Chapter 201 – The Boss Had A Nosebleed (2)
"You can be as casual as you want at home, but you must at least know these rules."
Huo Sishen paused.
The saying is "rich and noble." First rich, then noble.
And elegance was the most important characteristic of nobility.
His girl could be as capricious and free will as she'd like. He could have her under his wings.
But once they have children, it would become important for her to tell what's right from wrong. That's the only way she'd be able to pass them on.
Just like his little sister.
She could have her ways at home. She would be protected by her father and brother.
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But when she got married and needed to raise her children, she'd be looked down by her husband's family if she was ignorant. Or worst, she'd fail to raise her children properly.
As Huo Sishen was thinking about this, his look became colder.
And there was a discomfort in his chest.
He looked up and looked at the sweet and mellow girl sitting docilely in front of him with his suit jacket over her. He thought about how, in the future, she'd marry another man, have on another man's clothes, have kids with another man... raise their children...
His grip on the wine glass tightened.
He felt that the wine that he had just taken a sip of was bitter and astringent. And a slight sour taste spread out on the tip of his tongue.
Gu Shishi had no idea and was oblivious that this was Boss Huo's Train my Girl (Wife) lesson.
She simply assumed that he was this strict with everyone.
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Luckily, she didn't object to learning from him.
Quite the contrary, her eyes were beaming like a mouse who had fallen into a big tub of rice!
[Beep! Received a Michelin 3-star exclusive dinner (entire restaurant). Value at: $562,203.]
[Recharge complete!]
[Life Balance: 10 days.]
Who would have thought that when the boss said to make a reservation, he meant he had reserved the entire restaurant?
This was beyond a show of wealth; this was straight up domineering!
This wasn't a French meal that she was having; she was having a Queen's meal!
Every bite was so enjoyable!
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The servers, standing in two rows next to them, awaited to be summoned.
Huo Sishen would stop after teach plate and have them bring up more wine.
And he'd explain how to drink the wine to her in details.
Each and every single one of them.
The servers acted like they were serving an emperor. Some holding the wine glasses. Others the ice bucket. And some others with the napkins, the dishes... all waited for his command.
Gu Shishi would take a bit of the food and try a sip of the wine.
Then she'd look at the perfectly handsome Boss Huo who was explaining to her in his handsome and chicly way and demonstrating to her how to properly use the fork and knife...
She listened to his magnetic voice...
She was on cloud nine!
The information was dry but she could take this class over and over again without getting tired of it!
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"Do you get it?"
Just listen. How wonderful was this voice!
"Uhuh. Uhuh."
Gu Shishi nodded. She only wished she could record his voice right now.
Boss Huo waved his hand.
The servers quickly removed the entrée and the wine that went with it.
And brought up the next course!
Gu Shishi continued to listen happily.
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The amount of each course was not very much and she only had a taste of each wine.
But the experience was entirely novel.
Gu Shishi felt that a door to a whole new world had been opened up for her.
She had copy-painted Song Huizong's illustrations of flowers and birds.
Picture: Bird and flower illustration by Song Huizong
Source: chinashj.com
There was a distinct advantage to drawing bird and flower gongbi with a touch of femininity.
But her master had always said that what was missing between her strokes were true carefreeness and nobility.
Her work might resemble that of Song Huizong's, but it was leaps and bounds away from Song Huizong's Mystical Crane.
She didn't understand before nor did she ever figure out what exactly was nobility.
But, tonight, looking at the servers lining up in two rows and how the hidden envy and jealousy hidden in the looks of the female servers when they looked at her, she seemed to have glimpse at it now!
Song Huizong, albeit being one of the most unreliable emperors in Chinese history.
But every inch of the land belonged to him.
He was an emperor. No matter how humble he was, his pride and extravagant would well exceed those of commoners!
Chapter 202 – The Boss Had A Nosebleed (3)
Had she not came with Huo Sishen today but came to this restaurant on her own dime today...
Would she has received the same level of service?
Would she has experienced the nobility of being waited on by the entire team of restaurant staff with just one wave of her hand?
She felt that it had gotten to her head!
Gu Shishi felt there was a lightning strike inside her head!
Her ego... had expanded so!
Look at what was going through her mind...
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She had definitely let it got to her head. She actually thought she could relate to what was going through Song Huizong's head when he drew his birds!
To put it simply, it was "Who dared to say that the bird he drew didn't look like a bird? And who dared to say that it was ugly? Was it not the most vigorous and handsome bird in the world?!"
It was the bird that was drawn by a king!
The domineering aura. All of his nobility under his paintbrush. Confident, unbridled, his brush strokes were smooth, and his color combination elegant!
"Ah, I see!"
Gu Shishi nodded repeatedly as she ate with her fork.
Hearing her delicate voice, Huo Sishen's brows unfurrowed.
He looked squarely at the girl who was very focused on her food.
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Not bad.
She was more obediently than his little sister was.
She made a good student.
She looked very docile during her lesson. In fact, almost somewhat... sacred?
Huo Sishen's body was much less tense than it was before. It had been touched by the warm light inside of the restaurant making him seemed much softer.
Then, looking at the plate in front of her and the food that she had barely touched, he frowned again.
Was he being too strict with her?
It was her first time visiting this restaurant. She should be enjoying her food.
Huo ChuChu had already tried all the delicacies in a few different countries when she was Gu Shishi's age.
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But for Gu Shishi... this was her very first time.
Huo Sishen's heart soften again and he even felt a tingling sense of pain.
He took her plate over and sliced the duck up into bite size pieces for her.
"Eat."
Gu Shishi spaced out for a little bit and hadn't even had the chance to say anything when her plate was taken away from her.
She heard the notification from the system in a matter of seconds!
[Beep! Candle light dinner assignment complete!]
[Calculating reward!]
[Number of times the man felt his heart had skipped a beat: 5.]
[Number of times he was felt jealousy: 3.]
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[Number of times he had offered you his service: 12.]
[Assignment completed at 200%!]
[Reward: Natural blush from wine (include passive effect) halo fragment *1; Doting of the male lead increased by 10%!]
Gu Shishi was a little stunned.
Heart skipped a beat? Jealousy? When did all those happen?!
But she took a quick look at the system and smiled with her mouth cracked open.
She was only 6% away from LV4 Fondness from the Male Lead!!
She was about to level up soon!
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And she was awarded with a halo fragment. The "include passive effect" part in the parenthesis had been highlighted.
Looked like that was her extra reward?
With the exception of the rose scent, none of the other halos that she had earned came with passive effects.
With the rose scent, it was the ability to put someone to sleep. That was big. She had gotten herself out of a few impossible situations with that skill.
As Gu Shishi was thinking about this and that, she almost busted out laughing.
Huo Sishen watched the girl sitting across from him enjoying her foie gras and duck with a foolish smile on her. Her eyes were curved. Did the food really make her that happy?
Immediately, his heart hurt like it had been pricked by a needle.
How much pain had she been through?
Comparing her with how Huo ChuChu was raised, Huo Sishen's lips tightened.
"Have some more.
"If this isn't enough, we will have the chef make them at home tomorrow."
Gu Shishi nodded.
Half way through her nodding, she paused.
Huh?
She noticed that the way the boss was looking at her was exuding an odd sense of... "fatherly love"?
Chapter 203 – You are a man. So man uuup~ (1)
Then, recalling how much she had exceeded the requirement of the assignment per the system... a peculiar idea had just occurred to her. That was his heart skipping a beat?
Perhaps the system had never been in love before?!!
While she was critiquing the system, she was fed a plateful of sliced up ribeye and salt baked escargots. And finally a mouthful of chocolate lava cake and ice cream pudding.
She was so stuffed from all the food!
"Excuse me. I need to powder my nose."
She wiped her mouth and quickly used that as an excuse to step away.
She wanted to check out the reward that she had just received and walk off some of the food that she had just ate.
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Huo Sishen nodded and pointed at a female server.
The female server showed her the way respectfully.
Gu Shishi quickly followed behind her.
Once Gu Shishi had gotten inside of the bathroom. She closed the door of her stall and quietly clicked open the system interface.
[All fragments for "Natural Blush from Wine" had been collected. Proceed to assemble?]
Gu Shishi nodded.
[Halo complete!]
[Effect: After some alcohol. Your cheeks will turn red and your eyes will become limpid. You will look both s*xy and fragile and men will want to be protective of you!]
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[Please follow the instructions and pick your shade of redness for your blush as well as the area to apply it.]
Now we are talking!
A color palette appeared in the system's window.
It offered a complete range of blush colors and also provided professionally matching lipstick colors.
Gu Shishi examined all the colors and finally decided on cheek pop.
It was a shade darker than the blush she normally used with a hint of orange.
As for the regions, she tapped in the air where the portrait was shown.
From beneath the eyes to the cheek bones almost all the way to both sides of her nose.
The color started out darker from the top and gradually became lighter. It looked like one was drunk from a distance, blushing on both sides of the cheeks.
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[Confirm?]
"Yeah, that will work~"
Gu Shishi nodded in contentment after giving it one last look.
[Activation complete!]
[The halo will be triggered after you've drunk alcohol and the color will appear gradually.]
