Gu’s meaning—Gu Huaiyu seemed to simply enjoy him taking part in his life and worrying on his behalf.

Although Gu Huaiyu didn’t take those outsiders seriously and would often tell him to rest assured, he would never stop him from doing anything.

Gu Huaiyu had always been very supportive of him giving orders both inside and outside the home; he even seemed to really enjoy watching him do these things.

This point was quite the opposite of the domineering, control-obsessed CEO in Shen Qing’s impression.

However, Shen Qing liked this aspect of him very much, too.

Even if it involved worrying, he could do whatever he wanted without feeling tied down, and his partner would give him absolute support, leaving Shen Qing with no need to hesitate or worry about consequences.

Clearly, this offered much more freedom.

Thinking of this, Shen Qing intentionally asked with a beaming smile: “You like me that much? Then what do you like about me?”

His voice was intentionally kept very soft, drifting away into the wind, making one’s heart itch to hear it.

Gu Huaiyu looked at the person beside him again. The young man’s expression carried a touch of smugness, looking so proud and delighted he could practically float up to the sky, making it impossible not to curve one’s lips along with him.

Gu Huaiyu said: “I like that you like me.”

“…Wait, President Gu.” The young man who had just floated up to the sky descended back to earth a bit: “That’s the reason you like me?”

Gu Huaiyu: “Otherwise?”

Shen Qing: “Isn’t it because I’m handsome, smart, generous, soulful, able to lounge around when needed, and handle big affairs when required? Ah, thinking about it, I’m truly perfect.”

Hearing this, Gu Huaiyu laughed again, amused by his narcissism this time, and said: “Mm.”

Shen Qing: “Mm???”

Gu Huaiyu: “Mm.”

Taking the young man’s hand back into his palm, Gu Huaiyu said: “Whatever my wife says is right. So, I like it all.”

Shen Qing: “…That’s more like it.”

The pups trailing close behind their dads… looked at each other.

—What are dads talking about?

Staring with big, round eyes, Ao Zai looked toward his big brother.

—No idea. Anyway, recently Little Dad and Big Dad often act like this, talking in words they can’t understand, and as they talk, both of them start smiling. Gu Duo indicated that he couldn’t figure it out either.

Ao Zai: If Big Brother can’t figure it out, then Ao Zai can’t figure it out either.

Anyway, a genius like him would understand one day!

Thinking this, Ao Zai instantly forgot all about the question and began happily skipping along, stepping on the streaks of light and square patterns on the ground.

Gu Duo held his brother’s hand with one arm while falling into thought:

It was true that Big Dad smiled much more than before, though.

Occasionally witnessing the dads chatting and laughing together by accident made Gu Duo feel a bit strange, as if many pink hearts had popped up out of thin air around them, turning the air sweet and thick…

This made Gu Duo briefly wonder if he had watched too many cartoons with Xu Weiming.

This was clearly a scene that only happened when the main character was pulled into an alternate dimension in cartoons…

The master suite of the guesthouse was a large suite. Aside from the living room outside, there were two bedrooms inside and out, equal in size to the two guest rooms next door, making it perfectly suitable for Shen Qing’s family of four.

Having the rest of the staff stay on the mountain was still inconvenient, so keeping just a few bodyguards was enough. Shen Qing dispatched Tian Yi to take Aunt Zhang back first and bring back a set of their daily clothes while he was at it.

Summer was hot, so clothes could only be worn for one day. After taking a shower at night, they couldn’t be put back on, and had to be changed the next day; thus, spare clothes were a necessity.

Other toiletries were fine, as the guesthouse owners had them available.

When all was said and done, time was too tight, and living on the mountain, it was too late to buy extra sets of clothes.

Originally, when Shen Qing had the impulse to stay here for a night, he hadn’t planned on pursuing any high quality of life.

When he went out with friends in the past, he had slept in tents on grasslands and deserts. Back then, he didn’t find it very clean or comfortable either, but the locals didn’t shower or change clothes every day; when traveling, the point was to adapt to local customs, not to mention it was only for a day or two, which was completely tolerable.

…But ever since witnessing President Gu buy a guesthouse in two hours with his own eyes, Shen Qing finally realized the situation was different now…

There was no need to endure any discomfort at all.

