By the time Gu Siqiao arrived, his dear nephew was sitting on the couch in the staff break room with his arms crossed, fuming with anger.
Standing before him was Xue Lou, brow furrowed and face deadly serious.
The room was a complete disaster—looks like everything that could be overturned had been. It wasn’t hard to guess who was responsible.
“Gu Boyu,” Gu Siqiao called out. “Don’t tell me your donkey temper is acting up again?”
Gu Siqiao took off the Patek Philippe from his wrist and flexed his joints. Quick-witted, the manager grabbed Gu Siqiao’s arm: “Please don’t, President Gu! He’s just a child, let’s talk this through nicely!”
Seeing Gu Siqiao arrive, Xue Lou’s face didn’t look great either, but he still took a step back to clear a path.
“What did I even do?!” Gu Boyu gasped for breath, pointing a finger. “Who even is this guy? The moment he walked in, he started lecturing me and insisted on dragging me away!”
“I told him to bring you back to the private booth. What about it? Did you forget the two-hour agreement?” Gu Siqiao stepped forward.
“Even so, he has no right to scold me! Seriously, I don’t owe him anything!”
Family shame shouldn’t be aired in public. Gu Siqiao turned sideways: “Manager Gao, charge whatever he broke to my account. I’ll pay for it.”
“President Gu, you’re overthinking it! It’s just a bunch of cheap junk, and the kid didn’t do it on purpose anyway.” Manager Gao was a sharp mind who knew better than to offend a big client. “I’ll go attend to the other booths first, President Gu. Take your time talking with the kid, and call me if you need anything, alright?”
Manager Gao tactfully closed the door and left. Gu Siqiao turned to Xue Lou: “Speak.”
“Gu Siqiao, your nephew Xiao Yu is so young, yet the things he’s doing are way too out of line. If you keep letting him run wild like this, his life will be ruined,” Xue Lou said, his brows tightly knitted. “Do you know what the waiter said he was doing?”
“Who are you saying is ruined?!” Xiao Yu snapped back. “I’m a grandson of the Gu family. Nobody’s life will be ruined, least of all mine—”
Gu Siqiao shot a cool, unbothered glance his way, and Xiao Yu instantly withered.
Xue Lou continued: “The waiter said he told them to charge it to your account and ordered a hostess here. The two of them were right in this staff break room with the door locked, spending eight hundred and sixty-eight yuan in two hours.”
Before Gu Siqiao could speak, Xiao Yu shrieked in defense: “That’s not it at all! How does it sound like this coming out of your mouth?!”
“Is this not the truth?” Xue Lou asked sternly.
“Little Uncle, I’m innocent!” Xiao Yu pointed back with his hand. “Look, it’s her!”
Gu Siqiao turned his head.
Under the soft yellow light, a girl wearing a familiar schoolgirl pleated skirt and over-the-knee socks was curled up in a swivel chair. An iPhone 14 rested on the coffee table, its screen displaying the faded gray screen of Honor of Kings.
“We… we meet again, President Gu.” Xinxin was trembling all over, forcing a smile that looked worse than crying.
Gu Siqiao was stunned: “You two…”
“I hired Sister Xinxin to play games with me!” Xiao Yu seized this fleeting chance at survival. “You have to believe me, Little Uncle!”
“Then how did it cost over eight hundred yuan?” Xue Lou pursued relentlessly.
“You’re so stingy! Is eight hundred a lot?” Xiao Yu wasn’t in the right, but he argued with full conviction. “I ordered pasta, fries, fried chicken nuggets, and watermelon juice! The rest was Sister Xinxin’s hourly fee—only three hundred an hour, the cheapest one here! Nobody even picks her except for me!”
Off to the side, Xinxin was so embarrassed she wanted the ground to swallow her whole, curling up into as small a ball as possible.
“Enough!” Gu Siqiao’s patience had reached its absolute limit. “You little brat, stay put right here! We’ll talk when we get to the car after we wrap up!”
Just as he turned to leave, a firm grip caught his wrist. It was Xue Lou.
“How can you still leave him here?” Xue Lou demanded. “What kind of place is this? And you’re letting him stay with a—”
His upbringing as a good student prevented Xue Lou from making his phrasing sound too discriminatory, but Xiao Yu picked up on it: “Sister Xinxin isn’t some shady person! Except for being a bit silly, she’s great in every other way!”
“Those are two separate matters,” Xue Lou stated decisively. “You’re a student, and you’re so young. You shouldn’t be exposed to this so early—strictly speaking, you shouldn’t be involved with these things at all.”
