When Wen Ran returned to his room that night, he specifically paused at the door to compare. He confirmed that his bedroom wasn’t as big as the foyer in Gu Yunchi’s house. The villa must have been specially decorated by a designer based on Gu Yunchi’s preferences. The style was cold yet comfortable and managed to fill the space without feeling empty.
After a shower and spending an hour doing schoolwork, Wen Ran went downstairs for a drink. He happened to encounter Chen Shuhui and Wen Rui returning home together, both wearing expressions that hinted at yet another argument. Wen Rui walked over and shoved Wen Ran aside to grab the glass of water. Wen Ran decided to pour another glass for Chen Shuhui.
“Leave it there.” Chen Shuhui sat on the sofa and checked messages on her phone. Wen Ran placed the glass of water on the coffee table. He was about to leave when Chen Shuhui asked him while typing, “How was it at Gu Yunchi’s place today?”
Wen Ran replied, “I learned a lot.”
Chen Shuhui raised her head to look at him.
He had to come clean, “Not so good.”
“It would be strange if it was good with that lifeless look of yours.” Chen Shuhui glanced at Wen Rui as if complaining and mocking herself, “Not a single useful one.”
With that, she rose and went upstairs. Wen Rui leisurely took out a cigarette and lit it, “I wonder what they were thinking by relying on you to handle Gu Yunchi.”
Wen Ran didn’t understand exactly whom “they” referred to and realized this whole situation was way over his head. He asked, “If not, are you going to handle him?”
Just like himself, enduring the torture of having artificial glands implanted, carrying the Wen family’s coveting for resources and shares in the Baiqing Group, becoming a high-matching omega with Gu Yunchi despite the other’s disdain and indifference, and acting like a meek and oblivious fool—Wen Ran doubted Wen Rui could handle such a difficult task.
In truth, it wasn’t a matter of capability. Wen Ran never had a choice. Rather than seeing being labeled as Wen Ran by the family as a way for them to cope with the loss of their son, it was more like premeditation, as if everything had been scripted in advance.
“I’m not cut out for this kind of thing, but I’m curious to see how you’ll handle Gu Yunchi.” Wen Rui flicked his cigarette into the trash can before heading upstairs.
How to handle him? The reality was, he was entirely unmanageable.
On the fourth day of visiting Gu Yunchi’s house, Wen Ran still hadn’t received any eye contact or words from him. If it weren’t for 339 and the teacher still interacting with him, he would be like air in Gu Yunchi’s house, a presence that only said “Morning” and “Bye, sorry to bother you” each day.
Even 339 couldn’t help but urge him, “Is it possible that you’re actually an NPC? Your daily quests and dialogues seem fixed. Why don’t you find some other topics to talk about? You can’t keep going like this!”
“I could turn into a donkey in front of him and he still wouldn’t notice me.” Wen Ran had accepted it, “Let’s leave it at that for now.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Coafg j ofk delfa rfmbcvr, 339 jrxfv, “Jjc sbe gfjiis aegc lcab j vbcxfs?”
“…”
Coafg wbgclcu aeabglcu, Xe Tecmtl rxlqqfv iecmt jcv tfjvfv ragjluta yjmx ab tlr gbbw. Lf jqqfjgfv gjatfg eckfii jcv ibbxfv ilraifrr lc mijrr. Llr ijmxierafg fzqgfrrlbc rffwfv qjgalmeijgis ecqifjrjca, wjxlcu Qfc Ejc agfwyif klat ofjg atgbeutbea atf wbgclcu.
Following lunch, Wen Ran and the teacher took a break on the sofa to read. Within minutes, two doctors entered the living room with medical kits. The teacher was familiar with the routine and said, “He’s in his room.” The doctors nodded and went upstairs with 339.
Only Wen Ran remained in the afternoon tutoring. The teacher left after giving him the lesson, “Yunchi probably won’t make it to class today. You can use the remaining time to study independently. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me next Monday.”
“Okay. Take care, teacher.”
After nearly an hour of alone study, Wen Ran gradually became distracted. His thoughts drifted to Gu Yunchi—he was worried that Gu Yunchi’s bad mood might have resulted in an illness. If true, then he really wouldn’t survive the night. Lost in thoughts, the door was knocked lightly a few times. The door sprang open and 339 came in carrying juice, “Good afternoon. Would you care for a refreshing summer drink?”
