Chapter 2#
Chapter 2: Qianhe Pavilion#
At this moment, there was no superfluous noise in Qianhe Pavilion.
Gu Chenzhou leaned back in his chair, his neck slightly tilted back. He didn’t have Wei Xiangjin’s dignified aura, but he showed a different kind of calmness: “Young Master Wei was a bit hot-tempered just now, but Young Master Sun coming in without saying hello isn’t exactly according to the rules either. I think we should just let it go.”
He spoke unhurriedly, his eyes and brows seemingly carrying a hint of a smile, without a trace of anger: “Young Master Sun came specifically to welcome me back, which is giving me face. A visitor is a guest, and Young Master Wei and I don’t lack these two seats,” he paused slightly, “Why is Young Master Sun still standing at the door? Please sit, please sit!”
Beside him, Wei Xiangjin couldn’t help but curl his lips. From the moment he saw him until now, he finally found that familiar slickness from the past in the other person.
Sun Peiming stared at Gu Chenzhou for two seconds, then laughed unexpectedly, walked in generously, and sat down: “Young Master Gu is right. Today is to celebrate Young Master Gu’s return from abroad. I’m here to support Young Master Gu. Other things can wait.”
These words were actually quite thorny. First, they pointed out the fact that Gu Chenzhou had been exiled abroad for three years. Second, they reminded Gu Chenzhou that he now needed people to support him. Finally, they even insinuated that Wei Xiangjin was disregarding the occasion.
Everyone present was smart and had no obstacles in listening and speaking. Although Wei Xiangjin’s face didn’t look good, he didn’t say anything more. After all, in their circle, even if they were just the second generation, they paid attention to demeanor and self-cultivation. They could play dirty tricks behind the scenes, but situations where they truly tore their faces and cursed were actually rare.
“Young Master Sun is right. Speaking of which, I really should thank Young Master Sun properly.” Gu Chenzhou smiled slowly and glanced at the people who had remained silent, “Everyone continue. It’s rare for Young Master Sun to come over to support us; we must make him feel at home.”
As soon as these words came out, at least nine out of ten people were wondering if Gu Chenzhou meant something else. But in the end, someone started talking. By the time Gu Chenzhou drank for a while and walked out of Qianhe Pavilion for some fresh air, the atmosphere inside was as lively as before.
Coming out of Qianhe Pavilion, starlight had already sprinkled all over the sky. Gu Chenzhou didn’t go far; he just stood on the stone corridor blowing the cool breeze. Groups of koi swam to his location under the cover of night. Occasionally, a beautiful and slender one would jump out of the water, stirring up a handful of tinkling water beads.
“What are you looking at?” Footsteps approached from far to near. Wei Xiangjin walked to Gu Chenzhou’s side, looked down at the water surface, and laughed, “Well, the fish here are really fed silly by people. As soon as someone stands above the water, they swim over to wait for food.”
Gu Chenzhou smiled, changed to a more comfortable position leaning against the stone corridor. In front of him, fish swam from afar one by one, occasionally jumping out of the water with effort, flinging strings of water droplets.
After being splashed twice, Wei Xiangjin consciously moved away from the gathering place of the fish school.
“Do you think that matter was done by Sun Er?”
The ’that matter’ that could be specifically mentioned referred to only one thing.
“What do you think?” Gu Chenzhou asked back.
The surroundings were open, and the two had no scruples talking about important matters. Wei Xiangjin even found fish food from the stone platform on the corridor and sprinkled it into the water to feed the fish. However, this fish food didn’t seem very popular with the fish school. Except for a few fish swimming over from Gu Chenzhou’s side, most fish didn’t react. Even the few fish that swam over immediately turned around and swam back to the school after eating the bait.
This phenomenon puzzled Wei Xiangjin for a moment, but he didn’t care much: “He definitely participated. Otherwise, Zhou Xing,” he paused, and continued after seeing no reaction from Gu Chenzhou, “Why look for him of all people? But to say he handled it all by himself, making the news spread like wildfire within a few days, and leaving no trace afterwards… This doesn’t look like something Sun Er is capable of.”
