“Well,” Gu Xicao tapped the table lightly, “Mr. Li, do you want to hear the truth or a comforting lie?”

Li Lixin frowned, leaning forward. “Of course, the truth!”

“Then I’ll be honest. You and that partner of yours won’t work out. In fact, you’ll have a massive falling-out and even come to blows.”

Gu Xicao took a sip of juice and casually finished her sentence, watching as Li Lixin’s face shifted from pale to ashen.

Li Lixin sneered. “Miss Gu, don’t you think that’s absurd? Forget whether we’ll work out, but fighting? That’s impossible. We Li men don’t stoop to hitting women!”

Secretary Lin chimed in. “Exactly, Master Gu. Mr. Li was raised well. He’d never do something like that.”

Gu Xicao blinked. “I’m not wrong.”

“So you’re saying I’ll hit a woman?!” Li Lixin glared at her angrily.

Gu Xicao tilted her head slightly, replying earnestly, “I said you’d fight with Xiao Yun. I never said you’d hit a woman.”

Hearing this, Li Lixin’s anger flared even further. He jumped to his feet, nearly shouting, “Isn’t that the same thing?!”

“Wait a second,” one of Li Lixin’s close friends interrupted, picking up on something. “Are you saying that Xiao Yun isn’t a woman?”

Gu Xicao crossed her arms, her lips curling into a half-smile. “You’ve finally caught on.”

The room erupted in shock.

“What? The young master of the Li family is dating a man?!”

“There’s never been any talk about him liking men before.”

“No wonder he’s still a virgin. Turns out he’s gay!”

The murmurs spread quickly.

Li Lixin shook with rage. “That’s nonsense! Xiao Yun can’t possibly be a man. I’ve seen her photos and spoken to her on the phone!”

“But you’ve never met her in person.”

Gu Xicao calmly reminded him, “Young Master Li, you’ve been dating this Xiao Yun for so long, yet you’ve never thought about meeting in person? Hong Kong isn’t that big. It wouldn’t have been difficult.”

Li Lixin opened his mouth but stopped short. Memories of several times he’d suggested meeting up came flooding back, only to be turned down with excuses about shyness or being busy. He hadn’t doubted it at the time, but hearing it from Gu Xicao now, it all seemed suspicious.

“We… we haven’t met, but we’ve spoken. The girl on the other end of the phone is Xiao Yun!”

Though doubt crept into his mind, Li Lixin stubbornly clung to his belief.

“A girl’s voice on the phone doesn’t prove she’s your girlfriend,” Secretary Lin interjected gently. “Master Li, Master Gu wouldn’t make baseless claims. There must be a reason. You’d better be cautious. You haven’t suffered any losses, have you?”

One of his friends suddenly remembered something. “Lixin, didn’t you borrow 150,000 from me earlier? Was it for her?”

Li Lixin hesitated before nodding. “She said her father was in a car accident, and their family was being chased by loan sharks. They were going to sell her off if they didn’t pay. So, I lent her 300,000. She couldn’t be lying to me.”

The room fell silent.

One of the men scoffed. “Li, that’s exactly the kind of story women in nightclubs tell. How could you believe that? A car accident, loan sharks—it’s all too convenient.”

“How did you send the money? Can you still get it back?” his friend asked urgently, clearly worried about his own 150,000.

“I still don’t believe it!” Li Lixin shook his head vehemently, clenching his fists until his veins bulged. “Xiao Yun understands me. She’s smart and kind. She wouldn’t lie to me. We’re soulmates!”

Gu Xicao cleared her throat softly. “Mr. Li, have you ever wondered how a stranger could understand you so well?”

“Are you saying it’s someone he knows?” his friend blurted out, suddenly putting the pieces together.

Gu Xicao nodded. “Not just someone he knows, but a relative.”

The room was stunned into silence.

“What? A relative? Is this some kind of family drama?!”

“My relative? That’s impossible…” Li Lixin found the idea increasingly absurd. Most of his relatives were wealthy; why would any of them bother scamming him for money and affection? But then, an image surfaced in his mind.

His face turned green. “My… my mother’s younger brother?!”

Li Lixin’s mother, from the third branch of the family, had grown up in the slums of Kowloon Walled City. Thanks to her good looks and willingness to take risks, she’d managed to seduce Li Lixin’s father while working as a nurse.

Her family had hoped to ride her coattails to wealth, but she was practical and refused to be exploited. Aside from buying them a house, she only gave them small allowances during holidays.

Therefore, Li Lixin’s maternal grandfather’s family was impoverished. His uncle, Sun Yaoyang, had often visited to ask for money but was consistently turned away.

“If the person you’re talking about is named Sun Yaoyang, then yes, it’s him,” Gu Xicao said sympathetically, glancing at Li Lixin.

Li Lixin’s head buzzed. He and his mother had always looked down on her family, considering them irredeemable. Except for close family, outsiders had no idea what his relatives were called.

