Chapter 23

Gu Yanqiu, now fully in girlfriend-fan mode, deleted the photo of Lin Yuewei and Shao Yasi together, then calmly and gracefully saved Lin Yuewei’s solo shots into a dedicated folder. She’d created that folder the night before, and after some thought, she set it to hidden.

Lin Zhi watched from behind, sweating nervously. A woman’s heart was as hard to read as the deep sea; a girlfriend fan’s heart was even worse. He’d already experienced that firsthand with his own girlfriend, and he had no intention of tempting fate. Straight men really had no human rights.

Gu Yanqiu lifted her wrist to check the time; there were still fifteen minutes left. She rummaged through her backpack, pulled out a compact mirror and a palm-sized comb, and smoothed her long hair with a few strokes before calling to Lin Zhi, “Tell me today’s schedule.”

“Right.” Lin Zhi heard that her tone was normal and finally relaxed. At noon, she was having lunch with a manager from another company; in the afternoon, she’d return to the office; and at night, she’d go out to entertain clients again. These days, most negotiations happened either over a banquet table or at a tea gathering. The noon appointment was relatively mild; the manager in question was one of those polished, well-mannered types, so they’d set it at a private club. As for the evening, it would be a drinking session. Besides Gu Yanqiu, Tianrui had other departments sending people too, and they’d go together to discuss cooperation with the other side.

Gu Yanqiu’s position in the company was low; at the banquet table, aside from drinking her own share, she also had to drink on behalf of others. Lin Zhi couldn’t help with that.

Thinking of it, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Gu Yanqiu’s alcohol tolerance was decent. She could drink, and it didn’t show much on her face, which made her seem like she could hold her liquor well. But there was a limit. Once she went past that limit, she’d get a headache, and the more she drank, the worse it got.

“President Liu, I’ll drink this one for our President Wu. I’ll finish mine; you can drink as much as you like.” Gu Yanqiu, in a dark gray suit, was the first to raise her glass and empty it in one go.

She was a woman, and in this kind of setting, that often meant being treated unfairly. Gu Yanqiu had long since come up with her own ways to deal with it. Fortunately, the President Liu they were meeting was not a lecherous man; he didn’t look her over with any vulgar intent. But he was extremely cautious, as stubborn as a mule, and his tolerance was absurdly high. A whole table of people drinking with him had already been knocked flat, yet he still looked perfectly fine, resting both hands on his knees as he smiled and said, “Young people these days just aren’t what they used to be. Back in the day, your President Gu—no, Gu Huai—he and I were evenly matched. And he used to toast me too, just like—”

President Liu pointed at Gu Yanqiu with a smile. “Just like you’re toasting me now. So deferential, with a whole crowd brought along to keep him company. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even bother drinking with him. Tsk.”

That was dismissive enough, and it also dragged Gu Yanqiu into it. Back when Gu Huai was still the boss of a small company, of course he’d had to handle sales and business himself. Now Gu Huai was the head of a group, but President Liu was still President Liu; for Gu Huai to come back around now would be a drop in status.

He was leaning on his seniority and speaking without the slightest restraint. The several managers and supervisors from the company who had come with Gu Yanqiu all had their expressions darken slightly. Although Tianrui had been on the decline recently, and this quarter’s financial report wasn’t as pretty as the last, it was not something this company could casually push around.

Judging by President Liu’s attitude, he had clearly made up his mind and didn’t want to talk anymore; he wasn’t leaving a single opening. It was just unclear whether he had already found another partner and was stalling them, or whether there was some other reason. Gu Yanqiu’s lips moved; after a pause, she looked toward President Wu, the highest-ranking person from their company present. President Wu still seemed to want to fight for it a little longer, swallowed his anger, and said a few nice things to coax him.

President Liu relaxed, then said smugly, “Raise it by thirty percent over the original contract amount.” He spread his hands in a shameless gesture. “Otherwise, there’s nothing to discuss.”

President Wu said, “Thirty percent is a little too much.”

President Liu replied, “Then your sincerity isn’t enough. Why are you even looking for me? What a waste of time.”

President Wu picked up the glass on the table, took a sip, set it down, and the group left the private room in a grand procession.

Naturally, the deal had not been made. The other side had no real intention of cooperating, and the terms they’d offered were outrageously high. Unless someone at Tianrui was stupid, they would never agree. President Wu’s cheeks were flushed red from the alcohol. Catching sight of Gu Yanqiu, who had been silent except for drinking and reporting throughout, he didn’t know who Gu Yanqiu really was, but since someone with the surname Gu had been parachuted into his department, he suspected she might have some relation to Gu Huai.

President Wu turned and asked, “Xiao Gu, what do you think?”

Gu Yanqiu had been caught off guard by the question. Her fingers, hanging at her side, curled slightly. Then she smiled faintly and said, “The temple’s small, but the demons are fierce; the pond’s shallow, but the turtles are many.”

President Wu laughed and said, “That’s a pretty satisfying thing to say.”

Gu Yanqiu added, “But even an ant can shake a tree. I want to check who his next target is.”

President Wu raised an eyebrow. “I was just about to send someone to find out. You do it.”

Gu Yanqiu nodded.

Before leaving, President Wu glanced at her again; a flash of shrewdness passed through his eyes. The few of them parted ways at the hotel entrance. After the others had left, Lin Zhi had the driver bring the car over and reached out with one hand to support Gu Yanqiu, but Gu Yanqiu waved him off.

The driver took Gu Yanqiu home. Lin Zhi worried about her and followed all the way to her residence. At the door, he said goodbye to her and looked up at the mansion with emotion. Every inch of land here was priceless; just how rich did someone have to be to live like this?

