Chapter 109: Wash It Again

As the night deepened, Gu Yan stayed at the old residence.

Shen Yanhui had a separate courtyard on the east side, with three main rooms and east and west side chambers.

Gu Yan came out after showering, her hair still wet, and paced around the room wrapped in a bathrobe.

Shen Yanhui had not returned yet.

She wiped her hair and sat down by the bed.

Her phone vibrated; a friend request from Zhou Shuyao.

Gu Yan raised an eyebrow and clicked accept.

Zhou Shuyao: 【Miss Gu, sorry to disturb you so late.】

Zhou Shuyao: 【There are some things that weren't convenient to say during the day, but after thinking about it, I still wanted to let you know.】

Zhou Shuyao sent a photo.

Gu Yan clicked it open and immediately recognized it as one of her photos shared online; in the corner of the frame, a hand appeared. It was slender with distinct knuckles, and the watch on the wrist was one she had helped him put on.

She became a little curious about Zhou Shuyao's next sentence.

Zhou Shuyao: 【Mr. Shen has another woman outside.】

Gu Yan looked at the screen, her eyebrows arching a little higher.

So direct?

Gu Yan: 【Oh?】

Zhou Shuyao: 【Miss Gu, you just got together with him, so you might not know these things. I just felt you should be informed.】

Gu Yan stared at the screen, the corners of her mouth starting to lift uncontrollably.

She took a deep breath to steady herself.

Gu Yan: 【Oh, is that so...】

Gu Yan: 【Um, I'd like to ask, is that woman pretty?】

Zhou Shuyao probably didn't expect her to ask that; she replied after a few seconds.

Zhou Shuyao: 【... I suppose she's quite pretty. She's a painter, after all, quite talented.】

Gu Yan: 【Is her figure good then?】

Zhou Shuyao: 【?】

Gu Yan: 【I'm just asking, don't mind me. That's how I see it—Shen Yanhui is so outstanding, it's normal for him to have a few women.】

Zhou Shuyao: 【???】

Gu Yan: 【Really, I don't mind. As long as he agrees to let me stay by his side, I'm willing to be one of them.】

Zhou Shuyao: 【...】

Gu Yan: 【After all, I love him to death! I'm very satisfied just being by his side.】

Zhou Shuyao: 【Miss Gu, did you not understand what I meant?】

Gu Yan: 【I understood! You wanted to tell me he has someone else. Thank you, you really are a good person!】

Zhou Shuyao: 【...】

The person on the other end went completely silent.

Gu Yan stared at the screen and waited for over ten seconds.

No further reply.

She finally couldn't hold it in anymore and collapsed onto the bed, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

She rolled twice on the bed, her bathrobe coming undone and her nightgown hem riding up to the top of her thighs, revealing the edge of black lace.

This scene happened to fall into the eyes of Shen Yanhui, who had just pushed the door open, and his gaze darkened abruptly.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked.

Gu Yan sat up in one motion.

Shen Yanhui stood at the doorway with his suit jacket draped over his forearm and his shirt sleeves rolled up twice, clearly having just returned from outside.

"You're back!" Her eyes brightened, and she knelt up and waved, "Come here, come here, I have something funny to tell you!"

He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

Gu Yan shoved the phone into his hand: "Look, look! Zhou Shuyao added me!"

She said while laughing, her finger tapping the screen to scroll for him to see.

"She said you have another woman outside! And she even said it's the painter Yan!"

Shen Yanhui lowered his eyes to look at the conversation, his expression unchanged.

Gu Yan was laughing until she was out of breath: "Then I said I didn't mind, and that I was willing to be one of them as long as I could stay by his side, and then she stopped replying! Hahahaha!"

She was laughing so hard she couldn't straighten her back, hanging onto him.

"Do you think she was pissed off to death by me?"

Shen Yanhui looked down at her.

"You don't mind?"

Gu Yan was stunned and lifted her face.

He looked down at her with a faint gaze, showing no emotion.

"Willing to be one of them?"

Gu Yan blinked.

"... I was just trying to annoy her."

"Hmm."

"Really!"

"Mm."

He rested one hand on her leg, his fingertips tracing slowly up her calf.

Gu Yan looked down, then looked at him.

"What are you doing?"

He raised his eyes, but his hand did not stop, continuing upward: "Keep talking."

Gu Yan felt a bit ticklish and tried to pull her leg back, but it was held down: "... Talk about what?"

"Talk about why she posted that."

Gu Yan blinked, then laughed, simply wrapping her arms around his neck: "Oh right, why is she so focused on Yan? Could it be she really likes my paintings?"

Shen Yanhui looked at her smiling face, which was inches from his own.

"Because of me."

Gu Yan paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Narcissist!"

He didn't explain, only took her off his neck and swept her up into his arms.

"Accompany me to take a bath."

"I already took one!"

He didn't stop his pace, carrying her toward the bathroom.

"Take another one."

This bath took a while; by the time Gu Yan was carried out, an hour had passed. She had been washed inside and out, and her calves were trembling slightly.

She nestled limply in Shen Yanhui's arms, her fingers playing with his lapel, her eyelids fighting to stay open.

Suddenly, she remembered something.

"Shen Yanhui."

"Mm."

"That Marital Property Agreement," she asked groggily, "why don't I remember signing it?"

He looked down at her.

"You signed it."

"When?"

"On our wedding night."

Gu Yan remembered; at that time, she was feeling guilty about getting the marriage certificate behind her family's back and was begging him to keep it a secret. He said he would, provided she agreed to one condition, and fearing she would go back on her word, he insisted she sign and press her thumbprint.

She had thought it was one of those romantic, playful agreements.

She hadn't looked closely and signed it directly.

Gu Yan opened her eyes wide, her sleepiness vanishing: "So that was actually a property agreement?"

"Mm."

She stared at him for a few seconds.

"Shen Yanhui," she suddenly laughed, "are you hopelessly in love with me? What if I run off with your money?"

Shen Yanhui's eyes narrowed slightly: "Run off?"

Gu Yan said slyly: "Yeah, I'm not exactly a good person."

"You won't."

"That's not necessarily true." Gu Yan blinked, saying deliberately, "My legs are on my own body, and you can't control me."

He didn't speak, only let out a soft chuckle, as if mocking her naivety.

"What are you laughing at?" Gu Yan said, annoyed.

"If your legs are weak," Shen Yanhui's voice was low, "then you won't be able to run."

Gu Yan froze, her face flushing instantly.

"Shameless!"

The arm he had around her suddenly tightened, and he leaned down close to her ear.

"Want to try?"

Hot air brushed against her earlobe, and Gu Yan's heart skipped a beat.

She had already been handled quite ruthlessly in the bathroom just now, and she didn't want to go through it again.

She rolled out of his arms in one motion, tumbled to the other side of the bed, turned her back to him, and snatched the quilt to wrap herself up.

"I'm sleeping."

It was quiet behind her for a moment.

Then she heard his low laughter, very soft, vibrating through his chest.

The mattress shifted.

He leaned over and, through the quilt, scooped her and the bedding into his arms.

"Sleep," he said.