As expected, Wang Cheng made the newspaper headlines again the next morning. The accompanying photograph showed him standing outside the Gu residence with the other man in his romantic scandal, while a third man had come out to welcome them.
The man wore casual clothes. He was tall and straight-backed, handsome, with an air of gentle scholarly refinement and a calm expression. More intriguing, though, was the old house behind him. There was only one like it in the capital: Elder Gu’s residence.
And so public attention veered in a new direction.
Some investigators uncovered the relationship between Wang Cheng and Wang Ning’an. Wang Ning’an had been part of the family who raised Wang Cheng before he reconnected with the Zheng family. The brothers reportedly got along extremely well. But what connection did they have to Elder Gu?
Gu Shouzhuo had never made the matter public, so very few people knew. Nevertheless, anyone determined to investigate could find the answer. Before long, news spread that Elder Gu, approaching his eightieth birthday, had found the son who had disappeared more than fifty years earlier.
The Gu family was a large clan. Although the brothers had divided the family property, they maintained ties. News reports from a year or two ago had discussed the family’s succession. At the time, Elder Gu supposedly had no descendants, so people speculated about which branch he would choose an heir from. Now a biological grandson had appeared out of nowhere. Naturally, people thought of Wang Cheng. The brothers had experienced remarkably similar reversals of fortune. If someone were their parents, they would probably be smiling even in their dreams. For the Gu family’s collateral branches, however, it was a disaster.
Reporters began contacting those branches to ask what they thought, a particularly nasty line of inquiry. Anyone could guess that they must be furious.
This was only one of the story’s attractions.
The newspapers also drew attention to an important point: Young Master Zhou appeared to have gained yet another powerful backer.
It was enough to make people green with envy. Every good thing seemed to fall into this young man’s lap. Other people would have been satisfied with one powerful protector; he had several. Setting aside Zhou Lin’s reaction to the report, the three collateral branches of the Gu family were furious when they read it. All believed Wang Ning’an had deliberately let the reporters capture that scene to publicize his relationship with Wang Cheng. He wanted everyone to know that not only was he Gu Shouzhuo’s grandson, he also had Wang Cheng for a brother. Wang Cheng might be in a difficult position at the moment, but no one dared underestimate him. Even without the Zhou family, the Zheng family was behind him, and there were rumors that the Chu family supported him as well.
Wang Ning’an was remarkably capable, even more so than Gu Ping, the most accomplished young man among the collateral branches. With so many powerful connections behind him, whom would Gu Group’s shareholders support? There was hardly any doubt. He had achieved his aim without shedding a drop of blood.
“I knew Big Brother was planning something like this.” Holding a sandwich in one hand and the morning newspaper in the other, Wang Cheng read a few lines and burst out laughing. It was exactly what he had guessed the previous day. He knew his brother would not invite him for no reason. Killing two birds with one stone was a wonderful thing.
Chu Yifeng took the newspaper away. “Don’t read the paper while eating. It’s bad for your digestion.”
Wang Cheng shrugged.
He did not have much work on his schedule that day. With so much free time lately, he spent most of it at Yazhi. His involvement greatly lightened Pan Zhihai’s workload. After the latest news circulated, partners who had considered breaking contracts out of fear of Zhou Group changed their minds.
Chu Yifeng was not particularly busy either. Even without Wang Cheng, Aimer would continue cooperating with Zhou Group, but he would no longer handle the partnership personally. He had transferred David from Italy two days earlier and left the work in his hands.
When Feng Yifan saw David, he knew his suspicions had been right. Aimer Group’s president had only managed the cooperation personally because of Zhou Cheng. Now that Zhou Cheng had been removed from office, Aimer had been gracious enough not to turn its back on the partnership altogether.
Wang Cheng spent the morning at Yazhi, then finished early and returned to Binhai Garden. David had once mentioned that he loved Wang Cheng’s cooking, so Wang Cheng prepared lunch himself and delivered it to their office.
David held the lunchbox as he ate, so moved he almost wept. In all his years of working, nobody had ever brought him a homemade meal.
“Boss…” David almost called him boss’s wife out of habit. Wang Cheng sent him a distinctly threatening look. A mouthful of rice stuck in David’s throat, and he coughed several times before finally swallowing. He laughed nervously. “Brother Cheng, your cooking gets better every time! These braised chicken wings are especially good. Could you make braised chicken legs next time?”
Chu Yifeng glanced at him. “Would you like him to come here and bring you lunch every day?”
David desperately wanted to say yes, but he knew his boss would put him on the next plane back to Italy if he dared. He had no intention of going back. Thinking quickly, he found a compromise. “Not every day. Whenever Brother Cheng brings lunch for the boss, he could just include an extra portion for me.”
Wang Cheng laughed at his cowardly expression.
After lunch, Wang Cheng packed away the dishes and prepared to leave. He had just stood up when his phone rang in his pocket. It was an unfamiliar number. It kept ringing through three rings, so it probably wasn’t a wrong number. He set down the lunchbox and answered.
