Suffering

Even after Gu Nan changed her clothes, her chat window with Lu Yushi remained silent. Gu Nan scoffed in dissatisfaction and went to the New Times after finishing her meal.

We don't have the fake J's contact information, but the person who found the fake J is still around.

Full of confidence, Sudi went upstairs, only to be met with a bucket of cold water: "She deleted and blocked me."

They are completely innocent.

Gu Nan spoke very slowly, each question tinged with incomprehension: "So you mean, someone added you on social media, told you she was J, and you believed her and sent her money?"

She stared intently at Sudi, trying to discern a negative expression on his face.

However, she only received a big eye roll in return. Sudi turned around and scolded, "Aren't you annoying?!"

With her thin lips pressed into a thin line, Gu Nan's expression was complicated: "Putting aside whether I'm annoying or not, can you explain your thought process to me?"

She rarely judged people with prejudice, but Sudi was a top student who graduated from a prestigious university, and despite coming from an ordinary family, she and Lu Yushi could call each other senior and junior.

After a long silence, he asked, "Did your senior brother save your life?"

"Bang."

The file slammed down, and Sudi, hands on her hips, demanded, "Are you even alright?"

Needing a favor, Gu Nan swallowed the sarcasm that was on the tip of her tongue, put her hands in her pockets, and said, "Can you do me a favor?"

"What?"

Getting back to the main point, Gu Nan hesitated again. She stared at Su Di, lost in thought, her intuition telling her she couldn't tell Su Di the truth. Su Di was righteous to the point of being wicked; he definitely wouldn't agree to a deceptive scheme.

After thinking for a moment, she stroked her chin, looking profound: "You'll find out when you get there."

"Who knows what bad things you're up to? No, you tell me first." He spoke righteously and firmly.

Gu Nan sighed, her lips twitching for a long time before she finally asked, "Is it only when you get close to me that the anti-fraud program in your brain can be activated?"

Seeing Sudi turn and leave with firm steps.

She clicked her tongue, blocked Su Di's path in a few steps, and nudged him with her shoulder, asking mysteriously, "Wan Family News, wanna go?"

“Wan Jia?” Sudi hesitated.

Located at the border of two cities, the Wan family was naturally not as powerful as the five major families. However, in the no-man's-land at the border, no one dared to offend the Wan family. Even if the Wan family patriarch went to the northern city, the younger generation of the five major families would still have to respectfully call him Master Wan.

Whether they genuinely dared not offend him, or whether there was some other connection, outsiders have no way of knowing.

All I know is that, apart from those trivial matters, no one can gossip about the Wan family.

Sudi rubbed her hands together, glancing up at Gu Nan every now and then. When their eyes met, she would immediately look away, only to look at him again after a short while.

Gu Nan grinned mischievously: "Trying to seduce me?"

"Pooh!"

"Tsk."

Sudi said irritably, "Even President Ji can't afford to offend the Wan family, let alone the two of us..." She shook her head, "Let's just forget about it."

After a two-second pause, she clenched her fists, her eyes glazed over, and gritted out a few words through gritted teeth: "You shouldn't go either."

Gu Nan stood tall and proud: "Fortune favors the bold."

"Be careful, you might earn money but not live to spend it."

"Don't worry, it's very safe." Gu Nan half-coaxed and half-tricked: "Once we dig up those gossips, we'll let the Wan family know first. If he minds, he can just pay to buy the gossips. If he doesn't mind, we can still make a lot of money on Toutiao."

Seeing the softening in Sudi's eyes, she lowered her voice and put on a serious face, looking extremely reliable and trustworthy.

"Is Wu Feng still targeting you? Take the headline from the Wan family and throw it in his face, see what he dares to say then."

His deep voice seemed to have barbs, and once it entered the ear, it slid into the heart along the meridians of the whole body.

"If I can dig up any gossip about the Wan family, the credit will go to you. Is there any chance that I, the vice president who does nothing, will be stepped down and given a position to someone more capable?"

She slid her hands onto Sudi's shoulders, and without much effort, Sudi sat down in the office chair following her lead.

"What's the meaning?"

The computer screen reflected their shadows. She leaned down slightly and whispered in Sudi's ear, "I only care that the headline can bring profits to the New Times. As for who wrote the press release, I have no interest in that."

