The dance floor was filled with figures swaying and dancing to disco music, some clumsy, some skilled, creating a lively and bustling atmosphere.
"Gu Zhong! You're here?"
In a spacious booth facing the center of the stage, a woman with wavy hair and heavy makeup raised a bottle of wine and called out to Gu Zhong.
She was surrounded by several men, who clearly looked quite handsome, yet they all had fawning expressions on their faces, vying to show off their abilities.
After all, with the downfall of the Gu family, the Yan family, as one of the top remaining wealthy families, would be a highly sought-after marriage partner for many men, even if it meant marrying into the family.
Once successful, it's like taking a rocket from the halfway point of life directly to the finish line, saving at least a hundred years of struggle.
Gu Zhong was very uncomfortable with this scene. She forcibly suppressed the disgust in her heart and put on a calm and composed demeanor.
"What's wrong? Miss Gu, are you still not used to it?"
Yan Yu stood up with a grin, looking a little unsteady, perhaps because she had drunk too much, and walked over to Gu Zhong's side.
"Come, come, sit down."
She grabbed Gu Zhong and pulled him into the booth, and the surrounding orioles, swallows, flowers and plants instantly parted to make way for him.
In the past, Gu Zhongcheng could have chosen to leave because she disliked the scene, but now she needed someone's help and could only endure her discomfort and follow Yan Yu's lead.
“Ayu…”
After being pushed down into the booth, Gu Zhong pondered for a moment, chewing over his words several times before finally speaking.
"Stop! Ah Chong, today the most important thing is to have fun. We can talk about everything else later! You know, it wasn't easy to get you here..."
The moment she opened her mouth, Yan Yu raised an index finger in front of her, interrupting her.
"By the way, I won this round. Come on, who placed a bet?"
After saying that, she turned to the crowd around her with a playful smile, still slightly drunk.
"A bet is a bet! A bet is a bet!"
"I never expected that Miss Yan would actually be able to invite Miss Gu, who is the most difficult to invite."
The young masters and ladies from the upper-class families sitting around the table all took out their wallets and threw bright red banknotes in front of Yan Yu.
Hearing the surrounding discussions, Gu Zhong suddenly realized that Yan Yu had used her as a gamble.
A surge of anger rose in her chest. This behavior was utterly disrespectful, treating her like a puppet to be summoned at will.
However, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Gu Zhong has no right to lose her temper with these young masters and ladies now; all she can do is preserve her last bit of self-respect.
"If you called me here and there's nothing else, then I'll be leaving now."
Suppressing the urge to punch someone, Gu Zhong stood up and spoke in a gentle and polite tone, his request carrying an undeniable determination, showing no sign of humility or weakness despite the reversal of their social status.
"We've just arrived, why are you leaving?"
Yan Yu grabbed Gu Zhong's wrist, looked at her coldly, and the drunken smile on her face disappeared, leaving only arrogance and disdain.
“Miss Gu, things are different now than before. You still need to be flexible and adaptable. Learning to read people is a basic skill.”
As if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head, Gu Zhong felt a chill run down her spine. She couldn't find a trace of affection on the face of her friend, whom she considered close.
The way Yan Yu looked at him now was no different from how she looked at a mouse, with a hint of smugness and pleasure.
Should we blame Yan Yu for being too good at pretending and acting, or should we blame ourselves for being too naive and believing that there could be true friendship among the wealthy?
"What's the meaning?"
Gu Zhong slowly withdrew his hand from Yan Yu's palm, then put both hands into the pockets of his trench coat and clenched his fists.
Her long-untrimmed nails pierced the tender flesh of her palms, bringing her a strange sense of clarity amidst the dizzying, smoky atmosphere.
"It seems you're a bit impatient. Here, let me show you a way to make a fortune."
Yan Yu leaned back on the sofa, raised her chin, and arrogantly pointed at a greasy fat man opposite her.
By the dim light, Gu Zhong was able to make out the person.
"Miss Gu..."
Even though he was a tiger fallen into the plains and bullied by dogs, he still carried a fierce aura. The fat man stood up somewhat awkwardly and smiled rather reluctantly.
I know this person well.
—A Category III film director who is quite famous in high society circles.
"Yan Yu, what do you mean?"
Gu Zhong's face darkened, his voice filled with anger that he could no longer suppress.
The onlookers held their breath and moved to the side in fear, making the small booth unusually quiet for a moment.
