“The Qu family doesn’t know it was me. I only showed up for the interrogation. Also, I went in disguise. No one will be able to link me to it, not even if they check the surveillance footage,” assured Gu Ning.
Everyone felt relieved to hear this. They kept reminding her to get in touch with the family or Master Leng if ever she ran into trouble. Since Master Leng treated her like a granddaughter-in-law, he would not stand by and do nothing.
Gu Ning assured them that Master Leng had already given his word to have her back if anyone in the capital dared to bully her.
They did not welcome the notion of allowing the Leng family to interfere with Tang family matters. Since the Tangs were Gu Ning’s true family, it made them look weak. However, they did not mind bearing with it for the sake of Gu Ning’s well-being.
After chatting with them for some time, Gu Ning finally had the time to talk to Gu Man.
Gu Man was now five months pregnant, so her belly was getting conspicuous. Since it was not overly big, her movement was not badly affected.
The Tang family adored Gu Man, so they insisted on keeping an eye on her the moment she left her room and were terribly concerned about her safety.
Gu Man initially felt uneasy about this, but over time, she got accustomed to it. Also, she felt thrilled by the love they showered on her, so she looked radiant even without her makeup on.
“Mom, you seem pretty energetic!” Gu Ning felt relieved and happy to see Gu Man glowing.
“Everyone takes such good care of me that it’s hard not to feel energetic,” said Gu Man as she smiled in gratitude at the Tang family’s kindness.
After dinner, they continued chatting.
…
At 8:00 pm Leng Shaoting called Gu Ning so she told Leng Shaoting about Zi Beiying’s situation and told him she wanted to help Zi Beiying.
Leng Shaoting and Zi Shaomin were close, so Leng Shaoting also wanted to help when he caught wind of this.
Even though Leng Shaoting usually appeared distant, he was not a heartless man. He always did his best to help his friends whenever he could.
Also, the Zi family had a munitions deal with the military forces, so they could not stand by and do nothing when the Zi family got into trouble. Hence, he agreed it was a good idea to help the Zi family.
“Give me two days to wrap up my work. If you’re fine with it, let’s head over to visit the Zi clan the day after,” said Leng Shaoting.
“Sure. I can wait,” replied Gu Ning.
Even though it was hard for her to find the time to come home, she ended up only staying for two days, but it was good enough for her.
She had planned on staying at City B for three days before popping over to City C for a look. From the looks of it, it was impossible for her to go, so she would have to send Gao Yi and Qiao Ya over.
“Oh. Can you tell Jincheng about this?” asked Gu Ning.
“Okay,” replied Leng Shaoting. Even without asking, Leng Shaoting knew the reason Gu Ning wanted him to tell Xu Jinchen about this. Although he could not be sure whether Xu Jinchen fancied Zi Beiying, he undoubtedly had feelings for her.
Since Gu Ning was at home, it was a bad time for her to chat. After they were done discussing this, they hung up before she headed back to the living room to chat with her folks.
After Leng Shaoting finished chatting with Gu Ning, he gave Xu Jinchen a call and told him to swing by his dorm.
Xu Jinchen saw Leng Shaoting frowning slightly when he saw him, so he instantly knew something must have happened. He asked worriedly, “Boss, what’s wrong?”
“The Yi family’s business has encountered several hostile attacks recently and lost a lot of business,” said Leng Shaoting.
“Huh? Who did it?” asked Xu Jinchen. The moment he heard this, he looked concerned. Since they were business partners with the Zi clan, he naturally felt worried.
“Ningning just told me that Zi Beiying went to Country Y and encountered some conflict with the second son of a local mafia family, Charles Cretan. Charles Cretan has had his eyes on Zi Beiying ever since he learned of her identity. He is competing with his brothers to become the heir to their family, so he wants the Zi family’s support. Neither Zi Beiying nor her folks want her to marry him, so Charles Cretan deliberately set up ambushes and destroyed their deals. He even created evidence and pointed his finger at another clan before he showed up as a savior. He offered to help them solve these problems as long as Zi Beiying marries him. Since there is internal strife in the Zi clan now, they are having trouble going against him,” said Leng Shaoting.
“Huh? Does Zi Beiying have to marry Charles Cretan? He is a ruthless man who is willing to resort to underhanded methods to get what he wants. Also, he is using Zi Beiying. It’s not like he likes her. How could Zi Beiying marry him?” Xu Jinchen got agitated hearing this. He even sounded a little infuriated, but he failed to detect that he was overreacting.
“What else can she do if she doesn’t marry him? Marry you?” Leng Shaoting narrowed his eyes as he looked at Xu Jinchen teasingly.
“Marrying me certainly beats marrying Charles Cretan! I have the looks and the money after all. Also, I am a capable man. I became a senior colonel at such a young age…” blurted Xu Jinchen automatically. After Xu Jinchen caught on to what he had just said, he felt awkward. He instantly composed himself forcibly and explained, “Don’t overthink it. I didn’t mean it literally!”
Despite his explanation, he did not feel that way. Instead, he undoubtedly felt he had a lot of potential as a marriage prospect!
“Ningning and I are heading over to visit the Zi family the day after. Do you want to come with us?” asked Leng Shaoting.
“Yes, of course. They are our business partners after all. If anything happens to them, it will affect us,” said Xu Jinchen compellingly. However, he did not seem entirely truthful about his reason for going.
Even if Zi Beiying was not being forced into the marriage, he would still head over with Leng Shaoting.
…
Tang Haifeng was getting on in age. Despite his excellent health, he did not have the energy to stay up late, so he retired to bed at 9:00 pm.
Since Gu Man was pregnant, she was not allowed to stay up late either and was told to have an early night. There was still plenty of time for her to catch up with Gu Ning tomorrow.
After Tang Haifeng and Gu Man went to bed, Cao Wenxin and Tang Jiakai both wanted to go out with Gu Ning and did their utmost to convince her.
Cao Wenxin and Tang Jiakai had both made plans, so they wanted Gu Ning to hang out with their peers.
Cao Wenxin was meeting Gao Chengyun, Jiang Zezheng, and the others while Tang Jiakai was going out with Teng Xiaoyu and company.
“Jiakai, you are hanging out with dudes later. How could you drag Ningning over? It’s going to be so uneasy for her to hang out with a bunch of guys. I am seeing mostly girls later and Ningning already knows most of them,” said Cao Wenxin somewhat angrily as she stood in front of Gu Ning and glared at Tang Jiakai.