Gu Yanqiu pressed her temples, took a quick shower, and collapsed onto the bed. The next day, she woke up on the sofa downstairs. She pursed her lips, glanced around, and felt that her head was still faintly aching. Since it was still early, she simply wrapped herself in a blanket on the sofa and slept a little longer.

After that, she went to work again, brimming with energy.

Her secretary fed her company gossip, and Gu Yanqiu sat behind her desk, sipping coffee while listening with half an ear. She took in most of it. Company gossip was often just hearsay, but sometimes it could play a big role. With a little spare time, listening to Lin Zhi chatter in her ear was pretty good too; it gave the place some life.

It was just that, for a grown man, he really talked too much. He could dig up all kinds of trivial nonsense.

Gu Yanqiu said, “All right, that’s enough.”

Lin Zhi could tell she was getting tired of hearing it and obediently shut his mouth. “Okay.”

He wasn’t chattering because he wanted to. This was his first job, and Gu Yanqiu was his first boss; on top of that, she was a good boss. Lin Zhi took her instructions extremely seriously. For one sentence from her, he could practically work it into ten.

Maybe he wasn’t as seasoned, thorough, or far-sighted as others, but he kept every word she said in mind, and Gu Yanqiu felt at ease using him.

Especially since there was an unexpected bonus… his girlfriend was a complete celebrity stan, and happened to stan Lin Yuewei. As for the other person’s name, it wasn’t worth mentioning.

Lin Zhi said, “President Xiao Gu, I’ve got some Lin Yuewei gossip. Do you want to hear it?”

Gu Yanqiu asked, “Gossip?”

Lin Zhi let out an “oh” and said, “It’s the latest update. This weekend, the top three girls from their show are coming here to shoot an ad, and they’ll also be making an appearance at a luxury brand event. It’s not far; it’s about a twenty-minute drive from where you live. If you’re worried about traffic, you can take the subway. Do you want to go?”

He had already checked the route for girlfriend-fan Gu Yanqiu; one could say he was quite considerate.

Gu Yanqiu: “……”

Lin Zhi glanced at her, waiting for her decision.

Gu Yanqiu asked, “Are there usually a lot of people at this kind of event?”

Lin Zhi thought, Are there a lot or not? Don’t you already know that? When they were going to and from work before, the place was packed; this time all three of the top-ranked girls were going at once, and all of them were hugely popular, so it would definitely be even worse.

His eyes darted around as he looked at her, wanting to speak but hesitating.

Gu Yanqiu understood and said flatly, “I’m not going.”

Lin Zhi wasn’t surprised. “Okay.”

Gu Yanqiu opened the cap of the fountain pen beside her, pulled a file over, and studied it seriously. “Go do your work.”

Lin Zhi slowly backed out of the office.

After he left, Gu Yanqiu turned on the computer on her desk and searched for Lin Yuewei’s latest off-site schedule on the search engine, but found nothing. She knew nothing about following celebrities and didn’t realize these things had to be looked up on a dedicated platform.

An hour later.

Lin Zhi received a message from Gu Yanqiu: 【Do you have a link for that event you mentioned? Send it to me so I can take a look.】

Lin Zhi forwarded the link information from his chat with his girlfriend and asked again: 【Are you going?】

Gu Yanqiu: 【Not going】

The answer was exceptionally decisive.

Lin Zhi couldn’t help feeling regretful. He had wanted to go and see Lin Yuewei again. It was nice just to look at a beauty, after all. It was only that he absolutely could not let Gu Yanqiu know about this idea; girlfriend fans were all very petty.

On the weekend, Lin Zhi, who thought he’d missed his chance, was woken by a phone call from his girlfriend. He rode his little electric scooter to the foot of her apartment building and asked in confusion, “Aren’t you a CP fan? There’s no Shao Yasi this time.”

Shao Yasi was currently ranked in the teens; in the previous fifty-to-twenty elimination round, she’d surged past several contestants in a row and made it through without any danger.

His girlfriend gave a soft huff. “Our CP fans’ love comes in two portions, one for each person. Cut the nonsense and hurry up; if we’re late there won’t be any good spots left.”

Lin Zhi dutifully carried his girlfriend to the event venue. Sure enough, it was packed shoulder to shoulder, with screams and shouted names ringing nonstop. His girlfriend complained that he was too slow, and now there were no good spots left. He held her hand tightly, told her not to get separated from him, and used his height advantage to force his way inside.

While Lin Zhi was protecting his girlfriend and getting squeezed so hard he was practically turning into a tea brick, he finally made it into the inner area amid the surrounding grumbling and complaints; at a glance, he saw that back up ahead.

Lin Zhi: “!!”

At the golden spot in front of the stage stood a tall, slender woman, wearing a light gray T-shirt with a sheer skin jacket over it. The brim of her baseball cap was pulled very low, and a pair of sunglasses that covered half her face rested on the bridge of her nose. Her bearing was outstanding; she looked even more like an idol than the three little starlets who’d come today, and plenty of people assumed she was some celebrity.

Gu Yanqiu still didn’t know she was keeping a low profile in a way that was a little too high-profile. She was avoiding the strange looks from the people around her and focusing intently on the stage, which was still empty for the moment.

“President Xiao Gu!!!” Lin Zhi jumped and waved. His loud voice was swallowed by a sudden burst of screaming from the crowd and vanished in an instant—

It turned out that Lin Yuewei and the other two contestants had stepped onto the stage. Everyone below them was waving support banners or holding up light signs, shouting their names at the top of their lungs as if in a competition.

Gu Yanqiu lifted the brim of her cap slightly and looked over quietly.

Author’s note:

When will President Gu finally take off that idol-fan burden? Let’s wait and see.