It was only after Gu Shishi was long gone before Luo Pingting felt that the pressure on her was lifted.
“Big Brother Huo, I never know that Shishi is so controlling toward you.”
Luo Pingting didn’t look too well but her contempt was obvious.
“She gets so jealous over something so minor. How do you still have any freedome?”
“Jea…lous?”
The man’s black eyes narrowed and he frowned.
Luo Pingting thought that perhaps her words had successfully drove a wedge between the two.
Huo Sishen started to dislike or maybe even hate Gu Shishi now.
She got more excited.
“Yeah. What was that? All you are doing having lunch with me and she got so jealous. She was so quick to state her claim on you. She should know that you are an upstanding man with strategy and courage.
“She showed no regards to your male ego outside of your house. I recall that Big Brother Huo has always been the most outstanding one among all of the big brothers. Even Aunty Huo barely lectured you and has always trusted you…”
Having said that, she turned pale. “Oh, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up the past and make you unhappy.”
Everybody knew that Huo Sishen’s past was a taboo subject.
How did she slip and bring that up?
Luo Pingting bit down on her lip a little and was eager to fix things.
Nevertheless, when she looked up, she noticed that there was no sign of any gloominess on the face that she hadn’t seen in many years and had become more and more handsome.
In fact… he looked like he was deep in thought. Dazed, almost.
He seemed not to have noticed what she had said?
Luo Pingting let out a sigh of relief.
“What would you like to eat, Big Brother Huo? Order what you want. I still have some savings from the past!”
Huo Sishen looked down at the menu that she was handing over but was still in a trance.
She was jealous… she was controlling…
She was staking her claim on him when they were out of their house?
His thin lips rotated between shutting tightly, curving upward, and tightening.
There was something inside of his chest that was eager to break free.
He couldn’t read one word on the menu.
Gu Shishi, on the other hand, had already entered into the private room with Chen Kexin.
The anger that had come so quickly were already mostly gone.
How did she just walk over there impulsively?
Thinking about it now, she started to break out into cold sweat.
Who did she think she was to boldly confront her life-saving boss like that? And mocked him about lying about working overtime?
Did her being able to live to a month give her such a big head that it had affected her brain?
The boss, who never talked or laughed much, had always locked himself up inside of his house and, according to Dr. Qin, they need to monitor his change in emotions at all times in order to spot any sudden turn for the worse.
Instead of tiptoeing around him, she went over to made those rude comments that she did?
Who was she to comment on whether the boss was truly working overtime or who he was having lunch with?
She was neither his secretary nor Siyi. She didn’t know his entire schedule so how could she interfere with is work?
The Luo’s business had collapsed and words had it that the housemaster of the Luo’s might get jail time.
Perhaps the boss was talking to Luo Pingting about matters concerning the Luo’s?
Perhaps he was going to acquire the Luo’s?
Gu Shishi reached her hand out and smacked herself over her head.
All she heard was Luo Pingting staying something along the line of “Thank you, Big Brother Huo, for helping her and helping the Luo’s” before she was angered and dashed over there.
She had no idea what was really going on.
She was being too rash.
Gu Shishi regretted a little now.
“Have a seat, guru.”
It was Old Mrs. Chen’s kind voice.
“I have them bring their house dishes already.”
Gu Shishi recollected herself immediately and smiled at the old lady.
She sat down next to her.
“Guru, those emojis that you have drawn are so cute. I’ve sent them to my old friends and they were all very envious.”
Old Mrs. Chen had already bragged about them in her friend’s circle on her way over.
Just like Chen Kexin.
“But, don’t worry, your time is very precious and no matter how they beg, I will not casually hand out your contact information. I can’t possibly let you spend your time to work on these…”
And the old lady’s voice came to an abrupt stop.
Gu Shishi picked the cup of chrysanthemum tea in front of her.
She then removed her facemask and her hat and blew slightly at the tea cup.
The fragrance of the tea occupied the air in front of her immediately. Old Mrs. Chen was so shocked that her mouth dropped open and she wasn’t able to shut it again.
Chen Kexin, sitting next to the two of them, looked over at her own grandmother then over at Gu Shishi who looked nonchalant.
