Chapter 8

"Gu Yunchi went out screwing around last night, didn't get back till 3 AM, and he's still not up!"

Morning. Wen Ran had barely arrived when BDH-339 started broadcasting Gu Yunchi's crimes. His neck was much better. He nodded while changing shoes. "No wonder. He usually seems like an early riser."

"Uh, actually he goes out every night... just usually back by eleven or midnight, so he can get up in the morning."

"Huh?" Wen Ran couldn't believe it. Every day: up early, intense studying, gaming through lunch without rest, out for fun till the middle of the night, not a single dark circle on his face, a body that looked like it lived on a healthy exercise schedule — heaven really did spoil these S-Class types. Compared to him, Wen Ran was basically a corpse.

"He's got energy, all right." Wen Ran said, not without envy.

"For real." BDH-339 asked, "Want some coffee? I ground beans all night last night, finally hit ten pounds."

"I'll pass. What if I drink one cup and you drop below ten pounds again?"

BDH-339 got emotional again. "You're so nice... If only you'd been the one to take me home."

Wen Ran asked, "How much did you cost?"

"Ninety million."

"Make me a coffee, then. Thanks."

BDH-339's coffee technique was surprisingly decent. Wen Ran took a couple sips and looked at the piano again. He wanted to play. A performance-grade piano this rare — playing it gave off this sacred feeling. Wen Ran privately decided to ask Gu Yunchi's permission again in a couple days.

"Teacher Li's still a while off. Want me to show you around?" BDH-339 offered.

"Where?"

"Around the house."

Now he got why the word was "wander." Beyond the main hall were three or four side halls. The basement had a theater and wine cellar. The Rear Garden had a pool and parking. Upstairs had a music room and gym. When BDH-339 opened the music room, Wen Ran paused. "Violin?"

"Yep. His violin is even better than his piano." BDH-339 said. "Come on, let's go downstairs. Didn't you just say you wanted a closer look at the Toy Room?"

Calling it a Toy Room wasn't quite accurate. Inside the various transparent display cases, beyond countless figures and models, were endless travel souvenirs, art pieces, and antiques. Different styles but none of them clashed. You could tell every item's placement had been carefully thought out.

"Gu Yunchi's been traveling everywhere since he was nine. At first with a butler or assistant, then once he was older he'd take bodyguards. He's been to over a hundred countries." BDH-339 complained. "He's a chronic truant. Hates the Preparatory School. Usually wherever he went traveling, his tutor just went with him."

So that's how rich people never got bored — plenty of money and time to support them exploring the whole world and enjoying life. Wen Ran said, "I think I'm growing corpse spots."

BDH-339 immediately pulled up search results for premium feng shui cemetery plots in Capital City.

There was a corner at the end of the wall. Seemed like more space behind it. Wen Ran was about to go check when his gaze shifted and got locked in place — blue and white, one and a half meters. The Helicopter Model he'd watched on his Mobile Phone hundreds of times, only to watch it sell out — was sitting quietly in a spotless display case at Gu Yunchi's Residence.

Wen Ran walked over in a daze, mouth slightly open, speechless. So realistic. The real thing was a hundred times cooler than the photo. Color, lines, texture — 186,000 was definitely not extortion-level random pricing.

"Who let you in."

Wen Ran jumped. He turned around and saw Gu Yunchi standing at the door, hair slightly messy, morning grumpiness not yet faded, every inch of him radiating bad mood.

BDH-339 whimpered and hid behind Wen Ran in fear. Wen Ran said, "...Sorry. I wanted to look."

Gu Yunchi frowned and walked over. Wen Ran couldn't help asking, "Do you like this model too?"

"You have one too?" Gu Yunchi glanced at the model.

"No. I can't afford it." Wen Ran said honestly. "Too expensive."

"Then take another look."

"Okay." Wen Ran didn't take it as mockery at all. "You go ahead. I'll just look at it a bit more. I promise, only at it."

Gu Yunchi gave a soft scoff. "That big a fan."

"Yeah. I like it." Wen Ran was so absorbed he accidentally let the truth slip. "If only I could take it apart."

The consequence of telling the truth was Gu Yunchi telling him to get lost. Wen Ran slinked back to the sofa in the living room, full of regret. He couldn't even look anymore.

"How could you!" BDH-339 was scared after the fact.