The system wasn't half bad when it came to important things.
Gu Shishi gestured an "OK" sign. But she narrowed her eyes immediately.
"What's the 'side effect'?"
[Random passive skill: Being drunk. 10% chance of activation.]
[Half an hour after you drink, your body will turn a pinkish color all over and it will get warm as you go from slightly buzzed to fully drunk.]
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[Spilling out the truth after you are drunk. You will be fragile and tears will roll down your cheeks when you are drunk, which will charm the man and make him coddle you carefully.]
Gu Shishi, ".... Um..."
Something about that just sounded off?!
After she had finished taking care of the system, she returned to the dinner table.
As soon as she had sat back down and saw the tall, handsome, slightly cold, domineering and delicate boss in front of her, she could feel a fire burning inside of her.
That was not entirely her fault.
Mainly, the description of the wine effects were too suggestive.
Spill the truth, cry, then the man would coddle her.... In short, that was just losing control when one was drunk?
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If it was any other man, she would never want to do that.
But the boss was too overly attractive. She had been drooling over his fingers for a long time already. All of a sudden, she even remembered the time when she was hiding inside of the closet... he had just gotten out of the shower and water was still dripping down from his body...
So enticing!
And dangerous!
Gu Shishi suddenly felt thirsty.
Welp, she was a woman with very acute senses.
She had been drawing for over 20 years and she was always able to notice the beautiful things in life!
Her eyes came with innate filters!
And the boss was overly exceptional...
She took a sip of the wine and gave an embarrassed smile under his gaze.
She regretted immediately after she had taken the sip.
Chapter 204 – You are a man. So man uuup~ (2)
[Beep! Alcohol detected!]
['Blush after wine' triggered!]
[Beep! It's a dark night out and the host had drunk too much. Side-effect of being drunk triggered!]
POOOUUUF—
Gu Shishi's face was about to cram up.
What one worried about the most would always come true?!
"Emm... Mr. Huo...?"
Gu Shishi shivered and lifted up her little face.
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As she was talking, she could already feel that her little cheeks were starting to glow.
She drank a lot more earlier in the night but did not have this same feeling.
This was probably the effect of the halo that she had put on.
Huo Sishen lifted up his black eyes and he saw the girl's pale face in front of her slowly becoming a pink shade that resembled a budding flower.
Her limpid eyes had somehow become foggy.
They were steamy.
The corners of her eyes had always pointed slightly upward, and now, in between her blinks, there was an added sense of moist charm.
She was like a completely different person.
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Frowning, his slightly cold look focused back onto her cheeks. Half of her little face was red.
It was going from a light pink and becoming darker progressively. Now they were flushed, as thought she had blush on.
"Mr. Huo, seeing that I had tried so hard and gave it my best at cooking for you the last few days..."
Gu Shishi rubbed her little hands together. She felt that her body was also becoming warmer.
Darn! This was the side effect of being "drunk"!
"If I say or do anything that's brainless and offend you, please do forgive me..."
Huo Sishen's frown deepened.
"There's no need to be this respectful."
It hurt his ears to hear that.
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He had never thought about it before, but now, "Mr. Huo" coming from her softly seemed to be poking at his ears sharply.
"You've had too much to drink?"
Huo Sishen processed her earlier words in less than a second.
Both of Gu Shishi's eyes were watery from being slightly drunk. She nodded anxiously.
It wasn't by choice!
She was pitiful!
"Let's go. We have medicines in the car that will help. It's time to head back anyway."
Huo Sishen stood up immediately.
Gu Shishi, "???"
She felt that her body was growing even warmer. She touched herself and felt herself almost burning.
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Looking up, the target (the man who was supposed to coddle her) had already walking 2 meters from her.
It looked like he was about to walk out of the lobby.
Straight man... ?
Hey System!! WTH!!!
Look at this male lead!!
Pitifully, Gu Shishi lifted up the hem of her skirt and followed behind him immediately.
She even declined the help of a female server who had offered to lend her some support.
She could walk on her own still!
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But wait... why were the lights shaking back and forth?
***
Huo Sishen walked very fast on his long legs.
It was not speed that the little girl behind him in her high heels could match.
Siyi, waiting to one side, wanted to tell his boss that he was not being a gentleman.
But then he saw the coldness on his boss's face as though he was trying to control himself.
After getting inside of the car, Huo Sishen sat on the inside corner and closed his eyes.
He never opened his eyes and looked at the girl that came after him.
As though he would be able to block out the gorgeous sight that way.
But, he had forgotten one important detail.
When he had his eyes closed, his senses of smell, hearing, and touch became much more sensitive than usual.
The harder he tried to tune her out, the worse it got.
He quickly smelled a slight rose scent. Then, as the girl in high heels stepped inside of the room unstably and sat down next to him, the scent grew stronger. As though it'd crawl inside of his bones, the scent quickly enveloped him.
In the past, this scent had relaxed him and helped him fall asleep.
But tonight, it made his body more tense and all the blood in his body started to boil uncontrollably.
Chapter 205 – You are a man. So man uuup~ (3)
The girl lost her balance and almost fell knee-down onto the seat.
Her two hands that were soft like they were boneless grabbed onto his shoulder.
Even with his eyes shut tightly, he could feel that her little hands were cold.
And her wavy hair also fell on him. It spread over his dress pants, and spread like ripples in his chest.
It's a tingling sensation...
And that rose scent coming from her was slowly invaded with a rich aroma of wine and teased his nerves...
"Sit properly..."
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He grunted.
Siyi, looking into the rearview mirror, was shocked speechless.
He saw Miss Gu, in her red dress, almost fall into the boss's arms.
And the boss was... blushing?
Oh boy. Did he need some popcorn right about now?
But his gaze was quickly met with Huo Sishen's cold and fierce look.
Siyi shuddered and looked straight ahead.
A soft voice quickly came from the back. Under the effect of the drinking halo, even Gu Shishi's normally cotton-soft voice had an added hint of delicate drunkenness.
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The end of all of her sentences were dragged out in a higher-pitch tone, igniting a fire inside the chest of the listener.
"Oh, coooome on. I aaamm sitting properly~~~
"Stop shaking meee~~~"
Siyi only wished he could just disappear right then and there.
Huo Sishen felt a shock to his chest.
He had no choice but to reach out as fast as he could and picked up the girl who no longer had control of her body and helped her sit down properly in the back seat.
But right when he was done, she fell right back onto him!
And, as though she was doing it on purpose, she felt right onto his most sensitive region every time...
The fingertips on his large hands that were holding onto her shoulder next to her straps felt like they were burning.
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She was soft, her skin that was white like snow now has a light pink glow from her neck all the way down to her toes. She looked like a cooked shrimp.
His brows furrowed deeply. He hadn't expected that she couldn't hold alcohol at all.
She only had a sip of each type of wine. She barely tasted them before the servers had taken them away.
How did she get so drunk from that?
"Boss, boooss~~~
"You are so mean... your fondness goes up so slowly...
"So what if you are cursed~~~
"Hehe... I have a little secret to tell you..."
Huo Sishen lifted his brows.
"I've died once already...
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"So I'm not afraid of your curse!"
Huo Sishen's deep and cold eyes were a little dazed.
And the very next second...
He felt his chest tightened.
He looked down and saw the girl grabbing onto his collar and tugged at it hard.
"So, boss, it's okay if you shower me with gifts, and take me out on dates. Okaaaay~~
"I want the fondness from you to keep going uuuup~~~
"You are a man. So man uuup~"
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Huo Sishen could feel his temples throbbing!
Preposterous!
She probably couldn't even recall her own name right now!
Siyi, sitting in the front, tried as best he could to minimize himself.
Huo Sishen, on the other hand, wrapped his suit jacket tightly around her and covered her entire body up.
He only wished he could stop her from talking.
As soon as he thought that, the girl wrapped in his large suit pouted and started to cry.
She didn't bawl.
She just looked at him with her limpid eyes, without blinking, and tears just came rolling down both of her cheeks.
As though she had been very wronged.
And that she longed for him.
Huo Sishen's heart tightened.
Now what?
And, the very next second, the pain in his chest started radiating outward.
And there was nothing that he could do to stop it.
He spread his thin lips and said, "Close your eyes."
Reaching his hand out, he covered up her expressive, limpid eyes. He worried that he would no longer be able to control himself if he looked at her any longer.
"Go to sleep."His voice was deep and full of self-control.
Chapter 206 – How come that trick never occurred to her?! (1)
Nevertheless, drunk-and-expert-flirter Gu Shishi could not be convinced so easily.
In just a little while, she crawled up his arm all the way to his chest like an octopus.
"Take off your shirt. Let me take a peek insiiide~~~"
She cried as she pulled on his buttons.
"I, I just want to take a look... just one look..."
She was possessed by an art student. She wanted a model that she could sketch!
Without ever seeing a real body, the characters that she drew would only be skin deep!
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They may look pretty, but they were all flawed. They would lack vitality!
"Let me seeeee~~~
"Don't be like thaaat~~ I will only be able to draw after I have seeen~~"
And tears kept rolling down her cheeks...