"What could be a faster way to make money than this? With Miss Gu's excellent qualities, she might just become an overnight sensation!"
Yan Yu slowly lit a cigarette, his words filled with utmost contempt and insult.
"Miss Yan, why did you have to go to this?"
A young boy glanced back and forth between the two for a moment, then gritted his teeth, bent down, picked up a glass of wine, handed it to Yan Yu, and whispered a word of advice.
"You have no right to speak here!"
Yan Yu, however, ruthlessly pressed the cigarette directly onto the back of the boy's hand that was holding the wine, and the smell of burnt flesh reached his nose.
Knowing he had indeed spoken too much, and though tears welled in his eyes from the pain, the boy dared not move a muscle out of fear of even more terrible punishment.
"Yan Yu, that's enough!"
Finally, Gu Zhong couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he rushed forward and grabbed Yan Yu by the collar, trying to awaken the conscience of this person she had never truly understood.
"I thought we were at least friends!"
"Friends? Ha—Gu Zhong, who do you think you are?"
I've put up with you for so long! Stop acting all high and mighty, like you're doing me a favor. Who are you looking down on?
Now you're nothing but a pile of mud that's doomed to never rise again, what right do you have to boss me around?
What? You want to beat me up like you beat Yang Ruo? Come on!
Yan Yu stared at her indifferently, the resentment in her words seemingly having been hidden for many years.
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Author's Note:
Entering VIP status!
Ahhhh! Thank you so much, little angel who earned money to buy steamed buns! Mwah! (And a huge amount of nutrient solution, ugh…)
The novel next door, "After the Villain Killed the Protagonist," is available for pre-order. Interested readers, don't miss it!
//Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 16:46:47 on November 28, 2021 and 13:05:29 on November 29, 2021!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: I earned enough to buy two steamed buns;
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 188 bottles to buy steamed buns; 4 bottles in Wuhu; 3 bottles in Q&W;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 96 The Newly Rich CEO and the Fallen Heiress (Part Two)
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Gu Zhong raised his clenched fist high, and everyone thought it would smash into Yan Yu's face in the next second.
She paused quietly for a moment, then suddenly released all her strength and put her hands back into her pockets.
Yan Yu slumped back onto the sofa, a look of astonishment in her eyes.
"I didn't expect you to think this way, Yan Yu. You've really suffered all these years."
Gu Zhong revealed a mocking smile, it was unclear whether he was mocking his own misjudgment or Yan Yu's inexplicable hatred.
"Heh, so you're too scared to make a move? Well, that makes sense. Our statuses are different now. If you lay a hand on me, you'll probably be spending the night at the police station."
Yan Yu continued to be sarcastic, using provocation as if she wanted to encourage Gu Zhong to beat her up.
"Are you out of your mind? Yan Yu, in your current state, there's no need for me to fight you. After all, the problem in your head can't be blamed on me."
He shrugged helplessly and lifted his foot to leave.
For over twenty years, the sincerity that accompanied me since childhood has been wasted.
Although he suppressed a lot of sadness, Gu Zhong was able to take it all in stride.
Perhaps it was because so many things had happened recently that her emotions and senses had become numb.
Anyway, this wasn't the first time I'd been betrayed. My father's old friend of thirty or forty years could become the one who built the gallows, and my fiancé who swore eternal love could become the executioner wielding the axe.
What else can't happen? Who else can be trusted?
"Gu Zhong...you can't leave today. Because there are still people...who want to see you."
This time, Yan Yu didn't forcefully keep her there, and there was no need to anymore—several shirtless, tattooed men had already quickly surrounded the booth.
As Yan Yu said this, her voice trembled with fear.
The others present didn't dare to breathe, shrinking into a ball to minimize their presence.
Who are these people?
A sense of foreboding rose in his heart. Gu Zhong took half a step back to the table, stretched out his right hand and braced it against the table, and turned his head to scold him sharply.
"The Money Gang".
As she uttered those three words, a hint of guilt flickered in Yan Yu's usually carefree eyes.
She hurriedly picked up the wine glass on the table and drank it all in one gulp as a cover-up, but her trembling hands betrayed her inner nervousness.
"Yan Yu!"
Upon hearing Yan Yu's reply, Gu Zhong, whose heart was already ice-cold, felt his heart freeze into an icy block in an instant.
She knew all too well what the Money Gang meant in Hong Kong – it was a loan shark organization that respectable wealthy families could never get involved with.
Once you get involved with them, you'll face endless trouble.