Interviewing Xue Lou was the simplest item on Gu Siqiao’s agenda for the day.
In the afternoon, he first accompanied several leaders to play golf, and in the evening, he met with another group of people. An essential part of the public welfare investment was schools. Using this opportunity to make connections, he met several principals from key high schools, and tonight he was set to dine with one of them at the Huarong Hotel.
The meal was paid for with public school funds.
After the official gathering ended, the school leadership insisted on extending the night on their personal dime.
After a few twists and turns, the car eventually drove up to the Yuanju Club.
“I can’t hold out any longer, Fourth Brother,” Kang Shuai said while parking the car. “Tonight we’ll be drinking until two or three in the morning again. My flight to Shanghai is at twelve noon tomorrow—this is going to be the death of me.”
“You go ahead. I’ll call a designated driver,” Gu Siqiao said.
“You won’t manage on your own. At least at the dinner table earlier, the division heads from headquarters were there to take the hit for you. What will you do if things get out of hand later?”
Gu Siqiao leaned back sideways in the massage seat, resting his head on his hand.
Seated next to him was Xiao Yu. The wretched kid had been there during golf too; they had agreed he would do his homework in the lounge, but in the end, he ran outside anyway, chasing the caddies like he was chasing dogs.
Gu Siqiao tilted his head to look at Xiao Yu, who was playing on his phone. His eyes narrowed slightly with fatigue, and he ended up slicking back the messy hair on his forehead.
“Call Xue Lou,” Gu Siqiao said. “Tell him he has only one job tonight: block the drinks. If he can’t do it, he can get lost.”
With that, he slapped the back of Xiao Yu’s head and opened the door to get out of the car.
Seeing the school officials arrive with Gu Siqiao, the manager of Yuanju Club smiled even brighter than if he had seen his own birth father. The school representatives were regular customers here as well, ordering set packages with practiced ease before heading into the room to take their seats.
Once the items were served, the school official smiled so wide his eyes crinkled and his teeth showed: “President Gu, we’ve been longing for this project day and night, and it’s finally here! Hearing from the Education Bureau that we’re partnering with Window Group puts our minds completely at ease! Come, let me, Wu, toast to you.”
The speaker’s surname was Wu, the vice principal of the high school. Gu Siqiao had noticed during dinner that these people from the school were very adept at playing teamwork. Once Principal Wu gave the word, the others took turns coming up to offer toasts—a highly organized and practiced war of attrition.
“A long-term partnership with mutual benefit,” Gu Siqiao clinked glasses with Principal Wu. “Collaborating with a fine school like Experimental also adds prestige and luster to Window.”
“You’re far too humble,” Principal Wu laughed. “Who doesn’t know that President Gu graduated from Jiangcheng No. 1 High School? A top-tier provincial key school. To be so young and already taking the helm of Window Group—every generation produces great talent!”
“President Gu has a fine family upbringing, the young generation carrying the mantle forward!” someone teased Xiao Yu. “Xiao Yu is clearly a bright child; he’s bound to achieve great things in the future!”
“Right, how about going to Jiangcheng No. 1 High School just like your Little Uncle?”
“When he grows up, he’ll definitely be a candidate for Yanjing University. Look at his sharp mind—he doesn’t get stage fright at all. prime leader material!”
Gu Siqiao smiled without speaking, swirling the liquor in his glass.
“Come, let me make a fool of myself for everyone!” A person from the school stood up and grabbed the wireless microphone.
As the prelude began, Xiao Yu leaned close to Gu Siqiao: “Little Uncle, these people are so boring. I want to go outside and play.”
“No. What if you get lost?” Gu Siqiao said. “Your granddad will hold me accountable.”
“If Grandpa really wanted to hold you accountable, he would’ve done so the first time you brought me here.”
The brat—young, but sharp as a tack, surprisingly perceptive in this regard.
Xiao Yu: “I promise not to step out of the front doors of Yuanju Club.”
“You must be back within two hours.” Remembering there was a coin-operated arcade machine on the first floor of Yuanju Club, Gu Siqiao gave in. At any rate, the manager could help keep an eye on him.