Huo Sishen's brows throbbed again along with his temples.
Chauffeur Chen, in the driver seat, bit the bullet and drove as fast as he could.
Siyi, from the passenger seat texted Sier frantically.
Help!!! I think the boss will kill me tonight so nobody will ever find out what had happened tonight!
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***
Half an hour later, Huo Sishen finally exited the car with a puddle of an octopus in his arms.
His suit, that was normally neat, looked like pickled vegetables.
His shirt, that was normally well-kept, was wrinkled up completely and the top two buttons were nowhere to be seen.
Two bundles of his bang of what was his normally sleek hair had fallen down and covered up his eyes.
He looked way wilder and more dangerous than he normally was!
Every step back to the mansion, he had to smack away those little hands that refused to behave.
He kicked open the bedroom door when she walked up to the second floor.
He tossed the octopus onto the large bed while his own sister stared in shock and fear.
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"Take care of her," was all Huo Sishen said before he turned around, then he stopped in his tracks.
"You stay for the night. Leave tomorrow."
Huo ChuChu was shocked by the sight in front of her before she could feel pleasantly surprised at the fact that she could stay over at her big brother's place.
Were her expressionless brother's ears somewhat red?
Did her germaphobic brother carry Gu Shishi back?
"Don't go. I haven't drawn anything yet!!" Gu Shishi sniffled.
Gu Shishi sat up abruptly while hugging her blanket. Before Huo Sishen had a chance to walk away, she reached out one of her soft hands, grabbed him on his arm, and touched his back!
"Don't goooooo...
"Handsome boy. Let's this big sister draw your beautiful back!"
Huo ChuChu, "?!"
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This sister-in-law of hers was certainly courageous!
Huo ChuChu had always boasted herself to be an extremely rebellious person. She had done a lot of crazy things just to get even with her mother and her grandmother. But this Gu Shishi was certainly taking things to a whole different level!
She watched with her own eyes as this sister-in-law of hers almost climbed onto her big brother's head!
She even pushed him down onto the couch and was about to jump onto him and bounce up and down on him!
She shouted out "To invite the moon I raise my cup; there are three of us as my shadow shows up" loudly as she tried to unbuckle him. (T/N: a famous Chinese poem)
The "third person" Huo ChuChu certainly felt very embarrassed.
She had been very appreciative of Gu Shishi for picking her up and bringing her back there, perhaps even some respect for her.
But nothing compared to what she was feeling right now!
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Seeing the I-want-to-just-strangle-her-right-now to I-don't-think-I-will-be-able-to-bring-myself-to-do-that-I'll-just-have-to-let-this-go expressions crossed her big brother's normally expressionless faces, Huo ChuChu's chin was about to drop to the floor.
What was even more shocking was that she had thought she had put up a big enough fuzz over the years when it came to her big brother, but all of a sudden, everything that she had done in the past was nothing in front of how Gu Shishi was acting right now!
After Gu Shishi fussed for a little while, tears started streaming down her cheeks again.
Her big brother's very unhappy look froze immediately.
His hands that were about to toss her out lowered.
Huo ChuChu only wished she could take notes right now. How come that trick never occurred to her?!
Chapter 207 – How come that trick never occurred to her?! (2)
By the time her big brother finally put a pen into Gu Shishi's hand, she cried and asked for a paintbrush instead.
Gu Shishi was like a totally different person.
She took a large gulp of the honey water for her hangover that her big brother had handed over to her spurt it all onto the bristles of the paintbrush!
And her big brother's face turned green immediately.
Gu Shishi, on the other hand, stood up chicly and boldly.
"Sing to the accompanying wine."*
"Live in the moment. Do not let the wine glass go empty."**
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She started reciting poems loudly.
As she recited poems, she picked up the hem of her dress and walked wobbly over to her desk.
"Drink up. I will sing for you; please listen to me."
This was a poem by Li Bai.
It meant for someone to drink and listen to him sing at the same time.
One of her cheek was still covered in tears. Her cinnabar red strapped dress was twisted and the straps were half way down.
With her paintbrush in hand, she turned, her eyes foggy from the alcohol with tears rolling inside of them as she looked around for Huo Sishen.
When she potted him, she gave him a silly smile.
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"If I should die beneath a peony flower; I shall still be a charming ghost." ****
Huo Sishen's lips twitched.
Huo ChuChu was shocked speechless.
Did Gu Shishi just call her big brother a peony? And that she was going to pick him?
Hot dang!
"Why are you still standing there? Go drag her into bed!"
Huo Sishen's face turned even darker when he saw his sister standing there watching the drama unfolded.
".... Oh."
Huo ChuChu nodded.
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But did not move.
Because she stopped herself after she peeked.
"Big Brother, I think sister-in-law is drawing... they are quite pretty."
Huo Sishen felt that his temples were about to explode!
Miraculously, the "sister-in-law" reference calmed him down a lot.
For some inexplicable reasons, those words sounded surprisingly melodious to his ears!
"Don't call her that!" He scolded.
Nevertheless, he still walked over to the drunk woman sitting behind her desk with his hands behind his back.
With just one look, he could tell that she was in very good shape as far as her painting was concerned.
With her paintbrush that had honey water on it, she dipped and coated it in cinnabar red pigment.
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She took a deep breath, lifted up her paintbrush, and the tip of her brush traveled across the paper like a dance of dragons and snakes.
It didn't take long before bundles of gorgeous peonies appeared on the paper.
And then... not too longer after that, she tossed away the paintbrush and picked up a tracing brush.
She parted her red lips and clicked the tip of the pen.
Huo Sishen's brows furrowed again when he saw that.
And the very next moment, he was stunned speechless.
"There was a beauty, one look and you won't forget about her (him). One day without seeing her (him), you'd miss her (him) like mad..."
And Gu Shishi recited another shameless poem.
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She was almost leaning all the way over the paper. A few strokes with her brush and a strong and handsome man's chest appeared... wrapped in a bath towel. He has a pair of unyielding, cold, and solemn eyes... and there was water dripping down his black ahir.
Huo ChuChu, "!!!"
Huo Sishen, ".....!"
***
Tis was going to be a tumultuous night.
Especially in the Anti-Shi group.
[Zhou Mi uploaded a poeny.jpg]
[Zhou Mi: My folks both praised me when I got home today. I don't even want to go shower~ I worry about the artist's technique if I am to go get it tattooed.]
[Xia Xuemeng: Honestly, Luo Zheng-ge's drawing wasn't half bad. But it was far from what was on Zhou Mi.]
[Zhou Mi: I felt that Gu Shishi wasn't that bad after all. @Gu Wushuang, you said before that she didn't really bully you. Is that true? @Pingting, perhaps you read too much into it.]
[Linlin: Yeah. I felt the same way. I was thinking about reaching out to Gu Shishi some other day and see who she used for hair removal. Did you see that effect on her?]
___
Chapter 208 – How come that trick never occurred to her?! (3)
The Zhou's status was up there.
They started out in mining. As such, they've always had strong capital that had propped them up for generations.
Zhou Mi had her own little group of followers.
As soon as she had said that, a few other girls chimed in.
Many of those who were present earlier today had some judgement of their own.
None of the wealthy girls were truly idiots.
Even if they didn't bother to think too much about it previously but they had, nonetheless, witnessed the confrontation between Huo ChuChu and Luo Pingting today.
And now they got it.
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Luo Pingting had her own agenda. Helping out Gu Wushuang was just an excuse.
As such, all of them had became her ammunition.
Now that they've saw through the ploy, one by one they wanted to withdraw from the group.
If this was just a grudge between Luo Pingting and Gu Shishi over a man.
And one that even their elders in their families wanted to avoid...
Then why should they get their family involved and stir up problems with the Gu's and the Huo's?
It didn't even look like Huo ChuChu was a fan of Luo Pingting either!
And the Huo's were much more important than the Luo's.
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[Li Yiru: @Luo Pingting, @Gu Wushuang, where are you two?]
Third Young Miss Li created the group again.
She was the biggest victim in this.
Recalling the punishment from her father, she typed on her phone angrily.
[Li Yiru: Pingting, please clarify! I think we deserve to find out the truth!]
[Chen Kexin: +1]
Even the undercover agent resurfaced.
Looking at her phone, Gu Wushuang, who had locked herself inside of her princess room could release fire from her eyes.
That Luo Pingting was so useless!
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She never told her that she was fond of Huo Sishen!
Now that Huo ChuChu had called her out and yelled at her in front of everyone, it would no longer seemed right to pick on Gu Shishi!
And this Zhou Mi. She had always been scared of the Huo's.
And now she has almost flipped sides!
So she thought just the drawing of a flower on her was enough to make her look pretty?
[Gu Wushuang: Everybody calm down. Pingting was in a bad mood today. She hadn't expected Chuchu have reacted so strongly. She had always think of Chuchu as a friend.]
Another loaded sentence.
She had stealthily placed all of the blame onto Huo ChuChu.
[Gu Wushuang: I am Shishi's sister. If everyone agrees, I will add her to this group.]
She pretended that she was a good sister.
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In fact, in less than a minute.
