You Owe Me, My Love

Chapter 382 Working Hard During The Day

"Whatever he has up his sleeves, I would rather give up this partnership than have you involved with him. Even if it doesn't work out, it doesn’t mean that I can't travel with Bao,” Liu Yan said with certainty.

“Let's just take one step at a time.”

They went back after dinner.

Wu Nian went back to her room for some shut-eye, and Liu Yan was about to do the same. Shen Yiyan had been a pain the night before. She lost sleep because of him.

As soon as she returned to her room, the butler blocked her way. “Madam, Mr. Shen would like you to come to the lake.”

"What? Shen Yiyan hasn't left? I thought he's gone back to A City?” Liu Yan said what was on her mind

The butler grinned. “The master arranges his own schedule. We don't interfere.”

Liu Yan shrugged. She thought about Su Xuyan's speech earlier and decided to tell Shen Yiyan about it.

She went to the lake to meet Shen Yiyan and saw that Gu Mingchen was there, too.

It seems Gu Mingchen hasn't left yet. Or did he come back again?

The two men seemed to be having a good time fishing by the lake, without a care in the world, while here she was sulking over Su Xuyan.

Just thinking about it made her flare up in anger.

“Shen Yiyan, you should know that kings who do not hold their morning court usually set their nations up for ruin far quicker than others. You've been here for two days. Don't you have work to do?” Liu Yan questioned him bluntly.

Shen Yiyan was not angry at her critique. Instead, he chuckled. “Since you brought that up, you should know that I have annual leave at my disposal.”

"You seem to have quite a lot of it, then. You've taken twenty days off this year, haven't you?” Liu Yan walked toward him.

"Well, weekends are off by default, and business trips are a necessity. In total, I've only taken three days off my annual leave so far,” Shen Yiyan replied her in all seriousness.

Liu Yan noticed there were more than a dozen fish in his bucket. She commented in disgust, “If you have the time to fish, why don't you use it to think about what you can do to secure a partnership with Mo Xue?"

“It's my strategy to fish with my competitors and leave the plotting to you,” said Shen Yiyan with a smile.

Liu Yan gave Shen Yiyan's chair a good kick. “You have more than one competitor, you know? Nian and I bumped into Su Xuyan at the mall today. He was confident he could get Mo Xue to work with him. He even proposed for Nian to be his woman.”

Gu Mingchen arched his eyebrows and pressed his lips tightly at that.

“Oh, he's confident, isn't he?” Shen Yiyan chewed on that information before turning to Gu Mingchen, “What do you think?”

“There won't be any problems,” Gu Mingchen said solemnly, admiring the lake from a distance.

Liu Yan felt that they had become partners somehow. She was beginning to feel uneasy. “Hey, Gu Mingchen. Why are you helping Shen Yiyan?"

Gu Mingchen glanced in her direction, his eyes were as dark as ink. “There are some things in life where the less you know, the better.”

Liu Yan felt that those words were spoken with resentment toward her. She felt her dignity had been trampled on. Anger boiled within her, but she did not know how to let it out.

“So, Shen Yiyan, why are you looking for me?” Liu Yan said, displeased.

“Care to join us?” Shen Yiyan handed a fishing rod to Liu Yan.

Liu Yan forced him to get up from his chair. “Not interested, but I have something to tell you.” Shen Yiyan rose, his good temper still intact. Then, Liu Yan dragged him a hundred meters away. Liu Yan eyed Gu Mingchen and, when she supposed he was not within hearing distance anymore, proceeded to interrogate Shen Yiyan, “Why is he still here?”

“We were talking about military affairs.”

Liu Yan pointed at him, “Don't lie to me. Do you take me for a fool? You guys are obviously not talking about the military. You're fishing! You didn't tell him that Wu Nian is Bai Rong, did you?” Shen Yiyan smirked and held her finger, “We've gone over them. I invited him to stay and fish with me."

