Chapter 30 Although Gu Sheng didn't want to admit it, he was secretly...
Although Gu Sheng didn't want to admit it, he could be considered An Lan's grandmaster when it came to stealing.
If it were Gu Sheng, he wouldn't have let the security guards discover the anomaly so quickly.
An Lan's arrangements and clever touches were no different from what Gu Sheng saw.
Moreover, Gu Sheng's gaze casually swept across the crowd, and unsurprisingly, he found An Lan standing there.
Instead of leaving immediately after committing the crime, they chose to stay and observe the reactions of others.
This kind of behavior, driven by a desire to show off, is a big no-no.
Thinking of this, Gu Sheng smiled. But even if An Lan wanted to leave, Gu Sheng wouldn't let him go.
Just then, Gu Hecheng announced the auction was suspended, and then he hurriedly walked off the stage with his security guards.
Gu Hecheng walked towards the vault. When he passed Gu Sheng, Gu Sheng suddenly reached out and grabbed him.
Gu Hecheng looked at Gu Sheng and said, "Uncle? What's wrong?" Before Gu Sheng could reply, he continued, "I have something urgent to attend to right now. Can we talk about the rest later?"
At this moment, everyone's eyes were on Gu Hecheng. When Gu Hecheng called Gu Sheng "uncle," everyone looked at Gu Sheng.
Gu Sheng heard someone whisper, "Is that the young master of the Gu family?"
Another person said, "What young master? His father is dead. But he can only be a young master now, since Gu Hecheng is above him."
The man who started it said, "What? Is it a brothers fighting? Oh, no, it should be an uncle and nephew fighting?"
Gu Hecheng looked at the two people who were speaking with a blank expression, and the two immediately fell silent.
Gu Sheng didn't care about what others were saying. He said, "I lost my invitation."
Gu Hecheng frowned slightly, not understanding what Gu Sheng meant by saying this at this time. Once they entered the banquet hall, the invitation would be useless, so losing it was no big deal.
Gu Sheng continued, "A waiter just walked up behind me and bumped into me. I suspect he stole it." As he spoke, he showed a regretful expression, "I even bought him champagne. What an ingrate!"
Gu Hecheng didn't quite understand what Gu Sheng meant by those words. In his opinion, Gu Sheng wasn't the type to care about an invitation.
Then Gu Hecheng looked behind Gu Sheng, where the entrance to the vault was. Upon seeing this, a guess popped into Gu Hecheng's mind.
Before Gu Hecheng could say anything, Gu Sheng leaned close to Gu Hecheng's ear and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Oh, right, he dropped something at my feet." As he spoke, he took out the pocket watch and slipped it into Gu Hecheng's hand from an angle where no one could see it. "It might be useful to you."
Gu Hecheng knew by touch that the pocket watch Gu Sheng handed him was the one he was looking for.
He widened his eyes slightly and instantly connected all the dots: the person who bumped into Gu Sheng was the thief who stole the pocket watch.
Gu Sheng took a step back and said to Gu Hecheng, "Could you help me find my invitation letter?"
Gu Hecheng gripped the pocket watch tightly. The organizer of this auction was the Gu Group. If something went wrong with the auction, it would be the Gu Group that lost face.
Gu Sheng secretly returned the lost pocket watch to Gu Hecheng, and then said that he had lost his invitation, which was a way of saving face for the Gu Group.
Gu Sheng hadn't thought that far ahead; he just felt that doing it this way was the best course of action.
Gu Hecheng whispered a thank you to Gu Sheng.
Then he said to security, "Seal off the banquet hall and call all the waiters to see which fool stole Uncle's invitation." His tone was unusually sharp, after all, the thief had almost ruined the entire auction.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gu Sheng saw An Lan in the corner. After hearing Gu Sheng's words, An Lan seemed to have thought of something. He nervously patted his whole body and then took out an invitation from where the pocket watch should have been.
