Cocktail party

At 10 p.m., all was quiet. The night was dark and moonlight was scarce. The doors and windows of the suite were tightly closed. Gu Nan closed her laptop, hugged her knees, and drifted off into thought.

In the far distance, the night lights of the Xingzi Building billboard flickered. She stared at it for a long time, as if she could see a vast desolation behind the building, mixed with weeds and ashes. Her clothes, soaked by the rain, felt bone-chillingly cold, as if a thousand icy fingers were tearing at her skin...

"bite."

The room was silent, with the message notification sound echoing for a long time.

The sudden sound dispelled the gloom in her heart. She took a deep breath, calmed her heaving chest, and picked up her phone to check.

A hint of mockery flickered across his expressionless profile.

I need a female companion for the Château de Connaught winery party on August 25th.

Gu Nan adjusted her shawl, yawned, and slowly moved her fingers to accept the friend request.

By the way, I typed: [Do I look like a turtle in a wishing well?]

Lu Yushi: [I can grant you your fourth condition.]

The mocking expression froze for a moment; the text in the input box was edited and rewritten, but ultimately nothing was sent.

The fourth condition is very tempting.

If Master Wan and the Ganfeng Winery had a bad relationship, she would have agreed immediately. However, since they are close friends, Master Wan would definitely attend the party.

She didn't know the relationship between Lu Yushi and Master Wan, but since they were in the same circle, they would inevitably greet each other when they met.

As Lu Yushi's female companion, the probability of her running into Master Wan is too high.

Gu Nan's face was solemn, her brows furrowed, and she paced back and forth in the room. As the clock slowly struck midnight, she pinched the bridge of her nose to convince herself.

The fourth condition is worth taking the risk for.

Her phone beeped again. Thinking Lu Yushi was urging her, she pouted, about to say something sarcastic, when she looked up at her phone. "Ye Xu?"

I've met a genius!

[She's only an adult, yet her chess skills are absolutely phenomenal! Her ability to control the game is on par with mine, and her finishing moves are even more ruthless. I even think she could rival Yan Yi.]

I'll tell you all about it when we meet. Such a promising talent, I absolutely have to recruit him to our team!

Aww, the little one is so cute!

[Haha, the little one's idol is Yan Yi too. She's so amazing, I can't even imitate her style of play.]

[Damn! I really want to tell the little one that I am Ye Xu, but will it scare her? Will it make her think I'm a liar?]

"Fine, I'll hold off a little longer. I'll bring the little guy over and introduce you two then."

...

Gu Nan didn't have the mood to read through all the dozens of messages. She glanced at them and casually replied with "ok". She wasn't interested in Ye Xu's little guy; her mind was full of that old man from the Wan family.

When they switched chat windows, Lu Yushi didn't urge her, probably confident that she would agree.

She sighed, slapped herself, and cursed herself for being so smug and stupid as to leave herself vulnerable in front of Lu Yushi.

While cursing himself, he didn't forget to beat Lu Yushi up a thousand or eight hundred times from the bottom of his heart.

For several days in a bad mood, her young apprentice came over several times wanting to say something but hesitated, and she dismissed him with a few words each time. The quality of her teaching dropped seriously. Fortunately, her young apprentice was quick to understand, and he could understand her every time she gave him a hint or two.

When her mind wanders, she can still idly think that Ye Xu must call others geniuses because she doesn't know her little apprentice.

When Ye Xu boasts to her in the future, she will bring her little apprentice along so that Ye Xu can see what a true genius is.

The true genius, with a heavy heart, put away the chessboard, moved over, and whispered, "Master, I'd like to ask for the afternoon off."

"What's wrong?" Gu Nan's mind was filled with all sorts of assumptions about meeting Master Wan, and she blurted out unconsciously.

Looking up, she saw Su Wanting pursing her lips, seemingly unwilling to reveal anything. She had no intention of prying into other people's privacy, and seeing Su Wanting's reluctance, she changed her mind and said, "Okay."

The party was in the afternoon, and even if Su Wanting hadn't mentioned it, she would have left anyway.

"Speak if you need anything." He left those words and got up to return to the hotel.

Finally free from suppressing her irritation, she tugged at her collar, pulled a cigarette from her pocket, put it in her mouth, and went upstairs.

In front of the suite, a man and a staff member were pulling at each other.

She snapped her fingers coldly to draw their attention: "Don't block the way."

"Miss Gu."

"Miss Gu."

The two spoke at the same time, their gazes meeting as if they had seen a glimmer of hope.

Like a stray cat finally finding a meal of cat food before it starves to death.

Gu Nan: ...

"Go to the court for justice, don't bother me."

