Chapter 162

"The Fang family?" Donggu asked. "Is it the same Fang family?"

"Hmm," Gu Jiangkuo murmured. "Right now, the only family with enough influence is the Fang family. Only with their support can we shake the morale of the board of directors."

"Yes," Donggu understood this time, "then I will prepare a generous gift."

.

The public tender offer was still ongoing, and news about the Gu Group had been making headlines in the financial and gossip sections of major Southeast Asian news media, yet the stock price continued to fall steadily.

In order to avoid the media, Mr. Gu, the protagonist of the news headlines, did not drive the cool sports car given by his boyfriend. Instead, he changed to a low-key business car to visit Aunt Fang.

This time my aunt didn't take a nap, but was waiting in the living room on the first floor early. The climate in Nanyang is warm, soft and moist. Usually, the balcony doors and windows are open, and the cross-breeze is very comfortable. But today, the door is tightly closed, the air conditioner is on at a suitable temperature, and there is also a Chinese-style screen.

Gu Jiangkuo felt that the screen did not match the decoration style of the entire room, but he did not care too much. He did not understand art and was too lazy to analyze the interior decoration. He only cared about business and Nuonuo. So he did not forget the purpose of his visit today. When he saw my aunt and Aunt Fang, he brought the gifts, exchanged a few words, and then directly made his request.

"Ah Kuo, have some tea first," Aunt Fang said with a smile. "There's no rush for business matters. Mother was very happy to hear you were coming today and wanted to chat with you more about family matters."

Gu Jiangkuo: “…”

Gu Jiangkuo didn't like this kind of roundabout way of talking. He would rather get straight to the point and talk about the price clearly - after all, he was not asking the Fang family for help with empty words. As the saying goes, brothers should be frank with each other. Gu Jiangkuo had already prepared the conditions for exchange with the Fang family, as well as some promises that could be fulfilled.

For example, after he comes to power, he will naturally have to purge some of Gu Zhonghong's former confidants, and some of the vacant important positions can be left to the Fang family.

However, these so-called "nobles" seem to like to talk about eight layers of hidden meanings in one sentence. They never say anything directly and insist on playing guessing games.

Gu Jiangkuo was annoyed by their behavior, but he couldn't show it. He couldn't help but think: It would be great if Nuonuo was here, who could chat with these people about everything from poetry and songs to art appreciation, and who had the patience and ability to accompany them to watch the stars and the moon, and then look at the stock price.

"...You say." Gu Jiangkuo forced himself to be patient and put on a friendly smile.

"How old is Ah Kuo this year?" My aunt actually started chatting about family matters.

“…I’m almost twenty-one.”

"You're not young anymore. When I was your age I was married," said my aunt. "When did you ever think about your own problems?"

Gu Jiangkuo: “?”

Gu Jiangkuo said honestly, "I haven't thought it through yet. I plan to wait until the group's affairs are over before taking Nuonuo abroad to get the marriage certificate. I'll also discuss the wedding with him..."

"What I mean," interrupted my aunt, "is that you would not like to marry a woman and have children of your own?"

“???”

Gu Jiangkuo's smile faded, and he frowned. Just as he was about to say something, Aunt Fang took over the conversation: "Jiang Nuo is a boy after all. Mother is advising you this way for your own good, as your elder."

"Thank you for your concern, Auntie, but since I like men, how can I ruin a girl's life?" Gu Jiangkuo still remembered that he was asking someone to do something, and tried to restrain his tone.

"What if a girl knows this and is willing to do it?" Aunt Fang said.

Gu Jiangkuo: “…”

Aunt Fang simply finished her words in one breath, "Akuo, what we mean is that the Fang family can help you, but the exchange conditions you proposed are not enough. After all, even if you fulfill your promise and give some important positions to the Fang family so that we can regain some control of the group, what if you become more powerful in the future and take back your promise?"

"I can promise—"

"What guarantees can you give? People's hearts can change. Your sincerity now is not fake. It is not impossible that you will dislike the Fang family like Gu Zhonghong did in the future."

"..." Gu Jiangkuo, "What do you mean?"

"We hope you'll marry a girl from the Fang family and have a few children with her," Aunt Fang said. "That way, your descendants will also be descendants of our Fang family."

Gu Jiangkuo said flatly: "No!"

"Don't deny it so quickly," Aunt Fang clapped her hands twice, and a girl in cheongsam walked out slowly from behind the newly moved-in screen.

The girl is very beautiful, delicate but not coquettish, elegant and gentle, and the modified blue-gray cheongsam outlines her figure exquisitely. With high heels, she is 1.75 meters tall, which makes her eye-catching even in a crowd.

