After Redeeming the Paranoid Villain [Transmigration] - Chapter 7

Su Yu cautiously watched Gu Chen’s back throughout the journey, following closely behind him. He felt that Gu Chen’s mood seemed poor, though he could not quite put his finger on why.

“Gu Chen, are you angry?” Su Yu asked after a long internal struggle.

The figure in the wheelchair stiffened. Gu Chen then let out a cold laugh. “Angry? Are you holding yourself in too high a regard?”

After saying this, Gu Chen controlled his wheelchair and left without looking back, leaving Su Yu stunned and standing in place.

I never said you were angry because of me. Your wild assumptions make it hard for me not to be suspicious, Su Yu thought.

Gu Chen rolled away for quite some time before realizing there were no footsteps behind him. He glanced back, his eyes darkening. “Are you not going to keep up?”

Looking at the overbearing man who gave no one else a chance to speak, Su Yu could only roll his eyes behind Gu Chen’s back. Still, he lacked the backbone to do anything else and followed him.

In the elevator, the two fell into a deathly silence. When the elevator stopped at the third floor, Su Yu knew they had reached the floor of Gu Chen’s bedroom. Watching Gu Chen, whose expression remained sour, Su Yu feared the man might take his anger out on him. Su Yu acted like a sycophant, holding the elevator door for Gu Chen and giving him a small smile.

Gu Chen glanced at him. Just as Su Yu was about to leave, Gu Chen said, “Come here.”

Su Yu’s heart tightened. Despite his immense reluctance, he followed Gu Chen into the study. Inside the study, Gu Chen sat at the desk and looked at Su Yu, who kept his head down and did not dare to meet his gaze. After scrutinizing him, Gu Chen finally spoke. “Where did you go today?”

Su Yu snapped his head up and asked instinctively, “How did you know I went out?”

Gu Chen furrowed his brows slightly. “It is my legs that are crippled, not my eyes. I am not blind.”

Gu Chen’s words were always harsh. Ever since the accident, he spoke of his own pain with a sense of self-abandonment.

Su Yu gripped his hands together. After hesitating, he said, “Do not speak like that. You will get better.”

Gu Chen glanced at him. “The doctors say I will not recover and that I am destined to a life with a wheelchair. Where do you get the confidence to say such a thing?”

Su Yu lowered his eyes. He could not tell Gu Chen that he had transmigrated into a book and knew for a fact that Gu Chen would eventually stand up and make a comeback to topple Gu Yian.

Seeing that Su Yu remained silent, Gu Chen did not press him further. He simply repeated his earlier question. “Where did you go?”

“I went to the bank, and as soon as I walked out, I was taken away by my mother,” Su Yu confessed everything that had happened.

Gu Chen listened while playing with a fountain pen in his hand. What Su Yu said matched the reports he had received from others at home. At the very least, Su Yu was not lying to him about this. Gu Chen watched Su Yu for a long time. Just as Su Yu felt he could no longer bear the scrutiny, Gu Chen finally gave a cold and haughty “Mm,” signaling that he was letting the matter go.

Su Yu had just breathed a sigh of relief when Gu Chen’s voice rang out again. “Do not get too close to Gu Yian in the future.”

Su Yu looked at Gu Chen, not quite understanding his meaning. Gu Chen’s eyes shifted unnaturally, avoiding Su Yu’s gaze. “Gu Yian and I are rivals. If you get too close to him, I will suspect there is some sort of deal between you two.”

Seeing Gu Chen’s awkward behavior, Su Yu could not help but laugh. “Alright, I understand. Do not think too much about it.”

Gu Chen nodded, indicating that Su Yu could leave. For some reason, the memory of Su Yu reaching out to touch Gu Yian’s face earlier made him feel strangely uncomfortable. He watched Su Yu prepare to leave and added one more thing: “And have as little contact with him as possible.”

Fearing Su Yu might not understand, he supplemented his statement. “Physical contact.”

“What?” Su Yu did not immediately grasp the meaning. He turned and looked at Gu Chen blankly.

Looking into Su Yu’s clear eyes, Gu Chen felt as though his private thoughts were being exposed to the sunlight with nowhere to hide. He awkwardly turned his head away, his fingers fidgeting with the pen. He finally said, “He is a very calculating man. Keep your distance, or you might be sold out without even realizing it.”

