Ad Chapter 8
Su Ning followed Gu Lingfeng out of the club. Everyone who had been in the private room with Gu Lingfeng threw him ambiguous looks, as if watching Su Ning climb into Gu Lingfeng’s bed with their own eyes. The explicit gazes were unabashed, as if they were sizing up a commodity.
This blatant scrutiny felt humiliating to Su Ning—an emotion only he could truly experience. Yet, none of them would dare look at Gu Lingfeng that way.
And Gu Lingfeng—he never bothered to notice such trivial things.
Walking ahead, Gu Lingfeng suddenly stopped. Lost in thought, Su Ning bumped right into him. Snapping back to reality, he rubbed his forehead and looked at Gu Lingfeng.
Gu Lingfeng frowned slightly. “Can’t even walk properly. What were you thinking about?”
Su Ning gave an awkward laugh. “Uh, nothing.”
He couldn’t possibly tell Gu Lingfeng he’d been internally complaining about him.
Gu Lingfeng had only asked casually and didn’t care much for Su Ning’s answer. He gave Su Ning a sidelong glance and said flatly, “Go home on your own.” Without waiting for a reply, he headed straight to his car.
As usual, Su Ning quietly stood in place, watching Gu Lingfeng drive off before slowly turning to hail a taxi home.
“Hey, isn’t that… where’s President Gu?”
A surprised voice called out behind him. Su Ning recognized it—it was President Lin, the one Gu Lingfeng had gifted cigars to.
“President Lin.” Su Ning composed his expression and greeted respectfully.
President Lin glanced behind Su Ning and asked curiously, “Why are you here by yourself? Where’s President Gu?”
Su Ning looked a bit embarrassed and didn’t know how to respond. President Lin saw his expression and smacked his forehead as though he understood.
Earlier, Gu Lingfeng had answered a phone call in the private room—it was clearly from one of his lovers. He had said he’d go over once he was done. And knowing Gu Lingfeng’s character, even when it came to lovers, he was a man of his word.
“Ah, President Gu really is quite the ladies’ man,” Lin said awkwardly, his gaze on Su Ning faintly sympathetic.
And how could he not pity him? After all, he had thrown himself into Gu Lingfeng’s arms only to be cast aside in the end while Gu went to someone else.
In Lin’s eyes, Su Ning probably looked like a poor, abandoned thing who would go find a quiet place to cry.
Su Ning had no idea what Lin was thinking. Among Gu Lingfeng’s friends and business partners, President Lin was actually one of the more polite ones toward him—though still not polite enough to remember his name, despite them having met several times.
He took a taxi home alone. Seeing the cold dishes on the table, Su Ning sighed, dumped the food into the trash, and made himself a bowl of noodles.
Before going to bed, Su Ning lay on his stomach scrolling through celebrity gossip. He had long grown used to Gu Lingfeng’s frequent absences.
In Su Ning’s mind, he was probably like one of those concubines ancient young masters kept at their side—responsible not only for managing his daily needs but also for satisfying him when the main wife wasn’t around and no one else was available.
Gu Lingfeng never bothered to hide this from him.
Well, maybe Su Ning had it slightly better than a concubine. At least he was paid well. Once he saved enough money, he could walk away and live the life he wanted. Unlike those concubines who had to be ransomed out if they wanted to leave.
Su Ning counted his savings with his fingers. He figured by the time the contract ended, he’d almost have enough.
That thought genuinely made him happy.
He finished calculating and continued reading old gossip headlines, smiling until his eyes narrowed.
Two more days passed before Gu Lingfeng returned to the villa. As usual, Su Ning went to greet him, taking his coat and hanging it up. He asked dutifully, “President Gu, what would you like for dinner?”
Gu Lingfeng paused, his eyes landing on Su Ning’s formulaic smile. “You—”
Su Ning turned his head, blinking in confusion. “Hm? What’s wrong?”
Gu Lingfeng stared at him for a while before looking away and continuing forward. “I’m going on a business trip tomorrow. Pack my things.”
Business trips were nothing new. Su Ning followed behind him and asked, “How many days? Should I come along?”
Gu Lingfeng stopped. “One day. No need for you to come.”
“Alright.” Su Ning nodded and didn’t press further. Sometimes Gu Lingfeng took him along, sometimes he didn’t. He just followed instructions.
Before bed, Su Ning once again fulfilled the duties of a concubine. Gu Lingfeng was rough and intense. Su Ning bit his lip to keep from crying out, wondering to himself—hadn’t this man just come back from seeing his new favorite? Was that trendy little pretty boy not satisfying enough?
The next morning, after seeing off his demanding boss, Su Ning finally let out a breath of relief. He thought he’d be able to enjoy a bit of a break. But not long after returning to the villa, Gu Lingfeng called him.
Su Ning instinctively checked the time. Gu Lingfeng should’ve just landed, right? Did he forget something and want Su Ning to bring it over?
His mind raced through the logistics—even if he bought the next available flight, he wouldn’t get there until evening… And so on.
But when he answered the call, Gu Lingfeng just asked him to deliver something to Chu Zichen.
Su Ning froze for a second, then quickly switched into work mode and said responsibly, “Sure, President Gu. What does Mr. Chu need?”
Gu Lingfeng only said, “Use your judgment.”
Then he hung up.
Su Ning stood there holding his phone for a moment. Having been with Gu Lingfeng for so long, he could sense the underlying impatience in his tone. But he also knew that frustration wasn’t directed at him. As for who it was directed at…
Well, no need to say more.
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