Su Yanyan’s words made Gu Beichuan, who was flipping through the meeting minutes, pause.
Setting down the tablet in his hand, Gu Beichuan glanced at the girl’s worried expression, and his voice unconsciously softened.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”
Hearing the man say it was nothing, Su Yanyan couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Then she asked in a low voice, “Uncle, what’s your name?”
She still didn’t know what the man’s name was.
Gu Beichuan lowered his gaze and met the little girl’s curious, childlike expression.
He unconsciously softened his tone and said three words, “Gu Beichuan.”
After saying that, he thought for a moment and wrote a few characters on the tablet.
Looking at the three characters on the tablet, Su Yanyan quietly repeated them, then silently committed them to memory.
Soon, the man returned to work.
Su Yanyan didn’t leave. Instead, she sat beside him, quietly watching him work.
She didn’t know why, but being next to this uncle gave her a very reassuring feeling.
She had originally planned to sit for a while, then go back to her room to pack up her things, and say goodbye to him once he was done.
But somehow, Su Yanyan felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier…
Just as Gu Beichuan finished his work, a phone call came in.
Glancing at the caller ID, Gu Beichuan hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Ah Chuan, tell me quickly—what’s the deal with that woman from yesterday?” As soon as the call connected, Shen Chengxuan’s voice rang out from the video call.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.” Shen Chengxuan was a reckless troublemaker who thrived on chaos. If he started spouting nonsense, the Gu family’s old estate would be in an uproar.
Hearing that Gu Beichuan was about to hang up, Shen Chengxuan panicked. “Ah Chuan, that’s not cool of you. I’m just looking out for you, man. You’re quite up there in years, and you finally got yourself a woman. Is it wrong for your buddy to care? Why are you getting all worked up?”
Quite up there in years?
Gu Beichuan’s finger, about to end the call, stopped instantly. “Am I that old?”
Shen Chengxuan…
Do you really need me to spell out how old you are?
That’s what he thought, but sensing the less-than-friendly tone in Gu Beichuan’s voice, he quickly laughed and said, “Not at all—just thirty-two, that’s not too old.”
Shen Chengxuan said this while inwardly grumbling.
My cousin is thirty-two and his kid can already run errands for soy sauce. You tell me if thirty-two is old or not?
Among the people they hung out with, most were twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Gu Beichuan was probably the only one over thirty who still wasn’t married.
Looks like Ah Chuan doesn’t have a clear sense of himself—does he still think he’s some young buck in his twenties?
After saying that, Shen Chengxuan continued, “I already know everything about what happened at Mingyue Restaurant yesterday. Don’t even think about hiding it from me!”
Gu Beichuan had no intention of hiding it from Shen Chengxuan anyway. Mingyue Restaurant was owned by this reckless troublemaker, so there was no way he could keep yesterday’s events from him.
There was no one else who would be digging into Su Yanyan’s background besides Shen Chengxuan—after all, the only gossip-loving friend he had was Shen Chengxuan.
“I don’t want the people at the old estate to know about this. You should understand what I mean.” Gu Beichuan decided to make things clear.
He wasn’t worried about others spreading rumors, but he had to be wary of Shen Chengxuan.
Among his circle of friends, Shen Chengxuan was the only one who constantly ran to the old estate and treated it like his own home.
Not because he was more special than the others—mainly because he had a thicker skin.
Hearing Gu Beichuan’s words, Shen Chengxuan chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m not the type to run my mouth! By the way, let’s get together tonight. Bring that girl… no wait, that friend of yours along.”
Gu Beichuan was about to tell Shen Chengxuan to get lost when the voice on the other end of the line spoke up again. “Let’s all go out and relax, have some fun. It’s been a while since we’ve all gotten together.”
Have some fun? Thinking about how down the little girl had been feeling, Gu Beichuan said flatly, “Let me know once you’ve set the time.”
“Awesome!” Shen Chengxuan’s goal achieved, his face instantly lit up with joy. Just as he was about to hang up, he suddenly seemed to hear some kind of sound. “A-Chuan, did you get a pet? I’m hearing some weird noise over there.”
A weird noise?
Gu Beichuan’s brow furrowed slightly. There did seem to be some kind of sound. He turned his head toward the source.
In one glance, he saw the little girl curled up like a kitten, fast asleep and snoring softly. She seemed exhausted, her mouth slightly open as she let out faint, piglet-like snores.
“You must have heard wrong. You should go get your ears checked at an ENT clinic!” With that, before Shen Chengxuan could say another word, Gu Beichuan hung up directly.
Shen Chengxuan, whose call had been cut off, rubbed his ear. His ears had always earned him the reputation of being “ears that catch the wind” — there was no way he’d misheard.
There was clearly a sound.
Gu Beichuan looked at the girl sleeping so soundly, and a smile he himself hadn’t noticed tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He stood up and walked over, bending down to scoop the girl up in his arms and carry her toward the bedroom.
Setting her down carefully, Gu Beichuan sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze resting on her youthful face.
Suddenly recalling Shen Chengxuan’s remark about his age, the corner of Gu Beichuan’s mouth twitched involuntarily.
The little girl was nineteen, and he was thirty-two — a full cycle of twelve years plus one more.
Hiss!
Gu Beichuan couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.
The moral shackles that had been on the verge of loosening tightened once again.
“And then what?” At a bubble tea shop, Li You held her drink in hand, listening to everything Su Yanyan was telling her. She was so shocked she accidentally bit her straw out of shape.
“And then I went back to school.” Su Yanyan lightly pressed her lips together as she said this.
Leaving had been a bit complicated, actually. She’d slipped away while Big Brother was at the company, but she’d left a note.
She didn’t want to trouble him anymore.
At this moment, Su Yanyan had only told Youzi about what happened after she caused trouble at the restaurant. She hadn’t yet told her about what happened between her and Big Brother at the hotel that night.
Mainly because she really didn’t know how to bring it up… and also… she was a little scared.
She was afraid that if Youzi found out about this, she’d blow her top and go looking for trouble with Big Brother.
Hearing what Su Yanyan had been through, Li You couldn’t help but poke her head. “You’re really bold, going home with a complete stranger. Aren’t you afraid…”
Li You glanced around, then lowered her voice. “Aren’t you afraid he’d eat you up?”
Li You’s words made Su Yanyan’s face flush bright red as she once again thought about what had happened that night.
Good thing she hadn’t told Youzi — otherwise, she’d probably be getting her skull poked through right about now.
Su Yanyan and Li You didn’t attend the same university, so after chatting for a while, they went their separate ways.
Back at school, Su Yanyan walked toward her dormitory building.
Just as she reached the entrance, her phone rang.
Glancing at the caller ID, Su Yanyan instantly tensed up.