In the hall of the villa.
Old Master Bai saw the two boxes of tea that Lu Chengzhou was carrying. Suddenly, it was not so difficult to understand what Gu Mang meant when she said that she was drawn to money.
Premium tea. Limited to the elite of the elite. It was only available to those at the top of the country’s social hierarchy.
He’s pretty generous.
Gu Mang greeted her grandpa.
Lu Chengzhou followed suit. “Grandpa.”
Just like Bai Zhang, Old Master Bai was a little taken aback when Lu Chengzhou addressed him. The last time he had met the little girl, she had been only twelve. Now, she had come with her boyfriend.
Old Master Bai gathered his thoughts and told the two of them to take a seat. Both of them greeted Madam Bai.
Bai Feichi and Bai Yan greeted them with smiles. “Cousin, future Cousin-in-Law.”
Lu Chengzhou was stunned for a moment when they addressed him as such. They thought that the people in Gu Mang’s family were like Gu Si, hard to get along with.
Lu Chengzhou nodded. “Hello to the both of you.”
No one mentioned Gu Yin.
Bai Zhang thought of the competition and asked, “How does the Academic Center intend to deal with the competition scandal?”
Gu Mang sat on the sofa and played with her phone. She answered casually, “Imperial College got eliminated. Capital University advanced to the second round, which is the debate.”
Old Master Bai was only satisfied after hearing such an outcome. He seemed to have thought of something and he looked at her. “Do you intend to enter the Jijing Special Institute?”
When Bai Zhang heard this, he sat up a little straighter. “Gu Mang, have you sorted it out?”
If she was going to enter Jijing Special Institute, it would mean that she was returning to Jijing Island. Then, she would never be able to break free from that terrible place, the Gu family residence.
Madam Bai looked at Gu Mang anxiously too. She did not know much about what happened back then, but the experiments done on Gu Si were shocking enough.
It was best if she didn’t return.
Gu Mang smiled casually. “Ranking first has nothing to do with entering the Jijing Special Institute.”
When Old Master Bai heard this, he heaved a sigh of relief, “The Leng family won’t let the scandal pass so easily. You have to be extra careful these days.”
The Leng family was different from the three other aristocratic families.
Leng Xuan was the highest person in charge of the 102 Research Base. Even the Bi family followed the Leng family’s lead.
The Bai family and the Ye family kept a low profile when dealing with things. They almost never fought with the Leng family.
Today was the first time that the Bai family had so publicly gone against the Leng family.
Gu Mang did not really care about the Leng family’s reaction. To reassure Old Master Bai, she nodded. “Alright, I got it.”
…
During dinner, the dishes on the table were mostly Gu Mang’s favorite dishes.
Lu Chengzhou drank with Old Master Bai and Bai Zhang but he kept looking at Gu Mang from the corner of his eyes and he would scoop some food for her from time to time.
When they spoke of Gu Si, Lu Chengzhou said, “Gu Si is with me. Nothing will happen to him.”
Old Master Bai smiled. “In the past, I only wanted Gu Si to enter Red Scorpion. Somehow, he managed to get to know you and now he’s even in Red Flame…”
“Grandpa.” Gu Mang looked up all of a sudden and said expressionlessly, “The dishes are really delicious. Please have some more.”
As she said that, she could sense Lu Chengzhou’s gaze on her. Gu Mang turned her head calmly and met his eyes.
Lu Chengzhou raised his eyebrow a little and suddenly understood why Gu Mang silently agreed to his advances towards her back then, despite her bad temper.
She has a motive. She said that he had seduced her when she was only seventeen.
Who exactly was the one being seductive?
…
After Old Master Bai was done with his meal he brought Gu Mang to the study.
Bai Feichi and Bai Yan had their phones in hand, competing to see who could answer math competition questions better.
Lu Chengzhou drank with Bai Zhang and they chatted.
Bai Zhang only mentioned Gu Mang after she had left. “Gu Mang has a bad temper. Please be patient with her.”
Lu Chengzhou smiled. “Her temper is not so bad. Even if she gets angry, I won’t suffer.”
“You’re right.” Bai Zhang smiled and said casually, “She has suffered quite a bit too. My younger sister and brother-in-law got into that accident… Never mind, it’s already a thing of the past.”
Lu Chengzhou did not ask further. He poured some beer into Bai Zhang’s cup and said, “Don’t worry, I will take good care of her.”
