Guild Hall
"Gu Nan—Gu Nan!"
As soon as Gu Nan stepped out of the private room, Ji Yuanyu caught up with her, his expression serious, and solemnly assured her, "The position of vice president is yours, and no one can change that."
Gu Nan: ...
Not afraid of god-like opponents.
“If you hadn’t been there back then, the New Times… they don’t know, but I will never forget.”
The door to the private room was tightly closed. The two stood facing each other in the hallway. Ji Yuanyu's eyes remained resolute and unwavering, while Gu Nan's face was expressionless. She quietly observed him for a while before looking behind him.
The spring rain in my memory should be just right, a gentle, continuous drizzle, carrying the hope of life.
However, this torrential rain seemed to be condensing the entire year's rainfall into a few hours, leaving no way for living beings to survive.
In the boundless darkness, the rain poured down rapidly, and a strong wind carrying mist rushed into the window, startling me with two shivers.
Gu Nan rubbed his arms, crossed them over his chest, leaned back, and put on a cynical smile, saying in a deliberately profound tone, "It's a good thing to be grateful."
"I…"
"But it's really unnecessary."
If she had known Ji Yuanyu would be so invested, she wouldn't have acted.
trouble.
“Gu…”
"I'm leaving." She turned around quickly, waving her hand dismissively without looking back: "I don't want it, give it to Sudi."
Two minutes later, there were no footsteps behind her. She glanced back at the empty stairwell, turned into the stairwell, and saw that the man who had been standing at the door had left sometime earlier. A faint scent of sandalwood lingered in the air.
Recalling the man's condition, Gu Nan curled her lips in disdain. To think that someone with such severe sleep disorder would rely on agarwood to help them sleep was simply wishful thinking.
After a moment of shaking his head, he realized that among the people standing on this floor, apart from wealthy and privileged individuals like Ji Yuanyu who had enjoyed a smooth and successful life, only a minority were mentally sound.
However, if someone rejects her kindness, then they deserve it.
After all, she can't be kind to people very often in her life.
-
There was only one cleaning lady cleaning the corridor on the 29th floor. The corridor was filled with the fresh scent of white tea, which completely masked the dampness and stench of the spring rain outside the window.
Gu Nan turned sideways into the corner room and skillfully entered the password to unlock the electronic lock.
The wardrobe was untouched. As she was organizing her clothes, a sealed plastic bag slid out and fell to the ground silently.
She pursed her lips, took a close-up photo of the plastic bag, and sent it to her friend.
My friend quickly replied: "Throw your lousy chrysanthemum in there, otherwise it'll get rusty after the rain. I don't want to go to bars with you drunk again, it's too embarrassing."
Gu Nan held the phone and examined it for a while before realizing that the other person was mocking her.
First of all, it has a beautiful name: Daisy. Secondly, I just mentally blessed it; it won't die.
The "typing" indicator above the chat box lasted for a full half minute, and a message popped up just a second before she put her phone down.
Okay, I'll make time to offer incense to it and its owner.
Gu Nan: [...its owner may not necessarily be dead.]
Yes, you've simply been lost in the vast sea of people; you don't even know their names or faces.
Gu Nan gave a perfunctory twitch of her lips, her expression vanishing with the movement.
She bent down, took off the necklace, and played with it in her hand.
It's just the most ordinary daisy decoration, the yellow and white petals are still as exquisite as when I first saw them, but they have long lost their luster due to the passage of time.
The silver-white tassels below the petals developed rust spots the next day because they got wet last month and weren't cleaned in time. That day, she had drunk some alcohol, and she, who never lost her composure in front of others, made a fuss and demanded an explanation from the bar.
Later, when she sobered up, she only said that she had a bad temper when drunk, without mentioning her sudden outburst of anger.
She caressed the tassels and sequins, holding them in her hands to her heart. Luckily, the rust hadn't been there long enough to clean it off.
A gust of wind blew the plastic bag, and she picked it up in the direction of the wind. She took a tissue and wrapped the daisies in two layers before carefully sealing the plastic bag, solemnly placing it in the deepest pocket, and gently patting it.
After doing all that, she changed her clothes, put on a mask and sunglasses, and then put her baseball cap on her head before leaving.
The side entrance of the Platinum Restaurant has a long corridor leading to the clubhouse, which runs through a small garden with crystal-clear water and evergreen plants all year round.
