The villainous second male lead at the beginning? No! He's the white moonlight!

Gu Haoran and Gu Liuli are siblings who were expelled from the Gu family. They are the result of Gu Qiye's romantic entanglements in his youth. They are distant cousins ​​of Gu Shishi, but Gu Shishi is the eldest daughter of the main branch of the family, while Gu Haoran and Gu Liuli are illegitimate children of a collateral branch. From birth, the gap between the two sides was enormous.

Young ladies like Gu Shishi are pampered from birth, getting whatever they want. Even a single birthday party could provide enough for an ordinary family to live on for a lifetime, and that's the kind of extravagant lifestyle they lead.

However, Gu Haoran and Gu Liuli were unloved from a young age. Their father was an illegitimate child of the Gu family, and they were also illegitimate children. Their mother died of illness not long after giving birth to Gu Liuli, and their father also died of illness soon after being heartbroken, leaving only Gu Haoran and Gu Liuli.

Unexpected events can happen at any time. Originally, based on that slight blood relationship, even if the Gu family didn't like them, they wouldn't mistreat them. After all, the Gu family was large and wealthy, and they wouldn't be short of two mouths to feed.

Unfortunately, as Gu Liuli grew up, the symptoms of the Gu family's hereditary disease, "hypermetabolic neuroproliferative disorder," gradually appeared in her body.

This is a very deadly genetic disease, but the patient can be extremely dazzling before death. The patient's metabolic rate is abnormally high, and the body is like a furnace that never goes out.

Because the body's energy is prioritized and excessively supplied to the brain, these patients have a much higher density of neuronal connections than normal people, extremely fast thinking speed, amazing associative ability, and some severe cases even have "hyperthymesia" with photographic memory.

However, because other tissues in her body were in a state of "energy hunger" for a long time, her body temperature was high, she was thin, her heart rate was fast, her immune system function was relatively low, her tissue repair was slow, and even her heart was under high load for a long time, resulting in a very short lifespan.

In other words, patients with this type of genetic disease possess brilliant intelligence and can process multiple thoughts simultaneously, but their bodies are extremely fragile, like glass.

The fact that the Gu family became one of the eight major families in Haicheng can be largely attributed to hypermetabolic neuroproliferative disorder!

For the Gu family, patients with hypermetabolic neuroproliferative disorder are the most efficient tool. Therefore, every generation of the Gu family attaches great importance to patients with hypermetabolic neuroproliferative disorder. Even though these patients have a short lifespan, as long as they are not completely exhausted, the Gu family can develop rapidly!

In the eyes of the Gu family's higher-ups, Gu Liuli was such an efficient tool. When the Gu family confirmed that Gu Liuli suffered from hypermetabolic neuroproliferative disorder, they directly promised that as long as Gu Liuli worked for the Gu family, the seventh branch would receive countless benefits, and even the two siblings could receive treatment comparable to that of the Gu family's direct descendants.

Even if he dies, he will ensure that Gu Haoran's descendants for three generations will have no worries about food and clothing!

But Gu Haoran ultimately refused, because it was at the cost of his own sister's life!

It was precisely because of Gu Haoran's refusal that the Gu family cut off their living expenses and even kicked them out of the Gu family. Letting them fend for themselves was already a favor, considering that they shared the same blood.

If they hadn't met Ye Linyuan later, the two of them would have frozen to death in that cave long ago.

After a moment of silence, Gu Haoran sighed and slowly began to speak.

"Phew~, Ye Linyuan, I will do everything in my power to help you investigate, but you can't tell Liuli. You know Liuli's condition; prolonged mental exertion is like burning her life force. I have no other wish in this life but that Liuli can die peacefully in her old age!"

Ye Linyuan nodded, his tone completely indifferent.

"Whatever. I only care about the result, not the process. As long as you can find out what I want to know, that's fine."

"Okay, tell me, what do you want me to investigate?"

"It's simple. I'll have you investigate whether Qingyue is dead or alive."

"What? Leng Qingyue? Wasn't she dead?"

Gu Haoran's words instantly darkened Ye Linyuan's expression.

What's going on? How come even Gu Haoran knows that Qingyue is suspected to be dead, but he doesn't know anything about it?

This wasn't the first time Gu Haoran had interacted with Ye Linyuan, and he knew Ye Linyuan's temperament very well, so he quickly added.

"This is what Liuli told me. Four years ago, you suddenly went abroad. Although everything was arranged, Liuli and I were worried, so we looked into it a little. After Liuli sorted out the information we got, she judged that Leng Qingyue had an incurable disease and would not live much longer, which is why she refused you."

Gu Haoran's words softened Ye Linyuan's expression slightly, but it remained extremely grim.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Liuli said that with your intelligence, you must know about this, so we didn't tell you anything more."

After saying that, Gu Haoran looked at Ye Linyuan with a puzzled expression and subconsciously asked a question.

"Don't you know?"

"Nonsense, if I had known, I would have stayed with Qingyue until the very end, even if I had to go abroad."

Ye Linyuan spoke in an annoyed tone, which immediately puzzled Gu Haoran.

"That's true, but why did you ask me to investigate whether Leng Qingyue is alive or dead?"

Recalling the figure he saw at the market yesterday, Ye Linyuan sighed and spoke in a low voice.

"Because I think I saw Sister Qingyue yesterday."

"What the hell?!"

Gu Haoran was startled by Ye Linyuan's words, and suddenly stood up and exclaimed in surprise, looking at Ye Linyuan in disbelief.

How can someone who died four years ago suddenly reappear?

This is not funny at all!

"Don't be so alarmed. I just saw a back view that looked exactly like Qingyue's. Maybe it's just a coincidence, which is why I wanted you to investigate."

Gu Haoran paused for a moment, then asked in a cryptic tone.

"So, what if that person really is Leng Qingyue? What would you do? Would you still pursue her like you did before?"

Now it was Ye Linyuan's turn to fall silent.

After a long while, Ye Linyuan finally spoke.

"If it really is Sister Qingyue, I will ask her why she faked her death for four years. As for whether I will pursue her like before, I think I probably won't."

"Huh? Why? Is it because she rejected you twice? Or is it because she faked her death for four years, making you regret ever liking her?"

Ye Linyuan shook his head.

"Liking someone is mutual. Her rejection of me means that she didn't like me at that point in time, which is her prerogative, and I won't hold a grudge against her for it."

"As for whether I'll regret liking Qingyue if she really faked her death for four years..."

Ye Linyuan tapped the table lightly, his eyes showing no regret, his tone lingering.

"My greatest strength is that I never regret the things I've done."

"Because to regret it means to deny the self who made that decision back then!"

"If even I doubt myself, then that child who gritted his teeth and made that decision with such passion at that point in time was truly pitiful!"

"It was like this back then, and it's still like this now. I just want to know why."

"Moreover, whether Qingyue is really dead or faked her death, she is who she was back then. Even if time were to rewind and I were to return to that point in time, I would still confess my feelings to her."

"I've always loved her as she was back then!"