Translator: Helliot
Editor: Isalee
–
Gu Ze had never loved anyone that way before, but He Manyu was a special case to him, and that was the reason he found her so hard to forget. It was also the reason why he hated Meng Fu so much.
Countless women came and went by his side in the long 7 years, but they were just like passing visitors that left as soon as they were done sleeping with him, not leaving even a single trace of themselves behind.
But whether he loved someone or not didn’t matter to him, he thought.
“I’d like to have a proper relationship with you.” The woman in front of him had a pure and beautiful appearance. “The photos yesterday were taken secretly.”
“I know.” He crossed his legs, showing his uncaring manner.
He never stated that he wanted to date her, nor did he openly refuse her either. There was a look of amusement in his eyes. When she saw him ignoring her and taking over a document from his secretary to work on, Shui Qing’s heart suddenly cooled.
But she really did want to start a proper relationship with this man.
She hesitantly scooted closesr to him. In the end, she still ended up grabbing Gu Ze’s wrist that was holding the file, shaking it lightly. “Gu Ze, I’ll never tell the paparazzi your identity. I’ll just say you’re a friend, or that we’ve broken up. So, can we…Can we…” She paused for a moment. Seeing that Gu Ze still wasn’t responding, she spoke up in the end and said, “Can we continue things?”
“Why?” Gu Ze shrugged off her hand and signed the document.
Why? What do you mean why? People get together because they like each other! But what was this man asking her?
“Because we like each other, of course.” The hand that was shaken off felt extremely cold.
Gu Ze finally stopped looking at his file and turned around, looking at Shui Qing with cold eyes, the words coming out of his lips even colder. “Who said I liked you?”
Shui Qing brushed her hair with her fingers subconsciously, pausing for a moment. She pursed her lips, and as if in a bid to make herself look less hurt, she didn’t even look at Gu Ze when she said, “Fine, I get it. So He Manyu is that important to you, huh?”
“Don’t mention her name to me.”
“I’ll never mention it again.” She lowered her head, loose hair covering her face. There was a faint hint of a sob in her voice.
The sound of Shui Qing’s heels disappeared outside the door, but Gu Ze just continued going through his documents without even looking up.
“Chief Gu. Miss Qing Shui is a fine girl, so why?” His secretary couldn’t help but speak up in the end. He felt sorry for this woman who really loved Gu Ze.
“Why bother saying those hurtful words?” Gu Ze completed his sentence. “Secretary Wang, you should understand my character. I’m already giving her face by not bombarding her with worse.”
Secretary Wang silently accepted the document Gu Ze handed to him. Even though he didn’t say anything, he knew in his heart that there was no need for him to say anything worse. This was hurtful enough. Maybe Chief Gu was too used to hurting Meng Fu with his words to the point where he didn’t think there were any problems acting this way towards others now.
“Chief Gu, we’ve contacted all major media outlets, magazines, and newspapers. The major social media accounts have also been contacted, so please rest assured that your information will not be exposed.”
“Next time, you should find out about these things before I do.”
“Yes.”
When he said this, he subconsciously thought back to the time when he was sitting in Meng Fu’s house. He was just browsing the web when he suddenly saw Meng Fu walking out of the kitchen.
His slightly long bangs were swept into a mess, and there were several black streaks across his face, like ink marks casually drawn across his smooth, fair cheeks.
All of a sudden, he couldn’t help but smile. Even he himself had forgotten that his eyes were filled with amusement.
When Gu Ze told Meng Fu his hairstyle suited him, he thought he must have had a mocking expression on his face, but he didn’t realize that a gap had melted through his frosty demeanor.
“Did something happy come to mind, Mr. Gu?”
“No.” He retracted his expression and hated himself for laughing so easily at Meng Fu’s comical image.
Secretary Wang had no idea what caused Gu Ze’s expression to change so quickly. He was curious, but he didn’t dare to ask. After all, the whole Shui Qing matter still had to be dealt with.
“Chief Gu, Meng Fu’s photos have been placed on your desk.”
“Hm.”
–
Meng Fu slept peacefully that night.
It wasn’t until the next day when he was washing his face that he finally understood what Gu Ze’s inexplicable words last night meant. The man in the mirror had messy hair, and the black ink marks on his face had already lightened from the friction of his face against his pillow, but it still looked obvious and ridiculous.
He must have misread Gu Ze’s smile.
It turned out that he was laughing at him.
After checking his towel, he discovered that sure enough, it was black ink. He had been in a hurry last time and missed it. Xiao Yi must have used his ink out of curiosity, which finally revealed why his ink bottle was emptying so quickly recently.
Although his face could be cleaned, his hair seemed to be stuck out in all different directions. He couldn’t comb it no matter how he tried. Might as well just cut it, he thought. The reason why he hadn’t cut it was due to laziness anyway.
He took up a pair of scissors and gave himself a crew cut.
“Meng-Meng, why did you change?” Meng Yi was surprised when he saw Meng Fu at the table during breakfast.
“I just cut my hair.”
“Then I want to cut my hair too.”
“Xiao Yi’s hair isn’t very long. You don’t have to cut it yet.”
“Oh.” Meng Yi pouted. He wanted to be the same as Meng-Meng. He stuffed his face with the fried rice on the table. Meng-Meng’s fried rice was delicious, much better than what he had at his aunt’s house. So, the little unhappiness he felt earlier disappeared immediately. A child’s mind was pure and simple. With rice still in his mouth, he asked Meng Fu, “Meng-Meng, they told me they wanted to introduce a girlfriend to me.”
A girlfriend for Meng Yi? Who would make such a joke?
“Who said that?”
“That chubby big sister did.”
It turned out to be the supervisor at the restaurant. There was no malice behind it—it was just a joke.
“Meng-Meng, I love Meng-Meng the most. Then Brother Ye Yan, then Sister Ye Ting. I don’t like Auntie. Auntie is mean. Auntie won’t let me talk when I eat. Meng-Meng, when are we going to play with Brother Ye Yan again? But I don’t wanna play with Auntie…”
His chopsticks paused. Looking down, his eyes were covered by his long lashes, covering the emotions of his heart. Xiao Yi, we aren’t welcome in Auntie’s home, don’t you know?
But he couldn’t say those things to Xiao Yi. Tugging up the corners of his lips, he smiled. “Big Brother will bring you over when he’s less busy, alright?”
–
The photos were scattered over Gu Ze’s desk. He looked through them one by one before putting each one into the album. Then, he suddenly tore several of them into pieces.
Anger rose up instantly. This man actually went to visit He Manyu’s grave. What did he go there for? Why was he leaving her flowers with those pretensive feelings?
Did he think that He Manyu would forgive him if he did that?
Did he think that would stop hating him if he did that?
It’s not that easy.
“Secretary Wang. Come in.” He dialed the phone on the table.
Secretary Wang saw the torn photos as soon as he entered. Meng Fu’s face was shredded to pieces.
“Chief Gu.”
“You don’t have to spy on him anymore.”
“Yes.” Secretary Wang nodded. Looking at that dark look on Gu Ze’s face, he figured he must have other plans in mind, plans that probably went further than mere verbal vilification.
He suddenly felt sympathy for Meng Fu. If he hadn’t run over He Manyu at that time, then Meng Fu wouldn’t hate him this much.
In fact, the hatred Gu Ze had for Meng Fu originally melted a little, didn’t it? If he had kept his mouth shut and not gone to see her, then Gu Ze’s anger wouldn’t have been stoked.