The rain was pouring down, and the few people in the corridor were hurrying along. Gu Nan didn't like to look disheveled, so she walked very slowly.
Noisy footsteps sounded behind her. Before she could turn around, she was suddenly bumped to the side. She quickly grabbed a pillar to steady herself and prevented herself from falling off the corner of the corridor.
"hiss."
Turning around, she saw seven or eight bodyguards escorting a person as they walked quickly past her.
The bodyguard who was at the back turned around and whispered, "Sorry."
Gu Nan frowned, unable to detect any hint of apology on the bodyguard's face.
They walked quickly and soon disappeared from sight.
Gu Nan let out a long sigh, patted her arm in disgust, then suddenly paused, frowned, and took a light sniff of the faint sandalwood scent remaining in the air.
He cursed inwardly, once again condemning his own inexplicable kindness.
Fuming with anger, he pushed open the door to room 1901.
Before I even entered, I heard a cold voice: "You're late."
It sounded somewhat familiar.
"I ran into a clueless person on the street..."
As their eyes met through the sunglasses, Gu Nan's pupils suddenly contracted, and the curse that was on the tip of her tongue was swallowed back down.
The room was brightly lit. The man stood by the window, his figure tall and straight. His well-tailored clothes perfectly outlined his physique, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, achieving the golden ratio.
He wore only a shirt, no tie, and one button was undone at the collar, revealing his delicate collarbone. He wore a silver mask with simple patterns, only revealing his angular jawline and... a pair of eyes.
Gu Nan was furious, and even through her mask, she couldn't ignore the scent of sandalwood in the air.
Smelling it three times a day, and each time it's unpleasant.
She hesitated for a moment, then gently pushed up her sunglasses that were pressing against the bridge of her nose, and asked suspiciously from the stairwell, "Have we met before?"
The masked man slightly lifted his eyelids, slowly scanning her up and down for half a second, his gaze deep and gloomy.
There was no response.
Gu Nan curled her lip, inwardly concluding—a rich but blind, sick and rude idiot.
Having lived for 24 years, few people could gather all the traits she dislikes in just a few hours.
She casually tossed her bag aside, sat down on the sofa like a boss, raised an eyebrow, and beckoned the man over with her finger.
The man ignored her and walked straight to the sofa opposite her. "I only have half an hour."
The room was very well soundproofed, with several windows perfectly blocking out the torrential rain outside, making the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Gu Nan looked up in silence, her face full of doubt hidden by her mask. After a long while, she found her voice and said, "Don't you understand the situation? You're the one who came to me, not the other way around."
“I paid.”
The man's tone was indifferent, and his silver mask gleamed with a cold, eerie light.
The matter-of-fact tone emanating from beneath that mask imbued the statement with a chilling, sinister edge.
Gu Nan rested her chin on her hand in contemplation, her sunglasses blocking most of the glaring light, and gave a wicked smile.
"Some people have no sense of contractual obligation, like me. Even after I'm paid, it depends on my mood. I generally won't agree to hypnotize people I dislike. If I absolutely have to hypnotize someone I dislike, I'll charge an extra 30% for emotional distress, for example..."
She flicked her fingertips lightly, a slight smile playing on her lips: "You."
After he finished speaking, the man remained upright without moving, his eyes showing no anger. He glanced at Gu Nan's entire body and finally stopped at her sunglasses.
An invisible pressure swept over me, as if its power seeped into my very bones, sending chills down my spine.
“It’s fine if you disagree, please go ahead.” Gu Nan stood up as if to leave, her eyebrows slightly raised, her smile carrying an air of arrogance: “Remember to settle the room fee.”
The man's gaze suddenly darkened.
Gu Nan shrugged indifferently, "Since you're asking me for help, you have to abide by my rules."
After all, no one else could treat the insomnia patients she couldn't cure.
The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly oppressive; no one dared to make a sound, especially if there was a third person in the room. Gu Nan stared at him, silently counting the seconds.
I'll call you back after it's over.
Gu Nan smiled and calmly sat back down. "Okay."
The secret passage is full of fools who love to give away money; the more the merrier.
She wasn't a doctor, and words as noble as medical ethics didn't apply to her. Since she'd already charged extra, she carefully analyzed the situation: "Half an hour won't work. Your condition is very serious. There are many methods of hypnosis, but I haven't found one suitable for you yet. Let's try them one by one..."
