Yu Mufeng opened the door and saw Bai Sui standing right outside. “What do we have for dinner tonight?”
Bai Sui listed a few dishes. “There are also the prawns that the Young Master has been wanting to eat and the porridge that the Young Lady has ordered.”
His gaze then drifted to Gu Mang, who emerged from behind Yu Mufeng.
Upon hearing that the kitchen had also prepared the spicy vegetable dish he wanted, Yu Mufeng raised his eyebrows and left the room.
With her hands stuck into the pockets of her loose home attire, Gu Mang stopped in front of Bai Sui. Her eyes continued to stare ahead as she nonchalantly asked with hints of aloof wickedness in her voice, “Am I pretty?”
Yu Mufeng and Gu Si gaped at her in confusion. Bai Sui looked equally stunned as he lowered his gaze and respectfully said, “…Yes.”
What? Yu Mufeng and Gu Si were beyond confused.
Looking expressionless, Gu Mang slowly turned her gaze toward Bai Sui. “You’re quite handsome too.”
Bai Sui looked up stiffly, his eyes wide with shock. What… did she just say?
Both Yu Mufeng and Gu Si were flabbergasted by this scene.
Gu Mang then retracted her gaze and continued walking away in her usual slow and languid manner, leaving the trio rooted to the ground. It was like she was completely unaware of how much shock she had dealt with those two sentences.
During dinner, Gu Si was too distracted to even eat and kept glancing at his sister. Bai Sui, on the other hand, was completely silent as he was lost in his own thoughts.
…
The day before the assessment, morning.
It had been ten days since Gu Xian was let out of the supermax prison, but only today was he allowed to leave Base 102. However, he still needed to wear the electronic surveillance cuffs and had people following him and watching his every move.
The first thing he did after regaining his freedom was visit Gu Mang instead of returning to the Gu residence to see his father.
Standing at the entrance of Gu Mang’s villa, his lips curled into a smirk as he looked at the numerous security cameras and hidden smart attack equipment placed around the villa. For her to build a place like this on Jijing Island without anyone noticing… Perhaps my niece isn’t as useless as the others think. She’s Gu Zhen’s daughter, after all.
Gu Xian was in his forties now. While his back had gotten a little hunched from being locked up in the supermax prison for a long time, his aged and murky eyes could still make one uncomfortable when looking at them.
He walked toward the villa’s entrance.
Jiangsui, who happened to be conducting a routine check of the villa’s surroundings, could not believe it when he saw the person standing outside. His eyes frosted over. Gu Mang said that she had only chased after the vehicle because she saw a man who looked exactly like Uncle Gu in it. But she got into a gunfight because of that. That man is in cahoots with Leng Xuan. He’s got some nerve to come here!
When Gu Xian saw the expression on Jiangsui’s face, he knew that he had been identified. He smiled. “I’m here to see my niece and nephew.”
…
It was eerily quiet in the living room.
Gu Xian smiled when he saw Gu Mang holding a teacup with her left hand. “I had no choice but to work with Leng Xuan. That was my only chance to get out of the supermax prison. Besides, I believe that she can’t do anything to you.”
Gu Mang looked up, her eyes glinting coldly with wickedness. “I didn’t let you in just to hear your crap.”
Knowing that his niece would not even show any respect to his father, Gu Xian did not get angry. He continued smiling instead. “How’s your assessment preparation going? Has your hand healed?”
“How are you related to my father?” Gu Mang narrowed her eyes and replied to his questions with one of her own.
“As you can tell from my face, we were twins,” answered Gu Xian mildly. “But I suppose that your father went under the knife to change his looks after he left Jijing Island.”
When Gu Mang asked Jiangsui to look into her father’s background, she had given him her father’s pre-plastic surgery photo. That was how Jiangsui managed to recognize Gu Xian at a glance.
However, Jiangsui failed to find any information on Gu Zhen on Jijing Island over the past two years. It was just like how Gu Mang could not find any information on Gu Xian. This lack of a paper trail could only mean that he was also with Base 102.
Everything that had to do with Jijing Island’s Base 102 was top secret and their personnel’s personal information was never saved electronically. Hence, what Gu Xian had just said confirmed Gu Mang’s guess.
“Your father was the chosen successor of Base 102. I never would have been selected were he still alive,” said Gu Xian ruefully with a sigh. “However, he gave up the position at the last minute.”
His eyes glinted strangely as he looked at Gu Mang and Gu Si, and asked, “Do you know what Jijing Island’s name means?”
Neither of them responded to him.
“It means ‘Reaching the peak.’ It’s a symbol of the most advanced technology. Not even the world’s most capable research teams can compare to Jijing Island’s lousiest research team.” Gu Xian then added, “Leng Xuan won’t hand over the management rights to Base 102 and the medicine so easily.”
