Chapter 40 SJC
“Do you want to hear it?”
Gu Yan set down his chopsticks, his gaze soft and filled with emotion.
It was just like a scene out of a modern idol drama—slow motion, pink filters, a dreamy background score—as if the next second, he'd lean in for a kiss.
Shen Jinnian instantly broke out in goosebumps.
He quickly waved his hands in refusal, clutching his chest. “Don’t. Please, don’t.”
Just now, he’d clearly had a brain short-circuit and said something dumb.
It was seriously out of line—almost like he was offering himself up just to give Gu Yan a chance to disgust him, like he had some masochistic tendencies or something.
It took Shen Jinnian quite a while to calm down, and even then, the buzzing in his head wouldn’t stop.
He decided he wasn’t going to waste any more of his yang energy on Gu Yan.
He stood up and told him, “Make sure to wash the dishes after you eat. I’m going back to sleep.”
Halfway to his room, he suddenly stopped and added, “If you're sleeping in my room, don’t come in smelling like cooking oil.”
Gu Yan figured Shen Jinnian probably didn’t mean to make things difficult—most people couldn’t stand that smell anyway.
But this was a genuine problem.
The clothes he came in had already been washed after his shower. Right now, he was only wearing a bathrobe that Shen Jinnian had casually handed him, and it was bound to have picked up the smell of oil and smoke from cooking.
He briefly considered sleeping naked—but it genuinely felt like a life-threatening idea.
So, he settled for the next best option: stepping into the hallway and standing in the cold breeze for ten minutes, hoping the smell would dissipate.
By the time Gu Yan returned to the bedroom, Shen Jinnian and the baby were already fast asleep. Surprisingly, they’d even left the bedside light on for him.
Ten minutes in the cold wind had left a chill in his bones.
But the soft glow from that little light was enough to send a wave of warmth through his chest, slowly pushing away the lingering cold as it spread to every corner of his body.
Gu Yan sat down on the bed, resting his back gently against the headboard.
By the dim light, he quietly observed the peacefully sleeping father and son beside him.
Shen Jinnian lay on his side, holding the baby close.
The little one curled up tightly in his arms, like he was desperately seeking a sense of security.
Their profiles looked remarkably similar—in the soft light, it was hard to tell them apart.
On impulse, Gu Yan took a photo of the two of them.
The scene was so warm, so harmonious—it tugged at something deep inside him.
He shifted to another angle and quietly took a photo of all three of them together.
The lighting was dim, but the atmosphere was perfect.
Gu Yan carefully saved the photo to a locked album, then lay down beside the baby. Moving quietly, he reached out and gently placed his hand on Shen Jinnian’s waist.
The two of them were lying so close, face-to-face—it almost looked like they were holding each other.
The air was filled with the scent of pheromones: the rich, creamy sweetness of strawberry ice cream, laced with a faint wisp of cedar—refreshing, and yet warm.
Bathed in the scent of strawberries, Gu Yan drifted into sleep.
…
Shen Jinnian woke up, wrapped in the faint scent of cedar.
The sunlight after the rain was unusually bright and sharp. It even filtered through the sheer blackout curtains as it gently cloaked him and the baby in a golden glow.
The space beside him was empty, touched only by the warmth left behind.
He didn’t know if it was disappointment or something else, but his heart sank again and again. His nose felt stuffy and sour, and a tightness settled in his chest—like he was coming down with a cold, but not quite.
Shen Jinnian carefully lifted the sleeping baby from his chest, slipped out of bed quietly, and peeked around the house.
He even checked the shoe rack by the door—just in case.
As expected.
There was no sign of Gu Yan, nor were his shoes from yesterday to be found.
At the door, only the nanny was speaking in low tones to someone.
Shen Jinnian waited a moment until the nanny finished her conversation and closed the door. Unable to resist, he asked, "Who were you talking to?"
The nanny was startled.
After calming down, she immediately smiled, "It was the neighbor next door."
Shen Jinnian was puzzled: "?"
After moving in, he rarely interacted with his neighbors.
How could one of them come knocking?
Did the baby cry so loudly yesterday that it disturbed them?
The nanny shook her head, explaining, "He wants to ask if you'd agree to having a shaman perform a ritual for our floor."
"Ah?"
A ritual?
Shen Jinnian’s face revealed a hint of fear.
Although he had accepted that supernatural things existed in this world, he still couldn't accept having them around him.
He quickly asked the nanny to explain what had happened.
The nanny calmly repeated: "The neighbor said he saw a ghost in the corridor yesterday."
Shen Jinnian’s eyes widened, and a chill ran through him.
The neighbor’s exact words were:
He was heading downstairs to his friend's place to take his dog for a bath last night.
To his surprise, as soon as he opened his door, he found that the corridor light had been cut by a gust of wind, flickering twice before short-circuiting.