Xiao Yu ran off happily. Just as he pulled the door open, he bumped right into someone’s waist: “Ah!”
The other person steadied Xiao Yu, and Xiao Yu looked up: “Who are you?”
“Little kid, why are you in a place like this?” The person who was bumped sounded quite surprised as well.
Gu Siqiao looked toward the doorway and motioned with his hand: “Come here.”
Xue Lou walked into the private room. Xiao Yu twisted his body and slipped past Xue Lou’s side.
“This is my newly hired secretary,” Gu Siqiao announced to the people in the room. “Xue Lou, this is Vice Principal Wu from Experimental High School. Toast him on my behalf in a moment.”
Xue Lou shook hands with Principal Wu, who laughed: “Window Group is truly remarkable—not only is President Gu so dashing and elegant, but even the secretary by his side is such a handsome guy.”
“Is this a business social?”
Taking advantage of the loud music, Xue Lou sat down beside Gu Siqiao. He was still wearing that off-the-rack suit from Heilan Home—likely with the tags cut off not too long ago—though his tie was slightly wrinkled. “Kang Shuai said to call me over, but isn’t this…”
“You don’t need to care what this is,” Gu Siqiao’s expression remained unchanged, his lips moving faintly. “This is working overtime—it’s part of your job.”
“I thought my official work starts tomorrow.”
Gu Siqiao glanced at him, letting out a cold laugh: “Keep talking nonsense and you don’t have to come tomorrow.”
Xue Lou turned his head to look at Gu Siqiao.
Under the psychedelic mood lights, Gu Siqiao glared at him with a insincere smile.
Those cold, detached peach-blossom eyes—which should have delivered a stern warning—had lost their harshness under the influence of alcohol, acquiring an extra touch of playful levity instead.
Xue Lou turned his head away, picking up a bottle of beer and the bottle opener from the table.
A sudden sense of self-satisfied gratification welled up in Gu Siqiao’s heart. He leaned back into the sofa and lit a cigarette.
In his work, he despised indecisive, slow-moving people the most. Xue Lou had a mild temperament—a textbook earnest, straightforward bookworm—yet for some reason, Gu Siqiao derived a bizarre, dominating thrill from the process of taming this bookworm.
While pouring the drink, Xue Lou asked in a low voice, “What’s the deal with that little boy?”
“My nephew, Gu Boyu.” Gu Siqiao rested his arm on the back of the sofa behind Xue Lou. “His dad is nowhere to be seen all day long, so I take care of him sometimes.”
“Is it really fine to bring a kid to a place like this?” Xue Lou’s hand pouring the drink paused. “If he turns bad at such a young age, how will you account to his parents?”
“Alright, Secretary Xue,” Gu Siqiao blew out a thin puff of smoke. “That’s not your concern.”
He crossed his long legs, the tip of his leather shoe lightly brushing against Xue Lou’s calf: “Go fulfill your duties.”
Xue Lou took a deep breath and stood up: “Principal Wu, let me toast you on behalf of President Gu.”
The knuckles of his hand gripping the glass turned white. Seeing this, Gu Siqiao bit down on his cigarette and smiled silently.
He was actually beginning to find genuine amusement in ordering this bookworm around—an endless source of entertainment.
After sharing a drink with Principal Wu, the two exchanged a few simple words. Kang Shuai had likely briefed Xue Lou briefly over the phone earlier, so although Xue Lou was nervous, he didn’t freeze up completely and managed to handle most of it.
Soon, the focus shifted back to Gu Siqiao.
The group mixed serious business with casual banter. Gu Siqiao rarely engaged in the non-business topics, though he would chime in on work-related matters.
Xue Lou stayed by his side the entire time, drinking whenever toasted and listening silently when not, though it was hard to tell how much he actually understood.
As the selected song neared its end, someone called out: “President Gu, pick a song!”
Gu Siqiao waved his hand, politely declining. He didn’t sing out of tune, but his ability was strictly average, and he had no interest in it.
“Secretary Xue has been sitting there for quite a while without saying much,” Principal Wu chimed in. “Little Xue, how about you sing one? Liven up the mood for your boss!”
