Gu Zhaoye had just returned to the country and hadn't even started to think of a solution when the solution itself came knocking on his door.
For a moment, he actually felt relieved, as there was nothing specific he needed to personally handle in the special zone.
Instead, it was the accumulated frustration he had endured over this period that needed some proper digesting.
How did all this even begin?
It all started because Gu Zhaoping suddenly changed, suddenly began to torment him.
Gu Zhaoye couldn't help but start to wonder, during that time Gu Zhaoping was studying abroad, did she actually learn something?
Could it be that her previous persona of being idle and unaccomplished was all an act to deceive them? Just to set the stage for challenging him now?
Knowing she had always been inferior to him, did she start planning this far ahead back then, aiming to catch him off guard?
Gu Zhaoye's face darkened. On one hand, he felt a subconscious, lingering fear whenever she was mentioned due to the recent beatings from Gu Zhaoping; on the other hand, he was furious and felt utterly defeated by it.
Once he resolved this crisis, he would truly shift his focus to battling Gu Zhaoping.
The resources were still in his hands for now, and he must seize this opportunity to ruthlessly crush Gu Zhaoping, leaving her no opening to rise up.
The more Gu Zhaoye thought about it, the angrier he became, and his thoughts involuntarily turned to Ruan Nian.
If he hadn't agreed to that program recording to help her, how could he have encountered such a massive public opinion storm?
As he pondered, he suddenly realized that he, who had doted on Ruan Nian so much before, was now blaming her without hesitation.
It was only now that the domineering CEO Gu Zhaoye discovered that none of the women he had once cherished were truly in sync with him or brought him peace.
One after another brought greater disasters, which was bad enough, but even Liang Zhiwei, who should have been wholly devoted to admiring and depending on him, was also...
Suddenly, another person came to his mind—
Fang Yining.
It seemed like a long time since he had last seen his fiancée. However, the very source of this huge conflict with Gu Zhaoping was him abandoning Fang Yining to celebrate Ruan Nian's birthday, which led to Gu Zhaoping chasing him down to settle the score.
Could it be that...
Gu Zhaoye certainly knew Fang Yining was Gu Zhaoping's good friend. He was also clear that Fang Yining had gotten to know Gu Zhaoping to get closer to him.
Her familiarity with Gu Zhaoping was all for the sake of being able to communicate better and live harmoniously with the Gu family after marrying into it.
But do you know that you, as my fiancée, became the trigger and excuse for Gu Zhaoping to try to oust me?
Gu Zhaoye grew more furious the more he thought, utterly baffled by what was going on with this fiancée.
However, a flash of insight struck him. He seemed to remember that Fang Yining was quite fond of him, but he hadn't paid much attention before, which had hurt her feelings.
Since she was so close to Gu Zhaoping, might she know something? For instance, what exactly did Gu Zhaoping intend to do to him this time? And how did she secretly connect with the old master?
Gu Zhaoye calmed himself and thought it over, finally suppressing his temper and, unusually, giving Fang Yining a call.
Although their engagement had been settled for a long time, the two of them had very little contact. Whatever contact there was mostly came from Fang Yining's side.
In Gu Zhaoye's impression, her attitude was always one of deep sadness over being neglected.
This time, to gather more information, he even lowered his stature, prepared some slightly concerned phrases in his mind, and dialed, waiting for Fang Yining's response.
The call rang for a minute and disconnected automatically.
Gu Zhaoye was taken aback. It wasn't a particularly important time, why wouldn't Fang Yining answer?
Frowning, he dialed again. After a minute, it disconnected automatically again.
She must be busy with something else and not looking at her phone.
Gu Zhaoye composed himself, waited a while longer, and called again.
This time, it rang for about 20 seconds before being decisively hung up.
Gu Zhaoye's eyelid twitched. Stunned, he stared at the screen showing the other party was busy.
No way, did Fang Yining just hang up on him?
That didn't make sense, why would she hang up on him?
He took a deep breath, suppressing the agitation rising again, and decided to send her a message first.