The group name had gone from "Anti-Shi" to "We are all sister".
That was one 666 move.*
As though Gu Wushuang was the one there to smooth things out.
[Zhou Mi: Okay. I agree. I quite like her.]
She and her immediately group seconded that suggestion.
The other's approval trickled on.
Only three individuals in the group wanted to puke out blood.
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One was Chen Kexin, who could now see the truth.
Gu Wushuang disgusted her.
Had she not been enlightened earlier and saw through their despicable manipulation, she would probably still think that Gu Wushuang was such a reasonable person and more mature than Pingting.
That being said... Gu Wushuang's hands were broken prior to this. She could have changed the group name way back when! She could have added Gu Shishi way back when!
She needed to wait until now to do that?
What a Green Tea!
What kind of little white flower was she?
Chen Kexin was impressed.
She finally understood why her grandmother said she was too naïve.
She had been wrapped around Gu Wushuang's little finger this entire time!!
[Chen Kexin: 666]
Darn! She was good.
Utterly shameless!
[Li Yiru: Someone like you would only last one episode in a tv show. Jpg]
Li Yiru was speechless.
She could no nothing more than sending an emoji to express her disgruntlement.
She was the most stupid one of all of them!
Why did she volunteered so eagerly to be the one to spill wine onto Gu Shishi?
They were good sisters and Gu Wushuang was defensive of her sister Gu Shishi. So that made Li Yiru the villain in this whole thing?
___
Chapter 209 – How come that trick never occurred to her?! (4)
Hot dang!
She really wanted to cuss.
She was such an idiot!
And now she had to go and work on her allowance...
Li Yiru banged her head on her pillow at home.
And just like her.
Luo Pingting, who was the original owner of this group, was enraged. She had threw her phone down onto the floor and did not respond at all!
"Huo ChuChu! Gu Shishi! Just you wait!"
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She had never felt such unjust in her entire life.
"Even if Big Brother Huo didn't care for me, he would never lay an eye on a peasant girl like her either!
"Just you wait!"
Then she smashed a vase in her room.
So what if nobody in this group support her anymore?!
Plenty out there were lining up to butter her up!
She could get herself a new group of girlfriends!
***
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The next morning.
Gu Shishi felt dizzy and lightheaded when she woke up.
After one night, the morning seemed very calm. Yet traces of the thunderstorm from the night before could still be seem.
Such as the branches there were all over the place outside of the window and the ink that was spilled all over her desk... and her paintbrushes that were lying on the floor.
She crawled out of bed groggily.
And was about to go downstairs to prepare breakfast when she saw Huo ChuChu sitting on the couch and looking at her with admiration.
Memories from the night before came flooding back!
Gu Shishi, who had just taken one step, stopped in her track.
"Last night..."
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Last night, last night. It'd appear that the passive skill had been triggered and she was drunk?
Huo ChuChu nodded.
"You were drunk.
"You recited poem, painted, and jumped onto my brother."
"?!"
Shivering, Gu Shishi looked over at her desk.
She seemed to recall that she had done some unspeakable things.
She seemed to have painted some shameless paintings.
Huo ChuChu nodded.
"The 12 different styles of handsome man coming out of shower that you've painted... my brother took that away with his face blackened."
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Gu Shishi collapsed onto the chair.
It was over... it was all over...
Gu Shishi had turned pale.
Especially after she took a look at Huo ChuChu's phone.
His own sister had taken pictures of the paintings without his knowledge when he was so angry that he couldn't even talk.
Gu Shishi was about pass out. "I thought you've left your phone at the Luo's?"
"Sier brought it back for me."
There was no regret in Huo ChuChu's look.
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"Look, my brother was so angry that even his face was twisted."
Gu Shishi took a peek at it and covered up her own face.
What had she done when she was drunk?
Especially as a female artist!
She had been with her master since she was a child and her strength was portraits.
As an expert in ink painting portraits, it was a must to know how to paint beautiful people.
As such, Gu Shishi had learned how to draw pretty boys without her master knowing since she was 13 years old.
She had drawn TFboys, Mr. Love: Queen's Choice, and all sorts of other pretty boys!
And the highest state of ink painting was when someone had a sip of wine and was slightly under the influence.
Their paintbrushes were very carefree and overlooked all sorts of rules as they drew the characters in mind.
And her series of boss after shower included modern version, historic version, fantasy version, and, taking advantage of her own drunkenness, she even painted emperor version and concubine (in female costume) version of the boss after shower...
Twelve of them in total.
All of the paired with different flowers of the four seasons.
Gu Shishi gulped.
"They were so nicely done that I couldn't help but took pictures of them."
Truth was, Huo ChuChu almost wanted to applaud Gu Shishi the night before. Her eyes had widened so much that she thought they'd pop out of her sockets.
"How long have you been painting? I have never seen anything so cool before."
Of course they were cool.
Gu Shishi was about to start crying.
She was practically drawing with her life!
Chapter 210 – The Boss Has a New Assistant (1)
"What was your big brother's mood like?"
Gu Shishi glanced over at the clock on the wall.
It was almost 10:30 AM already.
Wonderful. Not only was she late for work, she almost didn't get up in time to make breakfast for the boss.
Huo ChuChu preciously put her cellphone into her pocket. "You want to hear the truth?"
Even her head of short, rebellious hair seemed smooth and soft today.
Gu Shishi's lips twitched.
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Huo ChuChu, "I have not yet summoned up the courage to walk out of this room the entire morning."
Gu Shishi took a deep breath before she slowly brought up the system's interface.
The dang passive effect of being drunk!
It's going to cost her her life!
Worried, she checked her stats and her eyes widened right away.
[Remaining Life Balance: 10 days]
[Fondness of the Male Lead: LV4. 22% progress to LV5.]
[Acknowledge of Others: LV3. 90% progress to LV4.]
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Happiness had arrived way too soon!
The Fondness of Male Lead had stayed at LV3 just the night before. And now it had broke through to LV4?
Along with 22% progress toward LV5?!
Even Acknowledge of Others was only a skip and a hop away from LV4!
Once that levelled up, she'd be able to live up to 30 days.
And that could happen any day now!
Gu Shishi covered up her face and almost laughed out loud.
Bigger the risk, bigger the reward. The system was so right!
This drinking skill was quite useful?
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Gu Shishi was so incredibly happy right now.
So that's what the tsundere Huo Sishen liked, huh?
Her cheeks turned entirely red right away, all from shame.
Truth was, if that's the kind of drawings that he enjoyed.
She had plenty of other unspeakable styles that he could choose from other than the after-shower ones.
Gu Shishi started plotting immediately.
A soft and fragile voice rang from next to her.
"I'm sorry. I had misunderstood you.
"You are very talented, smart and beautiful. You are good enough for my brother.
"You have done much more than I did... over these past several years..."
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Huo ChuChu had lowered her white head.
"Please, stay with my brother and take care of him for me..."
Gu Shishi raised her brows. "You are taking off?"
Huo ChuChu smiled bitterly and nodded. "My big brother allowing me to stay the night was already the happiest thing that had happened to me in the past 15 years."
Gu Shishi suddenly recalled her new assignment.
To allow Huo ChuChu to stay over whenever she wanted to.
But now she was hesitant about it.
Both the brother and the sister had been hurt in the past. Forcing them into anything might not necessarily be the best move.
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If the timing wasn't the best right now, then she'd push this assignment out further.
She did not want Boss Huo to be hurt again.
She could only imagine how he'd retreat back behind his thick shell and block out any care and concerns from others if accidents, however minor, befell on Huo ChuChu.
Thinking about that, Gu Shishi also smiled bitterly.
By now, he was not only someone that she relied on to stay alive, he was also like a friend to her.
Living under the same roof and having showed her kindness so many times, she also wanted to protect him for once.
"Think it through and listen to your heart."
Gu Shishi nodded.
"Have the chauffeur take you back?"
Huo ChuChu acknowledged but turned back around just when she was about to walk out of the door.
"Sis... sister-in-law, can I ask you for one more favor?"
The way Huo ChuChu had addressed to her made Gu Shishi blushed.
But what she said after that truly stunned her.
Huo ChuChu, too, seemed to feel a bit awkward.
"Can you please help me draw a series of comics?
"The title will be The Childhood of My Brother and I..."
"Huh?"
***
Inside the highest 22nd floor of HB's China headquarter.
Huo Sishen was listening to Siyi's reports from behind his desk.
Half an hour later, he nodded and signed the document.
After he had stepped out, he was stopped by a soft and delicate voice.
"Boss.
"My name is Xu Jiao and I am your new assistant. This is my first day."
Chapter 211 – The Boss Has a New Assistant (2)
Huo Sishen frowned immediately.
His unhappy look shot right past this person and onto Siyi.
Siyi shuddered and said, "Boss, you have mentioned earlier that you wanted to look for someone who was familiar with domestic situations and has secretary experiences to take care of the everyday matters around here. Xi Jiao was the one hired by the head of HR."
Huo Sishen forced himself to listen to the couples sentences that Siyi had said and his lips tightened.
"Does she not know the rules?"
His voice was distant and cold.
When he was done talking, he walked past them and out of the conference room with his back straight.