Wen Ran pulled out his Mobile Phone and scrolled, puzzled. "The official site says shipping starts a month after presale ends. How does your young master already have it?"

"Huh? What presale? The plane model was delivered over two months ago." BDH-339 said. "He saw the picture, got interested, had his assistant reach out. The Company delivered it the next day."

"Oh." Wen Ran was actually a tiny bit jealous now. "Okay."

"You really like it that much? Then beg him. Worst case you just get yelled at."

"No." Wen Ran was reflecting on himself. "Saying you want to take apart someone else's favorite thing is rude to begin with."

BDH-339 was indignant. "Where does he like it? He put the model in the case and hasn't gone to look at it once!"

"Hasn't looked at it?" Wen Ran was surprised, couldn't understand. "How does he hold back?"

"So you have to take it apart!" BDH-339's screen blazed with raging fire. "Models should belong to people who truly appreciate them, not some three-minute-heat collector like Gu Yunchi!"

Just finished shouting, Gu Yunchi — who'd gone to the Rear Garden for breakfast because he was so annoyed this morning — walked back into the living room. BDH-339 immediately killed the fire and went mute. When Gu Yunchi sat down on the sofa, it scooted over and asked respectfully, "Young master, shall I make you some tea?"

"Go grind five more pounds of coffee beans."

BDH-339 didn't dare let out a peep, meek as could be: "I'll get right on it, sir." It moved toward the kitchen while scrolling 'go for it' across its screen at Wen Ran.

The sound of intense bean-grinding started drifting from the kitchen. Wen Ran picked at his nails for a while, finally mustered his courage, and asked very awkwardly, "Shall I make you some tea?"

"How much was that plane?" Gu Yunchi ignored his clumsy attempt to curry favor and asked directly.

"186,000."

Gu Yunchi looked up at him, frowning again, repeated, "186,000?"

"Yeah, it's pretty expensive is—"

The "is" was still in his throat when Wen Ran heard Gu Yunchi say, "Your family's that broke."

Even when they weren't broke, they wouldn't drop over a hundred grand on a model... Wen Ran realized that discussing amounts under a million with Gu Yunchi probably got classified as poverty whining. He laughed awkwardly. "It's pretty tight."

Gu Yunchi lowered his eyes to look at his phone, casual and contemptuous. "No wonder you're in such a rush to climb."

Not wrong at all. Wen Ran fully agreed, and also couldn't figure out how he'd had the nerve to say he wanted to take apart Gu Yunchi's model. His skin was seriously thick. He quietly opened his Backpack to get his books, thought about it, felt he should respond to Gu Yunchi, so he went along: "Yeah. Sorry about that."

He couldn't find the book he needed for a moment. Wen Ran hung his head, wondering if he'd left it at home. But from an unknowing angle, it looked like he was about to bury his head in his Backpack to hide, sadly spacing out.

Gu Yunchi typed a few words on his phone. "Playing amnesia and playing pitiful won't work. Cut it out."

"What?" Wen Ran didn't understand again. Gu Yunchi ignored him, got up, and walked toward the kitchen.

"Coffee."

"Yes, young master! Just a moment!"

The coffee wasn't ready yet when the front door opened and two bodyguards walked in. Gu Yunchi said, "Move that plane model to the Small Living Room."

The bodyguards nodded, changed shoes, and headed for the Toy Room. Wen Ran hadn't processed what was happening yet when BDH-339 burst out with the coffee: "Young master! Please drink! So generous! Handsome and kind! Smooth sailing and fortune!"

Gu Yunchi took the coffee, flatly: "Five more pounds."

The Small Living Room faced the Rear Garden. A half-moon floor-to-ceiling window sat right next to a pretty little flower bed. The sofa was soft, magazines on the nearby shelf within reach — probably a rest area for enjoying the Garden view. Now the coffee table had been moved aside, replaced by a transport plane model.

BDH-339 came over carrying a brand-new toolbox. "This came with the model. Must be the perfect disassembly tools!"

Wen Ran crouched beside the model, wanting to reach out and touch it but worried about leaving fingerprints that would dull the plane's shine. His thoughts were still a mess, his gaze unfocused. He didn't understand why Gu Yunchi had mocked him one second and then agreed to let him take the plane apart the next. After a long while, Wen Ran finally asked, stumbling: "How, you... why would you let me... really?"

"Sharing a favorite toy with you makes my taste look bad." Gu Yunchi said, then left coldly.

