Strong
“Are you researching this without knowing the peculiarities and limitations of high-dimensional black holes or many-body systems?” Gu Yilan said casually.
Gong Chuang was about to defend his grand research project, but then he noticed the man in front of him suddenly turned his head to glance at the trembling young boy behind him.
Gong Chuang: ?
He instantly lost the will to talk physics anymore.
That reaction would be reasonable from anyone—except Gu Yilan.
Gong Chuang still remembered back when they were on the competition team at City No.1 High School. They represented their school, training away from home, competing in team contests.
Back then, Gu Yilan was the youngest member on the team. But undeniably, he was also the strongest.
When older teammates—almost like seniors—asked him competition questions, all they got was a cold and ruthless reply: “Who are you? None of my business.”
Young Gu Yilan was prickly all over, ready to poke anyone.
From that time on, Gong Chuang often followed Gu Yilan around, trying to smooth things over for his childhood friend.
But later, he realized Gu Yilan didn’t need anyone to smooth things over. Before absolute strength, social etiquette were pointless.
From school to city to province and finally the national competition, their teammates changed again and again. Each group whispered complaints about Gu Yilan behind his back. Yet he always stood firm in the team, steadily climbing higher.
The Gu Yilan now felt like a stranger to him.
“Why is this kid wrapped up so tightly? Did he hurt his face?” Gong Chuang asked.
Just when he thought his question would fall flat again, Gu Yilan suddenly spoke to the boy: “Take them all off.”
Gong Chuang’s heart skipped a beat, a little excited.
Since when did his words carry so much weight? A single teasing sentence forced Gu Yilan’s usually hidden little boyfriend to reveal himself?
The boy paused for a few seconds, then reluctantly removed his sunglasses, mask, and hat, revealing a strikingly beautiful face. His slightly curled eyelashes looked like a doll’s, trembling faintly.
“Your hair’s messy.” Gu Yilan took the items from the boy’s hands.
The boy obeyed him obediently, and even though he still felt wronged, he quietly ran his fingers through his soft black hair.
Gong Chuang was almost overwhelmed by the cuteness, clicking his tongue and muttering, “No wonder, no wonder…”
But his happiness quickly faded when he realized Gu Yilan didn’t have the boy remove his gear for his sake.
The two in front of him looked elsewhere: Gu Yilan’s gaze dropped to some invisible point, while the boy stared down at the little white rabbit on his shoe.
Neither of them was paying attention to him.
Gong Chuang’s mouth twitched, and unable to hold back, he reminded them: “Hey, don’t you two forget there’s a real person here?”
Only then did they both look back at him.
Gu Yilan’s eyes were as cold and indifferent as always, which Gong Chuang was used to.
But he couldn’t quite read the boy’s eyes—they looked timid but also assessing, silent yet somehow evasive.
That expression usually appeared on people with low self-esteem. But with the boy’s looks, family background, and relationship to Gu Yilan, there was no way “insecurity” should apply.
Gu Yilan seemed to notice Gong Chuang’s confusion. He glanced at Su Zesui and said coldly, “He’s afraid of you. He wants to ask when you’re going to leave.”
Gong Chuang: ???
He was used to Gu Yilan’s sarcasm, but… “afraid of him”?
No way.
He was gentle, polite, and always smiling. And even if he were scary, how could he compare to Gu Yilan?
He forced a friendly smile, slightly bent forward, and was about to chat with the boy who looked barely adult when the boy suddenly trembled and nodded heavily.
Gong Chuang: .
…Sorry to bother you.
Feeling awkward, he said to Gu Yilan, “I’ll send you the documents to look at.” He glanced at Su Zesui a few more times, then reluctantly returned to the coffee shop.
As the stranger disappeared through the door, Su Zesui finally relaxed his tense body. Still puzzled, he sent a message to the butler.
[(o^^o): Why doesn’t Mr. Gu talk to his good friends?]
[AAA Butler: That’s normal. Young Master Gu is like that, he doesn’t like talking to anyone.]
[AAA Butler: Little master, your coffee will be ready soon.]
