309: Gu Li

Though many had expected the next day’s headline to be, once more, about Wang Cheng, they weren’t. Instead, the headlines were about the highly discussed Wang Cheng couple, and a man who walked out to pick them up.

The man wore casual clothes and trousers. He was tall and slender, handsome in appearance, and there seemed to be a touch of indifference between his eyebrows. Overall, he exuded a gentle and elegant temperament. However, what people were more concerned about was the ancestral house behind him, the only such classical home in the Imperial Capital. That was, Old Man Gu's house.

So, the focus of the crowd once again shifted.

Some people uncovered the relationship between Wang Cheng and Wang Ning'an. Apparently, he was Wang Cheng's eldest brother before Wang Cheng recognized the Zheng family, and they had a pretty good relationship. However, what did that have to do with Old Man Gu?

Because Gu Shouzhuo had never disclosed this matter, only a handful of people knew about his descendants. However, others could still find out more through careful investigation. Soon, it was known that Old Man Gu had actually found his son who’d been missing for over 50 years, just as he was about to celebrate his 80th birthday.

The Gu family was a big family. Although the brothers had split, they still shared familial relationships. A year or two ago, the Gu family reported that Old Man Gu had no direct descendants, causing the public to begin guessing which branch he would choose his heir from. As a result, his actual grandson suddenly appeared. This scenario couldn’t help but remind everyone of Wang Cheng. It seemed like the two Wang brothers experienced similar plots. If they were their parents, they would wake up from their dreams laughing*. However, for the Gu family branches, this was definitely a tragedy.

[T/N: *be happy first thing in the morning every day]

So, reporters began looking into the branches of the Gu family and what they thought about the matter. The Gu family was especially rude about it, and anyone with brains would understand why.

That was just one thing that happened.

The newspaper also pointed out a key point: Wang Cheng, the young master of the Zhou family, seemed to have found another strong and powerful backer.

This made others quite envious and hateful. It felt that whenever there was a good thing, it was snatched up by the young master of the Zhou family. They only needed one backer, but he already had several. Zhou Lin's reaction after she saw the news was nothing compared to the three branches of the Gu family, who were so angry that their lungs exploded. They all felt that Wang Ning’an must have deliberately let reporters film this scene in order for everyone to know that he wasn’t only Gu Shouzhuo's grandson, but also Wang Cheng's brother. In addition, though Wang Cheng's current situation might look unfavorable, in reality, no one dared to look down on him. Putting aside the Zhou family, he still had the backing of the Zheng family, and allegedly, the Chu family was also on his side.

Wang Ning'an's ability was excellent, even the most outstanding talents in Gu Ping's branch couldn’t compare to him. With so many backers behind Wang Ning’an, The Gu Group shareholders didn’t even have to think about who they supported. It could be said that Wang Ning’an was able to achieve his purpose without bloodshed.

"It’s just like I told you, this was within my elder brother’s plans all along." Wang Cheng held a sandwich in one hand and the newly-published newspaper in the other. He grew optimistic after reading a few lines of the story. Things were just as he’d guessed yesterday; he knew that it was impossible for his elder brother to call him over for no reason. It was a good thing that he was able to kill two birds with one stone.

Chu Yifeng took the newspaper from his hand. "Don't read the newspaper while eating, it will cause indigestion."

Wang Cheng shrugged.

He didn’t have much scheduled for work today. Now that he had a lot of time everyday, he spent most of it at Yazhi. Ever since Wang Cheng had joined, Pan Zhihai's workload had decreased. Their business partners who feared the Zhou Group and originally wanted to terminate their contracts with Yazhi dismissed their ideas one after the other upon seeing the recent news.

Nothing special was going on with Chu Yifeng. Eimer still cooperated with the Zhou Group, even without Wang Cheng, but Chu Yifeng no longer came forward in person. David transferred over from Italy the day before yesterday, and now he was in charge of things.

When Feng Yifan saw David, his internal doubts were reaffirmed. It was only because of Zhou Cheng that the president of Eimer was personally responsible for the cooperation between the two companies. Now that Zhou Cheng had been removed from his post, it was already very polite of Eimer to not turn their back on them.

Wang Cheng stayed in Yazhi all morning then got off work early to return to Binhai Garden. David said that he liked his cooking, so he personally made lunch and delivered it to their company.

David held the meal he brought and was almost moved to tears as he ate. From when he began working until now, no one had ever brought him a home-cooked meal.

"Boss..." David was about to call him ‘boss lady’ without thinking, when he received a menacing look from Wang Cheng. A mouthful of rice was stuck in his throat and he coughed a few times before he could swallow it down. He said with a sheepish smile: "Cheng Ge, your handiwork is tasting better and better, these braised chicken wings are especially great. Will I be able to try braised chicken legs next time?"

Chu Yifeng glanced at him and said, "Would you like him to bring you meals every day in the future?"

David wanted to say yes, but knew that if he dared to say it, his boss would immediately send him back to Italy. He didn’t want that. His thoughts turned and he came to a solution. "You don't need to cook every day. Just bring me a meal on the way when you bring food for the boss."

Wang Cheng laughed at his cowardly response.

After eating, Wang Cheng packed up the lunch boxes and prepared to go back. Just as he stood up, his phone suddenly rang in his pocket. When he took it out, he found that it was an unfamiliar number. Since they didn't hang up after three rings, they must have called purposefully. So, he put down the lunch boxes and clicked the button to accept the call.

