Chapter 9

So that night at Huyan Mansion, the two Wen Ran had run into were Gu Yunchi and Lu Heyang — one freak who didn't even blink at the perverted show, and another freak who treated it like white noise to sleep to. That was Wen Ran's impression of them.

'What's up?' BDH-339 asked, seeing Wen Ran spacing out.

'…Nothing.' Wen Ran lowered his head and went back to disassembling the cockpit. After a while, he asked BDH-339, 'Do you know what your young master goes out to do every night?'

BDH-339 grinned wickedly. 'Of course I know. They do everything.'

So for them, none of it was worth being shocked over. Rich people play hard by default — the problem was just that Wen Ran hadn't seen enough of the world. He nodded and went back to work. Except now, in his head, Gu Yunchi had gone from 'freak who didn't react to a perverted show' to 'super kinky freak.'

The super kinky freak came out of the Media Room after gaming. Wen Ran was squatting on the floor. He glanced up, then glanced up again.

Gu Yunchi stopped in front of him, looking down with no expression. 'What are you looking at.'

There it was — that look from their first meeting at Huyan Mansion, the way you look at a dog. No wonder he'd felt déjà vu. Wen Ran quickly dropped his head and said, guilty, 'Nothing.' He wasn't sure if Gu Yunchi had recognized him. Probably not, from the look of it.

When he lowered his head, the fuzzy crown of his skull and his pale nape — circled by the Neck Ring — were exposed. Gu Yunchi looked down at him for a moment, too lazy to bother, and turned to leave.

Even if Gu Yunchi was a super kinky freak, he'd generously let Wen Ran take the model apart — that was worth being grateful for, always. The teardown had lasted almost ten days. Wen Ran carefully memorized every part, labeled and sorted them, and kept sketching as he went. The end result was a stack of drawings that looked like a flipbook — flip through them and you could watch the helicopter go from whole to nothing but a base plate.

The moment the teardown was done, BDH-339 set off fireworks on the screen to celebrate. It really had gotten dark — almost ten-thirty at night. Aunt Fang had called in sick today, Chen Shuhui and Wen Rui weren't coming home for dinner, and tomorrow was the weekend so he couldn't come over. Wen Ran had just stayed late and finished the whole thing in one go.

The carpet was covered in parts, dense as could be. Reassembly was starting next week. Wen Ran felt a kind of excitement he hadn't felt in ages — and it had lasted ten whole days. Last night Chen Shuhui had even stopped him on purpose to ask why he looked so happy, whether something had progressed with Gu Yunchi.

Wen Ran was caught off guard and could only say, 'His attitude's gotten a bit better lately.' In reality, he and Gu Yunchi hadn't spoken in ages — all his spare time had gone into the teardown.

'The chef just made you a late-night snack. Eat up and I'll get the driver to take you home.'

'Late-night snack?' Wen Ran hadn't meant to bother the chef.

'Go eat, go eat!'

It was a bowl of meat soup. Wen Ran took a few sips and told BDH-339, 'Thanks for keeping me company.'

'I like keeping you company.' BDH-339 blinked. 'Ever since you started coming, I'm not lonely anymore. You know how it is — Gu Yunchi doesn't talk to me, and I don't have Aimee's new number, so I'm always bored.'

What Wen Ran thought of was his own long hospital stay — day after day, night after night, painfully alone, scared and lost, no one telling him whether the outcome would be good or bad. He smiled at BDH-339 but couldn't find the words.

'Huh? Back this early today?' BDH-339 muttered to itself, then rolled out of the dining room.

Wen Ran gulped down the rest of the soup fast and followed it out. The living room lights were on. Gu Yunchi had just thrown himself into the sofa, shirt rumpled, one arm hanging down to the carpet, the other lifted to cover his eyes. An impatient 'tch.' 'Turn the lights off.'

'Okay, okay.' BDH-339 killed every light at once.

The living room sank into dark blue, only the light from outside filtering in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Wen Ran whispered to BDH-339, 'What's wrong with him?'

BDH-339 answered quietly, 'Probably another headache. Old problem.'

No way he could just leave right now — Wen Ran wasn't that stupid. He walked over and crouched by the sofa. He smelled alcohol and an unfamiliar cologne on Gu Yunchi. 'Headache?' he asked softly.

Gu Yunchi lowered his hand. His dark eyes were half-hidden by a few strands of bangs, but the irritation in them was clear. 'You're still here.'

'Yeah, stayed a bit late today.' Wen Ran pressed his lips together. 'Want me to press on it for you?'

'Don't need to. There's a doctor.'

'Um… but you drank. Even if the doctor came, he couldn't prescribe you anything.' BDH-339 reminded him.

Gu Yunchi said, 'What does it have to do with you?'

'Phew—' BDH-339 whistled and turned its head away. 'So mean.' Then it secretly messaged the doctor to say he didn't need to come after all.

'Let me press on it for a bit first.' Before reaching out, Wen Ran added uneasily, 'Don't hit me.'

Gu Yunchi's brow knit, annoyed. 'Have I ever hit you?'

'No.' If he kept talking he really might get hit. Wen Ran shut up, sat down on the carpet, reached out, and slid his fingertips gently into Gu Yunchi's hair. He'd had headaches a lot after his surgery too — the nurses had massaged him a few times. He still remembered the pressure points.

