“Why are you……”

As Gu Yancheng passed by the elevator, he didn’t leave. At this moment, it was clear that this person was about to enter the venue with her.

The receptionist at the door saw it was Gu Yancheng and greeted him with great enthusiasm.

When the receptionist noticed Su Mei standing next to Gu Yancheng, she paused for a moment in slight surprise.

“Mr. Gu, Mrs. Gu, the first three rows are reserved for VIPs. Here are your auction number cards.”

Seeing Gu Yancheng accept the card with a neutral expression, Su Mei also took the other number card handed over by the receptionist, but her face was filled with an odd expression.

Gu Yancheng was the chairman of the Gu Group, so it was correct to address him as Mr. Gu.

The other Su Mei was indeed known as Gu Hongguang’s woman, so it was also understandable to be called Mrs. Gu.

These titles on their own were nothing unusual, but when said together, they sounded somehow weird!

No wonder Shen Jiaying was so unwilling to have the title ‘Mrs. Gu’ attached to Su Mei.

……

While lost in thought, Su Mei had unknowingly followed Gu Yancheng into the auction hall.

Gu Yancheng was already a prominent figure in the business world, and given that today’s auction was being hosted by the Shengyuan Group to promote the Ninghai project, it was likely that anyone with a bit of influence knew that the Gu Group would be the largest investor in it.

Naturally, Gu Yancheng’s appearance immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

“Husband, that’s Gu Yancheng, the chairman of the Gu Group, isn’t it? Oh my gosh, this is the first time I’ve seen him in person. He looks so young!” And he’s really handsome!

“Indeed, it looks like Mr. Gu attaches great importance to this project.” Not only did he attend the negotiation meeting, but he also showed up at the evening auction.

It’s worth noting that aside from the Gu Group’s annual meeting, Gu Yancheng rarely attends such banquets or auctions. Even at some of the Gu Group’s regular events, it’s not always possible to see him.

Chairman Chen squinted slightly as he thought to himself.

If that’s the case, he might need to consider how to get involved in the Ninghai project as well.

“I see.” Mrs. Chen nodded. However, as it turned out, women’s and men’s focuses were always different.

“How old is Mr. Gu this year? Do you know, Husband?”

“I think he’s around 26 or 27.”

“Only 26? That means he’s just three years older than our Tiantian?” Mrs. Chen’s eyes suddenly sparkled.

Mrs. Chen’s imagination grew brighter and brighter.

With these thoughts in mind, when she saw that Gu Yancheng was accompanied by a very beautiful woman, her mood soured.

“At an auction like this, Mr. Gu even brought a ‘female companion’?” Mrs. Chen said with a hint of displeasure.

She had expected her husband to say something like, “It’s just a man bringing a female companion, what’s the big deal?”

But to her surprise, as soon as she said those words, Chairman Chen’s expression changed immediately.

“Shut up, what are you talking about?!”

“You— Why are you yelling at me? I was just making a casual remark, and what I said is true.”

“True, my foot! What ‘female companion’? That’s Mrs. Gu, the one who was brought home by Gu Hongguang!”

“What did you say?! T-that woman is Mrs. Gu? So, she’s Mr. Gu’s stepmother?” Mrs. Chen’s eyes widened in disbelief, her face full of astonishment.

She had been envious just a moment ago. She didn’t want to admit that her first impression of the two people entering the hall was that they were well-matched.

But now, to be told that the woman was Gu Yancheng’s stepmother was something Mrs. Chen simply couldn’t believe.

Moreover—

“That’s not right. Wasn’t it said that Gu Hongguang and Mr. Gu’s relationship wasn’t that good? How could these two possibly be together?”

“Tsk, can’t you keep your voice down? Aren’t you women always gossiping? It seems all that gossiping was for nothing.”

“What do you mean?”

“This morning, Gu Group released its latest list of shareholders. Mrs. Gu, that is, Su Mei, has become the second largest shareholder of the Gu Group.”

“Wow! This woman has such incredible luck!”

“However,” Mrs. Chen furrowed her brow and continued, “I still feel something isn’t right……”

“What isn’t right? Just keep quiet!” Seeing Gu Yancheng and the other woman approaching, Chairman Chen quickly interrupted Mrs. Chen, turning his head to look at Gu Yancheng with a smile on his face.

“It’s unexpected to see Mr. Gu here at the evening auction as well. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

In response to Chairman Chen’s enthusiastic greeting, Gu Yancheng merely gave a polite nod and then proceeded straight ahead.

During the process, many CEOs, like Chairman Chen, intended to seize this rare opportunity to chat with the chairman of the Gu Group. However, they were all dismissed by Gu Yancheng with a cold attitude.

“This way.” Gu Yancheng, who had been sparse with words since entering the hall, suddenly spoke.

“Hm?”

Su Mei, who had been distracted and preoccupied with the issue of their titles, was momentarily caught off guard by Gu Yancheng’s voice and didn’t immediately react.

Realizing that Gu Yancheng was speaking to her, Su Mei followed the direction he indicated and sneaked a glance at the number card in his hand. She then discovered that the clueless receptionist had given them consecutive number cards. Not only were their seats next to each other, but they were also in the first row!

Su Mei: “……”

Was it still possible to pretend her foot injury hadn’t healed?

As Su Mei was secretly pondering whether to come up with an excuse to leave, she saw Gu Yancheng, with a gentlemanly gesture, pull out a chair for her.

“Cough, thank you……”

Gu Yancheng nodded and took a seat next to Su Mei.

Just as Su Mei was feeling uneasy sitting next to Gu Yancheng, the auction finally began.

“Thank you, esteemed guests, for attending this auction. The first item up for bid is a blue diamond necklace called ‘Angel’s Eye’. It features a 6.16-carat blue main diamond and 16 smaller diamonds. The starting bid is……”

As the emcee introduced the item, a blue diamond necklace was brought onto the stage.

Seeing the necklace, Su Mei almost lunged for it.

It was stunning!

She wanted to buy it!

“Do you plan to buy it?” Noticing that Su Mei, who had been silent and looking down since sitting down, finally showed some expression when the necklace was presented, Gu Yancheng casually asked.

Gu Yancheng’s question hit Su Mei right on the mark, and she almost nodded vigorously.

However, at the crucial moment, Su Mei managed to hold herself back.

“Haha, no, I’m just here to have a look. Just looking, just looking, no need to buy something so expensive.” Su Mei chuckled awkwardly, while her heart bled inside.

She was a wealthy woman with a fortune of over a billion. What was wrong with buying a two-million yuan necklace?

But no, she couldn’t do it.

Although she didn’t understand why the male protagonist hadn’t reclaimed her shares, Su Mei adhered to a principle. To survive long, she had to sell herself as poor and pitiful!

She couldn’t appear too well-off in front of Gu Yancheng. Otherwise, what if he thought she, this fake stepmother, was living too comfortably after his father’s death, and decided to take action against her, this poor little thing with nothing but money?

It was best for her to appear even more pitiful so that Gu Yancheng wouldn’t have any thoughts of taking revenge on her.

Gu Yancheng didn’t pay much attention to Su Mei’s words.

Although he didn’t think two million was expensive, he didn’t know much about jewelry and similar items. So, Gu Yancheng took her statement at face value.