Chapter 74

Chapter 74

The room slowly quieted down, but Xie Ci remained wide awake.

He didn’t check the time, unsure of how late it had gotten, only aware that the person in his arms had fallen asleep after a long silence, breathing softly and steadily, the arm around his waist relaxing.

Gu Yufeng was uncharacteristically still in bed, not fidgeting or speaking, yet Xie Ci felt as if he could hear him murmuring over and over in his ear, "I don’t want to leave," "I don’t want to be apart."

Xie Ci gently stroked his hair, his mind replaying Gu Yufeng’s frustrated, helpless expression during the phone call that afternoon.

This man had always been in control and confident in business, someone others looked up to in any situation. He’d never been in such a mess before.

Without properly consulting the key players first, relying solely on his mother-son relationship with Catelyn, trying to go beyond his role to do what he couldn’t, was too risky and uncertain, completely unlike Gu Yufeng’s usual approach.

Dealing with a high schooler who’d been thrust into the role, not to mention the other members of Qingfeng’s board, even Catelyn would probably have doubts about Gu Yufeng’s case.

There was nothing he could do to help, only offering verbal comfort, just watching things play out from the sidelines, no different from any passing stranger.

He didn’t want to feel like a useless bystander.

After returning home from Yulin Snow Mountain, Gu Yufeng flew back to Country D. Xie Ci met Lei Qiliang on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year to confirm the progress of the previously mentioned cases, and spent the rest of his time playing games with the older guys in the ‘son’ group at home.

Maybe winning so much had bruised the egos of these rich old-timers, as someone was constantly adding people to the group, swearing they’d beat him.

By the day before school started, the group had expanded to one hundred and twenty members.

Xie Ci’s gaze swept over the screen filled with "daddy," noticing a few familiar usernames. Some prankster had even added the soon-to-retire bank president, who suffered a crushing defeat in the first round, ranting in the group after calling him ‘daddy.’

Ada: "@Smith, are you messing with me? Didn’t you say it was easy to win?"

Smith: "I said it would be easy for you to win, but I’ve never won [shrugs]."

Ada: "I’m not convinced, let’s go again!"

Smith: "Let’s go! This time I’ve got backup, confident we can defeat the group owner!"

Nok: "It’s the turn of the 26th member of the group to set the game conditions, looking forward to it!"

FULI: "Does anyone know who the group owner is? I really want to put my money in his hands for financial management."

Smith: "+1 Unfortunately, the group owner’s identity is very mysterious, and he doesn’t take on financial business."

Nok: "Given his professional skills and keen sense of the stock market, I judge that he must be a practitioner! Probably not interested in the small change in your pockets."

FULI: "This aspect is negotiable, I hope the group owner will seriously consider it."

Xie Ci finished organizing the review materials on his desk and packed them into his backpack. Seeing the group messages had reached 99+, he quickly skimmed through them and edited a reply.

XC: "I’m starting school, so I won’t be participating in the next few rounds."

A row of question marks followed.

FULI: "Are you going to a prestigious school after work?"

Smith: "Is it far from N City? I’d like to meet you in person."

Ada: "Is school that intense? You can still trade stocks during class."

Nok: "How many days will you be away?"

Xie Ci replied, "I have a competition coming up, so I’ll be busy for the next month."

Nok: "Is it a finance competition? That sounds cool! Where’s it being held? Can I come and watch?"

Xie Ci replied, "No, just a high school math competition."

The group chat went silent for a moment, then a wave of curses flooded in.

"High school?! Seriously?!"

Before heading back to school, Xie Ci transferred all his money back to his bank account.

Xie Qian, who was working in the studio, saw the amount in the SMS and was so shocked he dropped his brush and rushed to find Xie Ci, just as Xie Ci was coming downstairs.

"Where’d you get all this money? Did you sell a few more paintings for me?"

"Made it from investments."

Xie Ci called Xiao Fang over to prepare for walking the dog and casually said, "If taxes are confusing for you, let Xiao Yang help, or I can handle it when I get back."

He said it so casually that Xie Qian started to wonder if he’d misread the balance. The domestic account had increased by more than 50%, and the US dollar account had multiplied several times. What kind of investment makes that much?

