Chapter 145
“Don’t worry, I’m not a bad person.” The voice was still above her head.
Qu Xuesong felt so nauseated that even pushing the other person away took effort. She stopped resisting and let her help her inside.
Vomit splashed from the cubicle. Cheng Guiyuan had originally planned to leave. She’d been out for so long, and she hadn’t even brought her phone; Gu Yanqiu must be worried about her. But seeing how badly the other woman was doing just now, she was afraid that if she left and something happened to her—like fainting or worse—it would be a real disaster.
So she stood outside the cubicle and waited patiently.
Qu Xuesong emptied out everything she could. After flushing, she leaned back against the door and panted lightly. Once she felt that nothing serious was wrong, she put her mask back on and came out. The moment she stepped out, she saw a young woman standing outside, tall and elegant.
A loose, medium-gray sweater with a half-high neck; dark brown wide-leg trousers that fell all the way to the floor. It was a difficult color to wear well, and most people would look awkward in it.
But this woman looked like a clothes rack; her figure and bearing were both outstanding, like a runway model waiting backstage before a show, dazzling at a glance.
Unfortunately, no matter how beautiful someone was, Qu Xuesong had seen plenty of them in the industry. She only gave her a cursory look before thanking her again.
Cheng Guiyuan said, “Do you need anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
Qu Xuesong had regained her usual composure. Cheng Guiyuan looked at the dark eyes beneath the brim of her cap and suddenly felt a vague sense of familiarity.
Have we met somewhere?
The words rose to her lips, but she didn’t ask. It sounded too much like a clumsy pickup line.
Qu Xuesong nodded, then went around her the same way she had outside and headed for the sink. This time she didn’t lose her footing again. Cheng Guiyuan watched her for a while and saw that she really did seem fine, so she quietly left.
Only after she was gone did Qu Xuesong turn her head toward the door and narrow her eyes.
That woman from just now was Cheng Guiyuan, the daughter of Chimo Media’s President Cheng. Qu Xuesong had seen her twice, once on a set and once at a social gathering. In her impression, Cheng Guiyuan seemed to have some designs on Lin Yuewei, which had left a fairly deep mark.
From her expression, it looked like she hadn’t recognized her.
Qu Xuesong turned off the tap, touched up her makeup in the mirror, and with her high heels clicking rhythmically along the corridor, gathered her smile once more and pushed open the private room door.
***
“Why were you gone so long?” As expected, when Cheng Guiyuan came back, Gu Yanqiu asked with concern.
“Oh, I ran into a drunk girl in the restroom just now. I helped her out a bit, so it took a while.” Cheng Guiyuan answered honestly.
“Was she pretty?”
“Probably… pretty, I guess.” Cheng Guiyuan recalled those eyes. They wouldn’t leave her mind.
“Probably?”
“She was wearing a mask, so I couldn’t see her face clearly; same as your girl here.” Cheng Guiyuan pursed her lips and pointed at Lin Yuewei. “I’m guessing she was a celebrity too. There are always celebrities coming and going around here, right?”
“I thought you…” Gu Yanqiu let the rest speak for itself.
Cheng Guiyuan ground her back teeth and said, “I’m not so desperate that I want to develop something with whoever I see.”
Gu Yanqiu smiled faintly. “That’s not what I meant. I meant you’re very charming.”
That was more like it. Cheng Guiyuan lazily stirred the peanuts in front of her with her chopsticks and said, “What use is charm? I still can’t attract the person I actually want.”
“Should I introduce someone to you?”
Cheng Guiyuan nearly choked on her own saliva. “What did you say?” Since when did Gu Yanqiu do matchmaking?
Gu Yanqiu gave her a victorious little smile. “I’m teasing you.”
Cheng Guiyuan said, “I thought so. You really changed all of a sudden. But if you were the one introducing someone, I’d feel more at ease. I’m telling you, a few friends have introduced people to me before, and every one of them was less reliable than the last. They didn’t even know the people well and still tried to sell them to me.”
She recounted several of her failed experiences.
Gu Yanqiu only smiled without speaking, but Lin Yuewei suddenly made eyes at her.
Gu Yanqiu looked back in confusion.
Lin Yuewei mouthed, “Yin.”
Gu Yanqiu understood and shook her head.
Lin Yuewei asked why; Gu Yanqiu said they’d talk later.
The two of them were exchanging looks and silent messages right in front of Cheng Guiyuan. Cheng Guiyuan was displeased and frowned. “What are you two whispering about? Can’t you give a single lonely sled dog a little human rights?”
