Limited Possession

Only then did he remember; they were already divorced.

Recently, Tu Yan had been having frequent dreams and he hadn’t been sleeping well. 

At first, they were in disordered fragments; from his childhood, from his school days, and even the time when he first entered the industry. There were mostly shadowy figures and unable to piece together the complete story. 

However, in the second half of the night, the images would become clear, the intense background music would suddenly slow down. Gu Chenbai and him were the only two people who remained on the stage. Gu Chenbai walked towards him, his metal crutch knocking on the ground, eliciting a clear yet not an ear-pricking sound. He walked very slowly and calmly, as though using a full-length shot that captured the principle of perspectives; the light, shadow and depth were just right. 

On the second night, he dreamt about his first meeting with Gu Chenbai. 

In the previous matchmaking story where Guan Nan had said Tu Feihong was “begging with snot and tears”, Gu Chenbai didn’t even appear then. Tu Yan wasn’t that curious about him and didn’t care whether he showed up or not. 

The first time they seriously met was the day before getting the certificate. Tu Feihong and the director of Hua Sheng, who was also Gu Chenbai’s older brother Gu Chaocheng, signed the agreement first. When the money quickly entered Tu Feihong’s account, Tu Feihong smiled and nodded, and the Gu family sent someone to pick Tu Yan up. The Gu family’s car was in front, and the truck used specifically to carry luggage followed behind. When it slowly entered the estate, Tu Yan stood by the window and watched, thinking coldly, “Looks like a sedan carried by eight men, what a joke.”  

That day, Gu Chenbai was sitting in the passenger seat of that car. Tu Yan glanced at him when he sat inside, but he couldn’t connect the rumours about the ugly and crippled Gu er to this man who had a superior appearance. He lifted his eyelids and asked, “Are you Gu Chenbai’s secretary?” 

Gu Chenbai was taken aback, then he smiled. Tu Yan tacitly approved that he indeed was. 

It was probably because Gu Chenbai looked familiar, or because Tu Yan was feeling too depressed at the time, but halfway through the ride, Tu Yan suddenly said, “Is this fun to him? Can money buy love?’ 

Gu Chenbai was silent for a while, “What if he promised that he would give everything to make you happy?’ 

“I don’t need that,” Tu Yan supported his cheek and looked out at the traffic from the window, “If it were you, wouldn’t you feel disgusted?” 

“Sorry.” 

Tu Yan snorted lightly, and said without a care, “What are you apologizing for him for?”

When the car stopped in front of the Gu family’s house and Tu Yan stepped out, he saw the young man sitting in the passenger seat push open the door. First, he took the crutch propped next to the car, then supported himself to get out of the car. His movements were smooth and natural, but it still made Tu Yan struck dumb, standing frozen in place. 

Gu Chenbai walked towards him, his eyes full of guilt and heartache as he asked, “Did I scare you?’ 

He reached his hand out to Tu Yan and said softly, “Can we restart and introduce ourselves again? I’m Gu Chenbai.” 

Tu Yan was so angry that he didn’t want to speak, turning around and walking away. 

On the third night, he dreamt that he used seductive tricks to overturn the situation. 

That morning, he had woken up from a hangover and had a splitting headache. He opened his eyes and stared at the empty ceiling for a long time, then he suddenly thought about the divorce agreement, feeling that he had definitely screwed it up. He jumped out of bed, and as soon as he prepared to confront Gu Chenbai, he saw a piece of paper on the bedside table. 

It’s his divorce agreement. 

Gu Chenbai had signed his name on the space for the second party, his handwriting elegant and natural, somewhat different from his gentle character. 

He then noticed that Gu Chenbai had made alterations to one of the points. He had changed “The first party will pay off his debts within five years” to “There is no time limit, it is paid off immediately”. 

Tu Yan lifted up the divorce agreement in disbelief, flipping it back and forth several times, still thinking that it couldn’t be true and feared that Gu Chenbai might have dug a hole for him in it. He even took a picture to send it to a lawyer he knew, asking him to check all the terms, for fear that he would fall short on one step to completion due to his carelessness.  The lawyer replied to him quickly: There’s nothing wrong in the divorce agreement, it’s all to your benefit. 

Tu Yan was stunned. After a long time, he got out of bed. His clothes were from the previous night’s, without a sign that it had been removed. Only his earrings had been taken off and were placed on the bedside table. His happiness came too suddenly and he was still a little dizzy. After putting on his slippers, he walked out the door. 

Gu Chenbai was making breakfast for him in the kitchen. 