Xie Ci took the dog out and, as he reached the door, suddenly thought of something and turned to Xie Qian, saying, "This time, it’s the same 10% cut. Hold onto it for now."

Xie Qian quickly said, "You can have all the profits."

Xie Ci didn’t refuse.

At least there’s some capital.

Xie Qian stared blankly as Xie Ci went out, then looked at the SMS on his phone, feeling a mix of emotions.

Is this the son Dad always wanted?

Too bad he’ll never get it.

Until school started, Gu Yufeng didn’t send any messages.

After evening self-study ended and he returned to the dorm, Xie Ci glanced at his upper bunk. The bedding was still haphazardly rolled up as it was when Gu Yufeng left, sticking out in the dorm, constantly reminding him that the owner of this bed hadn’t returned yet.

"Lao Gu’s been away for a while now."

Zhang Ruochuan put his textbooks on his desk and hesitantly asked Xie Ci, "Did he mention when he’d be back?"

"He didn’t say."

Xie Ci sat down to change his shoes and take off his socks, suddenly remembering how Gu Yufeng had casually stuffed his dirty socks into his shoes last year.

It was still early after washing up, so Xie Ci sat down to do another set of papers. Halfway through, he felt something was missing and unconsciously looked up at the opposite side. The spot was empty, no one was working, and no one would harass him with their toes.

After lights out, lying in bed, Xie Ci's mind flashed with many memories.

Gu Yufeng pretending to be sick and occupying his bed, caught by him...

Lying on his bed saying, "The shirt is yours too, might as well take it off"...

Returning to school on Sunday, Gu Yufeng, running a high fever, was alone in his bed, hugging him in a daze and saying, "My head hurts."

This dorm is full of reminders of Gu Yufeng.

Xie Ci couldn’t recall whether he had felt this restless when he returned alone to the home he shared with Gu Yufeng in his previous life.

Thinking about the upcoming plans, Xie Ci raised his arm to cover his eyes.

How could he not endure it after just a few days? What would happen in the future?

Meanwhile, Gu Yufeng accompanied Catelyn to the top-floor conference room at Qingfeng headquarters.

All the board members were already present, and they were somewhat surprised to see Gu Yufeng.

As the family’s most favored junior, Catelyn seemed to want him to familiarize himself with the business early, preparing him to enter Qingfeng.

Many in the room speculated that it might be connected to the recent rejection of the FA acquisition proposal, as it was the first proposal submitted by the young master, and being rejected would naturally lead to dissatisfaction.

"Did you bring your son here to confront us?"

Olic crossed his arms in front of him, his gaze sweeping over Gu Yufeng, adopting a condescending tone, "Young master, this is no place for games."

Gu Yufeng placed his hands on the table, looking directly into his eyes, and smiled in return: "Is that so? It seems you're having a lot of fun."

The conversation immediately turned tense.

A bald man in a suit seated to Olic’s right interjected, his voice gruff: "Today’s meeting covers many important topics. Outsiders should leave promptly."

"Outsiders?"

Gu Yufeng seemed to find this amusing, his smile deepening, "Better than some who stab their benefactors in the back."

The other board members were bewildered.

This was clearly directed at Olic, and it seemed to carry some deeper meaning.

Olic, who saw himself as a senior, was visibly upset by being confronted by a teenager like Gu Yufeng.

"What are you implying? Are you here to stir up trouble because your proposal was rejected?"

"Before you question me, perhaps you should explain these."

Gu Yufeng raised his hand behind him.

Robertson promptly handed over the documents.

Gu Yufeng pulled out a stack of photos and slammed them onto the table, scattering them across the surface.

There were photos of Martha meeting with Olic, as well as Martha meeting with Derson’s associates, most of which clearly showed their faces.

These were taken by a private investigator he hired, and it took over a month to capture the photos of Olic and Martha meeting.

"You spied on me?!" Olic slammed the table and stood up, enraged, "This is an invasion of my privacy. I can sue you!"

Unfazed by his outburst, Gu Yufeng tapped the table lightly with his fingers, coldly retorting, "You colluded with the opposition and leaked the group’s information. I can sue you too."

