Chapter 18#

Chapter 18 Counterattack

What kind of person was Shen Rou?

As a son, Gu Chenzhou didn’t mind heaping all the laudatory words on her. But from the age of five until today when his memory has become yellowed and blurred, he has always understood that she was just a woman who was gentle and kind to the point of being somewhat weak.

Not suitable for a family like the Gu family, at least not as suitable as Zheng Yuelin.

Her only mistake was probably choosing the wrong marriage partner, and then this mistake ran through the entire second half of her life, causing her to die of depression before she was thirty.

Light and cheerful piano music filled the entire car.

After asking the question buried in his heart for a long time on impulse, Gu Zhengjia had been apprehensive, not knowing how his big brother would react. But the result was that after he asked for a long time, Gu Chenzhou continued doing what he was doing, not even glancing at him.

Sigh… might as well be scolded. He thought a little discouragedly, and sensibly didn’t mention this sensitive topic again, sitting honestly on the side waiting to go home.

The half-hour journey was so boring that Gu Zhengjia almost fell asleep.

When he felt the car slowly stop in a daze, he opened his eyes and yawned: “Arrived?” As he spoke, he reached for the door handle to open the door. Just as he was about to step down, he heard a voice from the side: “If you want to know, you can ask your mother.”

Hmm? Gu Zhengjia, who was about to get out of the car, shivered and looked back at Gu Chenzhou sitting in the driver’s seat.

The warm yellow car light hit Gu Chenzhou’s side face, and the distinction between light and dark made his face more profound than ever. There was still a faint smile on the corner of his lips, and his expression seemed casual, as if the words just now were just said casually.

Gu Zhengjia felt that such Gu Chenzhou was very familiar. He had just seen him tens of minutes ago—it was Gu Chenzhou facing He Hailou and Zhou Xing—Gu Chenzhou who didn’t put people in his eyes at all.

“They have been good friends for more than ten years,” Gu Chenzhou turned his head and said to Gu Zhengjia who had one foot out of the car door. He smiled slightly, a smile that was a bit strange, at least in Gu Zhengjia’s eyes, “Anything you want to know, you can get the answer from her.”

The small courtyard at the foot of Tianxiang Mountain stood quietly in the dark night.

It was almost eleven o’clock. Parking the car outside the yard, Xiao Lin, who had just sent Young Master Zhang and Young Master Lin home along with Gu Zhengjia, looked at his watch while opening the iron gate. He went into the kitchen to make a cup of hot tea first, and then walked familiarly to the third floor where the lights were on.

This was a newly renovated house. Although all the furniture and decoration had been redone, looking at the somewhat dazzling white walls and the furniture that was beautiful but had no distinctive features, Xiao Lin still frowned hiddenly.

He came to the capital around the same time as Gu Chenzhou. In two months, he had been to the Gu family and the Shen family, and also knew the assets Gu Chenzhou now owned. Privately, he felt that the style of the Shen family would be more suitable for his boss—but his boss seemed to prefer the former. Except for going out for social engagements, he never paid much attention to these extra enjoyments when he was at home.

The door of the study was open. The bookcase reaching the ceiling occupied the entire wall. The desk, fully 2 meters wide, faced the room door. Gu Chenzhou sat behind the desk looking through a document clipped in a blue folder. On the brown-black desktop in front of him, similar folders were piled into two stacks. The one on the left was half a forearm high. According to Gu Chenzhou’s usual habit, these were the ones he hadn’t read yet; there were only two or three on the right. Lin Fang guessed that either his boss had just returned, or he had encountered some investment cases that were difficult to decide.

“Young Master Gu, I’m back.” He held the teacup and knocked gently on the door.

“Come in.” Gu Chenzhou said without looking up.

Lin Fang gently placed the teacup in his hand in front of Gu Chenzhou, noticing that the person behind the desk kept rubbing his temples with his left hand while signing his approval on the last page of the document.

Two years of life as an assistant made him understand the meaning of this small action very well—his boss’s stored power was less than 10%, and he was about to fall into a dormant state—but this 10% seemed never to be used up in his memory. The so-called dormant state, in most cases, would only be activated after all things were completed according to plan.