A few minutes later, the butler came out first with a steaming cup of coffee.
Gu Yilan’s usual coffee order was a bit complicated, so the butler, not wanting to keep them waiting, gave the cup to little master Su first, then went back inside.
Su Zesui held the warm coffee, glanced at Gu Yilan, then looked down at the cup, lifted both hands, and offered it to the man: “Here.”
Gu Yilan lowered his eyes to look at the coffee in his hands—cafe au lait.
French latte, or milk coffee.
Seeing the man didn’t take it, the boy asked again, “Didn’t sleep well?”
Gu Yilan didn’t mention that he hadn’t slept at all—he simply gave a muffled “mm” in response.
“I got this for you,” Su Zesui said again.
Cafe au Lait has a high milk content, making it relatively sweet and creamy. For someone like the boy, who loved little cakes, it would probably be a hit. But because of its low caffeine content, it wasn’t exactly the best pick-me-up.
Gu Yilan had initially intended to decline.
But the boy was holding the coffee up high with both hands, almost lifting it to his chin, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. His little face practically radiated expectation.
Gu Yilan accepted the cup and took a small sip.
The rich creaminess of the milk mixed with the bitterness of the coffee, spreading across his mouth. Surprisingly, it wasn’t overly sweet.
A few minutes later, the butler finally brought out another cup of coffee.
When he saw that his boss already had one in hand, he paused for a moment, then handed the remaining cup to the boy.
Su Zesui took it and had a small sip—only to stick out his tongue at the intense bitterness.
Having secured their life-sustaining coffee, the three of them headed back out onto the street, though the atmosphere still felt off.
Because they were dragging along three lazy little white rabbits, their pace was unusually slow—more like three steps and then a pause—waiting for the chubby bunnies to hop forward.
And because of Gu Yilan’s “keep your distance” aura, a sort of invisible force field seemed to surround them, pushing the rest of the world away. Even people trying to sneak a glance couldn’t get through.
After walking only a short distance, a college student in his early twenties, staring down at his phone, accidentally stepped into this invisible field. The moment he realized it, he froze.
He hadn’t even bumped into anyone. Standing about half a meter away, he quickly put his hands together and apologized to the man in front: “Sorry, sorry…!”
Gu Yilan: …
After the student hurried off in a panic, Gu Yilan gave a sidelong glance to the butler trailing behind them with the boy’s bag in hand. He said coolly, “You can leave now.”
The butler stared in disbelief: ???
——Me? You sure this is… my fault?
But since the boss had spoken, he had no choice.
He returned the backpack to the boy, scooped up the three floppy little white rabbits, and gave a small bow. “Young Master Gu, little master—we’ll wait for you by the car.”
With the two biggest obstacles finally gone, Gu Yilan lifted his impossibly long legs and strode forward, eyes fixed straight ahead.
He stopped in front of a large plush toy chain store. After standing there and observing it for a moment, he turned and raised an eyebrow at the boy beside him. “You like stuffed animals?”
The implication in his voice was clear.
Su Zesui looked at the toy store bustling with people. One hand held his barely-sipped coffee, the other clutched the strap of his backpack. He gave a small shake of his head.
Gu Yilan didn’t seem to care. He took a long stride toward the store entrance, tossing back a curt, “Let’s go.”
Su Zesui didn’t dare stay behind alone and quickly followed.
Inside, the plush toy store was warmly decorated. The lighting was soft, and the occasional sound of wind chimes drifted through the air. The moment they stepped in, a circle of cuddly-looking plushies greeted them—bean-sized eyes, fluffy bodies. Just looking at them made you imagine how soft they must feel.
If not for the number of people in the store, it could easily be considered paradise for plush lovers.
“I think we should keep some distance,” Gu Yilan said with a slight smirk, his tone deliberately teasing.
Su Zesui blinked in confusion and watched as the man took a few steps in the opposite direction and then stopped, maintaining a not-too-far, not-too-close distance. He looked down at him.
Su Zesui instinctively reached out, wanting to hold him back.
But then he remembered—this outing was supposed to be a test. He slowly lowered his hand and curled it into a fist.
