Deadly Trap.

Chapter 42 Chapter 42. Night

When they returned to the penthouse, it was already 1 a.m.

Through his tear-soaked shirt and vest, Su Li could feel Gu Mufeng's burning fever as she held his arm. She didn't know when it had started, but he had developed a rapidly rising fever.

Fortunately, the discomfort he felt all over forced Gu Mufeng to quickly give up his bravado and obediently return to the second-floor bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he tried to unbutton his cuffs with trembling hands.

Su Li, carrying hot water and her personal ibuprofen, had just walked in when she hurriedly placed them on the bedside table beside him: "Let me do it."

To her surprise, this time, Gu Mufei didn't say a word, but just breathed softly and obediently raised his hand and extended it in front of her.

As she took over, Su Li carefully unfastened his blue diamond cufflinks and held them in her palm; at the same time, she recalled that Gu Mufeng's expression had already been quite bad in the concert hall box.

Could it be that he had been pretending to be nonchalant and putting on a brave face since then, until now, when he finally couldn't hold on any longer?
"Why did you suddenly get a fever? Is your stomach still hurting?" Su Li asked gently, her hands busy moving back and forth.

She gently pulled off his tuxedo vest and shirt from both sides, revealing his full chest muscles and beautiful six-pack abs, now covered in a light sheen of sweat. The old scars on his back almost reached his waist.

"I'm going to take a shower." With that, Gu Mufeng propped himself up on the bed and got up.

"Sit back."

With one hand on his shoulder, Su Li gently pressed his current self-importance back down:
“If something happens to you in the bathroom, I don’t have the strength to support you. I’ll have to call someone to come overnight. Quenxus or Welsh or something. You don’t want them to see this, do you? Come on.”

With ease, Su Li decisively placed warm water and ibuprofen into his trembling palm. As Gu Mufei slowly sipped the water, Su Li quickly brushed aside his damp hair and pressed it against his forehead.

His body temperature felt even hotter in her usually cool palm: "If it's a fever, is it the flu?"

Su Li pondered. She really should read the family medical manual more often.

"Maybe. I met with Dai before the banquet. He had just recovered from the flu."

It sounded like a perfunctory reply; Gu Mufeng's voice was already very tired: "I couldn't answer his call at the concert hall. Give me your phone—"

"Now, don't think about work." With a firm and decisive gesture, Su Li pushed his shoulder back forcefully and quickly tucked him into the blankets.

“Then, send him a message: tell him he absolutely must come at 11 a.m. tomorrow.” His brow furrowed, but Gu Mufeng clearly hadn’t given up. “The password is…”

"Alright, alright, I understand, Mr. Gu. I'll send it right away. Now, take your medicine, close your eyes, and get some rest, okay?"

While she gently urged him on, Su Li was utterly astonished inside.

In the past month or so that they had been living together almost like strangers, Su Li tried several times to get into Gu Mufeng's phone, whether by borrowing it or by secretly looking at it, but she couldn't even get close to it. She had already given up.

But at this moment, it was so simple, Gu Mufeng told her the password directly.

Heavily weighty, Su Li picked up his phone. Its black casing, as cold and minimalist as he was. The screen was shattered tonight. Inside, lay his entire history and privacy:

Contacts, text messages, memos, photos, stocks, bank statements. Gu Mufeng seemed to never use social media. Everything was laid out before her, completely visible at her fingertips.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Su Li's thumb hovered over the pure black keyboard. Touching it lightly felt like burning her. She hesitated.

She was completely at a loss for words. How did Gu Mufeng usually speak to Dai Ze? She had only met Dai Ze once, let alone knew anything about their relationship or background.

Suddenly, Su Li realized that she was completely an outsider in Gu Mufeng's life.

However, Gu Mufeng calmly placed the phone into her hand.

This made Su Li feel embarrassed to look back at his past.

Regardless, Su Li carefully chose her words, acting as a temporary secretary and diligently fulfilling "President Gu's" earnest instructions. She kept the wording concise and straightforward, leaving only the subject, verb, object, and time, concealing her own personality traits.

She pressed send, but couldn't help herself, still weighing his phone in her hand repeatedly. Finally, reluctantly, she placed the phone back flat on his bedside table.

Next, she should probably find some cooling patches for him. Someone like him who always keeps bandages at home is unlikely not to have a first-aid kit readily available.

She looked around; opposite the foot of the bed, there was only a row of silent, concealed wall cabinets. A simple wine cabinet gleamed in the corner. Taking three quick steps, Su Li pushed aside each of the concealed wall cabinets, only to find...

book.

A neat sea of ​​books stretches from floor to ceiling.

She greatly underestimated Gu Mufeng.

From old-fashioned history and politics to newer philosophy and sociology, an entire wall of his house was covered in books. And he seemed to have read them all carefully.

