Chapter 7: The CEO's Caged Canary, Part Seven

Remembering Gu Huaizhi's words from last night, the smile faded bit by bit from Yan Yu's mouth.

One voice message ended and the next auto-played, Zhou Peng's booming voice conspicuous in the quiet ward.

"Grandma's been insisting on going to the temple to fulfill her vow—thanking the Bodhisattva for sending us a saint who not only pulled us out of the fire, but covered school fees and living expenses for Xiaoxiao and the little ones too! Don't thank the Bodhisattva—a living one walked right in!"

"I talked her down for now, though. Once Grandma's surgery is done and she's recovered, we'll all go kowtow at the temple together..."

The door swung open from outside. Yan Yu cut the playback at once and looked up.

Gu Huaizhi came in trailed by a whole procession of doctors. Seeing him half-reclined with his phone, he poured a cup of water and handed it over.

"Have the doctors examine you. See if you can be discharged?"

Remembering yesterday's checkup fiasco, Yan Yu was less than eager.

But the doctors were already moving without waiting for an answer.

He tensed instinctively. The joy drained away, and the pain arrived a beat late—worst where he was hurt worst.

The injuries had never healed; last night they tore open again, worse than before.

If the doctors didn't scold him for reckless nonsense, that was courtesy enough. Discharge was another matter entirely...

Yan Yu stilled and stole a glance at Gu Huaizhi. The man's face was perfectly composed; nothing in it said whether this was deliberate.

And what if it was?

The money now in the orphanage's account was real. The gifts the younger kids received were real. The treatment Grandma Director was getting was real.

Just as Peng said. In Yan Yu's heart, Gu Huaizhi had become a good man.

What kind of villain spends a fortune helping total strangers—old, disabled, with next to nothing to give back?

And at the very worst—what was an orphan like him worth deceiving? No rich man would bother.

Yan Yu bit the inside of his cheek and sat rigid until the examination ended, then worked up the nerve to poke Gu Huaizhi, who was fiddling with a laptop nearby.

"Thank you."

Nan Yi had sent over the Lanyu security footage and the settlement. The other side had been nothing if not sincere: handing the plot of land in the city's north straight to the Gu family, and conceding another five percent on the Fengcheng joint project.

There was no reason to say no.

Gu Huaizhi typed the last character and raised his eyes.

One hand braced on the bed, the other carefully pinching the hem of his trousers, Yan Yu had at some point leaned in close, the oversized hospital gown slipping askew.

Red lips, white teeth, a sharply cut chin, long narrow eyes.

A face made for cool aloofness—yet those big, glossy black eyes, fixed on him so intently, lent it the pitiable charm of a small animal.

Gu Huaizhi's throat bobbed. The finger hovering over the send key loosened—and he deleted the text.

[Gu Huaizhi's Affinity +15. Current Affinity: 45.]

[Gu Huaizhi's Corruption -10. Current Corruption: 60.]

[I'm not the only victim. This much isn't enough.]

Message sent, Gu Huaizhi closed the laptop and stood.

"What?"

Standing, the man towered. Yan Yu instinctively shrank back—and Gu Huaizhi caught his arm and pulled him back.

He clutched the blanket tighter. "The donation to the orphanage."

"Peng told me! You gave so much money, and you arranged Grandma Director's surgery!"

His eyes were shining. "Thank you, sir!"

"That devoted to the orphanage?"

Devoted enough that a little money made the little thing forget the pain of the last two days—of being kept beneath another man.

Two days of suffering, wiped clean by one spoonful of sweetness—a sweetness meant for others, of which he himself hadn't tasted a drop.

What a foolish creature. Gu Huaizhi pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, thinking.

Oblivious, Yan Yu nodded vigorously. "They're my family. They've always been good to me!"

Watching Gu Huaizhi's expression, he picked at his fingers and asked in a small voice, "Can I go back?"

Gu Huaizhi's eyes narrowed.

