Translator: PKitty
TLC: Momoepom
Editor: Rei
Quality Check: Draygan
First Published on Chaleuria
During the few days that Gu Li was suspended at home, Gu Zhun would end work punctually every night. Today wasn’t an exception either. Gu Zhun finished tidying the office as well as the documents on the table early, took his briefcase, and walked out.
“Hey.” Every time Zhang Heng wanted to spend time to get along with Gu Zhun after work, Gu Zhun would always rush out the moment it was time to end work instead. In the past, that clearly wasn’t the case. He would always act like an obedient child that waited for the class monitor to inspect the class cleanliness, and he would ask for permission to leave before going.
“Are you rushing to reincarnate in order to make a reservation to become my lover in the next life?” Zhang Heng’s lips curved up. He looked at Gu Zhun’s worried expression and couldn’t help but find it rather funny. What was so urgent that made him want to hurry home?
Gu Zhun hastily gave a reply. Although there wasn’t any obvious expression on his face, from his tightly knitted brows, it was possible to roughly guess that Gu Zhun was troubled by something in his heart. Gu Zhun was always like this. He would just keep everything in his heart, not mentioning it to anyone, as if he wanted to keep people away. Even if he suffered from serious grievances, he would endure and try not to show it. Although he was usually pure and free from desires, when faced with sadness, love, and such other emotions, he would still make the utmost effort to exercise control over his own desires. The so-called aloof and abstinent archetype perfectly described people like Gu Zhun…
Couldn’t I become someone you can confide in?
“It’s nothing…” Gu Zhun lowered his head, the fine black hair on his forehead covered his eyes. Zhang Heng could not see Gu Zhun’s expression. Gu Zhun unconsciously tightened his grip on the briefcase he carried. He didn’t want to tell Zhang Heng anything at first, but Zhang Heng proved his innocence. He did not stand in the position of a superior but in the position of a friend. Perhaps he did all those things because he liked Gu Zhun.
Gu Zhun added: “Sister… lovelorn.” Having said that, he pushed open the door and left.
Zhang Heng was so shocked that even the fountain pen held in his hand landed on the ivory white ceramic tile with a ‘thump’. The fountain pen’s nib landed vertically, so it broke apart and left a gaping hole, splattering ink everywhere. Zhang Heng was not even bothered by how dirty the tile was.
He heard Gu Zhun’s sentence and realized a serious matter— Gu Zhun had a sister complex, a sister complex… so… so that’s why Gu Zhun did not accept his confession?
Zhang Heng shook his head and comforted himself: “No, no, no… Gu Zhun and Gu Li had to rely on each other since they were young, that was normal. The sister broke up, the brother comforted. That’s totally normal… but…” That’s right, Zhang Heng suddenly thought of an important enactment— Gu Zhun was pokerfaced. He was also someone pure and free from desires. He was a rare person who did not have any experience in love and could even be an abstinent Daoist cultivator! How would he know how to comfort a lovelorn woman?! It could be considered good enough if he didn’t comfort Gu Li until she despaired and never wanted to date again!
Gu Zhun’s house.
“Sister, I’m back. What do you want to eat? Would you like to have curry?”
“Curry…” When Gu Li heard Gu Zhun mentioned the word curry, she recalled that when she discovered Lin Feng had cheated on her and betrayed the company, she had eaten curry that afternoon. Afterwards, she linked and recalled all the details on that day. How many pockmarks Manager Zhao had on his face, how many creases were on the female secretary’s skirt, and even the lipstick shade that was applied…
After that, she lapsed back into the pain and aimlessness of being lovelorn and suspended from work…
Gu Zhun casually threw the briefcase at the corner of the sofa, sat beside Gu Li, and asked: “Sister, give me that scumbag’s phone number.”
Gu Li had a confused look on her face. She did not understand why her brother wanted the scumbag’s number. Even if he knew the number, so what? Could it be that he would apologize to her and admit his mistake…? Even if he apologized what could it even do…?
Gu Zhun seemed to see through the look of despair on his sister’s face. She had become disappointed with love. After years of work experience, her judge of character still wasn’t good. She had almost reached the point of marriage with the boyfriend she dated for two years, but only then did she discover that the other party was a scumbag; a scumbag that went against her principles of loyalty. Furthermore, he even had an affair with another woman. If she still brooded and threw a tantrum over him, wouldn’t it prove that she couldn’t forget about that scumbag, that she still loved him, and was unable to leave and forget about him?
In that case, that scumbag would only put on an expression of ‘you deserved it’ on his stinking face.
Therefore, she would rather accept that it was a mistake made due to her immaturity.
Although that was what Gu Li thought in her heart, she still took a sticky note and wrote down the scumbag’s number. This phone number, other than the numbers belonging to her brother and her parents, was the number that she remembered the clearest. Now, he was no longer that same warm and dependable boy next door who patiently taught a young girl the ropes at the workplace.
“I’ll look for my classmate to dig up all the details about him.” Gu Zhun took the sticky note. Suddenly, there was a sharp glint in Gu Zhun’s eyes. There was an ominous gleam hidden in his eyes that the usually gentle Gu Zhun would never have shown.
Gu Li watched Gu Zhun’s back as he returned to his room. At that second, she felt that her younger brother really grew up. For an instant, the image of his back overlapped with their father’s back from when he was younger; they were equally reassuring.
Inside the room, Gu Zhun did not turn on the lights. He switched on the laptop and used the blue luminescent light shining from the display screen to read the sticky note. He sent the number written on it to a classmate of his who was currently a graduate student majoring in computer science. This classmate was not fond of doing anything, but he was fond of hacking skills. Recently, they were busy with the specialized research thesis on hacking techniques.
【Help me to dig up information on him. Check where he hangs out recently.】
【Why? He owes you money?】
【My sister is lovelorn, I want to go and look for him.】
【Oh… Your sister didn’t get pregnant before marriage, right?】
【…No.】
【Hahahaha! I’m joking, I know your sister, she isn’t like those silly women.】
【Then you should quickly give it to me.】
【Alright, what’s the urgency? You found me for such a small matter. There aren’t many technical skills needed for this… 】
After a few minutes, the classmate gave Gu Zhun the latest call and message records. He even sent Wechat voice messages to Gu Zhun.
【See for yourself. I’m too lazy to help you search for useful information.】
【Thank you.】
Gu Zhun closed QQ after he finished typing those two words. He opened the computer files his classmate sent over, searching through them one by one. Finally, in the recent wechat records, he heard that person invite a woman to a private room at【Twilight KTV】.
He recorded the time and venue, closed the laptop, changed into comfortable home clothes, and walked out of the room to prepare dinner.