Gu Yanqiu thought for a moment, then said, “I recently met a friend. She seems pretty good. Lin Yuewei thinks I could introduce you two, but I don’t know her that well yet, so I thought maybe I’d better not.”
“If you say she’s pretty good, then she must be really good.” Cheng Guiyuan smiled. “What’s her name? Let me see if I know her.”
“Yin Lingxi.”
Cheng Guiyuan savored the name. “That’s a nice name too.” She really did seem interested.
Gu Yanqiu didn’t tell Cheng Guiyuan about her family situation and only briefly introduced Yin Lingxi’s identity. “She’s from S City. She comes here from time to time for business trips and banquets. I heard she’s planning to expand her business here. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll run into her at some banquet.”
“Got a photo?” The looks-obsessed Cheng Guiyuan asked.
“Her company’s official website has one,” Lin Yuewei said.
Gu Yanqiu gave her a strange look.
Lin Yuewei had accidentally let it slip. She lowered her head to drink water and covered up clumsily by looking toward the door and muttering, “Why isn’t the food here yet?”
Cheng Guiyuan asked for the company name and went online to search. The photo was an official one, but it still couldn’t hide the woman’s beauty.
Cheng Guiyuan looked at it for a moment and set her phone aside. In her mind flashed the stubborn, cool black eyes from not long ago.
She had definitely seen those eyes before. Who could it be?
She searched through everyone she knew over and over in her mind. It was such a huge task that she was distracted the entire time.
Gu Yanqiu: “...What do you think?”
Cheng Guiyuan came back to herself and looked up. “What did you say? I zoned out just now and didn’t catch it. Say it again.”
Gu Yanqiu put down her chopsticks, leaned back, and folded her arms, looking leisurely in control. “I didn’t say anything. I only said those four words.”
Cheng Guiyuan: “Mm? Mm?”
Gu Yanqiu: “You spent the whole meal distracted. What are you thinking about?”
Cheng Guiyuan: “...Nothing. Maybe I didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m sleepy and not paying attention. Let’s eat.”
Tell her she was thinking about a pair of eyes? Even she thought it sounded absurd.
Gu Yanqiu: “Really?”
Cheng Guiyuan wanted nothing more than to move past this topic immediately. “If it wasn’t real, would I be saying it like this? I was out having fun until midnight last night before coming back. You know that.”
“Got it, got it. Eat.” Gu Yanqiu laughed helplessly.
Cheng Guiyuan stopped letting her imagination run wild. There were so many people in the world; it wasn’t like eyes that looked alike didn’t exist. Even if it really was the same pair of eyes, it only meant she had seen them before, and probably on someone she didn’t know well. If it were someone she knew well, she would have recognized them long ago.
She couldn’t help laughing at how seriously she’d taken the matter. Even a real beauty standing in front of her couldn’t make her feel anything, let alone just a pair of eyes.
She temporarily put this little interlude behind her and continued waiting for her peach blossom to sprout; she hadn’t expected to reunite with the other woman so soon.
Her father gradually handed the company’s business over to her, and Cheng Guiyuan followed President Cheng to represent Chimo Media at important events like premieres, charity banquets, and elite gatherings packed with celebrities. That evening they were attending a fashion banquet hosted by an X X magazine. Quite a few male and female stars had come, all dressed in formal splendor. They took their seats according to status, passed cups around during the meal, and everything was prosperous and harmonious.
At events like this in the industry, it was all about exchanging connections. Cheng’s father led Cheng Guiyuan around the tables to greet people. When they passed one table whose appearance was clearly on a level above the others, they were all celebrities specially invited by the magazine, and also some familiar regulars.
President Cheng was on good terms with several people at that table, so they exchanged drinks.
“President Cheng.” The woman’s red gown was shoulder-baring and floor-length, her waist slender and narrow. A portion of her dark brown waves fell in front of her chest. She raised her glass and brows with a mature, seductive smile. “I’ll drink to you.”
“If Xuesong is drinking to me, then of course I have to have a cup.”
Cheng Guiyuan glanced at the fat old man beside her. He already liked laughing, and now his eyes were practically narrowed into slits. President Cheng was her own father, so of course she knew what each kind of smile meant. A smile like this, with no concern for appearances, meant this person really was an acquaintance.
Cheng Guiyuan focused on the other woman’s face, the corners of her lips lifting slightly. She recognized her; it was Qu Xuesong.