The other board members’ expressions shifted slightly as they picked up the photos to scrutinize them.

"Utter nonsense!"

Olic pointed at Gu Yufeng and turned to Catelyn, "Are you just going to let him get away with this?!"

Catelyn, seated in the CEO’s chair with her chin propped up, had remained silent since entering, tacitly endorsing Gu Yufeng’s actions. Hearing Olic’s accusation, she still didn’t react much: "Perhaps you should explain why you had private dealings with Derson’s people?"

"I don’t need to put up with this kind of questioning!"

Olic kicked the chair aside and stormed out.

"Hold on."

Gu Yufeng called out to him, "I’m not done talking. You’re just going to walk out?"

Olic ignored him, opened the door, only to be blocked by a group of bodyguards.

"Someone who can’t even explain his own actions isn’t fit to be a director of Qingfeng."

Gu Yufeng straightened up and spoke slowly, "Begin the director removal process immediately. Anyone who opposes should think carefully about their position."

"You don’t have the authority to start the removal process!" Olic growled.

Gu Yufeng: "I don’t, but Mom does."

"Let’s follow Xiao Feng’s lead. Qingfeng won’t tolerate any internal spies."

Catelyn’s gaze swept over everyone, her voice heavy, "Not even those under suspicion."

The directors at the table looked at the furious Olic, then subtly glanced at Patrick from the branch family. The vice president’s expression was downright grim.

Today wasn’t just about the young master blowing off steam; it was a showdown between Catelyn and Patrick.

Just as the board had rejected the young master’s proposal, Olic was caught with evidence. This quick move was truly impressive.

After the meeting, Gu Yufeng and Catelyn left together and returned to the president’s office.

"I’ve already submitted the MM acquisition proposal. Could you help me move it forward?"

Gu Yufeng took the tea brought by Fiona and said to Catelyn sitting on the opposite sofa, "I’m heading back home this afternoon."

Catelyn gave him an extra glance.

She knew her son had been holed up in his study every day, working on the proposal. So, all this hustle was just to get back early.

"What’s there that’s got you so hooked?" Catelyn took a sip of tea, her tone probing.

Gu Yufeng: "Of course, something worth it."

Catelyn probed: "A cute boy?"

Gu Yufeng paused slightly, looked up to meet Catelyn’s sharp gaze, and instantly understood.

His mother knew about him and Xie Ci.

Gu Yufeng set the cup down firmly, his tone cool: "I’ve never pried into your love life. It’s best you don’t meddle in mine."

As a minor, coming out would cause trouble, but now it was unavoidable.

"What’s with the attitude?"

Catelyn frowned, her tone no better than Gu Yufeng’s, "You’re dating a boy, and I, your mother, can’t say anything?"

Robertson, standing by the sofa, looked down, completely baffled.

What’s happening? He hadn’t noticed a thing. How did the boss catch on?!

The young boss is dating Xie Ci?! Seriously?

"This is my personal business."

Gu Yufeng's tone was firm, "Since you’ve caught on, let me make myself clear. If you want me to join Qingfeng, stay out of my love life. Otherwise, you’re on your own with the family mess, and I’ll start my own business."

"Gu Yufeng!"

Feeling threatened, Catelyn slammed the armrest in frustration, "Is this what I taught you—to throw away your career for a relationship?!"

"Qingfeng isn’t my entire career."

Gu Yufeng placed the cup on the side table and stood up, looking at Catelyn expressionlessly, "I’ll be just fine without Qingfeng. I hope you understand, it’s not that I need Qingfeng, but Qingfeng needs me."

Catelyn: "You’re young, but you’ve got quite the attitude."

"Don’t believe me? Let’s test it." Gu Yufeng walked around the sofa and headed out, "Don’t stress about Qingfeng; I’ll be perfectly fine on my own."

As he left, Catelyn was seething with frustration. Spotting Robertson lurking around, she took her anger out on him: "I told you to watch him, and this is what you came up with?! You kept saying everything was fine, and now he’s been whisked away without you noticing!"

Robertson cowered, taking the scolding, and thought to himself, how was this his fault? If the young boss wanted to keep it secret, who could’ve figured it out?