“Then how is this any different from hiring a gaming companion online? You’re the one looking at people through tinted glasses!”
“Is hiring a gaming companion reasonable either? Students should focus on their studies…”
“Quiet!” Gu Siqiao shouted.
His head was aching furiously. What was Xue Lou doing? Why was a grown adult arguing with a nine-year-old child—and the child of his top boss, no less!
Turning around, Gu Siqiao cast a cold, towering glare over the two youngsters, his dark eyes ultimately landing on Xue Lou.
“I don’t have time to referee between you two idiots,” Gu Siqiao said, grinding his teeth. “Five minutes. Get this completely sorted out for me, or don’t bother coming to work tomorrow either, Xue Lou.”
Bang! The door slammed shut.
Xue Lou turned back to face the two minors.
Xiao Yu and Xinxin shivered in unison.
Xue Lou looked refined and gentle on the surface, but looking closely, one would realize he stood nearly 190 cm tall. Up close, his shoulders and arms beneath the suit were broad and solid, casting a massive shadow over the two like a dark mountain.
It was a different kind of intimidating compared to Gu Siqiao. Gu Siqiao was a handsome, dashing playboy; when he got angry, he was sinister—smiling one second, then using underhanded moves to crush you the next. Xue Lou, on the other hand, showed little emotion and remained dead quiet. Yet the calmer he was, the more terrified the two kids felt.
“What are you doing?” Xiao Yu stiffened his neck, raising his voice. “Think I’m scared of you?”
Xue Lou stared at Xiao Yu for a moment, his thoughts unreadable.
The break room was cramped and suffocating. Just as the hair on Xiao Yu’s arms was standing on end, Xue Lou turned his gaze toward Xinxin.
The young girl instantly felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles.
“Is your name Xinxin?” Xue Lou asked.
Xinxin nodded like a woodpecker: “Yes, big brother.”
Xue Lou: “Is that your real name too?”
Xinxin: “Yes… yeah.”
Xue Lou: “How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Recite your ID number for me.”
“210…” Xinxin froze.
“How old are you really?” Xue Lou didn’t press aggressively; he was as calm as a machine.
“Sixteen,” Xinxin gasped, looking on the verge of fainting. “Big brother, I’m not smart and I couldn’t keep up with school. I just wanted to find a job to support myself. Please spare me! I’ll never hang out with Xiao Yu again, even if he selects me, I won’t play with him!”
Xue Lou patted Xinxin on the shoulder: “Both of you, come outside with me.”
“Where to?”
“To the car.” Xue Lou pulled out the Maybach key that Kang Shuai had given him when he first arrived tonight.
“Big brother!” Xinxin felt as if struck by lightning. “I was wrong, I was really wrong! I’ve only been here for a little over a month and I don’t even have any client quota. I don’t even have the credentials to lead Xiao Yu astray!”
Xue Lou signaled for them to stand up with a glance. Panicking, Xiao Yu’s legs unconsciously obeyed the order anyway: “What are you bringing us back to the car for?”
“Just like your Little Uncle said,” Xue Lou pulled open the door, “to get this completely sorted out.”
*
At 1:40 AM, the business dinner finally wrapped up. As they were leaving, Principal Wu asked Gu Siqiao: “A big boss like you gave us so much face today. If there was any poor hospitality on our part, please forgive us.”
Gu Siqiao answered lukewarmly, giving a rather perfunctory response.
“President Gu, where is that secretary of yours?”
“There was something at headquarters, so I sent him to handle it first,” Gu Siqiao replied.
Once everyone had left, Gu Siqiao looked for his Maybach in the parking lot outside.
Xue Lou had been right earlier—though he was a blockhead, a blockhead was still an extra hand. With him gone, Gu Siqiao had to fight alone in the end, finishing an entire bottle of vodka.
As the night breeze blew over him, the alcohol began to hit hard.
Gu Siqiao’s tie was loosened and his hair was damp with sweat. He leaned over the trunk of the Maybach with one hand clutching his stomach, paralyzed by a sharp, twisting pain that made it difficult to walk.
A man stepped out from the driver’s seat: “Are you Mr. Gu?”
Through his messy bangs, Gu Siqiao caught sight of a man wearing a designated driver vest. He barely managed to steady himself: “Who called you here? Where is he?”
“He’s sitting in the passenger seat,” the driver said.
Gu Siqiao brushed off the driver’s attempt to steady him and stumbled over to pull open the passenger door.
Xue Lou was sitting inside. Seeing Gu Siqiao in such a disheveled state, he was taken aback: “Are you alright, Gu Siqiao?”
