Mr. Gu’s little stand-in

Shen Yu is an omega born with an intellectual disability, a secret concealed by his family since infancy. To protect their public image, the Shen family raised him in the suburbs, announcing only that they had one son, his twin brother Shen Chao. Shen Yu’s life changed abruptly when his father summoned him to replace Shen Chao in a marriage alliance with the powerful Gu family. The union was arranged because Shen Chao, Gu Yingyi’s long-time love, was presumed dead after a kidnapping gone wrong. Shen Yu, who had secretly admired Gu Yingyi since childhood, agreed to the marriage, unaware that Gu Yingyi’s heart belonged to his twin.

On their wedding night, a drunk Gu Yingyi mistook Shen Yu for Shen Chao due to their identical faces. After the act, he realized his error and treated Shen Yu with cold disgust, viewing him as an unworthy substitute who had stolen his brother’s place. Shen Yu, simple-minded and eager to please, tried to care for Gu Yingyi, but his efforts were met with cruelty. Gu Yingyi forbade him from the master bedroom, locked his dog out, and eventually threw him out into the cold winter night when the pet caused a minor disturbance. Shen Yu fell severely ill, and Gu Yingyi coldly ordered him to be hospitalized without visiting him.

The situation deteriorated when Gu Yingyi’s younger brother, Gu Jianqiu, orchestrated a public humiliation at a family banquet. Gu Jianqiu tricked Shen Yu into gifting a clock, a symbol of death in their culture, to Gu Yingyi’s father. Gu Yingyi, enraged by the embarrassment, physically assaulted Shen Yu and verbally abused him, calling him a tool. The turning point arrived when Gu Yingyi discovered the truth behind Shen Chao’s accident: the kidnappers had originally targeted Shen Yu, but Shen Chao had intervened and died in the ensuing crash. Consumed by guilt and rage, Gu Yingyi blamed Shen Yu for his brother’s death, choking him and declaring that Shen Yu should have been the one to die.

Following this trauma, Gu Yingyi forcibly took Shen Yu to a clinic to remove the mating mark, a painful procedure that left Shen Yu physically weakened and emotionally shattered. Shen Yu’s devotion did not waver, however. When Gu Yingyi was falsely imprisoned for embezzlement by Gu Jianqiu, Shen Yu dedicated himself to earning the bail money. He took on multiple jobs, including knitting dolls and working in an underground lab extracting gland fluid, despite the health risks. His only motivation was to save his husband, whom he still loved despite the abuse.

Shen Yu’s journey is one of relentless suffering and naive loyalty. He endures physical violence, emotional neglect, and social humiliation, yet continues to seek Gu Yingyi’s approval. The story highlights the power imbalance between the two, with Shen Yu’s intellectual disability making him vulnerable to manipulation by both his own family and his husband’s relatives. As Gu Yingyi remains trapped in his grief and hatred, Shen Yu’s actions begin to chip away at the cold facade, though the path to redemption remains uncertain and fraught with danger.