Night Fire Lingering

"What do you mean?" Wen Yan asked directly.

Gu Yanci did not answer. He slowly walked down the stairs. He seemed not to be fully awake. His movements were much slower than usual, and he lacked the flair of Feng Xing. Even his soft, messy hair made him look gentler and more approachable.

Gu Yanci put the water glass aside and stood in front of Wen Yan.

The events of last night flashed through Wen Yan's mind: the passionate kiss and the burning hands; all the sensations remained vivid in her memory.

She instinctively wanted to back away, but she forced herself to resist, tilting her head back to meet the man's gaze without showing any fear.

"Does it still hurt?" Gu Yanci asked, then took Wen Yan's hand to examine the injury.

"You saw it last night." Wen Yan withdrew her hand, not wanting him to touch her. "Are you really that interested in the injuries you caused yourself?"

Gu Yanci raised an eyebrow slightly: "Have you seen it?"

"Don't you remember what you did last night?" Wen Yan asked, tilting her head.

She had never seen Gu Yanci drink too much. Given his current status and position, he only needed to take a small sip of wine at a drinking party, and no one dared to urge him to drink more.

Gu Yanci didn't speak, but stared at Wen Yan with a leisurely air.

Wen Yan said seriously, "You came to me last night and asked me to talk to you about the divorce today, do you remember?"

Gu Yanci suddenly laughed, and unexpectedly reached out to pinch Wen Yan's nape, as if he were rubbing a kitten.

"Wen Zhizhi, I'm just drunk, not drunk to the point of being stupid!"

"Since you still remember, stop pretending to be mute!"

Wen Yan gritted her teeth in anger, swatting away the man's messy hand. Her mind was in turmoil, and she was extremely annoyed.

She had already brought up divorce, so why was Gu Yanci still able to act so intimately with her without any reservations?

"Didn't you tell your grandparents about the divorce?" Wen Yan didn't want to spend too much time alone with Gu Yanci, so she got straight to the point. "Grandma called today and asked me to go back next week to celebrate her birthday."

"Hmm." Gu Yanci wasn't surprised, as if he had expected this to happen.

Ok?

You just... huh?

What do you mean by "um"?

Gu Yanci took a step back and leaned against the sofa back: "Yan Yan, given Grandma's health, if I tell her we want a divorce, she'll probably be in the hospital that very night."

Old Madam Gu has a heart condition and cannot withstand any stimulation; she is usually kept at a gentle pace. Wen Yan understands this fact and feels sorry for her, but she doesn't want to delay any longer.

She and Gu Yanci can't keep dragging this out for the sake of Old Madam Gu, can they?

Wen Yan's fingers unconsciously clenched into a fist.

The next moment, it was suddenly pried open by a force.

Gu Yanci gently pried her fingers apart one by one to keep them relaxed.

"After the burn, try not to exert force on your fingers. Didn't the doctor your senior took you to see give you any relevant medical advice?"

The phrase "that senior" carried a hint of sarcasm that was hard to pinpoint.

Wen Yan let him hold her hand, then suddenly laughed: "You won't sign the divorce agreement, you can't get an appointment with your private lawyer, and now you're being intimate with me. Mr. Gu, this makes me suspect that you're still reluctant to let me go!"

The man paused for a moment, then replied naturally, "Yes, divorce. You've been the one bringing it up from beginning to end."

Wen Yan recalled what he had said: he liked her—body.

Ha, liking the body, that's really hurtful.

Wen Yan withdrew her hand, crossing her arms in a subconscious self-protective posture: "You don't want a divorce?"

Gu Yanci did not answer.

It is the default.

In no mood.

He never agreed from beginning to end.

Wen Yan found this rather boring.

“We can stay together without getting a divorce,” Wen Yan said. “If you stop contacting Wen Muzhi, I won’t get a divorce and can continue being Mrs. Gu in peace. How about that?”