"Miss Gu..."

The man was interrupted by a staff member before he could finish speaking, "Excuse me, Mr. Sun, please leave."

Gu Nan glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before entering the room. He looked somewhat familiar. She frowned and tried to remember, then asked, "Sun Qian?"

Sun Qian nodded hurriedly, "It's me, it's me, Miss Gu."

Seeing this person reminds me of Lu Yushi, which makes me even more annoyed.

"What's up?"

"Our boss instructed us to send you a formal dress." With that, he handed over a haute couture gift box.

The gift box is decorated with traditional Chinese patterns, exuding a restrained yet luxurious feel.

The blooming peonies unfurled their petals, golden light flowing gently in the sunlight.

For some reason, Gu Nan saw a mocking look on Yihua's face. She exhaled smoke, took the box expressionlessly, and closed the door.

"Bang!"

Also locked up were the words Sun Qian hadn't finished saying.

Sun Qian gave the middle finger, muttered a complaint about the lack of manners, and glared angrily at the door.

Half a second later, the door opened.

...

Gu Nan glanced at the door, leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, and said, "If you need anything, come to me. What kind of skill is it to bully the door?"

"Hehe," Sun Qian nodded and bowed, trying to appear more serious. "Miss Gu, is there anything else?"

Who's at the cocktail party?

"I don't know..."

Gu Nan tossed the gift box into his arms, interrupting him: "Then get lost."

Sun Qian took a deep breath, felt the "Ren" character in his pocket through the fabric, and forced a smile: "Everyone with a name in Beicheng will go."

"Write down a list."

Sun Qian continued to hold back, almost crushing the "endurance" sign in his pocket. "Okay, how should I give it to you?"

Gu Nan impatiently pulled out her phone: "Add me."

Sun Qian sniffed, looked at the latest accepted friend request, and suddenly stopped being angry. He had added the person that President Lu had spent several months trying to add in one go.

He was furious if President Lu found out, so he dared not let President Lu know, and secretly rejoiced for a while.

"Is there anything else?" Gu Nan looked at Sun Qian with confusion, sometimes frowning and sometimes smiling. She couldn't help but wonder if Lu Yushi had specially gone to the mental hospital to find someone just to annoy her.

"No...that's all."

Gu Nan waited two seconds, and seeing that the person still hadn't left, she became even more determined in her heart: "Are you waiting for the door to say goodbye?"

"Clatter".

Something broke, and Sun Qian left, clutching his pocket.

Gu Nan turned around and closed the door.

Upon opening the box, the sky-blue dress looked like it would restrict movement. Gu Nan covered it up expressionlessly and lit a cigarette.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the flames shattered into tiny points, and Gu Nan resisted the urge to burn the dress completely.

Three hours later, I stood in front of the mirror and put on my dress.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I thought with a sense of melancholy that rationality doesn't necessarily have to be maintained at all times.

The dress fit her perfectly, the sky-blue long skirt accentuating her fair and jade-like skin. The high-waisted style left a glimpse of her skin, with three jade pieces set at her waist. The silk cascaded down to her ankles, and her feet were faintly visible beneath the irregular hem.

She clenched her fist and messaged Sun Qian: [Is this a proper cocktail party?]

Sun Qian held her phone and pondered for a long time before turning to look at Lu Yu.

The person who had been feigning sleep with their eyes closed suddenly opened them, their tone indifferent: "What?"

Sun Qian turned around with difficulty, glanced at her phone, and said quietly, "Miss Gu will be here soon."

The boss is waiting for you in the lounge.

Gu Nan's eyes darted around. No one would force their way into Lu Yushi's lounge. As long as she didn't leave the lounge, wouldn't the chances of seeing Master Wan be greatly reduced?

After several days of gloom, her mood finally improved. She let out a sigh of relief and slowly typed: "I don't want to see a second person in the break room."

Sun Qian replied quickly, but it took her some time to understand.

Ms. Gu, the boss and I are two different people.

Gu Nan was speechless: [Then why don't you leave?]

I want to stay and take care of the boss.

Your boss is getting on in years; it's time to wean him off his mother.

The chat box remained lit up with "typing" for a long time, but no reply came even after the screen automatically turned off. Gu Nan chuckled and went inside.

The gilded crystal chandeliers made the entire banquet hall look magnificent. The champagne tower was as tall as three people, with flowing wine cascading down like a waterfall. The aroma of wine filled the air, and the splashed wine foam was imprinted on the embossed lamp posts. The rich aroma of wine permeated the hall.

The melodious strings played, the dancers' clothes fluttered, and the cold light of jewels and gold and silver shimmered, reflecting on their fawning smiles.