Sudi held the position of turning his head away for a long time, something in his eyes shattered and then regained its light, as if it was guilt.

She clasped her hands tightly, inwardly blaming herself for being blind to Gu Nan's worth, thinking he was idle and irresponsible towards the New Times. Now it seemed she had wronged Gu Nan.

My initial wavering gradually shifted towards a more skewed direction.

Gu Nan watched her reaction with satisfaction, thinking that money and power were the most tempting things.

She slowly stood up, her nonchalant smile reassuring: "Don't worry, I don't need anything from you, it's just inconvenient for me to be alone."

She was willing to take the danger upon herself and relinquish the fame to someone else; she didn't believe Sudi wouldn't be tempted.

Unexpectedly, Sudi blurted out, "Then aren't you in danger too?"

The sound echoed in the office for a long time. Neither of them spoke for a while. She watched as Sudi slowly turned around and her ears, hidden by her hair, turned red.

She smiled gently and remarked, "I didn't expect you to have such a conscience."

Knowing Sudi as she did, she knew that if she said one more word, Sudi would turn around and leave. So she shut up at the right moment: "It's settled then. Go to OA and I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."

After taking a couple of steps, he turned back and reminded him, "Oh, by the way, you can write the OA document yourself, but don't let General Manager Ji know."

Sudi looked up in confusion.

She explained seriously, "If you want to hear President Ji recite scriptures for half an hour, and also like to get in the way when going out on business, then just pretend I didn't say anything."

Sudi muttered silently, "The chanting is for you, but for us it's just cursing." She didn't say it aloud, only uttering a soft "oh."

Gu Nan raised an eyebrow and left, humming a song.

He had a legitimate reason for the business trip from his aunt, which he had managed to conceal perfectly from Ji Yuanyu, and he was about to fulfill Wan Yi's wish without revealing his own identity.

Everything was perfect, and she was in a good mood. She took out her phone and found the culprit that had almost ruined her mood.

Typing: [Second hypnosis session, August 13th.]

Looking at the deserted chat box, she smiled and muttered to herself, "I'm just afraid that after you finished hypnotizing me, you'll have insomnia again after hearing the news."

[Young Master Lu, you must take care of your mood. A good mood will help you recover faster. If you let all sorts of messy things affect your mood every day, even a miracle couldn't cure your insomnia.]

His words were full of sincerity.

The message was sent, but by noon the next day, there was still no reply from Lu Yushi.

She put away her phone and looked up at the towering, steep wall in front of her.

Behind him, Sudi's voice trembled: "Do we really have to climb in from here?"

Gu Nan turned her head expressionlessly: "How about we ask Master Wan to come and open the door for us, and while we're at it, tell us about his family's dirty secrets?"

Sudi remained silent, only staring intently at the wall.

There was nowhere to put your feet down.

Turning his head, their eyes met. Gu Nan felt a loss of strength in his waist and sighed inwardly.

I forgot, she shouldn't have that much strength.

Helpless, Su Di took out his phone, fumbled around for a while, found Wan Yi, and before he could even type, Su Di slowly asked, "Are you looking for Master Wan?"

Gu Nan looked up and saw that Su Di's mocking expression was actually quite cute.

"Um."

Sudi was stunned, and Gu Nan immediately burst into laughter, "How can you believe everything?"

Seeing the anger that quickly spread across Sudi's face, Gu Nan innocently raised her phone: "Borrow a ladder."

With the ladder, the two successfully climbed onto the top of the wall.

The scorching sun beat down on their bodies, and sweat streamed down their faces. They looked at each other, their gazes filled with mutual understanding.

Sudi took out a tissue from her bag and handed it to Gu Nan. Seeing that Gu Nan had her eyes closed, she thought she was not feeling well, so she quietly moved closer to wipe away the sweat.

Gu Nan opened her eyes: ?

Sudi took a deep breath: "I'll do it."

He then turned his head, frowned, gripped the ladder with a look of deep resentment, and pulled hard.

Gu Nan, his face a mask of disarray, secretly exerted his strength, and together the two of them placed the ladder inside the wall and entered the Wan family's residence.

They crouched down and walked through the back garden, turned into the moon gate, and walked along the long corridor for two hundred meters. It was half an hour later when they stopped by the carved pillars.

Sudi grabbed her clothes, asking uncertainly, "Are you sure this is the Wan family's house?"