339 moved in front of Wen Ran. Wen Ran took the juice. After a moment’s hesitation, he inquired, “Is he sick?”
“Uh-huh, it’s a chronic problem. It comes and goes. Dizziness, fever, and irritability.”
Wen Ran’s tone was cautious, “Is it the rut?”
“No, it’s much milder than rut symptoms, just a simple episode,” 339 said, “The doctors can’t do much. They just give him some suppressants and medication to alleviate the symptoms. Mainly, he has to endure it on his own.”
The word “endure” suddenly made the situation seem more serious. 339 seized the opportunity as it noticed Wen Ran was buying into it, “Would you like to check on him? He’s lying in bed unconscious right now with no one to keep him company, all alone.”
“Did the doctors leave?”
“They left. Usually, unless there are special circumstances, they just let him rest in peace.”
Wen Ran said, “In that case, I better not disturb him.”
“What if he needs water or someone to wipe his sweat?” 339 put down the tray to show its stiff robot arms, “My hands aren’t soft and flexible enough. Last time I accidentally spilled water on his face while trying to give him water and got scolded to death.”
With that said, Wen Ran had no choice but to close his book and follow 339 to Gu Yunchi’s room. As he apprehensively opened the door, all he could see was darkness. The pheromone concentration in the room had to be high, but Wen Ran couldn’t smell it. All he could smell was a faint fragrance.
Without making a sound, 339 stealthily closed the door behind him like a ghost, making the room even darker. Wen Ran carefully walked around the partition. The room was huge. He could only see a beam of light coming through a gap in the curtains, casting a glow upon the foot of the bed where Gu Yunchi lay motionless on the dark gray sheets.
Gu Yunchi’s restless and heavy breathing only became audible to Wen Ran when he arrived at the bedside. He leaned in for a closer look as his eyes adapted to the darkness. Gu Yunchi lay on his stomach, his pillow supporting his fair face and messy hair. As Wen Ran drew nearer, he could almost sense the heat radiating from his body.
Due to an accident years prior, Gu Yunchi’s pheromones became particularly valuable. He became especially picky about omega pheromones and tended to be increasingly immune and indifferent to them. What was worse, he could only impregnate omegas with compatibility exceeding 95%. As the beloved and sole grandson of Gu Peiwen, Gu Yunchi naturally couldn’t evade the responsibility of continuing the family line. The Gu family had been searching for a highly compatible omega for him—that was all Wen Ran had learned.
How the Wen family had discovered this hidden secret of the Gu family and obtained Gu Yunchi’s pheromone report remained a mystery to Wen Ran. He only found out today that Gu Yunchi had such a problem with his health. The physical conditions of S-levels were innately superior and even ruts were rare, yet Gu Yunchi had to suffer from such illnesses every now and then. Wasn’t this tough luck?
There was medicine and a water glass by the bedside. Wen Ran contemplated for a few seconds, then reached under Gu Yunchi’s blanket with his trembling wrist.
But he was caught—Wen Ran’s hand was grabbed. The palm of that scorching hand detained his arm suddenly with astonishing strength. Before Wen Ran could gather his thoughts, he met Gu Yunchi’s open eyes in the dark, sending shivers down his spine.
Wen Ran incoherently explained his intentions before Gu Yunchi could have the horrifying thought that he was trying to take advantage of his sickness to crawl into his bed, “It’s not… I was just trying to help you remove your wristband. You should feel more comfortable without it.”
Gu Yunchi was fed up with him and flung his hand away. He changed his sleeping position to lie on his other side and tossed the removed wristband onto the blanket. With the restraint of the wristband removed, his pheromones dispersed even more recklessly. Wen Ran still couldn’t smell anything, but strangely felt his glands heating up, perhaps due to nervousness.
“Would you like some water?” Wen Ran remembered the task 339 entrusted him and asked softly, “Do you want me to wipe your sweat?”
No response came but Wen Ran couldn’t ask again. Even Gu Yunchi’s breath revealed impatience. Wen Ran closed his mouth. His glands seemed to be heating up further. He wanted to touch it, but as he reached up, he realized he was still wearing the collar. While he didn’t make contact with the glands, his finger accidentally hit one of the touch buttons on the collar, causing it to emit a beep.
Wen Ran froze in place, observing the changes for nearly a minute, but nothing disastrous happened. On the contrary, Gu Yunchi’s breathing became lighter and regular, as if he had fallen into a peaceful sleep.
