pretend

"Nanbao~"

"hiss."

The person on the other end spoke rapidly: "Someone is investigating you."

The tension that had been lingering in Gu Nan's heart for three days suddenly tightened, and her expression hardened: "Investigate me?"

A face flashed into his mind: "Lu Yushi?"

"Yes," the person on the other end of the phone said earnestly, a stark contrast to their usual glib tone, "He has a violent and tyrannical temper; anyone who offends him never ends well. Don't even think about getting involved with him, if..."

Five seconds later, Gu Nan hung up the phone with a stiff face, speechless and pouting. Was that something she wanted to provoke?

She was clearly the one who was provoked.

The black and white cat on the sofa had woken up at some point. It stretched its neck to look around, then tiptoed onto Gu Nan's lap and gently rubbed against her forearm.

Gu Nan spared a glance, stroked the dark fur on its head with one hand, and fell into deep thought.

The northern part of the city has the most powerful and wealthy families in the entire country, and among them, the young master of the Lu family is the most mysterious. All the rumors circulating are evidence of his ruthlessness, but...

"Oh."

After a long while, the sound of a mouse click and a soft scoff simultaneously echoed in the room.

The kitten tensed up its ears in fright, and she quickly stroked its fur, her eyes fixed on the flashing computer cursor, a wicked smile playing on her lips.

He muttered to himself, "Investigate me?"

She stopped beeping the last line of code, quickly closed her laptop, pondered for a moment, and drove to the New Times.

-

A startled cry broke the tranquility of the New Times president's office.

"Lu Yushi?"

Gu Nan rubbed her ears and lazily glanced at him.

Realizing his lapse in composure, Ji Yuanyu coughed lightly, pressed his left fist to his lips, strode to the door, locked it, and frowned as he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Just a guess." Gu Nan leaned casually against the table, picked up an orange and peeled it. "The New Times has taken a lot of benefits from those old fogies. Be careful lately, deal with everything that needs to be dealt with, and don't let Lu Yushi find any leverage against you."

After saying that, she kindly separated a segment of orange.

Ji Yuanyu looked worried and couldn't spare any attention for Ju Zi. He asked, "Is it about your fiancée?"

"Fiancée?" Gu Nan smiled indifferently, the image of the man's aloof profile flashing through her mind, a crossover across five years.

She heard the man ask her twice if she had been to Beicheng.

Five years ago, in order to establish herself in Xuncheng, she propelled the struggling Xinshibao to the top of Xuncheng's list of renowned enterprises.

Only Ji Yuanyu knows how he did it.

When a junior member of the Ji family offended a powerful family in Beicheng, that person attacked the Xinshibao newspaper without saying a word.

Ji Yuanyu went to Beicheng ostensibly to attend a banquet, but in reality, he went to apologize.

Despite several apologies during the meal, the other party clearly refused to back down.

As Gu Nan was leaving, she overheard people discussing a powerful figure who was about to return to China. The person speaking was very secretive about the figure and didn't even dare to mention his name.

Seeing Ji Yuanyu drowning his sorrows in alcohol, a bold idea began to take shape in his mind.

She mustered her courage and pretended to be the big boss's fiancée.

Unexpectedly, he was accepted.

Gu Nan had no time to consider why she was accepted. She openly and secretly asked them to let the New Times go, and repeatedly used her status as his fiancée to move around various summits and banquets, exchanging various resources and benefits.

It wasn't until that big shot suddenly returned to China that everyone realized they had been scammed.

Ji Yuanyu and she spent a few days hiding and dodging. The two accidentally saw the big shot's 1700 arm strength at the boxing gym and drove back to Xuncheng overnight.

Because everything in Beicheng was fake, and she had blocked all the photos from that time, the big shot never managed to trace it back to her, and the matter of her fiancé was left unresolved.

After the storm passed, Ji Yuanyu clutched his chest in relief, only to hear rumors that the person impersonating President Lu's fiancée had been sent to the southeastern coast of St. Thomas in the Caribbean.

Their fate is unknown.