"Brother Akuo." Even her voice was sweet as she introduced herself, "My name is Fang Xiaoxiao, and I'm from the Fang family's side branch. Don't worry, we're five generations apart, so we can get married."

Gu Jiangkuo said coldly, "It has nothing to do with me whether it's released in a certain server or not."

Fang Xiaoxiao, however, remained unyielding. She clattered up to Gu Jiangkuo in her slender nude high heels, raised her face, and smiled generously, "I'm 25 years old, graduated from a prestigious university, and went to Cambridge for a year to study for a master's degree. I can cook, arrange flowers, and am good at interpersonal communication. Brother Akuo, take me with you when you go out for social events in the future, and you won't embarrass me."

Gu Jiangkuo retreated several steps like a snake, almost every time Fang Xiaoxiao said something, he took a step back. By the time Fang Xiaoxiao finished her job application-like self-introduction, Gu Jiangkuo was almost out of the gate of the Fang family villa.

Fang Xiaoxiao was in a good mood. She didn't push him anymore. Instead, she took the initiative to retreat and called him "brother" very smoothly. "Brother Akuo, I won't eat you."

Gu Jiangkuo still stood cautiously at the door, and corrected him expressionlessly: "You are 25, four years older than me, you shouldn't call me brother."

Fang Xiaoxiao: “………………”

Seeing Fang Xiaoxiao about to get angry, Aunt Fang quickly coughed lightly and said with a smile: "A Kuo, Xiaoxiao, why are you standing so far away? Come and sit down."

Fang Xiaoxiao followed his instructions, forcing herself to maintain a smile, and sat down, crossing her long legs and keeping her back straight, maintaining her ladylike image.

Gu Jiangkuo hesitated for a moment, and only walked in front of his aunt and Aunt Fang, then stopped, "Aunt, Aunt, please change the conditions. I won't marry her. This...Ms. Fang is very good, but other than Nuonuo, no one else can do it. I, Gu Jiangkuo, will never marry anyone else in my life."

"Don't make a decision in a hurry." Auntie said slowly. She put on her reading glasses hung on a thin gold chain around her neck and looked up at Gu Jiangkuo. "Akuo, think it over carefully. For someone of your status, getting married is not just a personal matter, but a major event for the entire family."

"How much is love worth? Let me be honest with you. I alone own 10% of the shares, and the Fang family's various collateral branches hold another 5%, for a total of 15% of the Gu Group's shares. I think you should know what this means. How much of a boost our support is? You must understand, otherwise, you wouldn't come to visit again and again."

"If I'm not mistaken," Aunt Fang continued, "you have a huge amount of funds available now, but it's far from enough to actually acquire the Gu Group. You still need a partner of sufficient weight, and the Fang family is your only choice."

Gu Jiangkuo: “…………”

"Think about it, Akuo."

Aunt Fang was right, hitting the nail on the head. Gu Jiangkuo couldn't help but soften his tone and patiently explained, "Aunt, Auntie, you may not know that the reason I had the confidence to challenge the Gu Group was because Nuonuo funded me with over 50 billion. He treated me like this, I couldn't possibly betray him—"

"So what? I've already given you the money, can you take it back? If you feel bad about it, why don't you return it to Jiang Nuo with interest when you take control of the Gu Group?" His aunt interrupted him.

“…” Gu Jiangkuo looked at Old Lady Fang in shock, as if he was meeting this person for the first time, and was speechless for a moment.

"We're not trying to persuade you to burn your bridges. You have to consider the bigger picture. Since Jiang Nuo has already given you the money, he must have signed an agreement. He has no right to ask for it back within the stipulated time. If you repay him double in the future, it won't be a loss for him. However, our Fang family has only one condition. If you don't agree to marry our daughter and form a legitimate marriage with us, we will not help you, and all your previous efforts will be wasted."

"..." Gu Jiangkuo looked at his aunt coldly, and clenched his fist hanging at his side, with shallow blue veins popping out on the back of his hand.

Just as my aunt finished her harsh words, Aunt Fang came on to play the good cop again, "Akuo, we don't mean to interfere with your private life, but the interests involved are too great. You also have to understand us. The Fang family lost once to my uncle Gu Zhonghong. We didn't dare to try again after such a painful lesson."

Aunt Fang said, "Akuo, we won't force you to break up with Jiang Nuo. Marriage is marriage, and your life is your life. As long as you give the Fang family's daughter a legitimate status, it will be fine. If you don't like Xiaoxiao, we can introduce someone else..."

"Enough!" Gu Jiangkuo said, unable to bear it any longer. "What do you treat your own girls as? Commodities? And Nuonuo, what do you mean by constantly losing relationships? Do you want him to be my lover? Not to mention that someone as proud as Nuonuo wouldn't agree to it. Even if he agreed, I wouldn't do it!"