They had cars and people; if merchants and delivery guys couldn’t reach them, their bodyguards could.

Having the bodyguards rotate in three shifts overnight was completely doable. They were all workers, and Shen Qing wouldn’t let them suffer; for the comrades who needed to run back and forth or work night shifts, Shen Qing had only two words: extra pay!

After arranging the personnel, since staying here was originally to make it convenient for Duo Duo to rest, the family only ate a simple meal at night.

Simple, but by no means careless. Before heading up the mountain, Shen Qing had specially picked dishes and soups from a restaurant Duo Duo liked to pack up. The food was light yet nutritious, perfectly suited for the hot summer.

The night on the mountain was much cooler than in the city, and the air was fresh. After finishing dinner, the family strolled around the courtyard for a bit, after which Shen Qing urged the two pups to go back to sleep.

Duo Duo consumed immense physical and mental energy, so he could fall asleep the moment he touched a bed anywhere.

Ao Zai hadn’t taken an afternoon nap today either. At first, he was excited by the change of environment, wandering all over the place and not wanting to sleep at all.

However, after Shen Qing managed to catch him, coax him onto the bed, and Duo Duo patted him, this pup fell into dreamland even faster than his brother…

…

On a large bed, Ao Zai slept sprawled out on his back with his little feet sticking up on the inside, while Gu Duo lay on the outside, also barely able to keep his eyes open.

“Go to sleep if you’re tired.” Shen Qing dimmed the room’s lights to the lowest setting, sat by the bed, and tucked Gu Duo in.

“Thank you, Little Dad,” Gu Duo said, and immediately after, he asked: “Is Ao Zai really going to act in a show?”

Gu Duo already knew about his brother suddenly finding a job today, as Little Dad had mentioned it to him during dinner.

Shen Qing said: “It’s not acting in a show for now; it should be filming a commercial. What, does Duo Duo want to come and play too? Why don’t you come along once your training camp ends? It’s very fun!”

Gu Duo hurriedly shook his head, clearly uninterested.

However, hearing that his brother had something to do, Gu Duo—who had been constantly worried that Ao Zai would be bored after he went to school—felt much more relieved.

He was also happy that his dads had suddenly come to pick him up and stay here with him.

Though he didn’t express it too much on his face, Gu Duo was still reluctant to go to sleep out of excitement, even though he was too tired to open his eyes.

Noticing this, Shen Qing felt both amused and a bit touched.

Because Duo Duo had always been extremely rational and self-restrained, never wasting energy on internal friction in certain aspects… For instance, so as not to affect the next day’s classes and training, this pup could always make himself fall asleep as quickly as possible when going to bed to replenish his energy and stamina.

…Although this was resting, the purpose of falling asleep quickly was actually for tomorrow’s studies… It felt like a very special-forces style of resting, without any real relaxation.

Now, however, Duo Duo would rather stay awake just to spend a little more time with him. Could this be considered a tiny sign of loosening up?

It seemed what he said earlier in the evening had been quite effective.

Shen Qing, who maintained a healthy lifestyle yet would still stay up late playing video games to his heart’s content without ever overly worrying about the future, felt that this was what living in the moment meant!

Then again, knowing the pup was tired and needed sleep, Shen Qing couldn’t bear to let him hold on any longer.

He suddenly leaned over, kissed the pup’s forehead, and gently held the pup’s exposed hand.

A child’s palm and wrist were extraordinarily slender and soft. Thinking about how such tiny hands were actually riding horses and boxing every day, Shen Qing subconsciously squeezed that little palm.

“Go to sleep. Your Big Dad and I are right outside. If you need anything, just call us.”

Shen Qing’s makeup-free skin was fair and glowing, his features handsome, and his eyes gentle yet firm.

In the quiet room, his voice became much calmer. Like a quiet stream, it carried an innate coolness: “We’re always here. So go to sleep, baby. Your dads will stay right here with you.”

“…”

Gu Duo blinked—more accurately, his eyelids fluttered. After a slight pause, he softly responded: “Okay.”

Then, all the exhaustion from these past days came clamoring back, overwhelming him, yet he entered dreamland peacefully.

One tiny hand remained nestled within his Little Dad’s palm.