“Hello? Is that Brother Cheng? It’s Qian Baobao.” Qian Baobao sounded tentative, nervous, and unusually cautious.
“This is Wang Cheng. Why are you calling me? Aren’t you in the middle of exams? Has something happened to Xiaoyu?” At first he did not react to her name. Then he realized she would have no reason to call unless something was wrong and immediately thought of Wang Ziyu.
Qian Baobao hesitated. “Yes. No, no. Well, yes…”
Wang Cheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Slow down. There’s no need to be nervous. What happened to Xiaoyu?”
“Okay, I’m not nervous anymore. It’s just… I don’t really know how to explain.”
Baobao tugged at her hair until it nearly became a tangled mess. She had been thinking about the matter for days. After talking it over with Mi Li, they finally decided it was better to tell Wang Cheng.
“Take your time. I’m not busy right now,” Wang Cheng reassured her. Her voice did not sound desperately urgent, so he guessed it could not be a crisis and relaxed a little.
“Well, you see…” Qian Baobao began with the day a few days earlier when she went looking for Wang Ziyu after class and could not find her. When she called, a young man answered Ziyu’s phone.
Her first thought had been that Wang Ziyu had lost her phone. If the man were a friend, surely they would know him. And a stranger would not be so rude as to pick up someone else’s phone casually, would he? But when she asked for Ziyu, he said she had stepped away for a moment.
That alarmed Baobao. Classes had only just ended. What was Ziyu doing with a boy? She demanded to know where they were. When he told her they were at the library, she hurried over and discovered that the young man was none other than Gu Li, one of Capital University’s best-known campus heartthrobs.
The university had four leading male heartthrobs, with Lei Yunze ranked first and Gu Li fourth.
Although Gu Li was last on the list, he was still very famous. He was a postgraduate student. Since he had begun interning at a company the year before, he was rarely seen on campus.
Qian Baobao had absolutely no resistance to good-looking men. As soon as she saw Gu Li, all her suspicions went out the window, and she became much more demure. When Wang Ziyu returned, she found Baobao sitting in her place, red-faced and nervous, talking to Gu Li with a stammer.
As soon as they parted from Gu Li, Baobao returned to normal. Back at the dorm, she told Mi Li and Pang Chunjuan what had happened. The three agreed that Ziyu was hiding something. After they questioned her, they discovered this was not her first meeting with Gu Li.
Wang Ziyu had met Gu Li for the first time a little more than two weeks earlier. His thesis supervisor had called him back to campus to discuss his paper, and he happened upon Ziyu being harassed by two male students. One was demanding that she agree to become his girlfriend and refused to let her leave until she did. Gu Li stepped in and helped her get away, and Ziyu was grateful.
Because of a problem with his thesis, Gu Li had to return to campus several more times. On their second encounter, Wang Ziyu nearly twisted her ankle, and Gu Li caught her just in time. After a few more meetings, they grew acquainted. Ziyu, however, had told her roommates nothing.
Two days earlier, Gu Li had moved back to campus, intending to stay until his thesis was completed.
The day Baobao could not find Wang Ziyu, Ziyu and Gu Li had actually arranged to meet at the library. Ziyu was a diligent student who often went there. Gu Li needed to consult the library’s research materials, so it seemed natural for them to go together.
Perhaps because she had already been found out, Ziyu stopped making much effort to hide the friendship. Gu Li began inviting her out from time to time, and to the roommates’ surprise, she accepted.
Ordinarily, her romantic life was her own affair. Baobao and the others could see that Ziyu was developing feelings for Gu Li. At first they only teased her a little and thought nothing of it. Then, the night before, Gu Li invited her out, and the two failed to return all night. Qian Baobao called Ziyu, but her phone was switched off. All three roommates were frantic, afraid something terrible had happened. They considered trying to obtain Gu Li’s number but worried that rumors would harm Ziyu’s reputation.
It was nearly eleven that night when Wang Ziyu finally called. She said they had encountered some thugs attempting a robbery on their way back. Both their phones had been broken, and Gu Li was injured. Going to the hospital had taken some time. She had borrowed a phone to let her roommates know she was safe. By then the dormitory curfew had passed, so they would not be able to get back onto campus. The prospect of a young man and woman spending the night outside could damage Ziyu’s reputation if word got out. Ziyu was unwilling to call her brother so late, so Qian Baobao could only tell her repeatedly to be careful. If they checked into a hotel, they absolutely had to get separate rooms and lock their doors. Ziyu promised she would.
Wang Ziyu returned safe and sound the next morning. But because Gu Li had been hurt protecting her, she felt guilty. After class she went to the cafeteria, picked up food, and delivered it to him personally.
It was obvious that Wang Ziyu liked Gu Li more and more. They appeared to be developing mutual feelings, but Mi Li had a nagging sense something was wrong. The roommates did not feel comfortable intruding into Ziyu’s private life, but Wang Cheng could ask her about it. That was why Baobao had called him.