Gu Yufeng walked outside, took out his phone, and called Xie Ci. He had mentioned several times before that he would come to pick him up, and this time it happened to be the weekend.

After dialing, a voice prompt indicated that the phone was turned off.

"Your phone’s off on a weekend?"

Though he said he’d return that day, Gu Yufeng stayed three extra days for the MM case, brushed off Catelyn’s objections, and flew back home.

Seeing it was just after 10 a.m. local time, he texted Xie Ci.

"You still busy?"

Just as he sent it, he received a call from Xie Ci.

"On a break?" Gu Yufeng asked, "Your phone was off earlier."

Xie Ci’s voice came from the other end: "I was at a math competition."

Gu Yufeng then remembered the event and asked, "Is it done? How’d it go?"

"It’s done. Lao Fang and I both got early admission." Xie Ci’s tone was very calm.

Gu Yufeng chuckled: "You really can do anything you put your mind to. What reward do you want?"

Xie Ci: "Anything?"

Gu Yufeng raised an eyebrow: "Of course."

Xie Ci: "Your bedding’s been sitting there and got moldy. Come back and deal with it."

"..."

Gu Yufeng was annoyed, "Do you want me to clean the bedding, or do you just want to see me?"

As soon as he finished, a low chuckle came through. Gu Yufeng couldn’t help but picture Xie Ci’s expression, his mind wandering.

The class bell rang, and after a quick chat, the two hung up the phone.

Gu Yufeng arrived at school just as morning classes ended. In the classroom of the third-year class one, students were packing up their things for lunch. He stood in the corridor outside the door, ready to surprise Xie Ci.

Jiang Chenyu and the other two friends walked to the door and saw Gu Yufeng, immediately gathering around him excitedly.

"Lao Gu, you’re back at last!"

Jiang Chenyu put his arm around Gu Yufeng's shoulder, extremely excited, "We thought you weren’t coming back. Without you, the dorm has been so dull every day."

Gu Yufeng smiled, "Well, I’m back now, aren’t I?"

Jiang Chenyu, "If you hadn’t come back, you might’ve missed Lao Xie."

Gu Yufeng was somewhat puzzled, "Is he joining another competition? I haven’t heard him mention it."

Fang Size and Zhang Ruochuan shot Jiang Chenyu meaningful looks, but Jiang Chenyu didn’t get it at all, completely unaware of what they were hinting at.

"Have you eaten? Let’s grab lunch together," Fang Size changed the subject.

Zhang Ruochuan chimed in, "We can chat over lunch."

Gu Yufeng looked inside the classroom, "Where is Lao Xie?"

Fang Size, "Lao Xiang called him over; he told us to go ahead and grab seats in the cafeteria."

Thinking of Xie Ci's good results, Gu Yufeng was in a good mood and added, "Lao Xiang must be thrilled, huh? Two people from the same class got the spots."

"Exactly! When the results came out, Lao Xiang was so excited he cried."

As he spoke, Jiang Chenyu became a bit melancholic, "But this means Lao Fang and Lao Xie are graduating early; they don’t have to come to class anymore. Lao Xie even mentioned he’s going to study in the US; it’ll be tough to meet up later—"

"Study abroad?"

Gu Yufeng stopped, the smile on his face fading, "He told you he’s studying in the US?"

Jiang Chenyu nodded, "Yes, Lao Xiang knows too; he just called him to the office to discuss it."

Fang Size and Zhang Ruochuan couldn’t stop it in time, only seeing Gu Yufeng's expression change, thinking it was bad.

Lao Xie should’ve told Lao Gu himself, not heard from others, making it seem like Lao Xie was keeping it from him.

Jiang Chenyu sensed the atmosphere was off, just as he was wondering, he saw Xie Ci coming out of the office from the corner of his eye and waved to him, "Lao Xie, Lao Gu is back, come quickly!"

Gu Yufeng turned around and just met Xie Ci's gaze.

He was still wearing jeans with a short down jacket, inside was the off-white sweater knitted by Wang Hao's mother, his face was cold and refreshing, his eyes slightly lowered, even without much expression, it was still hard to look away. Gu Yufeng often felt that Xie Ci was the perfect image of a "first love."