Gu Nan thought to herself that it was a waste of money, rejected the men who came to chat her up, and went to the upstairs lounge. There was a crack in the door, and just as she was about to push it open, she suddenly heard intermittent conversations inside.

She paused, then leaned lazily against the wall, not in a hurry to go inside.

"Miss Gu is smoking."

"Miss Gu has a bad temper."

"Miss Gu's manners need improvement."

"Miss Gu doesn't seem like a good person."

"but……"

"Knock knock." Gu Nan opened the door with her foot, leaned against the door frame, and tapped twice with her knuckles.

The complaints stopped abruptly.

Gu Nan didn't turn around, but looked up at her slender fingers.

The ten of us haven't done any heavy work in a long time.

After a moment of silence inside and outside the room, Sun Qian swallowed, glanced at her, swallowed again, and closed his eyes weakly. "Miss Gu, I was just trying to compliment you. Can you believe me?"

Gu Nan smiled, her eyes narrowing.

Sun Qian felt as if he had been granted a pardon. Before he could even walk over, a teacup teleported right in front of him. Luckily, he dodged it quickly.

The teacup shattered on the floor, and a few drops of tea splashed onto Lu Yushi's trouser leg.

"If I said there was a mosquito on you, and I wanted to kill it for you, would you believe me?"

Sun Qian glanced at Lu Yushi's displeased face and nodded deeply: "I believe you! Even if you used a cannon to kill mosquitoes for me, I would still believe you."

Gu Nan stood there and smiled silently, thinking to herself, "Where did Lu Yushi find this idiot?"

"Is it possible that your insomnia was caused by him?"

Lu Yushi glanced at Sun Qian, who said, "I...I'll go first."

Gu Nan stepped aside to make way, and as she looked at Lu Yu, she caught a glimpse of a few dark drops on the corner of his trousers.

A flaw in white jade evokes a sense of regret.

She withdrew her gaze, strolled over, stepped on the soft stool next to Lu Yushi, leaned slightly forward, rested her forearm on her thigh, and said sarcastically, "Young Master Lu is the head of the Lu family, aren't you usually busy? Do you have time to gossip like a country aunt?"

Her long skirt slid down with her movements, revealing half of her smooth calves and ankles that could be grasped in one hand. Lu Yushi's gaze lingered for half a second before shifting away, his voice calm: "He didn't lie."

Gu Nan shrugged indifferently. Sun Qian's words were not wrong, so she was not angry. She casually sat down next to Lu Yushi, propped her head up and looked over: "I'm here, the fourth condition."

Lu Yushi glanced at his wristwatch, stood up, lowered his eyes to adjust his cuffs, and noticed that the two icy green cufflinks gleamed coldly, forming a set with the three jadeite pieces on his waist belt.

"My female companion needs to be introduced to people."

Gu Nan remained silent.

If she refuses Lu Yu, he might find something to use against her.

She kept her head down, and could feel Lu Yushi staring down at her, his aura aggressive and making her feel uneasy and threatened.

My scalp is tingling.

She glanced up discreetly and saw Lu Yushi staring intently at the necklace around her neck, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

Gu Nan followed his gaze and looked down, speechless, she pouted, "Is it really necessary?"

It's just that she wasn't wearing the matching necklace, is it really necessary to stare at her for so long?

"Knock knock knock".

A knock on the door broke the silence between the two.

Sun Qian squeezed through the door, carrying a bag of clothes: "President Lu, clothes."

Lu Yushi took the bag and went into the inner room.

Gu Nan stared in disbelief, pointing at the tightly closed door to the inner room, her expression a mixture of confusion and disbelief: "Your boss is more delicate than the Princess and the Pea."

There were only a few drops of tea on the cuffs of my trousers, but they're completely dry now.

Sun Qian stroked the new "Ren" character in his pocket, unmoved.

Gu Nan was shocked: "Is this the eldest young master or the eldest young lady of your Lu family?"

"Miss Gu, our boss is just a clean person."

“Excessive cleanliness is also a kind of mental illness.” Gu Nan finished speaking quietly, then had a sudden idea. If she ran into Master Wan later, she could pour a glass of wine on Lu Yushi in advance, wouldn’t that be a perfect solution?

She propped her head up and thought for a moment, quite satisfied with her solution, and her gaze towards Sun Qian was no longer so indescribable.

What are your boss's plans for later?

"Mr. Kang from Far East Capital will come over immediately to talk to the boss."

"Crack!"

The teacup fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Gu Nan's expression froze, and she suddenly felt that the fourth condition was not worthy of her continuing to take the risk.

Frustrated: "Why isn't he on the list?"

