“What!” Gu Wan’er immediately stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at Zhao Liang. Yesterday, she had only heard about the “banana stacking” part, not what came before that. This Yu Xiaoduo! And he acts all gentlemanly—I knew he wasn’t a good person.
Who knows, maybe he did something disgraceful this morning. How infuriating!
If you push me too far, I won’t go easy on you either. I’ll make you rub until your skin peels off.
“Brother Yu, that General Manager Gu is not someone to mess with. I know she looks like a fairy, but her style is really ruthless. Back at the head office, she’s known as the ‘devil everyone fears.’ If you cross her, you’ll be lucky to get away with just losing a layer of skin. She’s so petty.” As he spoke, Zhao Liang even made a gesture, completely oblivious to the fact that Gu Wan’er’s expression had already changed.
“I also heard that General Manager Gu is moody and unpredictable—probably because her menopause came early.”
Gu Wan’er grabbed Zhao Liang by the shoulder and said, “Right now, you should be worried about yourself.”
“Huh? What do you mean? Brother Yu, where are you going?” Zhao Liang asked in confusion. Is he that worried? He’s acting all strange.
Gu Wan’er turned around, walked back, and sat down in the empty seat next to Zhao Liang.
“Brother Yu, don’t worry. Worst case, we both quit and leave this job together.”
“Hmph, you two are such good brothers.”
“Huh?”
Gu Wan’er felt like she was losing it. She just couldn’t fully get into a man’s perspective, so she forced a smile and said, “I mean, we are good brothers!”
Seeing “Brother Yu” smile, Zhao Liang wiggled his ridiculously smug eyebrows, relieved that he had finally cheered him up.
Just then, a lean supervisor walked over with a stern face, and Zhao Liang stepped away.
“Yu Xiaoduo, did you know you were late?” the supervisor said in a cold, low voice.
“Sorry, the traffic was really bad today.”
The supervisor frowned and said quietly, “Young people should focus more on their work. Making such a cliché excuse is just tacky.”
“Oh,” Gu Wan’er replied flatly. The supervisor’s face darkened even more at her attitude.
Gu Wan’er thought to herself that coming to the HR department wasn’t such a bad idea. She could start her investigation right here. Originally, she had planned to request the personnel change records from past years, but now she could just look them up directly—saving them the chance to tamper with anything.
But could Yu Xiaoduo really handle Old Master Bai? If trouble is meant to come, you can’t avoid it. She could only leave it to fate.
Ding-dong. Her phone buzzed.
“General Gu, I’m almost there. What’s the plan?”
By now, Yu Xiaoduo had arrived at the outskirts of Longhai City, at a private club called Grand Court.
He had come here once before with his dad. The things you could do inside were beyond imagination—whatever you could think of, they had it. The only downside was that when they got home that night, his mom was sitting on the couch, fuming. That night, his dad really had it rough.
“Put on your Bluetooth earbuds so we can talk.”
“Got it.”
He put on the earbuds and took a deep breath. Why leave a nice, comfortable office just to go looking for thrills? First, it was cross-dressing, and now he felt like some kind of spy.
“Don’t be nervous. You’ve got my backing—what’s there to be afraid of?”
Yu Xiaoduo paused. When he thought about it, she had a point. Gu Wan’er was the general manager. From now on, he could probably walk around the company however he wanted.
But do I, Yu Xiaoduo, need a woman to protect me? I just want to be an ordinary employee, build my future with my own two hands. A little favor like this isn’t going to make me cave!
“General Gu, you’re so generous.”
When he saw the beautiful circular fountain, Yu Xiaoduo took a deep breath and slowly calmed down. It’s just playing an aloof, cool girl. Easy.
“Remember, don’t say anything foolish in front of Old Master Bai. Just stay calm and natural,” Gu Wan’er reminded him again.
“I know. You’ve said it hundreds of times already.”
Gu Wan’er was getting a headache. Today’s success or failure would affect everything that followed, and she was leaving it in the hands of a complete stranger. She had never taken such a big gamble before.
Suddenly, Yu Xiaoduo noticed over a dozen men in suits standing by the Roman columns. They were all wearing black bowler hats. If someone handed them axes, the image would be absolutely perfect.
As the convoy stopped, Li Wei jogged over to open the door and whispered, “Miss, they’re trying to intimidate us.”
Yu Xiaoduo was a bit confused. Gu Wan’er was part of the powerful Gu family, yet Old Master Bai didn’t seem to care about giving her any face at all.
Could it be that Old Master Bai’s influence was on par with Gu Wan’er’s family?
“Do you see Old Master Bai?” Gu Wan’er was starting to feel anxious.
Yu Xiaoduo muttered to himself, “He hasn’t even come out. There’s just a bunch of thugs standing around. I think you need to give me a raise—this is way too dangerous.”
Hearing that Old Master Bai hadn’t even shown himself, Gu Wan’er frowned deeply. That didn’t make sense. Given her status, no matter how arrogant he was, he should have at least come out to greet her.
Four bodyguards surrounded Yu Xiaoduo as he walked forward, but just as he reached the steps, someone called out, “Hold on!”
Yu Xiaoduo and Gu Wan’er’s hearts skipped a beat.
“Miss Gu, please go in alone. Old Master Bai doesn’t like other people around,” said a man with a scar on his face.
Li Wei said in a low voice, “Miss, that’s not safe.”
Gu Wan’er had to consider the security risks. But before she could say anything, she heard Yu Xiaoduo reply, “Wait for me outside.”
Gu Wan’er: “…”
“You’ve got guts. Please, come in,” the scar-faced man said with a slight bow.
Yu Xiaoduo clicked along in his high heels, his face expressionless as he walked into the hall. Inside, he was screaming for a raise: “General Gu, I’m inside.”
“Actually, I was just about to tell you to leave.”
Yu Xiaoduo: “…”
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
“Why did you agree so fast?”
“Didn’t you say today was super important? That we had to pay tribute to this guy?” Yu Xiaoduo was speechless. This is it. I’m done. This woman is going to get me killed.
Just then, the scar-faced man walked over holding a golden tray. When he smiled, the scar on his face twisted like a centipede.
“Miss Gu, if you had chosen to leave just now, Old Master Bai would have advised you to go back where you came from. So congratulations—you get to meet him.”
Gu Wan’er was stunned. So that’s how it works?
Yu Xiaoduo let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness I’ve got luck on my side.
“Please place your bag on the tray. We’ll take good care of it.”
Yu Xiaoduo put his Hermès bag into the golden tray and said flatly, “Is that all?”
“And your phone. And your earbuds.”
Gu Wan’er’s heart sank. This is bad!
Yu Xiaoduo hesitated for a moment, then placed his phone and earbuds on the tray. When Gu Wan’er heard the line go dead, her face turned grim. From now on, Yu Xiaoduo was truly on his own.
But Yu Xiaoduo couldn’t afford to worry about that anymore. He just had to help her as much as he could—and hope that tonight, she would help him in return.
Led by the scar-faced man, he arrived at a garden on the side of the club. The garden was enormous, professionally maintained by full-time foresters. The air was filled with the scent of flowers, and butterflies flitted about here and there. In the center stood a white pavilion—and inside, it looked like there was a woman?
Wait, wasn’t he here to see Old Master Bai?
As he got closer to the pavilion, Yu Xiaoduo could finally make out the woman’s features: crimson lips, a delicate face, and seductive, silky eyes. Her long black hair was pinned up behind her head. She wore a black cheongsam that traced out her alluring curves, and at the slit, her smooth, snow-white legs were faintly visible.