"When did you come back?" Xie Ci walked closer, but saw Gu Yufeng staring at him, his expression not quite right, "Are you feeling unwell?"

"Have you decided to study in the US?" Gu Yufeng asked directly.

Xie Ci's eyes flickered, his gaze sweeping over Fang Size and the others, understanding in his heart, he said in a low voice, "I was planning to tell you after you came back."

Gu Yufeng was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Who tells me, it doesn’t make much difference."

After speaking, he avoided Xie Ci's gaze, turned and left, "Congratulations."

"Yu Feng!"

Xie Ci noticed the hurt in Gu Yufeng's eyes before he looked away. He turned to grab his wrist but missed, quickly chasing after him.

"What’s up? Is Old Gu pissed?" Jiang Chenyu, seeing this, also wanted to follow but was held back by Fang Size and Zhang Ruochuan.

"Let them sort it out themselves," Zhang Ruochuan said, putting his arm around Jiang Chenyu's shoulder and leading him in the opposite direction.

Xie Ci caught up at the stairwell, seeing Gu Yufeng suddenly stagger halfway, as if about to fall forward. He sped up to catch him.

Gu Yufeng's face was pale, his brows tightly knit. After a while, he recovered and pushed Xie Ci's hand away.

"Stay still, you look awful."

Xie Ci couldn't let go, holding him in front, lifting his chin to examine him closely, asking in a deep voice, "Didn’t you get any rest at home?"

"Don’t worry about it," Gu Yufeng said coldly, grabbing his wrist and moving it away, turning to leave.

"If you fight me, I’ll carry you to the clinic," Xie Ci was equally assertive, not yielding an inch.

"Alright then."

Gu Yufeng laughed in anger, turning to look at Xie Ci, "Let’s see if you’ll actually do it in front of all these students—"

Before he could finish, Gu Yufeng was lifted off the ground by the waist.

In the astonished gazes of all the students, Xie Ci carried him down the stairs.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Gu Yufeng didn't expect him to actually do it, "Put me down!"

Xie Ci: "Didn’t you say you couldn’t walk and needed me to carry you?"

Gu Yufeng: "Are you gonna put me down or what?"

Xie Ci: "No."

The surrounding students listened to their bickering all the way to the clinic, looking at each other.

"Xie Ci’s got some serious arm strength, he just lifted a 6’3” guy like it was nothing..."

Yang He and others who happened to witness the scene nearby: "..."

They thought arm strength wasn’t the issue here.

The check-up revealed he was completely exhausted and had low blood sugar.

Xie Ci pulled a piece of candy from his pocket and offered it. Gu Yufeng didn't take it, got up to leave, but was stopped by Xie Ci again.

"Don’t push me," Gu Yufeng said with a dark face.

Xie Ci originally planned to take him to eat first, but in this situation, it seemed they needed to talk things through.

"Let’s head to the dorm, we need to talk."

By then, everyone was out eating, and the dorm was empty.

Gu Yufeng leaned against the desk, watching Xie Ci lock the door, his tone cold, "You’ve made up your mind, what’s left to discuss?"

"Staying here or going to Germany together—neither’s a good option, you know that."

Xie Ci walked over, placing his hands on either side of Gu Yufeng, "Running away won’t fix anything, we’ve got to deal with it."

"Sounds nice, but why must we go to the U.S.?"

Gu Yufeng was feeling frustrated, "You can still develop in Germany, or just drop that mess. We can start a business together—are we really going to starve?"

After he finished speaking, Xie Ci just looked at him without saying a word.

He wasn’t budging an inch. Gu Yufeng felt so angry that his chest tightened, "Are you so sure that we can withstand the test of a long-distance separation? Aren’t you afraid I’ll find a bunch of Xiao Fangs out there?"

Xie Ci: "Tired of being a CEO in your past life, so now you’re switching to pig farming?"

"..."

Gu Yufeng was still angry, shoved him aside, and decided to unilaterally end the conversation.

"Yu Feng."

Xie Ci hugged him from behind, his tone unusually serious, "Just keep moving forward; I’ll catch up."