NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29
Fu Yanhe opened his eyes and lied without any panic, cooperating with an expression of surprise, as if he had not expected it to be a candlelight dinner. He calmly put the blame on Secretary Xu, making it seem as if it was Secretary Xu who had taken matters into his own hands.
Gu Wenning glanced at Fu Yanhe lightly. His eyes were dull and meaningless, and his expression was very normal. It was hard to tell whether he believed him or not.
“We are all here, it’s a waste if we don’t eat. Let’s eat, honey,” Fu Yanhe said again.
The phrase “coming is an inexplicably persuasive reason” seemed to work. It seemed that, many times, as long as one used this sentence, people would naturally stay, wanting to avoid losing out.
During the meal, Fu Yanhe didn’t stop either. He cut the steak slowly, continuing to talk.
“Honey, you don’t know how difficult it is to negotiate with some old men who are stuck in the past. Each one is more difficult than the last…”
Gu Wenning didn’t take it seriously at first, but as he listened, he couldn’t help but interrupt: “Mr. Fu, outsiders shouldn’t know about matters involving company secrets.”
Although Gu Wenning himself didn’t work or hold any power in the Gu family company and was a complete idler, his surname was Gu, after all. To a certain extent, he represented the interests of the Gu family and couldn’t be completely separated from the company, which, of course, included its business dealings. The Fu Group and the Gu Family Company competed in certain areas, and Gu Wenning didn’t feel that he should know everything about Fu Yanhe’s business, especially matters involving trade secrets.
Fu Yanhe shook his head indifferently and said matter-of-factly, “Wife, you are my wife, not an outsider. There is nothing you should not know. You can know and should know everything about me. You don’t have to control me, even though I will definitely not cheat on my wife, do bad things behind my wife’s back, or lie or hide things. But wife, you still have to take care of me. There’s a saying, every good husband has a good wife to take care of him.”
The man in the silver-grey suit looked over in a rather leisurely manner. Half of his face was hidden in the shadows, and his brows appeared to be deep. His eyes were filled with tenderness like water.
Gu Wenning raised his eyes slightly and happened to meet those gentle eyes unexpectedly. His heart skipped a beat, and he lowered his eyelids, stopping himself from speaking.
Gu Wenning had never been a talkative person. He didn’t talk much. He sat quietly on a chair, eating. His shoulders were thin, and he looked very frail. He only responded once or twice occasionally. His side profile was white and smooth, exuding a cold temperament that seemed miles away from others, but Fu Yanhe never took this coldness seriously and continued to joke with Gu Wenning, unaffected.
One was passionate, and the other was indifferent, but they got along harmoniously.
Unknowingly, the candlelight dinner ended in a harmonious and pleasant atmosphere.
Before leaving, Gu Wenning went to the bathroom.
“Gu Wenning?”
A familiar voice came from behind. Gu Wenning turned around, twitched the corners of his mouth, and greeted coldly, “Second brother.”
The person calling Gu Wenning was none other than Gu Mingzhi.
Gu Mingzhi wasn’t alone. Several young people who looked similar in age were with him.
The group of young people glanced at Gu Wenning several times, their faces showing expressions of surprise or astonishment. This was because Gu Wenning was very good-looking—a combination of handsome, delicate, beautiful, and refined. He had just the right number of good looks, not making him seem too feminine or unmanly.
Except for Gu Mingxu, who had been adopted, Gu Wenning had always been the most outstanding and handsome of the three brothers in the Gu family. He had inherited the most good looks from his mother. For this reason, even Gu Wenning’s father, who didn’t like him, had to admit that Gu Wenning was indeed the one who most resembled his deceased wife. The older he got, the more similar he became. Every time his father saw him, it was like seeing his wife, who had once been alive.
Gu Mingzhi’s friends had often heard him mention his younger brother, but the younger brother Gu Mingzhi always talked about wasn’t Gu Wenning, but Gu Mingxu. For Gu Mingxu, Gu Mingzhi’s friends were not strangers and had seen each other many times, but this was the first time they had seen Gu Wenning.
Among them, a tall young man with dazzling red hair patted Gu Mingzhi and asked curiously, “Is this your brother too? Is he a cousin or a sibling?”
While speaking, the red-haired young man looked at Gu Wenning with a curious and scrutinizing gaze, his eyes always fixed on Gu Wenning’s face.
It was a look that was impolite and offensive.