Gu Yanci frowned. "Wen Yan, making a request isn't unreasonable."

Wen Yan laughed in exasperation: "You men are really something! We try to reason with each other and make demands, and you call it being unreasonable!"

“Wen Yan, given the extent to which you seriously injured Wen Muzhi back then, she can sue you for intentional assault and hold you criminally liable.”

Wen Yan gritted her teeth and stared at him stubbornly. If you looked closely, her eyes were full of resentment and grievance.

The soreness in her eyes made Wen Yan close them tightly, and when she opened them again, she was calm again.

"I didn't hurt Wen Muzhi, I didn't do it." Wen Yan spoke very slowly, as if trying to convince the other party.

She paused for a second, and before Gu Yanci could speak, she burst out laughing again.

"I know you won't believe it! You don't even believe that I didn't scheme to get you married three years ago, so how could you possibly believe that the injury to Wen Muzhi, whom you've liked since childhood, wasn't caused by me?"

Wenya felt increasingly aggrieved. All her affection over the years had been wasted, and the past three years had been wasted too!

Gu Yanci parted his thin lips slightly and saw the tears welling up in her eyes, causing his heart to clench painfully.

"Gu Yanci, I was wrong three years ago. I shouldn't have impulsively slept with you after drinking. I admit my mistake! I apologize to you, I regret it, okay?"

"A moment of impulse?" Gu Yanci's face darkened. "Wen Yan, do you really not want to marry me?"

"Yes, I don't want to!" Wen Yan said without hesitation. "Give me another chance, and I will never come looking for you that night! I'd rather find any other man than you! I'm not going to ruin my reputation and marriage just because I slept with someone once!"

What's so good about marrying him?

Three years hadn't made him like her even a little bit!

Three years later, he would still choose Wen Muzhi over her!

The injury on her wrist is the punishment for her wishful thinking!

Gu Yanci lowered his eyes and said two words with an ambiguous meaning: "Is that so?"

He looked at Wen Yan again: "Want a divorce? You can convince her yourself at Grandma's birthday banquet."

-

The lingering scent of Wen Yan in the air vanished completely after she left.

The huge villa returned to silence.

Gu Yanci seemed to be able to hear his own breathing, but he clearly felt that breathing was a difficult thing for him at this moment.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Yanci was awakened by an incoming call.

"Grandpa." Gu Yanci answered the phone.

"Are you angry?"

Grandpa Gu had watched Gu Yanci grow up since he was a child, and he knew Gu Yanci better than anyone else. He could tell from just a few words that Gu Yanci was emotionally abnormal.

Gu Yanci was silent for two seconds, then composed himself and said, "No."

Grandpa Gu didn't ask any further questions, and explained his purpose: "I heard that you and Xiao Yan have run into some problems in your relationship."

"Who did you listen to?"

"You don't care who I heard it from."

There are no secrets in the world. Many people knew about the song request at the bar. Although Gu Yanci denied it at the time, there were still some busybodies who deliberately spread the news to the Gu family.

"Wen Yan's mother died early, her father favored his second wife, and she even spent time in a mental hospital; her reputation isn't exactly good. You are the future head of the Gu family; logically speaking, there's no way she could become your wife—"

Grandpa Gu's voice was weathered but full of energy, and one could still vaguely sense his decisiveness and iron-fisted methods in his youth.

"Third brother, don't forget, three years ago you came to me and your grandmother in person and said that you only wanted to marry Wen Yan!"

"Yes."

Everyone thought that it was Old Madam Gu who forced Gu Yanci to marry Wen Yan back then.

But the truth is, Gu Yanci took the initiative to propose marriage.

"In that case, don't spread rumors of a divorce and upset your grandmother!"

“I understand,” Gu Yanci said calmly. “Grandpa, don’t worry, I have no intention of getting a divorce.”

"Next week is your grandmother's birthday. You and Wen Yan should go back to the old house a day early." Grandpa Gu paused. "Also, your mother is back."