Just as he was about to go back and grab his phone for light, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.
The darkness in the corridor was torn apart by the flash.
In that brief moment, he saw a man dressed in white, standing still at the window.
Like a ghost.
Who stands in the dark corridor wearing white on such a windy and rainy night?
Terrified, he silently shrank back into his room.
Twenty minutes later, he opened the door again to look.
The figure in white had completely disappeared.
The neighbor was so frightened he couldn't sleep that night. He turned all the lights to the brightest settings, curled up in bed shivering, while searching the internet for relevant information.
After some thought, he decided to hire a master to help the wandering soul.
Worried his neighbors might think it was unlucky, he came to ask for permission first.
The nanny continued: "I told him you were resting, and he would have to wait until evening, after school, to ask for your opinion."
Shen Jinnian slumped back on the sofa.
Something flashed through his mind.
He tilted his head, frowning, and asked, "What time did he see it?"
The nanny hadn't heard that detail.
She thought for a moment, then speculated: "I remember the thunder stopped before eleven last night. So, it must have been before then."
Shen Jinnian nodded. "Then there's no need for a ritual."
He guessed that it must have been around the time Gu Yan finished his supper.
Before going to bed, he'd told Gu Yan not to bring any oily smoke into the bedroom, but it seemed Gu Yan had gone to the corridor vent and stood there for a while, wearing the same white bathrobe he had given him.
All the details matched.
The ghost story of the man in white on a rainy night was easily debunked.
Shen Jinnian sighed and turned the conversation back to Gu Yan. "Auntie, do you know where Gu Yan went?"
The nanny looked visibly surprised.
"Ah?" She glanced towards the kitchen. "Isn't he in the bedroom? I thought Mr. Gu went back to sleep after making breakfast. When I got up, I only saw the seafood porridge and butter toast still warm in the pot, but Mr. Gu was nowhere to be seen."
Shen Jinnian nodded, "It's fine."
If Gu Yan wanted to play the role of a 'snail girl,' then let him.
It just saved him the awkwardness of waking up together in the morning.
Shen Jinnian stretched out on the sofa, handed the still-sleeping child to the nanny, and went to the kitchen to eat.
Before heading to school, he made a point of stopping by the study.
Yesterday, Gu Yan had left a sample bag for DNA collection there.
When Shen Jinnian checked again, it had indeed been taken by Gu Yan.
Gu Yan set down his chopsticks, his gaze soft and filled with emotion.
It was just like a scene out of a modern idol drama—slow motion, pink filters, a dreamy background score—as if the next second, he'd lean in for a kiss.
Shen Jinnian instantly broke out in goosebumps.
He quickly waved his hands in refusal, clutching his chest. “Don’t. Please, don’t.”
Just now, he’d clearly had a brain short-circuit and said something dumb.
It was seriously out of line—almost like he was offering himself up just to give Gu Yan a chance to disgust him, like he had some masochistic tendencies or something.
It took Shen Jinnian quite a while to calm down, and even then, the buzzing in his head wouldn’t stop.
He decided he wasn’t going to waste any more of his yang energy on Gu Yan.
He stood up and told him, “Make sure to wash the dishes after you eat. I’m going back to sleep.”
Halfway to his room, he suddenly stopped and added, “If you're sleeping in my room, don’t come in smelling like cooking oil.”
Gu Yan figured Shen Jinnian probably didn’t mean to make things difficult—most people couldn’t stand that smell anyway.
But this was a genuine problem.
The clothes he came in had already been washed after his shower. Right now, he was only wearing a bathrobe that Shen Jinnian had casually handed him, and it was bound to have picked up the smell of oil and smoke from cooking.
He briefly considered sleeping naked—but it genuinely felt like a life-threatening idea.
So, he settled for the next best option: stepping into the hallway and standing in the cold breeze for ten minutes, hoping the smell would dissipate.
By the time Gu Yan returned to the bedroom, Shen Jinnian and the baby were already fast asleep. Surprisingly, they’d even left the bedside light on for him.
Ten minutes in the cold wind had left a chill in his bones.
But the soft glow from that little light was enough to send a wave of warmth through his chest, slowly pushing away the lingering cold as it spread to every corner of his body.
Gu Yan sat down on the bed, resting his back gently against the headboard.
By the dim light, he quietly observed the peacefully sleeping father and son beside him.
Shen Jinnian lay on his side, holding the baby close.
The little one curled up tightly in his arms, like he was desperately seeking a sense of security.
Their profiles looked remarkably similar—in the soft light, it was hard to tell them apart.
On impulse, Gu Yan took a photo of the two of them.
The scene was so warm, so harmonious—it tugged at something deep inside him.
He shifted to another angle and quietly took a photo of all three of them together.
The lighting was dim, but the atmosphere was perfect.
