Chapter 109 They really do look alike

"Come on, do you want me to have a drink with you?"

Liu Family Manor, study room.

Liu Ruyan watched the man sitting in front of the computer, his fingers rapidly tapping the keyboard with a 'clack-clack-clack' sound. The way his fingers flew, it was as if he was about to make the keyboard catch fire.

Casually, Liu Ruyan poured two glasses of 1982 Xiao Fangfang and, after entering the study, handed one over directly.

"Hmm? You're giving me something this good to drink? Isn't that a waste? I only know how to gulp it down. One glass of this and several months' salary for an ordinary person is gone."

Looking at the red wine handed to him, Chen Yan glanced at it indifferently and then spoke in a muffled voice.

"Heh, if it's gone, it's gone. Your creativity and ideas have made the Liu Corporation a lot of money and secured my position as the successor. As long as it makes you happy, what does a little something like this matter?"

Hearing this, Liu Ruyan gave a calm smile and spoke with a look of indifference.

After all, she had used the script for 'The Empress' provided by Chen Yan to film a short drama. That unprecedented creativity and ingenuity had brought her several advertising and business collaborations. Although the income couldn't be described as collecting money while lying down, the speed at which the money came in was countless times faster than her struggling with other business ventures.

"Is that so? Since CEO Liu has said so, then I won't be polite with you."

Hearing Liu Ruyan's words, Chen Yan didn't hesitate anymore and directly reached out to grab the wine glass.

"Cheer-oos."

Immediately after, Chen Yan uttered a bit of 'Engrish.'

"Oho... what standard Oriental-style Engrish."

Upon hearing it, Liu Ruyan intentionally spoke in a teasing tone.

"Cheers," Chen Yan repeated. He tilted his head back and took a large gulp, his cheeks bulging like a hamster's. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed it down with a gulp.

Liu Ruyan leaned against the desk, holding the other glass of wine. She tilted her head to look at him, a half-smile playing on her lips.

"You," she said, tapping the rim of her glass toward Chen Yan, "are like this when you're happy and like this when you're unhappy. Other people get more open as they drink, but you get more withdrawn. Are you happy right now, or are you troubled?"

Chen Yan placed the wine glass on the table with a light thud. He stared at the dense text on the screen, remained silent for a few seconds, and then turned his head to look at Liu Ruyan.

There were bloodshot streaks in those eyes, not the kind from staying up late, but something else—like the surface of water blown by the wind, calm on top but full of ripples beneath.

"CEO Liu," Chen Yan spoke, his voice a bit raspy.

"Call me Ruyan," Liu Ruyan corrected. "We've already registered our marriage, yet you're still saying 'CEO Liu, CEO Liu.' People who don't know better would think you're reporting work to your boss."

"We are a married couple, after all."

Chen Yan opened his mouth, the word 'Ru' rolling on the tip of his tongue before he eventually swallowed it back down.

"I'm a bit confused right now," Chen Yan said honestly.

Liu Ruyan raised an eyebrow and didn't speak, just quietly took a sip of wine and waited for him to continue.

"Youchu said that when she was at the Orphanage, she gave all the good things to others and gave her scholarship spots to those who needed them more." Chen Yan's voice was very low, as if talking to himself. "She also said she could wait for one year, two years, ten years, twenty years. She's not afraid of waiting."

Liu Ruyan's finger lightly tapped the wall of the glass, making a 'ding' sound.

"You feel sorry for her?" she asked.

"It's not just feeling sorry," Chen Yan shook his head, then nodded again. "I do feel sorry. But not the kind of feeling sorry you're thinking of. To me, Youchu is a scar branded on my heart. Not the kind of scar that hurts, but the kind that has already healed yet will always be different from the rest of the skin. You can't see it, but it's always there. When you touch it, you can feel the mark."

Liu Ruyan placed her wine glass on the table, crossed her arms, and looked at him.

"You speak so poetically, I almost thought you were going to write a poem." Her tone wasn't gentle, but it wasn't sharp either; it was more like a playful probe. "Chen Yan, let me ask you a question, and answer me honestly."

"Ask."

"If—and I mean if—there was no marriage certificate, no Liu Corporation business, and none of that messy stuff with the Heavenly Palace, and it was just me, Shen Youchu, and Xiao Rongyu, the three of us standing on a street, who would you choose?"

The light in the study was a warm yellow, hitting Chen Yan's face and making his profile appear somewhat blurred.

He was silent for a long time.

So long that Liu Ruyan thought he didn't intend to answer and was about to say "forget it" when Chen Yan suddenly spoke.

