Chapter 120: Mystery
“Come in.” Li Shi was looking down at the document in his hand.
After speaking, he put down the document and looked up. Li Yu did the same, closing the file in front of him, putting down his fountain pen, and quietly watching the door.
Li Du walked into the study, his suit jacket draped over his arm. He walked to the desk and stopped.
“Sit.” Li Shi pointed to the seat opposite, nodding slightly.
At this moment, Li Du showed none of the perfunctory attitude he had at the gathering. He sat upright, hands on his knees, eyes lowered toward the tabletop, waiting for questions from his grandfather or father.
“Tell us about her, this new owner of Courtyard No. 10.” Li Shi’s tone was calm, but a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.
Courtyard No. 10 in Qingnan Hutong had always been mysterious. It hadn’t appeared in the Xia Kingdom for a very, very long time. Now that it had suddenly appeared, forcing information to be hidden extremely strictly, their past methods were useless. The information they could obtain was scarce.
Gu Wanrong, 18 years old, a student at Tianjin University in City J, Chairman of Qianyuan Group, and a photo.
This was merely what she had made public; the remaining undisclosed information was a blank slate. Li Shi and Li Yu recalled the information they had found, fixing their gaze on Li Du.
Li Du took a deep breath and recounted everything he had learned about Gu Wanrong tonight.
“Tonight she went to Yan Shen’s family auction house before coming to the gathering. The Xie, Su, and Liu families have a very good relationship with her; it seems they knew her early on. She seems to have a deep understanding of antiques, and since Yan Shen and Liu Xiu are close, I estimate the Yan family’s relationship with her will tighten quickly. The Zhong family has Zhong Wenyi. He’s a sweet talker, and Su Huaijing is inseparable from him, so Gu Wanrong’s relationship with the Zhong family won’t be bad in the future. As for the Yu, Song, and Zhou families, from what I saw tonight, their relationship with Gu Wanrong is average.”
Li Du’s voice was steady, without a tremor.
Li Shi frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied with this answer; the information was still too little. He looked at Li Yu, who nodded knowingly.
“Li Du, is that all?” Li Yu’s tone was stern, questioning with unquestionable authority.
“Liu Ji recently had a conflict with the Liu family over Shifei Technology. It seems that after Gu Wanrong intervened, the Liu family let Liu Ji develop Shifei Technology on his own. They didn’t discuss exactly what she did at the gathering. The Zhang family got news from somewhere and transferred Zhang Zhiheng to City J. Also, Xie Xian is currently pursuing Gu Wanrong. And Su Min’an from the Su family also harbors some extra thoughts about her, but judging from tonight’s performance, he doesn’t seem to understand his own heart yet.”
Those living in Qingnan Hutong basically knew that since Xie Xian returned all those years ago, Su Min’an was the only one who could be friends with him. Now, a Gu Wanrong had appeared between them.
As Li Du spoke, a look of anticipating a good show appeared in his eyes, but he immediately restrained it the next second. Li Du was thinking about the upcoming excitement of two men fighting over one woman, but Li Shi and Li Yu were thinking about something entirely different.
Courtyard No. 10 represented not a person, nor the Gu family which had never appeared before, but a mysterious and massive force that had existed for at least a thousand years. It seemed to exist all over the world.
And the Xia Kingdom seemed to be a country favored by It. Those of them who knew about it had covertly checked in various countries; there were traces of it elsewhere. But other countries didn’t know of its existence; it had only appeared briefly.
From the existing data, they leaned toward believing its attitude toward the world was positive. Over the past thousand years, its existence was only known to royal heirs. Nowadays, news of it was jointly blocked by these aristocratic families, unknown to outsiders. Ordinary people wouldn’t know of its existence, and even among their family members, not everyone was allowed to know. Only family successors and those in power were permitted to know. If too many people knew, a secret would no longer be a secret.
When they tried to investigate Gu Wanrong and couldn’t find any information no matter what method they used, they confirmed that It had truly returned to the Xia Kingdom.
Li Yu couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “The Zhang family, truly ridiculous.”
He shook his head contemptuously. “They thought getting a scrap of news meant they could control the situation, unaware they were just deliberately leaked to by someone in Qingnan Hutong to be a pathfinding stone. Our ten families are connected like branches of the same tree. No matter how we fight internally, it’s not for other families to pull us down. And regarding Gu Wanrong’s appearance, no matter what, we must get along well with her. Whether for ourselves, or for…”
By the end, Li Yu’s voice gradually lowered.
Li Du’s heart tightened. He had been proud of his background since childhood. Regarding the sudden appearance of Gu Wanrong, he wouldn’t say he despised her, nor would he act like Liu Ji. But his father’s words, and his grandfather’s silence which was not a denial… He felt a trace of doubt. Why would the family pay so much attention to an ordinary girl? Judging from tonight, Gu Wanrong was no different from Yu Yingying and the others in Qingnan Hutong.
But he sensitively detected something wrong from the attitude of his grandfather and father. He planned internally that the next time he saw Gu Wanrong, he would slowly change the impression he left on her tonight. Fortunately, although his attitude was casual, it wasn’t malicious. There was a chance to change it.
“It’s late. You should go rest.” Li Shi spoke up to dismiss Li Du.
“Yes, Grandpa.” Li Du stood up and respectfully withdrew from the study.
Similar scenes were occurring in families that hadn’t known Gu Wanrong before today.
Meanwhile, the Liu family was staging a pitiful drama of wailing and howling.
Liu Ji squatted in the corner, clutching his ears with both hands, still defending himself grievously. “Big Brother, Second Brother, and Third Sister can all make careers for themselves, why can’t I? Now Gu Wanrong is kind enough to help me, and you guys tacitly accepted it, so why still hit me?”
“Hit you? Just pinching you a few times counts as hitting you?” Sitting on the sofa, Liu Xiu showed none of the gentle and virtuous appearance she displayed to the outside world. She was angered by Liu Ji like a furious lion.
Saying this, she picked up the massage hammer from the table. “I really have to beat you up today to make your words true.”
This massage hammer was used by Mama Liu for back massages. Seeing her daughter angrily dragging her youngest son back, she quickly put it down, advising her daughter not to be too angry, as anger harms the body.
“Help, Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma!” Liu Ji despaired. No one moved to stop his sister, not even the softest-hearted Mama Liu.
Two generations of Liu couples, no one stopped her. Liu Ji had been outside too long and owed Liu Xiu a lesson.
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