Chu Yifeng noticed the change in Wang Cheng’s expression. He had been in a good mood earlier, but by the time he finished the call, he looked furious. “Did something happen to your sister?”
Thinking about everything Qian Baobao had just told him, Wang Cheng felt anger rising in his chest. “What could happen to her? Apparently she’s learned how to date boys now. She actually spent the night outside with one! I know there were circumstances they couldn’t help, but she’s a girl who can’t defend herself. Doesn’t she know better than to go out alone with a man at night, let alone stay out that late?”
Chu Yifeng understood how he felt. “At least she’s safe.”
“Safe, my ass! Do you know who the boy was?” Wang Cheng was relieved that Ziyu had not been hurt, but he was still furious.
Chu Yifeng recognized that he wanted to vent. If something truly terrible had happened, Wang Cheng would not be sitting here talking. So he asked calmly, “Who?”
“His name is Gu Li,” Wang Cheng said indignantly.
“Gu Li? From the Gu family?”
“I’m not entirely sure. Qian Baobao says he’s one of Capital University’s four campus heartthrobs, a postgraduate student who rarely comes back to campus. Supposedly he only returned because of his thesis. How could there be so many coincidences? He’s probably connected to the Gu family.” Hearing the surname had immediately made Wang Cheng think of them. He refused to believe it could all be chance.
Something occurred to Chu Yifeng. “What if he just happens to have the surname Gu? If he really belongs to the Gu family, he’d be related to your sister. They couldn’t be together. If he were acting according to a plan, surely he’d have considered that.”
Wang Cheng paused, then countered, “Or maybe he approached Xiaoyu for a reason from the very beginning and never intended to date her. In that case, whether or not they’re relatives wouldn’t matter to him. Yes, that seems very possible.”
“Then let David investigate.” David, now entrusted with this important task, remembered the delicious lunch Wang Cheng had made him. Wang Cheng wanted the results as quickly as possible and insisted that any information about someone named Gu Li be especially detailed. Investigating the Gu family was not difficult. David searched for Gu Li first, then looked into the others. Before long he had drawn up lists of the family’s various branches. They were lengthy; Gu Shouzhuo’s branch was by far the simplest.
Wang Cheng skipped Gu Shouzhuo and began with the eldest collateral branch. From Gu Shouzhuo’s generation to the present, it contained an astonishing number of people. It seemed to be the most prolific branch in the whole family. There was no Gu Li there, nor in the second branch. Only when Wang Cheng reached the fourth branch did he find the name.
“I knew it! Look, there he is. He approached my sister on purpose.” Chu Yifeng glanced at the information too. The fourth Gu brother had two sons and a daughter, none of whom had done particularly well. This branch had suffered the worst luck. The elder son died in the prime of life, leaving a widow and child. Several years later, his widow remarried and took their daughter with her. The younger son survived, but his wife had been unable to bear him a son. The family’s male line was dwindling, leaving them at a disadvantage against the other branches. So Gu Tianming, the younger son, came up with a plan: he adopted a boy from his sister’s family. That boy was Gu Li.
Gu Li had been intelligent since childhood, but had always kept a low profile. The other branches were reluctant to acknowledge him as part of the Gu family, since doing so would give them a powerful competitor. Gu Ping in particular had reason to fear him. On paper, Gu Ping was the most promising member of the third generation, but compared with Gu Li, he was actually somewhat lacking.
When Gu Li was about to graduate from university, he had chosen to intern not at Gu Group, but at another large company. His performance was so impressive that he was promoted to a full employee in less than half a month. Now he was a team leader. His position was a little lower than Gu Ping’s at Gu Group, but he had taken far less time to reach it. This was another reason Gu Ping was wary of him.
David’s report was exceptionally detailed.
“If I’m guessing correctly, his original target was probably Gu Ping,” Chu Yifeng analyzed. “By interning at another company, he could prove himself more capable than Gu Ping. Gu Ping is the only relatively capable person among the collateral branches. Once Gu Li surpassed him, he wouldn’t have much reason to fear the others.”
“But then Grandpa Gu’s son and grandson turned up unexpectedly and snatched away Gu Group, which he’d thought was his for the taking,” Wang Cheng continued. “As it happens, Xiaoyu goes to the same university. So he decided to use her and deliberately created opportunities to get close to her.”
“That does seem likely. But if he dares approach your sister so openly, he probably isn’t afraid of being exposed. He may already have a way of explaining everything.”
Wang Cheng gave a cold laugh. “Then I’ll just have to see what sort of explanation he’s prepared!”
He could no longer sit still. Now that he believed he knew Gu Li’s true intentions, every moment of delay was another moment in which his sister might fall more deeply for the man. He had to pull Xiaoyu out of the Gu family’s quagmire before it was too late.