An Lan looked at Gu Sheng with a shocked expression as she held the invitation. Gu Sheng also turned to look at her. When their eyes met, An Lan finally realized that she had been exposed.
A flicker of panic crossed his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. He casually tossed the invitation onto the food cart, then glared defiantly at Gu Sheng before turning away and walking toward the passageway leading to the kitchen.
The security personnel hadn't reached there yet.
Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow, finding it amusing. Knowing he had been discovered, he didn't show fear or panic, but instead immediately came up with a solution. That was quite interesting.
Unfortunately, he couldn't escape Gu Sheng's grasp.
A commotion broke out in the crowd. They hadn't expected Gu Hecheng to lock down the entire banquet hall because of an invitation. Moreover, it seemed that Gu Hecheng's relationship with his suddenly appearing uncle wasn't as bad as the rumors suggested.
However, some astute individuals have thought more deeply. Gu Hecheng's sudden announcement to suspend the auction and his subsequent walk towards the vault with security likely indicates a problem with the vault. The issue that has Gu Hecheng so anxious is probably the theft of exhibits.
Given that Gu Sheng suddenly said the invitation was lost, and Gu Hecheng cooperated by sealing off the banquet hall, it's highly likely that Gu Sheng discovered the thief's trail, which is why he sealed off the banquet hall to retrieve the lost exhibits.
However, even the smartest person would not have expected that the lost items had already been returned to Gu Hecheng by Gu Sheng. At this moment, Gu Hecheng sealed off the banquet hall simply to catch the thief.
Just then, someone said, "What is Mr. Gu up to? Everyone here is busy. After the auction, we have other things to do. We don't have time to stay here with you..." He looked down at Gu Sheng with a condescending expression, "Your uncle is being ridiculous."
Someone chimed in, "President Chi is right, nobody has time to put up with his fuss."
Gu Hecheng looked coldly at President Chi. The Chi family's Feichi Group and the Gu Group were two companies of comparable strength, and their businesses overlapped considerably.
The two families weren't exactly on bad terms, but they were business rivals, so their relationship wasn't exactly friendly either. The Chi family was keen on anything that could suppress the Gu family.
Gu Sheng glanced at President Chi, narrowed his eyes, and felt that he and An Lan looked somewhat alike.
Gu Sheng also noticed that An Lan paused for a moment after hearing President Chi's voice.
Coincidence? Or intentional?
Gu Sheng didn't speak. Gu Hecheng was already used to the Chi family's constant ridicule. He ignored President Chi and continued to direct the security to find the person.
Gu Sheng saw An Lan about to reach the exit, so he suddenly shouted, "There she is, that's him!" and pointed at An Lan.
An Lan's body stiffened for a moment, and everyone followed Gu Sheng's gaze.
President Chi also looked over, and then something interesting happened. An Lan casually picked up a cloth from the tray and covered her face, then lowered her head and quickened her pace toward the exit.
Gu Sheng glanced at President Chi and saw that President Chi still had a gloating expression on his face.
What's even more interesting is that An Lan knows President Chi, but President Chi doesn't seem to recognize An Lan, which means that President Chi is unaware of this matter.
Gu Sheng silently apologized for his earlier suspicion of President Chi, and also offered a prayer for President Chi, hoping that he didn't have a heart condition and might faint from anger when he learned the truth.
After Gu Sheng shouted, although the security guards hadn't arrived yet, a guest stepped forward and reached out to stop An Lan, but An Lan nimbly dodged them.
Even the most oblivious person would notice An Lan's unusual behavior upon seeing his actions.
Because of the obstruction of guests, security guards finally arrived in time to block the exit when An Lan ran to it.
An Lan glanced at the number of security personnel and the guns in their hands, and immediately made a decision. He did not choose to force his way through, but instead turned around and rushed into the crowd.
An Lan was extremely skilled. He weaved through the crowd, outmaneuvering the security guards who were chasing him and turning the entire banquet hall into chaos.
