Bagua
As summer draws to a close, everything remains sweltering in the evening heat.
The room temperature was just right, the person in bed was breathing lightly, snoring almost inaudibly, and sleeping soundly.
Gu Nan stared for a while before looking away.
It's been so long that she doesn't quite remember the scene when she first met Wan Yi. Her impression is that Wan Yi was straightforward and didn't fuss over details. The two got along well, and she was too lazy to refuse him. Over time, they became friends.
She didn't have the habit of digging into her friends' backgrounds, and the Wan family wasn't part of her plans. Therefore, most of her knowledge of Wan Yi came from hearsay.
—Master Wan's youngest son, an illegitimate child raised outside the home since childhood, whom Master Wan dotes on.
Because of his awkward status, Wan Yi rarely returned to the Wan family. Apart from the Earl's Club, this manor was his usual place of residence.
She wanted to help Wan Yi, but she had met Wan Yi a few times when she was young. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, she would not appear in front of Wan Yi unless absolutely necessary.
"I can't help you anymore." She pouted, suppressing her displeasure.
Turning around, I saw the handsome man on the bed, his brows slightly furrowed, slowly waking up.
Gu Nan adjusted her facial expression, hooked her leg over the chair, lazily slumped in, crossed her legs high, rested her elbows on the armrests, and slowly raised an eyebrow: "Awake?"
Wan Yi paused in his movements, his face stiffening for a moment, and looked up: "You?"
Gu Nan's disdain was written all over her face, but she kindly asked, "J left, I just arrived, is there any other problem?"
She glanced up and saw Wan Yi's eyes darting around under her eyelashes, her unease hidden beneath her hesitant expression. She understood immediately, let out a long sigh, and teased him deliberately, "Who bullied you? Tell me and I'll be happy."
Sure enough, Wan Yi breathed a sigh of relief and lay back on the bed, relieving the strain on his shoulders.
"Stop laughing, or you'll dislocate your jaw. There are no doctors here."
Gu Nan clicked her tongue: "Is this how you treat your great benefactor?"
Wan Yi pursed his lips and didn't say anything.
Knowing he was in a bad mood, Gu Nan didn't bring it up again and changed the subject: "Tell me two pieces of gossip about your Wan family, something juicy."
"what?"
"You think J is so easy to get?" Gu Nan said nonchalantly. "Just help me recover some of my losses."
Wan Yi: "I'll pay."
"J doesn't want money, he just wants gossip."
Wan Yi's initial sadness was replaced by anger, and he instantly felt full of strength again. He scrambled to his feet and said, "J isn't a paparazzi. Why would she want to gossip? You're the one who wants to, aren't you?"
Gu Nan glanced at him, didn't say anything, but her expression was firm, as if she wouldn't give up until she got the gossip.
Wan Yi's head started to ache again. He frowned and cursed angrily, "Is Ji Yuanyu so desperate for life? He sent you out here to ask for gossip."
Gu Nan rubbed her ears and pouted, "You talk too much nonsense. Are you going to give it to me or not? If not, go back and make it up yourself."
Wan Yi glared at her, her tone curt: "What content do you want?"
"It's irrelevant but eye-catching." Gu Nan's lips curled up, her whole face showing an expression that said, "See, how considerate I am of you."
You need to know how to be grateful.
Wan Yi seems unlikely to be grateful. "Then make it up yourself."
Gu Nan looked at him expressionlessly, and after half a minute, said, "J is from Xuncheng. He only accepts online remote services and won't go to the trouble of hypnotizing others." She then changed the subject, "Do you know where this is?"
Wan Yi looked at the idiot with the eyes: "This is my home."
...
"Very good, it seems that hypnosis can easily lead to intellectual disability."
"You son of a bitch!"
Given that Wan Yi had just woken up and his mind was not fully developed, Gu Nan could only analyze it in more detail: "To be precise, this place belongs to the North City."
"Bullshit," Wan Yi poured himself a cup of tea and casually sat down on the table next to her. "Didn't you see the news? This piece of land was given from Beicheng to Xuncheng. J didn't leave the city."