“En.” Gu Chenzhou said, “He most likely fueled the flames, and perhaps someone tipped him off.”
Wei Xiangjin straightened up slightly: “Are you talking about the person behind the scenes?” He thought for a moment and shook his head, “The Sun family has been in the limelight recently. It’s a bit unlikely to make him spill that.”
“Three years have passed; there will be a day when it’s cleared up.” Gu Chenzhou said lazily.
After throwing bait a few times without attracting many fish, Wei Xiangjin threw away the bait in his hand boringly, glanced sideways at Gu Chenzhou, and smiled: “I thought this matter would at least evoke some emotion in you. So calm?”
“It’s just rumors; what’s there to be uncalm about?” Gu Chenzhou also glanced sideways at Wei Xiangjin.
“Then that matter in the rumors…” His voice became lower and lower under Gu Chenzhou’s gaze.
Gu Chenzhou stared at Wei Xiangjin for a while, finally shook his head: “Only you would ask this… You want to say the matter of me kneeling for Zhou Xing?” He simply clarified it, “Do you think it’s credible?”
“Of course not credible!” Even if Wei Xiangjin believed it, he could only say he didn’t. This stance had to be firm. Besides, this matter was indeed not very credible, “But I’m quite curious.”
During the conversation, the water droplets brought up by the koi jumping out of the water had already wet half of the stone corridor floor. Wei Xiangjin, who was splashed by sudden water droplets again, changed sides and poked his head out strangely to look at the water surface: “Do you feel that these fish are strangely enthusiastic today?”
“Isn’t this because Young Master Wei graced us with his presence?” Gu Chenzhou laughed.
Wei Xiangjin also laughed: “There must be a share of Young Master Gu’s brilliance in it!”
After chatting casually for a couple of sentences, Gu Chenzhou returned to the main topic: “The rumors are of course not credible.”
Wei Xiangjin thought to himself that this was correct. Everyone who walked out had a name. Who could do such a stupid thing, and for a man at that!
“But the ending wasn’t wrong.” Gu Chenzhou said, “My leg was broken by Minister Gu.”
“Uncle Gu?” Wei Xiangjin added a sentence, his expression becoming somewhat subtle, “Then directly onto the plane?” He felt he asked poorly again and quickly added, “Was it serious?”
“Stayed in the hospital for a month after getting off the plane.” Gu Chenzhou said, “Do you think the rumor of having a leg broken sounds better, or the rumor of me kneeling for a man sounds better?”
“I think neither sounds good…” Wei Xiangjin looked at Gu Chenzhou sympathetically.
“So I never bother with it.”
Wei Xiangjin pondered Gu Chenzhou’s tone over and over again, and finally could only pat the other’s shoulder and say: “You’re back now.”
Gu Chenzhou smiled instead: “Let’s go in and see what Sun Er actually wants to do by coming over.”
“What else can he do? Isn’t it just to disgust you by wandering in front of you even if he can’t do anything to you?”
At this time, another koi shimmering with fine light all over its body jumped out of the water. This black, white, and pale red koi jumped higher than any previous one, even reaching Gu Chenzhou’s chest level. When it reached the highest point and paused in mid-air, Gu Chenzhou raised his hand, his finger brushing past the dorsal fin. The fish that should have fallen seemed to be dragged by something invisible in the air, flicked its tail forcefully, leaped high up, crossed the sky above the stone corridor like a rainbow, and fell back into the water on the other side of the stone corridor with a splash.
Wei Xiangjin, who was walking back, finally wasn’t splashed by the water droplets on the fish tail this time. He stared at this scene for a full thirty seconds before coming back to his senses and saying to Gu Chenzhou: “That just now would be considered a carp leaping over the dragon gate in ancient times, right?” He lowered his head and gestured the width of the stone corridor, “Jumped at least five meters! The height is about the same! Isn’t this a bit unscientific?”
“Have you studied it?”
“That I haven’t…”
“Then how do you know it’s unscientific?”
Wei Xiangjin was speechless.
“Let’s go back.” Gu Chenzhou took the lead to walk back. Behind him, Wei Xiangjin paused and followed, only looking back frequently on the way. Unfortunately, until they entered Qianhe Pavilion, no fish jumped again.
