AD Chapter 51
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After picking up the clothes and returning to the villa, Su Ning carried the custom-made outfit back to his room, but as he stepped onto the stairs, Gu Lingfeng called out to him.
Gu Lingfeng called twice, but Su Ning didn’t hear. The man frowned slightly and raised his voice a bit.
“Su Ning!”
This time Su Ning finally heard him. He turned around in surprise. “Ah, President Gu, is something the matter?”
Gu Lingfeng didn’t respond immediately. He just stood there, staring at him with a scrutinizing gaze. Su Ning looked away under the pressure, his fingers tightening uneasily around the paper bag in his arms.
Ever since they left the club, Su Ning had been acting distracted, as if something was weighing on his mind. Even earlier at the tailor shop, his focus wasn’t on the clothes at all—he even buttoned his shirt wrong. That kind of mistake was rare for Su Ning, who was usually meticulous and professional.
Gu Lingfeng recalled Su Ning’s odd behavior at the club and realized it seemed to have started when he saw Shen Yao.
With that thought, Gu Lingfeng’s eyes darkened, but he said nothing. He only glanced at the clothes Su Ning was carrying and gave a brief instruction.
“The banquet is tomorrow night. Get ready.”
Su Ning instinctively felt that this wasn’t all Gu Lingfeng wanted to say, but he didn’t have the energy to figure out what the man was really thinking. He nodded tiredly. “Okay, I got it.”
He turned and went upstairs, unaware that Gu Lingfeng stood there for a long while, staring after his back.
Back in his room, Su Ning took out the clothes and hung them up. Since Gu Lingfeng was at home, he should’ve been by his side—serving tea, preparing food, or at least tidying up the room. But Su Ning felt exhausted. He didn’t want to do anything. His body felt drained as he collapsed onto the bed, burying himself under the blanket, wanting nothing more than to sleep the day away.
He thought he could be indifferent to what those people had said, and to seeing Shen Yao. He thought he could treat staying beside Gu Lingfeng as a simple job—just stick around until the contract ended, take the money, and leave. But he had overestimated his own emotional resilience… and underestimated how much Gu Lingfeng had affected him.
Maybe… it was time to leave.
—
The next evening, just as Su Ning was dressed in the specially tailored outfit and ready to head out to the banquet with Gu Lingfeng, Gu Lingfeng received a call from Shen Yao. The two had just reached the doorway when Gu Lingfeng gestured for Su Ning to wait and answered the phone.
It was Shen Yao, calling to talk about an art exhibition. Jokingly, he complained that going abroad for so long had left him with few local connections. Now that he wanted to host a gallery show, he couldn’t find anyone to help.
“Lingfeng, you’re the only person I know here. You have to come support me,” Shen Yao said with a laugh, then sighed. His tone became more helpless, almost like a spoiled plea.
“It’s really hard to integrate into these local circles now… I’m counting on you, Lingfeng. Please help me.”
Gu Lingfeng was silent for a moment. “Are you free tonight?”
Shen Yao chuckled. “I’m basically unemployed right now. Always free.”
“There’s a banquet tonight. I’ll take you with me,” Gu Lingfeng said simply.
Shen Yao sounded delighted. “Really?”
Gu Lingfeng didn’t elaborate. “Get ready. I’ll come pick you up.”
After hanging up, he turned to look at Su Ning. He hesitated slightly, brows furrowing as if unsure how to begin.
Su Ning had heard the whole conversation. His expression didn’t change, his smile gentle and considerate. He spoke before Gu Lingfeng could.
“It’s more appropriate for you to bring Mr. Shen. Take care on the road, President Gu.”
He stepped back slightly and bowed politely, the very image of a dutiful assistant sending his boss off.
But Gu Lingfeng didn’t look pleased by the gesture. If anything, his frown deepened.
“You—”
Before he could finish, Su Ning looked up with that same obedient smile. “You still need to pick up Mr. Shen. If you leave too late, you might be delayed. Better to head out early.”
Gu Lingfeng stared at him, as if trying to find a crack in his facade. But Su Ning’s smile was flawless—no trace of resentment or disappointment. He was the perfect assistant and an impeccable bed companion who knew his place.
Gu Lingfeng stared at him for so long that Su Ning’s smile almost faltered. Finally, Gu Lingfeng turned away and left a quiet instruction.
“Get some rest.”
Su Ning watched his car drive off. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a blank, numb expression.
It was important to know one’s place. Sure, Gu Lingfeng had said he would bring him to the banquet as a male companion, and even had custom clothes made for the occasion. But a stand-in was still a stand-in—he could never compare to the real deal.
Now that the rightful person had returned, it was time for the imposter to step aside.
Su Ning chuckled to himself bitterly and turned back to his room without emotion, changing out of the outfit.
—
In the days that followed, Gu Lingfeng became busy again. But Su Ning was rarely by his side, because Gu Lingfeng was occupied with helping Shen Yao build connections and meet more people in their circle.
People noticed that the person accompanying Gu Lingfeng these days was no longer the little assistant, but Shen Yao instead. Most of them understood the implication without saying anything. No one asked what happened to that previous “toy.” He had always just been a passing amusement, and now that there was someone better, there was no reason to hold back.
Su Ning, who stayed home most of the time, more or less knew how others were viewing the situation. To say he didn’t care at all would be a lie. But he didn’t dwell on it either. While Gu Lingfeng was out, he treated it like a vacation. He didn’t have to constantly be on edge, always worrying about saying or doing the wrong thing around the boss.
Gu Lingfeng had no idea what Su Ning was really thinking. He’d only taken Shen Yao to a couple of events—it wasn’t as frequent as it looked. Mostly, he was just busy with work. And as for not bringing Su Ning along, it was a subconscious decision. He hadn’t given it much thought, just didn’t feel it was necessary to have the two meet again too often.
After attending several business events with Gu Lingfeng, Shen Yao became even more proactive. Every two or three days, he would visit Gu Lingfeng’s company, saying it was to treat him to meals as thanks. Within a few days, almost everyone at the company had heard about the boss’s childhood friend, freshly returned from abroad—an artsy type, capable enough to host his own art exhibition.
Those who knew the real relationship between Su Ning and Gu Lingfeng—and that Gu Lingfeng had a fiancée—wore complicated expressions whenever they saw Shen Yao. Every time Shen Yao showed up, they looked oddly excited but also a little nervous, making newer employees totally confused. When they asked what was going on, no one would say anything—just smiled mysteriously and told them to wait and see.
Wait and see what?
They were about to find out.
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