“Principal Wu, I’m not really good at singing those songs,” Xue Lou tried to decline.
Principal Wu urged: “Just sing whatever you young people listen to! Help us old folks keep up with the trend too. Besides, isn’t President Gu a young man himself? He’ll appreciate it!”
Xue Lou had no choice but to accept the microphone: “Pardon my lack of skill then.”
He picked a song.
As the prelude began, the noisy accompaniment of the previous track—‘Give your brother a hug and speak what’s on your mind’—faded away, replaced by gentle, minimalist guitar chords and strings.
Perhaps unable to stand sitting in the middle of the semi-circular sofa, Xue Lou walked over to a corner of the booth where a high stool and a standing microphone were placed.
He sang softly along with the accompaniment:
“Your eyes can smile
Curving into a bridge
Yet the destination is somewhere
I can never reach
I feel your presence
Like the howling of the wind
Longing is like poison
So unbearably agonizing
Every minute, every second…”
The atmosphere in the booth grew subtle. Several mid-level leaders from the school exchanged glances before turning their gaze to Gu Siqiao.
Gu Siqiao, on the other hand, appeared completely at ease, not finding anything wrong with singing a sad love song at a social gathering that was supposed to be lively and energetic.
He smoked his cigarette, studying Xue Lou through the milky-white haze.
The room was a bit stuffy, and Xue Lou had unbuttoned his suit jacket. He sat lightly on the high stool with one leg bent, holding the microphone with both hands in a rather awkward posture.
The colorful lights swept across the corner, casting shadows over the young man’s nose bridge and eye sockets, yet his eyes remained fixed on the screen—intensely dark and bright.
Xue Lou sang like a student conscientiously finishing an assignment:
“I cannot find / I cannot reach
The beautiful future / you spoke of
I want nothing at all
Do you know?
If you understand me / in this second
…”
The song came to an end.
There was silence in the room. Xue Lou climbed down from the high stool and returned to his seat.
The atmosphere had grown quite strange, until Gu Siqiao was the first to clap: “Not bad. I’ll add this song to my playlist when I get back.”
Only then did the rest of the room offer scattered applause. Principal Wu chuckled: “Secretary Xue is clearly someone trained under President Gu—a cultured, refined talent inside.”
Gu Siqiao smiled without answering.
In truth, his ears were nearly deafened by the earlier noise; it didn’t matter what Xue Lou sang, he just wanted a moment of quiet.
Not to mention, letting an out-of-place bookworm throw off the old slickers who were trying to ply him with alcohol—that drama in itself was entertaining, and it served to vent some frustration for him.
Another school official in charge of finances stood up to choose a song.
The atmosphere returned to normal. People resumed chatting and laughing, and someone stood up to offer a toast. This time, Xue Lou was very sensible, proactively filling his glass to clink with the guest.
During a break between drinks, Gu Siqiao nudged Xue Lou in the ribs with his elbow: “Can you handle it?”
“It’s fine,” Xue Lou whispered, intentionally looking away.
“Get used to it fast,” Gu Siqiao offered some well-meaning guidance. “Though you don’t need to drink quite so much.”
“There’s only me besides you here,” Xue Lou said. “If I drink a bit more, you can drink a bit less.”
Gu Siqiao glanced at Xue Lou from the side.
“Go find that kid from earlier—Gu Boyu,” Gu Siqiao ordered. “It’s been almost two hours, who knows where he’s running wild.”
Xue Lou left the room. Gu Siqiao continued discussing the partnership with Principal Wu, chatting fluently for ten full minutes, yet there was still no sign of Xue Lou.
Gu Siqiao didn’t pay it too much mind at first; Gu Boyu was a handful, and Yuanju Club was noisy and chaotic—finding a kid who darted around like an eel was bound to take some effort.
A moment later, the manager of Yuanju Club knocked and entered the room with a very strained smile.
The manager brought in a few fruit platter hostesses.
While the girls were introducing themselves one by one, the manager leaned over to whisper in Gu Siqiao’s ear.
“Could you come with me for a moment, President Gu?” the manager said cautiously. “One of the waiters said they just saw your man and the young master downstairs, and it seems… things aren’t going very pleasantly…”