“Young Master Gu, tomorrow’s schedule…” He opened the notebook he carried with him, looking at the dense schedule from 6 am to 10 pm on it, thinking that being a young master was really not easy. The sleeping time a day was less than eight hours—it was much better after returning. During the busiest time abroad, staying up until two or three in the morning was common.

The phone placed on the table rang suddenly, interrupting his voice.

Gu Chenzhou then moved his gaze away from the document. He reached out and picked up the private mobile phone placed on the table—this was different from the one kept with Lin Fang for a long time. Those who knew this number were either his family members, or people with higher status than him or similar to him, whom he couldn’t afford to offend.

A number without a record.

Gu Chenzhou looked at the unfamiliar string of numbers on the phone screen, frowned slightly first, then relaxed. When he answered the phone, he had already put down the pen, and even his voice revealed a bit of relaxation: “It’s already eleven o’clock, Young Master Wei hasn’t turned off the lights yet?”

Young Master Wei, Wei Xiangjin, the son of the Wei family, grew up with his boss and had a very good relationship. Lin Fang secretly added a note to this entry in his brain: The relationship is indeed very good.

Unknown what was said on the other end of the phone, Gu Chenzhou already had a smile on his face: “En… just finished racing, I lost, didn’t expect it, right? …No, it was He Hailou who drove into me at the end. He is quite bold, but it’s useless… No need for you, can’t I handle a He Hailou? …Come on, we almost wore the same pair of pants when we were young. Don’t worry, I won’t let your things here grow mushrooms… Okay, okay, I will go more often. Since childhood, I have spent more time in your house than in my own. Aren’t you afraid that I will snatch your status at home?”

A voice came from the other end of the phone again. Perhaps because of the noise on Wei Xiangjin’s end, his voice suddenly became louder, and Lin Fang standing in front of the desk also heard the other party’s words clearly: “Bah, your words are too late! Since childhood, I have been taking the blame for you. Occasionally when you found your conscience and surrendered once, my parents and grandparents actually didn’t believe it!”

Gu Chenzhou laughed out loud: “This really can’t be blamed on me, you were too heroic when you were young!”

“I thought I was going to take over a poor little thing at that time, but it turned out to be a little devil!” Wei Xiangjin’s angry voice came from the phone, and then immediately turned the topic back to He Hailou, “By the way, pay attention to that guy He Hailou. That person—to put it nicely, his methods are sharp; to put it badly, his brain doesn’t turn. Chen Han and Wen Longchun both tried their hands with him when He Hailou first came, didn’t get any advantage and were bitten by the other party unbearably…”

Chen Han and Wen Longchun were Young Master Chen and Young Master Wen who watched Gu Chenzhou and He Hailou race before.

“I know,” Gu Chenzhou’s voice still contained a smile, but his gaze gradually became cold and sharp, “When have you seen me suffer a loss? If I don’t get this back, anyone can step on my head tomorrow. Just watch the show with peace of mind over there. It’s just a He Hailou, not a big deal.”

“…” The voice on the other end of the phone became smaller again. Lin Fang standing aside looked up and saw Gu Chenzhou’s gaze turning over, waving at him.

This was letting him leave. Lin Fang bowed slightly to Gu Chenzhou, backed to the door, and at the last moment of leaving, he saw Gu Chenzhou putting one hand on the keyboard of the laptop on the desktop, and the smile that had risen on his face because of Wei Xiangjin’s call completely disappeared.

The last voice came into his ears:

“My plan? What else can it be? Isn’t it just those few things we compare back and forth here? …”

Time turned over the hot August and September, slowly dyeing the green leaf tips yellow.

This was not good weather. Gray-white fog filled half the city. When the wind blew, it raised dust and sand.

In the entertainment room of the Intercontinental Hotel, a circle of people sat on the sofa, surrounding He Hailou, talking and laughing.

This entertainment room without windows and with walls covered with thick soundproofing materials was decorated in purple-red overall. Red and green lights crisscrossed down from the ceiling, illuminating everyone colorfully. When eyes met, even breathing was ambiguous.