Sun Qian didn't understand Gu Nan's sudden change of expression, and honestly replied, "President Kang didn't plan to come. He heard that Young Master Lu was here, so he came at the last minute." She then asked, "Do you and President Kang... have a grudge?"

Gu Nan choked up; to be precise, it was President Kang who had a unilateral grudge against her.

Back when she was pretending to be Lu Yu's fiancée, it was this CEO Kang who was the first to recognize her, and later she even swindled him out of a huge sum of money.

He helped Lu Yushi find a fiancée out of nowhere. Given Lu Yushi's vengeful nature, it's hard to say how this feud was settled back then.

If you happen to meet her, you must not seek revenge.

She could have died before she even got started.

"I don't know him." Gu Nan straightened her hair, glanced back at the closed door of the inner room, and said quickly, "I suddenly remembered that there's an emergency at home, so I'll be going now."

"Huh?" Sun Qian interrupted, "Aren't you with the boss..."

Gu Nan interrupted, "A fourth condition? I don't want it."

If we don't leave now, we'll run into something.

He flung the door open and then stopped abruptly.

A middle-aged man stood outside the door, his right hand raised as if to knock.

The air suddenly froze.

Gu Nan muttered under her breath, "Heaven is going to destroy me."

"Hello, is Young Master Lu inside?" The voice was warm and polite.

Gu Nan's eyes darted around, and she thought to herself, "Didn't they recognize me?"

"President Kang." Sun Qian quickly came over and pushed open the door.

Kang Shengtai nodded, tilted his head to look at Gu Nan, his gaze sweeping over her necklace pendant, and smiled: "Young Master Lu's...girlfriend?"

Gu Nan thought that since no one recognized her, leaving would only arouse suspicion, so she simply shrugged and said, "Not yet."

Kang Shengtai nodded, glanced inside, and asked, "Young Master Lu?"

"Oh, my pants are dirty, I'm changing my clothes."

"Ahem." Sun Qian coughed twice, and Gu Nan turned around in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

Whether it was her imagination or not, she seemed to see Kang Shengtai smiling at Sun Qian, his face full of wrinkles with a hint of mischief.

Turning back, Sun Qian's face was flushed red from coughing.

Gu Nan remained shocked, her gaze shifting between the two of them, before she blurted out incredulously, "You two are a couple?"

Before she could finish speaking, she saw three faces darkening with dismay in the room.

Lu Yushi came out.

Sun Qian seemed to roll her eyes at her.

Gu Nan was shocked by Sun Qian's values. He did such dirty things and still had the nerve to look down on her? Without thinking about it, she followed Sun Qian out the door.

Before he could even speak, he was criticized by Sun Qian.

"Miss Gu, please watch your words. Mr. Kang is a married man."

Gu Nan raised her voice, finding it even harder to accept: "You're still a mistress!"

"Snap," Sun Qian said expressionlessly, crushing the new "忍" (ren, meaning "to endure") character in his hand. "I have a girlfriend."

"You have a girlfriend and you're still messing around?" Gu Nan glanced at his phone, pondering how to hack into it and save the girl who was kept in the dark.

Sun Qian felt he couldn't explain it to the person in front of him, but for Lu Shao's sake, he had to explain: "Kang Zong and I are innocent."

"I don't think so," Gu Nan said logically. "Then why did you see him blush? And why was he smiling at you?"

Sun Qian thought to herself, "Am I blushing because of President Kang? Are you sure President Kang is laughing at me, and not at the boss?"

He tactfully asked, "Miss Gu has never had a boyfriend, has she?"

"You've had boyfriends before?" Gu Nan retorted irritably. Why look down on her when you can just talk like that? If she wanted boyfriends, she could have them one after another.

"Miss Gu, please don't say those kinds of things in the future, as they can easily be misunderstood."

Gu Nan was completely confused: "What did you say?"

Sun Qian stammered, then mumbled, "My pants are dirty."

"So what if your pants are dirty..." Gu Nan stopped mid-sentence, rubbing her forehead, "Your pants are dirty, and your hearts are dirty too. Your pants don't have your hearts."

Sun Qian covered her face and left.

Gu Nan seemed to see her lingering second brother again. She couldn't look Lu Yushi in the eye for the time being, so she leaned against the door and smoked.

Lost in thought, she realized that before she met Lu Yu, her life hadn't seemed this dramatic.

As the second cigarette burned to the bottom, her gaze hardened; she knew things couldn't escalate any further.

A slight creaking sound interrupted her thoughts.

The door was opened.

Lu Yushi and Kang Shengtai walked out one after the other.