Gu Jiangkuo turned and walked away, but when he reached the gate, he paused and said, with his back to them, "Let's not discuss this matter, but the conditions I promised the Fang family before still stand. The Fang family is my only choice, but I'm not bad either. After all, your Fang family waited for so many years to get a Gu Jiangkuo."

Immediately afterwards, the door was slammed shut with a bang.

Aunt Fang quickly signaled Fang Xiaoxiao: "What are you standing there for? Go chase him."

Fang Xiaoxiao pursed her lips and followed him out.

Only Aunt Fang and my aunt were left in the huge living room.

Aunt Fang nudged her mother and said, "Look, Ah Kuo is not that kind of person. He is different from Gu Zhonghong."

Auntie sighed and said, "They are of different natures, and Ah Kuo doesn't like women. Besides... we can't find a boy prettier than Jiang Nuo to seduce him."

"I'll just take that as a compliment!" Jiang Nuo poked her head out from behind the screen and smiled sweetly, "Auntie, Auntie, you've finished the test, can I go out now?"

"No," said Mrs. Fang flatly, "The test isn't over yet. If you go out to look for him now, or remind him in any way, it will be considered that A Kuo has failed, and we won't help him."

"...Oh." Jiang Nuo responded, then sat down affectionately next to Aunt Fang. He tactfully peeled a grape mulberry for her, discarded the red shell, and handed her the snow-white flesh, saying flatteringly, "Aunt, didn't he clearly refuse? What does it take to pass the test? To cooperate, I turned down work and reported every message I sent to him to you. It's really inconvenient."

"Of course, it depends on whether he's like Gu Zhonghong, who burned his bridges and was selfish," Mrs. Fang replied. "Gu Zhonghong betrayed me for lust. With you as a precious example, it's hard for Ah Kuo to betray me for this reason."

Jiang Nuo: “…………………………”

Auntie, could you please not be so blunt?

Then Mrs. Fang continued, "It can only be for 'profit'. Ah Kuo's refusal today is definitely due to his impulsive youthful arrogance, which shows that he cares about your relationship, but he also thinks he can control us. Wait until he has spent most of the huge sum of money and is in dire straits. Only then can we push him into a corner. Then we will see whether Ah Kuo is a true man of affection and loyalty, who would rather fail than let you down, or will he be as selfish and cold-hearted as his grandfather?"

Jiang Nuo couldn't help but fall silent after listening to this. As the old saying goes, 'Loyalty doesn't matter, it just depends on whether the chips for betrayal are enough'. He believed in Gu Jiangkuo, but what about the tens of billions, hundreds of billions, or even the entire Gu Group, placed in front of him?

Putting aside the immeasurable wealth, as long as he controls the Gu Group, he will be able to clear the name of his deceased father and grandmother, reveal Gu Zhonghong's true face to the world, and avenge his relatives. These things cannot be measured by money.

There are so many heavy chips on the other side of the scale, and on this side, there is just a small Jiang Nuo. Do I really have such a heavy weight?

"Xiao Nuo, don't be sad." Aunt Fang looked at Jiang Nuo's face and couldn't help but soften her heart. "He is different from Gu Zhonghong. We believe in him..."

Jiang Nuo shook his head: "Feelings cannot stand the test."

He was already regretting it. Wouldn't it be better to just live a muddled and happy life? Why did he have to cooperate with the Fang family and watch them put on this show?

However, Jiang Nuo knew that taking back the Gu Group was Gu Jiangkuo's dream, so he gritted his teeth and agreed, promising not to express any opinions or interfere, and Yu Xi just watched from the sidelines.

Mrs. Fang, however, saw Jiang Nuo's concerns and believed that the relationship 'could not stand the test', which meant that 'Gu Jiangkuo could not pass the test'. She could not help but ask, "If Ah Kuo really... then what are you going to do?"

Jiang Nuo felt uncomfortable and hesitated, "I..."

At this time, the door opened with a sound even louder than when Gu Jiangkuo slammed the door just now. Fang Xiaoxiao rushed in in a hurry. She no longer looked like the lady she was just now.

She walked closer and asked Jiang Nuo bluntly, "Ahhh, why is your husband so annoying!"

Probably because he was rejected again, the haze in Jiang Nuo's heart suddenly dissipated a lot.

"Huh?" Fang Xiaoxiao pinched Mr. Jiang's cheeks, squeezing them into the shape of a chubby hamster face. "What are you so proud of? Don't laugh!!"

The author has something to say:

To thank you all for your comments on the previous chapter, I’m adding another chapter!

I have something to do today and I have to go out soon, so I probably won’t have time to update during the day. However, this chapter has more than 4,000 words, which is super long!