Becoming the Caged Canary of a Forced Love - Chapter 2

The sudden sound of knocking from outside the door shattered the stifling atmosphere within the room.

“President Pei, the porridge is ready. Young Master Lin has just woken up; he needs to eat something to regain his strength.”

Pei Jichuan pulled the door open in silence and took the bowl of porridge from the nanny. Returning to the bedside, he held the bowl out to Gu Nian. Just as Gu Nian reached for it, he paused, lifting his slender wrists which were still wrapped in gauze.

“My wrists hurt so much, I don’t have any strength. Can you feed me?” Gu Nian looked up, fixing his gaze on Pei Jichuan.

Pei Jichuan seemed stung by the intimacy in his words. His eyes flickered with a momentary hesitation, but ultimately, he sat down at the edge of the bed, raised the spoon, and began to feed him.

Pei Jichuan felt that something was very “off” about the man since he woke up, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Before, he had been so resistant, but now… was this a tactic to lower his guard and attempt another escape? A dark, ghostly shadow pooled once more in Pei Jichuan’s hesitant gaze.

Gu Nian lowered his eyes submissively as he ate. Due to the way his organization’s power was distributed, Gu Nian had almost never made contact with legitimate corporate personnel in public. All business dealings for the group were handled by Zhou Yi, so he was not familiar with this heir to the Pei Family.

Gu Nian did not miss the hesitation in Pei Jichuan’s eyes. He realized he had pushed his testing a bit too far and feared it might arouse suspicion. He decided to speak as little as possible until he investigated the situation thoroughly—lest he be caught and treated like a monster.

Fortunately, there’s a saying in Country Z: “No spirits allowed to manifest after the founding of the Republic.” Otherwise, I’d be terrified of being tied up and burned at the stake, Gu Nian thought wanderingly as he sipped the porridge.

Thinking back to the face he saw before losing consciousness, Gu Nian desperately needed a mirror to confirm his suspicions.

Suddenly, Gu Nian reached out and tugged at the corner of Pei Jichuan’s clothes, whispering, “I want to go to the bathroom. Can you unlock this?”

Gu Nian looked at the chain on his ankle; he estimated that the length definitely wouldn’t reach the washroom.

Pei Jichuan hesitated, but seeing the hopeful look in Gu Nian’s eyes made his scalp tingle with an inexplicable sensation.

Ultimately, he unlocked the chain from Gu Nian’s ankle and helped him out of bed.

The moment Gu Nian’s feet hit the floor, his body involuntarily tilted to the side. His right leg felt unusually weak.

Before he could fall, he instinctively grabbed Pei Jichuan’s clothes. Pei Jichuan reacted quickly, catching Gu Nian in a firm embrace.

Gu Nian took a moment to steady himself and looked up at Pei Jichuan. He hadn’t realized it until standing up, but Pei Jichuan was truly tall—at least 190 cm by his estimation. When he was being supported just now, his hand had accidentally brushed against Pei Jichuan’s abdomen, feeling clearly defined abdominal muscles.

Gu Nian secretly felt his own belly—just a soft, single slab of muscle. A total weakling, he thought. His mood suddenly plummeted; the strong, fit physique he had maintained in his previous life was completely gone.

Pei Jichuan sensed Gu Nian’s sudden gloom. Looking at their intertwined hands, he wondered: Does he still loathe physical contact with me? His grip on Gu Nian’s hand tightened instinctively, only relaxing when Gu Nian let out a soft cry of pain.

“Sss…” Gu Nian gasped at the sudden pressure.

What’s wrong with this guy now? It seemed this body was indeed frail, but that wasn’t important for the moment. Gu Nian needed a mirror.

Gu Nian looked up at Pei Jichuan and said, “I can do it myself. I’ll be out in a minute.” With that, he somewhat urgently broke free from the other’s hand and entered the bathroom.

Pei Jichuan stood there staring blankly at his empty palm. Suddenly, a surge of irritability rose in his chest. He rubbed his fingers together, his Adam’s apple bobbing; he suddenly had a powerful urge for another cigarette.

Inside the bathroom, Gu Nian did not lock the door. After quietly checking the entire space to confirm there were no surveillance cameras, he walked straight to the mirror. However, the moment he saw the person in the reflection, Gu Nian could not hide his shock.

This face—it was exactly the same as his own!

To be precise, it wasn’t perfectly identical. Gu Nian looked down to examine his current body: his skin was pale, and his limbs were thin and soft—entirely different from the tanned skin and powerful limbs he had developed through years of combat training.

Yet, his facial features were at least 90% similar!

The mysterious old man who claimed to be a sorcerer had said the soul-swap ritual was highly unstable and the choice of body was completely random. The failure rate was high; it required the vessel to be someone on the verge of death with deep-seated resentment to absorb a new soul.

Seeing this face that was nearly identical to his old one, Gu Nian’s thoughts were a chaotic mess. He couldn’t understand who this “Lin Nuo” was, why they looked so much alike, or what his relationship with Pei Jichuan was. He could only try to stay calm for now and look for an opportunity to contact Zhou Yi.

Gu Nian turned on the faucet, watching the rushing water. He was suddenly reminded of his childhood, when he and a group of children his age were locked deep in the rainforest. Under the brutal training, people died every day, and their empty spots were immediately filled by new recruits.

He had no name. None of them did. A cold serial number had defined his entire childhood. Only the top survivors were given a meaningless name by their instructors.

Gu Nian was surnamed Gu simply because his instructor was surnamed Gu.

As for his origins, Gu Nian had asked once. He only remembered Instructor Gu waving him away impatiently, saying, “Your parents sold you.”

Gu Nian’s gaze gradually filled with an icy chill sharp as a blade. What happened to Instructor Gu later?

Oh, right. He had taken his place. In that world, losers were destined to be buried in the river of history, never to rise again.

He couldn’t stay inside for too long. Gu Nian splashed some water on his face and pushed the door open.

The hazy night air, carrying a cool autumn breeze, brushed against his face. The moment Gu Nian looked up, his gaze was captured by Pei Jichuan on the balcony.

Moonlight bathed his figure. Standing in the shadows, half of his indifferent profile was visible; his sharp silhouette was tinged with a faint sense of detachment and coldness. He held a cigarette between the fingers of his right hand, his eyes downcast as if lost in thought.

One had to admit, this man was “damn handsome.”

Pei Jichuan held his phone in one hand and his cigarette in the other. A rambling voice could be heard from the other end of the line.

“I told you that you should have treated this illness earlier; maybe it would be cured by now. Look how much you scared your little ‘canary.’ Fortunately, he’s awake now and fine. If something really happened, I’d love to see if you’d actually hold him and wail…”

The veins on Pei Jichuan’s forehead throbbed. He took a deep drag of the cigarette, and a plume of light smoke drifted from his lips, swirling around him.

Gu Nian watched the glowing red ember flickering in the dark. He didn’t actually like the smell of cigarettes; the scorching sensation associated with them brought back painful memories he didn’t care to recall just thinking about it made his back ache.

Hearing movement in the room, Pei Jichuan turned around and casually hung up the phone. His deep eyes pierced through the dim light, landing straight on Gu Nian. His gaze swept over the slightly damp black hair on Gu Nian’s forehead. He stubbed out the cigarette and raised a hand, saying softly:

“Lin Nuo, come here.”

Gu Nian was still processing the visual impact of the scene and realized a second too late that Pei Jichuan was calling him. He blinked and walked slowly toward him, only to be met by a sudden, unexpected embrace.