People kept coming and going from the dormitory, until at last only Gu Li’s two closest roommates remained. They were discussing Gu Li and Wang Ziyu, with one asking how he had fought off the robbers the previous night. Their conversation was lively when another student suddenly appeared at the door.
“Gu Li, my roommate just called. He saw Wang Ziyu’s second brother heading this way. He looked furious. I don’t know if he’s coming to see you.” The room fell silent.
“Are you sure it was the campus beauty’s brother? What’s a big shot like him doing at the university again, especially now?” asked Zhao Xinyou, one of Gu Li’s roommates, in surprise.
“Idiot. He must have heard about Gu Li and Wang Ziyu. He’s probably coming to settle accounts with Gu Li,” Sun Jiangning replied with a roll of his eyes. It was obvious enough.
Zhao Xinyou jumped up. “Settle accounts? Gu Li hasn’t done anything to hurt her! Why should her brother come after him? Gu Li was injured protecting her. If anything, he should be thanking Gu Li!”
“If you want to know why, wait until he arrives,” Sun Jiangning said. He did not think things were quite so simple.
“Jiangning’s right. Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding. I doubt Ziyu’s brother is that sort of person,” Gu Li said with a smile. Neither roommate noticed the trap in his wording. He was priming them to leap to his defense the moment Wang Cheng made any threat.
Downstairs, Wang Cheng stopped a student and asked where Gu Li lived, then headed up. Not many people had known he was coming, but Zhao Xinyou had spread the news across their floor. By the time Wang Cheng arrived, quite a few students were aware, and some were holding phones as though waiting for a show.
Chu Yifeng caught Wang Cheng’s arm. “Keep your temper when you confront Gu Li. He probably already knows you’re coming.”
Wang Cheng arched an eyebrow. He looked up and spotted people peering down at them. Remembering what Gu Li was like, he gave a cold smile and nodded. “I know. I won’t give him a chance to make himself look like a hero.”
Chu Yifeng let go. Wang Cheng was an excellent talker and often left even Chu Yifeng speechless, though more often than not by sheer shamelessness.
Moments later, Wang Cheng stood in the doorway of Gu Li’s room, silhouetted against the light. He seemed to command the entrance all by himself. All three people inside froze. Wang Cheng’s gaze swept over them and settled on Gu Li, who was seated with one bandaged hand. The corner of his mouth lifted.
“So you’re Gu Li?”
Gu Li stiffened slightly. Wang Cheng’s gaze made him feel as though the man could see right through him. He was far calmer than Gu Li had imagined. Wasn’t he supposed to storm in and angrily forbid him to approach Wang Ziyu? From the beginning, Gu Li had known his tricks might deceive Ziyu but could never fool her two older brothers. He had not expected to deceive them. As long as Ziyu had feelings for him, his objective would be achieved.
Although he had misjudged Wang Cheng’s reaction, Gu Li kept his face composed. He stood, smiled, and approached.
“You must be Ziyu’s second brother. I’ve heard about you and seen you in the newspapers many times. I never thought I’d have a chance to speak with you face-to-face. This isn’t a convenient place for a conversation. Won’t you come in?” Gu Li stepped aside to invite him inside.
Wang Cheng’s lips curved. “No need. We can talk right here. Sit down if you’re tired. I only have a few things to say. I heard you invited my sister out last night and encountered robbers on the way back. I should thank you. If you hadn’t been there, she might have been the one hurt.”
“Not at all. I only did what I should have,” Gu Li said. A tiny twitch near his eye betrayed him.
“That’s true. If you hadn’t asked her out, none of that would have happened. Nobody would have happened to see you going into a hotel either. Still, you really did protect her, so I must thank you for saving my sister.”
Zhao Xinyou and Sun Jiangning sensed something was wrong. Wang Cheng’s attitude was neither exactly friendly nor openly hostile. He was thanking Gu Li while simultaneously blaming him for taking his sister out. Yet everything he said was reasonable from a brother’s point of view. Neither roommate knew how to intervene.
Gu Li realized this too. It seemed he’d have to save himself. He forced a rueful smile. “You don’t have to thank me. You’re right that the fault was mine, not Ziyu’s. Please don’t blame her. I didn’t think things through.” People tended to sympathize with the weaker party. Acting so apologetic made Wang Cheng look overbearing.
