Join our Discord server and get release updates for every novel you follow.
Join the Server“Buzz—”
Passing through the main entrance and walking across the courtyard warped by sweltering heat, the moment Gu Qingnan pushed open the glass doors and stepped into the lobby, he felt like a nearly baked-dry fish returning to the water, coming fully back to life.
Hearing the noise, the receptionist looked up for a moment before looking back down to continue cracking melon seeds and watching her drama.
Gu Qingnan walked toward the elevator.
After a few steps, he turned around and walked back.
Arriving at the front desk, Gu Qingnan tapped on the counter and asked, “Has the air conditioner in my office been fixed yet?”
“Huh?”
Disturbed, the receptionist, Fu Lichun, clearly frowned, though in the next moment she smiled sweetly.
“Not yet.”
Gu Qingnan frowned.
“It’s already been a week.”
“You can’t blame me for that, I contacted the repair technicians a long time ago, but they said they’d come and never showed up…”
Fu Lichun put on an aggrieved look.
Gu Qingnan wanted to say more, but he changed his words at the tip of his tongue.
“Please urge them again.”
With that, he turned and headed toward the elevator.
Lacking air conditioning in September was practically murderous.
“Alright.”
The elevator soon arrived on the first floor.
As the elevator doors closed, Gu Qingnan glanced back toward the front desk.
Though Fu Lichun had agreed verbally, her hands were still counting melon seeds and her eyes had already returned to the screen.
Gu Qingnan was not surprised at all.
The place where he currently worked was a branch company of the Wei family; given the Wei family’s standing in Wei City and the financial power of this company, it was impossible that they could not summon a technician to fix an air conditioner for a whole week.
This could only be deliberate.
Gu Qingnan knew this very well, but he did not let it show.
After all, this was nothing new.
His relationship with Wei Nianxi was a marriage of convenience.
The Wei family held total sway in Wei City, whereas the Gu family previously could not even squeeze into high society.
It was likely for this very reason that Wei Nianxi had chosen him from among a crowd of candidates.
Lacking both power and influence, once dragged into this dispute, he naturally suffered countless cold shoulders and scorn.
Back when he and Wei Nianxi had just gotten married, people had been even more excessive.
At the worst point, because of “mistakes caused by his own carelessness,” he had worked overtime until three in the morning every day for over half a month straight.
After Wei Nianxi found out, he intervened once.
Following that, those people restrained themselves significantly, but that was all.
After all, everyone knew very well that Wei Nianxi had intervened not because he cared about this “husband” of his, but simply because he disliked others touching what belonged to him.
The elevator stopped on the twelfth floor.
Turning right out of the elevator and walking to the end of the hall brought him to Gu Qingnan’s office.
The office faced south, and the south-facing side featured a full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows.
In other seasons, the floor-to-ceiling windows offered quite a pleasant view, especially with the gentle warmth of the winter sun.
In summer, however, after baking in the scorching sun all day, even the air inside the entire room felt as though it could ignite at any moment.
Entering the room, Gu Qingnan immediately opened the window.
The roiling heat swept into the room in a rush, bringing only a momentary illusion of coolness before stifling heat once again took over the entire space.
Gu Qingnan had no choice but to leave his office door open as well, hoping a cross breeze might bring down the temperature a little.
After opening the door, he took off his jacket, loosened his tie, turned on his computer, sat down at his desk, and began processing today’s documents.
“Buzz—”
Cicadas usually perched in trees, and trees were typically not as tall as twelve floors, so logically it should have been quiet up here.
Yet, there were simply too many cicadas in this season.
Their resonating chorus seemed as if it could shake the entire building.
By the time Gu Qingnan finished processing all the documents in one go, the shirt against his back was completely drenched.
He checked the time; it was four-thirty.
Gu Qingnan shut down his computer, picked up his jacket, got up, and walked out.
Passing through the lobby, Gu Qingnan did not forget to remind her once more.
This time, Fu Lichun did not even lift her eyes.
Past four o’clock was no longer as scorching as when he had arrived, yet the few minutes it took to walk across the courtyard were still enough to bake his sweat-soaked shirt dry again.
Fortunately, the air conditioner in the car was not broken.
