“Brother Lu, I don’t have that kind of influence,” Yu Xiaoduo said with a teasing grin.
“Then it’s all thanks to our sister-in-law here. Here, Brother Yu, have a cigarette.”
Yu Xiaoduo was just about to reach for it when his hand froze midair—he could practically feel two beams of killing intent boring into his back from behind.
“Brother Lu, your sister-in-law keeps a tight leash on me. She won’t even let me smoke. Tell me, what joy is there left for us men?”
“Brother Yu, you’re not seeing the big picture. Sister-in-law is probably preparing for pregnancy. She just wants you to cut back a little.”
Yu Xiaoduo: “…”
Gu Wan’er: “…”
Now that was an interpretation. Yu Xiaoduo played along with a theatrical laugh. “Wan’er, why didn’t you just say so? So that’s what it was all along.”
Gu Wan’er forced a smile, her expression practically saying just you wait—and it was kind of adorable in its own way.
After the banter, the four of them took their seats.
“Ye Shishi should be coming over later. We’ve caught the person who pulled those tricks the other night,” Gu Wan’er said in a low voice, genuinely itching to find out which bastard had tried to set her up.
“Sister-in-law, who’s trying to harm you? That person is absolutely heartless—a complete bastard.”
“We’ll find out when they get here.”
Fu Quan pulled out a file and smiled. “Since we’re waiting, let me go over some of the findings from this weekend’s investigation.”
“Brother Fu, you’ve put so much effort into Wan’er’s situation—thank you so much.” Yu Xiaoduo quickly expressed his gratitude. Fu Quan had really gone above and beyond.
Gu Wan’er also chimed in with her thanks.
“Brother Yu, Sister-in-law, you’re both too kind. I’m just an unemployed guy who finally found something productive to do—I have to see it through properly.” With that, Fu Quan laid out a stack of photos.
He continued, “At Sister-in-law’s company, the two main factions are led by Gu Xiao and Gu Lin. Under Gu Xiao, the key figure in upper management is the finance director, Hong Lifei. On Gu Lin’s side, it’s the PR department head, Huang Lifei. If these four aren’t removed, Sister-in-law will never feel secure in her position.”
Yu Xiaoduo couldn’t help but admire Fu Quan’s information-gathering skills. Without connections, none of this would be accessible. Back in the day, the guy would’ve made one hell of an intelligence chief.
“Yeah, that’s exactly right,” Gu Wan’er nodded.
“Let’s start with Huang Lifei. This woman is divorced and has a son in high school, but the kid lives back in her hometown. He was mostly raised by his grandparents, and with no one keeping him in line, he’s always causing trouble—basically the school bully.”
“Huang Lifei only goes back home during holidays, and she spoils her son rotten. Though she’s divorced, she’s never short on boyfriends—changes them like outfits. The youngest one is probably around her son’s age. Here are a few photos.”
Yu Xiaoduo picked them up and took a look. Whoa, talk about a wild lifestyle—two guys, one woman.
Gu Wan’er’s expression was equally strange. People like this actually exist…
“These look like they were taken from hotel security cameras, right?” Yu Xiaoduo muttered.
Fu Quan chuckled. “Exactly. This happened last month. Huang Lifei is cautious—she never does her thing in Longhai; she always goes to surrounding cities. And as it happens, the hotel she frequents is owned by my family.”
Lu Zhengzhi stared at the photos and sighed. “When women have money, they party even harder than men.”
“Playing with young studs is just one of Huang Lifei’s hobbies. She also runs several beauty salons on the side and has connections with a lot of wealthy young wives. She uses these little toy boys to keep those rich ladies satisfied—and that’s exactly how she gets things done that others can’t.”
Yu Xiaoduo couldn’t help but blurt out, “Holy crap—this woman’s got a sharp mind. If we could get her on our side, that’d be way better than firing her.”
Gu Wan’er shot him a cold glare. Keep someone that disgusting around? No way.