[I have something important to discuss with you.]
The tone was indifferent, full of a CEO's authority.
After waiting a bit, estimating she had seen the message, he called her again.
This time, it rang for less than a few seconds. Gu Zhaoye patiently pressed his brow, wondering what on earth Fang Yining was up to.
Just then, the call was suddenly answered. Gu Zhaoye's brow instantly relaxed.
That's more like it. He really didn't know what Fang Yining was doing earlier. Didn't she know he had important matters to discuss? Or was she throwing a tantrum?
"Fang Yi..." He had just started to say her name, but before the sound could last two seconds, he was nearly deafened by an ear-splitting cacophony blasting from the other end!
"BANG!"
For a moment, Gu Zhaoye felt his eardrums were about to rupture!
He quickly pulled the phone away from his ear, looking at the screen with disbelief, shock, and anger, before finally discerning what was happening on the other end. Gongs and drums? How could the noise be so deafening?
Was Fang Yining crazy? What was she doing?
Over there, various metallic instrument sounds were still fiercely vying for attention, heart-rending and desperate. Intermittently, the lead singer's loud rap could be heard.
The atmosphere at the venue was simply too wild. The person on the other end couldn't hear clearly what was being said at all. Moreover, having had a few drinks and being somewhat tipsy, they fumbled for the phone on the table and put it to their ear.
"Who is this?" the person asked drunkenly.
Hearing this, Gu Zhaoye, who had one hand on his hip, was originally gazing sullenly out the floor-to-ceiling window on the 30th floor at the bustling city traffic below.
But at that moment, his entire body suddenly stiffened, and disbelief rapidly gathered into anger on his brow.
How could this be a man's voice?!
Where was Fang Yining? What was she doing?
Gu Zhaoye immediately raised his voice, "Where is Fang Yining? Who are you? What are you doing?"
The male model on the other end rubbed his sleepy face, yawned, and looked ahead.
Sister Fang? Wasn't Sister Fang over there, dancing with two handsome guys?
"Sorry, Sister Fang is busy right now. If you have something, find her later," the male model said, his tone instantly turning cold as he pursed his lips.
Someone so frantic and jumping to conclusions was probably just another competitor trying to steal business. Maybe Sister Fang hadn't gone to see him, so he was here trying to poach her?
Green tea bitch.
At that moment, he casually glanced at the contact name: TD. What does that mean? Initials?
Not an important person anyway. The male model casually hung up and put the phone aside.
Gu Zhaoye's face turned ashen. Seeing the other party was about to hang up, he hurriedly shouted "Hello? Hello?" several times, but he was too late to stop it. After a "beep," the line went dead.
Gu Zhaoye's expression was unprecedentedly grim!
He stared at his phone in disbelief, his hands trembling with rage.
What on earth was Fang Yining doing? Why was there a drunken man answering her phone so naturally and intimately at this hour? Where exactly was she?
Why was it so noisy? Someone was singing and there was the sound of drums and gongs?
Could she possibly be at a nightclub?
Fang Yining had finally danced herself tired. She stopped and sat back down on the seat, taking a sip of her drink.
It was then that the equally drunk male model beside her suddenly said, "Oh right, Sister Fang, someone called you earlier. I answered without thinking. His attitude was terrible. Really, don't book him anymore... The guys here, every one of us speaks sweetly, maintains strict physique standards, and would never be impatient with you, Sister Fang. Someone like him, pfft, just dump him!"
Fang Yining rubbed her temples. Ugh, who could it be, calling her at a time like this? Didn't they know not to disturb her?
Were they that desperate for business?
This male model really had no patience.
She picked up her phone and looked: the contact name was TD.
This person seemed to have gone mad, frantically calling her over a dozen times in a row, each ring lasting dozens of seconds, as if he were in a desperate panic.
Fang Yining was utterly exasperated, still grumbling internally: What's with this? What kind of male model are you, a delivery guy or a takeout rider? What's the big hurry?
