Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Right away, Gu Nianzhi saw Gu Yanran sitting at a small table by the window in the lobby. She froze for a second and was actually quite impressed with this person.
Her fully-nude short video had just been pulled from the internet not long ago, and she was actually socializing in public like nothing was wrong. That kind of psychological quality was truly solid.
Gu Nianzhi was particularly keen to learn, so she immediately felt like she should learn from Gu Yanran’s psychological quality—not tying her joy to physical objects, not being sad because of personal gains or losses, doing evil deeds because they were small, not caring about kind deeds because they were small…
Oh, doesn’t something sound not right with the last two?
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help laughing. She did it on purpose…
Her plump, curvy lips formed a joyful arc, and her pretty face was suddenly illuminated with a very infectious smile.
Gu Yanran was talking with Jin Wanyi, the faint half smile on her lips appearing very demure. From the corner of her eye, she noticed someone was watching her, so her mannerisms became even more dignified.
As she spoke, she quickly looked up.
When she looked over, she froze.
Her expression instantly became aggrieved, and tears quickly formed in her eyes. However, she forced her urge to cry back down.
“What is it? Yanran?” Jin Wanyi looked in the direction of her gaze and finally noticed Gu Nianzhi and Yin Shixiong having dinner with a tall, pretty young girl.
What was the name of that girl again? Maybe it was Qiqi… Ma Qiqi?
Gu Nianzhi then noticed them looking their way, so she waved at them without any reservations and greeted them with a smile.
Yin Shixiong and Ma Qiqi also looked over together.
Jin Wanyi quickly averted her gaze and was a bit embarrassed, so she bent down to take a sip of mango juice to conceal her emotions.
Gu Yanran had an idea. She stood up expressionlessly and said with a trembling voice, “I have to go ask her how she can still be smiling!” As she spoke, she grabbed her little Chanel purse and headed over to Gu Nianzhi’s group.
Jin Wanyi quickly chased after her. “Yanran, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Lawyer Jin, let go. I have something I need to ask her!” Gu Yanran struggled out of Jin Wanyi’s grasp and turned around to look at Gu Nianzhi with reddened eyes. She choked out, “Gu Niaznhi, how can you be smiling!? Because of you, Ye Xuan went to the United States to commit arson and murder. And you’re here eating and indulging! How can you answer to your own conscience?! Did my father adopt you so that you could use any and all methods needed to steal his fortune? So you could bully his own biological daughter?!”
Yin Shixiong’s heart bloomed with joy when he heard this.
He had just been racking his brain trying to find a way to discreetly “leak” news of Ye Xuan’s crime in the United States to Gu Nianzhi. He had to clearly tell the truth while not violating his code of conduct.
If this worked out, Gu Yanran would “take one for the team” and “solve his dilemma.”
Yin Shixiong wouldn’t be violating his code of conduct, and Gu Nianzhi would learn of the incident. It worked out for everyone!
He must commend Gu Yanran!
Although Yin Shixiong was thinking that in his head, he displayed a serious expression on his face.
Standing up calmly from dining table, his voice was deep as usual. “Lawyer Jin, what is going on? You’re a lawyer and also Miss Gu’s legal representative. How can you allow her to openly slander someone in public? Aren’t you worried it’ll get Miss Gu into new legal trouble?”
Gu Yanran heard this and raised a thinly drawn eyebrow in shock. She glanced at Yin Shixiong, then at Gu Nianzhi. “What is it? Could you not know yet?” She then stared at Gu Nianzhi and sneered. “It’s one thing if they don’t know yet, but isn’t it too fake for you to pretend to not know?”
Gu Nianzhi didn’t have any regard for Gu Yanran at all. She sat motionless in her seat and smiled faintly as she replied, “What do I know? Miss Gu suddenly ran over here to accuse me. Did you forget to take your medication before leaving home today? Could it be that Miss Gu can’t even afford to hire a doctor, even though you control the huge Gu fortune? Don’t worry, although I need to settle accounts with you, I won’t go to the extent of not leaving you enough money for your medical treatment.”