Meanwhile, rumors that Wang Ziyu and Gu Li were dating had already begun circulating at Capital University. A post appeared on the campus forum from a student who claimed to have seen Wang Ziyu bring food to Gu Li, personally delivering it to his dormitory. Someone had even taken a photograph. There was a picture to back up the claim.
The rumor spread almost at once. The male students were intensely jealous of Gu Li. They had spent ages trying to get the campus beauty to notice them, to no avail. Gu Li had barely returned to university before supposedly winning her heart. It was practically a personal insult.
Wang Ziyu had no idea any of this was happening. She only thought people were looking at her strangely. When she returned to her dormitory, her three roommates surrounded her.
“Ziyu, tell us the truth. Do you have a crush on Senior Gu Li?”
Qian Baobao was impatient by nature and went straight to the point without giving her time to prepare. Wang Ziyu blushed, pushed her aside, and sat on her bed. “Baobao, what are you talking about? Since when did I say I liked Senior Gu?”
“If you don’t like him, why did you bring him food?”
“He was hurt saving me last night. What’s wrong with bringing him food to thank him?” Wang Ziyu kept her head lowered, fiddling with the hem of her skirt without meeting their eyes.
Her guilty expression said everything!
Qian Baobao had shared a room with her for two semesters and knew her well. Even though she had already guessed the truth, she said, “Fine, let’s say you’re right. Forget the food for a moment. Let’s talk about yesterday. You never go out alone with boys at night, especially not until almost ten. Go ask anyone: would a girl go out alone with a boy if she didn’t like him? Have you thought about what your second brother would say if he knew?”
“Baobao, whatever you do, don’t tell my second brother.” Only now did Wang Ziyu seem to remember that problem. She jumped up nervously, pressed her hands together, and pleaded with Baobao.
Baobao had only meant it as a hypothetical example. She had not expected Ziyu to be so sensitive and immediately looked guilty. “Uh…”
Pang Chunjuan covered her face.
Mi Li turned away. What an idiot.
Wang Ziyu stared at them. “You… Don’t tell me you’ve already told my second brother?”
Baobao cast Mi Li a pleading look.
Mi Li rolled her eyes. “Ziyu, don’t be angry at us for meddling. We were afraid you might be deceived, so Baobao told your second brother this morning. She says he sounded very calm. Personally, I think that means he’s angry. You’d better think about how you’ll explain things to him. And you shouldn’t be offended when I say you were wrong about this. No matter how much you like someone, you must take care of your own safety. You’ve known Senior Gu for only half a month. You really shouldn’t have gone out alone with him so late at night.”
“Mi Li, I’m not blaming any of you. I’ve felt awful about making you worry last night. I promise it won’t happen again.” Looking back, Wang Ziyu regretted what she had done. She did not want to go into the details of everything that had happened. When she called Baobao the previous night, her roommate had sounded almost ready to cry. Only then had Ziyu realized how badly she had frightened them.
Mi Li hugged her comfortingly. “All right. It’s over now.”
“Ziyu, isn’t it a bit early to relax? What are you going to say when your second brother comes charging over here?” Baobao asked anxiously.
“I don’t know! My second brother… He must be furious now.” Wang Ziyu’s face fell, just as Baobao’s had earlier. There was no chance Wang Cheng was not angry. Even sensible, levelheaded Mi Li thought she had done something wrong, so how could Wang Cheng feel otherwise? It would be a miracle if he didn’t try to kill Gu Li.
Mi Li adjusted her glasses. “I think the best thing now is to keep your distance from Senior Gu. People at school are already gossiping about you two. Someone photographed you delivering food to him and posted it on the forum, and now everyone’s saying you’re a couple.”
A trace of hesitation appeared on Wang Ziyu’s face.
Baobao caught it and exclaimed in disbelief, “Ziyu, you can’t seriously want to date him! Do you know what kind of person Senior Gu is? Who his family are? How much do you actually know about him? Are you certain he’ll only ever love you?”
Wang Ziyu blushed again. “Stop talking nonsense! I just think it would be terribly ungrateful to ignore him when he was only injured saving me last night.”
Baobao paused. “Well, that’s true.”
More and more people already knew about the incident. If Ziyu suddenly refused to have anything to do with Senior Gu, people who disliked her would surely seize the opportunity to make trouble.
“I don’t think there’s any point hesitating now,” Pang Chunjuan suddenly said.
She had been quiet all this time, occupied with eating and scrolling through the forum on her phone. When everyone turned, she passed the phone to Mi Li, who was closest. “Someone’s just posted that Ziyu and Senior Gu booked a hotel room and spent last night together. The rumor’s spreading like wildfire across the forum.”
Wang Ziyu turned pale.