"CEO Liu, have you ever seen a stray cat?" Chen Yan didn't look at Liu Ruyan but instead looked out the window. Outside was a pitch-black night sky, with neither stars nor moon. "The kind of stray cat that grew up in the alleys. If you give it food, it doesn't dare eat. If you reach out to pet it, it hides. You think it's afraid of people, but it's not. It's because it's been hit too many times. It doesn't know if the hand reaching out this time is meant to feed it or hit it."

"I am that stray cat." Chen Yan's voice was as calm as a pool of stagnant water. "Youchu was the only person who reached out a hand when I was little and didn't hit me. So I'll remember the look of that hand for the rest of my life. But..."

He paused and took a deep breath.

"But I'm not sure if that's love or gratitude."

Liu Ruyan's gaze flickered slightly.

"You can't tell the difference?" she asked.

"I can't tell the difference," Chen Yan admitted, his tone devoid of any concealment. "I've never been loved in my life. Director Mother was good to us, but she was good to everyone; that wasn't love, that was responsibility. Chen Yan was good to me because he felt guilty. Rongyu was good to me, but she left. I don't know what it feels like to be loved sincerely by someone, so I can't tell if Youchu's kindness toward me is a sister's kindness toward a brother or something else."

"Then what about my kindness toward you?" Liu Ruyan suddenly leaned in a bit closer, close enough for Chen Yan to smell the faint perfume on her—not a heavy rose scent, but a crisp, clean scent like a pine forest after snow.

Looking at Liu Ruyan's face so close at hand, Chen Yan suddenly smiled.

There was something inexplicable in that smile, like self-deprecation, yet also like a sense of relief.

"You're good to me because I'm useful," Chen Yan said, his tone not heavy, even carrying a hint of a smile. "You're right, you're a businesswoman. Everything a merchant does has a purpose; every word they say has a calculation. Your kindness toward me has a price. Maybe not money, but certainly something. A sense of security, inheritance rights, or something else."

Liu Ruyan's expression didn't change, but her fingers holding the wine glass tightened slightly, her knuckles turning white.

"Are you calling me hypocritical?" Her voice was very soft, but every word carried a sting.

"No," Chen Yan shook his head. "I'm saying you make me feel very safe."

Liu Ruyan was stunned for a moment.

"Safe?"

"Yes," Chen Yan nodded. "Because your kindness toward me is conditional, I know that as long as the conditions exist, your kindness will be there. If the conditions are gone, your kindness will be gone. It's a formula, a contract, something I can calculate, predict, and deal with. I don't need to guess whether you're being sincere, because sincerity isn't important; what's important is that the contract remains."

"But Youchu is different. Youchu's kindness toward me is unconditional. This kind of unconditional thing scares me. Because I don't know when it will disappear, nor do I know why it would disappear. I'm afraid that one day she'll suddenly stop being good to me, and I won't be able to figure out why no matter how hard I rack my brain."

Liu Ruyan looked at Chen Yan for a long time.

Then she put down her wine glass, reached out, pinched Chen Yan's chin, and turned his face toward her.

"Chen Yan, listen well." Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was powerful. "You say you can't distinguish between love and gratitude; I'll help you distinguish. You say you're afraid of unconditional things; I'll help cure you. You say you're a stray cat that's been beaten into fear; then let me tell you one thing."

She let go of her hand, took a step back, pulled her phone out of her pocket, tapped into a page, and pointed the screen at Chen Yan.

On the screen was Chen Yan's physical examination report, dated yesterday.

"Your medical report—I had my private doctor do it for you. Look at this entry." She pointed to a line of numbers on the screen. "Your liver function indicators aren't very good. Do you know what that means?"

Chen Yan frowned. "Drank too much?"

"It means you should quit drinking." Liu Ruyan put away her phone, her tone suddenly becoming very ordinary, as if talking about the weather being nice. "So the glass of wine I just poured for you was non-alcoholic. 1982 Xiao Fangfang, non-alcoholic version."

Chen Yan was stunned.

He looked down at the wine glass on the table, then looked up at Liu Ruyan.

"You..."

"You think I would really let you drink when your liver function is poor?" Liu Ruyan sneered. "I, Liu Ruyan, may be a merchant, but I'm not stupid. You are my husband; your body is my asset. I have an obligation to protect my assets."

When she said the words "my husband," her tone was very natural, as natural as saying "my phone" or "my car." But for some reason, Chen Yan felt that the way those three words entered his ears was different from before.

