The next day.
A café located diagonally across from the building of Gu's Consortium boasted an elegant and private environment.
The air was filled with the rich aroma of freshly ground coffee and the soothing melody of a piano piece.
In a corner booth by the window, Lin Shu sat upright.
She had a delicate makeup on, and every strand of her hair was meticulously arranged. There was a cup of latte in front of her, and her fingertips unconsciously rubbed against the cup wall, revealing that her heart was not as calm as it seemed on the surface.
Several high - end luxury brand endorsements that she had painstakingly managed to obtain were suddenly put on hold by the brand owners for various vague reasons without any warning.
As soon as the news reached her, she immediately smelled a familiar handiwork: Gu Chengyu.
Instead of panicking, she smiled in satisfaction.
Sure enough, he still couldn't let her go.
Last time in the backstage passage, she had firmly rejected him, leaving him rebuffed. With the pride of this young master, he was probably finally completely enraged?
Was he now using this method to force her to submit?
Oh, men.
Playing hard - to - get was an old - fashioned tactic, but it was extremely effective.
Although having the endorsements stopped made her a bit nervous, it also meant that her move was a good one, and she had become special in his heart.
Lin Shu picked up the cold coffee and took a sip. The bitterness spread on the tip of her tongue.
She chose this place closest to him, sent a message to invite him to meet, and planned to make up with him.
She had to show some humility, but not too much.
She wanted him to know that she, Lin Shu, was not a plaything to be summoned and dismissed at will.
She was worth him spending some effort to coax.
The door of the café was pushed open, and the wind chimes made a clear sound.
Gu Chengyu walked in.
He was wearing a dark gray suit, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, outlining a perfect inverted - triangle silhouette.
His tie was neatly tied, and there was little expression on his handsome face. Only his deep, almond - shaped eyes showed impatience.
His gaze casually swept across and finally landed on Lin Shu. He strode over with long legs.
He didn't sit down. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her from a superior position, his voice calm and emotionless: "What do you want?"
Lin Shu was stunned by his aloof attitude, and the prepared opening remarks got stuck in her throat.
She took a deep breath, forced herself to put on a bright and appropriate smile, and pointed to the seat opposite: "Chengyu, sit down? Let's have a chat."
Gu Chengyu didn't move. He lowered his eyes, raised his hand to look at his watch, and said indifferently: "I'll give you five minutes."
The smile on Lin Shu's face froze for a moment and then she tried to maintain it.
She put down the coffee cup, leaned forward slightly, and lowered her voice, with just the right amount of grievance and stubbornness: "The matter of my endorsements... was it you who did it?"
Gu Chengyu raised his eyebrows, neither confirming nor denying: "And then?"
"Chengyu..."
Lin Shu looked at him, and her beautiful eyes were full of complex emotions: admiration, unwillingness, the grievance of being offended, and a trace of forced pride.
"I know that I was too impulsive last time backstage."
"I admit that I still have feelings for you in my heart. But using this method..."
She paused, and her voice took on a tone of accusation. "Isn't it too much? Do you know what those endorsements mean to me?"
Her voice was gentle, full of affection and accusation.
In the past, Gu Chengyu might have been stirred by her loving - yet - hating, rejecting - yet - welcoming attitude, arousing a bit of pity and a desire to conquer.
But at this moment, as he listened to her accusations and admiration, an image uncontrollably flashed through Gu Chengyu's mind: a small figure in a dull gray T - shirt and thick glasses.
Forced to guard Lin Shu's costumes, she was sweating profusely... but still sat under the shade of a tree, holding a script and concentrating on reading it.
Disgust replaced all possible emotions.
After she had scolded and bullied his Qian Qian, he could no longer generate the slightest bit of good feeling towards her.
Even the pretentious look in front of him now seemed extremely false and glaring.
Lin Shu continued to speak, trying to move him with their old feelings: "... Chengyu, do we really have to come to this?
"Can't we have a good talk? You know, I've always..."
"Finished?" Gu Chengyu coldly interrupted her emotional speech, his voice showing no trace of emotion.
Lin Shu was interrupted and looked up at him in surprise.
Gu Chengyu's gaze landed on her carefully - made - up face.
He slightly parted his thin lips. His voice was not loud, but it was undeniable: "There's a private party at Yun Que half a month later. You'll accompany me there."
Lin Shu's heart skipped a beat.
Was he... giving her a way out? Was he hinting at reconciliation?
She knew it!
He still cared about her after all!
She suppressed the ecstasy and pride in her heart, but on her face, she tried to maintain a bit of reserve and arrogance, slightly raising her chin: "Chengyu, it's not impossible for you to ask me to go. But about this matter..."
She wanted to say that he hadn't apologized to her for this matter yet and that he should give her back the endorsements first.
Moreover, she couldn't lower her stance so quickly; she had to play hard - to - get.
However, Gu Chengyu's patience had clearly run out.
He wasn't interested in listening to what she had to say next.
There was only indifference in the man's eyes.
"Go, or don't go."
His voice was deep, with the oppression of a superior. "If you go, at the party, in front of everyone, bow your head and admit your mistake, saying that you want to make up."
He leaned forward slightly, getting a bit closer, and looked at Lin Shu's face. The words he said made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cave: "If you don't go, or if you go but fail to do it..."
"Go back and be a bar waitress."
After saying that, Gu Chengyu straightened up.
He no longer looked at Lin Shu's face that had lost all color and was full of shock and humiliation. He turned around without hesitation and strode out of the café as calmly as he had come in.
The doorbell rang clearly again, as if mocking Lin Shu's self - indulgence and scheming just now.
Lin Shu stood there stiffly, with cold fingertips.
The self - satisfaction just now was instantly submerged by embarrassment and fear.
He wasn't giving her a chance.
Instead, he was really tired of her?
How could this happen?
She had been with him for so long and thought she knew him well.
It shouldn't be like this!
What should she do?
Was she supposed to wag her tail and beg for mercy like a dog in front of everyone?
And what was even more crucial was that she wouldn't get any benefits from it?
If she did it badly, she would be blacklisted!
Gu Chengyu was so heartless!
The situation was out of control. She had miscalculated.
Where on earth had things gone wrong?