He had to work hard to overcome his social anxiety and pass the test. Then, he would get married and sleep in the same big bed with Gu Yilan, so the man could explain competition problems to him at any time.
That was the plan, at least. But when it came to actually talking to strangers? Not a chance.
Right now, he was walking with his head lowered, heart pounding, breath shallow—completely forcing himself through it.
To him, the world was nothing but the tips of his shoes. All he could hear was the thunderous beat of his own heart. Aside from avoiding bumping into walls, he didn’t dare look at any of the adorable plushies around him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Su Zesui caught a glimpse—someone seemed to be approaching from the opposite side.
In order to avoid bumping into someone, he quickly slowed his pace, lowered his head, and shifted slightly to the left.
But as luck would have it, the person in front of him also stepped to the same side.
Su Zesui paused for a moment, then shifted to the right.
Strangely enough, the other person seemed perfectly in sync with him, hesitating for a second before also moving in the opposite direction.
After repeating the mirrored movements a few times, Su Zesui stopped in place, a bit confused and nervous. He nervously fidgeted with his fingers and looked up. “Sor—”
He didn’t even get to finish the word “sorry” before he froze.
Because standing in front of him was not a person—but a spotless, gleaming mirror. And the person he had been “cooperating” with so seamlessly was actually his own reflection.
Su Zesui’s lips parted slightly in surprise, and his cheeks flushed red in an instant, the tips of his ears burning as if they were on fire.
His first instinct was to sneak a glance around him. Seeing no one nearby who had witnessed his embarrassment, he let out a tiny sigh of relief.
“Done playing with the mirror?”
Startled, Su Zesui instinctively turned toward the voice.
Not far away stood Gu Yilan, arms crossed, one brow arched in amusement. Who knew how long he had been watching.
“D-done,” Su Zesui mumbled. His face, which had just started to cool down, grew hot all over again.
He slowly shuffled over to Gu Yilan’s side, standing close to him, and muttered softly as if talking to himself, “By your side.”
After spending some time together, Gu Yilan had gradually learned to understand the boy’s fragmentary sentences.
Lowering his eyes, Gu Yilan rubbed the callus on his fingertip and said coolly, “After marrying me, you’ll be going out often. I can’t always be by your side.”
Su Zesui’s lips drooped slightly. He gave a faint, drawn-out “oh.”
So this really was a test. Only the strong deserved to be Mr. Gu’s wife.
“Came in empty-handed, planning to leave empty-handed too?” Gu Yilan said again, like he was assigning a task. “Pick something you like.”
Hearing this, Su Zesui nodded, picked up a small shopping basket, and sensibly walked away from Gu Yilan, heading off alone toward the fluffy white bunny section.
He had to be strong.
On the shelf were gray long-eared bunnies, chubby pure white bunnies, and rabbit characters from cartoons. They all had tiny pink noses and shiny black bean eyes, and they felt incredibly soft and silky to the touch.
Su Zesui let out a quiet “wow,” trying his best to focus all his attention on the adorable plush rabbits, patting each one gently on the head as he carefully picked through them.
“Hey! Give it back! Are you five or something?” a girl’s voice suddenly rang out nearby, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps—someone was clearly chasing someone else.
As the noise grew louder and closer, Su Zesui’s anxiety flared like a siren in his head.
He immediately pulled back the hand that was touching the bunny’s head, turned around, and tried to flee in the opposite direction.
But he hadn’t realized the person was that close—so close that… they were right behind him!
He spun around, took half a step forward, and just as he moved part of his body out, the coffee cup in his hand collided with someone.
He instinctively pulled his hand back, and the little basket hooked on his other arm dropped to the ground with a loud clatter.
But it was already too late.
He had only taken a small sip of the black coffee earlier, so the cup was still almost full. Even a slight bump had splashed a few drops out.
The tall guy in front of him had just been holding a long-eared bunny plushie, teasing his girlfriend nearby. Now, seeing the few faint brown stains spreading on his white shirt, his face instantly darkened.
