Chapter 34#

Chapter 34 Meeting a Worthy Opponent

“Young Master He.” Gu Chenzhou suddenly turned his head and faced He Hailou.

The distance between the sinks in the bathroom was not large. Although neither of them was burly, they were not thin either. Gu Chenzhou turned his head so suddenly that their faces were extremely close. He Hailou was slightly dazed, feeling as if he was completely seen through by those deep black eyes.

“What kind of person does Young Master He think I am?” Gu Chenzhou asked.

“Young Master Gu—?” He Hailou was still savoring the eyes in front of him, “Young Master Gu is naturally good—very good.” He said.

“Does Young Master He think I can’t handle this matter?” Gu Chenzhou laughed.

“I just think Young Master Gu may not be suitable to handle this matter personally.” He Hailou continued without changing his expression.

“Why?” Gu Chenzhou asked.

He Hailou did not continue to answer this time.

Mrs. Gu, the wife of the Minister of the Organization Department, is the stepmother of the Eldest Young Master Gu in the capital, and the Eldest Young Master Gu has a bad relationship with this stepmother.

This gossip is no longer fresh in the circle, and people here more or less know it. But, He Hailou thought, gossip is just gossip. Gu Chenzhou has never directly or indirectly shown his difference from his family outside—even if there were one or two times before going abroad, the grand birthday party he held for Gu Zhengjia at Tianxiang Mountain Villa a few months ago was enough to offset everything.

Seeing that He Hailou did not answer, Gu Chenzhou said: “Young Master He is quite concerned about me. Thank you, but…”

He Hailou’s gaze was always on Gu Chenzhou’s eyes.

With this sentence, he finally understood the emotions hidden in these calm black eyes.

Calm, indifferent, cold, cruel.

Naked evaluation.

He Hailou’s palm pressed on the edge of the sink, and he heard Gu Chenzhou’s next words:

“But Young Master He can pay more attention to other places, not just Jiangzhi City,” he seemed to pause slightly, “the mayor and the municipal party secretary.”

“Too much talent for little use.” Gu Chenzhou finally said with a smile, nodded to He Hailou, and left the bathroom.

He Hailou raised his hand and touched his somewhat hot cheek, took out his mobile phone and dialed a number.

The other party picked up quickly: “Young Master He, hello.”

“En,” He Hailou said, “How are things going?”

“Very smoothly. He went on a business trip two days ago.” The person answering the phone sounded relaxed, “Now presumably, as Young Master He planned, he is contacting that lady in the capital.”

“Really?” He Hailou’s voice was faint, “Who else knows about this?”

“What?” The person on the phone reacted quickly, “No, the leader only contacted his former old leader.” He paused and said, “It would be strange if he didn’t contact the outside at all for this kind of thing. He has also visited many places…”

The person talking to He Hailou seemed very cautious, replacing all names with uncertain words.

“I know.” He Hailou said impatiently. He raised his hand to his eyes and looked closely—the feeling was not wrong, he thought—his fingertips were trembling slightly with an extremely subtle amplitude, “Forget it, let it be. He probably guessed it too.”

Who is this he? The person on the other end of the phone guessed in his heart, but smiled and said: “Young Master He is busy. If Young Master He has time to come to Jiangzhi City, you must come to find me, let me have this face to entertain Young Master He well.”

Answering him was the direct sound of the phone hanging up. The man sitting in the office was long accustomed to the moodiness of the person he was talking to. He hung up the phone, slowly picked up the cup, took a sip of hot tea, and then ‘just’ saw the middle-aged man standing cautiously outside the door with his hands down, ‘immediately’ stood up, and greeted him with ‘surprise’: “Oh my, isn’t this Director Lin! Why is Director Lin standing here? Come in, come in quickly. If others see this, they will think I am irresponsible in my work—”

Director Lin bowed and walked in with a document bag, smiling apologetically: “Secretary Fang, I came to see Mayor Zhang. There are some documents that need Mayor Zhang’s instructions.”

Secretary Fang pressed the person onto the chair and pretended to make tea. After Director Lin repeatedly said no, he reluctantly put down the teapot and showed a difficult expression: “Director Lin, it’s not that I don’t want to make it convenient for you, but the affairs of the Construction Bureau have always been handled by Secretary Zheng. Now you want Mayor Zhang to give instructions, isn’t this messing up the work procedure?”

“That’s true, that’s true,” Director Lin had a bitter look on his face, “But Secretary Zheng is on a business trip and is indeed not here now…”

“Then wait for two more days. Anyway, it’s only two days.” Secretary Fang laughed happily.

A call spanned most of the country.

In the bathroom of the grassland horse farm, He Hailou leaned against the sink, looked at his fingers that were still trembling slightly for a while, and suddenly put them into his mouth and bit them. Blood immediately stained his teeth red.

“Gu Chenzhou…” He bit his finger, rolling a few vague syllables from deep in his throat. The force on his teeth became greater and greater. Bright red blood accumulated a small puddle between his lower lips, then overflowed, slid down his lips to his chin, and then dripped onto the white tiles on the floor. As time went on, the pain in his fingertips became more and more intense, and after reaching a certain level, it turned into numbness.

