310: Like

Chu Yifeng noticed Wang Cheng's ugly expression. Though Wang Cheng had been in a good mood before the call, his face changed after listening to what was said over the phone.

"Did something happen to your sister?"

Wang Cheng became angry all over again once he was reminded of what Qian Baobao had told him just now. "How could something happen to her? She has learned to fall in love and even dared to spend the night out with a boy. Although there were unavoidable reasons, as a girl with no fighting skills, shouldn’t she know that she can't go out with men alone at night? Yet she was still out playing so late with a boy!"

Chu Yifeng understood where he was coming from. "It's good that she is safe."

"Good my ass. Guess who the boy she was with was?" Wang Cheng said this, but he was actually also relieved that she was at least safe.

Chu Yifeng knew that he was going to say something bad. However, if something truly intolerable did happen, they wouldn’t still be sitting here, so he was calm as he asked: "Who?"

Wang Cheng angrily replied, "The boy's name is Gu Li."

"Gu Li? From the Gu family?"

"I’m not sure. Qian Baobao said that this Gu Li is one of the four school grass of Beijing University. He is a graduate student that rarely goes to campus - he only came back recently because of his thesis. I say, it’s impossible for there to be such a lucky coincidence in timing. This Gu Li is most likely from the Gu family." As soon as he heard the name Gu Li, he immediately thought of the Gu family. He would never believe that his appearance was a random coincidence.

Chu Yifeng suddenly thought of something, "Maybe his surname just happens to be Gu? If he is indeed from the Gu family and your sister is his cousin, it should be impossible for them to fall in love with each other. If the other party really planned this, then shouldn’t they have thought about this?"

Wang Cheng was stunned for a moment, before his thoughts turned and he answered: "It's also possible that Gu Li originally intended to approach Xiao Yu without having a relationship with her. In this way, being Xiao Yu’s cousin shouldn’t have been a problem for him. Yes, yes, I think this is highly plausible."

"Then let David check it out.”

Just after eating Wang Cheng’s cooking, David was entrusted with this important task for him. Wang Cheng told him to get this done sooner rather than later. He was asked to check on a man named Gu Li; the more detailed the information, the better. The Gu family was not difficult to investigate, so David directly checked on the person named Gu Li. After looking over his history, he checked the others’. Soon, he created a long list of the several branches of the Gu family. The most concise one was Gu Shouzhuo's.

Wang Cheng directly looked over Gu Shouzhuo, and began from the branch of the eldest son of the Gu family. That branch had the most family members, counting from Gu Shouzhuo's generation until now - perhaps it was the most fertile. Next, it looked like the Gu family’s second son’s branch also didn’t have anyone named Gu Li. It wasn’t until he reached the fourth branch of the Gu family that he saw the name.

"My guess was right. Look, he really is from the Gu family. This means he should have a motive in approaching my sister."

Chu Yifeng glanced at the list. The fourth son of the Gu family had a total of three children, two sons and a daughter. However, none of them were very successful. Even worse, the eldest son passed away in his prime, leaving orphans and a widow behind. A few years later, the eldest daughter-in-law remarried into another family, taking her children with her. As for the last of the three, though he was doing fine, his wife failed to give him a son. If they had no son, how could they fight with the other branches? So, Gu Tianming, the younger son of the fourth branch of the Gu family, came up with the idea to adopt a son from his sister. The son was Gu Li.

Gu Li had displayed intelligence ever since he was a child. However, he was always relatively low-key. The other Gu family branches did not want to accept him into the Gu family. Once they admitted he was one of them, they would be erecting a powerful enemy for themselves, especially for Gu Ping. Gu Ping was the most promising junior of the third generation of the Gu family, but he still dimmed in comparison to Gu Li.

Gu Li was about to graduate from university. Rather than the Gu Group, he was interning at some other large company. Apparently, because of his strong ability, he was promoted from intern to full-time employee in less than half a month. He now assumed the role of team leader, a position slightly lower than Gu Ping's in the Gu Group. However, what caused Gu Ping to fear him as a competitor was that Gu Li spent a lot less time in the industry than him, yet achieved almost as much.

The information David reported was very detailed.

"If I’m not mistaken, Gu Li was originally targeting Gu Ping. He went to intern at another company to be compared to Gu Ping, to eliminate his only competition. He didn’t have to worry about anyone else." Chu Yifeng analyzed.

Wang Cheng continued: "But he didn't expect Grandpa Gu's son and grandson to appear and snatch the Gu inheritance, which should’ve already been in his pocket. It just so happened that he attended the same school as Xiao Yu, so he decided to start with her and deliberately found opportunities to get close to her."

"That should be the case. However, since he dares to approach your sister directly, he must not be afraid of being exposed as family members. I'm afraid he has already thought of a way to deal with it."

Wang Cheng sneered: "Then I’m going to see how he plans to respond!"

Wang Cheng couldn't sit still anymore now that he knew Gu Li's true colors. It was impossible to determine whether or not his sister’s affection for Gu Li would grow if he hesitated for even a second. He had to pull Xiao Yu out of the Gu family quagmire before she fell in.