Gu Qingnan sat in the car for a while until the heat dissipated before finally starting the engine.
This place was not far from the Wei family mansion; walking took only a dozen minutes or so, and driving took a mere five minutes.
The Wei residence was immense, covering nearly a thousand square meters including the garden and the surrounding belt of woods, all situated in the most prosperous prime location in the downtown core.
After entering the gates, Gu Qingnan parked his car in the underground garage and took the internal elevator straight up to the first floor.
The living room was completely empty.
Thinking of the little face he was about to see, the corners of Gu Qingnan’s lips curled up slightly, and his pace quickened.
As he passed by the sofa, Gu Qingnan caught sight of a suit jacket draped over it.
The material of the jacket was exceptionally exquisite, clearly custom-tailored at a glance.
‘Wei Nianxi is home?’
Just as Gu Qingnan was wondering, he heard footsteps.
On the staircase leading from the second floor down to the first, two figures were walking down one after the other.
Walking in front was Wei Nianxi.
Following behind him was his secretary, Ji Wen.
Wei Nianxi was wearing only a white dress shirt, the top buttons unfastened at some unknown point to reveal a sliver of pale neck.
Wei Nianxi was a male bearer, and though he stood slightly over 1.8 meters tall, his build carried the slender delicacy characteristic of his nature, and his skin was noticeably paler and smoother.
Gu Qingnan noticed a faint flush on his cheeks.
Gu Qingnan felt a fleeting sense of oddity.
Because of his nature, Wei Nianxi had always been exceptionally strict with himself, never appearing disheveled even within his own home.
“Then I’ll be taking my leave,” Ji Wen said.
“Mm.”
Ji Wen glanced at Gu Qingnan without uttering a single word, turning around to leave.
It was as if this home belonged to him and Wei Nianxi, and Gu Qingnan did not exist at all.
Gu Qingnan was accustomed to it; Ji Wen had always been like this.
Only after Ji Wen left through the door did Gu Qingnan speak up.
“Where is the child?”
“I don’t know,” Wei Nianxi said.
Seeming to feel that this sounded rather irresponsible as a father, he added, “Probably upstairs.”
Gu Qingnan nodded.
“Are you going out again tonight?”
Wei Nianxi looked over, clearly thinking Gu Qingnan had no business prying into his affairs.
Gu Qingnan explained, “Just so I can tell the helper to prepare dinner.”
There were only two hours left until dinnertime.
Wei Nianxi put on his jacket.
“I’m not going out.”
Gu Qingnan headed upstairs.
Wei Nianxi’s affairs were indeed not his place to manage.
Reaching the door to the child’s room, Gu Qingnan stood there for a moment, setting aside all his unpleasant emotions before opening the door.
Plush toys filled the nearly one-hundred-square-meter room.
In the middle of the room, seated upon a beige rug, an adorable, porcelain-like toddler in overalls was playing with a small stuffed rabbit.
Beside him was a woman in her forties.
She was trying to talk to the child, trying to enter his world, yet the boy remained perpetually silent, absorbed solely in his own world.
“How is he doing?” Gu Qingnan stepped forward.
Seeing Gu Qingnan return, Shen Qing let out an obvious sigh of relief, though in the next instant she shook her head helplessly.
She was the caregiver hired by Wei Nianxi specifically to look after Wei Yepan, as well as the boy’s therapist, but after half a year of treatment, the results remained negligible.
“Look who’s back!”
Shen Qing looked at the child before her.
“It’s Daddy!”
Before her, Wei Yepan did not even lift his eyes, as though he had completely blocked out everything from the outside world.
Gu Qingnan knelt down beside him.
“What is baby playing with?”
Wei Yepan showed no reaction whatsoever.
Gu Qingnan reached out his hand and tentatively patted his head.
Disturbed, Wei Yepan finally reacted, furrowing his brows as his little hands gripped the stuffed rabbit with greater force.
Gu Qingnan quickly withdrew his hand.
No longer being touched, Wei Yepan’s faint frown smoothed out again, and the tension in his little hands gradually relaxed.
Gu Qingnan spoke softly, “Your birthday is coming up soon, what kind of present do you want?”