“What are you doing in the car?” Gu Siqiao asked. “Where’s that brat?”
Xue Lou pointed toward the back row, and Gu Siqiao leaned in to look inside.
Sitting in the back seat were Xiao Yu and Xinxin. Xiao Yu was wrapped in a blanket, drooling as he slept soundly, while Xinxin was hugging Xiao Yu’s backpack, looking like a student waiting for a parent-teacher conference.
“I created a WeChat group for the three of us,” Xue Lou said. “I told Xiao Yu that he can play, but he can’t go back to that place. Furthermore, he has to finish his homework under my supervision first. I watched him finish all his homework in the car—completing one assignment earns him two games with Xinxin.”
Gu Siqiao looked at Xue Lou as if he were staring at an alien: “…Who told you to handle it like that?”
“Didn’t you say to get it completely sorted out?” Xue Lou looked at him and said, “You shouldn’t bring Xiao Yu here anymore either, Gu Siqiao. It’s irresponsible to the child.”
Gu Siqiao felt a splitting headache coming on.
Holding onto the car doorframe, he waved a exhausted hand at Xinxin: “Thank you for your help today. You can go back now.”
Xinxin set down the backpack, gave a timid farewell, got out of the car, and ran off.
Gu Siqiao sat down inside the car. As the vehicle started moving, the designated driver asked from the front: “Where to, Mr. Gu?”
Gu Siqiao pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly: “To Haicheng Tiandi.”
No one spoke along the way.
Upon arriving at the Gu estate, Aunt Zhou carried the sleeping Xiao Yu out of the car. Gu Siqiao asked Xue Lou, who was sitting diagonally in front of him: “Address.”
An unnatural flicker of light crossed Xue Lou’s eyes: “Don’t bother. Just pull over by the side of the road anywhere along the route.”
Gu Siqiao closed his eyes, his voice raspy: “State the location.”
Xue Lou opened his mouth: “The intersection of Heping Road and Fuxing Road, please.”
The driver turned the steering wheel to make a U-turn.
Xue Lou glanced toward the rearview mirror. Gu Siqiao had his eyes closed with his brow slightly furrowed, his face turned toward the window. His lean frame sank deep into the executive leather seat as the streetlights outside flashed frame by frame across his cheek, making his complexion appear exceptionally pale.
Xue Lou: “I’m sorry. I forgot I was supposed to come back to stay by your side, letting them ply you with so much alcohol.”
“That’s not what you should be apologizing for,” Gu Siqiao mumbled, huddled in his seat with messy bangs falling over his forehead. “Meddling in other people’s business, and arguing with a kid.”
“Then can I come to work tomorrow?” Xue Lou asked.
Gu Siqiao kept his eyes closed and let out a small tsk: “What do you think?”
Xue Lou fell silent.
The car soon pulled over at the intersection. Before closing the car door, Xue Lou leaned down while holding the door: “Gu Siqiao, remember to take some hangover medicine before you sleep.”
Gu Siqiao shifted into a more comfortable position, offering Xue Lou nothing but the back of his messy black hair.
The car door shut.
Gu Siqiao turned his head, squinting his booze-hazed eyes to watch Xue Lou disappear down the end of the street.
He sank back into the seat cushion, completely drained.
“To Shiji Xinyuan,” Gu Siqiao’s voice finally carried a faint, breathy rasp. “Drive slowly, driver. I feel like throwing up.”
Ten minutes later, the Maybach pulled into an underground garage.
After receiving Gu Siqiao’s response that he didn’t need help being escorted upstairs, the driver rode off on his folding bike.
For several minutes, the car door remained firmly shut.
Gu Siqiao slouched in the back row with his legs spread, one hand pressing against his stomach. The constant lights of the underground garage shone on his dense eyelashes, casting a shadow beneath his eyes.
Unable to open his eyes, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and placed a call.
It took a while for the call to connect, and Kang Shuai sounded like he had just woken up: “Fourth Brother, what’s wrong? …Did Xue Shen mess up? Do you need me to come pick you up?”
Gu Siqiao let out a couple of soft hums, which gradually evolved into intermittent chuckles.
“Don’t scare me in the middle of the night,” Kang Shuai snapped awake.
Gu Siqiao held up his phone, his whole body completely relaxed—so relaxed that his speech was slightly slurred.
“Your Fourth Brother remembered,” Gu Siqiao’s low chuckle carried the smug satisfaction of a scheme succeeding.
Kang Shuai: “Huh?”
Gu Siqiao murmured hazy words: “I remembered back then… looking through the gap in the Class 1 door, seeing that idiot Xue Lou.”