Du Ruiqing couldn’t figure out what went wrong.

As he watched the edits that were starting to spread on social platforms in a small circle, he completely gave up the idea of buying water army to deal with Gu Chen. Maybe if Gu Chen retaliated, he would instantly trend…

After contemplating for a while, he finally edited a text message and sent it out:

【Zhong, you may not remember Gu Chen, but you should remember how I dropped out of school back then, right?】

Last time, he had invited these second-generation rich kids to attend the “class reunion” to see Gu Chen’s embarrassment, but it seemed like Zhong and his circle didn’t remember who Gu Chen was.

The other party seemed indifferent and took a long time to reply: 【I don’t have a strong impression, but when you mention dropping out, it seems like he must have retaliated against you, right? Otherwise, why would you hate him so much?】

Du Ruiqing smirked. Just over four years, and these haughty young masters had already forgotten about that incident. It was truly ironic. He replied again, 【You may not remember him, but he probably won’t forget you. Do you think now that he has married into the Li family with someone backing him, will he retaliate against you?】

The response from the other side was impatient: 【Alright, I’ll ask friends from the Li family about who he married. If it’s not the main support, what difference does it make marrying into the Li family?】

Having achieved his goal, Du Ruiqing satisfactorily put away his phone, but he felt a mix of complex emotions. Was it really so important who Gu Chen “married” now? He himself seemed to have become more complicated.

…

The next day, Lu Qingyue and Yu Xingzhou successfully joined the same group as Gu Chen.

Early in the morning, Lu Qingyue enthusiastically dragged Yu Xingzhou to eagerly observe Gu Chen, intending to “learn about love” from him.

Then they discovered… Gu Chen’s room had been empty for a while.

Lu Qingyue: “…”

Yu Xingzhou yawned and asked sleepily, “Isn’t it before 7 o’clock now?”

In the early morning, the barrage comments from viewers who knew the truth were scattered:

【Hahaha, learn! Learn quickly!】

【Two cuties, guess where Mr. Gu went so early in the morning?】

【You two coming to find Mr. Gu at 7 o’clock must not have seen the 1 minute and 58 seconds masterpiece. The last one tortured was a certain photographer surnamed Liu, haha.】

Lu Qingyue muttered, “Is he avoiding me on purpose because he finds me annoying?”

However, since the production team had arranged this segment, they naturally reminded them where the “study subject” had gone.

So, Lu Qingyue arrived outside the villa and saw the huge artificial lake in the villa area. In the early morning mist, with a cool breeze blowing, even the staff standing in the mist were yawning, but teasingly said, “Mr. Gu has already run three laps. Teacher Lu, Teacher Yu, are you going to learn this too?” Besides pranking Mr. Gu, they were quite adept at playing tricks on other guests.

Lu Qingyue: “?”

Something seemed off. How could someone wake up before 6 AM to go for a run?

Yu Xingzhou opened his eyes, looked at the distant figure jogging in the mist, then closed his eyes again, as if preparing to sleepwalk back to his room.

“I think I’ll go back to sleep.”

Lu Qingyue tried to hold him back, “Come on, didn’t we say we would listen to Mr. Gu making a call to his wife together?”

Yu Xingzhou paused, “I’m very tired, and I don’t think it’s a good idea. Why don’t you listen and tell me later? You didn’t want to be with me anyway, right?”

“Ah…” Lu Qingyue’s puppy eyes looked slightly disappointed. “You’re the one who didn’t listen.”

Yu Xingzhou drifted away, and Lu Qingyue watched as Gu Chen’s figure approached. Waving his hand, he called out, “Mr. Gu! Mr. Gu!”

Gu Chen slowed his pace, having already run three laps, his breathing steady and composed. He said, “Good morning, Xiao Lu. Do you want to run together?”

Lu Qingyue quickly shook his head, “No, no, no…”

The staff urged, “Hurry up, hurry up…”

“It’s okay, if you don’t want to run, you don’t have to.” Gu Chen was nonchalant, stopped in his tracks, with a hint of a smile. “So…”

Lu Qingyue asked, “Aren’t you going to call your wife?”

It was his wife, right? Du Ruiqing referred to her as a sister, wasn’t it?

Since he wasn’t running anymore, Gu Chen walked towards the villa area, glancing at the time. “Still early.”

Lu Qingyue followed beside him, saying, “It’s not that early anymore, you’ve already run three laps. And over there should be the afternoon, right?”

The camera captured their backs, showing that the production team was still abiding by the contract, as the clauses set by Lawyer He were very strict.