"I don't know." Gu Nan popped an orange segment into her mouth, the sour taste spreading through her mouth and shooting straight to the top of her head. She frowned, hissed, hesitated for three seconds, and stuffed the rest of the peeled orange into Ji Yuanyu's hand, patted it gently, and instructed, "Don't waste it."

Ji Yuanyu glanced down at the orange, his brows still furrowed.

Gu Nan patted his shoulder disdainfully: "It was me in disguise, not you. If he wants to find someone, he should look for me."

Before she could finish speaking, her gaze fell on Ji Yuanyu, who looked at her with suspicion: "How did you know?"

"Forehead."

Gu Nan crossed her arms and thought hard for a while, but couldn't come up with an excuse. She pursed her lips, looked up at him with innocent eyes, and asked, "Is it too late for me to know now?"

...

"Did he contact you?"

"Tell me what's wrong. You don't have to bear it all alone. I can support you."

Gu Nan lowered her head and continued to try her best to recall everything carefully. If she even needed Ji Yuanyu's help, then all these years would have been wasted.

In Ji Yuanyu's eyes, it took on a different meaning.

"Did he really contact you?"

"No, I have something to do, I'm leaving."

Gu Nan glanced at him, picked up the half-bag of oranges from the desk, and was about to leave when Ji Yuanyu stopped her. He earnestly advised, "Besides your work at the New Times, what other important things do you have to do?"

"Huh?" Gu Nan turned around and stared at Ji Yuanyu for a while, suspecting that he was making a personal attack, but she could only see concern in his eyes, so she swallowed the curse that was about to come out of her mouth and calmly said, "It's urgent."

"What's the urgent matter?" Ji Yuanyu asked urgently, as if the moment she mentioned Lu Yushi, Ji Yuanyu would rush to the Lu family to settle the score with Lu Yushi.

She lifted the half-bag of oranges in her hand: "The seller just told me that if they're not sweet, I can return them."

...

"If I get there late, she'll just drive off in her electric tricycle," Gu Nan added silently, watching as the expression on Ji Yuanyu's face cracked little by little. She wanted to laugh but felt it was inappropriate, so she silently turned to leave.

"What time is it? You're still thinking about oranges?" Ji Yuanyu said with a look of exasperation. "I'll book you a plane ticket. You'll go abroad tonight, and I'll bring you back after I've made sure this matter is over."

Gu Nan thought to herself, "If Lu Yushi really comes here because of his fiancée, he's doomed once I leave the country."

"These oranges are very expensive, 28 yuan per jin (500g)."

"Gu Nan, I'm not joking with you."

"I don't have any either." Gu Nan looked docile and raised her phone. "I have payment records."

...

Ji Yuanyu took a deep breath, feeling a bit dizzy. He rubbed his forehead and pointed to the door: "I'll go return the oranges. You go abroad."

Gu Nan found it amusing that a rich kid like Ji Yuanyu would say he wanted to return the oranges, and added fuel to the fire: "That won't do, the oranges from abroad are even more sour."

While Ji Yuanyu was still rubbing his temples, Gu Nan suppressed a laugh and left the office.

The high-rise floor-to-ceiling windows let in plenty of natural light, and the afterglow of the setting sun cast a dazzling golden glow on her profile, softening her facial features. Her porcelain-white cheeks were adorned with exquisitely beautiful eyebrows and eyes that were clear and sparkling with laughter.

The air still held the unique scent of sunshine; she closed her eyes and sniffed lightly, giving herself a moment of peace.

Suddenly, a few familiar perfume scents appeared in the air, and she opened her eyes.

"Tsk."

Sudi looked at her arrogantly and said sarcastically, "You still have the mood to sunbathe?"

Gu Nan pointed out the window with a complicated expression, "It's one thing to be not smart, but also to have bad eyesight. Look, where's the sun?"

Sudi glared at her, pulled up a chair without ceremony, and sat down, raising her eyes defiantly: "You're doomed."

"What? You saved your son's life again?"