Wei Yepan still gave no reaction.
Gu Qingnan sat down beside him, watching him fiddle with the stuffed rabbit over and over again.
“When the time comes, how about Daddy takes you to the amusement park, okay?”
Beside them, Shen Qing stood up, preparing to head to the kitchen; she was not only responsible for keeping Wei Yepan company, but she was also his nutritionist.
Gu Qingnan looked over at her.
“Wei Nianxi is back and will be eating at home tonight as well, please let the kitchen know.”
“Alright.”
Shen Qing was somewhat surprised.
Wei Nianxi was usually very busy, dining at home fewer than ten times a month, let alone returning this early.
After Shen Qing left, Gu Qingnan lay on his side upon the carpet, watching the toddler before him remain entirely immersed in his own world.
He tried to understand, tried to sketch out what that world looked like, yet he could never grasp the key to it.
An hour later, Shen Qing came upstairs once more.
Wei Yepan’s dinner was ready.
Wei Yepan was still very young and disliked physical contact, so Shen Qing had made minced meat and vegetable porridge, which was easier to feed and swallow.
The porridge had cooled down to an appropriate temperature.
Gu Qingnan scooped up a small spoonful and brought it to Wei Yepan’s mouth.
“Time to eat, open wide…”
Wei Yepan’s hands were still clutching the rabbit.
“Your other father is home, once you finish eating, Daddy will take you to see him, alright?”
Whether he had actually listened or was simply annoyed by the nagging, Wei Yepan opened his mouth this time.
Gu Qingnan hastily fed the porridge into his mouth.
Over forty minutes later, the half bowl of porridge in Gu Qingnan’s hand was finally finished.
Downstairs, Gu Qingnan’s dinner was ready as well.
“Let’s go, we’re going to find your other father…” Gu Qingnan said, reaching out to lift the boy into his arms.
Wei Yepan did not resist.
Gu Qingnan let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing this, Shen Qing breathed a sigh of relief as well.
Wei Yepan did not suffer from congenital autism; rather, it was psychological trauma induced by severe stimulation, so having more contact with people was beneficial to his therapy.
Downstairs.
In the spacious dining room at the expansive dining table, Wei Nianxi sat alone, already eating.
After Gu Qingnan walked over, he pulled up a high chair, placed it beside Wei Nianxi, and set the child inside.
“Look, it’s your other father…”
Afterward, Gu Qingnan sat down on the other side of the child.
“There’s fish, does baby want a taste?”
“Come, have a bite.”
“Never mind if you don’t want it.”
Wei Nianxi hardly ever spoke while eating, and Wei Yepan was just as quiet as a clam, leaving Gu Qingnan’s voice as the only sound throughout the entire dinner.
Wei Nianxi finished eating first.
Perhaps because he rarely had free time, he did not head upstairs immediately after finishing his meal, but called Shen Qing over to inquire about the child’s condition instead.
Gu Qingnan seized the opportunity to take a few more bites before carrying Wei Yepan over.
The moment Gu Qingnan sat down on the sofa, Wei Nianxi stood up.
Wei Nianxi had always disliked Gu Qingnan getting too close, which Gu Qingnan knew, so he had deliberately maintained a distance of one meter when sitting down.
He had thought that was already far enough.
Gu Qingnan looked up with a smile.
“Can baby sleep with you tonight?”
Throughout the three years of their marriage, he and Wei Nianxi had always slept in separate bedrooms.
They had shared a bed only twice in total: once on their wedding night, when nothing had happened between them, and once when Wei Nianxi had gotten drunk, which was also the occasion that had resulted in the pregnancy.
Wei Nianxi’s gaze lingered on Wei Yepan for a brief second before he spoke.
“I have things to attend to tonight.”
Gu Qingnan could only drop the matter.
“Alright then.”
Wei Nianxi took another look at Wei Yepan and turned to head upstairs.
Wei Yepan seemed to sense something, and the movements of his hands playing with the rabbit slowed slightly.
Gu Qingnan quickly hugged him.
“When your father has time, he’ll play with you again…”
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, I’m the Villain’s Father, and I Beat Up My Simp Son is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : I’m the Villain’s Father, and I Beat Up My Simp Son
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