Qu Xuesong recognized her too. Less than a week had passed since the last time in the restroom. She remembered it vividly, so the first thing she did when she saw the other woman was quietly look away, avoiding direct eye contact so Cheng Guiyuan wouldn’t notice that it was her.
Why avoid being noticed? Probably because Qu Xuesong thought it was too embarrassing that she had been held in Cheng Guiyuan’s arms that day, and twice at that.
Cheng Guiyuan followed President Cheng a few steps farther, then suddenly sensed something and turned back. She only saw the back of a brown head.
“Dad.”
President Cheng nodded at someone passing by and made a sound from his nose. “Hm?”
“Are you and Qu Xuesong close?” Cheng Guiyuan asked. “She was at that private gathering you went to last time too.”
“Pretty close.”
“How close? What kind of person is she?”
“How we got close? I don’t remember. It’s been many years, I think. When I first met her, she was still a naive little kid. Back then, she..."
Cheng Guiyuan was listening with interest when her father suddenly cut himself off and turned to look at her. “Why are you suddenly so interested in her? Are you trying to pursue her? I know she’s single right now.”
Cheng Guiyuan: “...”
What on earth was in her father’s head all day long?
Cheng Guiyuan said, “If I ask a couple more questions about someone, that means I want to pursue them? Then how am I supposed to live my life? Just tell me honestly; don’t worry about why I’m asking.”
President Cheng said, “If you’re not trying to pursue her, then there’s no need to know. Anyway, you’ve known each other for a long time. The circle is so small; after so many years, you keep running into each other one way or another, so of course you’d become familiar. She’s pretty decent, I think; you can get close to her.”
Cheng Guiyuan looked thoughtful.
President Cheng took Cheng Guiyuan around once more and returned to their seats. Cheng Guiyuan barely ate anything. From afar, she watched that red figure several tables away. The woman stood up, and Cheng Guiyuan also rose.
The last time Qu Xuesong had drunk too much, her stomach had kept bothering her after she got home. She went to the hospital for a checkup and found out she had a mild stomach bleed. The doctor told her to recuperate properly and avoid alcohol and spicy food.
Qu Xuesong walked to a deserted spot, pressed a hand to her stomach, and bent slightly; at the same time, she heard the sound of high heels approaching. She immediately straightened, dignified and flawless.
She turned to look at the newcomer, and a tiny stiffness appeared in her perfect expression.
She’d bet that Cheng Guiyuan had probably recognized her.
Compared with the first time, when she’d been in such a sorry state, today was much better.
“So coincidental.” Cheng Guiyuan, who had specially followed her over, lied through her teeth with wide-open eyes.
“Miss Cheng.” Qu Xuesong also immediately pretended that the person from that day had never been her in the first place. After all, the other party had no proof.
“Is Miss Qu feeling unwell in her stomach?”
As Cheng Guiyuan drew near, waves of pleasant floral-and-fruit fragrance drifted into Qu Xuesong’s breathing. Qu Xuesong wrinkled her nose, raised a hand to cover her face, and sneezed loudly in a way that could almost be called rude.
Cheng Guiyuan: “???”
Qu Xuesong said, “I’ve caught a bit of a cold. Please stand farther away, Miss Cheng, so you don’t get infected.”
Cheng Guiyuan: “...”
She hadn’t noticed any cold while they were drinking just now. A sudden cold now? Wasn’t that excuse a little too flimsy?
Qu Xuesong said, “I just came out for some fresh air. I’m done now, so I’ll head back. Please make yourself at home, Miss Cheng.”
Cheng Guiyuan: “???”
She watched helplessly as the other woman brushed past her and walked away.
For the first time, Cheng Guiyuan was completely baffled. She had no idea what had just happened from beginning to end. She’d only said two sentences, hadn’t she? Then Qu Xuesong said she had a cold, and then she left, as if Cheng Guiyuan were some kind of flood beast.
Cheng Guiyuan pulled a compact mirror from her bag and looked carefully at her face. She was almost starting to suspect she’d suddenly changed into a different face and become this annoying.
The truth was she hadn’t. It was still her own face.
Cheng Guiyuan stood there for a while, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. Qu Xuesong was even more interesting than she’d expected.
After leaving, Qu Xuesong suddenly felt a prickle at her back, as if she had been targeted by something, and quickened her pace.