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Siyi sighed.
He looked over at Xu Jiao solemnly.
"Don't show up unless the boss has asked for you.
"Your seat is over by the wall, not in the middle of the walkway."
Xu Jiao bit her lips and said, "I just wanted to say hi to the boss so he knows to look for me when he needed something in the future."
She had been a secretary for three years since her graduation.
She had worked with three to four elite bosses but none of them measured up to this Boss Huo.
She had never met a man who was as outstanding, handsome, and domineering.
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Even when he wasn't walking and was about to lecture someone, he was very handsome.
"You have an executive assistant name tag on you. " Siyi rolled his eyes.
"The boss can see that. You get a warning the first time. Next time, you can just disappear on your own.
"Stay at least 2 meters away when talking to the boss.
"Be sure to wear your mask and gloves if you need to hand anything over to him.
"Any kind of bodily contact is prohibited.
"You should study your executive assistant guidelines carefully."
Xu Jiao was taking aback a little.
She hasn't had the chance to look through her executive assistant guidelines yet.
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Human Resources had already reminded her of those.
She thought they were just an exaggeration.
Siyi took off as soon as he finished talked and caught up to Huo Sishen.
Xu Jiao bit her lips. She could see her own beautiful neck and pretty face reflected on the window.
She was confident that her beauty rival any of the other secretary's.
But this was just her first day of work, she must behave herself.
She returned to her seat and read the entire guidelines from beginning to end and concluded that the boss might have some sort of psychological issues.
These requests were not normal!
No physical contacts at all?
How was that possible in today's business world?
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Xu Jiao was baffled.
Did he not shake hands and socialize with other business associates?
He required others to wear masks as well?
She couldn't even picture that in her head.
"Juan-jie, is the boss married?"
Xu Jiao couldn't help but asked the administrative assistant sitting next to her.
Qi XiuJuan was a woman closed to her fifties with a son studying in a university.
Qi XiuJuan, who was focusing on her own work, didn't even look up when she said, "I have no idea. The boss didn't share and we didn't dare ask."
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Xu Jiao's eyes lit up. "Then most likely he's still single. I didn't see a wedding band on him."
If an elite like him was married, his wife would for sure mandate him to wear the wedding band to let everyone else know that he was taken.
So most likely he was still single!
Xu Jiao was somewhat excited. "The boss is germophobic, right? What does he do when he meets up with important clients?"
This time Xu Jiao replied with no hesitation. "He does not meet up with them. If you received those types of calls, just transfer them over to the managers. The boss only joins teleconferences. You can go ahead and turn down all meeting or dining requests."
Now Xu Jiao was truly surprised.
Nevertheless, her lips quickly curled upward.
Wasn't this exactly like the plot of some Korean drama?
The male lead resented and avoided all sorts of contacts with anyone of the opposite gender.
But he had gradually grew fond of his female assistant who was with him night and day.
Xu Jiao reflexively pressed her hands together and her heart was about to jump out of her chest.
That would make her the closest female to him, right?
Thinking of that, she stood up immediately. "Thank you, Juan-jie, I will get make a cup of coffee for the boss."
She had taken specific lesson on coffee brewing when she decided on taking the role of an assistant.
When Boss Huo tried her coffee, he'd for sure notice that her coffee was better than most.
Chapter 212 – The Boss Has a New Assistant (3)
When Huo Sishen got out of his meeting and saw his female secretary who smiled at him through the glass window of his office, he couldn't help but frowned.
After a while, someone knocked on his door.
"Boss, I've made you coffee."
His frown deepened.
The next minute, the door was opened up and he could detect a strong scent of perfume.
That of rose.
Or something along that line. Yet that smell only made him feel irritable.
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"It's very hot still, Boss."
A delicate voice quickly came from the female secretary through her face mask.
Huo Sishen's look became even colder.
He looked up and saw that pair of flickering eyes that were looking at him through the window earlier.
She had on eyeliner and very delicate makeup.
Yet...
He was feeling more and more disgusted.
Especially when she bent over and her long hair cascaded onto his desk.
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He abruptly and irritably tossed his pen down!
Xu Jiao had been observing his microexpressions closely.
She had purposefully applied the perfume that no men could resist and checked her eye makeup. She had been trying to flirt with him this entire time.
Her voice was delicate and charming.
When she bent over, one could even see part of her groove.
Her long hair, most representative of her femininity, even brushed over his desk. Everything had gone the way she had planned.
See? He did feel something!
Even his look has changed.
He even tossed away his pen.
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He couldn't focus on his work anymore.
He had turned all of his attention on her.
Xu Jiao was most delighted all of a sudden.
Nevertheless...
The very next second, a voice that was suffocatingly cold resounded in the low-pressured room.
"Pick up all the hair that you've dropped!
"Pour out the coffee and toss the cup!
"Tie your hair up. If you drop one more hair in my office, you are done for!
"And, no more rose scented perfume!"
Disgusting.
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That word couldn't be written over his face any clearer.
At that very moment, Huo Sishen was so irritated that he couldn't focus on his work.
The strong sense of repulsiveness made him feel unwell.
He took another look at this female secretary and all he could feel was dirty, messy, and cheap.
Her hair was stuck onto her white coat due to static electricity.
Her face was dry from having applied too much makeup...
While he was feeling irritated, his cellphone sitting on his desk vibrated.
He picked it up with his eyes narrowed.
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[Have you received your red packet today: Have you had breakfast yet? Sorry I have overslept. QAQ. Press 1 if you are mad at me.]
His thin lips were pressed shut.
He couldn't help but recalled the girl's fine and slim figure and the crazy night last night.
Her hair was black and thick but none had ever fallen where he could see.
Her little face was powdery and tender, her red lips were like almond, and her eyes were limpid. Her entire person was very clean and neat.
Even the light hint of rosy scent from her was quiet like that from a small rose bud from one's garden. It was not of the stimulating type.
Thinking about that dissipated a lot of the disgust he was feeling right now.
Quickly, his ears started to burn.
His fingers ran over his screen gently and his jaw was tightened.
Last night was such a ridiculous night!
Huo Sishen frowned deeply.
When he noticed it, his blood was already roiling uncontrollably.
Just thinking about it a little bit and he could recall the limp octopus from the day before and the soft sensation of her limps that insisted on wrapping around him!
And then... there were those 12 drawings!
And those poems that she was reciting all night long!
It was...
Huo Sishen glanced over at his cellphone coldly.
Imprudent!
***
Gu Shishi was propping up her head with her cellphone in hand.
She had hesitated before she texted the boss to find out how he was doing.
After all, she had failed on her duties that morning.
It would be bad if the boss was starved.
But she also worried that if she just sent him something randomly and made him unhappy, his fondness level would fall.
So she decided to offer him a channel to release his anger.
If he was unhappy, press 1.
Let his anger out through his finger, not at her.
Hoho. She was oh so smart.
Chapter 213 – Whose child are those again? (1)
Gu Shishi straight up took the morning off and holed out in her room working on the comics that Huo ChuChu had requested.
Most importantly, she got to listen to some of the boss's childhood stories.
"What? You peed your bed and the boss washed your bedsheets for you?"
Gu Shishi was genuinely surprised.
Huo ChuChu nodded but then looked at her curiously. "You call my brother 'the boss'?"
She didn't know that her brother was into that.
Gu Shishi let out an "ugh" and didn't know how to explain that.
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Nevertheless, Huo ChuChu did not press the issue. "I already knew to be prideful back then. I felt embarrassed for having peed the bed so I started crying. My brother read my mind and washed it for me without anyone knowing to make me feel better."
Gu Shishi was surprised.
The boss was a warm boy since he was a child.
"Eh, and I was a picky eater. I don't like carrots so he learned how made little bunny shaped carrots from our aunty at home just to get me to eat them."
The list went on as Huo ChuChu counted them out one by one with her fingers showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.
"I was told that he even changed my diapers when I was first born.
"And read stories to me.
"And drew for me.
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"I was tone deaf before and was very self-conscious of it when I sang. Big Brother taught me line by line so I could sing them later on."
Gu Shishi's eyes widened.
The boss was a household superman?!
Dang!
What kind of a fantastical treasure man was him?
Beneath that cold appearance was a warm household boy?
Who would have thought?
"Shishi-jie, if my big brother gets upset at you and was mean to you, I... I can't ask you to not be angry at him, but I hope you will give him a chance... He really a very gentle soul," said Huo ChuChu helplessly.
"Others just don't know him well."
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Gu Shishi's look became complicated as she listened on.
"So that is why you've asked me to draw comics about your childhood? This isn't for you?
"It is for your brother? You want to get to know him better?"
Huo ChuChu looked uneasy all of a sudden.
She twisted the bedsheet.
"Half and half, I guess... I would like it as a keepsake as well. After all, I don't get to see my big brother all the time.
"And, you were right. I had not only hurt myself with how I had handled things in the past but I have also hurt my brother.
"I'll change going forward. I'll give myself time and also give my brother time. I'll wait for him to come out of his shell on his own when he is ready."
Gu Shishi nodded.
Then she noticed the eager look on Huo ChuChu as she looked at her.