“Um…” Gu Nan thought about her words, ignoring the probing gazes of the two of them looking at her at the same time, “Don’t misunderstand, nothing happened between us.”

The relaxed atmosphere froze again. Lu Yushi's profile was tense, and he looked to be in a bad mood.

Kang Shengtai, on the other hand, smiled and nodded, said nothing, and left.

"It hurts the enemy a thousand but also hurts yourself eight hundred. Miss Gu knows how to do business."

Gu Nan muttered, "Then we still make two hundred."

"Heh." Lu Yushi sneered.

Gu Nan didn't understand. "I've explained it clearly, and it didn't do you any harm. Why are you so angry?"

Lu Yushi kept walking, and his low mood became increasingly obvious.

"No," Gu Nan, who couldn't keep up in her high heels, reached out and grabbed him. "How could it be that I hurt you a thousand? If a family like yours has some kind of arranged marriage in the future, and people find out that you've slept with someone else, wouldn't that devalue you?"

Lu Yushi laughed in exasperation: "So, I should thank Miss Gu?"

"No need for thanks, you don't seem to be planning to thank me." Gu Nan turned her head away, her already bad mood getting even worse.

Lu Yushi lowered his eyes, unusually wondering if he was overthinking things.

He raised his hand and adjusted his tie, attempting to break the tense silence between them.

Someone at the corner greeted him: "Master Wan."

Turning my head to follow the sound, before I could look away, I felt a warmth on my lips.

Gu Nan wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed herself against him, filling his nostrils with the fresh scent of her hair. He didn't react for a moment and let Gu Nan do as she pleased.

"Master Wan, you just arrived? I've been waiting for you at the door before coming up. I didn't expect you to be here so soon."

"Haha, I arrived early and rested upstairs for a while."

"I had two bottles of the new product flown in from France and they've already been delivered to your room. Would you mind taking a look when you have some free time, Mr. Wan?"

"good."

...

After exchanging a few words, the other person turned and went downstairs, while Master Wan continued walking this way.

Gu Nan glanced at Master Wan's footsteps and calculated in her mind that as long as Master Wan walked at his current speed, he would pass by her in about 20 seconds. She only needed to hold on for another 20 seconds!

I felt half relieved.

"Master Wan?" Another surprised voice came from beside me.

Gu Nan cursed inwardly, "Are they all rushing up to pretend to bump into Master Wan? Can't they even consider my feelings?"

But she couldn't worry about herself at the moment. It was normal that Lu Yushi didn't react after 20 seconds of kissing. If she continued kissing him, she was afraid that Lu Yushi would take action right there.

Lu Yushi caught her stealing a glance. He propped one hand on her ear and whispered, "Master Wan?"

His Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke, his gaze sweeping across the hollow of his collarbone.

Gu Nan's eyelashes trembled, but she didn't speak. Hearing Master Wan and another person say their closing remarks, she quickly leaned over and kissed those lips.

Lu Yushi slowly dodged to the side.

Gu Nan muttered under his breath, "You're a grown man, who are you going to keep your chastity for?"

Lu Yushi's lips curled into a smile as he said unhurriedly, "Don't you know? I still have a fiancée who needs to be married off."

"You," Gu Nan gritted her teeth, "you stole a kiss from me last time, I...can't I come back?"

"I've paid it all off." Lu Yushi rubbed the corner of his mouth.

Gu Nan sensed that there was still more to say, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Master Wan walking towards them. Without thinking too much, she reached out and grabbed Lu Yushi's tie, forcing him to lower his head: "Wait, there's still interest to be paid later."

The footsteps drew closer, and before he could catch his breath, someone called out to Master Wan for the third time.

Gu Nan clenched her fist, looked up, and saw the person in front of her looking at her with a half-smile.

"The interest is higher than the principal. Is Miss Gu a loan shark?"

"Lu Yushi!"

“Uncle Wan,” Lu Yushi said calmly.

Gu Nan closed her eyes, her heart sinking to the bottom. She wanted to turn around and run away, but Lu Yushi held her waist tightly.

Let's just give up and do nothing.

She bit Lu Yushi's arm.

There was no expected cry of pain, nor were the shackles loosened.

"And this is..."

"The child is shy, Uncle Wan, please don't take offense."

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Gu Nan reluctantly relented, staring at the teeth marks on her shirt in deep thought. After a long while, she silently raised her eyes and said, "Serves you right."

Lu Yushi let go, straightened his shirt which had been rubbed so raw, and said, "He came to find me, and you pounced on me, so naturally you couldn't avoid it."

Gu Nan glared at him: "I'll pounce on your head."

He turned away angrily.

The footsteps disappeared around the corner, and Lu Yushi's eyes became deep.