After waiting a few more minutes to make sure Gu Yunchi was asleep, Wen Ran picked up the thermometer from the bedside table and gently placed it to his ear to measure his temperature. It confirmed that he had a fever. After deliberating, Wen Ran decided to stay and monitor Gu Yunchi’s temperature every hour.
He had selfish motives. 339 seemed to be in close contact with Gu Peiwen’s assistant and might report this matter. Even if he was going too far, it was better than just idly standing by—either Gu Yunchi or Gu Peiwen had to be pleased.
Throughout the afternoon, Wen Ran sat against the door and crawled up every hour to take Gu Yunchi’s temperature. By the last measurement, the value was close to normal. Wen Ran breathed a sigh of relief and settled back, intending to rest for a while. But as soon as he closed his eyes, he ended up falling asleep.
When Wen Ran awoke, the room was lit, judging from the brightness it was probably the bedside lamp. Upon checking his phone, he was startled to see that it was already 8 pm. Footsteps echoed in the room. Before he could get up, Gu Yunchi stood two meters away, staring at him with an unclear expression.
Wen Ran heard Gu Yunchi speak to him for the first time in four days, “You’re still here?”
“Huh?” Wen Ran’s response was sluggish as he was just waking up. After a moment of gathering his thoughts, he said, “I was worried about you as you had a fever.”
“What’s it to you?”
“Since I’m tutoring at your house, I can’t be so heartless.” Wen Ran couldn’t make out Gu Yunchi’s face and could only ask, “Are you feeling better?”
“None of your business.” Gu Yunchi said as he turned to the bathroom to take a shower. He lifted his hand to take off his black T-shirt, exposing his waist and back as the hem moved up. Under the lighting, his muscles were defined like a meticulous sketch by a skilled artist.
“Wait!” Wen Ran was alarmed and scrambled up. His upper body was sore and his legs felt numb. He winced in pain and asked, “How… can you just take your clothes off like that?”
Gu Yunchi turned back. His impatience started to be on the rise again, “This is my room.”
“But I’m still here.”
Gu Yunchi was blunt, “Then scram.”
339, who had vanished for most of the day, finally appeared outside the door and sounded cheerful, “Sorry to barge in on your quality time together. Did I hear correctly that you were undressing? Would you like me to open a bottle of red wine to assist—”
“You scram as well,” Gu Yunchi said toward the door.
“Got it!” 339 promptly scrammed away.
“You slept all afternoon. Remember to eat something in the evening. If you can’t attend class tomorrow, please have the driver inform me so I won’t come over to bother you,” Wen Ran spoke fast and finished in one breath before opening the door to escape.
He packed his bag and went downstairs. 339 came over, “Why are your ears red? Are you not eating dinner here?”
“I can’t, thank you.” Wen Ran sat down to change his shoes, “Your young master’s fever has gone down. Remember to tell the chef to prepare dinner.”
“He recovered from the fever so quickly this time? It usually takes overnight.” 339 showed a crying expression, “It must be because you took good care of him, waaaah…”
“I just took his temperature a few times.”
“Oh. Huh? Hold on, why am I suddenly detecting your pheromones?” 339 came closer to Wen Ran, “Is your collar off?”
“It’s on, right?”
“Let me check.” 339 scanned Wen Ran’s collar, “Eh, the setting was lowered by one notch. No wonder some pheromones leaked out. Luckily, the concentration was low.”
“Is that so…” Wen Ran remembered his touch in the afternoon, the setting must have been accidentally lowered at that time. He touched the side of the collar to readjust it to the highest level. Then he said, “I’ll be going now. Bye.”
“The driver hasn’t arrived yet. Wait a bit longer.” 339 followed Wen Ran to the door like a shadow. It laughed mischievously and asked, “Were you guys really undressing just now?”
“…No, it was your young master who was going to take a shower.”
“Then will you undress together in the future?”
Wen Ran, “Huh?”
“Will you kiss each other?” 339, whether genuinely innocent or pretending to be, pressed on, “Will you have babies together?”
Wen Ran stood still, mentally falling apart. After a long time, he said to 339, who was showing a drooling expression on its screen, “Don’t say such scary things in the future, okay?”
Author’s note:
339-taitai stayed up all night to write a 20,000 word GuWen smut fanfic.
Complicated situation, heh. By the way, thanks for the translation 💜
Thank you for your hard work translator! I’m so excited for the story to progress ❤️