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As though she was her savior.
Gu Shishi pointed at herself dubiously.
Huo ChuChu grunted an acknowledgement. "I felt that... my brother is more open to you getting close to him. Perhaps you hold the key to his future. I saw how the two of you interacted last night and I heard this voice telling me that if you can't become my sister-in-law... then nobody can."
Huo ChuChu just felt pain on her cheeks.
Welp, what other options did she have?
She was too stubborn in the past and had spewed a lot of hurtful words at Gu Shishi, her future sister-in-law.
And now it's payback time.
Gu Shishi, on the other hand, felt a tingling on her scalp as soon as she heard the words "last night".
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She was just about to shake her hands when her cellphone started vibrating.
She took a look at it and it was the boss replying to her earlier message.
[Life-Saving Boss: My study. 7 PM tonight.]
Gu Shishi, "! ! !"
That wasn't how it was supposed to go.
She asked him to press 1 if he was mad at her!
What did summoning her to his study mean?
Gu Shishi covered up her collar all of a sudden.
And shuddered as she looked up.
Chapter 214 – Whose child are those again? (2)
Huo ChuChu added Gu Shishi to her WeChat before she took off.
Gu Shishi finished her lunch briskly before she tested out drawing two strips of her custom-ordered comics.
When she felt that things were going smoothly, she started streaming.
With one caption on top:
[Today's content: Ink Painting comic strips. I hope you will enjoy.]
This was her first try at drawing comics.
But everything went smoother than she had expected.
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After Huo ChuChu had provided her with all the details, a cute image of the childhood boss had appeared in her head.
A little boy with hair sticking up coaxing his little sister with a pacifier in her mouth, teaching her how to crawl; helping her put on her little dress with strawberry prints; and braiding her hair crookedly...
He even took his little sister with him to walk the dog, climb the trees, and crawl into little caves...
They've done everything together.
Audiences who rushed into her streaming channel were stunned.
[Channel Master Guru, how you have changed.]
[Whatever happened to your high-end ink painting?? You've switched to cutesy drawings now? Oh mi, are you trying to kill me with cuteness?]
[I will DIE! Can this little boy be any cuter?! How is he already so attractive at such a young age??]
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[Little boy with a small, round face but a look that could kill?! Channel Master, is this yourchild?!]
[The soft, little girl crawling around the floor is too cute!!]
Donations flooded in along with strings of 666 scrolling through the screen.
Gu Shishi did not reply to any of them but she traced the drawings in each box one by one with a fine-tipped paint brush.
As she had just finished drawing the mid-autumn festival version of the boss, she was quite familiar with this right now.
Plus, perhaps because of her drawings of the beauties last night when she was drunk, she still had more left in her. All these little people on her paper right now looked lifelike and perfect!
As she continued to paint the stories between the siblings, the mood inside the channel had also climaxed.
[The little big brother is such a warm kid~~ sniff sniff sniff~~]
[And we had suspected that this Channel Master is a Second Generation Rich. I think we are wrong. She is straight up a rich wife and these are her pair of children!]
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[That baby boy is sooo mature? Oooh, he knows to help out taking care of his little sister. Oh mi, I want to have a son too!]
[My determination to remain DINK is being rattled!]
[@Channel Master @Channel Master! Quickly! Reveal your identity!]
[Only a mother will be able to draw such realistic scenes of two siblings together.]
[The little big brother washed the sheets that his little sister had peed on. That was so cute that I started crying. Compared to him, my brother must be what they'd call a scum!]
[I want a dozen of brothers like him!!]
Gu Shishi drew for half an hour straight.
She finally stopped when she felt a little tired.
[Oh shoot! It has only been a few days. Is Channel Master's hands getting even whiter??]
[Man, the Channel Master's skin... I am so speechless. Please recommend your skin care products!]
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[The camera just moved a little and guess what I just saw!! The Channel Master's legs were pretty too~~ There is no impurities at all. Her skin looks like they were soaked in milk~~]
[A young mother with great skin care, good constituents, beautiful paintings, and a great voice? Why, oh why, beautiful Channel Master? Why am I not your husband???]
And those in the channel shrieked like groundhogs.
By then, Gu Shishi had already waved at everyone and logged off.
She missed a message that flashed pass her screen just before it went blank.
It was bolded and colored.
[ [Grandfather] [The General] [LV60] [Giving Out Red Packet Today] had joined your channel. ]
Even after the streaming was over, other videos from the past were being played in her channel.
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And [Giving Out Red Packet Today] stayed for a long, long time.
The owner of this account was staring at the history of the room and the comments on his cellphone.
As his brows furrowed more and more, his look grew colder and colder.
Many of the audiences were still speculating on Gu Shishi's identity.
And they were getting further and further away from the truth.
Chapter 215 – Whose children are those again? (3)
[I want to be the Channel Master's husband too! Just for her legs alone!]
[The butler referred to her as Ms. So I am guess she is some divorced wealthy girl! Taking care of her two children by herself.]
[I'm fine with that! I can be the daddy to the Channel Master's children!]
[Channel Master, look at me! Look at me! Don't go! It's just a divorce. So what if you have children already. I like you. We can conquer any obstacles in our way.]
[A talented little big sister never needs to worry about fondness of men. You go, girl!!]
[A single mother? Channel Master is so brave. I think you are doing a great job with your children.]
Staring at the screen, the owner of [Giving Out Red Packet Today] finally stirred a little.
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His face blackened and his eyes cold.
His voice deep and hoarse.
"BB Streaming Platform. Acquire it."
Siyi, who was reporting on the meeting minutes, looked up abruptly.
Huh? What was that again?
BB Streaming?
The boss was watching streaming videos in the middle of a meeting?!
Huo Sishen, aka [Giving Out Red Packet Today] looked very gloomy right now.
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"Some of the viewers are of low quality. Lock their accounts."
Siyi, " ? ? ?"
Upper management on the other end of the teleconference, " ? ? ?"
Gu Shishi would never have guessed that her comic would have brought about changes in BB Streaming's upper management.
Barely a few days later, a few aliases familiar to her had disappeared.
That night, she was cornered by an enraged man in a corner of the house.
"Which man touched you?"
"Whose children are those?"
Gu Shishi, " ! ? ?"
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Gu Shishi never expected that things would have taken such a bizarre turn.
She'd have to start the story from the very beginning.
Around noon today, she streamed the creation of her comic before leaving for work.
And received an assignment from the manager of the shop – to translate an English ink painting documentary for Master Zhang Daqian.
Zhang Daqian's painting could fetch upward of a billion yuan each.
He had recently moved overseas so an oversea team had filmed a documentary of his work.
There were English narrative through the entire video over his drawing style, technique, the way he applied colors and his choices of paintbrushes, etc.
Liu Li hoped that Gu Shishi could help translate that so they would be able to use the video as a teaching tool for new instructors in the shop.
Part of the reason this had fallen onto Gu Shishi was because she was the one who was most familiar with ink painting and that other part was that as one of the newly hired, she still retained most of the English that she had learned in school.
Zhao Xian, who bragged about Gu Shishi ability, did not help matters any.
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If she did a good job on this, the most she'd get was a verbal compliment.
If she did poorly, it'd reflect poorly on her.
Gu Shishi treated this as a "learning opportunity" and brought her homework home with her.
She was quite curious how ink painting technique was looked at through the eyes of foreigners.
That being said, with her ability in English, listening to English narrative was not her strong suit.
As such, her first thought was Boss Huo – the "household superman".
And that was how she arrived in front of the closed door of the study with the text that summoned her to be here at 7 PM along with a serving of omurice and pork chop that she had made.
She had anticipated 10,000 different scenarios that this night could go.
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She might be turned down by the boss; he might be too busy...
But the scenario of her being pinned on the wall by the boss was not one of them.
As soon as the door to the study opened, she didn't even have a chance to look at the furniture inside before she was pinned to the wall next to the door by the boss.
She could hear the low humming sound from new air-conditioning unit above her head.
She was baffled.
She even thought about a joke that she had once read.
In nine out of ten romance novels on *J website, the male lead would have the female lead pinned on the wall at some point.
Some netizens even came to an angry conclusion – were all men geckos and all women wall calendars?
But trying to picture the boss as a gecko...
From the Web
Chapter 216 – Can I ask you for a favor, fiance? (1)
"POOOFFF..."
Gu Shishi busted out laughing.
"Ugh, pardon me."
She noticed that the face of the man standing in front of her had darkened even more.
She could feel Huo Sishen's hot breath on her neck.
His eyes were both dark and wild, as though he could eat someone alive this very moment!
His voice was hoarse and deep.
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And he asked two questions that made Gu Shishi busted out laughing.
"Fu fu fu..."
Gu Shishi laughed so hard that she couldn't even remaining standing straight up.
Huo Sishen's temples were throbbing again.
"What did I say that was so funny?"
Gu Shishi let out a small cry and, still holding onto the thermo bag with the lunch box inside, she started rolling on the floor laughing.
Holding her stomach with both hands, she continued to laugh.
Seeing that the boss was about to start fuming, she was finally able to curb her laughter some and panted.