"Hey, is this Cheng Ge? I’m Qian Baobao." Qian Baobao’s tentative voice could be heard, she seemed to be nervous.

"Yes, this is Wang Cheng. How did you find the time to call me, aren’t you guys taking exams now? Could it be that something happened to Xiao Yu?" Wang Cheng didn’t react at first when he heard her. Then, he suddenly remembered that it would be impossible for Qian Baobao to call him if everything was fine. The first thing he could think of was Wang Ziyu.

Qian Baobao hesitated for a few seconds, "Yes, well no, not quite, er, yes..."

Wang Cheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He quickly said, "Speak slowly, don't be nervous. What happened to Xiao Yu?"

"Okay. I'm not nervous anymore, but I still don't know how to explain it."

Qian Baobao scratched her hair, almost causing it to tangle into a ball. She’d thought about this matter for several days and discussed it with Mi Li before finally deciding that it was best to talk to him.

"Then take your time and think about it, there’s no rush. It’s not like I’m doing anything right now, so you can take it slow." Wang Cheng heard that her voice wasn’t particularly anxious, and felt that this matter shouldn’t be too urgent. His heart steadied.

"Here’s the thing..." Qian Baobao’s story began a few days ago, when she went to Wang Ziyu's class but couldn't find her. She then called her, but Wang Ziyu’s phone was answered by a boy.

When she heard the boy's voice that day, her first reaction was that Wang Ziyu had lost her phone somewhere. If this was Wang Ziyu’s friend, she should have known him. What’s more, the other party wouldn’t have been so rude to just answer someone else’s phone. As a result, when the other party heard that she was looking for Ziyu, he said that Wang Ziyu left to do something.

Qian Baobao called this phone not long after class ended. How could Ziyu be with a boy? She immediately asked them where they went. After learning that he was in the library, she rushed over there, only to find out that the boy was actually Gu Li, one of the famous school grass of Beijing University.

Beijing University had four school grass; Lei Yunze ranked first, and this Gu Li ranked fourth.

Although he was last, he was still a well-known school grass. He was now a graduate student, and ever since he began interning last year, it had become difficult to see him at school.

Qian Baobao was not immune to handsome guys. As soon as she saw Gu Li, she threw all her doubts behind her and behaved in a reserved manner. When Wang Ziyu came back, she found Qian Baobao blushing and sitting nervously in her spot, stuttering as she attempted to talk to Gu Li.

After she separated from Gu Li, Qian Baobao became normal. She told Mi Li and Pang Chunjuan about what happened once she got back to the dorm. All three of them felt as if Wang Ziyu was hiding something from them. It was only after asking her about it that they learned this was not their first time meeting.

The first time Wang Ziyu met Gu Li was a little over half a month ago. At the time, Gu Li had to come back to school because his tutor requested to discuss his thesis. As a result, he met Wang Ziyu, who was coincidentally being pestered by two boys. One boy confessed to her and said that they would not let her go unless she agreed to be his girlfriend. Gu Li stepped in to help her out, and Wang Ziyu was very grateful towards him.

Gu Li had to repeatedly come back to campus because of some problem with his thesis. They met for the second time when Wang Ziyu almost tripped over her own foot, and Gu Li grabbed her in time. However, Wang Ziyu did not tell her roommates about that occasion.

Gu Li had moved back to campus two days ago. Apparently, he planned to stay here until he completed his thesis.

The reason why Qian Baobao couldn’t find Wang Ziyu that day was actually because she and Gu Li had already made an appointment to go to the library. Wang Ziyu was eager to learn, so she normally went to the library, and Gu Lize had to consult some materials in the library. Naturally, the two made an appointment to go together.

Gu Li probably thought that since they had been discovered, there was no need to hide. After that day, Gu Li would ask Wang Ziyu out from time to time, and Wang Ziyu would agree.

Since this involved people, then it would inevitably involve emotions. Qian Baobao and the others could see that Wang Ziyu liked Gu Li, so they began to tease her and didn’t pay any deeper attention to it. However, when Gu Li invited Wang Ziyu out yesterday, the two of them didn’t come back all night. Qian Baobao called her once it had been a while and she wasn’t back, but Wang Ziyu’s phone was turned off. The three of them grew anxious, and were scared that something might happen to Wang Ziyu. They even wanted to look for Gu Li's phone number, but feared that if this matter spread, it would be bad for Wang Ziyu's reputation.

It wasn't until about eleven o'clock that Wang Ziyu called back and said that they had encountered robbers on their way back. They broke both her and Gu Li's phones and injured Gu Li. Afterwards, it took them a while to get to the hospital. She was afraid that they would be worried, so she borrowed someone’s phone to report that they were safe. However, because they had missed the curfew, they could no longer enter the school when they came back. A young man and woman were spending the night out together, unsupervised. If news of this spread, it would do no good to Wang Ziyu's reputation. But since Wang Ziyu wasn’t willing to call her brother at this time, Qian Baobao can only remind her to be careful. When they went to the hotel, they must rent two separate rooms, and the door of her room must be locked tightly. Wang Ziyu promised to do as she said.

The next morning, Wang Ziyu came back safe and sound. However, she was guilty that Gu Li was injured saving her. After class, she went to the cafeteria to get food and sent it to Gu Li in person.

Wang Ziyu’s affection for Gu Li was obviously growing. Although it seemed like they were in love with each other, Mi Li had a feeling that something was not right. Though they couldn’t pry into Wang Ziyu's personal affairs, Wang Cheng could. This was why they called him.

***

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