"Gu Nan!" Su Di patted his chest. "I'm warning you, show some respect to Lu Shaofang."

Gu Nan's eyes darted around, and she nodded agreeably: "Okay, do you have a photo of your eldest son... or your young master Lu?"

Sudi warily pulled her arms back. "What are you doing?"

"I need to know what he looks like so I know who to respect. Give me a photo, preferably a full-body shot, where everyone can see."

Sudi's voice suddenly became shrill: "Do you still want [something else]?"

Gu Nan thought about it seriously for a while, then said, "No, that's not necessary."

"Gu Nan!"

"I'm not deaf, don't be so hyperthyroid. Are you going to give it to me or not? If not, you're leaving."

Sudi took a deep breath, pounded his chest, glared at Gu Nan, and said in a heavy voice, "I've already found J, and she personally agreed to let me step in. I'm sorry, even in a fair competition, you're no match for me."

"Huh?" Gu Nan was stunned, looked her up and down, and asked with a face full of questions: "You found J, so I am..."

She swallowed hard, forcing back the word "who" that was on the tip of her tongue, and readjusted her words: "J agreed to let you step in?"

The incredulous expression on Sudi's face took on a different meaning. Sudi raised his chin, arrogant and domineering, and said without hesitation, "Yes."

Gu Nan stared at her for a while, smacked his lips, crossed his arms, and muttered under his breath, "How much money did she get scammed out of?"

These days, how can anyone still try to steal her money?

"You don't need to curse me. I'm here to tell you that J has time in three days. You can come over and I'll make you admit defeat so you won't say that I'm bullying people because I have the Lu family backing me."

Gu Nan couldn't help but roll her eyes, but she still sincerely advised, "I don't know if the Lu family will let you abuse your power, but you... never mind, take my advice and weld the anti-fraud app to your phone."

The only response she received was the sound of the door slamming shut.

The glass door shook for a long time before it stopped because of the excessive force of the movement.

Gu Nan's gaze, filled with complex emotions, gradually calmed as she watched the glass door. She shrugged and muttered to herself, "She won't listen to advice."

I looked down to switch phone systems and sent a message to the Buddha's Hand avatar.

What's the deal with the person surnamed Su?

She hasn't inquired about the Buddha's Hand head statue since she estimated its price would increase.

In previous years, she was the one who borrowed other people's identities to swindle and deceive, but today someone else has borrowed her identity.

Muttering to myself, "What goes around comes around?"

Yesterday she said she had found you, and you agreed to meet and talk with her.

J, I still mean it: I know your capabilities, and you'll eventually go it alone, but you can't take advantage of me.

Gu Nan was completely confused: [Going solo?]

[That guy before, although he was naive and rich, only got this opportunity to make money because I strongly recommended him first.]

"Um." Gu Nan hesitated for a moment, wanting to advise her to be careful with her words.

If Lu Yushi finds out, she might have to go to James Island to rest in peace.

We've been working together for five years, and I've always trusted your character. I never imagined you'd turn your back on me like this.

"Demolish your grandpa."

"Is there a ball with six holes in your neck? You believed her when she said I was looking for her, and you believed her when she said she was Lu Yushi's biological mother? Use your brain sometimes. The difference between humans and monkeys is that humans can store intelligence, and you can too, understand?"

"I won't even see you, why would I see her? What, does she have more sulfur borohydride than you?"

She was about to continue her tirade when she glanced up and saw Ji Yuanyu walking towards her with a serious expression. She changed her mind before she could finish her sentence: "Give your brain a break when you have nothing else to do, so you won't be caught off guard when you need it."

After sending a voice message, switch systems.

The glass door was pushed open.

Ji Yuanyu: "Sudi has found J."

Gu Nan shrugged and said lightly, "You've invited me to come and see for myself in three days."

Are you going?

"Of course I'll go." It would be a shame to let such a great sucker slip away. "Hey, by the way?"

Ji Yuanyu's expression tightened: "What's wrong?"

"Your employees urgently need to be taught some anti-fraud knowledge."

"ah?"