“You’re saying I’m sick?!” Gu Yanran pointed at herself. “Gu Nianzhi, you’re pretending, so keep on pretending! Ye Xuan has been arrested in the United States, and somehow you’re not sad at all. You’re the kind of woman who actually has a heart of stone. Your heart was eaten by the dogs!”
Splash–!
Gu Nianzhi grabbed the water glass from the table and splashed it directly in Gu Yanran’s face.
“I was ignoring you, however, I gave an inch, and you took a mile.” Gu Nianzhi’s expression grew dark. “You have to apologize, apologize right now. Otherwise, I’ll actually sue you. I do what I say.”
Gu Nianzhi’s sharp gaze turned towards Jin Wanyi. “Lawyer Jin, you know that I’m not kidding.”
Jin Wanyi hesitated for a second, then quickly formed a bright smile on her face and said to Gu Nianzhi, “Miss Gu, today was Miss Gu Yanran’s mistake. I apologize to you on her behalf…”
“No way. She has to personally apologize to me.” Gu Nianzhi wasn’t going to budge on that. Raising her chin slightly, she angled it towards Gu Yanran. “Letting her apologize means that I’m already letting her off easy. When offered an inch, Lawyer Jin shouldn’t take a mile.”
Jin Wanyi was red faced from being berated by Gu Nianzhi in front of Yin Shixiong. She didn’t know how to get out of this situation in the moment.
But her self-discipline as a layer prevented her from saying harsher words, so she could only force herself to bear it. Her teeth bit down on her lower lip so hard that it was beginning to bleed.
However, Yin Shixiong didn’t even look at her as he continued to make subtle jabs at Gu Yanran. “Oh? How could you say such a thing? Why would you randomly curse someone, saying they committed arson and murder, and wish for them to go to hell? Miss Gu, if I remember correctly, Ye Xuan is your… um, male friend. Isn’t that right?”
Yin Shixiong hemmed and hawed for a long time before concocting “male friend,” so Ma Qiqi started giggling and laughed so hard her shoulders shook.
Gu Nianzhi was also amused and nodded. “Brother Xiong is right. Isn’t Miss Gu afraid of retribution for cursing her own little wolf puppy like that?”
She knew that Ye Xuan had gone to the United States to find Gu Xiangwen’s representative lawyer. She was also aware that Huo Shaoheng had assigned Special Operations Forces field personnel to watch over Ye Xuan, so she was very assured and didn’t believe Gu Yanran in the slightest. She thought that Gu Yanran was trying to cause panic again and purposely distract her vision and mind.
Gu Yanran saw that these people refused to believe her no matter what, so she snorted as she took out her phone. She opened the American news video she had found. She passed it to Gu Nianzhi. “See for yourself, and don’t say I didn’t warn you. Ye Xuan went to the United States because of you, and now he’s committed this kind of crime, so he’s going to rot in jail for the rest of his life, even if he’s not sentenced to the death penalty. Can your conscience really rest peacefully?”
Gu Nianzhi took one glance at the video playing on Gu Yanran’s phone, and her heart dropped. It didn’t look fake…
Yin Shixiong also came over to take a look and exclaimed loudly, “Who knows if this is real or not!? Nianzhi, look it up yourself!”
Gu Nianzhi composed herself and took out her phone to begin searching for the news Yanran was talking about.
When a series of news reports and videos appeared on her phone, her heart sank.
Gu Yanran was actually telling the truth?!
Gu Yanran saw Gu Nianzhi looking down at her phone and staying quiet, so she put her own phone away and remarked loudly, “See, I wasn’t wrong, was I? Ye Xuan even gave up his life for you and committed these kinds of crimes. You’re still smearing my reputation and calling him my little wolf pup? Aren’t you afraid of retribution?”
