Chapter 126 Tonic
Gu Ningwei sent Han Que home and asked her to have a good rest. He also asked Aunt Zhao to make some nourishing soup for Han Que to calm her down, and then he went to the company to return Jiang Jin's car.
The meeting had ended long ago, and the two went up to the rooftop of the company to smoke.
Gu Ningwei briefly recounted the whole story to Jiang Jin and said, "It's obvious. Either the He family did it, or my uncle sent someone to do it."
Jiang Jin said, "I've told you before that what you're doing is a slap in the face of the He family and your uncle. They're furious and will definitely find a chance to take revenge on Gu Fu. Didn't you say that you can't marry He Lian because Han Que is pregnant? Well, then they'll let Han Que have an abortion. Now you have no excuse, right?"
"Fuck you." Gu Ningwei cursed. "I don't understand why they keep staring at me. He Lian is such a flirt, she can get any man she wants. Even if they want to find someone of equal status, there's no need to stare at me. With the He family's strength, there's definitely someone willing to get close to them..."
Jiang Jin took a puff of his cigarette, looked at the gloomy sky not far away, shook his head, and smiled, "I don't know about the feud between you and the He family. Yours is a feud between wealthy families."
"What the hell are these wealthy families?" Gu Ningwei snorted. "They're all just like a clay Buddha crossing a river, unable to save themselves."
Jiang Jin glanced at him and smiled.
He sighed again and muttered softly, "No wonder Aunt Zhao told me not to publicize the pregnancy during the first three months. I even laughed at her for being superstitious. It seems superstition really does make sense."
Jiang Jin glanced at him and smiled briefly.
"What are you laughing at?" Gu Ningwei looked at him.
"I'm laughing at you. You're someone who's not afraid of anything, but now you believe in metaphysics. You even take the words of your hometown nanny as gospel. You really are..."
Gu Ningwei rolled his eyes at him. "What do you know? The end of science is metaphysics. Don't look down on Aunt Zhao as a country girl. She's walked more bridges than we have. She knows all sorts of strange things. Put away your elitist arrogance and don't underestimate her."
Jiang Jin smiled: "Okay, okay, you have a point, but why did you announce it to the public in the first place? Aren't you just looking for trouble..."
Gu Ningwei lowered his head in silence for a moment, reaching out his hand to unconsciously wipe the dust off the concrete railings. He whispered, "What else can I do if I don't tell you? You know my dad. He wants a third generation. This is the only reason he can agree to my not marrying into the He family. Otherwise, he'll have to use those clichés about company interests, overall perspective, and being well-matched... to pressure me..."
Gu Ningwei looked up and sighed.
"So, in the eyes of you people, being well-matched is the most important thing, and the relationship between the two people is not taken into consideration at all." Jiang Jin blew out a smoke ring and said slowly: "It seems that Gu Zhiguang agreed to my marriage with Ali and put aside the prejudice of family background. I should be grateful to him..."
"Oh?" Gu Ningwei turned and looked at him, "What's wrong? Are you feeling sorry for it now?"
Jiang Jin shook his head. "There's nothing I can't bear. Even without you telling me, I know he's using me as a dirty glove. If I were to stand on the same page with him, I know better than you what the end result would be."
He sighed deeply and whispered, "Not only did I not have a good ending, but even Ali did not have a good ending..."
Gu Ningwei didn't say anything. He leaned against the concrete railing and looked into the distance silently.
The sky is overcast and the air pressure is very low. It looks like it's going to rain.
Jiang Jin stared at the sky and said to Gu Ningwei, "Look, it was sunny at noon, but now it's covered in dark clouds. Another thunderstorm is coming..."
"There are unexpected changes in the weather, and people are subject to misfortunes and blessings at any time. Who knows what the fate will be like?" said Gu Ningwei.
Jiang Jin nodded. "When I first met Ali, I just thought she was innocent, cute, and passionate. I knew there was a class difference between us, but I was moved by her and couldn't bear to give up on our relationship. At that time, I thought, let's just go with this relationship. If your family doesn't agree and she can't hold on, then let's give up. But I didn't expect it to end up like this..."
Gu Ningwei comforted him, "You don't have to be too pessimistic. As long as Gu Zhiguang can return the money, I won't really hold him responsible. After all, he was once my uncle, and..."
He paused and said, "If we can successfully transform, Chengguang won't collapse. That would be good for everyone..."
Jiang Jin shook his head. "I've seen the data. There's no way Gu Zhiguang can get his money back. He's already transferred it away. How can he get it back? You want him to spit out what he's eaten? Do you think that's possible? Is he that kind of person?"
Gu Ningwei remained silent, pursed his lips, and looked solemn.
He knew that Jiang Jin was telling the truth, and he knew Gu Zhiguang better than Jiang Jin did.
But when it really comes to that, he always can't bear it.
Besides, his father, Gu Zhicheng, only has this one brother. Over the years, although the two have had intrigues and conflicts, they have not yet reached the point of becoming enemies.
"Do you think your father really doesn't know what his younger brother has done, or is he deliberately pretending to be ignorant?" Jiang Jin asked.
Gu Ningwei shook his head, "I don't know."
Although he said this, he was also doubtful in his heart. With Gu Zhicheng's many years of experience in managing projects on the front line of real estate, he knew all the revenue and costs clearly.
Gu Ningwei had seen before that Gu Zhicheng didn't need an accountant or finance department to help him calculate. He could calculate the project's profit by just using a calculator, and the result was almost the same as the final financial calculation.
How could such a shrewd person be kept in the dark by his brother for so many years?
Gu Ningwei thought about it carefully and found it incredible.
Apart from Jiang Jin, Gu Ningwei never brought up the incident of Han being hit by a car.
