By the time he concluded a grueling, relentless day of work, twilight had already settled over the city.
Though his official office hours had ended, the moment Gu Tuo stepped out of the corporate headquarters, he had to head straight to another social engagement. Perhaps it shouldn’t even be dubbed an “engagement.” Given Gu Tuo’s supreme status in Haicheng, there was no longer a single business venture left on earth that required him to negotiate over a dining table.
Rather than a professional obligation, it was infinitely closer to hosting a long-lost friend.
When it came to navigating social dynamics, Gu Tuo’s execution was always flawless and completely watertight. Yet underneath that polished civil veneer, he was a fiercely proud and naturally detached individual, rendering the act of forming genuine friendships an exceptionally grueling task for him.
The individual he was scheduled to meet tonight, however, was a rare exception. Years ago, they had pursued their studies at the exact same elite academy, locked in a continuous, brilliant rivalry where each deeply respected the other’s intellect. Now that the man had finally returned from advanced studies abroad, a face-to-face meeting was absolutely mandatory. If he could successfully recruit him into the executive ranks of the Gu Group, it would be an absolute triumph.
With that objective anchored in his mind, Gu Tuo strode purposefully into the corporate garage and boarded his private vehicle.
Gu Tuo himself was far from an individual given to shallow luxury, yet the car he operated was a verified masterpiece—a limited-edition luxury vehicle practically unique across the globe. Naturally, sheer rarity and opulence had played zero part in his purchasing rationale; he had selected this specific model solely because the ride was exceptionally smooth and the interior cabin was vastly spacious, making it a flawless mobile environment to review corporate files.
Of course, by this hour, Gu Tuo had already cleanly demolished his entire workload for the day.
He harbored no habit of overextending his labor into the next calendar day; instead, he simply requested his executive assistant to hand over the upcoming itinerary to map out a strategic plan for tomorrow’s business. Looking at the schedule, the entire day was completely packed with a relentless sequence of corporate movements. Gu Tuo swept his eyes across the text, a definitive blueprint instantly crystallizing in his mind.
Tucking the itinerary away securely, the titan shifted his gaze toward the view beyond the glass window, his eyes unexpectedly catching a highly familiar silhouette.
“Halt,” he instructed.
The chauffeur submissively guided the vehicle to a smooth stop along the curb.
Remaining ensconced within the plush interior of the car, Gu Tuo lowered the glass window slightly, silently observing Fang Jinshi a short distance away.
The youth’s waist injury had evidently healed completely; he was currently bent at a graceful angle before the entrance of a boutique storefront, meticulously picking away the stray withered leaves from a collection of curated bouquets.
With dusk fast approaching, the setting sun glowed with an increasingly magnificent, amber intensity, scattering a rich layer of pure gold across his frame. The task the boy was executing was undeniably simple and thoroughly ordinary, yet when the display filtered into Gu Tuo’s eyes, it carried a profound, effortless serenity—resembling an unhurried stroll through a tranquil courtyard.
Gu Tuo deeply appreciated that tranquil grace; it felt like a splash of crisp, cool spring water cutting through the relentless heat of a summer day, effortlessly washing away the exhaustion of his grueling workday.
Yet the moment his stern expression softened slightly and he scrutinized the youth further, the boy’s image seamlessly aligned right back with the fiercely stubborn, hot-tempered firebrand from the night of the welcome banquet.
A vast majority of people possessed dual countenances. Yet an individual whose dual countenances were both so spectacularly vivid and completely authentic within the entire span of Gu Tuo’s existence, he had only ever encountered one—Fang Jinshi.
Ever since receiving Fang Jinshi’s customized floral offering, Gu Tuo had harbored a silent desire to touch base with him. He had simply been constrained by a mountain of corporate obligations, his daily itineraries packed down to the minute, and since he lacked Fang Jinshi’s personal contact details, launching an unannounced visit to the Fang estate was highly inappropriate. Running into him under these casual circumstances was a complete shock, but it was an incredibly rewarding stroke of luck.
At that thought, Gu Tuo swung his long legs out and stepped from the vehicle. Moving with a poised, unhurried stride, he walked straight up to Fang Jinshi.
Gu Tuo possessed a towering, powerful physique. As he advanced, his imposing shadow stretched naturally across the pavement, blanketing the area right beside the youth’s frame.
Fang Jinshi lifted his eyes to meet the intrusion. Before a single word could pass his lips, a bright smile bloomed on his face. “Mr. Gu.”
His smile was completely devoid of any shadow—pure and flawless like a beam of clean moonlight.
“Good afternoon,” Gu Tuo replied, offering a civil greeting.
Tossing the trimmed branches aside, Fang Jinshi straightened his spine to face him. Between the two of them, a subtle layer of comfortable familiarity had inexplicably taken root.
“Did you receive the flowers?” Fang Jinshi inquired.
Gu Tuo gave a firm nod.
Fang Jinshi’s smile widened. “I personally curated that arrangement. The colors aren’t overly vibrant and the fragrance runs quite subtle, but it carries an inherent property to soothe the mind and anchor focus. It’s custom-designed to sit beautifully in an executive office without being a loud distraction. Do you like it?”
