Gu Yu looked at the flood of messages on the screen, his brows never relaxing.
From Xu Feiyao’s words alone, it was already obvious that he had developed quite a favorable impression of Jiang Yumo.
Gu Yu couldn’t help recalling his previous life: Xu Feiyao’s car brakes had been tampered with, causing the sports car to lose control and plunge off a cliff, leaving him dead without a complete body. Yet now the victim was openly praising the very person responsible.
While finding it absurd, Gu Yu also felt a deep sense of wariness toward Jiang Yumo.
It had been the same with Youyou, and now with Xu Feiyao as well. It seemed Jiang Yumo had a natural ability to easily win people’s favor.
Gu Yu picked up his phone.
Gu Yu: Xu Feiyao, don’t get close to him.
Xu Feiyao: Hey, relax. I don’t like men.
Gu Yu: He’s not as simple as you think.
Xu Feiyao: Don’t worry, I promise I won’t do anything unnecessary.
After saying that, he immediately opened the WeChat chat of their mutual friend Zhou Yibai.
Xu Feiyao: [1]“Xiao” (Xiao) means “little” or “young” jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1984438_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1984438_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Xiao Bai, let me tell you—BALABALA…
Sometimes Gu Yu felt that Xu Feiyao simply couldn’t understand human language. He tapped the desk a few times and didn’t reply again.
The farce in the plaza was still continuing.
“Pay up!” the middle-aged man signaled to the old woman with a look.
The old woman clutched her waist and wailed in pain. “Oh my aching waist! My leg hurts so much, it must be broken!”
The aunt chimed in from the side. “Young man, just spend a little money to ward off disaster. It’s not a big deal.”
The bystanders also started backing them up. With just a few words from the trio, they had already convinced everyone that Jiang Yumo had knocked the old woman down.
Jiang Yumo shrank his neck nervously. “Uh… then how much do you think it should be?”
The three exchanged glances. The old woman’s leg suddenly didn’t hurt as much, nor did her waist. She raised a hand.
“At least five hundred!”
“That doesn’t seem very appropriate,” Jiang Yumo hesitated. Just as the others were about to flare up—
“Five hundred is way too little. Medical expenses and emotional damages together should at least be 1,999!”
It was the first time the group had seen someone raise the price in reverse like this, and the onlookers finally began to think for themselves.
“No need for 1,999. The old lady can still stand and talk. A checkup and some medicine, five hundred is enough.”
“Yeah, and look at her, full of energy and rosy-faced. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with her at all. Damn, could she be running a scam?”
The middle-aged man waved his fist at the crowd, glaring angrily. “You’re the scammer! Want to get beaten up?!”
The aunt pulled him back and said to the boy, “Fine, 1,999 it is! Hurry up and transfer it on WeChat…”
A payment QR code was held out in front of the aunt. The boy smiled shyly.
“Mm, 1,999. Go ahead and transfer it.”
Xu Feiyao couldn’t help laughing. “Pfft!”
The old lady, the uncle, and the aunt became so angry they were about to rush up and hit Jiang Yumo. Xu Feiyao quickly stepped forward to stop them.
“Hey, just talk things out properly. Don’t get physical!”
“Where the hell did you pop out from? Mind your own business!”
“Hah! Today I’m definitely getting involved!”
The few of them grabbed and pulled at each other, tangling together like people fighting over hair, while Jiang Yumo had somehow squeezed out of the crowded group.
“Don’t run!” the uncle roared. With brute strength he shoved the others aside and charged toward Jiang Yumo. A vicious look flashed in his eyes as he pulled a rusty little knife from his pocket.
“Ah! He’s got a knife!”
The crowd scattered in panic. The uncle saw Jiang Yumo looking at him sideways with his lower eyelids raised, his face full of disdain, clearly looking down on him. Rage surged up inside him. He raised the knife and rushed forward.
“Ahhh! Damn it, I’ll kill you!”
Jiang Yumo kept smiling, his hands in his pockets, not even trying to dodge.