Gu Zhicheng seemed to have noticed something as well. One day at noon, after discussing business matters, he intentionally or unintentionally asked Gu Ningwei in a roundabout way whether there was something urgent that caused him to rush to the hospital that day.
Gu Ningwei briefly mentioned that Han Que was hit by a motorcycle going the wrong way when crossing the road, but he is fine now.
Gu Zhicheng finally breathed a sigh of relief and said repeatedly, "It's good that you're okay, it's good that you're okay."
It was rare for him to show his warm side. Gu Ningwei was stunned, lowered his head and said nothing.
"Hey, the child is still young, so you still need to pay more attention to her. You have to keep a good eye on her and don't let her run around. If it really doesn't work, I'll transfer someone over to run errands for her." Gu Zhicheng said.
Gu Ningwei quickly refused.
Gu Zhicheng added, "By the way, someone gave me some supplements last time. Take them back and give them to them."
As he spoke, he asked Secretary Xie to bring in a bag filled with ginseng, cordyceps, bird's nest, and deer antlers. He handed it to Gu Ningwei and said, "Tell her to take good care of herself. I heard that the first three months are a critical time for a child's brain development, so nutrition is the most important."
Gu Ningwei looked at the bag of supplements and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Dad, you can keep these for yourself. Han only takes the vitamins and folic acid prescribed by the hospital, these..."
"Hey, the ones prescribed by the hospital need to be eaten, but this one is of better quality, all wild, and very expensive..." Gu Zhicheng said to him, "Take it back first."
As they were talking, Gu Zhiguang pushed the door open, holding his ever-present purple clay teapot, and said to Gu Zhicheng, "Boss, I've almost finished the negotiations with Shunxin. We're just waiting for our semi-annual report to come out and finalize the figures before we can sign the contract. The draft contract is also ready."
He placed the printed draft of the contract on Gu Zhicheng's desk: "Otherwise, you can take another look and see if there is anything that needs to be changed."
Gu Zhicheng nodded, not showing much interest. "Just leave it there. We'll talk about it after we finish the board meeting."
Gu Zhiguang was stunned for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Okay, let's wait until Awei and Xiaojiang finish the data."
He turned around and said to Gu Ningwei, "Ah Wei, you have to keep an eye on Xiao Jiang recently. I don't know what's going on with him lately. I see him hanging out with Ali all the time and rarely working overtime. Whenever I ask him to work overtime, Ali comes to complain to me."
Before Gu Ningwei could say anything, Gu Zhicheng complained to him, "Young people are dating, what do you have to say, old man? Oh, he doesn't want to be with Ali after work, but with you? And you force him to work overtime at the company every day. Zhiguang, you really are a capitalist, you only know how to exploit and oppress."
He shook his head and tutted his lips in disapproval.
Gu Zhiguang and Gu Ningwei looked at each other and were both surprised.
Gu Zhiguang said, "Oh, the sun is rising from the west, and you are still able to speak up for the young people. This is not like your usual behavior..."
"What's wrong with my daily behavior? Am I so unkind? Am I so cold-blooded and cruel? All I know is exploitation and oppression?" Gu Zhicheng was very dissatisfied with his argument and asked a series of questions.
Seeing Gu Zhiguang and Gu Ningwei lowering their heads and suppressing their laughter without answering, he turned to look at Secretary Xie standing beside him, "Secretary Xie, do you think I am that kind of person?"
Secretary Xie glanced at Gu Zhiguang and Gu Ningwei, then lowered his head and chuckled awkwardly, "Boss, you're joking. You've been very nice to us and have never been that kind of person."
"Secretary Xie, you're the secretary of the board of directors. You need to tell the truth. You can't be so hypocritical and flattering." Gu Zhiguang deliberately teased Secretary Xie, taking the opportunity to criticize him: "Our company's public disclosures are all under your pen. If you say one thing and mean another, that won't do."
Secretary Xie chuckled dryly, "I'm speaking from my heart, the truth. Please rest assured, Mr. Gu." He quickly left, "I have other things to do. I'll be going first."
After saying this, he quickly slipped away.
Gu Zhiguang looked at his back and laughed heartily: "Old Xie has been cautious and timid all his life. The slightest movement can scare him half to death."
"Okay." Gu Zhicheng said suddenly.
"What?" Gu Zhiguang was puzzled.
"I mean, he has a good personality. He's cautious and timid. Otherwise, if we were both fearless like the two of us, who knows what kind of wrong path the company would have taken. It's a blessing that there are people like him who remember to tell us to put the brakes on."
Gu Zhiguang heard the hidden meaning in his words and was stunned.
Gu Ningwei glanced at him calmly, smiled, and said nothing.
Gu Zhiguang coughed a few times, turned to look at the bag next to him, changed the subject, and asked casually, "What is this?"
Gu Ningwei opened his pocket and showed it to him.
Gu Zhiguang flipped through it and asked in surprise, "Tonic?"
Gu Ningwei nodded.
Gu Zhiguang winked at him, looked at him teasingly, and laughed, "Ah Wei, you're so young, and you're already taking tonics? You should take care of your health. But isn't your girlfriend pregnant? Why are you..."
Gu Ningwei looked slightly embarrassed. He raised his chin towards Gu Zhicheng and said, "These were all given to me by my father."
"Him?" Gu Zhiguang turned around and looked at Gu Zhicheng in surprise.
"What's so strange about this? I'm not giving it to him to eat. I'm doing this for my grandson..." Gu Zhicheng said seriously.
"Your grandson?" Gu Zhiguang asked.
"Yeah, didn't Awei rush out during the meeting that day? It was...that woman...who was hit by a car. Fortunately, nothing happened..." He stammered, frowning.
"Oh, there is such a thing?" Gu Zhiguang asked in surprise.
Gu Ningwei looked into his eyes quietly and nodded.
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