Half an hour has passed, and I haven't seen a single person.

"It's better to go through the main entrance."

Upon hearing this, Gu Nan paused, choked on her own saliva, and said speechlessly, "You really think highly of me."

She racked her brains trying to convince Wan Yi to leave her a secluded path; if she were to use the main entrance, she might as well have Wan Yi come and pick her up directly.

Unfortunately, he had tricked the man into coming here, and he still had to keep it a secret from Wan Yi.

She looked up at the glaring sun, wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve, suppressed her irritation, and swallowed the words of complaint she had been uttering.

I told myself that I could only praise, not criticize.

"Did you remember what I taught you?"

Sudi put on a mask and sunglasses, pointed to himself, and said, "I still don't understand why I did this."

Gu Nan: "Do you want to be in the headlines?"

"think."

"Wait here." After saying that, Gu Nan pushed the door open to go in, but Su Di quickly pulled at her clothes and said, "What if someone comes over?"

Gu Nan moved the corners of her mouth, having lost all strength and means: "No one will come. You just wait here, I'll be right out."

Why can't we go in together?

The only response Sudi received was the sound of the door closing.

With the door closed and peace and quiet restored, Gu Nan glanced at Wan Yi, whose clothes were disheveled, picked up the teapot on the table, put her feet on the chair, tilted her head back, and gulped down half of it.

Wan Yi stood there dumbfounded. After a moment, he looked down at himself, his shirt wide open, and teased, "Am I that attractive to you?"

"Cough cough."

The tea was coughed up before it even reached my stomach.

Gu Nan pushed Wan Yi away, pounded her chest, and finally managed to catch her breath. She rolled her eyes speechlessly and glanced at Wan Yi out of the corner of her eye.

"With your measly muscles, Lu Yushi could take on ten of you."

Wan Yi kicked the chair and said irritably, "I knew you were here to annoy me."

“No way,” Gu Nan pointed to the door, “J is waiting outside.”

Before he could finish speaking, Wan Yi started to walk out, but Gu Nan pulled him back.

Wan Yi: "How can we ask J to wait outside the door?"

Gu Nan's eyes were filled with mixed emotions, and she suddenly felt that her life was very miserable.

"Let me explain first. J doesn't like small talk, and she doesn't like being called by her name. If you want to be hypnotized, wait until she comes in, and the hypnosis will begin immediately. Don't waste time talking, understand?"

Wan Yi: "I don't understand."

Gu Nan clenched her fist, her narrowed eyes carrying a hint of danger: "You'd better do as I say."

Wan Yi didn't know what Gu Nan was angry about, but seeing that she was indeed unhappy, he silently walked back to the bedside, slipped on his slippers, and lay down, saying, "I'm fine now."

"Wait."

As she opened the door, the sweltering heat enveloped her. Gu Nan took a deep breath and continued to clench her fist.

"You're finally out." Sudi greeted him.

Gu Nan quickly closed the door, pulled Su Di to a corner, and whispered, "Remember, once you come in, just say what I told you. Don't say a single word more, okay?"

Why…

Gu Nan glared at him, shutting him down.

"Remember, be confident."

The two entered together. Sudi looked at Gu Nan uncertainly, and Gu Nan gave her a thumbs-up.

At the same time, taking advantage of Sudi's inattention, he gave Wan Yi a warning glare.

Sudi: "Are you ready?"

Wan Yi: "Alright."

Sudi: "Now, close your eyes and don't think about anything. Your mind should be blank."

...

Gu Nan lay on the sofa, pretending to sleep, with Su Di's gentle voice and Wan Yi's occasional responses all around her.

She breathed a silent sigh of relief, feeling that her life was suddenly less miserable.

Wan Yi's condition was as expected; he entered a light sleep but remained conscious for a time.

She unconsciously tapped the back of the chair with her fingers.

"Okay, keep it up. You're very tired right now, your eyes are sore, and you can barely keep them open..."

After saying the last sentence, Gu Nan stood up, quietly walked to Su Di's side, and mouthed, "Okay, I'll take care of the rest. You go outside and take some footage."

He shoved the DSLR camera into Sudi's arms.

Sudi pursed her lips and went out.

Gu Nan nodded in satisfaction, gazed at Wan Yi's tightly closed eyes, and slowly moved to the bedside.