Wang Cheng nodded. “Then we’ll leave that alone. I came here about something else.”
“What is it?” Gu Li asked.
“I want you to keep your distance from my sister from now on. Don’t approach her again.” Wang Cheng smiled faintly. Before Gu Li could respond, he continued, “Don’t explain just yet. I’m not finished. Newspapers reported on the Gu family recently. Everyone must have seen them. My brother is now the rightful heir of Gu Group. You, Gu Li, are also a member of that family. But before my brother appeared, you and a man named Gu Ping were apparently the strongest candidates to inherit the company.”
“You’ve misunderstood. I have no ulterior motive toward Ziyu, and this has nothing to do with Gu Group,” Gu Li hastily explained.
“I haven’t finished, and I never said you had ulterior motives. No need to deny anything so quickly.” Wang Cheng looked at him with a knowing smile. “Lots of people know about the Gu family. If they saw you with my sister, they would naturally wonder if you had another purpose. I don’t want my sister hurt. That’s my main concern. I’ve heard about how you’ve behaved toward her. How would most people interpret a boy treating a girl especially well? They’d assume he was interested in her, wouldn’t they? What do you think?”
Wang Cheng turned to Zhao Xinyou.
Zhao Xinyou nodded instinctively.
Wang Cheng smiled. “See? Senior Gu’s own roommate thinks so too. I’m not being unreasonable. If Senior Gu wanted only to treat my sister kindly as a relative, you should have told her who you were from the start. My sister only recently returned to the Gu family. She’s spent most of her time here and had no idea you belonged to it. When you suddenly treated her so well, how could people not misunderstand? You’ve explained your identity now, but others might still suspect you deliberately approached her. That’s why I’d like you to keep your distance. It’ll be better for everyone.”
“I don’t agree,” Gu Li said, his expression darkening.
“Why not?”
“People will talk no matter what. If we stop seeing each other simply because we’re afraid of what others think, how many people in the world would have to part ways? Should a couple split up at once if others disapprove? If people gossip because of a misunderstanding, should the two never reconcile?”
“Then let me put it this way. I don’t trust you to keep my sister safe,” Wang Cheng said bluntly, realizing Gu Li had a quick tongue.
“Are you blaming me for taking her out last night? I’m sure Ziyu explained. My friend was…”
Wang Cheng cut him off, his face serious. “Exactly. It’s because of last night. If I were you, I wouldn’t have asked her out in the evening. I would have collected those materials from my friend myself and brought them to Xiaoyu. When people already misunderstood your relationship, taking her out at night only made the misunderstanding worse. As an older brother, you failed.”
Only then did Gu Li realize he’d overlooked that point. “I didn’t think much about it then. I regard Ziyu as my younger sister. If I was willing to take her out, of course I intended to keep her safe.”
“If you can’t guarantee her safety, don’t make grand promises. The fact is you ran into criminals.” Wang Cheng suddenly lowered his voice so that only Gu Li could hear. “You should be grateful my sister wasn’t hurt. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let this go.”
Gu Li’s expression changed.
“If Senior Gu really wants a younger sister to dote on, why don’t you spend time with your actual sister, Wu Jia? She’s a third-year student here, isn’t she? I hear she’s the belle of the Chinese department. Imagine how hurt she’d be if she knew you ignored your own sister to court the favor of a distant cousin who only just returned to the Gu family.”
“Gu Li, Wu Jia is your sister? Why haven’t you ever said so?” Zhao Xinyou blurted out.
Very few people knew that Gu Tianming had adopted Gu Li from his own sister’s family. Gu Li did not want people to learn that he was technically only a grandson through the female line, so he had never said anything. Wu Jia herself did not know she had an older brother. She only knew her mother treated her cousin Gu Li particularly well, which she attributed to her mother and her second uncle being siblings.
Having given Gu Li a new headache, Wang Cheng had intended to visit Zheng Jingxue while he was there. But he heard she had gone to another province for a conference with her supervisor and wasn’t on campus. He and Chu Yifeng therefore left.