Chapter 78#

Chapter 78: He, You’re Being Naughty#

Suddenly, the sound of another person’s footsteps came from behind.

Gu Chenzhou was currently standing in the atrium of the banquet venue, surrounded by corridors on both sides. In the center was a pool with a fountain. Perhaps aiming for a serene atmosphere, apart from a few stone animal statues spitting thin streams of water, there were no large water jets. However, the mist effect on the water surface hadn’t been turned off. Under the night sky, illuminated by distant lights, the mist swirled, accompanied by swaying lotuses, koi fish, rocks, and duckweed—it was quite beautiful.

But even the most beautiful scenery becomes less so when certain people are added to it.

If one were to ask which princeling in the capital Gu Chenzhou least wanted to see, it would undoubtedly be He Hailou. This “unwillingness” had nothing to do with whether Gu Chenzhou won or lost in his confrontations with He Hailou; he simply couldn’t stand him. Of course, this intolerance wouldn’t affect their clashes or cooperation in the slightest; it was just the most basic superficial courtesy. Which princeling in the capital didn’t play that game smoothly?

Without giving the person behind him a chance to speak, Gu Chenzhou turned around directly and smiled faintly: “Young Master He, what a coincidence.”

The person walking from the cobblestone path towards the corridor was indeed He Hailou. Now only four or five steps away, He Hailou stopped and spread his hands: “Not a coincidence at all. I followed you out on purpose.”

Gu Chenzhou thought to himself, Can’t you just say a few polite official words so we can part on good terms? On the surface, however, he maintained his usual demeanor: “I wasn’t aware. If I had known Young Master He had business with me, I would have gone to you first—Young Master He is looking for me for something, right?”

Actually, He Hailou was also amazed by Gu Chenzhou’s ability to put on an act. Looking at it positively, they had been through several adventures and helped each other out a few times. Even if they weren’t close enough to share everything, they should at least be at the level of swapping girlfriends, right? Yet, the guy was still the same as in the beginning! Looking at it negatively, they had clashed several times with wins and losses. Although nothing truly irreversible had happened, they had both visited the police station for “tea” because of each other, bordering on deep enmity. And the result? The guy was still the same as in the beginning!

Thinking of this, He Hailou had to admit that Gu Chenzhou was indeed Gu Chenzhou; this pool of water was bottomless.

“Young Master He?” Seeing the other party silent for a long time, Gu Chenzhou spoke up again.

He Hailou looked at Gu Chenzhou and suddenly smiled. He took a few steps forward, closing the final distance between them. “Gu Chenzhou, I’ve always been curious. Every time you see me and smile, calling me ‘Young Master He,’ have you ever thought about pulling out a gun and pulling the trigger directly?” Swearing on the name He Hailou, this was purely genuine curiosity.

He’s having an episode again. Gu Chenzhou thought to himself, too lazy to answer this question. Just as he was about to brush it off, he saw He Hailou turn sideways, changing from facing him to standing beside him, admiring the pool scenery while talking: “It’s just the two of us now. It doesn’t hurt to speak a few words of truth, right? Or is Young Master Gu really cautious to this extent—” He Hailou curled his lips into a smile, “—that you don’t even dare to curse?”

The koi in the pool swam in waves—orange-red, golden-yellow, milky-white—weaving through the rocks and resting under the duckweed.

Gu Chenzhou smiled faintly. Like He Hailou, he turned to face the pool, and the words on his lips took a turn: “He Hailou, why would I curse you?”

This is saying we should let our actions speak for themselves. He Hailou was quite satisfied. He leaned sideways against a nearby pillar: “Gu Chenzhou, let’s be straightforward. At this final moment, what do you want to do?” His tone was brisk and frivolous. “I’ll cooperate with you, how about that?”

Even if Gu Chenzhou turned into a pig right now, he wouldn’t think He Hailou’s “I’ll cooperate with you” meant cooperating with the Gu family to deal with the He family.

But if “cooperate” didn’t mean it literally, what did it mean?

It wasn’t hard to guess. Just as the Gu and He families were driven by their factions and, in turn, drove the factional struggle, He Hailou meant that they should also take advantage of this National Congress, this dispute between two families and two factions, to have some fun…

—Obviously, He Hailou was bored out of his mind.

But what made Gu Chenzhou even more curious was why He Hailou thought he would agree to such a meaningless thing?

The answer came quickly. Just as Gu Chenzhou understood He Hailou, He Hailou didn’t lack understanding of Gu Chenzhou. He threw out a juicy bait: “Since I said it’s for fun, of course there’s a prize. If I said I’d take something from Premier He, Young Master Gu probably wouldn’t believe it…” He looked up slightly, revealing a beautifully lined chin. “How about this? If I lose, I’ll agree to one request from Young Master Gu.”