Liu Yan withdrew her hand. “Why do you bother keeping him around?”

Shen Yiyan pinched her nose. “To help you complete your mission, what else? Haven't you always wanted to travel?”

Liu Yan scrutinized his face.

Shen Yiyan, Gu Mingchen, Su Xuyan, and Bai Rong were all smart and sensible people, which led Liu Yan to believe that she was the fool among them. They might talk the talk, but they might not necessarily walk the walk. They could start with Plan A, which could then become Plan B, and somehow morphed into Plan C.

“Whatever, just don't pick on Wu Nian,” Liu Yan requested.

Shen Yiyan grinned. He put his arms around her waist. “Come home with me tomorrow morning,” he said.

“What? Tomorrow morning? Mo Xue's throwing a birthday party for her daughter that night. Stephen will be there and he’s going to introduce them to me. It's not right if I go back tomorrow morning,” Liu Yan explained, puzzled by his request.

“Is he introducing them to you or to Wu Nian?” Shen Yiyan asked as though he already knew the answer.

A sense of awkwardness loomed over her. She cleared her throat and spoke despite the discomfort. “Introducing them to Nian means introducing them to me too.”

"Wu Nian can handle herself at the party tomorrow. You'll only cause trouble if you go.”

Liu Yan pushed away his hands on her waist. She sneered, “Hey, Shen Yiyan! I bet that in your eyes, I'm just an idiot who knows nothing, right?”

"Hmm..." Shen Yiyan gave it some serious thought and then said, “Actually, you just need to know how to do one thing.”

"What?" Liu Yan retorted, confused by his words.

"Have my baby.”

“Hah!” Liu Yan scoffed, giving him an icy glare. “Any woman can do that.”

“But only you can be my son's mother,” Shen Yiyan stated with certainty.

"What's that supposed to mean?” Liu Yan stared at Shen Yiyan.

You're acting awfully strange today. Only I can be your son's mother? What, your wife can't do that? "Come on, come home with me. I don't like the idea of you staying in Xyperia. Be good, okay?” Shen Yiyan coaxed her as he smiled, his eyes burning into hers.

Liu Yan shuddered. “What if I don't want to? After we discuss the partnership in the next few days, I want to go traveling.”

Shen Yiyan's face fell upon hearing that. His gaze turned grim. “Liu Yan, do you know why you get to stay by my side all this time?”

He said that as though being able to stay by his side was an honor few could have.

“Thank you, but I couldn't care less,” Liu Yan replied roughly.

Shen Yiyan pursed his lips. His eyes darkened even more as his tone turned unpleasant. He barked a command, “You're coming back with me tomorrow whether you like it or not!”

Liu Yan turned around to leave, but he forcibly picked her up and carried her into the room.

Two hours later, Wu Nian woke up and went looking for Liu Yan.

She was stopped by the butler.

With a broad smile on his face, as though hiding a secret, the butler said to her, “Mr. Shen and Madam are busy inside.”

Wu Nian did not want to know what they were doing in there.

Gu Mingchen happened to walk in when she turned around.

Wu Nian lowered her head on sight. She greeted him with respect while still keeping her distance, “Mr. Gu."

Gu Mingchen took Wu Nian by the arm. He glanced at the butler and said in a stern voice, “They've been at it for almost two hours. They should be done. Please tell them that their presence is needed.”

“Uh... Yes, sir.” The butler nodded and headed to Liu Yan's room.

Wu Nian was appalled by the interaction

She swore to remember that butler and his differential treatment.

She stood beside Gu Mingchen unwittingly.

“You've gotten much thinner,” he said.

“I've been rather plump before this. I have a mind to lose weight,” Wu Nian replied.

“It doesn’t matter what size you are, as long as you're healthy. Shen Yiyan and I caught quite a lot of fish by the lake just now. We shall have a feast tonight. I recall from the last time we met that you'd make a good cook. I really do miss your cooking,” Gu Mingchen said casually.