At this time, rumors that Wang Ziyu and Gu Li were dating had already begun to spread in Beijing University. A post appeared on the school's forum in which some students claimed to have seen Wang Ziyu delivering meals to Gu Li’'s dorm in person. This scene just happened to be photographed, and if there was evidence then it must be true.

Rumors began to spread, almost all at once. The male compatriots were very jealous of Gu Li. They often ran up to the school flower to brush up their presence but failed to impress her. However, not long after Senior Gu Li returned to school, he was able to get the girl? This must be a personal attack.

Wang Ziyu didn't know about what was going on online, but noticed that everyone was giving her strange looks. After she returned to her dormitory, she was surrounded by her three roommates.

"Ziyu, be honest, do you like Senior Gu Li?"

Qian Baobao was a straightforward person. As soon as her mouth opened, she got to the point, giving no buffer time at all. Wang Ziyu blushed, and pulled her so they could sit on her bed. "Baobao, what are you talking about? When did I have a crush on Senior Gu?"

"If you don’t like him, then why did you deliver him food?"

"Since he got injured saving me last night, shouldn’t I send him a meal to express my gratitude?" Wang Ziyu lowered her head and fiddled with her skirt, avoiding eye contact.

She was clearly looking away because of her guilty conscience!

Qian Baobao had lived with her for two semesters and already knew her very well. She’d already guessed her response. "Let’s move on and pretend that you’re right. How about yesterday? You’ve never gone out with boys at night, but yesterday, you didn’t get back until almost ten o'clock. Try asking others: if a girl doesn’t like a boy, will she go out alone with them? No. Have you ever thought about what your second brother would think if he found out about this?"

"Baobao, please don't tell my second brother about this." It was clear that Wang Ziyu only just remembered this problem. She immediately stood up in fear, begging with her hands clasped together.

Qian Baobao was just stating a hypothetical, and didn't expect her to grasp the key point. She immediately grew weak in the heart*. "Uh..."

[T/N: *to feel a sense of guilt]

Pang Chunjuan covered her face.

Mi Li didn’t bother looking away, she felt that doing that was foolish.

Wang Ziyu's eyes widened, "You...don’t tell me you have already told my second brother?"

Qian Baobao looked at Mi Li for help.

Mi Li rolled her eyes and said, "Ziyu, don't blame us for being too suspicious. We were just afraid that you would be deceived, and told your second brother about this in the morning. Baobao said that your second brother's voice was very calm as he spoke, so he was most likely angry. You should try and figure out how to explain things to him. Don’t blame the messenger, instead, I think you should do some self-reflection. No matter how much you like someone, you should pay attention to your own personal safety. You and Senior Gu have barely known each other for half a month, so you shouldn't have gone out alone with him at night."

"Mi Li, I don’t blame you guys, I just feel guilty for making you all worry about me last night. I promise you that this kind of thing will never happen again." Wang Ziyu regretted it now, in retrospect. Despite the ups and downs throughout the night, it was only when Qian Baobao picked up her call, sounding as if she was about to cry, that Wang Ziyu realized that she had done something wrong.

Mi Li hugged her in a comforting manner. "It’s okay, it's alright."

"Ziyu, now is not the time to be sad. How are you going to explain this to your second brother before he kills you?" Qian Baobao asked, worried for her.

"I don't know, my second brother...he must be very angry right now." Wang Ziyu's face immediately collapsed, just like Qian Baobao’s did earlier. It was impossible for Wang Cheng to not be angry. Even a rational and intelligent person like Mi Li thought that she did something wrong, not to mention Wang Cheng, who was more involved. It would be a relief if he didn't kill Gu Li.

Mi Li pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and said, "I think what you need to do now is to keep your distance from Senior Gu. Rumors are already spreading throughout the school because someone uploaded photos of you delivering meals to him. Everyone from the forum is now spreading the word that you are a couple."

A trace of hesitation appeared on Wang Ziyu's face.

Qian Baobao’s sharp eyes caught the change in her expression, and she said in disbelief: "Ziyu, you don't really want to be with him, do you? Do you know who Senior Gu is? Do you know who his family is? How much do you know about him? Are you sure he can love you wholeheartedly?"

Wang Ziyu blushed before saying, "Don't talk nonsense. I just think that if I ignore him after he got injured saving me last night, it looks a bit ungrateful."

Qian Baobao froze. "That's true."

Now that more people knew about this matter, those who didn’t like Ziyu would take advantage of things again if she suddenly ignored Senior Gu Li, and criticize her.

"There is no room for hesitation."

Pang Chunjuan suddenly spoke up. She hadn’t spoken the entire time because she was eating with one hand and scrolling through the school forum on her phone with the other. They all looked over as she handed her phone to Mi Li, who was closest, and said, "I don't know who broke the news, but everyone online is saying that Ziyu and Senior Gu rented a room outside last night. The forum is going crazy."

Wang Ziyu's face turned pale.

***

Back    ToC    Next