Yan Yu waved his hands at once. "I haven't been back in days—Grandma's worried. If you're not comfortable with it, you could..."

He'd been about to say Gu Huaizhi could come along—that it might ease the orphanage's doubts about this "friend," and that if he stayed away a few more days, at least everyone would be reassured.

Then it hit him. Who was Gu Huaizhi, and who was he?

Funding the orphanage was charity enough. There was no chance the man would accompany him home.

And then there was how he looked now. Yan Yu lowered his head. The bruises still mottled his arms.

Better not to let the orphanage family see him like this.

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "It's nothing. Thank you for your generosity, sir."

One second brimming with energy, the next a wilted sunflower, drooping with disappointment.

Gu Huaizhi frowned. "The doctors say you can't be discharged yet. Stay put."

With that, he left the ward.

Yan Yu nodded glumly and burrowed back under the blanket.

At noon Gu Huaizhi returned, saw the untouched breakfast on the table, and his face went cold for an instant. He had Nan Yi bring in lunch, then fished the boy out from under the blanket.

Seeing that dark expression, and watching Nan Yi carry the breakfast out, Yan Yu pressed his lips together and—on his own initiative this time—picked up his chopsticks, put a bite in his mouth, and chewed slowly. It tasted like nothing.

He knew he was being ungrateful. He just had no appetite.

The boy kept his eyes down, docile and pitiful in equal measure.

At the sight, Gu Huaizhi's expression eased. "Tomorrow I'll take you to see them."

Yan Yu's chewing stopped. His head shot up. "Really!?"

Gu Huaizhi didn't answer. With a huff, he picked up the laptop he'd forgotten that morning and left.

The door clicked shut, and Yan Yu lit up like a kid handed a new toy, giggling to himself—suddenly the food tasted good too.

Gu Huaizhi watched through the crack in the door, the corner of his mouth twitching, then shut it properly and went on his way.

[Yan Yu: Food never tasted so good. Finally I can eat my fill.]

[System (munchmunchmunch, snacking): Right, right! All that wasted food earlier—I was heartbroken watching.]

[Yan Yu: Ah, the aloof celestial dragon who's never known hardship. Even a flicker of defiance draws his gaze. One look today, two tomorrow—and once he's used to it, his bottom line retreats, step by step. And endless tolerance? Isn't that just love?]

[System: Exactly! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o]

Gu Huaizhi didn't come that evening. Early the next morning, Nan Yi collected Yan Yu and brought him to an upscale residential complex in the city center.

The whole way over, Yan Yu kept his eyes on his own nose, picking at his fingers, nerves jangling—no idea what Nan Yi had brought him here to do.

Only when he was inside and saw Gu Huaizhi—coffee in hand, watching the news on the sofa—did he finally exhale.

He'd long heard that some rich men "shared" the people around them. Gu Huaizhi hadn't shown his face that morning, and Nan Yi wouldn't speak to him, so Yan Yu had assumed he'd finally angered the man and was about to be handed off to someone else.

After a journey spent braced for disaster, seeing Gu Huaizhi made Yan Yu feel—for one absurd instant—that being locked up in the hospital hadn't been so bad.

Gu Huaizhi took in his ashen face, and the corner of his mouth curved wickedly. He motioned for Nan Yi to take the boy to the bedroom.

Several stylists were waiting in the room, racks of this season's menswear from various houses lined up behind them—all in Yan Yu's size.

Fresh off yesterday's intimidation, Yan Yu sat obediently in the chair and let them fuss over him, not daring to say a word. Only when changing did he try to shield himself, terrified they'd see the marks—only to find that every piece Gu Huaizhi had prepared was a light, long-sleeved, long-trousered set. A few layers of concealer, a silk scarf knotted by a stylist, and nothing showed at his neck at all.

It was just... Yan Yu looked at his glossy, doll-like reflection, and confusion drifted into his eyes.