He Hailou leaned lazily on the sofa with his eyes closed to rest. The two large stereo speakers placed at the front of the hall played a rock song vividly. In the deafening environment, everyone had to raise their voices to speak. The girl who newly followed He Hailou even pressed her whole body against him, whispering and laughing in his ear.

“Get lost.” He Hailou’s voice was not loud in this noisy private room, but enough for people around to hear clearly.

This girl who newly followed He Hailou was not the one He Hailou brought when racing with Gu Chenzhou before. She had a pair of big eyes, and two pairs of small dimples would appear when she smiled. Hearing He Hailou’s words, she was obviously embarrassed, her eyes turned red, but she refused to shed tears, just biting her lips and looking at He Hailou stubbornly.

The conversation around slowly quieted down. The karaoke machine automatically jumped to the next song after playing the rock music. The soothing love song blew away the stagnation in the entertainment room.

He Hailou slowly opened his eyes and swept his gaze across the face of the person sitting next to him: “Didn’t hear me?”

“No!” The girl said loudly, her eyes wide open, looking angry, “Others gave you anger and you came back to vent on me?”

“Oh, you know very clearly,” He Hailou nodded, “And then?”

And then? The girl was stunned, not knowing how to continue.

He Hailou laughed: “Do you really think you are my girlfriend? Just with that face of yours?”

Redness quickly spread from the bottom of the girl’s eyes to her cheeks. She stood up abruptly, and just said a “You” angrily and helplessly, when she was kicked away by He Hailou.

The petite body hit the coffee table heavily. The sudden collision caused several wine glasses placed on the edge of the table to roll onto the ground. The wine spilled out and soaked the carpet instantly.

He Hailou lowered his gaze slightly, with a smile on his lips: “Without a bitch’s acting skills, and without a bitch’s dedication, do you think I’m stupid or blind? Don’t make me say it again,” his voice became impatient and cold, “Get out now.”

Tears gushed out of her eyes. The girl clutched her stomach and stood up, running out of the entertainment room without a word.

He Hailou closed his eyes again and continued to rest as if nothing had happened.

The atmosphere in the entertainment room was awkward for a while, and finally couldn’t recover. People stood up in twos and threes to say goodbye to He Hailou.

He Hailou didn’t open his eyes again, and responded faintly. After a while, he was the only one sitting in the huge entertainment room.

After a few minutes or more than ten minutes, in the little silence between songs, the harsh ringtone of the mobile phone rang suddenly.

He Hailou lifted his eyelids and glanced at the number on the phone, reached out and pressed it off. After a few breaths, the same number called again. He Hailou reached out and pressed it off again. After doing this several times, the phone was quiet for a while and then vibrated quickly again. He Hailou looked at the three big characters ‘He Nanshan’ jumping on the phone screen, stopped for a full minute or more, and then answered the phone.

An angry middle-aged male voice came immediately from the other end of the phone:

“Why did you provoke the Gu family kid for no reason?”

He Hailou sat up straight, uncorked the bottle with one hand, tilted the bottle slightly, and the amber liquid flowed into the glass bottle. He laughed slowly: “I didn’t, Uncle. It’s obvious that Gu Chenzhou is messing with me—look how much my company has lost this month?”

“Do you think I don’t know what you did?”

“What did I do?” The smile on He Hailou’s face remained unchanged. He took out a bottle of medicine from his pocket, unscrewed the cap, and tapped the bottle against the glass. One, two, three. He Hailou loosened his hand, the bottle fell on the glass table, and the white pills inside spilled out.

There seemed to be silence on the other end of the phone, and then the voice said word by word: “Behave yourself. I’m cooperating with Gu Xinjun recently.”

“How could I not listen to you—” He said softly, picked up the wine glass on the table and drank the liquid inside along with the pills in one gulp, then let go of his hand, letting the glass fall onto the carpet with a muffled sound.

“I will definitely—” He dragged out his voice, tapping his fingertips on the sofa, with a meaningful smile on his face.

“Listen to you—”