Still holding the plush toy in one hand, the guy tugged at his shirt to examine the stains, then cast a disdainful, irritated glance at Su Zesui. In a low voice only the two of them could hear, he muttered, “What the hell, are you blind?”
“What happened? Are you okay?” The girl immediately stopped playing and hurried over, anxiously checking on her boyfriend.
“I’m fine. Just got coffee spilled on me.” The guy showed her the stains on his chest, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Unbelievable. I mean, who the hell brings coffee into a toy store and doesn’t watch where they’re going?”
“This shirt was the one you gave me. I never even wear it usually.”
“It’s fine, it’s just a shirt. I’ll get you another one later.”
The two went back and forth, their voices filled with the guy’s irritated sarcasm and the girl’s gentle attempts to comfort him.
Su Zesui stood frozen, completely at a loss.
Right then, he was like a total outsider. Neither of them even looked him in the eye, but every word they said was about him.
And who knew how long they’d keep talking before finally deciding how to “sentence” him?
Su Zesui couldn’t move. His whole body was shaking. He used all his strength just to hold on to the hot coffee in his hand and keep it from spilling like the basket had.
After the girl finished inspecting the shirt, she finally turned to him and spoke seriously, “Little brother, if you’re carrying something, you need to be extra careful. Look at his shirt—who knows if the dry cleaners will even be able to get it out.”
Su Zesui glanced at the glaring coffee stains, then stiffly lowered his head. He wanted to apologize, but it felt like someone was gripping his throat—he couldn’t get a single word out.
Then suddenly, he remembered he had a pack of napkins in his backpack.
Summoning what little strength he had left, he quickly bent down, placed the coffee on the ground, pulled out a few tissues, stood back up, and tried to hand them to the guy.
But the guy was clearly still fuming. With a sharp slap, he knocked Su Zesui’s hand aside and scoffed coldly, his face full of disdain. “Do you even know how much this shirt cost? You think a few tissues are gonna fix it?”
Su Zesui was already weak to begin with, and the sudden swat sent the tissues flying out of his hand, scattering in the air and fluttering down slowly.
Just like his mood—helpless, miserable, and utterly hopeless.
He froze for a moment, eyes lowered as he watched the tissues drift to the floor at his feet. Something in his mind suddenly snapped. His body completely gave out.
With a thud, the small backpack he had been clutching for the tissues fell to the floor as well.
His gaze began to lose focus, his eyes dull. His legs went weak—he was almost about to collapse to his knees.
“Forget it, forget it.” The girl, after soothing her boyfriend, turned to the dazed Su Zesui. “Little brother, we won’t make you pay for it this time, but next ti—”
Before she could finish her sentence, a cold voice cut her off: “How much is the shirt?”
The girl looked up, startled. A tall, slender man had just stepped into the plush bunny section.
He stood with perfect posture, a faint furrow between his brows, his sharp gaze sweeping across the messy scene like a judge from hell—one who clearly saw through everything and had no patience for playing fair.
“There’s no need. We’re not trying to scam anyone,” the girl said, raising a polite hand. “We just wanted to teach this reckless little brother a small lesson…”
Gu Yilan looked increasingly impatient. He repeated, enunciating each word clearly, “How. Much?”
The guy let out a loud, scornful hmph, staring straight at Gu Yilan, and through clenched teeth, spat out the price before discounts: “Seventeen thousand.”
That was basically two to three months’ salary for an average person. The man in front of him might’ve been good-looking, but he had no watch—not even a cheap knockoff. He probably thought dressing all in black looked cool. Definitely a broke poser.
The guy assumed that the moment this man heard the price, he’d immediately turn on the awkward boy, scold him in front of them, and force him to bow and apologize. Then he’d toss in a line like, “He’s just a kid—don’t take it personally.”
A classic case of shifting the blame, saving face without spending money. He’d seen it all before, especially since dating his well-off girlfriend.
Sometimes, being poor strips people of their dignity. When adults are too desperate to protect their wallets, it’s the kids under their control who end up suffering the humiliation.
But to his surprise, the man didn’t react at all to the number. No shock, no skepticism. Just a slight lift of the chin, signaling for the girl to show her payment QR code.