By her usual temperament, she wouldn’t have treated Cheng Guiyuan that coldly. Even if she were being polite, she would have done it in a way that left no room for fault. Maybe it was the drinking, maybe the stomach pain, but she’d lost the patience to spar; and especially with the curiosity in the depths of the other woman’s eyes, she didn’t want to say any more.
After a long, exhausting stretch, the banquet ended. The organizer stood at the entrance and sent the guests off one by one. Qu Xuesong saw from afar President Cheng and his daughter walking toward the exit, so she deliberately slowed her pace. Only after the two of them had gone out for quite a while did she slowly excuse herself and get into the car waiting for her at the door.
Cheng Guiyuan sat in the car and didn’t tell the driver to leave for a long time. President Cheng, a little drunk, gave a belch and followed her line of sight out the window. “You’re waiting for someone?”
Cheng Guiyuan said, “No.”
Just now she had clearly seen Qu Xuesong only a few people away from her, so why hadn’t she come out yet?
“Dad.”
“What is it?”
“What you said earlier about Qu Xuesong; the part you didn’t finish about her past. What was it?”
“Nothing much. She used to have a pretty impressive friend. They would often attend our private gatherings together. Then one day, that friend stopped appearing with her, and she started showing up alone. Her personality changed a lot too.”
Cheng Guiyuan’s intuition told her this friend wasn’t just any friend. There was a very high chance that she was...
President Cheng said, “That friend seems to have been her girlfriend. She’s pretty famous in the entertainment industry now. She comes from a very good background, has connections, and is very capable herself. A lot of people in the circle give her some face.”
“What’s her name?”
“Ji Han. I’m not very close to her.”
Cheng Guiyuan searched the name online. To her surprise, this woman had even more gossip than the average celebrity. In her mind she pieced together a whole drama about Qu Xuesong’s personality changing after heartbreak, and the whole thing immediately lost a bit of its appeal.
Someone who could take it up and not let go seemed strong on the surface, but who knew how fragile she really was inside.
She didn’t have a habit of playing savior.
Cheng Guiyuan said to the driver in front, “Old Wu, drive. We’re going home.”
President Cheng looked back. “You’re leaving now that the person’s finally come out?”
Cheng Guiyuan said, “I told you I wasn’t waiting for anyone. Let’s go.”
***
Gu Yanqiu had not slept well for an entire week. Her eyes were bloodshot. There was no helping it; the board meeting would be held next week, and the net she and Gu Huai had laid was about to be drawn tight.
It happened to be the weekend, and Lin Yuewei forcibly kept her at home, making her close her eyes and sleep.
Gu Yanqiu couldn’t calm her mind. How could she possibly sleep? In the end, Lin Yuewei had to wear her out until she no longer had the strength to struggle. She slept through the whole weekend, opening her eyes to darkness and closing them until daylight.
Monday morning, Lin Yuewei massaged her shoulders and sent her all the way to the car. “Good luck.”
Gu Yanqiu had recovered fully at home and was full of confidence as she set out for the company.
Since Gu Huai was seriously ill, the chairman’s position had become vacant. The Great and Small Wu faction, which held actual power, convened the board and, by an overwhelming margin, re-elected Gu Yanqiu as the company’s chairman and CEO. The two of them had long wanted to seize this position, but Gu Huai had held it tightly and the board trusted the Gu family, so they had never succeeded. This time, with the right timing and the right conditions, and with Gu Yanqiu’s banner to rally under, they finally achieved their goal. Though the Great and Small Wu pair shared common interests, there were still rifts between them. Even brothers by blood keep accounts clear, let alone two men who weren’t brothers at all; in the end, they let the “puppet” Gu Yanqiu reap the benefits.
Gu Feiquan stormed out in a fit of rage.
When he returned to his office, his expression changed completely. He lounged in his office chair with one leg crossed over the other, waited until the timing felt right, and then called Gu Yanqiu in a stern voice, “Chairwoman Gu.”
Gu Yanqiu: “...Cut it out.”
Gu Feiquan laughed hard.
Gu Yanqiu: “Watch your back; walls have ears.”
Gu Feiquan stopped laughing and said seriously, “What’s the next step?”
“An X X investment company is coming in a couple of days to sign the agreement. We’re preparing to raise funds and go public.”
“Really going public?”
“If we don’t go public, what choice do we have? Right now I’m the one they pushed up. They got those shareholders on their side. If I turn on them the moment I get in, they can drag me back down in minutes. If Dad could solve it, he wouldn’t still be lying in the hospital. So fine, let’s go public; but we absolutely cannot let those two stay in the company and keep pointing fingers.” Gu Yanqiu’s voice turned cold. “The company is surnamed Gu, not Wu. Those two should have been out of here long ago.”
