AD Chapter 15
Su Ning followed Gu Lingfeng into the office, naturally stepping forward to take the man’s coat and hang it up, then making a cup of coffee and placing it on the desk — all things he was used to doing, almost like a conditioned reflex.
During all this, neither of them spoke, nor did they exchange a glance, yet there was a kind of unspoken understanding between them. It felt like some invisible thread tied the two of them together.
Su Weiwei found the sight of the two interacting extremely unpleasant. Very unpleasant. She stepped forward in her high heels, squeezing past Su Ning who was tidying up the documents on Gu Lingfeng’s desk, and plopped her Chanel purse down with a sulky voice:
“Lingfeng, I’ve been waiting for you for so long, and now that you’re back, you won’t even look at me. Should I go tell Uncle and Auntie about this?”
As a pampered young lady, she was used to relying on her parents for everything. Though she didn’t think there was anything wrong with her words, to others, they came across as a veiled threat. Gu Lingfeng’s brows twitched slightly, a trace of impatience flashing across his face, though Su Weiwei remained oblivious, continuing to cling to him and act spoiled.
Su Ning noticed Gu Lingfeng’s impatience — of course, he wasn’t going to say anything.
Su Weiwei kept chattering around Gu Lingfeng, but her topics were always about the two of them or their families, never touching on Gu Lingfeng’s lovers. In fact, she deliberately avoided the subject.
It wasn’t that she didn’t care — she simply couldn’t interfere. Gu Lingfeng would never tolerate anyone meddling in his personal affairs. Cross that line, and he wouldn’t spare anyone, not even his fiancée.
Su Weiwei was truly in love with Gu Lingfeng, and under the constant brainwashing from her elders, she had come to believe that men fool around before marriage, but would settle down once married. Since she couldn’t stop him from seeing his lovers, she tried her best to monopolize his time and reduce how often he saw them.
Gu Lingfeng opened the documents Su Ning brought him. Su Weiwei, realizing that the man hadn’t responded to anything she’d said for the past few minutes, pouted and grumbled:
“Do you think I’m annoying? Do you think I’m interrupting your work? But… it’s so hard just to see you lately, you never have time for me…”
The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she became. Her eyes turned red.
“Now that I’ve come to see you, you still ignore me. In your eyes, is it… is it…”
She never finished the sentence, but her reddened eyes made it clear she was about to cry, as if she had been gravely wronged.
The rest of her sentence would have been: In your eyes, am I not even your fiancée? You’d rather spend time with that little slut than with me.
She didn’t ask, fearing that if she did, she might get a definite answer — or worse, anger Gu Lingfeng.
But Gu Lingfeng was already growing quite impatient, though he was always good at hiding his emotions. Su Weiwei couldn’t see it.
He glanced at Su Ning, who was pretending to be invisible. Su Ning, in turn, pretended not to see the signal in Gu Lingfeng’s eyes.
Now was not the time to jump in and smooth things over — wouldn’t that just be adding fuel to the fire? Su Weiwei wasn’t one of Gu Lingfeng’s casual lovers; a gift and a few sweet words followed by a night in bed wouldn’t cut it with her.
“She’s different,” Su Ning thought.
“There’s a collaborative project between Gu Group and GreenWood Properties,” Gu Lingfeng finally said, pressing his fingers to his temples and setting the documents down. “I’m overseeing part of it.”
That one line was enough. Su Weiwei read between the lines immediately.
Not only was he managing his own entertainment company, but he also had to shoulder family business responsibilities. No matter how capable he was, he’d get tired too, right? On closer inspection, the man behind the desk did seem a bit worn out. Her frustration quickly turned into concern.
“Dad didn’t tell me you were handling that project…” she said softly. Su Weiwei wasn’t just a spoiled rich girl — she was studying at a business school and planned to join the family company after graduation.
“Just a portion of it,” Gu Lingfeng replied casually. He then opened a drawer and pulled out a small box, handing it to Su Weiwei. “I picked this up on a business trip.”
Su Weiwei’s face lit up. She covered her mouth in surprise, “You bought this for me?”
Gu Lingfeng didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no either. He only said, “Not sure if you’ll like it.”
Su Weiwei took the little box with delight and said happily, “As long as it’s from you, I’ll love it no matter what it is.”
Soon after, she left with the gift, looking completely content. Su Ning, who had silently witnessed the whole scene, remained in a daze, not reacting for a while.
If his memory wasn’t playing tricks on him, that box… wasn’t that the gift he had bought for Gu Lingfeng’s previous lover?
Back then, Gu Lingfeng had instructed him to buy it, intending to give it to the man — but they broke up before he got the chance. The gift had been left in the office drawer ever since.
Now it had been repurposed to appease his fiancée — efficient use, he supposed.
Su Ning frowned, trying to recall what it was. A necklace, wasn’t it? Yes. Gu Lingfeng’s last lover was also male, so Su Ning had intentionally picked a gender-neutral design. It worked just fine for a woman too.
He let out a quiet breath of relief.
Good thing. He’d bet Gu Lingfeng barely remembered what was in the box. He was probably just glad he still had something on hand.
“What are you thinking about?”
A deep, cold voice snapped Su Ning out of his thoughts.
He looked up and met the man’s slightly displeased gaze across the desk.
“If you’re not focused on work, you can go.”
Su Ning immediately collected himself, brushing away the messy thoughts in his head. He apologized sincerely, “Sorry, Mr. Gu.”
Gu Lingfeng gave him a bland look but didn’t say anything else.
After that, the two worked quietly in the same office, each doing their own tasks, not disturbing one another, but sharing an oddly harmonious atmosphere. Though Su Ning was technically Gu Lingfeng’s personal assistant in life matters, he often helped out with work as well. Right now, he was sorting through some basic documents.
Afternoons were always the hardest time to stay awake. Su Ning yawned for what felt like the hundredth time, wiping away the tears brought on by his sleepy eyes and continuing to type away. He usually took hour-long naps at home around this time. Today, he had only come to deliver some documents, but ended up staying to help — no wonder he was so sleepy.
As he stifled yet another yawn, Gu Lingfeng, seated behind his desk, glanced over.
“Tired?” he asked blandly.
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