Gu Nan raised an eyebrow in surprise: "One minute you're smart, the next you're mentally challenged. Did the hypnosis give you a split personality?"
"Get lost."
Gu Nan thought for a moment, nodded, and stood up, making Wan Yi feel embarrassed. "Hey, where are you going?"
Gu Nan pointed at herself and said, "Get lost." She waved her hand magnanimously, "Forget it, the world is cold and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be. I saved people from dire straits, and they just added fuel to the fire for me."
Wan Yi knew she was just putting on an act, but he still stopped her at the last minute and said a few harmless gossips, while also harboring some personal motives in the gossip.
Gu Nan left satisfied, paused at the door, pondered for a moment, shook her head and went out.
Outside the room, Sudi had been waiting for a long time, fanning herself lightly with a lotus leaf she had picked from somewhere, and complained, "Why did you take so long to come out?"
Gu Nan mysteriously raised three fingers, "Three gossips, let's go!"
Instantly, all the fatigue on Sudi's face vanished, her eyes brightened, and a radiant smile spread from the corners of her eyes.
"real!"
Before anyone could answer, there was a creaking sound behind him, followed by Wan Yi's voice.
"Nan...J?"
Gu Nan's smile froze. She quickly turned around, glared at him warningly, and mouthed, "Shut up."
It was still too late. Sudi paused, then pointed uncertainly at herself: "Me?"
Wan Yi's "thank you" was slurred, and Gu Nan kicked it back.
"Bang!"
"ah!"
Sudi: ?
Wan Yi: ? ?
"What are you doing!" they shouted in unison.
Gu Nan laughed awkwardly: "Hehe, my foot slipped."
Before Sudi could react, she quickly dragged Wan Yi behind the door and solemnly reminded him, "Have you forgotten what I told you before?"
Sudi followed, and asked uncertainly, "He said I'm J?"
Gu Nan was at her wits' end. Staring at the culprit, she asked expressionlessly, "Did you tell me?"
Wan Yi was getting a headache from the stare. "Did I say that?"
Sudi: "It seems he said that."
Gu Nan "kindly" helped Wan Yi up, then, using her clothes to cover herself, pinched an acupoint between Wan Yi's elbows and asked through gritted teeth with a smile, "You said it?"
"No!" Wan Yi jumped up with a start. "I didn't say that, you must have misheard me."
Gu Nan smiled kindly, "He didn't say that, you misheard."
Sudi rubbed his ears and saw that both of them looked very determined. For a moment, he wondered if he was suffering from heatstroke and was experiencing auditory hallucinations.
Should we go?
"Let's go." Gu Nan glanced back at Wan Yi and pointed to her phone.
As I boarded the bus back to Xuncheng, I received a message from Wanyi on my phone.
The thank-you note she was asked to forward to J was estimated to be just over a thousand words long, followed by a huge transfer amount.
Gu Nan typed: 【You have insulted my loyalty to my friends.】
Wan Yi: [Then please return the Wan family's gossip to me.]
What a coincidence! I really enjoy being insulted.
Then he accepted the transfer, turned off his phone, and explained things to Sudi.
The three pieces of gossip all revolve around money, power, and sex. Master Wan has two legitimate sons. His eldest son is turning fifty this year, and his younger son is also over forty. His only illegitimate son, Wan Yi, is only in his early twenties.
Before Wan Yi appeared, the two sons of the Wan family, who were officials, fought each other to the death for the family property. After Wan Yi appeared, the two of them turned against each other and worked together to fight against outsiders.
The concepts of legitimate and illegitimate children are matters of law and morality. In Gu Nan's eyes, Wan Yi is just a friend.
He was an innocent and pitiful person who was dragged into the cesspool of interests.
I thought I couldn't help Wan Yi, but now it seems I can not only help, but also be of great help.
Wan Yi had no interest in the family fortune. Before knowing his true identity, he had built the Platinum Club from scratch in his youth. After being taken in by Master Wan, he simply regarded him as having another father and being loved by him.