Then, her arm around the handsome guy suddenly stilled. Sobering up slightly from the alcohol, she realized... oh, wait a minute.
That contact name seems to be...
"Gu Zhaoye?!"
Fang Yining was stunned for a moment. She'd even set his contact to 'Unsubscribe,' how did she still end up getting his call?
Fang Yining rolled her eyes and was about to toss her phone aside when, right at that moment, Gu Zhaoye called again.
She frowned and made a sound of annoyance, but ultimately, out of respect for Sister Zhaoping, she answered. "Hello, what exactly do you want?"
Gu Zhaoye, finally getting through again, was brimming with fury ready to erupt, but was immediately cut off by the extremely impatient voice on the other end, choking back all his words!
"What do I want? Fang Yining, I'd like to ask what you're doing!" Gu Zhaoye laughed in extreme anger. "Where are you right now? Why haven't you answered any of my calls? Who is that beside you?"
Fang Yining let out a short, mocking laugh. "Gu Zhaoye, you're hilarious. What's wrong with your brain? With your comprehension skills, how on earth did you become the heir to the Gu family?"
"Is it so hard to understand? It's the middle of the night, prime time for fun. What do you think I'm doing? What should I be doing? Stop playing innocent, don't you have a clue? Of course I'm out having fun with men!"
Gu Zhaoye's eyes widened.
But the person on the other end was even more scathing: "You actually have the nerve to question me? Anyone else might, but you, Gu Zhaoye, are you qualified? Oh, it wasn't you being all intimate with Ruan Nian, was it? Or you finding a substitute? Gu Zhaoye, your skin is truly thick, no wonder you're fit to inherit the family fortune. How wonderful, living in modern society yet still practicing polygamy, embracing the one-husband-many-wives system. You've completely disregarded the law, haven't you? How did the fall of the Qing Dynasty miss you?"
"Oh haha, right, I saw the news recently." Fang Yining spoke as if she'd discovered a new continent, picking up a glass of wine and drinking gleefully. "Weren't you the one making a fool of yourself at that summit, broadcast live globally? The whole world was watching your joke. Oh yeah, I also remember you almost left Liang Zhiwei stranded on the mountain, right?"
"Tsk tsk, this time I really want to see how you'll wriggle out of it. This time, forget the Gu family, just the orders from Yuanqi Tech alone should keep you busy enough, right? Have the others canceled? Called off their cooperation with you? Are you still the mighty and imposing President Gu?"
Fang Yining grew more agitated as she spoke, partly because she had drunk a lot today. Normally, she might not have directly unleashed such a tirade on Gu Zhaoye.
Over on his end, Gu Zhaoye was already shaking with rage, nearly crushing his phone, his eyes bloodshot, wishing he could drag Fang Yining out right then and there!
"Fang Yining, what did you say?!"
He couldn't believe it. Was this the Fang Yining he used to know? In his eyes, Fang Yining had always been that boring, conservative image of a proper lady from a good family, never daring to raise her voice.
What madness had possessed her to go fool around with other men?
Remembering what Liang Zhiwei had said to him before, Gu Zhaoye felt a surge of blood rush to his chest in fury, yet he couldn't spit it out!
"Oh, right, seems like last episode you were on some show, participating in a business game or something. I saw it, and you really lost in a spectacular, earth-shattering, unprecedented, never-to-be-repeated way. President Gu is just different, even losing has to be on a grand scale, making a statement!"
Fang Yining laughed as she spoke. "And even got hit by Zhaoping. Congratulations, truly! Your life has been so thrilling lately. I thought mine was pretty exciting, but compared to yours, I admit defeat!"
Gu Zhaoye was so angry his vision blurred, his teeth nearly grinding to dust!
He simply couldn't imagine how Fang Yining had become like this.
"You—" The words 'don't you want the engagement anymore' hadn't even left his mouth when Fang Yining suddenly remembered on the other end and said decisively, "Oh, right, I find you embarrassing. Pick a time soon to come and break off the engagement with me. Our Fang family can't have a son-in-law like you. We could never take you out in public again, too humiliating."
