friend

Stepping out of the restaurant, the sunlight was even harsher, casting a warm glow on Gu Nan's face and dispelling the tense atmosphere in the room. She glanced back, a cold smile playing on her lips, silently thinking to herself, Shen Ming really didn't disappoint her.

She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight, wondering how to explain this to Lu Yushi.

Aside from the two responsible parties, she was the only one who didn't sign a confidentiality agreement when it came to knowing about these mining machines.

Originally, it was thought that Shen Ming would find a way to stop Xingzilou and Lu Yushi from cooperating after he found out. There was too much room for manipulation in foreign ports, and with a little effort, the accident could be turned into an accident.

Unexpectedly, Shen Ming was ruthless enough to deliberately reveal his weakness, almost pointing his finger at Lu Yushi.

I got this batch of goods.

After a while, Gu Nan turned around and spat, cursing Shen Ming.

I opened my phone, and a message from two hours ago stubbornly sat at the top.

Lu Yushi: [Where are you?]

Gu Nan stared at the two words for a long time, expressionless, then turned around and, under the driver's puzzled gaze, angrily cursed Shen Ming for half a minute.

Once on the bus, change your address to the destination: "To Lu's Group."

Missing me?

Lu Yushi quickly sent his location without saying a word.

Gu Nan clicked her tongue, grinding her back teeth, and muttered to herself, "If I weren't genuinely guilty, who would bother with you?"

She rolled her eyes, casually told the driver to turn around, then lowered her head, frowning as she thought about this and that.

Shen Ming had given herself away so obviously, it would have been even stranger if Lu Yushi hadn't contacted her. But was it really necessary to go to her home to discuss business?

"ah!"

Lost in thought, she heard the driver exclaim in surprise, and the car came to an instant stop. Due to inertia, her body was thrown forward uncontrollably. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and avoided giving her first kiss to the passenger seat.

"No..." Before she could finish speaking, she was drowned out by the driver's angry curses.

"If you want to die, find a secluded place! This is a main road! Who's responsible if I hit you? Don't you have eyes? Do you think this is your living room? Foreigners? Fuck! May your whole family and ancestors be cursed!" The driver swore all he wanted, then seemed to finally remember to care about the passengers in the back seat and turned around.

"Bang." The passenger got out of the car and closed the door behind him.

"Huh?"

As Gu Nan passed by the passenger seat, she casually slipped the fare money through the window and waved to the driver, saying, "That's enough for now."

After saying that, she didn't even glance at the driver, and kept walking, her eyes fixed on the three men and one woman arguing in front of her. A slight smile appeared on her lips; it seemed that the eldest daughter of the Shen family was in trouble.

Out of the corner of her eye, she also caught a glimpse of the familiar figure in the coffee shop. Most of the figure was hidden by the parasol, but she was sure she wasn't mistaken.

It came without any effort.

Gu Nan walked slowly to the group.

"Who are you? Get lost if you don't want to die." The man in the white T-shirt, who was in the lead, had curly hair that looked like a felt rug. He turned around, his light brown eyes staring straight at Gu Nan, and his square face with a large nose that was unusually captivating.

Gu Nan turned her gaze away and looked away.

Foreigners?

He stood in front of her with his arms crossed, giving her a wicked smile: "Looks like a passerby looking to stand up for the weak."

"roll."

"Tsk, big nose, you're being a bit rude." Gu Nan circled around him, then glanced at the other two without any attempt to hide it. Finally, she slowly walked to Shen Manman, using her body to block the burly men from Shen Manman. She turned slightly to the side, leaving space for Shen Manman and the burly men to exchange glances.

Gu Nan: "I know this lady. If you upset her, you'll be in big trouble. If you know what's good for you..."

As expected, the big-nosed man sneered, "Shen Manman, the eldest daughter of the Shen family, what do you think?"

"You know them? And you still dare to bully people in the street?" Gu Nan rubbed his wrist.

"This young lady injured my brother. Is it a problem to make her apologize?"

Gu Nan glanced to the right and behind, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shen Manman's face full of resentment.

She's not here to uphold justice.

He chuckled and gave a thumbs up: "You've got guts. The three of you got beaten up by one girl? Even if people believed it, aren't you ashamed of yourselves?"

The big-nosed man cursed, "Sharp-tongued!"

"Thank you for the compliment."

"Arschloch!"

Gu Nan rubbed her ears: "Sorry, I don't understand. Please speak in Chinese."

Shen Manman pushed Gu Nan away, pointing her finger at his nose and angrily saying, "Don't go too far!"

The man in the baseball uniform stepped forward, looked Gu Nan up and down with ill intent, and blew a lewd whistle: "Little girl, I advise you not to meddle in other people's business."

"I can't stand cowards, so I'm really going to meddle in this mess today."

"They don't know how to be polite."

Big Nose smirked and raised his hand to move, but Gu Nan reacted quickly, pulling Shen Manman away and punching Big Nose in the face before anyone could react. Seeing Big Nose raise his arm to block, the fist that was rushing towards him was deflected and hit his shoulder instead. Gu Nan then used the momentum to kick a baseball-wearing man who was watching the commotion from the side.

"you!"

"You whistled well just now, whistle again." Without giving the man in the baseball uniform a chance to resist, she forcefully kicked him in the knee.

Screams echoed through the street, and a third person approached, his face full of anger.

Gu Nan stared intently behind him, not blinking even when he was right in front of her. Curious, Gu Nan turned around and, in a flash, delivered a powerful kick to his heart, watching him roll on the ground from above.

