Chapter 41 How can people be so greedy and greedy...?
Looking at Ye Jinyan's astonished face, Gu Mingyan belatedly realized that when she said the words "break up," she didn't hesitate at all, nor did she feel the heart-wrenching pain she had expected.
The suffocating feeling that had been building up in her chest for so long was swept away, and she felt an unprecedented sense of ease.
It turns out that ending a terrible relationship feels like a huge relief.
Ye Jinyan was stunned for a full three seconds before frowning and scrutinizing her as if he were seeing her for the first time: "Are you sulking with me? Just because I took better care of Meng Xian?"
"Stop." Gu Mingyan raised her hand, making a "stop" gesture. "Ye Jinyan, are you still so narcissistic even now? Who has time to argue with you?"
Ye Jinyan ground his back teeth, unable to believe that these words were coming from Gu Mingyan's mouth.
Suddenly, as if he had found the crux of the problem, he said coldly, "Gu Mingyan, have you noticed that ever since you had that friend named Yun Qingqing by your side, you have changed and become unreasonable?"
He stepped forward, self-righteously advising, "I advise you to stay away from her. She's just the child of a servant in the Fan family, and she's only with you for your money. Do you know what kind of people her parents are? They're like leeches clinging to her, sucking her blood! What good can someone from that kind of family be? Don't be fooled by her innocent appearance!"
"Ye Jinyan, you've really opened my eyes." Gu Mingyan looked at him, feeling a wave of nausea. "I've said it before, it's not your place to judge what kind of person Qingqing is."
She was too lazy to waste any more words with him and turned to leave.
Ye Jinyan was enraged by the disgust in her eyes. Without thinking, he grabbed her wrist and said, "Gu Mingyan, explain yourself!"
Her wrist was gripped, and Gu Mingyan's brows furrowed sharply: "Let go!"
"Please calm down and listen to me..."
"I said, let go!" Gu Mingyan struggled forcefully, but couldn't break free.
Just then, another long, strong hand with distinct knuckles reached out from the side and precisely clamped down on Ye Jinyan's wrist.
Gu Xubai was a few centimeters taller than Ye Jinyan, and he looked down at him condescendingly, asking, "Didn't you hear her tell you to let go?"
Ye Jinyan felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and the bones were creaking.
He looked at Gu Xubai in astonishment, not expecting the other party to have such a strong grip.
Under intense pain, Ye Jinyan was forced to loosen his grip on Gu Mingyan's fingers.
As soon as Gu Mingyan was free, she immediately took two steps back, took out a pack of wet wipes from her pocket, and slowly and carefully wiped her wrist, which he had just touched, right in front of him.
Ye Jinyan saw this and his face turned pale and then flushed.
After wiping, she crumpled up the wet wipe and accurately threw it into a portable trash can a few steps away before giving Ye Jinyan a look.
"I'm too lazy to argue with you anymore. In short, this is the end between us."
Ye Jinyan stared at her angrily, some harsh words almost escaping his lips.
But just as he was about to speak, he met Gu Xubai's gaze.
There was no extra emotion in the other person's eyes, but Ye Jinyan felt a terrifying pressure.
He reluctantly swallowed back words like "Who do you think you are?" and "You'll be begging to come back to me sooner or later."
Ye Jinyan gritted his teeth, his expression shifting several times before finally taking a step back, looking rather annoyed: "Gu Mingyan, I think you're too agitated today. You don't even know what you're saying. Let's talk again when you've calmed down."
He didn't believe it.
He couldn't believe that Gu Mingyan, who had once followed him so earnestly and whose heart and eyes were always with him, would really break up with him so decisively.
Only after Ye Jinyan's figure disappeared into the shadows on the other side of the camp did Gu Xubai turn around and ask, "Are you alright?"
Gu Mingyan stretched her wrist, which had just been gripped, and said nonchalantly, "What could possibly happen to me? It's just getting rid of a troublesome person."
Gu Xubai carefully observed her expression and confirmed that there was only disgust and relief in her eyes, without any sadness or lingering attachment. Only then did he almost imperceptibly relax his tightly furrowed brows.
After a moment of silence, he brought up the topic he had overheard earlier: "What's the situation with Yun Qingqing's parents?"
"Oh, this?" Gu Mingyan explained without much thought, picking and choosing her words, "I've heard Qingqing mention it before. Her parents are the typical type who favor sons over daughters, thinking daughters are just a burden."
“When she was little, she would be beaten and scolded for even the slightest mistake. All the good things in the house were reserved for her younger brother. As she grew up, it got even worse. People thought that her education was a waste of money and that she should go out to work and earn money to save up for her brother's dowry and buy him a house.”
Gu Xubai listened quietly. His expression was not very clear in the darkness, except that his jawline seemed to be slightly tense.
"She dropped out of high school because of this?"
“Yeah, isn’t that outrageous?” Gu Mingyan shrugged. “Qingqing suffered a lot of grievances from her so-called parents, but thankfully she’s no longer in contact with them.”
The evening breeze swept through the campsite, bringing with it the soft crackling of the campfire.
Gu Xubai remained silent for a while, then didn't press further, simply saying, "Let's go back, it's chilly at night."