Hearing Tu Yan’s footsteps, Gu Chenbai turned around and smiled at him, “You’re awake? Does your head hurt?’ 

Tu Yan held his head as he looked at him, as though he didn’t recognize him, and shook his head dazedly. 

“What’s wrong?” Gu Chenbai put the toast on a plate. 

Tu Yan raised the divorce agreement to Gu Chenbai’s face, “This…”

“Last night, a certain someone sat on my lap, then harassed and forced me to sign it, so what else can I do?” 

“I- I was drunk!” Tu Yan defended himself. 

Gu Chenbai put down the things in his hand and walked towards Tu Yan. 

“Actually, if there is no divorce agreement, I wanted to find an opportunity to tell you. Tu Yan, when we met for the first time, I said that I would give my all to make you happy. I said this from my heart. But if I don’t live up to it, or what I give is not what you want, I won’t pester you anymore, and I will return your freedom to you. I don’t want you to regret marrying me in the future, and only be filled with loathe and hate.” 

Tu Yan felt something warm and sour flowing into his heart, circulating around in his body with his blood vessels. 

“You…” Inexplicably, Tu Yan felt like crying, feeling his heart soften, “You say such words as if you’re the victim, but I’m obviously the victim!” 

Gu Chenbai was about to speak, but Tu Yan interrupted, “You’re not allowed to say you’re sorry, I don’t want to hear you say that word again.” 

Hence, Gu Chenbai shut his mouth and walked over, taking a little square box on the side of the table and giving it to Tu Yan, his tone soliciting, “Then can I say one thing?” 

“What?”

Gu Chenbai opened the little box; there were two rings inside. 

“Will you marry me?” 

Tu Yan felt his face heating up, and he killed the mood, “We’ve received the certificate and even signed the divorce agreement, and you ask me this now?”

Gu Chenbai took out one of the rings, “Only if you’re willing to, it’s never too late.” 

Tu Yan suddenly found that he had never carefully looked at Gu Chenbai’s appearance. He secretly looked at him from the corner of his eye, realizing that he was really handsome. He had sword-slanted eyebrows and a tall nose bridge. If he didn’t have a disability, there would probably be a lot of people who liked him. 

It’s just half a year, and time passes by quickly. Tu Yan said to himself: 

His hand reached out, five fingers opened in front of Gu Chenbai, “I’ll wear it, I’ll wear it, how troublesome.” 

Gu Chenbai put on the ring for him. Tu Yan lifted his hand to look at it, and saw that there was a hollow shape of a little rabbit on the inside. He said indignantly, “You’re not allowed to say I’m like a rabbit again.” 

This time, Gu Chenbai didn’t become a gentleman. He put the other ring on himself and looked at it as well before putting down his hand, smiling as he said, “Little rabbit, time for breakfast.” 

Tu Yan hummed and didn’t bother about him anymore. He went to wash up in the bathroom with his slippers on. 

On the fourth night, he dreamt about Gu Chenbai cooking in the kitchen on a certain day. 

Gu Chenbai enjoyed the happiness he had when cooking for Tu Yan, just like how Tu Yan enjoyed the happiness he had for causing trouble. He couldn’t stand sitting in the living room anymore, so he ran to the kitchen and stole the cucumbers that Gu Chenbai was preparing to cook and ate them. When he stole it for the third time, he was caught by Gu Chenbai and was pressed against the wall.  

Gu Chenbai assumed a posture that he was trying to spank him, and Tu Yan dodged, but his forehead accidentally rubbed against Gu Chenbai’s lips. The soft touch startled both of them. The look in Gu Chenbai’s eyes changed, but he didn’t do anything, only held Tu Yan’s wrist and rubbed his fingers twice in the palm of his hand. 

“You won’t be able to eat if you eat any more of those,” Gu Chenbai didn’t let go, still against him as he said seriously. 

“Oh,” Tu Yan pretended to be good, but as soon as Gu Chenbai loosened his hold, he stretched out his arm and blatantly stole two more pieces, shoving them into his mouth and raised his eyebrows, “I’m eating!’

Then he strode away, pleased with himself. 

Gu Chenbai was so amused at his little expressions and laughed, feeling helpless. 

Tu Yan ran back to the sofa. Even though he didn’t know the intention of his behaviour, it didn’t hinder him from being happy. 

Soon, he heard the sound of vegetables being stir-fried, the water and oil colliding, causing explosive noises. Ah, good- Tu Yan suddenly woke up from his dream. His heart fluctuated, then he subconsciously yelled “Gu Chenbai”, but no one answered. 

Only then did he remember; they were already divorced.