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Xuan Yang hadn't checked Gu Yan's Weibo updates in a long time. Naturally, she had no idea what new projects he was working on. If she had, she would have known he was in Melbourne.
Gu Yan was from a collateral branch of the Gu family in Jingbei, making him Gu Chen's distant cousin. During their school days, due to his frail health, he had stayed with the Gu family while receiving treatment in Jingbei. Xuan Yang remembered the first time she met Gu Yan—it was also the first time she officially attended social events as a daughter of the Xuan family after being adopted. At six years old, she was isolated and shunned by other heiresses because of her adopted status. Gu Yan, who was also staying with the Gu family, was similarly unwelcome. But Gu Yan, five years older, didn't care about the disdain and ridicule of a few kids. He had always been gentle and warm, speaking with everyone with a smile, like a ray of sunshine or a spring breeze. He was a very kind person.
Initially, her fondness for Gu Yan grew when he gave her a colorful Rubik's Cube when she was being ostracized by her peers. He also taught her how to solve it, like a magician. During those ten years, Xuan Yang was grateful for Gu Yan's company and guidance. He helped her make good friends like Xie Xinglan and supported her in studies and life. When she first developed romantic feelings, she couldn't deny that her feelings for Gu Yan were different from those for other boys. Xie Xinglan said it was romantic attraction, a flutter of the heart, a crush, a first love. Before marrying Zhou Dang, Xuan Yang had indeed believed that. She had liked Gu Yan for many years, a feeling of serene and gentle longing. Now she knew it wasn't love. It was admiration mixed with a bit of fondness—a form of appreciation, recognition, and worship. But compared to true love, it lacked the most basic passion. Just like when she loved Zhou Dang, she felt sexual desire for him: she wondered what it would feel like to kiss his lips, whether they were as soft as clouds. Staring at his straight nose, she would think of erotic images... She had desires for Zhou Dang—the urge to possess, to be spoiled, to be unconditionally accepted by him.
Thus, Xuan Yang was actually very clear about her feelings for Gu Yan. It was just that the ten-year habit had made her instinctively look at him a bit longer upon their reunion. When she snapped out of it, Gu Yan had already spotted her.
"Xuan Yang!"
Gu Yan was pleasantly surprised, his gaze piercing through the crowd to land on her.
Preview