“Fine. If there’s anything you need me for, just say it. And if there’s any work where someone needs to get hit, call me especially. I’m very familiar with it; last time I punched Little Wu so hard he got a nosebleed.”
“...You never say anything proper.”
Gu Feiquan heard the faint smile in her voice and became even more earnest. “I’m serious. Anything else you can’t show your face for, just hand it all to me. You can trust me to handle things.”
“What could I possibly have that I can’t show my face for? Just take good care of Dad. Also, for the next period of time, keep your tail between your legs at the company and act a little dejected and a little resentful.”
“I understand.” Gu Feiquan was extremely quick on the uptake; that afternoon, he left work early.
Gu Yanqiu, who still hadn’t moved into a new office yet, heard Lin Zhi report the news to her and almost couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Lin Zhi had already been promoted from manager’s secretary to chairman’s secretary, and his status had risen several times over. Beaming with joy, he told Gu Yanqiu, “You didn’t see Gu Feiquan’s face; it was ashen, like an eggplant beaten by frost. He slunk off and even threw a tantrum at the employees. Pah, a stray dog running with its tail between its legs.”
He was genuinely emotional, but Gu Yanqiu felt awkward listening to it. She rubbed her nose and interrupted his excited chatter. “I know. Go back to work.”
Lin Zhi thought she was being soft-hearted and advised her, “Chairman Gu, no, President Gu, you absolutely mustn’t show mercy. Look at how they treated you before. Even if you don’t treat them the same way, don’t repay evil with kindness.”
Gu Yanqiu said solemnly, “I know.”
Only then did Lin Zhi breathe a sigh of relief. He reached the door, then suddenly turned back and shook a fist at Gu Yanqiu. “Good luck!”
Gu Yanqiu smiled. “I will.”
After leaving work early, Gu Feiquan went to the hospital where Gu Huai was staying. Gu Huai knew everything about the company. The moment he saw his son, he smiled, and Gu Feiquan felt relaxed all over. He moved a chair over and peeled an apple for him.
He Songjun had gone out for a walk. When she came back and saw her son, then looked at the time on her phone, she said, “Why are you off work so early?”
Gu Feiquan wanted to hide it from his mother. “I had a lunch appointment, and that boss dragged me off to sing karaoke. By the time we were done, it was already this late. If I went back to the company now, I wouldn’t be working for long anyway, so I just came over.”
“It’s only three o’clock.”
“Exactly, it’s already three o’clock!” Gu Feiquan emphasized.
He Songjun said, “There are clearly still more than two hours until you get off work! How can you be so careless about your job?!” Since Gu Huai was still there, she was especially strict when educating her son.
Gu Huai stepped in to smooth things over. “All right, it’s just leaving early. The company isn’t busy anyway; what’s wrong with leaving a little early? Coming to keep me company is nice too.”
Gu Feiquan shamelessly said, “Exactly, exactly.”
Then he leaned his face toward Gu Huai’s pillow, as if father and son were of one mind.
He Songjun had nothing to say. In truth, she was pleased by it. Gu Feiquan and Gu Huai were getting closer and closer. During the period when Gu Huai was ill, she and Gu Feiquan had cared for him without taking off their clothes even for a moment; by contrast, Gu Yanqiu had only come to look once on New Year’s Day, and there had been no sign of her since.
If she were Gu Huai, she would know who was truly good to him, and she’d also know how the inheritance should be divided.
She was a small-minded woman whose whole heart belonged to her son. She knew Gu Huai didn’t love her, but if Gu Huai could keep acting forever, she could pretend not to know, and then her Feiquan could be well off, without worry for food or clothing, living in abundance with the company firmly in his hands.
He Songjun’s thoughts always wandered. She was forgetful, and the moment she saw the father-son scene in front of her, she couldn’t bear it. If Gu Huai could recover, if Gu Feiquan could smoothly inherit the Gu family fortune, then perhaps she really would have someone to rely on for the rest of her life and live the life she had always imagined.
But her dream shattered just as quickly. That evening, she received a phone call.
After dinner with Gu Huai, Gu Feiquan was truly carefree. Gu Huai dozed off for a while, and he sat on the sofa beside the ward wearing headphones and playing games. His luck was good and his skills were good too; he took five kills in a row and surged ahead triumphantly.
