Chapter 66: Still Liked Back Then

Chapter 66: Still Liked Him Back Then

Gu Hong's eyes went wide with alarm, pointing at Gu Jiajin and saying, "Jiajin, think carefully before you speak. Where exactly did you see your cousin sprinkle something?"

"Just now, when cousin went out to get Grandpa's gift, a servant walked by carrying this dish. He lifted the lid and took a peek, and while the servant wasn't looking, he sprinkled white powder into it," Gu Jiajin said.

"Bullshit! You're this young and you've already learned to lie!" Gu Hong scolded.

"Second brother, what's the rush?" Gu Hui pulled his youngest son in front of him. "Just call over the servant who was carrying the dish and have them face off with him, won't that work?"

The butler immediately called the servant over, and the servant, head lowered, said, "He did lift the lid and take a look, but I don't know if he put anything in it."

That was a complete lie, because Gu Hansheng had never touched that dish, nor had he ever opened the lid to look at it before it was brought to the table.

Using a kid and a "loyal servant" to set someone up was a seriously vicious move. Even without evidence, their words carried a lot of weight.

"You're talking out of your ass—where's the proof?" Gu Hong said.

"Since he sprinkled it with his bare hands, there should still be something left on his fingers, right?" Gu Hui said.

Gu Hansheng raised his hand and, sure enough, there was a bit of white stuff on the pad of his right index finger. He rubbed it—it felt gritty, like tiny crystals.

When the hell did that get on there?

Gu Hansheng had zero memory of it.

"Butler, aren't you going to secure the evidence?" Gu Hui urged.

The butler hesitated for a second and was about to step forward to collect the evidence when Zhao Yu suddenly spoke up: "Collecting evidence is useless. Adding salt while cooking versus adding it after the dish is done gives you different flavors. The faint metallic taste of the potassium salt in this dish is mixed into the sauce. If the salt had been sprinkled on while the dish was being carried over, the metallic taste would be stronger, and it wouldn't be this evenly spread. So the potassium salt was added while it was still in the wok."

After saying this, he didn't so much as glance at Gu Hansheng. He turned and walked back to Cao Xu, head down, and said, "I'm sorry, Master."

Cao Xu patted him on the shoulder and shook his head. Even though this affected Yatai's reputation and his own career, he didn't blame Zhao Yu.

Even though he could have pinned the blame on Gu Hansheng, Zhao Yu couldn't help but tell the truth. He could also see this was a setup targeting Gu Hansheng. In this family, even the kids lied and schemed. Even though they were blood, they used such dirty tricks to frame each other.

The Gu family was more cutthroat than he'd imagined. And Gu Hansheng... Zhao Yu hadn't wanted to help him in the first place, but he'd been hurt by his own family before, so he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Gu Hui kept arguing nonstop, but Gu Hansheng didn't hear a single word. He kept his eyes on Zhao Yu, mulling over what Zhao Yu had just said for him.

This seemed to confirm Zhao Yu still had feelings for him.

Gu Hong said, "You all heard that—there's no way Hansheng did this!"

"What does a chef's word even count for?" Gu Hui said. "Harming the old man is no small thing—we have to collect evidence!"

"Collect what evidence? If he really sprinkled potassium salt in there, wouldn't he have cleaned his hands and left something for you to grab onto?"

"Whether it was an accident or on purpose, the old man's sick, and he's a suspect now!"

While the two were arguing, Gu Hansheng finally got his fill of watching. He looked away from Zhao Yu and said, taking his sweet time, "Third uncle wants evidence, then let's get evidence. Butler, if you would."

The butler stepped forward at that, scraped the fine particles off his finger, and sealed them in a plastic bag.

Gu Hansheng wiped his hands on a damp towel, glanced at Gu Jiajin, and said out of nowhere, "Just now Jiajin said he saw me put something in the dish, but he didn't say whether I used paper, a bag, or my hands. But Third Uncle immediately said—'sprinkled it with his hands.' Looks like you saw it even better than your son. What, you're an eyewitness too?"

Gu Jiajin was young and hadn't covered all his bases with the lie, and Gu Hui, eager to frame someone, hadn't noticed—exposing this small flaw.

Gu Hui was a sly old fox too. Even with his flaw exposed, he kept a straight face and said, "I was just assuming, but guessing right by accident is also luck."

"Third uncle's luck in business hasn't been as good." Pushed into the spotlight, Gu Hansheng still had the nerve to be sarcastic with him.

"Gu Hansheng, all you're good for is running your mouth. When I was fighting my way through the business world, you weren't even born yet!" Gu Hui said. "You just happened to ride the wave of the times, and that's made you this cocky?"

"Yes."

"...What?"

Gu Hui looked at his mocking expression and was instantly furious.

Gu Hansheng had been too successful in business—he really had the right to be cocky.

With the doors shut, the family drama was almost comical. Only Zhao Yu and Cao Xu, two outsiders, got to witness this ridiculous show.

Just as Gu Hui was about to continue cursing, Assistant Wu suddenly hurried in and whispered a few words in Gu Hansheng's ear.

No one heard what he said except Gu Hansheng, who, after listening, cast a subtle glance at Cao Xu and then asked the family doctor, "How is Grandfather's condition? Is he lucid?"

"The old master is fully conscious and in no physical danger."

"Butler, I want to see Grandfather. Please go inform him."

The butler nodded and went to find Old Master Gu.

"What kind of trick are you pulling now?" Gu Hui watched him warily. "At this point, do you think the old man will still cover for you?"

Gu Hong also stepped forward and said, "Hansheng, what's going on?"

Gu Hansheng ignored them and looked down at the utensils he had just used. Sure enough, he spotted a clue on the wine glass. A potassium salt solution had been wiped onto the glass, and it had now begun to crystallize slightly.

