UCS Chapter 78.2

Wherever Gao Shi went, there were plenty of people holding wine glasses coming to chat with him. Some wanted to become familiar faces in front of him, while others wanted to probe for information through indirect questioning.

 

Gao Shi simply wasn’t interested in his family’s company affairs, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t deal with these old foxes. He moved with ease among these old cunning ones, but after Gao Shi left, the old foxes looked at each other and smiled bitterly, sighing that heroes indeed emerge young.

 

Although Gao Shi wasn’t very interested in his family’s business affairs, since he was already here, he simply revealed the companies he had been managing over the years. Amid the shocked dropped jaws of the onlooking crowd, he signed several big contracts on the spot, making the trip worthwhile.

 

Father Gao watched Gao Shi from afar and sighed softly.

 

Although he had already accepted the fact that his son would most likely not return, he still felt it was a pity. If only Gao Shi’s talent in business was even slightly lower, he wouldn’t feel such regret.

 

Father Gao looked for a while, felt heartache, and simply turned his head away to avoid looking. Father Gao was a rigorous and serious person—since he had already promised his son to let him pursue his dreams, he would never interfere. If his son wanted to be a police officer, he’d let him go. At worst, the Gao family could just let his grandson inherit. The sooner he could pass on this inheritance, the sooner he could travel the world with his wife.

 

After Gao Shi revealed his companies, everyone discovered that these several companies with considerable influence in recent years were actually managed single-handedly by Gao Shi.

 

If previously people’s evaluation of him regarding the land purchase was that he had well-informed sources and great courage, then now their evaluation had to include his ability to maintain and develop what he had built.

 

Many CEOs silently wiped sweat from their brows, muttering in their hearts about why the Gao family had such good luck—every one of them was a business genius? Could it be a feng shui issue?

 

After Gao Shi made his rounds, today’s tasks were complete, and he could finally relax and go to his familiar circle. These few were all his childhood friends and the rare people in this circle with whom he had any real interaction.

 

“Yo, Old Gao, you’re here?”

 

“Mm. This is Ying Bujie, an honored guest of my family.”

 

Gao Shi indeed rarely attended banquets.

 

First, he really wasn’t very interested in his family’s affairs. Just dealing with the occasional nightmare fragments that appeared already consumed too much of his energy.

 

Second, he really had no common language with these kids at banquets. When kids got together, they talked about new toys or discussed their tutors. What was he supposed to talk about with these children? Should he discuss which brand of diapers worked better? Or how to make baby food that didn’t look and taste as awful as a pile of poop?

 

Gao Shi was already more mature psychologically than his peers, and after becoming a father, he had become even more mature. Looking at these kids was like looking at his own little ones. They simply couldn’t connect at all. Only these few childhood friends were on the same wavelength as him, and they would occasionally get together for meals.

 

“Speaking of which, Old Gao, has your Lele gotten engaged yet?”

 

Gao Shi looked at one of his childhood friends with disdain, “Lele is only 18 years old. What engagement?”

 

The childhood friend swirled his wine glass and jerked his chin toward Gao Gusheng’s direction, “Well, you’d better keep a close eye on him. Look at those little brats in this venue—their eyes are like they want to devour Lele alive. The young ones are one thing, but those old ones still have the nerve to harbor thoughts. Some of those shameless old men’s gazes make me sick just looking at them.”

 

Gao Shi snorted coldly, his sharp gaze sweeping across the venue. Certain people with guilty consciences immediately shivered and no longer dared to look.

 

Gao Shi retracted his gaze and said calmly, “As long as I’m here, my son won’t be bullied.”

 

Even if this is a world controlled by plot, all developments must follow their own logic.

 

For example, as long as Gao Gusheng has the backing of the powerful Gao family, a family that can intimidate all the scumbags, then there won’t be so many flies buzzing around him. The scenarios from the dream where Li Mochen gave him to other men would never happen in reality.

 

To make the worst-case assumption, even if Gao Gusheng were actually kidnapped by Li Mochen and given to other men to humiliate him, those people would still balk at the idea because of the Gao family.

 

But that’s just a secondary reason. The main reason is, if this truly is a world controlled by plot, then as long as Gao Gusheng successfully lives to the end of the “story,” doesn’t that mean he can escape the plot’s control? Even if his special constitution can’t be changed, at least he won’t attract so many scumbag men anymore?

 

“Our circle has always been pretty messy, so you should also keep an eye on things. Have you heard what’s going on with the Wu family?”

 

Of course Gao Shi knows. Who is his dad? His dad’s the head of the gossip squad.

 

“I heard the Wu family head actually left his old young girlfriend who was pregnant for him—she was about twenty—and then actually picked up another girl, also only twenty-something.”