You used dirty tricks!

Gu Nan shrugged: "To deal with a petty person, you naturally have to use the same methods as dealing with petty people."

He turned around with a smile and asked Big Nose, "So, what's your opinion? Did I hit harder, or did Miss Shen hit harder?"

The man with the big nose glared at them, but he was actually looking at his two brothers lying on the ground: "Get up!"

Gu Nan kindly offered her advice: "You've hit the pressure points; they can't get up for now. What about you? Would you like to try?"

Big Nose stared at her cautiously for a moment, then glanced towards the coffee shop. As if he had made up his mind, he helped his two brothers up on either side and turned to leave.

Gu Nan gave him three seconds, then kicked a pebble that struck Big Nose squarely in the back of the knee. Big Nose cried out "Ouch!" and fell to the ground.

The three brothers were stacked on top of each other, which was both funny and comical.

Gu Nan laughed heartily, earning a glare in return. She shrugged, meeting the big-nosed man's gaze: "Why are you looking at me? Watch where you're going, so you don't fall again. But... anyway, you have two brothers to cushion your fall, so it won't hurt."

"You just wait and see!"

“I’m waiting,” Gu Nan kindly introduced herself, “Lu Yushi’s girlfriend, Gu Nan, I’m always ready.”

No one answered.

"No, did you hear me?" Gu Nan shouted at the top of her lungs.

Shen Manman's words of thanks were cut short by Gu Nan's shout. She stared at Gu Nan's profile for a long while with a complicated expression, before finally managing to squeeze out two words: "Thank you."

"No need, it was just a hero rescuing a damsel in distress." Gu Nan looked away, her eyes also glancing towards the coffee shop. The person behind the parasol had already left sometime earlier.

He chuckled to himself, thinking that all his efforts in putting on a show had been thwarted before he even made his appearance.

She shook her head with a "tsk tsk," wondering why she hadn't thought of using this method to get close to Shen Manman.

"Why!"

Suddenly snapping back to reality, she cleared her throat to ease the awkwardness: "Ah, Miss Chen, is there anything else?"

"My brother messaged me saying you gave me two tickets to Yunting's concert." Shen Manman readily accepted the kindness and promised, "You helped me again today, so please don't hesitate to ask if you need any help in the future."

Gu Nan looked heartbroken, but forced a smile to cover it up: "Miss is lucky, it just so happens to be so convenient. I asked someone to get tickets to Yunting for two years, and I just got them recently."

Shen Manman was taken aback: "You haven't been either?"

“That’s Yunting, it’s not that easy.” Gu Nan sighed. “It’s a pity that taking pictures is not allowed inside, otherwise I really wanted to ask Miss to help me take some pictures.”

Having said all that, she didn't believe Shen Manman wouldn't understand the implied meaning.

"Why don't we go together?" Shen Manman took Gu Nan's hand in a friendly gesture. "We're all friends, so just call me Manman. If you don't mind, I'll call you Nannan."

"Okay," he said, then asked, "Where are your bodyguards? I remember your brother always has quite a few bodyguards with him when he goes out. Does he trust you to come out alone?"

Shen Manman hesitated for a while, then sighed, "My brother forbids me from seeing Lin Haoyu and brought bodyguards with me. He must know."

Gu Nan thought to herself, "Just as I expected."

"But it's too dangerous for you to go alone. How about this, if it's inconvenient for your brother to know, you can come to me. I'm confident I can handle a few people like this."

"I know, my brother said you're very capable."

Gu Nan raised an eyebrow: "So, are you still going to see him?"

“Actually, I often sneak out without bodyguards, but nothing has ever happened. Today… today Lin Haoyu asked me out, saying he has evidence that he was framed.”

"You don't still think he was framed, do you?" Gu Nan smirked.

Shen Manman stared at her for a long time before answering a question that didn't seem to fit the question: "You and Lu Yushi aren't dating, are you?"

"ha?"

"At least you don't love him."

Gu Nan wasn't sure of her purpose, but she had personally admitted to being forced in front of Shen Ming, so she couldn't go back on her word and nodded in agreement.

"What's the meaning?"

Shen Manman shook her head. With the evidence right in front of her, how could she still believe Lin Haoyu? She was just angry, angry that Lin Haoyu could so confidently claim innocence. In addition to her anger, she also felt contempt for herself. Even now, she still had the audacity to think that Lin Haoyu would admit his mistakes and change his ways.

If Gu Nan hadn't appeared, Lin Haoyu would probably have been the one to "save the damsel in distress," and perhaps the two could have reconciled.

She gave a wistful laugh, then looked up solemnly and said, "It's okay, it's fine if you don't like them. Nannan, if you want to like someone, you must first confirm their character before you like them." Don't be like me, falling in love only to find out the other person is a complete scumbag.

Gu Nan didn't understand, but seeing how desperately she loved her, she could only express her respect.

"Are you busy later? I'd like to treat you to a meal as a way of thanking you."

Gu Nan ignored the question mark sent by Lu Yushi and calmly closed her phone: "It's nothing."

Lu Yushi was no match for Shen Manman.

Two hours later, after dinner, Shen Manman went to the restroom to touch up her makeup, while Gu Nan, with a toothpick in his mouth, listlessly opened his phone.

Lu Yushi: [Do you want to come over now, or would you like me to talk to you about something else?]

Message received half an hour ago.