The study plan filled two full pages, including a detailed daily schedule and list of subjects. It allotted ten hours of study time each day, with an hour of morning jogging and a half-hour walk after dinner.
After finishing the plan, Gu You picked up her phone and unlocked it. Seeing the group chat with her so-called friends, she suddenly remembered—these were the very people who had egged the Original Host into bullying the female lead. Although the Original Host was a bit willful, she had never actually wanted to hurt anyone. If it weren’t for these so-called friends saying, ”You’re the daughter of privilege, you’re Jiang Hao’s childhood sweetheart and fiancée—why should you step aside for them? Why should you be the one to give way?”
Egged on by them, the Original Host, Lin Youyou, had cornered Li Qiuman in the girls’ restroom at school several times, pouring mop water on her clothes. She never actually hit her, but the humiliation was enough to make the female lead hold a grudge and harbor resentment.
Most of these so-called friends came from moderately wealthy families. They flattered Lin Youyou for various benefits—some coveted the little gifts she gave out, and she often sent them red packets on WeChat. Others approached her for the sake of their family businesses; being friends with Lin Youyou meant the Lin Corporation would look after their family’s dealings to some extent.
Gu You blocked all of them without hesitation and left the group chat. She had nothing but contempt for people like that and had no intention of having anything to do with them.
A knock sounded at the door, and Mother Lin’s voice came through the wooden door. “Sweetie, dinner’s ready.”
“Okay, coming.” Gu You put down her phone, opened the door, and walked out.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she could hear voices from downstairs—Father Lin, Lin Jian’an, and her older brother Lin Yan, most likely. When she came down, she saw the three of them seated at the dining table. Father Lin sat at the head of the table, Mother Lin on his left, and Lin Yan on his right.
Gu You sat down next to Lin Yan and smiled at the three of them. “Dad, Mom, big brother.”
“Mm, let’s eat.” Father Lin picked up his chopsticks, took some food from a dish in front of him, and placed it in Gu You’s bowl. “Youyou, what were you doing in your room just now?”
Normally, as soon as Father Lin came home, Lin Youyou would come out of her room to chat with him. Today she hadn’t come down until dinnertime, so he found it a little strange.
“Nothing much. I was studying,” Gu You said, then continued eating.
Father Lin and Mother Lin had never really held high expectations for Lin Youyou. They just wanted their daughter to be a little princess and be happy every day. Even without any great achievements, the Lin family’s assets would keep Lin Youyou comfortably fed for several lifetimes.
Mother Lin, utterly devoted to her daughter, praised her with a smile. “Aww, my sweet girl is so good, studying so hard. Here, have more fish.” With that, she placed a large piece of steamed fish in Gu You’s bowl.
“That’s right, Youyou is so well-behaved and smart. If she studies hard, she’ll definitely get into a great university. Whatever you want, big brother will buy it for you,” Lin Yan chimed in from beside her. His little sister rarely wanted to study seriously—even if it was just a passing fancy, he wasn’t going to pour cold water on it.
Gu You smiled at Lin Yan. “Thank you, big brother. I’ll do my best.”
Father Lin nodded with satisfaction. His greatest pride in life was having such a fine pair of children. Ever since graduating from university, Lin Yan had joined the company to help manage it, and with his strong work ability, he could now handle things on his own. And now his younger daughter was saying she wanted to study hard, which delighted him greatly.
After dinner, the family sat on the sofa in the living room. Father Lin sipped his tea as he said to everyone, “Oh, right. President Jiang called me today. If we’re free tomorrow evening, he’d like our two families to have dinner together.”
“Good. Then tomorrow afternoon, after my beauty appointment, I’ll pick up Nannan and we’ll head to the hotel together,” Mother Lin said.
Lin Yan nodded as well. “Mm, I’ll go over with Dad after the marketing department meeting tomorrow afternoon.”
“Okay. Got it. Mom, Dad, I’m going back to my room to do my homework,” Gu You said, then went upstairs to her room.
Back in her room, Gu You reviewed the day’s lessons and dug out all her textbooks from her first to third year of high school, planning to go through them all again. When she heard Father Lin close the study door, she left her room and knocked on his study door.
“Dad, it’s me. May I come in?” Gu You said from outside the door.
“Youyou, come in.”
Gu You pushed the door open. Father Lin was sitting at the large desk in front of his computer, which displayed a PowerPoint presentation for a real estate development project.
“Dad, could we put off the new project with the Jiang family for now?” What Gu You was thinking was that her engagement to the male lead, Jiang Hao, would have to be broken off sooner or later anyway, so there was no need for the Lin family to keep collaborating with the Jiangs on projects. When the engagement was called off, the Lin family would suffer a big loss regardless—after all, the funds for the joint project had already been invested, and pausing or canceling the collaboration wouldn’t help.
Father Lin looked at Gu You in surprise. “You never ask about the company’s projects. Why this sudden idea today?”
Gu You sat down in the chair across from Father Lin and sighed. “Dad, Jiang Hao has been getting very close to a girl lately. I’m worried…”
Father Lin frowned. “Is that really true? That Jiang Hao has gone too far.”
“Yes. The two of them are often seen together at school. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” There was a trace of sadness in Gu You’s voice as she said this.
Father Lin knew how deep his daughter’s feelings for Jiang Hao were. After hearing Gu You’s words, he wasn’t sure how to handle it for a moment. If his daughter had no feelings for Jiang Hao, then simply calling off the engagement would be the end of it.
In any case, Father Lin would stand by his daughter. “All right, Youyou. I’ll put off the new project with the Jiang family for now, and wait for Jiang Hao to come begging you.”
Gu You lowered her head and thought for a while, then shook her head. “Dad, he doesn’t take me seriously, nor does he take our Lin family seriously. If he’s fallen for someone else, he should be the one to propose calling off the engagement first, before getting together with anyone else.”
Hearing this, Father Lin understood that his daughter was preparing to call off the engagement. As he looked at Gu You, his eyes were full of heartache—he felt that his daughter must have been truly heartbroken this time to have made such a decision.
“Dad, since this engagement is going to be called off sooner or later anyway, why don’t we wait for them to bring it up first? That way we can negotiate some compensation.” Gu You analyzed the situation calmly. Although the Lin family wasn’t short of money, no one ever complains about having more. She was going to go after the Jiang family anyway, so it wouldn’t hurt to make them bleed a little now.
In business, using an already inevitable outcome to secure some benefits for one’s own side was a proposal Father Lin could agree with. After talking with Gu You, Father Lin began making preparations to strike back at the Jiang family. After what Jiang Hao had done to his precious daughter, there was no way he could swallow this insult.
For Jiang Hao to do something like this—it was the Jiang family’s failure at raising their son!