Unexpectedly, neither of the Wan brothers were easy to deal with. Wan Yi, feeling awkward about his position, kept his distance from his two older brothers and never got in their way. He also showed great respect to Master Wan's wife, indicating that he would not come back to compete for anything.
But as Master Wan grew older, he longed for pure family affection. His wife and he had been outwardly friendly but inwardly at odds since their marriage. His two sons were afraid of him from a young age, and as they grew older, they became even less close to him.
Having finally experienced a glimpse of his childlike innocence in the face of the consequences of a momentary mistake, he was unwilling to let go easily.
This is precisely what's most disgusting. If he truly cared for Wan Yi, given his position in the Wan family, who would dare bully Wan Yi if he gave the word?
If one is not sincere, one should not accept Wan Yi.
He wants to reunite with his son and maintain the balance of power among all families; he wants to have all the good things in the world.
"Won't I get harassed if I write about Wan's gossip?" Sudi was organizing her memos when she looked at the sensational news and found it difficult to put pen to paper.
Gu Nan glanced at it and said, "Watch your wording. We're exposing it."
“Exposing the Wan family,” Sudi took a breath, “is just a matter of time before the information is inaccurate. The Wan family could… could they…”
“Accurate.” Gu Nan tilted her head. “For the sake of justice.”
Sudi is different from Wanyi. It's easy to persuade Sudi because Sudi has a scale in his heart called justice.
"Okay." Gu Nan smiled and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep.
The journey back to the New Times was long, and Su Di couldn't sleep. He tilted his head and chatted idly: "You said that Master Wan's eldest son hired someone to kill Wan Yi. Does Master Wan know about this?"
Gu Nan pretended to be asleep and didn't make a sound.
They probably know, but since the matter hasn't come to light, they're probably too lazy to make a choice.
She wanted to see whether, once the message was sent out, Master Wan would protect his eldest son to maintain the existing balance, or protect Wan Yi for the sake of the family ties he craved.
The results will take time to verify, but the immediate problems must be addressed.
"Nonsense!" Ji Yuanyu slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
The tea on the table shook violently, flowing down the side of the cup and forming a circle at the bottom.
Sudi twisted his fingers, head bowed, and remained silent.
"You dare to dig up gossip about the Wan family? Are you out of your mind? Did you get my permission? Read what the OA says yourself!" Su Di held her phone without saying a word.
Gu Nan glanced at her and said to Ji Yuanyu, "That's enough."
"You mean she didn't talk about you?" Ji Yuanyu rarely got angry at Gu Nan. "If you hadn't taken her there, would she have dared to go to the Wan family mansion looking for news?"
Gu Nan rubbed her ears. "Okay, okay, it's my fault."
As she spoke, she pushed Sudi out the door. After dealing with Ji Yuanyu, she still had time to say, "Alright, this is none of your business. Go downstairs."
Then, without saying a word, he closed the door, leaving Sudi outside.
He turned around and poured Ji Yuanyu a cup of tea. After all, it was published in the name of the New Times, so he felt a little guilty: "Why are you so angry?"
Ji Yuanyu glanced at the tea, didn't take it, and said coldly, "What do you think? Master Wan personally sent someone over to ask, and there are one shareholder meeting message after another. How am I supposed to respond?"
Gu Nan pushed the teacup towards him, and when he picked it up, she said, "We're not making this up."
Ji Yuanyu was furious, but he couldn't bear to get angry at Gu Nan. He couldn't even keep a cold face for five minutes before he had to give up: "Making up nonsense won't alarm Master Wan."
He paused, then quickly made a decision: "How about this, Vice President... you..."
Seeing Ji Yuanyu struggling to find the right words, Gu Nan smiled and replied, "Remove me from my post?"
Ji Yuanyu corrected: "It's not a dismissal. Let's lay low for a while and deal with Master Wan first. I'll have someone write an apology letter and send it out in your name."
Gu Nan smiled and said, "Why should I?"
Ji Yuanyu silently raised his eyes.
Gu Nan pursed her lips: "Okay, you do it."
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