After a long while, he released his teeth and put the bloody finger under the water to rinse. The rushing water washed over the fingertips, and when it went down, it had turned light red.

He Hailou bent down and splashed water on his face with his hands, suppressing the heat on his cheeks. He looked up and smiled slightly at the mirror in front of him, and the person in the mirror also smiled slightly at him.

He Hailou withdrew his gaze with satisfaction and walked out of the bathroom.

It seems that every time I see Gu Chenzhou, it is more exciting than the last time. The moment he left the bathroom, he thought so. This is really not good.

But indeed. He thought again. Just thinking about it makes my heart beat faster and my body hot.

Can look forward to the next meeting.

At the end of this morning, Gu Chenzhou drove back to Zhengde Garden to have lunch with his grandparents. He Hailou took some people who hadn’t played enough to another club. And Zheng Junda, who was the center of Gu Chenzhou and He Hailou’s conversation a few hours ago, was waiting for his sister Zheng Yuelin in a private room of a teahouse in the capital.

At 13:14:31, the moment the second hand ticked forward and the minute hand was about to jump to the agreed time, the sound of high heels came from outside. Then the door of the private room was pushed open, and Zheng Yuelin, with her hair coiled up and wearing a capable professional suit, walked into the private room.

“Big Brother.” Zheng Yuelin said to Zheng Junda, “When did you come back? Why didn’t you go home for a meal?”

“Go to which home?” Zheng Junda is forty-eight years old this year, but he usually pays attention to health care and looks similar to someone in his early forties.

Zheng Yuelin seemed not to hear the sharpness in the other party’s words, sat down and said: “Of course it’s Mom and Dad’s home. You work in other places and can’t come back here a few times a year. Every time I go over, Mom and Dad talk about you.”

“I also want to stay more to accompany Mom and Dad. Are the two elders in good health?” Zheng Junda said.

“Quite good.” Zheng Yuelin said, paused for a while and asked, “Brother, you came back suddenly…”

“I want to ask something.” Zheng Junda relaxed his body and leaned on the back of the chair, “Did the Gu family intervene in the affairs of Jiangzhi City?”

Zheng Yuelin frowned: “How could Xinjun intervene?” A central Organization Minister, a prefecture-level official. Even if he said a word in his spare time, it would be thinking too highly of the other party—besides, Gu Xinjun has always been cautious in his conduct and work, and has never easily expressed his attitude towards other people’s struggles.

“I’m not talking about my brother-in-law, I’m talking about the Gu family.” Zheng Junda said. As siblings who have lived together for decades, he knew what the other party wanted to say just by looking at an expression. He waved his hand somewhat helplessly, “The Gu family is not just your husband. Don’t forget your stepson.”

“He hasn’t come out to work yet.” Zheng Yuelin said, exhaling a slightly tired breath.

“So what if he doesn’t work? Isn’t his reputation still very big?” Zheng Junda said, “Yuelin, I know you are partial to that kid because of Xiaorou, but you have lived with him for so many years. Not to mention whether he did this thing—just tell me, does he have the ability to do this thing?”

“Okay, he has.” Zheng Yuelin said, “But just because he has the ability, your bad luck in Jiangzhi is his private doing? —Why do you think so?”

“I didn’t say that either, just asking.” Although Zheng Junda said so, the expression on his face clearly became cold. He didn’t wait for Zheng Yuelin to speak, picked up the tea on the table and took a sip, taking the initiative of the topic at the same time, “I came back to the capital for a business trip this time. I will go home for dinner tonight. You come back too, bring Zhengjia. Our family hasn’t eaten together for a long time.”

Speaking of this, a smile finally appeared on Zheng Yuelin’s face: “En.”

“Have you eaten lunch?” Zheng Junda asked again.

“Already eaten.”

“Court session in the afternoon, right? I won’t disturb your work,” Zheng Junda said, then seemingly inadvertently mentioned, “By the way, has Zhengjia decided on his future path?”

“He is still thinking.” Zheng Yuelin said.

“You should also pay attention,” Zheng Junda said, “Let Zhengjia go out, contact more people in the circle, and make a few good friends.”

This time Zheng Yuelin didn’t hide her cold expression: “Big Brother, I know what to do. Zhengjia will choose the path he wants to take.”

“If you don’t let him go in and walk, how do you know he doesn’t want to take this path?” Zheng Junda said, tilting his neck slightly and crossing his fingers, “Are you worried about Zhengjia conflicting with Gu Chenzhou?”

“Big Brother…” Zheng Yuelin’s face uncontrollably showed annoyance and fatigue.

“I know you blame me for dragging Dad to fight against Gu Chenzhou three years ago.” Zheng Junda said lightly, “But touch your chest and say, the Shen family and the Zheng family are both in-laws of the Gu family. Why does the Shen family hold a big birthday banquet for their old man every year, while our Zheng family can only gather at home?”

“Yuelin, I know you feel sorry for Xiaorou. Xiaorou was also a frequent visitor to our house at that time, and we all liked her very much.” Speaking of this, Zheng Junda also weighed his words, “But Xiaorou has passed away for so long. Even if you feel sorry for her, being a dough-like stepmother for Gu Chenzhou for so many years is enough, right?”

“Besides, back then,” he said finally, “Xiaorou’s health was indeed not good.”