When discussing floral design, he spoke with absolute fluency and flawless expertise, his crystal-clear eyes brimming with a soft, radiant light.
Gu Tuo stared at him in silence for a few beats before stating evenly, “Your curation was exceptional.”
Fang Jinshi appeared genuinely delighted. Gu Tuo had never witnessed him displaying such a robust, eager desire to talk before.
“At the end of the day, fresh-cut arrangements carry a highly fragile shelf life,” the youth noted. “If you genuinely appreciate the aesthetic, you should take a potted green plant from my shop next time. Keeping it right next to your computer terminal can help counter radiation.” At this point, a sudden realization struck him, and he let out a soft laugh. “Ah, I haven’t even introduced it properly—I’ve actually established my own florist right here. If you ever find yourself with a free moment, you should definitely slide inside to have a coffee.”
Gu Tuo offered a polite, standard pleasantry: “If the opportunity presents itself.”
An executive cliché of this caliber was far too easy to read. As long as he willed it, he could permanently ensure he possessed zero time and absolutely zero opportunity.
Fixing a pair of incredibly bright, piercing eyes on Gu Tuo, Fang Jinshi mused internally that perhaps his own behavior had run a bit too intensely forward. If Gu Tuo had misread his intentions, then he would simply lay his cards on the table to cleanly dissolve any misunderstanding.
“Please don’t misinterpret my invitation,” Fang Jinshi stated, his expression completely open and his cadence running beautifully transparent. “I simply feel a profound, natural kinship with you, and I genuinely wish to make a friend.”
He looked at the tycoon with absolute sincerity. “Truthfully, the fact that you formally accepted my flowers made me incredibly happy. It proved to me that you don’t care about my failed history with Li Jin, nor do you care about the substantial gap in our respective ages or life experiences. That is exactly the brand of bond I covet—completely untethered to corporate gain or social obligations, born purely because we enjoy a genuinely harmonious interaction. A simple friendship, plain and simple.”
His delivery was far too earnest. Gu Tuo knew with absolute certainty that there wasn’t a single shred of deception laced within the youth’s words.
Faced with such a stunningly direct and transparent youth, Gu Tuo chose to meet him with equal honesty: “In reality, I also find you to be an exceptional individual. Interacting with you is remarkably comfortable, and I harbor a genuine desire to be your friend as well.”
Fang Jinshi blinked, a wave of mild shock crossing his features.
The surprise wasn’t born of a belief that he was unworthy of the titan’s appreciation; rather, he had simply never anticipated that a man who masterfully maneuvered multi-million dollar corporate empires could turn out to be so hilariously clumsy when it came to forging a personal friendship. The words the mogul had just uttered could practically be cataloged straight into a primary school diary.
At the thought, Fang Jinshi couldn’t stop a sharp laugh from escaping his lips.
Gu Tuo failed to grasp the source of his amusement, merely tracking him with a silent, steady gaze.
Now that everything had been brought completely out into the open, Fang Jinshi abandoned the last of his reservations. “Since you genuinely wish to be my friend, why on earth are you so reluctant to accept my invitation to drop by my shop for a coffee?”
Gu Tuo replied flatly, “I have no time.”
So, that ‘if the opportunity presents itself’ wasn’t a cheap corporate brush-off after all.
Reflecting on it, Fang Jinshi recognized the objective reality. Steering a titanic conglomerate was an intensely grueling, monumental task; after all, didn’t his own father and older brother frequently burn the midnight oil at their corporate suites?
Even so: “Labor is labor, but you still need to find a healthy equilibrium between work and leisure. You must look after your health and rest properly.”
Gu Tuo fell into a deep, heavy silence. After a long pause, he dropped a single word into the air: “Okay.”
High society always whispered that the youngest child of a lineage was bound to be the most heavily adored and deeply protected. Yet within the walls of the Gu household, reality had painted a vastly different picture.
Madam Gu had risked her physical survival to deliver Gu Tuo at an exceptionally advanced maternal age for one reason only: Father Gu desperately demanded a flawless successor to inherit his empire. Consequently, from the literal second of his birth, Gu Tuo had been forcefully saddled with the crushing weight of the family conglomerate. The patriarch had placed one singular, unyielding demand upon his existence: Always conquer the next peak.
He was strictly forbidden from experiencing leisure. He was forced to ruthlessly grind, continuously achieving monumental objectives only to instantly smash past them to hunt down the next. In the end, he had lost all cognitive understanding of what exactly he was chasing. Even though he had successfully conquered absolute wealth and supreme status, he had allowed this ascetic, grueling brand of existence to harden into his permanent reality.
This was the absolute first time in his life an individual had looked him in the face and told him he needed to rest.
Deep down, he genuinely desired to bring his frantic momentum to a halt. He wished to see if investing himself in an interaction with this vibrant youth could successfully coax his relentless pace to slow down.
He wished to learn from him—and live a life that actually held flavor.