Chapter 24
Just as Gu Wenning finished reading the WeChat messages, another new message popped up.
The person who sent the message was still Fu Yanhe. This time, he had sent several voice messages—some telling jokes, some saying “good night,” and one with him singing.
Fu Yanhe almost always seized the opportunity to show off his strengths to Gu Wenning. Many of the strengths he thought he wanted to display came from all directions, 360 degrees without blind spots.
Many advantages were indeed advantages. For example, when singing, Fu Yanhe had a good voice. His voice was deep and magnetic, giving people a charming and pleasant feeling, as if a cello was speaking. He also wasn’t tone-deaf; he stayed in tune while singing and never went off-key. Therefore, his singing was truly nice, and he often prolonged the ending notes intentionally or unintentionally, giving his voice a vaguely lazy vibe.
Putting aside everything else, his voice alone earned him a lot of points and left a good impression on Gu Wenning, so much so that his quirky brain could tolerate it.
The next day was Saturday. Fu Yanhe had already made himself look good. When he looked in the mirror, he felt extremely satisfied, thinking he was handsome, dashing, and full of confidence. He was about to go out to pick up his wife for a date when a phone call disrupted his plans. Unable to find anyone to take his place on the business trip, he had no choice but to give up his plans. After five days of planning for a date, he turned around and rushed to the airport to discuss cooperation on an overseas business trip.
Secretary Xu clearly felt that his boss was not in a good mood that day. From the moment he boarded the plane, his face looked displeased. His expression was cold, and the word “unhappiness” was written all over him from head to toe.
If it hadn’t been a last-minute business trip, with one vice president sick and another on a business trip in Nanyang, it wouldn’t have been necessary for the boss to personally handle it. Since falling in love, the boss always wanted to be with his wife, and now, since they couldn’t spend a sweet time together, it was no wonder the boss was in a bad mood.
Not only Secretary Xu, but the driver also knew that Fu Yanhe was pursuing someone. Everyone at Fu Group headquarters had heard about it; gossip spread quickly, after all. The moment it started; it could spread everywhere within minutes. Moreover, Fu Yanhe had no intention of hiding it. He was always extremely high-profile, and the aura of love exuded from him made it hard for his employees not to notice the boss’s evolving relationship status.
However, none of them had ever seen the landlady in person, the wife they had only heard of and never seen, which left the employees quite regretful.
Secretary Xu, however, was different from others, having met Gu Wenning with Fu Yanhe’s tacit approval. He praised Gu Wenning as exceptional, a sentiment that quickly spread throughout Fu Group. Soon, everyone knew their boss was pursuing the future landlady and making great progress. It seemed only a matter of time before they obtained the marriage certificate.
As he prepared to board the plane for his business trip, Fu Yanhe sent a WeChat message to Gu Wenning. When he landed, the first thing he did was check WeChat, where he saw the message from his wife. It instantly revived him, and he walked with a spring in his step, as if two hot wheels were under his feet.
He resolved to finish the business quickly and return to see his wife as soon as possible.
“Come on, you can do it!” he encouraged himself.
.
On the other side, Gu Wenning returned to his family home.
During the days he had been in contact with Fu Yanhe, Grandpa Gu had observed but chose not to interfere too much in the young man’s affairs. After seeing that Gu Wenning wasn’t resistant, he allowed them to continue interacting. This time, he called Gu Wenning back mainly to ask about his true feelings; if everything was fine, the engagement could proceed. Since the Fu family was a wealthy family and the Gu family held a high social standing, a formal marriage would certainly be arranged.
In the study, an elderly man with white hair and a youthful face sat reading a newspaper, his reading glasses perched on his nose.
When Gu Wenning came in, he didn’t disturb him but skilfully prepared tea.
After tasting the tea carefully brewed by his grandson, the fragrance lingered on his lips and teeth. The tea was of moderate intensity. Grandpa Gu let out a sigh of satisfaction and looked at his grandson in front of him with a smile.
“Wenning…”
Grandpa Gu first asked about Gu Wenning’s daily life and expressed some concern about his studies, then brought up Fu Yanhe.
“You and Xiao Fu have been getting along for a while. If there’s no issue, Grandpa thinks we can settle down. Xiao Fu is a steadfast and reliable child. With him by your side, Grandpa would feel more at ease,” Grandpa Gu said seriously.
Meeting the old man’s kind and caring eyes, Gu Wenning pursed his lips, his eyes shifting slightly. He couldn’t quite voice what he wanted to say and instead gave a vague “hmm” in agreement.
Grandpa was so kind to him and tried every means to plan for his future. He couldn’t afford to be ignorant of that or cause Grandpa any more trouble.
Others might not be better than Mr. Fu, nor might they satisfy Grandpa. Given this, it wasn’t impossible to settle on this choice.
Grandpa Gu smiled.
“Please bring Xiao Fu here when you have time. I heard from Xiao Ruan (Mother Fu) that Xiao Fu has long wanted to come and see me, an old man, but you wouldn’t nod and kept stopping him. Why are you so shy? It’s not as if Grandpa doesn’t know about you two.”
Gu Wenning’s ears grew hot.
Indeed, within a few days of meeting him, Mr. Fu had proposed visiting his grandfather. He had even excitedly planned what gifts to buy to please the old man and how to behave to make a good impression.
It had been him who stopped Mr. Fu from coming to see Grandpa.
It did seem inappropriate now. Even without an engagement, Mr. Fu’s parents were familiar with his grandfather. As a junior, it was reasonable and polite for Mr. Fu to visit.
Little did Gu Wenning know that although he’d rejected Fu Yanhe’s proposal to visit Grandpa Gu with him, Fu Yanhe had gone alone, bearing large and small bags of gifts. His visit served both as respect to an elder and a subtle attempt to learn more about Gu Wenning through Grandpa.
From Grandpa Gu, Fu Yanhe learned about many of Gu Wenning’s preferences, including his eating habits and hobbies.
Fu Yanhe’s genuine concern for Gu Wenning left a good impression on Grandpa Gu, who became quite satisfied with the young man.
The two had conspired to keep this from Gu Wenning. Neither mentioned the fact that Fu Yanhe had already visited, and they even pulled in Mother Fu as a cover, making it seem as if they hadn’t yet met.
As the grandfather and grandson chatted happily, Father Gu arrived.
The warm atmosphere instantly cooled upon his arrival. Grandpa Gu raised his eyebrows and said indifferently, “What’s wrong? Not busy today? You actually have time to visit me, an old man?”
Father Gu smiled and replied, “Dad, you’re the one who wanted peace, so you moved here, right? You don’t want anyone around, so you can’t blame me now for staying out of your way.”
Grandpa Gu sneered, “That didn’t mean for you to not to visit for several months. Are you a president or prime minister, too busy to see your own father?”
“Isn’t Wenning enough? Anyway, you like him best. Does it even matter if I am here or not?”
Father Gu felt annoyed that the shares Grandpa Gu gave to Wenning were more than what he received. They said they were separated by a generation, but his son’s place in the old man’s heart seemed greater than his own.
But the old man was too partial. Why give shares to Wenning and not Xiao Xu? Did the Gu family blood not flow in Xiao Xu’s veins, too? Didn’t he deserve to live in the Gu family and hold shares in the company?
Father Gu kept these complaints to himself.
Gu Wenning gave him a cold look.
Whether Grandpa liked him or not didn’t change the fact that they didn’t care enough about Grandpa. Elderly people wanted to have their children and grandchildren nearby, sharing in the warmth of family life.
Father Gu’s words made Grandpa Gu very upset. He waved his hand, telling Father Gu to leave, not wanting him to stay and make him angry.