“Besides all that, Huang Lifei loves playing mahjong. She spent the whole weekend playing cards with a few socialites, and it’s the same after work on weekdays. For now, this is about all I’ve got.” Fu Quan looked at Yu Xiaoduo and Gu Wan’er, as if asking if they were satisfied.
They were more than satisfied.
“Brother Fu, your intel game is on point,” Yu Xiaoduo praised.
“Brother Yu, you flatter me. Now, let’s talk about Hong Lifei. This chubby guy has a nickname—’Tabletop Warrior.’ Whenever Gu Xiao goes to pitch a project, Hong Lifei is always brought along. He knows how to wine and dine the bosses and also makes private gift deliveries.”
“His family life is pretty stable, though. His wife is a university professor, and their son in middle school ranks first every year. I can’t find any major cracks in him yet. But give me some time—I refuse to believe a guy like that is that clean.” Fu Quan fell into thought as he spoke.
Yu Xiaoduo watched Fu Quan’s intensity and thought he was way too invested—even more than he himself was.
“Take it easy, Brother Fu. There’s no rush. You can’t take these people down in one swing.”
Fu Quan smiled. “Still, there are some gaps. Sister-in-law, please don’t hold it against me.”
“Of course not. You’re overthinking it.” Gu Wan’er felt that with these guys on her side, she’d definitely be able to sort out the company mess.
“Now, about Gu Xiao—this man is greedy and lustful. He’s got every flaw a man could have.”
Gu Wan’er shot a sidelong glance at Yu Xiaoduo, as if saying you’re not much better—greedy and lecherous.
Yu Xiaoduo gave a dismissive smirk, as if to say you’re no saint when you’re on top of me either—we’re even, so don’t point fingers.
“But Gu Xiao is absolutely terrified of his wife,” Fu Quan added.
Lu Zhengzhi burst out laughing. “So he’s a henpecked husband.”
“There’s a good reason for that. His wife is no ordinary woman. Honestly, the reason the Gu family’s branch line stood out in the first place was all thanks to his father-in-law’s family. If he dared to divorce her, Sister-in-law wouldn’t even have to lift a finger—the father-in-law would crush him on his own.”
“I also found a lead suggesting Gu Xiao has been using his position to benefit his in-laws’ family, probably pocketing a nice sum. On weekends, he hangs out with Gu Yuanli—and trust me, those are just debauched, flesh-pleasure activities.”
Gu Wan’er snorted coldly. She’d seen that kind of decadence from Gu Yuanli before—it was filthy and disgusting.
“But Gu Lin is the complete opposite of Gu Xiao. He’s a homebody, doesn’t mess around, doesn’t embezzle. Apart from having a no-good son, his life is practically perfect.”
Yu Xiaoduo asked curiously, “This Gu Lin has someone like Huang Lifei under him. Don’t they have any private contact? Or are they just work partners?”
“That’s something I still need to dig deeper into. Give me some time.”
Yu Xiaoduo took a sip of water and asked again, “By the way, do you know Zhuang Shu?”
“Him? He’s a two-faced player.”
Yu Xiaoduo nodded—that fit. “And what about Du Sheng?”
“Du Sheng is the head of the security department. You can deal with him later. Though I have to say, his wife is pretty good-looking.”
Lu Zhengzhi immediately teased, “Old Fu, I thought you were sent to investigate—turns out you’ve got your eye on someone else’s wife, hahaha!”
“But compared to Sister-in-law, she’s still a notch below.”
Gu Wan’er was caught off guard and instantly felt a little embarrassed.
Yu Xiaoduo thought to himself, Old Fu’s learned how to suck up, huh.
“This Du Sheng spoils his beautiful wife rotten—whatever she wants, she gets.”
Yu Xiaoduo frowned and immediately asked, “Does he spend a lot? Has he taken out any loans?”
“I didn’t check that, but I can have an answer for you by tomorrow.”
“Good. That’s important.”