The line instantly went silent, dead quiet.
Fang Yining finally ran out of patience. She was in a hurry to get to the next venue. So she just added, "Oh, and I wish you and Ruan Nian happiness, okay? Just please stop harassing me. Keep it in-house, don't go harming others."
Fang Yining cheerfully hung up the phone, leaving only Gu Zhaoye on the other end, his face dark with fury.
He took deep breaths, his face numb and twitching, a churning fire of anger in his chest almost making him see black.
How could this be? How could she treat him like this?
Last time it was Liang Zhiwei, and now it was Fang Yining!
One after another, they were nothing like the devoted figures he had imagined, showing not the slightest care for him.
Gu Zhaoye's arrogant CEO confidence was utterly shattered. These people weren't just content with breaking him; they wanted to grind him under their heels, stomp on him a few more times, and then spit on him.
No one had ever truly liked him in the first place. What people were infatuated with were the halos surrounding him. But the halo of being the Gu Family heir was bestowed by the Gu Family, and his identity as a domineering CEO also stemmed entirely from the Gu Family.
Gu Zhaoye himself was nothing but rotten fish and spoiled shrimp, a worthless piece of trash.
Fang Yining's life had been quite comfortable lately. Ever since being enlightened by Zhaoping last time, she had opened the door to a whole new world, realizing from then on what a bitter existence she had been living before.
She couldn't even be bothered to glance at Gu Zhaoye anymore. Unless he deliberately shoved his face in front of her to be slapped, then she'd be more than happy to take off her shoe and smack it across his face.
Being around Gu Zhaoping made it much easier to see through the so-called allure of these masculine halos. What's so captivating about a handsome, domineering CEO's charisma? What's so appealing about that aloof, controlling demeanor above the mundane world?
Pure pretense.
Who do you think you are? Still putting on airs and acting all high-class. Even truly top-tier entrepreneurs show approachability in front of the public. What kind of trash are you to still be striking poses?
Putting on an act, playing the domineering CEO giving orders, living out your feudal emperor fantasy, still thinking everyone is a servant or concubine for you to ride roughshod over?
Many men with inherently poor character, once they gain power, start to believe all the world's resources belong to them, including members of the opposite sex as resources.
Amidst laughter and toasts, a bunch of old fogies and middle-aged fogies feel they control the world's discourse again, that they can lord over others, and that the whole world must lick their boots.
It's purely putting on a show for their own benefit, having a grand old time playing this game of power role-play. The moment someone doesn't play by their rules, they completely lose it.
Fang Yining hung up the phone, rolled her eyes, and spat out a "pfft."
Over on his end, Gu Zhaoye was trembling with rage for a long time, unable to stop.
Suddenly, he leaned on the table beside him, feeling a metallic taste of blood in his throat. It was truly the first time he had experienced what it felt like to be so angry he could vomit blood.
Was it because of this incident that Fang Yining was so sure he was about to be toppled? Is that why she dared to be so insolent towards him?
Who gave you the guts to be so certain!
He had already laid out his next steps; there was still a great chance for a turnaround! It was just a temporary public opinion storm. The masses would forget soon enough, and he would continue being the CEO of Yuanqi Tech, the heir of the Gu Family.
Fang Yining, are you so eager to burn bridges, so eager to kick him while he's down and end the engagement?
Fine, fine, fine. Gu Zhaoye finally saw Fang Yining's true, mercenary face. But even though he had concluded she was opportunistic, the idea that she held not a shred of genuine feeling for him still made him unbearably miserable.
Her and Liang Zhiwei... how could they possibly have no feelings for him? Back when he rejected them, the sadness in their eyes was real.
Could even that have been an act?
Gu Zhaoye was so angry he felt the blood vessels in his chest were about to burst.
At this moment, his circle of second-generation heir "brothers" finally managed to get through to him on the phone to show their concern.
Gu Zhaoye struggled for a long moment before finally closing his eyes and answering the call.