Her lips twitched.
What a familiar scene!
“Gu… gu….”
Old Mrs. Chen was so shock that she couldn’t even finish her word.
Chen Kexin signed.
And what familiar line!
It was exactly the same as her reaction when she found out that Gu Shishi was the Ink Painting Guru!
Her grandmother didn’t fare any better than her!
Made sense. She had always assumed that Gu Shishi was a well-known ink painting artist at least in her fifties or sixties whose work would be at least ten million and up. The truth deviated quite a bit from what she had thought.
She was way off, in fact!
So how could she not be shocked?
Old Mrs. Chen had no idea what her granddaughter was thinking about her right now. Had she known, she just might have her handwrite a copy of the Classic of Filial Piety.
“Wow, I didn’t expect that Ms. Gu is the guru herself.”
Old Mrs. Chen was, after all, a person who had been around the corner a few times.
It only took her a minute to recollect herself.
Nevertheless, her elation and excitement and even her admiration and reverence did not decrease a bit from before. In fact, they had gone up to a new level.
“So young and so accomplished. Ms. Gu is truly a young elite. Had I known Ms. Gu is the guru sooner, I’d have insisted for Keke to invite you over to our place way before today.”
Old Mrs. Chen even talked less casual than she used to.
Of course she was emotional!
She had met any ink painting gurus in the past. All of them were quirky in their own ways and way out of her reach. Most of them did not want to have too much to do with businesswomen like her.
A good way to put it was that they belonged in different circles.
A not-so-good way to put it was that they were artists who frowned upon money and somewhat looked down on those who were in business.
That was certainly a very peculiar chain of contempt.
Even Chen Kexin seemed a little moved when she heard her grandmother’s words.
There were rich girls such as Luo Pingting sitting just outside of them. They have been raised to look down on commoners and peasants; then there were these artists who came from the commoners’ circle who would look down on wealthy people who cared about nothing but money.
Applying this logic, Gu Shishi was for sure one who was standing on the apex of the food chain!
Chen Kexin rubbed her nose.
Gu Shishi was the artist who came from circle of prominent families!
Old Mrs. Chen, who had already felt a gap between herself and the guru, was now so passionate that she could barely remember her own granddaughter’s last name.
She immediately grabbed Gu Shishi’s hands and said, “You are Shishi from the Gu’s, right? We’ve met once in the past. As an elder, I will refer to you as ‘little Shishi’ going forward. You can think of me as your own grandmother. The two at the Gu’s are still young and they don’t know as much as I do on many things. Nor are they good at taking care of children.”
Old Mrs. Gu had passed away many years ago.
Gu Shishi would never be able to experience what it was like to get doted on by one’s own grandmother.
“They know of nothing other than making money and drumming up more businesses. There are always more business trips. They don’t even have time to raise their children, let alone care for them.
“Your mother has good attention to details but she is also one who doesn’t think well for herself. Her health hasn’t been good since she gave birth to you so she didn’t have a lot of experiences with children. Now that you are already a grown woman, all the more she had no idea how to get along with you.”
In just a few words, Old Mrs. Chen already wanted to be Gu Shishi’s “real grandmother”.
She had a very good life for the most part but when had she ever been a grandmother of a guru? Never!
Besides, who didn’t know about the matters of the Gu’s?
It was obvious that Old Mrs. Chen didn’t care much about Father and Mother Gu.
A family that was better and baffled everyone when the only one that they cared about was their adopted daughter and not their real one.
A family who knew only to maximize their own gain and sent their own daughter to the Huo’s for an alliance marriage and not cared about anything else that followed. Once sent, they felt that this real daughter had picked up on the Huo’s misfortune and decided to stay as far away from her as possible.
Old Mrs. Chen was not one to talk about others behind their back.
But as she held Gu Shishi’s hand in hers and looked at her own granddaughter’s loss and naïve look, it pained her.
All the more she just blurted out those words!
What would she have done if only that had happened to her own granddaughter?
It’d probably pain her to no end.
If it was Keke, who had lived an unhappy childhood with her adopted parents and, when she finally had the opportunity to return to her own parents, was turned around and sent to an alliance marriage.