Then his headphones were yanked off, and a hand reaching in from nowhere snatched his phone away. Gu Feiquan stared blankly at He Songjun, whose gaze was cold.
He Songjun grabbed his arm and dragged him deeper into the corridor. In a frosty voice, she asked, “What’s going on?”
Gu Feiquan rubbed his arm. “What’s going on with what?”
“The company!” He Songjun shouted. “What’s going on with Tianrui?!”
Gu Feiquan said casually, “The company’s fine. It hasn’t gone bankrupt; it’s still running just fine.”
He Songjun twisted his arm hard.
Gu Feiquan yelped, “Mom, what are you doing?”
He Songjun trembled with rage. “Don’t play dumb with me. The company has elected Gu Yanqiu as CEO. How long were you planning to hide this from me? She’s the CEO; what are you?”
“I’m still in the same position as before.” Gu Feiquan thought that wasn’t the point. His eyes turned slightly sharp, and he asked in confusion, “How did you find out about the company’s affairs?”
His mother was the sort who never went out and stayed at the hospital all day. Even when he took her out to relax, she wouldn’t go. How had company personnel changes reached her ears? Could it be...
Gu Feiquan lowered his voice. “Did you plant someone in the company?”
If that were true, his mother was much more complicated than he had imagined.
He Songjun said angrily, “Don’t worry about how I found out. I’m asking you; are you just going to stand there and watch her snatch the company away?”
Gu Feiquan frowned. “What do you mean ‘snatch’? It was never ours in the first place.”
He Songjun pinched him twice more, still not satisfied, then stepped on his leather shoes, furious beyond reason. “Say that again! Say it again! This is your company, all of it from top to bottom belongs to you; she has no share in it at all. She’s not even fit to carry your shoes!”
Gu Feiquan barked, “Mom!”
A nurse walked over from not far away. “What are you shouting about? This isn’t a place for loud arguing. If you’re going to fight, go outside.”
Gu Feiquan tugged at his mother’s sleeve. He Songjun shook him off, and Gu Feiquan took her hand again, just like when he was a child.
This time, He Songjun didn’t pull away.
Gu Feiquan led He Songjun to the rooftop. On the way, his mind raced. It was obvious his mother had reached a very paranoid state; he couldn’t go head-to-head with her. It would be best to take a softer approach and find out from her exactly how she knew. If she had any other tricks up her sleeve, they might be harmful to Gu Yanqiu.
“Mom, calm down first.” Gu Feiquan adjusted the scarf around her neck. It was the New Year’s gift he’d bought her. She wasn’t as young as he was, and with the weather turning warmer, she still couldn’t quite give it up.
“How can I calm down?” Gu Feiquan had been so well-behaved that He Songjun also softened.
“Just tell me how you found out, all right?”
“No.” He Songjun was very wary. “You’d go and inform on me.”
Gu Feiquan: “...”
He was her own biological son, and for her to give that answer was really saying something.
Being asked that question made He Songjun’s anger rise again. “Someone else is CEO now, and you’re still just a department supervisor. I’m asking you, are you just going to watch?”
With his earlier experience in mind, Gu Feiquan switched to a helpless tone this time. “What can I do? She was chosen by the board. You know what the board is, right? It’s the company’s decision-making body. Important decisions all have to be made through meetings.”
“Doesn’t your father have shares? He’s still chairman. Why can’t he just make you the one in charge?”
Gu Feiquan thought, My dear mother, not to mention that Gu Huai never once intended for me to inherit the company, even if he did, it wouldn’t be a decision he could make alone. He explained to He Songjun patiently, “It’s like this, Mom. The shares Dad holds aren’t enough to control the company by himself. There are other shareholders. If they banded together and voted, they could push Dad out. The reality is that Dad’s already been pushed out. He’s in the hospital now, just holding a title; he can’t really get involved in much of the company’s decisions.”
“Then go tell your father to transfer all the shares to you. What if Gu Yanqiu gets there first? Then it’ll be too late.”
“Dad is perfectly fine. What kind of thing is that to say?!” Gu Feiquan’s brow was deeply furrowed.
“Who do you think I’m doing this for?!” He Songjun’s voice suddenly rose. “Isn’t it all for you?!”