He worked carefully for a few minutes. Gu Yunchi didn't curse him out, which meant it felt okay. Wen Ran relaxed a little. BDH-339 stood quietly not far off, seemingly in sleep mode — but a few seconds later, a fierce flash went off on top of its head.

'Forgot to turn off the flash, hehe.' Caught sneaking a photo, BDH-339 was a little embarrassed.

Gu Yunchi, eyes closed: 'Go grind coffee beans.'

BDH-339 sweated: '…How many pounds this time?'

'Twenty pounds.'

'…' BDH-339 swallowed the curse and tried the sympathy card. 'Young master, we've been together so long, I've always felt we were like family…'

Gu Yunchi, perfectly calm: 'You're worthy?'

'Holy shit!' BDH-339 broke, dignity barely intact, and charged toward the kitchen without looking back. 'I'm done! I will never reconcile with you in this lifetime!'

The fierce sound of grinding beans started up in the distance. Wen Ran couldn't help asking, 'Why are you making it grind that much?'

'Or you go grind them for it.'

'…Never mind then.' Wen Ran said honestly, 'My hands are a bit sore.'

He'd meant to say his hands were tired from a day of studying and disassembling the helicopter. To Gu Yunchi's ears, though, it came out as complaining that massaging him had made his hands uncomfortable. Gu Yunchi said, 'Didn't see your hands sore when you were taking the model apart.'

Wen Ran didn't even register the passive-aggressive tone. The thought of the model made him smile. 'Thanks for letting me take the helicopter apart.'

Gu Yunchi didn't deign to acknowledge his gratitude — eyes closed, no reaction. But Wen Ran felt like Gu Yunchi's temper got a bit better when he was drunk. He thought about it, then asked, 'Don't you think doing this is boring?'

'Aren't you exactly that kind of person yourself.'

Fine. Whatever he said, he got mocked. Wen Ran was used to it by now. 'Fair point.'

After a moment, Gu Yunchi said, 'It's a hobby. Who cares what anyone thinks.' Then his brow knit again. 'If I'd known you'd spread parts all over the floor, I should've just thrown the whole model at you and let you take it home.'

'Can't take it home.' Wen Ran said immediately, his voice dropping. 'My mom doesn't like me doing this stuff.'

'After all, your family's main goal right now is making money.' Gu Yunchi said calmly.

Wen Ran's hands stopped at once. His lashes dipped. He couldn't find a single thing wrong with what Gu Yunchi had said — it was all correct. He wanted to apologize, but Gu Yunchi had probably heard enough of that by now. 'Feeling better? Go rest in your room,' Wen Ran said.

No answer. Gu Yunchi sat up, then stood. Wen Ran stayed on the floor, his gaze tracking upward with Gu Yunchi's movement, head tipped back to look at his face. Gu Yunchi stepped past him — not that drunk, his steps still steady. He pulled out a cigarette case as he walked, bit a cigarette between his lips without lighting it, and headed toward the Rear Garden.

His back was tall and cold, a blurred shadow in the dim blue, finally disappearing around the corner. Wen Ran quietly came back to himself, got up, slung his Backpack on, and went to the kitchen to say goodbye to BDH-339.

Back home. Outside the front gate, Wen Ran was getting out of the car just as Wen Rui was driving into the Garden. The look on Wen Rui's face as he rolled down his window told Wen Ran exactly what was coming. Sure enough, the moment they were inside, Wen Rui asked with meaning, 'Stayed at Gu Yunchi's Residence this late?'

'Doing homework.' Wen Ran said.

'Just homework, nothing else?'

If Gu Yunchi heard that line, the Wen Family might get wiped out overnight. Wen Ran poured himself a glass of water. 'He's out playing every night.'

'That's true. I've run into him a few times myself, but he usually only goes with a couple friends — doesn't like crowded places.' Wen Rui snatched the water Wen Ran had just poured. 'Everyone in their circle is precious as hell. Random riffraff can't even get close.'

Wen Ran paused. 'I think I ran into him at Huyan Mansion before.'

'I know.' Wen Rui said lightly. 'Why do you think I gave you the card to go watch the show?'

Nothing to say to that. Wen Ran could only stay silent. So it had all been arranged.

'People, you know — everyone has desires, and desires want to be released.' Wen Rui set down the glass. 'Someone like Gu Yunchi is so rich that no desire of his can't be satisfied on the spot. But he's picky about compatibility — if the fit isn't high enough, he feels nothing.'

Strange — every time Wen Rui talked about Gu Yunchi's special constitution like this, Wen Ran got a vague, uncomfortable feeling. He poured another glass of water and said quietly, 'Otherwise you guys wouldn't have had a chance either.'

'It's not just us who got a chance — it's the whole Wen Family, including you.' Wen Rui suddenly laughed. 'Remember last time I said Gu Yunchi had another special problem?'

'I remember.' Wen Ran answered. Wen Rui had said to keep it confidential back then. He hadn't thought much of it.

Wen Rui reached out, the pad of his finger pressing against the bottom of the glass in Wen Ran's hand, pushing it up to his lips. While Wen Ran was half-forced to drink, Wen Rui leaned in close to his ear and breathed two words — Wen Ran froze.

'Sex addiction.'