She was loved by neither her mother nor her father but just watched them dote on the adopted daughter day in and day out…
Aye.
Just thinking about it was enough to make her heart bleed!
“Little Shishi, you come and tell grandma if anything unjust had happened to you in the future.
“Grandma might not have any clout over the Gu’s but she has a lot of say within the Chen’s. We don’t have much of anything else but we have lots of money!
“Don’t be a stranger and don’t be shy. We have no shortage of rooms and we can totally afford to feed one more.
“Anything that upsets you, you come to the Chen’s and look for grandma. I’ll feed you. Anything that you need, you tell me. I’ll buy them for you! I have lots of my own money. My son sends me money every month and I also have all my old man’s money!”
Chen Kexin was about to drop to her knees over her grandmother’s speech.
Ever since she was a child, her grandmother had always told her that it was difficult to go from riches to rags so she must learn to be frugal.
To not be like the others and only knew to buy luxurious items and cared about how she appeared to others, etc. etc.
When had her grandmother ever said that they had more money than they could spend?!
Did she want her entire fortune spent?
Chen Kexin gave her own grandmother a gloomy look.
Who was her real granddaughter?
Old Mrs. Chen finally noticed the look coming from her own granddaughter.
“It’s alright, Keke,
“Going forward, little Shishi will be your…”
She turned to Gu Shishi.
“Oh, I’ve forgotten to ask. Little Shishi, when were you born?”
Chen Kexin’s lips twitched.
Gu Shishi felt strange as well.
She was completely baffled.
She hasn’t even sorted out what was going on with the boss when she was even more baffled by the chime of a series of system notifications.
[Beep! Fondness from Old Mrs. Chen increase!]
[Beep! Fondness from Old Mrs. Zhang increase!]
[Beep! Fondness from Old Mrs. Zhao increase!]
[Beep…]
A series of fondness and Old Mrs. Chen was only one of them.
The last two crisp chimes even shocked her.
[Beep! Old Mrs. Chen has become your fangirl.]
[Beep! Old Mrs. Chen is willing to become an elder who’d shelter you and care for you.]
Gu Shishi’s eyes widened.
Elder she got.
Fangirl though…?!
To think that she hesitated about keeping her identity a secret. Who’d have thought that exposing her identity would have brought such major gains?
When she was dazed, Old Mrs. Chen thought she was unwilling to accept her kindness.
“Little Shishi, I’ve had more rice than you’ve had salt. Listen to my advice, it’s better for a woman to have a family who backs her.
“When you have a fight or small conflict with your husband in the future and you don’t want to go to the Gu’s, you can come to the Chen’s.”
Old Mrs. Chen’s voice was weighty.
“You think of me as the grandmother back home.
“Before Old Mrs. Gu had passed away, she was in our elderly group as well.”
As Old Mrs. Chen was saying that, she showed her WeChat to Gu Shishi.
Gu Shishi looked down and saw the name “The relaxed elderly group”.
She also caught sight of the chat log.
[Happy Chubster: I got some good stuff.]
[Where is my little cutie.jpg]
A chubby bunny was looking out a door.
[Not a single shred of stress: Eh? This emoji is cute. I am taking it.]
[Happy Chubster: Hahaha. It was custom made, get it? It’s my horoscope. It’s useless to you.]
{Come and hit me.jpg}
A bunny lying relaxingly on its side waving it’s delicate and pink paw.
[Not changing my alias till I have lost 10 pounds: Eh? I’m saving it! My granddaughter is also a rabbit!]
[My precious baby is 10 years old this year: Custom made? Where did you get them? I’m saving them!]
[Happy Chubster: You bunch of shameless thieves!]
[Happy Chubster: A guru custom made them for me! Showing off.jpg]
[I am looking baffled: That ink painting guru? Respect, and saved!]
[My precious baby is 10 years old this year: Respect, and saved!]
[Not changing my alias till I have lost 10 pounds: Respect, and saved!]
[Not a single shred of stress: Respect, and saved!]
[Fanfan is my husband: Respect, and saved!]
Gu Shishi, “……”
Nevermind about the other aliases, but this “Fanfan is my husband” was at least over 60 in real life, right?
Amen to that!