The red-haired young man loved to play. He thought that if the status was suitable, this appearance would suit him, and it would be good to play for a while.
This “suitability” was how close the relationship between Gu Wenning and Gu Mingzhi. If they had nothing to do with each other and weren’t very important people, he didn’t need to care about Gu Mingzhi and could try to have a romantic relationship with Gu Wenning.
Gu Mingzhi’s face looked a little ugly, and he said in a cold tone, “It’s none of your business. You go first. I have a few words to say to him.”
The red-haired young man shrugged. “What’s the point of being fierce? It’s great to have a younger brother.”
When the other people saw that Gu Mingzhi was irritated, they naturally didn’t join in and ask for trouble. Even if they were curious about Gu Wenning, they didn’t ask any more questions.
Before leaving, the red-haired man waved at Gu Wenning, showed a smile that he thought was handsome, and said in a frivolous tone, “Second brother Gu, my name is Meng Lan. Let’s play together if we have a chance in the future.”
Gu Mingzhi’s face became even more ugly.
On the other hand, Gu Wenning’s expression remained calm, neither angry nor excited.
After everyone had left, Gu Mingzhi asked Gu Wenning, “What are you doing here? Forget it, I don’t want to know. I’ll just ask you: what do you think about the marriage with the Fu family?”
“You already have shares in the company, and the annual dividends are enough for you. You won’t be short of money in this life. Just find an ordinary person to live with. There’s no need to be with President Fu. Do you think that top wealthy families are so easy to get into? Don’t be naive. You’ll have to sign a property agreement before marriage. You can’t take advantage of the Fu family. You can’t calculate; you can only be calculated. Listen to your second brother’s advice and break off the engagement as soon as possible. Don’t harm yourself.”
From Gu Mingzhi’s tone, it seemed that marrying into the Fu family was a terrible thing, like jumping into a pit of fire or entering a tiger’s den. And his second brother was sincerely planning for Gu Wenning and dissuading him from going into the pit of fire.
Gu Wenning found it a bit funny. Father Gu had asked him to lower his tone and apologize to Fu Yanhe, and now Gu Mingzhi was telling him to break off the engagement. Why did one by one keep jumping out to interfere in his affairs? No one had interfered in the past ten years. When it came to his affairs, interests were still much more important than family ties.
Father Gu’s attitude had been normal and humane. After asking Gu Wenning to please Fu Yanhe, he wanted to ask Fu Yanhe to support the Gu family in the in-law relationship and take care of the family’s business.
But what Gu Mingzhi said made Gu Wenning confused. What he said did make some sense. It wasn’t easy to climb high. There were many intrigues in wealthy families, but this was a bit hard. If the Fu family wasn’t rich and powerful enough, Gu Wenning would have definitely refused the marriage. The basis for his agreement to the marriage was completely due to the Fu family’s ability to bring him benefits.
For the entire ten years since Gu Wenning had returned to the Gu family at ten years old, Gu Mingzhi hadn’t expressed any kindness or concern toward him. This first-ever concern surprised Gu Wenning and made him feel even more strange.
For no reason, Gu Mingzhi would come to care about him?
It almost seemed like there was another plan.
“I understand what the second brother said,” Gu Wenning said calmly.
He showed no intention to break off the engagement, which aroused Gu Mingzhi’s dissatisfaction.
“Just knowing? If you want to break off the engagement, you should do it early, don’t delay.”
Gu Wenning asked, “Second brother wants me to break off the engagement. Does father know about this? Does grandpa know about it?”
Gu Mingzhi’s face froze, his expression slightly uncomfortable, and then he said nonchalantly, “Don’t bring up grandpa to pressure me. As long as you don’t want to, grandpa can’t force you to do it.”
As for Father Gu’s attitude, Gu Mingzhi didn’t mention it at all and just ignored it. It was not difficult to guess that Father Gu disapproved of the annulment, at least not at the moment, unless someone else in the Gu family could take Gu Wenning’s place to negotiate with the Fu family and fulfil the engagement. However, after the Fu family had stated that they only wanted Gu Wenning, it was impossible to try this path.
Gu Wenning shook his head slightly.
“I’m afraid I’ll disappoint my second brother. I don’t plan to break off the engagement.”
Well, why should he break off the engagement? If he had to live with someone in the future, why should he obey Gu Mingzhi’s wishes? Gu Wenning was more inclined to choose the former: listening to Grandpa Gu’s arrangements, rather than following the plans of his second brother, Gu Mingzhi.