Gu Yan carefully saved the photo to a locked album, then lay down beside the baby. Moving quietly, he reached out and gently placed his hand on Shen Jinnian’s waist.
The two of them were lying so close, face-to-face—it almost looked like they were holding each other.
The air was filled with the scent of pheromones: the rich, creamy sweetness of strawberry ice cream, laced with a faint wisp of cedar—refreshing, and yet warm.
Bathed in the scent of strawberries, Gu Yan drifted into sleep.
…
Shen Jinnian woke up, wrapped in the faint scent of cedar.
The sunlight after the rain was unusually bright and sharp. It even filtered through the sheer blackout curtains as it gently cloaked him and the baby in a golden glow.
The space beside him was empty, touched only by the warmth left behind.
He didn’t know if it was disappointment or something else, but his heart sank again and again. His nose felt stuffy and sour, and a tightness settled in his chest—like he was coming down with a cold, but not quite.
Shen Jinnian carefully lifted the sleeping baby from his chest, slipped out of bed quietly, and peeked around the house.
He even checked the shoe rack by the door—just in case.
As expected.
There was no sign of Gu Yan, nor were his shoes from yesterday to be found.
At the door, only the nanny was speaking in low tones to someone.
Shen Jinnian waited a moment until the nanny finished her conversation and closed the door. Unable to resist, he asked, "Who were you talking to?"
The nanny was startled.
After calming down, she immediately smiled, "It was the neighbor next door."
Shen Jinnian was puzzled: "?"
After moving in, he rarely interacted with his neighbors.
How could one of them come knocking?
Did the baby cry so loudly yesterday that it disturbed them?
The nanny shook her head, explaining, "He wants to ask if you'd agree to having a shaman perform a ritual for our floor."
"Ah?"
A ritual?
Shen Jinnian’s face revealed a hint of fear.
Although he had accepted that supernatural things existed in this world, he still couldn't accept having them around him.
He quickly asked the nanny to explain what had happened.
The nanny calmly repeated: "The neighbor said he saw a ghost in the corridor yesterday."
Shen Jinnian’s eyes widened, and a chill ran through him.
The neighbor’s exact words were:
He was heading downstairs to his friend's place to take his dog for a bath last night.
To his surprise, as soon as he opened his door, he found that the corridor light had been cut by a gust of wind, flickering twice before short-circuiting.
Just as he was about to go back and grab his phone for light, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.
The darkness in the corridor was torn apart by the flash.
In that brief moment, he saw a man dressed in white, standing still at the window.
Like a ghost.
Who stands in the dark corridor wearing white on such a windy and rainy night?
Terrified, he silently shrank back into his room.
Twenty minutes later, he opened the door again to look.
The figure in white had completely disappeared.
The neighbor was so frightened he couldn't sleep that night. He turned all the lights to the brightest settings, curled up in bed shivering, while searching the internet for relevant information.
After some thought, he decided to hire a master to help the wandering soul.
Worried his neighbors might think it was unlucky, he came to ask for permission first.
The nanny continued: "I told him you were resting, and he would have to wait until evening, after school, to ask for your opinion."
Shen Jinnian slumped back on the sofa.
Something flashed through his mind.
He tilted his head, frowning, and asked, "What time did he see it?"
The nanny hadn't heard that detail.
She thought for a moment, then speculated: "I remember the thunder stopped before eleven last night. So, it must have been before then."
Shen Jinnian nodded. "Then there's no need for a ritual."
He guessed that it must have been around the time Gu Yan finished his supper.
Before going to bed, he'd told Gu Yan not to bring any oily smoke into the bedroom, but it seemed Gu Yan had gone to the corridor vent and stood there for a while, wearing the same white bathrobe he had given him.
All the details matched.
The ghost story of the man in white on a rainy night was easily debunked.
Shen Jinnian sighed and turned the conversation back to Gu Yan. "Auntie, do you know where Gu Yan went?"
The nanny looked visibly surprised.
"Ah?" She glanced towards the kitchen. "Isn't he in the bedroom? I thought Mr. Gu went back to sleep after making breakfast. When I got up, I only saw the seafood porridge and butter toast still warm in the pot, but Mr. Gu was nowhere to be seen."
Shen Jinnian nodded, "It's fine."
If Gu Yan wanted to play the role of a 'snail girl,' then let him.
It just saved him the awkwardness of waking up together in the morning.
Shen Jinnian stretched out on the sofa, handed the still-sleeping child to the nanny, and went to the kitchen to eat.
Before heading to school, he made a point of stopping by the study.
Yesterday, Gu Yan had left a sample bag for DNA collection there.
When Shen Jinnian checked again, it had indeed been taken by Gu Yan.
Thank you for the update ☺️ Let that DNA test be POSITIVE ALREADY 😂
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