Su Yu nodded, half-understanding, and turned to leave the study. After Su Yu left, a frustrated, quiet curse echoed through the large study. The curse carried a hint of helplessness and a touch of panic. Gu Chen did not know why he had become like this, but his emotions were somehow being led by Su Yu.

Su Yu had no idea about Gu Chen’s internal turmoil. Since Gu Chen told him to leave, he naturally walked away without a second thought, feeling lucky to have survived the encounter. As he celebrated his survival, Su Yu recalled Gu Chen’s awkward expression and strange words.

Why did he tell me not to have physical contact with Gu Yian? Does Gu Chen have a severe obsession with cleanliness? I do not remember the author mentioning that in the book. Or was it omitted because Gu Chen was only a supporting character?

After walking a few steps, Su Yu saw the butler nearby and hurried to catch up. “Uncle Wang!”

The butler stopped and looked at Su Yu. He bowed politely. “Master Su, is there something you need?”

Su Yu smiled sheepishly and said, “It is nothing major. I just wanted to ask, does Gu Chen have a germophobia or a cleanliness obsession?”

The butler seemed surprised by the question. He froze for a moment before regaining his composure. He offered a professional smile. “Why do you ask, Master Su?”

“No reason, just curious,” Su Yu started to answer, but sensing something, he added awkwardly, “If you cannot say, it is fine.”

“The master does not have a cleanliness obsession; he simply dislikes physical contact with others,” the butler replied casually.

Since all the servants knew about this trait, the butler had no intention of hiding it. It was better to tell Su Yu sooner rather than later to prevent him from accidentally provoking Gu Chen. Hearing this, Su Yu nodded in realization. “No wonder.”

The butler looked at Su Yu’s expression and asked curiously, “What is it?”

“It is nothing. I just suddenly understood why Gu Chen said what he did.” Su Yu told the butler exactly what had happened, but his story was met with silence. Su Yu noticed the odd look on the butler’s face and asked cautiously, “Is it not because of a cleanliness obsession?”

The butler stared at Su Yu with a complex gaze until Su Yu felt uneasy. Finally, the butler sighed. “It is an obsession, but”

The butler stopped there. He studied Su Yu, trying to find some hidden motive in his expression. However, when he saw the clarity in Su Yu’s eyes, he seemed to understand something. “In that case, do not go against the master’s wishes,” the butler said.

Su Yu watched the butler’s retreating back, his face a total question mark. What? What does ‘do not go against his wishes’ mean? Is this some new form of moral kidnapping?

Su Yu left the corridor full of confusion. He did not know that the butler’s unfinished sentence was: But the master’s obsession only applies to himself; he has disliked being touched by anyone since he was a child.

The butler did not tell Su Yu this because, upon looking into Su Yu’s eyes, he realized why Gu Chen was acting so abnormally. Su Yu’s eyes were too clear, and he radiated a sense of purity. He was too clean. He was so clean that it made people want to ruin him or dye him with different colors.

In contrast to Su Yu, Gu Chen had always lived in a swamp of malice and darkness. Su Yu’s sudden appearance was like a beam of light in a dark space. Even though Gu Chen instinctively tried to avoid it, he was inevitably attracted. Such simple purity was fatally alluring to someone accustomed to the dark.

The butler recalled Su Yu’s previous behavior. In his memory, Su Yu never used to have such eyes. Back then, Su Yu’s eyes held well-hidden calculations. As a shrewd man, the butler knew Su Yu had approached Gu Chen with a purpose. But the current Su Yu felt like a completely different person.

Can a person’s temperament really change so drastically in just a few months? Or is this purity all just an act?

The thought made the butler shudder. If it were an act, Su Yu’s scheming and acting skills were terrifyingly deep.

Back in his room, Su Yu was oblivious to the butler’s suspicions. He checked the balance on his phone, counting his assets on his fingers. After reaching a decision, he sent a text message to Gu Chen.

The phone on the desk chimed. Gu Chen put down his pen and unlocked the screen. Su Yu’s message popped up: “Gu Chen, give me your bank account number.”

Gu Chen’s fingertips trembled slightly as he held the phone. His eyes darkened. Has Su Yu finally started his move after only a few days?