The man glanced at his watch and interrupted her: "20 minutes. You decide what to do."
Gu Nan: "Can't you understand human language?"
"You were 3 minutes late, which cost me 7 minutes." The man's eyes were piercing, and his words, though spoken slowly, carried an irresistible pressure.
Gu Nan looked up at him. The man had probably been a superior who gave orders for a long time and had long lost the ordinary heart to coexist peacefully with others. Even when looking at him at eye level, the man's eyes were still cold and arrogant.
After a silent exchange of glances, Gu Nan grabbed her bag and left.
"I'll give you your money back. I'm not in the mood anymore."
She hadn't taken two steps when her wrist was suddenly grabbed, and a sharp pain shot through her wrist bone. She turned around, and a silver mask loomed large in front of her. The eyes beneath the mask radiated a dangerous signal. The man said, slowly and deliberately, "Don't challenge my bottom line."
Gu Nan flicked her wrist away without taking a step back, a wicked smile on her face, and lectured, "When you ask someone for a favor, be polite to me."
The man released her hand as she pulled, then quickly lifted her chin with his other hand, his gaze sharp: "Don't be so aggressive."
The two stood close together, their gazes sharp as spears through sunglasses, the air thick with tension.
Gu Nan braced herself against the edge of the table with one hand and used her forearm to push his arm away. The movement was so big that her coat was mostly knocked off, and her sunglasses were bent at one leg and almost fell off. The man reached out and helped her put them back on.
...
She was speechless and pursed her lips; she was still an obsessive-compulsive idiot.
Then, using her waist and abdomen to exert force, she took advantage of the man's momentary lapse in concentration and kicked him with her knee, sending him flying towards the opposite sofa.
A white object slipped out of the pocket, lightly bumped against the corner of the table, and then rolled under the table due to gravity.
Gu Nan patted non-existent dust off her hands, took a few steps forward, leaned on the back of the sofa with one hand, and stared down at the man.
The man leaned back on the sofa without moving. His eyes were cold, but not just cold; a hint of emptiness was perfectly concealed.
An unfocused gaze seems lifeless, drifting along with the tide of fate, leaving behind only an empty void.
She paused, looked away, and after a long while, she realized that it was the repression of being imprisoned.
"I'm not one to be coerced or threatened, so you'd better listen to me."
The man remained silent, his eyes as cold as an icy pool.
"Since you're busy, let's reschedule." Gu Nan thought for a moment, then turned back and added, "By the way, don't stay up too late. I get really grumpy when I can't sleep."
The man glanced under the table, then leaned back, resting his head on the sofa back, and closed his eyes without saying a word.
My heartbeat can't keep up with the speed of the second hand.
A moment later, the door to the room was opened, and the person who entered walked in with unsteady steps. "Yu Shi?"
Lu Yushi lifted his eyelids, removed his mask with one hand, glanced at the mess at his feet, pinched the bridge of his nose, and asked in a low voice, "Do you have any painkillers?"
Qiu Jingxun: "Headache?"
Having received an affirmative reply, Qiu Jingxun instructed the waiter to fetch the medicine and also ordered the room to be cleaned.
He wondered, "Isn't J's hypnosis supposed to work well for you? Why do you look worse than before?"
"Time is too tight, let's reschedule."
"Can you handle the multinational conference tonight?"
Lu Yushi took the pills and swallowed them with warm water, then closed his eyes to rest, saying softly, "Mm."
As the two were talking, a waiter came over with a small, clear plastic bag. "Young Master Lu, this was found under the table."
Lu Yushi opened his eyes, slightly raised his chin, and gestured for the waiter to put the plastic bag on the table.
Qiu Jingxun casually took the bag, crumpled the tissue inside, and asked, puzzled, "Is this for sealing trash?"
"Her things."
"J?"
"Um."
How is J?
Lu Yushi stared at the ceiling with a cold expression: "A woman with no sense of time, arrogant, and of low quality."
Qiu Jingxun chuckled and joked, "It's really rare to hear you criticize women."
The two walked and talked, and returned to the apartment half an hour later. The study was brightly lit, and the assistant had already prepared the materials needed for the meeting. Lu Yushi turned on the computer and saw a message with a Buddha's Hand icon.
【Sir, J has lost something. The staff reported that you took it? That item is very important to J. Could you please help me return it to the Platinum Club?】
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