【Ahhh, damn it! Host, move!】
The knife was already within inches of the boy. Just when everyone was holding their breath for him—
“Stop!”
Several plainclothes police officers suddenly rushed out from nowhere. One kick sent the uncle to the ground, and a knee pinned him down firmly.
“Xu Cuihua, Zhang Dali, suspected of extortion. You’re under arrest! Assault with a weapon adds another charge!”
The crowd erupted in shock, only then realizing they had truly been deceived.
“Holy crap, it really was a scam!”
“I even joined in scolding him earlier. I really should be ashamed!”
“It’s scum like you that makes people less and less willing to help others these days!”
Before Cuihua and the others could figure out how the police had discovered them, when they had clearly been so cautious, changing locations after every job, they saw an officer walk up to Jiang Yumo.
“Comrade, you were the one who called the police, right? Thank you for your contribution to public safety.”
Jiang Yumo smiled shyly. “I just did what an ordinary citizen should do.”
【Ding! Daily task: Do one good deed a day 10/10 completed. Current energy value: 15 points.】
【Penalty task: Hug Gu Yu — not completed. Time remaining: 7 hours.】
Jiang Yumo’s face immediately fell. “Don’t make me slap you while I’m in a bad mood.”
Damn it, he felt so frustrated he really wanted to cause some trouble to vent.
But the moment the thought arose, he was zapped by electricity.
Jiang Yumo: “……”
The system cried out: 【Ow! Host, can you at least think about it superficially instead of seriously thinking about it!】
Simply thinking without killing intent wouldn’t trigger the monitoring system.
Which meant that the host had genuinely harbored malicious intent.
But then again… considering how many people he killed in his previous life, could this be karma coming full circle?
The scammers were taken away by the police, and the embarrassed bystanders gradually dispersed.
Xu Feiyao stood there with one hand in his pocket and extended his right hand toward Jiang Yumo.
“Let’s get acquainted—”
Jiang Yumo didn’t even glance at him. He stepped to the side and tried to walk past him. Xu Feiyao quickly took a few strides and blocked his way.
“Hey, kid. I helped you out, how come you’re not even saying thanks?”
Only then did Jiang Yumo look at him directly. His gaze swept over him from top to bottom before shifting away as if he’d seen something dirty. His tone was extremely perfunctory.
“Hah. Even without you, they wouldn’t have been able to start a fight.”
After saying that, he glanced toward the roadside. “My ride’s here.”
Jiang Yumo left without another word.
Xu Feiyao looked down at himself. On top he wore a split-front floral shirt, revealing a bit of his well-toned chest, and on the bottom a pair of black slacks. It was perfectly normal clothing.
Wait, what exactly was he being disgusted by?
Xu Feiyao turned around, intending to argue with Jiang Yumo about it, but then he saw him getting into a glossy black Bentley Mulsanne.
He let out a surprised whistle. “This kid’s not simple… Wait, that license plate, something’s off. Isn’t that Brother Yu’s car?”
Xu Feiyao rubbed his chin and grinned wickedly. “Never would’ve guessed… so Brother Yu’s actually that secretly flirtatious?”
At that moment, Gu Yu had just finished his meeting and received another message from Xu Feiyao.
Xu Feiyao: I thought you really didn’t care.
Xu Feiyao: As expected of you! 【Thumbs up.jpg】
Gu Yu was probably still working and didn’t reply. Xu Feiyao curled his lips, then suddenly thought of something. Delighted, he walked toward his girlfriend, who had just found a parking spot and finished parking the car.
“Come on, we’re not going to the party anymore. Let’s go to the birthday banquet instead.”
What kind of yacht party could compare to seeing Gu Yu’s sweetheart? Besides, he had done a quick check on this Jiang Yumo. The people attending the banquet were all the type to look down on others. If Jiang Yumo got bullied there, how would he explain it to Gu Yu?
Gu Yu frowned slightly, not understanding what Xu Feiyao was talking about, so he simply didn’t reply. He asked his assistant to move up as much of the evening’s work as possible. If he hurried, he should still be able to make it back before the banquet ended to celebrate Youyou’s birthday.