The girl was stunned for a second but still opened her WeChat.
Without hesitation, Gu Yilan transferred the full amount.
Not a cent more, not a cent less.
He put away his phone and glanced at the couple in front of him, raising an eyebrow.
His gaze was light, barely more than a glance—but somehow, it made the guy’s scalp tingle. It felt like being stared down by a top predator, and even though he wanted to fight back, he realized he was just prey, laid bare on the chopping block.
Then Gu Yilan spoke in a calm, indifferent tone: “It’s only seventeen thousand. Acting like this, people might think it’s 1.7 million.”
His voice was low and magnetic, completely steady—as if stating a simple fact. And from the way he said it, you could tell he really didn’t care about the money.
The guy’s face flushed purple with embarrassment. Thinking about how smug he’d been just moments ago, his pride felt utterly crushed. He turned red with rage, looking like a furious eggplant as he clenched his teeth. “You—!!”
“Enough. I said enough!” the girl quickly pulled him back, more forcefully than before.
The moment the man had stepped in, she’d thought he looked familiar. But now, after hearing him speak, she suddenly remembered exactly who he was.
Half a year ago, she had followed her father on a company visit to a leading firm in their industry. It was during that trip that she’d heard this business tycoon speak.
Back then, she’d been seated too far away to see his face clearly. But even from a distance, his chiseled features made it obvious—this man was handsome.
She even remembered taking photos and showing them to her best friend, who jokingly told her to “accidentally bump into him and see if you could marry into wealth in your next life.” She’d laughed it off, but had secretly fantasized a little.
At the time, because of the microphone setup, his distinctive voice hadn’t come through clearly.
Just moments ago, the man’s calm voice had carried such biting sarcasm—it was so distinctly him: cold, aloof, disdainful of everything. It sent chills down your spine.
She realized who he was almost instantly.
Watching her clueless boyfriend still posturing like he was ready to throw down with this man, she couldn’t help but pinch him hard on the back. “Let’s go! We’re leaving.”
They needed to get out of there—now.
She was the heir to a family business. There was no way she was going to risk being remembered negatively by a major industry giant over a petty seventeen thousand—and an even pettier boyfriend.
——What would happen to her brilliant future?
Not to mention, the rumors about rich and powerful families like his were always the same: above the law, indifferent to human lives.
The man standing before them was clearly protecting the boy, and at the same time, quietly observing them. She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide her face.
But her boyfriend still wanted to fight. She cursed idiot in her heart and gave him a smack on the head.
Why had she even started dating this brainless fool? A bit of childish flirting was one thing, but now he’d completely ruined her entire day—possibly even her life.
All her emotions had drained away, leaving only dread.
She could imagine that every time she came to A City for a business trip in the future, she would be filled with fear, afraid of being recognized and falling straight from a rich second-generation’s paradise into hell. It would be like having a sword hanging over her head, never knowing when it might fall.
——Damn it, how annoying.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. With great difficulty, she forced a polite smile, nodded at the man and the boy, and said, “Sorry for the trouble,” then dragged her useless boyfriend away.
Once they left, the bunny section fell silent, except for a distant wind chime still gently clinking.
Su Zesui remained standing there. His beautiful eyes were empty, still trembling slightly, but clearly dissociating.
Gu Yilan silently bent down and picked up the tissues on the floor, along with the discarded coffee, shopping basket, and small backpack. Then he stood up.
As he turned to look at the dazed boy, a soft body suddenly collided into his chest, and a faint, familiar scent drifted into his nose.
Gu Yilan froze for a moment.
He didn’t like physical contact. Overly intimate gestures like this made him feel things were spiraling out of control. So instinctively, he raised his free hand, intending to grab the boy by the back of the collar.
But before he could act, he felt warm moisture soaking into the fabric on his chest—damp and burning.
Then came Su Zesui’s soft, tearful voice, nasal and choked with emotion: “S-sorry.”
Gu Yilan’s hand stiffened in midair.
Baby, no
Don’t cry,
It’s so sad
o(T◇T o)
😭