The air conditioning inside the ballroom was blasting on high, yet it was barely enough to counter the burning enthusiasm of the guests’ chatter.
The moment Gu Tuo stepped back into the hall, he instantly became the absolute focal point of the room. A guest immediately scrambled forward to strike up a conversation, only to be sharply deterred by a single freezing look from the man. Left hesitating in his tracks, the guest stood awkwardly with his wine glass held limply in midair.
The winter plum blossom brooch in Gu Tuo’s palm was sharply angled and cool to the touch. It reminded him profoundly of that youth—seemingly calm and detached on the surface, but running incredibly hot and fierce underneath.
Sweeping his gaze across the ballroom, Gu Tuo finally spotted the young man’s silhouette framing the elegant dresses of the laughing crowd. Just as he prepared to walk over, the sweeping orchestral melody echoing through the hall suddenly shifted, transforming into a lively dance number.
The social dancing, scheduled as the evening’s entertainment, had commenced.
Dressed in an exquisite formal gown and sporting immaculate makeup, Madam Fang stepped forward gracefully, extending a gentle hand to her son. The first dance of the evening was traditionally reserved for the mother to accompany her son.
Stepping in perfect alignment with the elegant rhythm, the close-knit mother and son glided smoothly into the center of the dance floor, twirling beautifully to the sweeping music.
Without a doubt, Madam Fang was exceptionally skilled when it came to ballroom dancing. Her movements were as fluid and airy as a soaring butterfly, exuding an effortless, poised grace. Yet Fang Jinshi seemed custom-made to stand under the absolute glare of the spotlight. He possessed an impeccably upright posture, his waist and arms carrying a firm, controlled strength that allowed him to effortlessly lead the entire routine. The subtle, dashing smile playing on his lips only magnified his magnetic charm.
A performance like this once again drew collective gasps of admiration from the onlookers. It was a pity Li Jin and Lin Nuo had already slunk away early, completely missing his spectacular display.
The opening dance concluded swiftly, leaving the atmosphere thoroughly charged with excitement. The surrounding guests wasted no time pairing up with their respective partners, stepping onto the floor to join the rhythm.
Under the glittering lights, pairs of silhouettes intertwined, exuding an air of easy intimacy. Without a doubt, dancing was a premium method to bridge distances. Not a single person in the room lacked the desire to share a dance with Gu
Tuo; yet, observing his icy, unyielding demeanor, no one possessed the reckless courage to be the first to try, terrified of stepping on a landmine and ruining their night.
Just as the crowd was eagerly waiting for someone else to make a move, a dazzling female guest successfully beat everyone to the punch, smoothly gliding over to Gu Tuo’s side with a graceful sway.
Gently swirling the cocktail in her hand, she lazily flipped her hair back, her every micro-movement dripping with a completely effortless, natural seductiveness. A subtle, sharp glance from her exquisite phoenix eyes was usually more than enough to capture any man’s soul.
Gu Tuo, however, remained entirely unmoved, instinctively taking a deliberate step back.
The female guest was none other than the Fang family’s maternal cousin, Liu Linong. Accustomed to being heavily pampered and perpetually pursued by suitors, she had never encountered this brand of flat rejection. A temporary stiffness froze her expression.
Yet she was highly adept at masking her displeasure. In a fraction of a second, a bright, charming smile returned to her face as she cooed, “President Gu, running into you here truly is my absolute good fortune. Did you happen to come without a partner tonight? What a delightful coincidence, I happen to be without a male companion myself.”
Acting as though he completely failed to grasp her obvious implication, Gu Tuo replied flatly, “I have zero intention of dancing tonight, which is why I didn’t bring a partner. As for you, Miss Liu, if you require a companion, I am entirely certain a vast majority of the gentlemen present would be more than delighted to oblige.”
Liu Linong caught the clear refusal laced in his words, yet her vanity twisted the latter half of his sentence into a compliment to her beauty. Driven by a sudden urge to push her luck, she took another step closer. “But I only have eyes for a dance with the most exceptional man at this banquet.”
While a beautiful woman taking the initiative was typically viewed as a romantic blessing, to Gu Tuo, her forwardness bordered on cheap frivolity.
His brows knit together tightly. Finally stripping away his mask of polite civility, he exposed his naturally cold, unyielding edge. “No one carries an obligation to fulfill your personal desires. Kindly refrain from disrupting my peace.”
“You—” Liu Linong was left utterly choked with rage. Just as she scrambled to find her words, Gu Tuo completely ignored her emotional outburst, cutting right past her side to walk straight toward the edge of the dance floor.