This was Gu Youyou’s first birthday since returning to the Gu family. Gu Yu knew clearly that whether or not he appeared at the banquet would influence how others treated her.
ᘻᘿᓍᘺ
In his previous life, Jiang Yumo would never have imagined that one day after being reborn he would sit in a car belonging to the Gu family.
The car’s interior was top-of-the-line, and the driver’s skills were excellent. Sitting inside felt as smooth as gliding over flat ground.
Jiang Yumo said, “A car like this can’t cost less than several million. Gu Yu really has a good life. Good-looking, rich family, no one bullies him, tsk, tsk.”
Someone who had always stood completely in the light like that, how could he not feel intense jealousy? He truly wanted to take his place.
Jiang Yumo had always regretted that he never got to see Gu Yu lose control and break down. In this life, with this stupid system around, who knew if he’d ever get the chance.
“What if I install some needles under this seat? Would it stab Gu Yu to death?”
【Host, haha, you’re joking, right? Bzz, uh…】
Jiang Yumo spread his hands. “Yeah, I’m joking.”
The system’s soul practically left its body, it had been shocked again.
【Host, you’d better really just be thinking about it.】
Jiang Yumo shrugged. “How is this my fault? Obviously the monitoring system is the one going crazy. Just thinking about it, does that count as a crime?”
He didn’t know about other people, but when this host thought about something, it was practically halfway to being done. The accomplishments from his previous life were no exaggeration.
The host had such powerful execution ability that whatever he set out to do usually succeeded.
At that moment, the host tapped his fingers against the car window, deep in thought. Who knew what kind of scheme he was brewing. Fortunately, the monitoring system hadn’t been triggered, so it probably wasn’t anything too serious…
The car drove into a massive estate. On the huge lawn in front of the gate, more than twenty luxury cars were parked with plenty of space left over, something ordinary people could hardly imagine in the land-scarce city center of A City.
By this time night had fallen. The guests mingled under the exquisitely decorated Chinese-style theme setting, glasses clinking as they chatted.
Tonight was Gu Youyou’s first birthday banquet since returning to the Gu family. The Gu family had not made it a grand affair; they had only invited close relatives and friends with good ties to the family.
The adults gathered together socializing, while the younger crowd sat together eating, drinking, chatting, and laughing.
They surrounded Gu Youyou as they sat, talking and joking. No one was tactless enough to bring up things Gu Youyou might not understand, like luxury jewelry shows or fashion events, that would kill the mood. Instead, they talked about amusing things from daily life and school.
Gu Youyou didn’t know any of them. At first she felt a little nervous and restrained, but gradually she relaxed. Although she still spoke very little, she nodded or shook her head from time to time and replied softly. The atmosphere was fairly harmonious.
“Happy birthday, little Youyou~”
The eldest young master of the Gu family, Gu Xuan, stood behind Gu Youyou and placed a beautifully wrapped gift box in front of her.
Gu Xuan lifted his chin at the girl sitting beside Gu Youyou. The girl froze for a moment, then hesitantly shifted aside. Gu Xuan directly jumped over from behind and sat down on the sofa, propping an arm on the backrest.
“Well? Open it and see if you like it.”
The gift box was only palm-sized. Gu Youyou easily opened it, it was a very delicate jewelry bracelet. Pale pink and light blue gemstones were set in golden dragon-claw settings, perfectly complementing the gold chain.
“Wow~ Isn’t this the new jewelry piece from Brand X? I remember it costs more than three million!”
“Yeah, Youyou, your big brother treats you so well!”
But Gu Youyou’s reaction was rather mild. She pressed her lips together, smiled shyly, and said, “Thank you, big brother.”
Then she put the gift aside.
The others exchanged subtle glances. It seemed the siblings’ relationship wasn’t very close yet, though Gu Youyou had only just returned for a few days, which was normal.