Gu Chenzhou smiled noncommittally, feeling truly fed up inside: “Young Master He, stop joking—between us, does one or two times really make a difference?”

The amount of information in this sentence was huge! It was practically saying we’ll fight to the death. He Hailou gave Gu Chenzhou a thumbs-up in his heart: “Young Master Gu, is it that you don’t want to try, or you don’t dare to try?”

Gu Chenzhou glanced at He Hailou and smiled slowly: “The scope of ‘one request’ is too broad. Besides, for such empty talk, even if I’m willing to say it, is Young Master He willing to listen?”

“If Young Master Gu doesn’t say it, how do you know if I’m willing to listen?” He Hailou countered leisurely.

Gu Chenzhou scoffed and pointed forward casually: “For example, if I tell you to jump down, would you really jump?”

This time, He Hailou looked at Gu Chenzhou strangely.

Just as Gu Chenzhou felt something was off, he heard He Hailou say: “Does that even count as a request?” Saying that, he jumped forward lightly. With a splash, he jumped from the corridor into the waist-deep pool, sending water spraying everywhere in an instant!

Gu Chenzhou was dumbfounded for a second.

At almost the same instant, a few red and yellow koi, somehow flying up with the splash, headed towards where Gu Chenzhou was standing.

Gu Chenzhou subconsciously raised his hand, wanting to block the two fish flying up with the water, but unexpectedly, his ankle was struck heavily and then pulled—a second splash sounded, and Gu Chenzhou was dragged down directly by He Hailou, who had jumped into the pool first!

The icy sensation spread instantly from the soles of his feet to his waist and abdomen. His palms scraped against the floor tiles, a momentary burning pain followed by being enveloped in soft water. The slight sliminess his fingertips brushed against was the back or body of a koi…

Gu Chenzhou had a breath stuck in his chest. Before he could come up, another large splash of pool water drenched him from head to toe!

This brought him back to his senses. Gu Chenzhou laughed in anger, wiped the water droplets from his face, cursed “Fuck,” stepped forward, punched the other party into the water, and said, “He Hailou, how old are you this year?”

This time, prepared in advance, He Hailou dodged backward in time. He was only grazed on the cheek by the fist, though inevitably, he fell into the pool during the dodge and swallowed a mouthful of water.

“What, has Young Master Gu forgotten his own age?” The half-person-deep pool posed no real threat. He Hailou straightened up to regroup, thinking that the other party had indeed changed his expression, while leaning close to Gu Chenzhou with a smile.

The distance between the two closed again. By the faint starlight and moonlight in the atrium, Gu Chenzhou clearly saw the emotions flickering in the eyes of the person in front of him—not malice, not mockery, but a hidden faint smile and mischief. Of course, these only lasted for an instant.

After that instant, the gloom and coldness habitual to this person resurfaced in his black pupils.

Gu Chenzhou didn’t say a second unnecessary word. He lifted his leg directly and kicked the person into the water.

Face to face, less than a step away, He Hailou couldn’t dodge even if he wanted to. He simply stood there waiting for Gu Chenzhou to kick him. Anyway, in the water, it wouldn’t hurt much.

Before this thought could pass through He Hailou’s mind, the foot arrived, heavy as if hit by a rock. But the pool wasn’t deep enough. Although Gu Chenzhou’s kick was heavy and hard, He Hailou only fell backward, wetting his back and arms. Without even choking on water, he stood up calmly again.

On the other hand, Gu Chenzhou, looking at the koi swimming everywhere in the water and the pool water of unknown freshness, had turned from green to black in the face. His lips were pursed, and he didn’t want to say another word. He turned around to get ashore, looking as if he had suffered more damage than He Hailou, who had just been punched and kicked.

Standing behind him, He Hailou estimated the difference in their combat power, shrugged regretfully, and didn’t persist in touching the tiger’s butt.

But at this moment, coincidentally, the sound of conversation suddenly came from a distance.

Gu Chenzhou subconsciously looked at himself, still standing in the water, wet from head to toe, and then at the equally wet He Hailou.

He Hailou obviously heard the voice too. He put on a helpless face and smiled exceptionally happily at the other party.

Walking over from the small path were two middle-aged men.

Their relationship seemed good. Talking and laughing, they walked into the corridor and stood in front of a tall lotus leaf to talk.

“…Comrade Boyuan is in some trouble this time.”

The two people in conversation only raised their voices slightly for this sentence. Then, their voices lowered again:

“It’s probably Comrade Shuifeng…”

“What news did you hear?”

“None at all…”

Behind a large rock in the pool, Gu and He squeezed together. At this moment, they made the same movement: taking out their mobile phones from their pockets, which hadn’t been ruined by the water yet, and clicking open a text message. They saw a message about Wang Boyuan. Although the sources of this message about the same person were completely different, the content was surprisingly similar:

—“Wang Boyuan has started to make his move!”