Gu Feiquan’s temple vein throbbed. “There you go again. For me, for me, everything is for me. You say it so much. For my own good, I was mocked by other kids when I was little for not having a father. I came back crying to you, and you scolded me hard, said I was so weak I deserved not to have a father. The next day I picked up a brick and beat up those kids, and then you scolded me again, telling me to go apologize one by one. For my own good, I said I wanted to go to college out of town. I made all the preparations, filled my college entrance exam applications with out-of-town choices, and then you called the teacher behind my back and changed my choices without telling me. When I got the admission notice, I thought it had been sent to the wrong person. I locked myself in my room and cried all day. You said you didn’t want me too far from home and couldn’t take care of me, so I accepted it. For my own good, when Gu Huai came looking for you and wanted to marry you into the family, didn’t I tell you not to believe him? Did you listen? You said it was all for my own good too. I lived so many years without a father; why did I suddenly need one at that point?
“You’re not doing it for my own good. You’re doing it for yourself! I can live very well on my own, with my own two hands and feet, even without the Gu family. It’s you who’s greedy for vanity and forcing your will onto me!”
He Songjun’s chest heaved violently. Furious beyond speech, she couldn’t answer him. Gu Feiquan felt he might have gone too far, so he softened his voice and looked at her. “Mom, aren’t you tired of living like this? Try thinking more openly; don’t always get stuck in one rut.”
He Songjun took a deep breath. “That’s what you think of me?”
Gu Feiquan felt worn out. “How am I thinking of you like that? I’m trying to persuade you. Can you listen to the point? I’m trying to make you happy.”
He Songjun gave a bitter laugh. “You want to make me happy while making me this angry? Go and take the company away, step on the Gu daughter underfoot, and I’ll be happy. Go on.”
Gu Feiquan said, exasperated, “I’ve said all this and you still don’t understand. The company isn’t something I can just snatch if I want to. It has rules and procedures; everything has to follow the proper process.”
He Songjun said, “Doesn’t your father count? Go find him.”
Gu Feiquan said, “I’m not going.”
He Songjun sneered. “Then I will.”
With that, she turned and walked off.
Gu Feiquan rushed after her. “Mom! Calm down!”
He Songjun had gone completely all-in. She was stupid to begin with, and now she couldn’t spare a thought for strategy or anything else. She charged straight for Gu Huai’s ward, and the instant she rushed inside, Gu Feiquan wrapped both arms around her waist from behind and hauled her back out.
Gu Huai only heard a door slam. It seemed as if something had tried to come in, but then the sound stopped. Frowning, he glanced toward the door.
Gu Feiquan carried his mother all the way to the end of the corridor. He braced his hands on either side of her neck, trapping her between his arms. A young female patient nearby glanced over and nearly had her eyes pop out.
Good heavens!
An old, old, old wife and a young husband?
Gu Feiquan shot her a glare, and the girl hurriedly fled.
Gu Feiquan lowered his head and said in a suppressed voice, “What are you going to say to Dad?”
He Songjun said, “We mother and son have been taking care of him for so long. I’m just going to ask him how he plans to divide the assets. Now that Gu Yanqiu has taken his company, what exactly is he thinking? Giving her more shares would be hard to justify, wouldn’t it?”
Gu Feiquan: “...”
He didn’t know whether to say his mother had no brains or a hole in her head. There were only two possible answers to a question like that. First, Gu Huai would answer honestly, and she would suffer; second, Gu Huai would lie, and she would suffer even more in the future. Either way, she was courting humiliation. In Gu Huai’s heart there had never been any place for her, nor any place for himself.
He Songjun said, “Let go of me.”
Gu Feiquan said, “If you trust me, I’ll ask. It’s not appropriate for you to ask.”
He Songjun looked at him in surprise at that answer. “You’d really ask?”
Over this period, through her observations of Gu Feiquan, she had concluded that he was the type to betray his own side. The person he should have hated most was instead the one closest to him. But after New Year’s, he had improved quite a bit; she hadn’t seen him contact Gu Yanqiu again. Maybe he really had come to his senses?
Gu Feiquan nodded solemnly. “Really.”
At this point, all he could do was stall. Maybe he could also try asking what Gu Huai planned to do for his mother materially, so he’d have some idea. His mother was like a ticking bomb now; only he could keep her steady for the moment.
And there was also the matter of how she found out about the company personnel changes. The morning changes had reached her by night; no, it was even possible she knew by afternoon. Gu Feiquan had no choice but to stay on guard.
He still remembered a previous time when Gu Yanqiu hadn’t come home for a long while, and it was also He Songjun who said she was staying at the Lin house. Gu Huai and Gu Feiquan had both been unaware, and only He Songjun knew. Linking those two things together was chilling.