As soon as they entered, heat mixed with the smell of alcohol and smoke hit their faces.
Gu Chenzhou’s brow twitched. Wei Xiangjin behind him also looked indifferent. Neither of them had the casualness from before.
With their successive departures earlier, Sun Er obviously became the top figure of this gathering. He was still sitting in his original position, but a group of people playing poker had gathered around him. This group obviously didn’t care about winning or losing, playing extremely casually. The topics of conversation went round and round, always revolving around Sun Peiming.
The first person in the room to notice Gu Chenzhou and Wei Xiangjin coming in was Sun Peiming, who was sitting facing the door. He immediately showed a smiling face: “Young Master Gu and Young Master Wei are finally back. You two have been out for so long; don’t tell me you find it boring here.”
“How could that be?” Wei Xiangjin said, “If anyone finds it boring, it should be Young Master Sun.” He obviously pricked Sun Peiming, who was putting on the airs of a host, implying directly that the two—real—hosts of the gathering didn’t intend to entertain him.
Sun Peiming was still smiling. Speaking in this circle had this advantage: you could very naturally pretend you didn’t understand, anyway, no one would speak too plainly.
Gu Chenzhou ignored the conversation between the two beside him and walked to his original seat to sit down. A clever young man surrounding Sun Peiming, closest to Gu Chenzhou, handed the cards to Gu Chenzhou, “Young Master Gu, want to play a round?”
Gu Chenzhou glanced at the table: “Playing Show Hand?”
“Just playing casually,” Sun Peiming took over the conversation, “Young Master Gu want to play a round together?”
Everyone in this circle knew that Sun Peiming was very good at playing Show Hand.
Gu Chenzhou said: “It’s rare that Young Master Sun is in the mood to play with us, so let’s play a round.”
“Look at what Young Master Gu is saying. Does Young Master Gu want to bring someone?” Sun Peiming asked with a slight smile.
“Does Young Master Sun want to bring someone?” Gu Chenzhou said lazily, “Then bring someone.”
Not asking to bring someone? Sun Peiming’s brow jumped, and he laughed it off, “Guest follows the host’s convenience, guest follows the host’s convenience.”
Things developing like this was both unexpected and reasonable. Except for Gu Chenzhou, Wei San, and Sun Er, the others were somewhat excited. Someone following Sun Er suggested on the spot:
“Since Young Master Sun and Young Master Gu want to play, no need to look for a place specially. There happens to be a table upstairs; why not go upstairs?”
“Whatever.” Gu Chenzhou said.
The location was proposed by his own people, and Gu Chenzhou had no objection. Even if Sun Peiming really had an objection, he was embarrassed to raise it. He just nodded and made a gesture of invitation, letting Gu Chenzhou and Wei Xiangjin go upstairs first.
Surrounded by a circle of people, Wei Xiangjin, who originally wanted to tip off Gu Chenzhou upon hearing the proposal, couldn’t say anything. He just glanced at Gu Chenzhou and sat down first at the card table upstairs, saying to Sun Peiming: “Young Master Sun doesn’t mind adding a person, right?”
Sun Peiming was very composed, the smile on his face never changing from the beginning: “Couldn’t ask for more.” Saying this, he sat down on the third chair, “We are just playing casually, no need to find professionals…” He looked around and randomly pointed at one of the people who followed Wei Xiangjin before, “Let’s have him deal the cards, how about it?”
Wei Xiangjin followed his gaze, nodded and said: “Come over.”
“Can you deal cards?” Sun Peiming asked.
The person called out looked like a boy, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, with big eyes and spiky hair, looking very refreshing. He first smiled at Wei Xiangjin, then pretended to be unconvinced and raised his eyebrows at Sun Peiming: “Young Master Sun is underestimating me. Isn’t it just dealing cards? Can’t play better than Young Master Sun, but can’t I be an assistant?”
He asked the person next to him for a deck of cards that had been opened before, casually performed a fancy shuffle, then wiped it on the table. Spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds, arranged in order from largest to smallest.
Sun Peiming nodded with satisfaction: “Not bad, you’re the one.”