"Brother Gu, what's going on with you lately? How did things blow up so big? How could your sister treat you like this? Do you have some conflict?"
Just mentioning this made Gu Zhaoye's chest churn with fury, nearly causing his lungs to explode again.
"I don't know!"
The other end was also a group of people at a gathering. In the past, Gu Zhaoye had been the leading figure among them, everyone calling him "Brother Gu."
Gu Zhaoye was the chosen one. They had never seen him so utterly broken and defeated before.
The young masters exchanged glances.
In the smoke-filled private room, someone suddenly made a suggestion: "Brother Gu is in trouble. As brothers, we can't just stand by and watch him suffer. Let's pool whatever resources we can to help."
The others also looked at each other.
Stepping forward to speak up for Gu Zhaoye was quite simple. They each had status and reputation, regulars on various business pages, with countless admirers.
If they could step forward and firmly express their belief in Gu Zhaoye, clarifying things for him, surely many people would change their minds.
But the most crucial point now was why Gu Zhaoping had spoken on behalf of Gu Zhaoye. That signal was very ominous.
After a long pause, someone finally proposed: "Gu Zhaoping wants to make a name for herself in Haishi's business circles, right? So much so that she'd step on her own younger brother to climb up."
"Since she wants to play, let's play with her. Let her know that the upper-echelon business circle isn't something she can easily navigate; it's not as simple to break into as she imagines."
"If she wanted to enter our circle politely and with good manners, that would be one thing. We'd even look at her with some respect, being Brother Gu's sister after all."
"But since she's so arrogant and clueless, we really have to step in and teach her a lesson."
Hearing this, Gu Zhaoye finally felt somewhat comforted and impatiently urged, "If you have a plan, just get on with it!"
Anyway, taking Gu Zhaoping down a peg would be good. At the very least, it would keep her too busy to take her next move, buying Gu Zhaoye time to secure that deal and save Yuanqi Tech.
So, the few people sitting together exchanged looks and said, "Once Gu Zhaoping returns to the country, we'll invite her to one of our gatherings."
They would let her see that standing against Gu Zhaoye meant standing against their entire group.
Let's see how she plans to play then.
The one leading the conversation finished speaking calmly, and the others seemed to follow his lead.
He was the one with the highest status among them. Aside from Gu Zhaoye, the others listened to him.
While they were talking, his phone suddenly rang. He was taken aback to see it was from his own father. He quickly stood up and hurried out to answer the call.
"Hello? Yes, yes, I'm listening, Dad. Do you have instructions? Oh, it's about Uncle? Uncle's side admires someone and wants my cousin to meet with her more, is that it?"
He wore a smile. The Ni family's highest status belonged to his uncle's branch, though they had been abroad. Whenever Uncle's family had instructions, they generally rushed to carry them out promptly.
Especially since this involved his eldest cousin, Ni Tiansong. Everyone in the Ni family greatly admired Ni Tiansong, so he hastily made a note of the matter.
"So you're saying my eldest cousin is planning to come back to the country for a while? Great, great, I'll absolutely take charge of hosting him, make sure he's well taken care of!" He forced a smile and chatted for a bit, then heard the other person switch—it was actually his uncle who came on the line to speak to him.
"...Jun, this isn't just a simple matter of a blind date. The young lady in question is exceptionally outstanding. Things aren't settled yet; even your eldest cousin might not necessarily win her favor. So, when you accompany your cousin, you must behave properly, understand? We in the family haven't questioned your usual carousing too much, but if this ends up not working out because of anything, your blame will be great."
The Young Master of the Ni Family stiffened, hurriedly nodding in agreement: "Ah, yes, yes, yes, Uncle, you're absolutely right. How could I possibly drag things down? I won't be fooling around during this time, no more playing around!"
"Hmm, also, that young lady is very distinguished. You must never treat her merely as a blind date prospect. If there's an opportunity, our family also wishes to discuss a major collaboration with her. From this perspective alone, you absolutely must not anger her."
"Understood, understood, it will definitely be done!"