"You say you're afraid of unconditional things." Liu Ruyan picked up her own glass and took a sip. "Then my kindness toward you is conditional. The conditions are that you stay alive, that you stay healthy, and that you eat well and sleep well instead of working yourself into the hospital. As long as you meet these conditions, my kindness toward you won't change. Are you willing to sign this contract?"

Chen Yan looked at Liu Ruyan, looking at those eyes that seemed exceptionally bright under the warm yellow light, and suddenly felt his throat tighten.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but not a single word would come out.

Finally, he picked up the glass of non-alcoholic red wine on the table and downed it in one gulp.

"Signed," he said, his voice a bit tight, but his tone was firm. "Cheer-oos."

Even if his marriage with Liu Ruyan was just the handiwork of that blockhead Chen Yan.

Liu Ruyan finally smiled—not the half-smile from before, but a real, complete smile that rippled out from the depths of her eyes.

"That's good then." She finished the rest of the wine in her glass and then placed the empty glass on the table with a crisp clink. "But Chen Yan, there's one thing I have to make clear to you."

"What?"

"Your feelings for Shen Youchu—whether it's love or gratitude—sort them out properly for me." Liu Ruyan's tone suddenly changed, becoming serious and focused. "I don't need a muddled husband. You can have someone else in your heart, but you must know what that is. You can't brush me off with an 'I can't tell,' and you certainly can't brush yourself off with it."

"Even if all of this is the handiwork of that twin brother of yours."

Chen Yan's expression stiffened for a moment.

"Because Liu Ruyan's man," she took a step forward and reached out to straighten Chen Yan's collar, her movements as gentle as if she were stroking a piece of precious porcelain, "cannot be someone who doesn't even know what's going on in his own heart."

Her hand lingered on Chen Yan's collar for a second, then she withdrew it and turned toward the study door.

When she reached the door, she suddenly stopped. She didn't turn around, but merely turned her head to show half of her profile outlined by the light.

"By the way, tomorrow I plan to invite Youchu and Rongyu to the manor for dinner. I've asked the kitchen to make sweet and sour pork ribs; you seem to really love them."

The door closed.

Chen Yan sat at the desk, looking at the closed door for a long time.

Then he lowered his head, looked at the empty wine glass on the table, and suddenly smiled.

That smile was very light, so light it was almost invisible. But if anyone had been watching from the side, they would have noticed that in those bloodshot eyes, there was light.

It wasn't the white light of a fluorescent lamp, nor the blue light of a phone screen, but a warmer, softer light, as if emanating from somewhere very, very deep.

At the end of the hallway, Xiao Rongyu and Shen Youchu's pinky-swear ceremony had just ended.

The two were still holding hands, not having had time to let go, when Xiao Rongyu's phone vibrated.

She pulled out her phone and took a look; it was a message from Liu Ruyan.

"Tomorrow evening at seven, dinner at the manor. Liu Ruyan."

Xiao Rongyu stared at the screen, her lip twitching.

"What's wrong?" Shen Youchu leaned over to take a look.

"Liu Ruyan is inviting us to dinner." Xiao Rongyu put away her phone, her tone complex. "A Hongmen Banquet."

Shen Youchu blinked, looking a bit dazed.

Xiao Rongyu turned her head and, looking at Shen Youchu's face that was innocent to the extreme, let out a deep sigh.

"Sister Youchu, don't tell people you know me when you go out in the future."

"Why?"

"Because you really are too silly."

"But Sister Rongyu, you just said I was so silly it made you want to help me."

"...I've changed my mind."

"Pinky-swear, hang for a hundred years, no changes allowed. You can't go back on it."

Looking at Shen Youchu's dead-serious expression, Xiao Rongyu finally couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud.

The two girls' laughter echoed in the hallway, carried by the evening wind through the window and toward the gray sky.

A crack had opened in the horizon at some point, and orange light leaked through the gap, spilling onto the ground like shattered gold.

The ward door opened at that moment.

Chen Yan walked out from inside, holding a thermos. Seeing Xiao Rongyu and Shen Youchu in the hallway, his steps faltered for a moment.

The three of them stood in the hallway, separated by a few steps. No one moved forward, and no one moved back.

Unlike the silence from before, this time the silence contained something more.

It was hard to say what it was, but the air was indeed different.

Shen Youchu's eyes lit up for a moment, then dimmed again, like a lamp flickering in the wind.

The wind from the end of the hallway rushed in again, rustling the hems of their clothes.

Those ripples were blown open and then closed by the wind, like an invisible hand turning the pages of a book one by one.

"They really do look alike."