He told Gu Yanqiu about it.
“You mean your mother may have people planted in the company too?” Gu Yanqiu was even more surprised than he was to hear this. She had originally thought He Songjun was just an ordinary housewife staring at her own little patch of ground all day; she hadn’t expected her reach to be so long.
“Maybe. But my guess is she only knows about things like this at most. She doesn’t understand the company’s internal workings at all. If she really could stir up trouble, she would have already ruined the plan; there’s no way she’d have had no reaction at all and let you rise up so steadily.”
“Even so, we need to be more careful. For the time being, you’d better not contact me. I don’t want your mother to notice and realize that you act like a completely different person with me at the company and in private.”
The very man who had dug his own pit and fallen into it, Gu Feiquan: “...”
He still thought there might be a chance to salvage this. After struggling to swallow, he said, “My mom doesn’t know I’ve been in contact with you privately. Can I keep up this sort of contact rhythm?”
Gu Yanqiu didn’t respond.
Gu Feiquan grew anxious. “Or I can go stage a scene in front of her tomorrow and give you a good cursing-out, make my mom believe I’ve completely fallen out with you. Would that work?”
Gu Yanqiu: “...”
Gu Feiquan wailed, “I can’t not contact you or I’ll die.”
Gu Yanqiu pinched the bridge of her nose. “Is it that serious?”
Gu Feiquan nodded hard. “That serious, that serious. I really will die.”
Gu Yanqiu: “...Then contact me, but don’t let your mother find out.”
Gu Feiquan suddenly had a wicked idea and joked, “This makes it sound like we’re having an affair, hahaha.”
A faint voice drifted over from the other end. “Am I invisible to you?”
Gu Feiquan froze, then laughed awkwardly. “Sis-in-law, you’re there too?”
Lin Yuewei said, “Of course I’m here. Gu Yanqiu and I each have one earphone. Next time you talk...”
Gu Feiquan promised, “I know, I’ll be careful.”
Gu Yanqiu said coolly, “Hang up.”
She was very heartless.
Gu Feiquan listened to the dead tone on the phone and couldn’t stop smiling. He rolled around on his bed in the rest room; today too had been a day of diligent effort in conquering his sister. Gu Feiquan, you can do it!
Ever since he hung up, Lin Yuewei had been “tch”-ing for three or four minutes straight. Gu Yanqiu now had nothing in her head but the echo of that sound.
“Has Gu Feiquan gotten a little too full of himself lately?” Lin Yuewei took a sip of water to replenish the moisture needed for all the tch-ing. “He’s a grown man. Fine on WeChat before, but now he’s even acting cute and sweet on the phone to you.”
“He has a little,” Gu Yanqiu agreed. It was uncomfortable.
“I’ll tell him to pay attention next time.”
“You can’t let your guard down. Even though you two are related by blood, some people have a thing for incest shipping; we have to be careful.” Lin Yuewei issued her warning in all seriousness.
“Next time he talks like that, I’ll just hang up.”
“Mm...” Gu Yanqiu’s answer was so perfect that Lin Yuewei couldn’t find any fault with it. “Then let’s leave it at that.” After being jealous, she still had to save face with a serious expression. “I’m not an unreasonable person either. Do you think my analysis just now made sense?”
Gu Yanqiu clapped enthusiastically and praised her without restraint. “A revelation, straight to the point, amazing.”
How could Lin Yuewei not know she was flattering her? Still, she was happy and leaned in on her own initiative to give her a fragrant kiss as a reward.
Seeing her pleased expression, Gu Yanqiu pressed her advantage. “I want to report something to you.”
“What is it?” Lin Yuewei narrowed her eyes.
“Yin Lingxi asked to see me tomorrow night.”
“She asked again?” Lin Yuewei immediately sat up, bristling. “How many times has she run to Yanning this month? Once a week? That’s more often than you ask me out.”
“And there you go talking nonsense again. She’s only asked twice this month.”
“Only? You think that’s too few, don’t you?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then why say ‘only’?”
“I was only denying your claim that she asks once a week. Nothing else.” Gu Yanqiu got the point out before Lin Yuewei’s next wave of indignation could erupt. “She said she has her mother’s diary and will show it to me tomorrow night.”
Author’s note: Yuanku CP, Qu-Shen CP, or maybe there’s also a Ling-Zero CP? (Cheng Guiyuan, Yin Lingxi)
Which pair are you rooting for?