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"I have children? Hahaha.... Says, says who?"
Huo Sishen's face was completely dark now, with a hint of redness inside.
"...... your livestream."
"It's what Siyi had told me."
Siyi, who was guarding the door making sure that nobody could get inside, was blamed just like that.
Oh yeah? Who was the one who goofed and watched livestream during a meeting?!!
"Siyi watched my livestream?"
Huo Sishen nodded with his face tightened.
His hands behind his back, Huo Sishen's tall and straight back looked bleak.
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"What?
"Can he not?"
Gu Shishi went straight back down onto the floor. She laughed so hard that she was about to have cramps.
"No, No, I didn't say that..."
She wanted to pull out her cellphone. That's when she noticed that she had dropped the phone when the boss pinned her against the wall and the screen was cracked.
She touched the buttons on the screen with regret.
Huo Sishen frowned.
"We will buy you a new one."
Affluent, caring, household superman Huo was online again.
Covering her smile with one hand, Gu Shishi turned the screen toward the boss.
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Huo Sishen narrowed his eyes and asked, "Which model do you want..."
His cold look paused before he was able to finish his sentence.
He was now able to see the screen clearly.
Even though it had cracked into 7 ~ 8 different pieces, like having a big web over it, he was still able to see the ink painting style comic strip.
The coldness around him had decreased by half.
The thunderstorm that was just here a moment ago seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden.
The childish drawing had brought out some familiar memories that were locked in the deepest part of his memory.
That was him when he was 10 and Chuchu when she was 5.
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He still remembered that she was always crying nonstop back then, but would start to giggle when she saw him.
His little sister.
The little tail behind him.
A corner of the iceberg inside his black eyes seemed to have cracked and a clear spring came running out of it.
"Your sister asked me to draw this."
Gu Shishi, after she was finally done laughing, looked up and said to him.
"She might be young back then, but she still remembered all of it. What about you?"
Huo Sishen turned around and look away awkwardly
Even his ears were red.
He suddenly recalled the texts that he saw inside the streaming channel and how they came about.
Because of these drawings, those goofy viewers who had their accounts locked had goofy speculations.
And he almost fell for them...
"You don't need to do that."
Gu Shishi pursed her lips.
"I don't want her to cry and then her big brother, who cares a lot about his little sister, would blame me for that."
Huo Sishen raised his brows. And his body became stiff temporarily.
"We are done talking about this."
Gu Shishi patted herself on her butt and got up from the floor with the lunch box in hand.
She took a couple steps forward before she looked back at him.
"Then what should we talk about? What were you thinking when you pinned me to the wall and asked me those two questions?
"What if I really have children and was with another man..."
Chapter 217 – Can I ask you for a favor, fiance? (2)
Huo Sishen cleared his throat and turned away.
"Leave the food."
Gu Shishi blinked.
Tsk. Tsk.
The boss's ears... were red again!
"You should go back to your room now."
Huo Sishen turned back around and met the "yeah, yeah, yeah," look on the girl.
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His lips twitched and his fingers were stiff.
He placed his fist next to his mouth and cough slightly.
"As long as I am your fiancé, it is my business to get to know about your past."
"Yes, yes, yes."
Gu Shishi smiled and nodded.
"Then can you do me a favor, fiancée?"
Looking at the progress bar of Doting of the Male Leads that had been going up covertly, Gu Shishi couldn't help but crack open her mouth and smiled.
Teasing the boss was always fun.
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The boss might look very mean, but he was actually quite cute.
Huo Sishen's breathing came to a temporary halt when he heard the term coming from her.
He squeezed out a word with difficulty, "Speak."
Gu Shishi immediately pushed her cellphone forward toward him. "Em em em, please help me translate this... aye, my English is not very good. Mainly listening comprehension. That's my weakness."
Even though she was a college graduate, but the gap between different majors was drastic.
She rarely interacted with foreigners. She could read and write but listening comprehension was her Achilles tendon.
Huo Sishen looked down.
After looking at the video for a little while, he nodded.
"Send it over to me."
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"Come back in half an hour."
Oh, mi!
Household superman online!
Gu Shishi smiled and nodded.
Nevertheless, her smile lasted all one second.
"Start practicing your English starting this weekend. No more banquets," came Huo Sishen's sonorous voice.
It left no room for any kind of challenge.
She would only be bullied when she attended these banquets anyway.
That part he did not share.
All those so-called wealthy girls, they were both noisy and brainless.
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They would only have negative influence on her.
She was still a good girl when she left for the pool party. After she went to the pool party and gotten drunk that night, she painted the after-bath paintings... all twelve of them!
What would happen if she attended a few more of those?
"All of the invitations come to me going forward," said Huo Sishen.
Gu Shishi was dumbfounded for half a second.
How would she level up then?
NOOoooo!
"But I need friends..."
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"With those people?" said Huo Sishen with his eyes narrowed.
He thought about a few of them. He only felt that they were all wacky in their own way and none of them was good candidate for friends.
The Chen one was silly and white. The Li one was foolish and pretentious. The Luo one was straight up spoiled.
And the Gu one. He could tell that she was bad news just from the way she looked.
His brows furrowed more and more as he went through the list of wealthy girls.
The only one left was Huo ChuChu.
She might be slow and stubborn, but at least she had no bad intentions.
"You can go out once a week, to have fun with your friends."
Huo Sishen pinched between his brows a little.
He was starting to feel more and more like a worried father.
After all the screening, there were a lot that were good enough to befriend.
He was worried sick.
"I'll introduce someone to you."
There was a sense of helplessness in his deep voice.
Gu Shishi, "Oh?"
The boss has friends?
Huo Sishen's lips twitched and he was about to send her on her way.
But he noticed that the girl was looking at him eagerly.
"What's the matter now?"
"Eh, if it's the weekend, you can go out with me," said Gu Shishi.
Huo Sishen paused for a little.
Gu Shishi blinked. "It must be tiring after working for a week. I don't have many friends here and, even if you introduce new friends to me, I still won't know them very well.
"Unlike you, Mr. Huo. I am already more familiar with you. We can hang out together over the weekend. Maybe go to a movie or something."
His fondness for her had gone up significantly after dinner the other day.
She figured it'd go up madly if they were to go to a movie together.
If he never learned to accept himself and stop the silly thought that he was a walking curse, he would never let Huo ChuChu to move in with them.
Nor would he ever accept her!
Gu Shishi was capable of sorting out her thoughts.
"Otherwise, it'd be so lonely going to a theater all by myself with nobody to talk to or discuss the movie with.
"Can you imagine how awful that is?"
Huo Sishen's lips twitched.
Chapter 218 – Can I ask you for a favor, fiance? (3)
A movie theater?
He had only been to them when he was still a child.
"Is my purpose here to keep you from being bored?"
Boss Household-Superman Huo's eyes narrowed.
Something just wasn't sitting right with him.
But then he looked over at the girl with her head lowered pitifully while biting down on her red lip.
Her long, black hair cascaded down behind her flawlessly like silk.
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And her entire person, was soft, fragrant, and delicate...
Huo Sishen couldn't bring himself to reject her.
She looked much better.
Than that so-called secretary of his.
That disgusted feeling from the daytime was gone all of a sudden.
[Ding! Fondness from Huo Sishen increased!]
Gu Shishi blinked.
Oh yeah!
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She knew being proactive with the boss was the right move!
***
Ten minutes later, Siyi was stumped by the text that he had just received.
[Boss Huo: It's time to acquire a few movie theaters now.]
[Boss Huo: Day after tomorrow at the latest. I want to inspect the theaters that we have acquired.]
Siyi: "? ! ! !"
***
After she had harvested a round of fondness, Gu Shishi returned to her peaceful everyday life as a cook and an art studio instructor.
In fact, she ran into Luo Zheng at the studio once again.
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As he had to drop off and pick up Zhao Xian, he was over at the art studio and he couldn't help but wanted to "challenge" Gu Shishi.
He wanted to regain his sense of presence.
Gu Shishi pursed her lips and said, "I'll show you tonight after I get home."
Luo Zheng did not figure out right away what she meant by that.
That very night, when he was lying in bed playing on his cellphone, he came across a painting by the "Ink Painting Guru" and she even @ him.
[Ink Painting Guru: This painting should be sufficient to offset your $5,000 tuition.]
Luo Zheng bounced straight up from the bed.
He almost fell of his bed in the middle of the night.
Tuition? What tuition?
Then he recalled what Gu Shishi had said to him in the day time.
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Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
He scrolled down and suddenly saw the painting by the guru...
His face burned all of a sudden!
A frog inside a well.
Most of the area on the paper was left blank with the exception of an old well, and a frog that was sitting inside of it.
The brushwork of the dried well was simple but sophisticated. The frog was not a human but one could see the arrogance that could only belong to a human in its eyes!
Luo Zheng got it right away.
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"No. This is impossible!"
Gu Shishi, who told him to wait in the day time, was the Ink Painting Guru?
A master-level painter?
"Exactly how was is she?!"
He felt that his throat was being gripped.
He brushed off the thought in under a second.
Nevertheless...
"Young master, a friend of yours had something delivered to you."