Standing there as a living, breathing human being, this was the absolute first time she had tasted the bitter flavor of being treated as invisible. As she stood fuming in silence, she watched Gu Tuo stride directly toward Fang Jinshi and come to a halt.
“Mr. Fang, I believe this belongs to you.”
Gu Tuo cut straight to the chase. His sole objective was to return the brooch and immediately vacate this exhausting wall of social noise. The only reason he hadn’t left it with a waiter to deliver was because he harbored a few words he wished to convey to Fang Jinshi directly.
Fang Jinshi lowered his eyes to look at Gu Tuo’s open palm. Resting against his skin was the smoky amber plum blossom brooch—the exact one his brother had gifted him.
His eyes widened in sudden realization. Only now did he register that when he had violently hurled his jacket to the dirt, the brooch had snapped off completely. He didn’t possess a daily habit of wearing brooches, and since he had already handed his soiled garment over to an attendant at the entrance of the ballroom, he hadn’t bothered to check if anything was missing.
Yet the person returning his lost property was Gu Tuo.
Fixing a pair of crystal-clear eyes on him, Fang Jinshi asked directly, “You heard everything out there?”
Gu Tuo made no attempt to conceal it, offering a calm nod. “Yes.”
Fang Jinshi fell silent.
A sudden wave of awkwardness washed over him. The embarrassment wasn’t born of guilt, but rather the realization that he had just unleashed a savage, hedgehog-like tirade against the man’s own nephew, which probably didn’t do wonders for his public image. Furthermore, involving the “older generation” in a messy romantic dispute carried a somewhat bizarre, complicated undertone.
But Li Jin absolutely deserved every word of that beating! At that thought, his confidence returned instantly, and he proudly squared his shoulders.
Gu Tuo watched the youth quietly. Seeing his reaction shift rapidly from a highly uncomfortable, slightly weakened state into a display of absolute righteousness, he found himself a bit caught off guard by the sheer transitions. Yet the young man’s eyes were remarkably bright—shining like a pair of polished obsidian stones when he looked at someone. Held under such a piercing gaze, Gu Tuo surprisingly didn’t find any part of it offensive. It felt entirely as though this youth was simply born to be this way—fierce, unyielding, and completely fearless like a newborn calf.
In this silent battle of tracking gazes, it was ultimately the “newborn calf” who couldn’t hold out, breaking the silence first. “Thank you for retrieving my brooch.”
Reaching out, he took the jewelry from Gu Tuo’s hand and carefully tucked it away.
Accepting his gratitude, Gu Tuo smoothly pivoted to the main matter at hand: “A failure of discipline on my part allowed Li Jin to cause you distress tonight. You have my sincere apologies.”
Fang Jinshi was caught slightly off guard. He had heard countless stories about Gu Tuo from Li Jin’s mouth, and high society harbored an endless supply of rumors regarding the man. Yet the tycoon in those tales was perpetually painted as an unfeeling, ruthless machine—stubborn, rigid, and entirely incapable of flexibility. He truly hadn’t anticipated that the real man could actually be so remarkably reasonable.
However—
Fang Jinshi shook his head, openly stating his mind: “There is absolutely no need for you to apologize on his behalf. He is a grown adult and should carry full responsibility for his own actions instead of expecting others to clean up his messes. Furthermore, he currently doesn’t feel a single shred of remorse, so what value does an apology even hold?”
A flicker of surprise crossed Gu Tuo’s features. He hadn’t expected this youth to possess such an unexpectedly sharp, crystalline clarity of mind.
Nodding slightly, he stated evenly, “He will learn to see the error of his ways.”
A sudden, clever smile bloomed on Fang Jinshi’s face, making him look exactly like a mischievous little fox. “In that case, I shall leave his discipline entirely in your capable hands, Mr. Gu.”
While a formal apology was unnecessary, strict discipline was absolutely mandatory. Since the family patriarch was standing right in front of him, why on earth would he pass up an opportunity to lodge an official complaint?
Fang Jinshi’s attitude was completely transparent, and Gu Tuo met him with equal openness. The interaction between the two of them turned out to be unexpectedly harmonious, causing the surrounding guests’ jaws to drop in absolute shock.
Before the onlookers could even begin to process the strange dynamic, Gu Tuo had already bid his formal farewells to the Fang family heads, making a clean, early exit from the venue.
The moment Gu Tuo departed, Fang Jinchen rushed over to his brother’s side with deep concern. “Jinshi, did Gu Tuo try to make things difficult for you just now?”
Fang Jinshi blinked, slightly amused. Realizing just how profoundly the world misunderstood that tycoon, he couldn’t help but offer a quiet defense on his behalf: “Not at all, big brother. He’s actually quite easy to get along with.”
Fang Jinchen: “???”