She threw Gu Nianzhi’s exact words back in her face and felt as though she had eaten ice cream on the hottest day. It was such a thrill!
As of late, she had kept losing in front of Gu Nianzhi and was feeling very aggrieved.
Luckily, that person was smart and capable, so she turned the tables around as soon as she got involved.
Everyone said Gu Nianzhi was smart, but from the way Gu Yanran saw it, she was less capable than even one of that person’s fingers.
Gu Nianzhi quickly finished looking at all the news reports and videos. Shutting down her phone, she looked up with a calm expression to stare at Gu Yanran and say, “Miss Gu, you think I don’t understand English? The news over there is just saying that the male suspect has the surname of ‘Ye,’ so how can you directly sentence him for his crimes? The court over there hasn’t even tried the case yet. Also, the news only mentioned the surname, ‘Ye.’ How do you know it’s Ye Xuan? Could this have something to do with you, so you knew it was him as soon as you saw the news?”
The muscles on Gu Yanran’s face twitched subconsciously.
She never expected Gu Nianzhi to discover so many loopholes by just looking at the news.
In that moment, she decided to stop calling the shots.
That person had asked her not to speak in front of Gu Nianzhi, just in case she got a hold of her weaknesses. However, Gu Yanran assumed this day would be a good opportunity to establish her dominance, so she could use it as evidence in court tomorrow.
She didn’t think that the more she spoke, the more mistakes she’d make.
Gu Yanran looked down at the table to conceal the trace of panic in her eyes. She shut her mouth.
Jin Wanyi finally said, “When Ye Xuan went to the United States, he had a big fight with Miss Gu and asked for the lawyer’s address. He said he wanted to help Miss Gu Nianzhi… Miss Gu saw this address as soon as she saw the news, and the victim happened to be Mr. Gu’s lawyer, with the suspect also having the surname of Ye. What’s the big deal about her making this logical conjecture? Miss Gu is also a lawyer, so should you even question this kind of logical conjecture?”
Gu Nianzhi took a glance at Jin Wanyi and smiled. “I was only asking. There is no need for Lawyer Jin and Miss Gu to panic. Ok, we need to have dinner now. If there’s nothing else, please give us some peace and quiet.”
Yin Shixiong saw that Gu Nianzhi had already learned about the news, so he secretly sighed in relief and didn’t even want to eat there anymore. He waved his hand to call over the maitre d and asked, “Are there any private rooms?”
The maitre d was a bit troubled. “Private rooms… Require special reservations.”
There were very few private rooms in the Tan family’s haute cuisine restaurant. Not only did they require special reservations, but the person making them needed to be of a certain status as well.
Yin Shixiong quickly used Huo Shaoheng’s name. “Huo Shao asked us to reserve it. Can you please make an exception for us?”
The maitre d quickly replied, “Please wait. I’ll go ask the manager.”
After the maitre d left, Jin Wanyi glanced at Yin Shixiong and wanted to tell him something. However, Yin Shixiong picked up the menu from the table, leaned close to Ma Qiqi, and asked, “Qiqi, what do you want to eat?”
He was being so affectionate and not even trying to hide it at all. Jin Wanyi felt anger lodge in her chest. It wouldn’t go up or down, so she nearly spat it out.
She was only looking at Yin Shixiong. It wasn’t like she was trying to catch up with him or anything. Why did he have to treat her like that?
Jin Wanyi’s expression darkened as she turned around to ask Gu Yanran, “Miss Gu, I’m already full. Are you full now?”
Gu Yanran didn’t want to eat at the same restaurant as Gu Nianzhi either, and since she had already achieved her goal, she nodded at Jin Wanyi. “I’m also full now. Let’s go.”
The two women didn’t even say goodbye before turning to leave.
However, Gu Nianzhi’s mind was completely focused on the news about Ye Xuan. She was still mulling over the incident as she walked into the private room.
Her frown deepened, and she had a vague feeling that this incident wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