“Let me ‘learn’ quickly and complete today’s task,” Lu Qingyue thought.

The interaction pattern between these two seemed to involve a call in the morning and evening. So, wouldn’t he be able to sneak off after listening to a morning call?

Gu Chen thought the same, so he dialed Li Tingqin’s number. “Good afternoon, Mr. Li, are you busy?” But he didn’t initiate a video call either.

Li Tingqin answered, “Good morning. Why are you calling me so early? Is something wrong?”

Upon hearing Li Tingqin’s voice, Lu Qingyue turned to look at Gu Chen in confusion. Why did Du Ruiqing refer to that man as “sister”? However, based solely on their voices, it was indeed hard to tell who was who, just like himself and Xingzhou, haha.

“It’s nothing important, just a landline call,” Gu Chen sensed a hint of seriousness in Li Tingqin’s tone, so he asked, “Are you in a meeting?”

Following the familiar routine, he assumed Mr. Li wouldn’t finish work so early.

Lu Qingyue: “?”

How did he figure out they were in a meeting? Why couldn’t he keep up with the pace of their conversation?

Li Tingqin replied, “Yes, but it’s okay, go ahead.”

Li Tingqin didn’t inquire how Gu Chen knew about the meeting. Lu Qingyue just felt a moment of silence on the other end of the line amidst the slight commotion. It felt like he could instantly imagine the scene where Mr. Li raised his hand, and everyone fell silent.

Gu Chen said, “It’s really nothing, I won’t disturb your meeting.”

Both having been CEOs, he wasn’t going to bother Li Tingqin with unnecessary interruptions during a meeting.

“Alright,” Li Tingqin didn’t pry further, but in a soothing tone, he paused and asked, “What colors and patterns do you like? There’s a drone performance in S City tonight, and I’ll have them include it.”

Lu Qingyue tried to interject, “I also… like drone performances. They’re so cool! Mr. Gu and Mr. Li are in a business alliance, right?! How come they are getting to know each other so well and starting to exchange such extravagant and inhuman gifts?!”

Gu Chen gently patted Lu Qingyue’s shoulder, signaling him to hold off on speaking. Lu Qingyue, who was all excited, was instantly silenced, feeling like he was not a person standing by the phone, but rather an unnecessary third wheel.

With a slight smile, Gu Chen asked, “What does Mr. Li think?”

Li Tingqin replied with a hint of amusement, “Great, I will come to watch your show.”

Lu Qingyue: “?? Hold on, hold on, why can’t I keep up with your conversation? How did we jump from the topic of drones to watching a show? Even after listening to the whole conversation, why do I still feel like an outsider?”

Gu Chen said, “Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Li Tingqin responded, “Okay, see you in the evening.”

After the call ended, Lu Qingyue felt like he was in a daze. This doesn’t seem good; Xingzhou’s intuition was right.

Something was off, really off. Mr. Gu, do you really want to have a sweet romance with your business alliance partner?

Barrage Comments:

【Hahaha, I knew it would turn out like this~”】

【Wow, wow, I told you this is the beginning of a marriage before love. I warned you to run, but you didn’t believe it. Now you’re pushing them to call each other. Are you trying to witness a real-life CP?】

【Haha, Xiao Lu, don’t you realize you’re just an unnecessary outsider?】

【Insisting on listening to the conversation between the couple, now you can’t understand, right?】

【But thanks, Xiao Lu~ I’ve enjoyed it again. I feel like there’s so much to analyze from the couple’s few seconds of phone call with Mr. Gu and Mr. Li~”】

【Drone performance, you like it, right? It’s what Mr. Li sent to Mr. Gu, hoping you’d enjoy it, haha”】

【Drone performance, so cool!!! Xiao Lu, are you envious? Haha, you wanted to learn about this, right? Isn’t this a perfect opportunity for you to learn from Mr. Yu?”】

Just then, the staff member who hadn’t heard Gu Chen and Li Tingqin’s conversation walked over and asked, “How did it go, Teacher Lu? Did you learn anything? If you did, you can practice with Teacher Yu.”

Lu Qingyue: “…”

He didn’t learn anything, really.

He was speechless for a few seconds, but quickly regained his composure. With a determined look, he earnestly pleaded with Gu Chen, “Mr. Gu, our love story with Xingzhou also greatly needs this. Really, please, could you and Mr. Li arrange something for us too?”

Barrage Comments:

【Huh? Hahaha, you’re awesome!】

【Hilarious, this is a path I never expected.】