Su Li casually pulled out "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. It was a thin book, and one she was familiar with. Among all the books in the collection, it looked the oldest. She flipped through it briefly, and notes occasionally appeared inside.

The handwriting varies from student regular script written with a ballpoint pen to the sharp, mature, and elegant slender gold running script in deep blue and lapis lazuli ink.

Su Li was drawn to the annotations and quickly flipped through several more books in one go.

She pulled out "Principles of Legal Philosophy." This book had likely been thoroughly studied by Gu Mufeng; covered in years of dust, it stood out conspicuously. As she flipped through it, a folded piece of paper floated out, like a long-neglected bookmark. Su Li carefully picked it up. The paper was so brittle it would crumble at the slightest touch.

Love letter?
On the paper, there were several lines of large, round, forceful, blunt-tipped pencil writing, clearly the handwriting of a child:
"elder brother,
"Don't work this Christmas! I'll stay home and wait for my brother! There's a birthday surprise for him!"
"To the best brother in the world"

"Fanfan"

Su Li froze. Her fingertips trembled slightly, and her chest tightened as if it were being squeezed tightly.

A birthday surprise?

It's true that Christmas is Gu Mufeng's birthday. But he completely ignores it.

Feeling guilty, Su Li glanced at the few lines of childish handwriting again, and the more she looked at the paper, the heavier it felt, making it hard for her to breathe.

"The best brother in the world".

Su Li then realized that Gu Mufeng had never mentioned family. It was as if, as Su Li stroked the note, he had been born alone, relying solely on himself.

The bedroom was eerily quiet. It felt as if Su Li had inadvertently entered someone else's room, peeping into a privacy Su Li had no right to intrude upon. Gu Mufeng didn't mention a single word about the younger brother or sister who wrote the letter; where were they now?
She bit her lip, suddenly feeling a thorn in her back as if she were witnessing death tonight. The note pierced her heart.

Hastily stuffing the paper back into the book, Su Li's hands were cold and stiff, so stiff she didn't even bother to fold them properly. Silently closing the cabinet door, Su Li suppressed her racing heart.

Gu Mufeng, that ruthless, scheming man. How could he be "the best brother in the world"?

Unable to bear the subtle reverie any longer, Su Li quickly withdrew and hurriedly retreated to the bedside. The warm, hazy light of the bedside lamp gradually calmed her. She gently turned her gaze to the person before her, lingering there for a long time.

The pure white pillow sank gently, cradling Gu Mufeng's disheveled, sweat-soaked blond hair.

He tilted his head slightly. His beautiful almond-shaped eyes were closed, with wrinkles at the corners. Under the down comforter, his chest rose and fell gently, as if he were fast asleep.

Perhaps the pain and high fever were too intense, forcing Gu Mufeng's aloofness to completely crumble. His face, beaded with fine sweat, revealed a tenderness Su Li had never seen before.

This gentleness is natural and effortless.

It seemed as if this was the real him.

His gentleness, more so than his handsome appearance or his usually domineering attitude, captivated Su Li's heart. Even though this gentleness was incredibly fragile, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.

"The best brother in the world".

Suddenly, Su Li wanted to hug him tightly. She turned off the lights and quietly climbed into Gu Mufeng's bed.

"Su Li?" It turned out he wasn't asleep yet.

"Ok?"

“If you want to go home, you can take my car back.” As if trying to stay awake, he also seemed to be resisting some kind of force majeure. “It’s so late, I don’t want to trouble Quenxus.”

Gu Mufeng frowned and closed his eyes tightly. His voice was faint and indistinct.

"Shh. Don't talk. I'm not going anywhere." Su Li leaned close to him, as if using her body heat to soothe him, and also to soothe herself.

"If I had the flu, would it be appropriate for you to stand so close to me?"

"Shh." Su Li pressed her finger to his lips.

Tonight, the moonlight was dim, making his handsome yet aloof face appear even more ethereal, though it lacked too much color. The shadow beneath his lips was particularly alluring.

She recalled his exceptionally passionate kisses from the past month. Su Li also remembered the words he had uttered to her from those very lips tonight.

"Please don't leave me because of this, okay?"

She really wanted to start ravaging those lips right away.

>>>>>
Next chapter: The Weight of Life
[Author's Note | Chapter 42]

On Christmas Day, when Gu Mufeng received the "letter," he was secretly reading "Principles of Legal Philosophy" during his senior year evening self-study session and casually slipped it into his book.

He never opened the book again after that.

What do you think of "the best brother in the world"?

Su Li seemed to have gained Gu Mufei's complete trust tonight, and she practically treated him like a child.

Where will they go on this New Year's Eve?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!
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(End of this chapter)