A maid knocked on his door.
As much as Luo Zheng was in a bad mood, he crawled out of bed.
He saw a mailing tube after he had opened the door.
Taking the tube from the maid, his heart dropped and he asked, "Who sent this?"
He never bought anything online.
The maid smiled and said, "Miss Chen had her chauffeur delivered this."
"Chen Kexin?"
Luo Zheng lifted his brows.
He had a bad feeling.
As soon as he retreated back into his room, he ripped the package open.
He had only ripped open a corner when he saw the scroll inside. He felt a chill down his spine.
The painting...
A painting from Chen Kexin?
She was very close with the Ink Painting Guru.
Luo Zheng quickly unroll the scroll to look at the painting.
As soon as he saw all the blank spaces, he fell onto his chair, at loss.
The frog in the well.
That's the painting that he just saw in the friends' circle!
There was an extra caption on the painting.
[Narrow minded and ignorant.]
Bap. Bap. Bap. Luo Zheng's face has swollen up from the faceslapping.
If the painting was a blatant mockery, then the caption was a strike to his head.
He was dumbfounded from just that one strike.
Pingting had told him that Gu Shishi was just a peasant girl, but she was actually a master in ink painting?
He had mocked her so many times in the past and felt that her skills were lacking. Now his face was burning and painful!
She had said that he was aiming too high and had he practice his brushstroke. So, all those were true?!
Luo Zheng was stunned for a very long time.
The arrogance and pride on his handsome face were crushed entirely.
Chapter 219 – Whatever happened to teaching Gu Shishi a lesson? (1)
"What are you doing, Darling? Guess what? Gu Shishi translated Daqian's documentary. The shop manager even praised her and said she'd give her a raise. Hrm! Who even knows if she didn't just make the whole thing up!"
Zhao Xian's call followed shortly.
"Didn't you say last time that you are going to teach Gu Shishi a lesson? Have you given up on that already?"
THUMP! Luo Zheng slammed his fist on his table.
"SHUT UP!"
Zhao Xian gasped.
And Luo Zheng had already hung up on her.
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His hands were shaking. He didn't care about how Zhao Xian was feeling right now.
[You really are Gu Shishi?]
[Who did you learn painting from? And how old are you?]
[Didn't you graduate from some polytechnic? Aren't your adopted parents just normal workers?]
[Are you really the Ink Painting Guru?!]
He sent her one message after another.
But received nothing back.
Finally he texted Chen Kexin, whom responded to him.
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[Yeah... what else do you think?]
What else did he think?
Luo Zheng smiled bitterly.
She was right.
Who else could randomly draw some red plum blossoms and conquered all the rich, delicate girls right away?
For sure not just any normal regular person.
These girls were raised around arts.
An awkward look crossed Luo Zheng's face.
And he had been asking to buy her paintings for a handsome amount. How laughable was that?
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And he was even infatuated with Gu Wushuang not too long ago.
He had thought that she was that little, white flower among all of the girls. Fragile but genuine. Talented and adorable.
He only became a player because he couldn't have her.
And now... comparing to the pretty, talented, and bold Gu Shishi, what's Gu Wushuang, the girl who could do nothing but cry?
Luo Zheng continued to smile bitterly.
***
Things had been calm in the next few days.
But some people felt some obvious changes.
It had only been a few days since "The Anti-Shi" was turned into "We are all good sisters" and the group had become very quiet.
It was no longer active like it once was.
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Luo Pingting has remained silent.
Chen Kexin and Li Yiru didn't want to say anything in the group and Gu Wushuang had lost those who had normally fawned over her.
Every time when Gu Wushuang would say something like, "What nice weather. I'm so appreciative of it."
And she'd get a bunch of "Hoho". They were either sarcastic or there was an awkward silence from those who didn't want to comment.
Over time, however, a lot of small chat groups became active.
Just like when you have a college dormitory with four girls, after all sorts of mixing and matching, there could very well be over ten chat groups.
And that's how the rich girls were right now.
The main group had gone belly up, but the small groups had come to live.
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[Zhou Mi: I heard from my dad that the Luo's has run into some sort of trouble. Anyone know anything about it?]
[Melody: I've heard something like that as well. It has to do with some internal issues, I think. They were being boycotted by a few of their big clients.]
[Yaya: My dad have me stay away from the Luo's recently.]
[2333: They were being reported for tax evasion. Just you wait!]
[Melody: Eh? Tax evasion? That's a big deal! Are they going to go belly up? I was gonna ask whether it was the curse of Boss Huo again. Perhaps it was a curse because Luo Pingting invited Gu Shishi to her party.]
[Zhou Yi: .... The Chen's invited Gu Shishi to their birthday party too and they just received a big international order. What do you have to say about that?]
[Yaya: That's true. MiMi even had Gu Shishi drew on her back and she won a raffle drawing the next day. So LUCKY!]
[2333: The Luo's were just very unfortunately. Who can they blame for tax evasion? Does it even make sense trying to pin that on Big Brother Huo?]
And the news spread quickly.
Nine of the ten small groups were talking about it.
And it sounded so real!
So much that even Zhou Mi, who hadn't been wanting to chat in the groups as of late, and Li Yiru, who was busying trying to earn her rent, couldn't avoid seeing the news.
There was no avoiding it as soon as she turned on her WeChat.
Li Yiru felt distressed about it.
She was going to ignore it, but the rumors about the Luo's snowballed.
Chapter 220 – Whatever happened to teaching Gu Shishi a lesson? (2)
It had only been a few days before there were rumors online that Luo Pingting's father had been invited to go to have some tea and he had been gone for three days.
Li Yiru frowned and finally couldn't help but asked over dinner.
"Dad, did something really happen to the Luo's? I just ran into Pingting at a beauty parlour a few days ago. – Eh, Wang-ma, I want a bowl of bird nest soup as well."
As she was talking, she noticed that only the bowl in front of her was empty.
Wang-magave her an awkward smile.
Li Chengzheng waved his hand and said, "You didn't even pay for the meals. You are lucky that we even let you have some vegetables. Bird nest soup? Have you seen any hotels that hand out free bird nest soups?"
Li Yiru, "......"
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It pained Mrs. Li to see that but she also dared not start a fight with Li Chengzheng.
She quickly shoved a piece of meat into her daughter's bowl and changed the subject as the peacemaker between the two.
"I saw Mother Luo just yesterday. Aye, without her mainstay, she seemed to have aged over ten years all of a sudden."
"OH?"
Li Yiru had forgotten about her bird nest soup
All of the Luo's girls were pretty and Aunty Luo had always maintained herself well. She looked to be in her thirties or forties at most.
"Did Uncle Luo really get locked up?"
Li Chengzheng also had a long face.
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He put down his chopsticks.
"I really don't know what Lao Luo was thinking. This is no joking matter. Why would he..."
He shook his head and did not carry on.
Li Yiru's eyes widened.
He really evaded taxes?
With rumors like that, no wonder all of their clients wanted to stop working with them.
Too much negative publicity would also taint their partners' reputation.
And if the person in question was arrested, then the tree had fallen.
"Chengzhen."
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Sitting at the head of household seat, Old Mr. Li with his head full of white hair said out of the blue.
"When you went to apologize to the Gu's daughter last time, did they accept your apology?"
Old Mr. Li changed the subject abruptly.
Li Chengzheng wasn't a stupid person. His face changed colors immediately.
"Dad, you mean HB overseas had something to do with this?"
He didn't even mention Gu Shishi but went straight to the person who might be backing her.
The Li was put in their place last time.
In the last round of bids, they had to give up 10% profit in order to maintain their relationship with HB.
Thinking about that pained Li Chengzheng.
His youngest daughter's one glass of wine and they had to go over to their place to apologize and the Li's had to give up great profit to make up to them. The price that they had to pay was astronomical.
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"The Luo's had been the way that they were for a long time now.
"This isn't even an investigation at the district level, but straight from the city level. The few big clients of them that canceled their partnership are old acquaintances of mine," said Old Mr. Li as he narrowed his cloudy but energized eyes.
"It was said that they will have some businesses with HB's overseas market next year."
OH!!!
Li Yiru's mouth dropped open but she wasn't able to make a sound.
Never mind that she didn't say anything. Li Chengzheng and Old Mr. Li both looked over at her sharply.
"Are you hanging out with Pingting all the time?"
Li Yiru gulped.
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In the past, yes.
She had been staying away from her a bit as of late as she was being punished.
"That's also because she had bullied Gu Shishi?"
Li Yiru found that a difficult pill to swallow.
With the size of the Luo's empire, they were brought down over a girl who had returned to her family?
A peasant girl that Luo Pingting didn't even care for?
"Ruru, quickly, tell your grandfather what else have you done to Gu Shishi?"
Mother Li was worried now.
Li Yiru turned pale and told them everything from beginning to end.
As he listened to her, different emotions went through Li Chengzheng's face.
All the way until after dinner and Li Yiru had returned to her room before Li Chengzheng looked at Old Mr. Li both skeptically and solemnly and asked, "Dad, do you really think that what happened to the Luo's have to do with the Gu's child? You think she is that powerful?"
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