Gu Hecheng's brows furrowed deeper and deeper; what was supposed to be a proper auction had now turned into a complete farce.
After the initial chaos, the banquet hall gradually returned to calm, perhaps because others realized that An Lan had no intention of harming anyone, and some people in the crowd even began to comment on him.
After An Lan performed a difficult move, Gu Sheng heard a female guest exclaim, "That's amazing!"
A younger guest commented, "So handsome."
They seemed to have completely forgotten that the man was a thief, or perhaps to them, stealing an invitation didn't really qualify him as a thief.
As Gu Hecheng listened to the surrounding discussions, his face grew increasingly dark. He handed his pocket watch to his assistant, then rolled up his sleeves and joined the manhunt for An Lan.
The assistant took the pocket watch with a surprised look. He looked at the watch and then at Gu Hecheng's back, and whispered, "Huh? Wasn't it lost?"
Gu Sheng found it amusing to see the usually composed Gu Hecheng join the group chasing An Lan. He thought Gu Hecheng must be furious. But Gu Sheng also thought it was good. Gu Hecheng always looked very calculating and lacked the vigor that young people should have.
It's good to join in the fun with the young people once in a while.
The young people here naturally refer to An Lan.
As for how the news will report today's events, that's Gu Hecheng's business, not Gu Sheng's.
Although Gu Hecheng had clearly received professional training, An Lan was still superior in terms of skill.
After seeing An Lan circle the banquet hall twice, Gu Sheng identified an escape route.
He tumbled and rolled among various obstacles, and before long, he even jumped onto a window three or four meters above the ground.
Now everyone else could only stand there helplessly on the ground.
However, An Lan was still young and very competitive. He didn't jump over immediately, but instead turned around and looked down at the people below with an arrogant expression.
Gu Hecheng, his face dark, took out his walkie-talkie to contact the security guards outside.
Just as An Lan, who was standing by the window, had seen enough and turned to leave, Gu Sheng slowly walked to Gu Hecheng's side below the window.
Gu Sheng took the walkie-talkie from Gu Hecheng's hand amidst his puzzled gaze, then picked up a glass of wine from the nearby table and placed it in his hand.
Gu Hecheng did not resist, but he did not understand what Gu Sheng was going to do.
An Lan stopped moving, his eyes filled with coldness as he looked at Gu Sheng, the one who had brought him to this predicament.
He knew better than anyone else what the seemingly harmless Gu Sheng had done.
Although she didn't know how Gu Sheng had managed to switch the pocket watch so quietly, An Lan believed that it was because she had been careless that Gu Sheng had the opportunity. If she had been serious, Gu Sheng would never have been able to take the pocket watch.
Gu Sheng smiled at An Lan, who was looking at him coldly, and then picked up another glass of wine.
An Lan looked at the wine glass in Gu Sheng's hand and thought about the glass of wine she had just drunk with him. For some reason, she felt a little flustered.
However, he immediately forced himself to calm down. He looked at Gu Sheng and then sneered. Gu Sheng's body, which looked much thinner than Gu Hecheng's, seemed to have no chance of climbing up and grabbing him.
At this moment, because Gu Hecheng and An Lan were both looking at Gu Sheng, everyone else's attention also focused on Gu Sheng.
They saw Gu Sheng raise his glass and clink glasses with Gu Hecheng, then say, "I wish today's auction a complete success."
Everyone's gaze towards Gu Sheng changed. Wasn't this a blatant mockery of Gu Hecheng? The culprit who had thrown the auction into chaos was about to run away; how could the auction possibly go smoothly?
However, what was just an ordinary toast to others was completely different for An Lan.
The faint clinking of glasses echoed loudly in An Lan's mind, and the intense pain caused him to lose his footing and fall headfirst.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly and managed to land safely by performing a fall maneuver.
This unexpected turn of events stunned everyone. How did it suddenly fall?
An Lan reacted the fastest, dashing into the crowd.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