Just as he had expected—this was the method used to frame him. Crude but effective.

Even if he pointed this out, they could claim his hand had dirtied the glass, not that the glass had dirtied his hand.

A few minutes later, the butler returned with a message, calling Gu Hansheng over. Gu Hui tried to follow, but the butler said, "The old master will only see Hansheng alone now."

No matter how dissatisfied Gu Hui was, he couldn't defy the old master.

Gu Hansheng followed the butler to the medical room. The old master was reclining on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting, and still looked quite spirited.

"Grandfather." Gu Hansheng stepped forward.

The old master opened his eyes and looked at him, gesturing for him to sit and speak. "You've been arguing for so long—did you reach a conclusion?"

Gu Hansheng sat across from him and said unhurriedly, "What we argue about doesn't matter. What matters is what outcome you want."

"Oh?"

"In this family, you dote on Third Uncle the most, indulging every mistake he makes. At this point, if I were to say that today's incident is connected to Third Uncle, how would you want to handle it?"

The old master pondered for a moment. "What have you found?"

Gu Hansheng uttered two words softly: "Surveillance footage."

"Since when did this house have surveillance?"

"There wasn't any originally. But since it was your birthday banquet, I had to make sure everything went flawlessly, so I installed a few cameras in advance. They happened to capture some interesting footage."

With Gu Hansheng's words reaching this point, it meant his evidence directly pointed to Gu Hui as the mastermind behind the scheme.

The old man's face turned extremely grim, and he muttered under his breath, "This is getting way out of hand—how dare he scheme against me!"

The "dutiful son" he'd spoiled himself—who else could he blame?

If Gu Hui's actions ever got out, his reputation would be completely ruined, and in the end, someone would still have to clean up after him.

"I'll handle him personally on this. Don't spread it around." The old man rubbed his eyes wearily.

"Dirty laundry shouldn't be aired in public—that's a given." Gu Hansheng added, "I'll destroy the surveillance footage, but there's also one favor I'd like to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"No matter who did it, that dish was ultimately made by Yatai. I'd like to ask you to spare Yatai as well."

Trading Gu Hui's leverage for Yatai's survival—that was why Gu Hansheng hadn't made a scene in the hall earlier. If he'd exposed Gu Hui on the spot, Yatai and all the chefs who came today would've been done for.

The old man was a bit surprised. "Do you have a stake in that restaurant?"

"No, I don't. It's just..." Gu Hansheng paused, "The restaurant owner's a friend of mine."

"Fine, whatever you want."

"Thank you." Gu Hansheng rose to his feet. "Should I call your uncle in?"

"Send him in." The old man then said to the butler, "Bring me my cane!"

Gu Hansheng stood up and headed out, thinking that his uncle's real show was still to come—though he wouldn't get to watch it.

The atmosphere in the banquet hall was tense. Gu Hong tried to pry out of Assistant Wu what he'd told Gu Hansheng earlier, but Assistant Wu just smiled and said nothing.

A few minutes later, the butler came out to call Gu Hui in, then gestured for Cao Xu to leave.

"What about Zhao Yu? Why's he being kept here?" Cao Xu said. "I'm the one responsible for all of this. Let him go."

The butler said, "Don't worry. Keeping him here is the young master's request, and it's got nothing to do with today's incident."

Gu Hui shot the butler a suspicious look but couldn't read anything from his expression. The old man had called no one else—just him—which made him uneasy. He asked, "What did the old man say? What does he want with me?"

"You'll know when you get there, Third Young Master. The old man knows everything."

Once Gu Hui left, the butler turned to Gu Jiajin. "Young master, please come with me."

Gu Jiajin hesitated. "Where to? I'll wait for my dad to come back."

"Third Young Master's gone to see the old man. You'd better come listen at the door to hear what they talk about." The butler said, "I'll take you there. Everyone else can go home now—please don't spread what happened today around."

Gu Jiajin was led away too, and the rest of the people in the room were lost in thought, all wondering what the old man's stance was and who the real culprit might be.

Zhao Yu said to Cao Xu, "Master, you go ahead."

Cao Xu frowned and let out a sigh, speaking with concern, "Listen—if there's a problem with the food, it's my problem. No matter what anyone says, just blame me."

"Master, I won't admit to anything, and I won't blame you either. Go back and review what happened—there were only so many people in the kitchen. We'll definitely find who really did it."

Cao Xu nodded and finally left.

The people left in the banquet hall lingered, all waiting for a resolution. Gu Hong said to Zhao Yu, "Young man, you know Hansheng?"

From the moment Gu Hansheng stopped Zhao Yu, Gu Hong had noticed there was some kind of connection between them. Otherwise, given Gu Hansheng's personality, he would've just stood by and watched during such a farce, never bothering about the fate of a few chefs.

Zhao Yu said, "Mr. Gu's only eaten at Yatai a few times. I wouldn't say we know each other."

Just then, Assistant Wu took a phone call and stepped forward, speaking quietly to Zhao Yu, "Mr. Zhao, please come with me."

Zhao Yu followed him out of the banquet hall, through the corridor outside, and toward the back garden.

The garden was pitch black, with vines winding around the fence and the stone pillars of the pavilion, leaves rustling gently in the breeze. Assistant Wu only escorted him to the garden entrance before stepping back and leaving.

Zhao Yu groped his way forward in the dark, wondering what trick Gu Hansheng was up to, when suddenly he got shoved against a stone pillar. The man's scent enveloped him—a cold fragrance as indifferent as moonlight.

But the kiss that followed was the complete opposite: scorching and passionate, prying open his lips and teeth. In that moment when their breaths intertwined, Zhao Yu felt a brief flash of dizziness.

It was like being transported back two months ago, when he had still enjoyed the feeling of kissing Gu Hansheng.