From behind the study door, a waiter’s polite voice could be heard:

“Sir, you seem to have taken the wrong item. Please return it.”

Everyone turned toward the sound. Through the window, they saw a man in an ill-fitting, outdated suit being blocked by the waiter.

The man’s appearance was average, but his demeanor was sleazy, and his tone was grating. “Taken the wrong thing? Really? Do you even know who you’re talking to? I’m Mrs. Li’s brother! Do you have any idea how much money my sister and nephew have? Why would I need to steal anything from you?!”

The waiter, though disgusted by the spittle sprayed on his face, maintained his composure. “Ah, my apologies, sir. It’s just that someone saw you take a pink wallet, which doesn’t seem like something you’d carry.”

“Who says men can’t use pink wallets? I happen to like pink. What are you going to do about it?” Sun Yaoyang, emboldened by the waiter’s politeness, jabbed the man’s chest repeatedly with his finger.

The waiter winced but refrained from retaliating, though his expression turned darker.

Seeing this, Sun Yaoyang became even more brazen. He pulled out the wallet with a flourish, accidentally revealing a string of pearl beads from his pocket.

The pearls gleamed under the light, and Li Lixin’s face drained of all color.

He stood up, swaying on his feet. “That bracelet… it’s the one I gave to Xiao Yun…”

Everyone froze in shock.

Secretary Lin hesitated, then murmured, “Could that man be your uncle?”

Before she could finish her sentence, Li Lixin stormed out. The crowd quickly made way for him.

In the hallway, Sun Yaoyang was still cursing the waiter. When he saw Li Lixin emerge, his face lit up with joy. “Lixin, you’re here just in time! This bastard has the nerve to accuse your uncle of being a thief!”

The waiter’s expression changed slightly upon seeing Li Lixin. Knowing the young master’s affluent background, he worried his job might be in jeopardy. He was just about to apologize when Li Lixin lunged forward, swinging his fist.

With a resounding thud, Sun Yaoyang’s eye swelled shut, and he stumbled to the ground, stars dancing before his eyes.

As Sun Yaoyang lay there, his mind raced. Had Li Lixin gone mad? Shouldn’t he be hitting the waiter? Why hit me?

“You bastard! You’re Xiao Yun, aren’t you? You tricked me! You lied about the money, about your feelings!”

Li Lixin straddled Sun Yaoyang and started punching him like a boxer, left and right.

The commotion drew a crowd. The men cheered him on, while the women covered their faces, peeking through their fingers at the spectacle.

At first, Sun Yaoyang didn’t dare fight back. But when he heard Li Lixin’s accusations, guilt turned into desperation. Unable to endure the blows any longer, he began struggling.

“Yes, I tricked you! So what? I’m your uncle! What’s wrong with a nephew taking care of his uncle?”

“Wow!”

The crowd gasped in astonishment, their faces alight with excitement and gossip.

Among them, Wang Mingqiang, a journalist invited to the event, couldn’t resist snapping several photos. This was gold. The scandal of rich families was nothing new, but an uncle pretending to be a woman to scam his nephew? Even Qiong Yao wouldn’t dare write something so outrageous!

Finally, one of Li Lixin’s friends, worried someone might actually die, gathered a few others to pull them apart.

Li Lixin, his face a mix of despair and fury, looked like he wanted to tear Sun Yaoyang apart with his bare hands.

“Lixin, calm down. Whatever it is, let’s deal with it later,” his friend tried to console him.

“Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down?” Li Lixin growled through gritted teeth. “Damn his ancestors! That was my first love! Ugh…”

The thought of all the sweet nothings and love poems he’d written for his uncle made Li Lixin want to join a monastery.

The crowd, while sympathetic, couldn’t suppress their amusement.

With such a dramatic turn of events, everyone now believed Gu Xicao was truly extraordinary. At least, everyone present was convinced.

After all, there was no way Li Lixin would publicly humiliate himself just to boost her reputation.

“Miss Gu,” Secretary Lin handed her the brooch and arranged for a driver to take her home. Just as Gu Xicao was about to get into the car, a woman in a black satin off-shoulder gown came striding down the stairs.

“That’s Zhou Minwen, the actress,” the driver whispered.

Not that Gu Xicao needed the introduction—Zhou Minwen was stunning and currently a rising star.

“Miss Gu, I was impressed by your skills today,” Zhou Minwen said with a charming smile. “I’d like to schedule a session with you sometime. When are you available, and what’s your fee?”

“If you’re interested, tomorrow works for me,” Gu Xicao replied, feeling the need to decompress after the day’s events. “I’ll be at Temple Street. Come by whenever you’re free.”

“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Zhou Minwen nodded, her smile radiant like the morning sun.

As Gu Xicao settled into the car, she mused to the gossip system, “She’s so gorgeous. It’s strange, how come there is no news about such a beautiful female star in the future.”

The gossip system responded casually, “Oh, that’s simple—she dies young.”

Gu Xicao: “…What?!”