Wen Ran and BDH-339 were left staring at each other. BDH-339 said, 'Uh, their Bking is like that — pretty arrogant.'

Wen Ran hadn't understood that word either, but it didn't matter. The corpse spots were fading, and he'd risen from the dead — Wen Ran stood up faster than he ever had, sprinted to the main living room, grabbed his Backpack, and sprinted back. BDH-339 was shocked.

He took dozens of photos of the model, turned off his phone, studied it with his naked eyes from every angle, then pulled out draft paper, tore it into small pieces, wrote numbers on them to label different parts. Finally he opened the toolbox, gently moved the tail rotor, and unhesitatingly removed it.

BDH-339 slapped its hands over its eyes. "So brutal!"

Morning class was especially hard for Wen Ran because he had to keep himself from thinking about the model. The moment he did, his hands itched and he couldn't focus. At lunch, for the first time, he finished eating faster than Gu Yunchi. He put down his chopsticks, stood up, half-bowed to Gu Yunchi, and said, "I'm done. Take your time." He quietly left the dining room and ran to the Small Living Room.

BDH-339 stayed by his side. When Wen Ran was holding the manual and couldn't figure out the name of a part, he used BDH-339 as a search engine.

"Transmission arm. That's the transmission arm."

"Okay." Wen Ran buried his head in writing on the paper, then placed the transmission arm part on the paper, casually asking, "Your young master not gaming today?" He noticed the Media Room was right next door. If Gu Yunchi went, he'd have to pass through the Small Living Room.

"A friend's coming." BDH-339 quickly checked the surveillance. "Oh, he's already here."

Wen Ran froze, hesitating whether he should hide. The Alpha was already in view — very tall, cold features, similar vibe to Gu Yunchi, just less of a scowl. When he noticed Wen Ran, he looked slightly surprised but also like he'd expected it. Hard to describe.

He smiled, turned his face to the side, and asked, "Hiring child labor now?"

Gu Yunchi walked over, glanced at Wen Ran sitting on the carpet with a wrench, didn't answer, just tilted his chin toward the Garden and left.

The Alpha was still there. BDH-339 spoke respectfully, "Young Master Lu, anything to drink?"

"No, I'll be quick. Thanks."

"You're too kind."

After the Alpha left, Wen Ran was quiet for a few seconds. "Good thing he thought I was here to work."

"Huh? You actually believed that?" BDH-339 said. "Someone as shrewd as Young Master Lu couldn't possibly not have guessed. Didn't you notice he said it on purpose?"

"...No." Young Master Lu's expression was just too convincing. Wen Ran shook his head.

"Okay! So Gu Yunchi's closest friends — one is Lu Heyang, the other is He Wei who was on the phone with me last time. He Wei was abroad for a few years, just got back yesterday. The three of them grew up together. You could call them the golden triangle."

Wen Ran asked, "What's a golden triangle?"

"The rich version of an iron triangle." BDH-339 said. "Lu Heyang — smart like Gu Yunchi, but way better temper. Hard to read though, I feel like. Needs more observation. He Wei is simple — a dumb playboy."

Through the floor-to-ceiling window, Wen Ran saw them standing under the flower trellis chatting. Gu Yunchi looked down to light a cigarette, then casually rested the hand holding it on the railing beside him.

The smoking profile, the slender fingers — it was the first time Wen Ran had seen Gu Yunchi smoke, but there was a vague sense of déjà vu. He tried hard to recall, but nothing came of it.

Lu Heyang really did leave quickly, as expected. Gu Yunchi saw him off, came back, and passed through the Small Living Room on his way to the Media Room. Wen Ran looked up as he passed. Gu Yunchi didn't look at him. But Wen Ran smelled the faint tobacco on him.

Not the smell of burning nicotine — a clean, bitter fragrance.

Smells always pulled you into lived memory more easily. Wen Ran stayed frozen with his head up for several seconds, then turned and quietly asked BDH-339, "Does your young master have a diamond brooch? Sun-god shaped?"

"Hmm? Too many jewels. Let me search." BDH-339 searched Gu Yunchi's clothing and accessories system for a moment. "Oh! Found it. See if this is it."

On the screen was a numbered photo — a sun-god-shaped brooch encrusted with D-color and yellow diamonds, resting quietly on black velvet. It was the same one Wen Ran had seen on that Alpha's lapel at Huyan Mansion.