That reminded them that the gifts they had given her earlier had also been casually handed off to a maid to put away. Since she hadn’t given even her own big brother much face, thinking about it that way made them feel less dissatisfied.
Seeing that Gu Youyou didn’t seem to care much about jewelry, they even regarded her a little more highly.
Suddenly, a girl looking at her phone covered her mouth and let out a startled gasp.
“What are you looking at that’s so surprising?” The person beside her leaned over curiously. “Holy—”
She almost blurted out a curse, but remembering the Second Young Master, she quickly changed her wording without showing it.
“Second Young Master has someone he likes?”
As soon as those words came out, the young men and women around them couldn’t help but speak up.
“Where did you hear such rumors? Don’t believe or spread gossip.”
“The ‘Second Young Master’ you’re talking about, do you mean Second Young Master Gu?”
“Second Young Master Gu has kept himself clean for twenty-five years without even a hint of scandal. Don’t talk nonsense!”
“The last person who spread rumors about the Second Young Master is still mining in Africa. Who knows if he’ll ever come back in this lifetime!”
The girl who first mentioned it, Wang Yuewei, felt wronged. She raised her phone and said, “I saw it in a group chat. The one who said it is Xu Feiyao’s current girlfriend. You all know Xu Feiyao is close to the Second Young Master.”
But some people still thought it was fake.
“Have you ever seen the Second Young Master get close to anyone? Use your brains and don’t just repeat what others say! Besides, if the Second Young Master were really looking for a partner, who besides Yuan Qiao would be worthy of him?”
The girls quietly argued among themselves, and at the same time all glanced toward the person sitting across from them, who was smiling gently while chatting softly with Gu Youyou.
If it were anyone else, they might feel jealousy or resentment. But when it came to Yuan Qiao, they found it hard to even feel jealous.
Not only was the Yuan family already extremely wealthy, Yuan Qiao herself was also very capable.
She had graduated from a famous university in A City with a degree in finance. After graduation she entered a subsidiary under the Yuan Group, and within less than two years she had revived a company that had been on the verge of collapse.
It wasn’t that they were just idling around living off their families, but most of them only relied on their families while doing small things on their own. That couldn’t compare to someone who could revive a company nearing bankruptcy.
In terms of appearance, Yuan Qiao was also outstanding, bright, elegant, and dignified.
If the Gu family really wanted to find a partner for Gu Yu, she seemed like the only suitable candidate.
After all, everyone knew that Gu Yu was now effectively in control of the Gu family. The position of the Gu family’s mistress wasn’t something an ordinary person could sit in.
The Yuan family and the Gu family had business cooperation and were fairly close. Not long after Gu Youyou returned, Yuan Qiao had already visited. Although she was busy with work, they occasionally chatted on WeChat.
And since Yuan Qiao indeed had some interest in Gu Yu, after several interactions she had a slightly better relationship with Gu Youyou than the others.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Yuan Qiao said softly as she tucked a curled strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t let the Second Young Master hear this.”
They all remembered what had happened to the people who had gossiped about the Second Young Master behind his back before. Their scalps tingled, and they quickly changed the subject.
At that moment Yuan Qiao noticed that Gu Youyou kept checking her phone and glancing toward the main gate. Thinking she was waiting for Gu Yu, she teased, “Are you waiting for the Second Young Master? He’s your brother, he’ll definitely come.”
Gu Xuan said, “Right.”
But unexpectedly, Gu Youyou shook her head. Excitement was faintly visible on her face.
“No. I’m waiting for… um… a friend.”
A friend? As far as Yuan Qiao knew, Gu Youyou rarely went out. Where would she have met a friend?
Yuan Qiao was still pondering this when she suddenly caught sight of a Bentley driving in through the gate. The smile on her face became more genuine.
“Your second brother is back.”
Gu Youyou suddenly stood up, clutching her phone, excitement and joy written all over her face.
Yuan Qiao shook her head, thinking that the girl must clearly be waiting for Gu Yu and was just too shy to admit it.
But the next moment, her eyes widened in surprise.
References[+]