When the two returned to the tent, Gu Mingyan immediately saw Yun Qingqing sitting on the ground with her knees drawn up to her chest, gazing longingly in the direction she had come from.
The unpleasant feeling Gu Mingyan had due to the breakup suddenly seemed to melt away in the other person's bright eyes.
She walked over and sat down naturally next to Yun Qingqing.
Yun asked softly, "...Are you done talking?"
"Yes, we've finished talking." Gu Mingyan smiled at her. "I broke up with Ye Jinyan."
Yun paused for a moment, then carefully observed Gu Mingyan's expression.
Gu Mingyan couldn't help but pinch her cheek again: "Don't worry, I'm not a porcelain doll. I just dumped a jerk, am I supposed to cry my eyes out for him?"
Seeing that she was still in the mood to joke, Yun Qingqing, who had been holding her breath, finally felt relieved and smiled along with her.
The next morning, the guests got up one after another.
Yun Qingqing used the points she had accumulated from yesterday's tasks to redeem a simple breakfast for three people at the program's supply point.
She carefully divided the food, intending to deliver it to Gu Mingyan and Gu Xubai along the way.
When Yun Qingqing approached Gu Xubai's tent, she heard him making a phone call.
"...Yes, we can give the Fan Group another three percent of that joint development real estate project in the western suburbs."
There seemed to be someone asking or confirming something on the other end of the phone. Gu Xubai pondered for a moment and continued, "In addition, regarding the supply chain cooperation we discussed last time, the purchase price of the Fan family's shortlisted products can be executed at 95% of your initial quote."
Yun paused lightly.
Although she knew nothing about business, she knew that "giving way" often meant that one's own side would suffer a loss.
Why would Gu Xubai make a deal that is clearly disadvantageous to his side?
"System, System!" Yun Qingqing frantically called out to the system in her mind, "Oh no, has Gu Xubai already started implementing his plan to destroy the Gu family? Has my legal education failed?"
system:【……】
Yun Qingqing thought about it more and more and felt it was possible, and she was heartbroken: "Sure enough, the villain's mindset is not so easy to change! I was too naive! Legal education alone is not enough, we also need to strengthen ideological construction!"
She cleared her throat and decided to recite the "Eight Honors and Eight Shames" to Gu Xubai every day, hoping to subtly pull him back from the wrong path.
"Take pride in loving the motherland and feel ashamed of harming the motherland; take pride in serving the people and feel ashamed of betraying the people..."
The system quickly called a halt: [Wait, don't panic. Gu Xubai probably isn't implementing any plan to ruin the Gu family.]
Yun's gentle recitation abruptly stopped, filled with suspicion: "Huh? How did you know?"
The system could only reveal: [Because the condition for him to offer concessions to the Fan family was that the Fan family immediately terminate their employment relationship with Yun Jianmin and Zhang Cui, and ensure that they could not find similar employment again.]
Yun Qingqing: "Hmm?"
Aren't Yun Jianmin and Zhang Cui the original owner's vampire parents?
The system said: "In other words, it means getting these two people who bullied you out of the Fan family."
Yun Qingqing: "Hmm???"
Yun Qingqing was full of doubts, but before she could delve into the reasons why Gu Xubai did this, she saw Ye Jinyan avoiding the crowd and sneaking towards her and Gu Mingyan's tent from afar.
She spat and mentally complained to the system, "That damn male lead is really persistent!"
Fearing that Gu Mingyan would suffer if she faced him, Yun Qingqing quickly followed after him.
As she approached, she saw Ye Jinyan standing outside the tent, speaking softly into it.
"Mingyan, I apologize for my bad attitude yesterday." Ye Jinyan softened his voice. "We've been together for so many years, don't you feel how important you are to me? Don't be stubborn, okay?"
Taking advantage of the fact that the people inside the tent couldn't see him, Ye Jinyan maintained his haughty and arrogant expression as he spoke, creating a stark contrast with his gentle tone.
Gu Mingyan remained silent, clearly too lazy to pay him any attention.
Yun Qingqing looked at the pretentious man and secretly rolled her eyes: "Young Master Ye, you are so devoted to our Mingyan, and you came all this way early in the morning to apologize. I was quite touched."
Upon hearing her voice, Ye Jinyan's eyes became wary.
But he seemed afraid that Yun Qingqing would ruin his plans, so he suppressed his disgust and emphasized, "My feelings for Mingyan have never been just talk; they are genuine."
"Oh? Is that so?" Yun blinked gently, looking innocent and confused. "But Young Master Ye, you speak so affectionately, why are you still so ambiguous with Meng Xian? To the point that everyone misunderstands Ming Yan as a third party trying to interfere?"
"Yun Qingqing!" Ye Jinyan's face darkened, and he scolded, "It's none of your business, an outsider, to interfere in what's between me and Mingyan."
Yun Qingqing was not afraid at all: "Young Master Ye said I was an outsider, but what have you ever done that treated Mingyan as an insider? You can't let go of Meng Xian, your white moonlight, and you covet the power of the Gu family. You use Mingyan as a tool to consolidate your family's position."
She took a step forward and questioned coldly, "Young Master Ye, how can a person be so greedy and despicable?"
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