 

He said he just wanted to give the girl some face, but in fact, reality is much less dignified than what he says.

 

That girl gave birth to twins for the Wu family, but before she even finished postpartum recovery, the Wu family head brought another woman home—another twenty-something, her belly already bulging seven or eight months pregnant.

 

“Older men in our circle keeping younger partners isn’t that rare. Even directly moving them into the family home isn’t anything new—people might curse you as shameless behind your back, but it’s not unheard of. But bringing them in one after another—what’s that about?

 

If you bring in just one, you could still barely say it’s real love, but bringing in one after another in quick succession? That’s just disgraceful to show such greed at one’s age.

 

Rumor has it, the Wu family didn’t give the girl who just gave birth a single penny in parting settlement. She was unwilling at first and wanted to make a scene, but the Wu family promised her everything would be settled, only for the Wu family young master to kick her out along with all her things—and he picked a rainy day to do it.”

 

“The girl pounded on the door in the pouring rain for a long time, but no one answered. What could she do? She just had to go—she couldn’t risk falling ill caught out in the rain.”

 

Who knows what the next girl is thinking? When she sees what happened to the last one, will she feel sympathy for a fellow victim?

 

“Speaking of the Wu family—haven’t you noticed their business has actually been doing better lately?”

 

“That’s true. Their wood factory was almost bankrupt, but now it’s booming again.”

 

“I heard they developed some new process—is this a case of luck finally turning?”

 

“A new process? It can’t be newer than Old Gao’s process. Hey, Old Gao, isn’t your new land plot supposed to be for a high-tech products exhibition? When will it be ready? Give me a couple tickets when it’s done, or I’m making trouble!”

 

Gao Shi laughed and scolded, “Relax, you won’t be left out.”

 

As they chatted and things were getting lively, Gao Shi suddenly fell silent. Everyone followed his gaze—Whoa! Who could possibly be so bold as to go up to Lele?

 

……

 

Gao Gusheng felt the beginning of his business world domination was going very smoothly. These few had already turned into his own little fans.

 

As the group was discussing whether to go do something else, a bright, pleasant male voice suddenly rang out.

 

“Hello, I’m Gui Yan.”

 

Gao Gusheng turned around in surprise and saw a young man.

 

The moment Gao Gusheng saw him, he felt as though he were looking at a flame.

 

The young man was dressed in a red striped suit—not a dark red, but a bright, scarlet red as vivid as a blazing fire.

 

This bold color was hard for most people to pull off, but on him, it seemed entirely fitting. He had a red highlight in his hair, and a trace of reckless pride in his eyes.

 

Gao Gusheng didn’t recognize him, but the friends behind him clearly did. One young girl quickly stepped forward, stars in her eyes.

 

“Lie Yan! You actually came to the banquet! I’m your fan—I like you so much!”

 

Gao Gusheng looked at the girl in confusion, then up at the man who called himself Gui Yan.

 

Who is he? Why does he seem so famous? Not just this little fan, but all the little brothers behind him were looking at him with sparkling eyes.

 

What should he do? His newly acquired sidekicks seem to be on the verge of betrayal.

 

Fortunately, his newly made friends still cared about their new big brother. Seeing his confusion, they explained, “Brother Gusheng, this is Brother Gui Yan! He’s the son of the Gui family and a famous race car driver. His code name is Lie Yan—’Blazing Flame.'”

 

Lie Yan? Hm, that name really does fit his image—he really does look like a dancing flame.

 

Still, Gao Gusheng wasn’t all that interested in him. Mostly, he was on guard.

 

To be honest, it’s a bit funny and a bit sad. Usually, when such a conspicuously superior man suddenly appears and starts chatting him up, he’s automatically a target for caution.

 

No—that’s not even accurate. It should be, “Any man who suddenly appears is automatically a target for caution.”

 

His dad had once told him that problematic men who look average usually only hurt his body, but handsome problematic men will hurt both his body and his heart.

 

Gao Gusheng couldn’t help but silently complain—What’s this? Are things in my world really like some novel? Does the plot actually depend on how handsome the scumbag is?

 

Gui Yan stared straight at Gao Gusheng. “Can you come over here for a moment? I have something I want to discuss with you in private.”

 

Gao Gusheng grew even more alarmed. How could he be alone with any suspicious man? If he actually spent time alone with him, he was worried he’d lose his virtue!

 

Gao Gusheng instinctively looked toward his father’s direction, pondering how to refuse.

 

But he saw Gao Shi walking toward him as if he had already received his distress signal.

 

Looking at the tuft of red hair on Gui Yan’s head, Gao Shi sneered inwardly.

 

Ha, found you.

 

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