Chapter 7
Chapter 7
It was under these circumstances that Gu Jinzhi came home with me.
“In such a hurry to get married. Are you pregnant?”
The four of us had only just sat down when my father asked the question with a cold face.
Gu Jinzhi looked a little guilty. He thought my family was strict and old-fashioned. If he’d taken liberties with their obedient daughter before marriage, would he be thrown out on the spot?
Before his cold sweat could even fall, my father spoke again.
“Young man, let me give you some advice. Keep your eyes open. Don’t let yourself get schemed against. A whore’s ways of tying a man down are either sleeping with him or getting pregnant, clinging on shamelessly. Absolutely disgusting!”
The revulsion on his face was undisguised, and even my mother, who had been forcing a smile, went stiff.
“Our daughter brought her future husband home today. Can’t you just…”
“What future husband!”
My father turned to look at Gu Jinzhi. “You haven’t gotten the certificate yet. There’s still time to run.”
“If you insist on marrying her, I don’t want any bride price. Trash gives birth to trash. She wouldn’t fetch much anyway.”
“And there won’t be a dowry either. I won’t give a single cent to someone like her.”
I heard that after my grandfather passed away, my uncle had been finding it harder and harder to hold things up alone these past two years.
With no one to restrain him, my father had become more and more blunt with his insults.
It made sense. I was a member of the Yu Family. Insulting me meant insulting my grandfather, my uncle, and my mother.
I ate without a change in expression while my parents “caught up” with each other through a barrage of verbal sparring. Gu Jinzhi sat there as if on pins and needles.
On the way back to the hotel, I pressed a hand to my cramping stomach and reflected that my tolerance had clearly declined.
Gu Jinzhi had not said a word since we left.
When we were almost at the hotel, he suddenly pulled me into his arms. “Buxun, you still have me.”
My phone rang. A text message came in:
[Look what you’ve done. The moment you come home, you turn the whole place upside down. If it weren’t for you, your father and I would have made up long ago.]
Old Chairman Gu invited me to his birthday banquet.
Even if we could not become in-laws, he was not about to give up so easily on the connections of an industry leader like me.
Businessmen were very practical.
Gu Jinzhi was naturally there as well, along with a group of his childhood friends from the same social circle.
Old Chairman Gu’s secretary came over specifically to remind me, “Professor Yu, if anything comes up, you can call me at any time.”
She was afraid Gu Jinzhi would make a scene.
At first, Gu Jinzhi tried to come over and exchange pleasantries, but I avoided him.
When he saw how cold I was, he gritted his teeth again.
Sometimes, I could not help pitying him. A young master with such a fiery temper must have felt truly stifled being with me.
Fortunately, before long, a childhood sweetheart who was infatuated with him walked into the banquet hall and clung to him the entire time.
Gu Jinzhi did not push her away. He wrapped an arm around the girl’s waist and became the picture of attentiveness.
He fetched her drinks, draped a coat over her shoulders, and invited her onto the dance floor for a passionate dance, their bodies pressed together with no space between them.
Of course I knew he was doing it all on purpose for me to see.
He wanted me to know that I, too, could be neglected and trampled on.
Not long ago, we had still been engaged. Now the man was holding someone else in his arms, and many gazes around the room turned toward me.
I merely lowered my eyes and sipped my drink.
After the birthday toast, it was about time. Leaving early would not be rude.
I had just reached the entrance when I heard that childhood sweetheart cry out, “My diamond hair clip is missing!”
“No one is allowed to leave!”
Gu Jinzhi, who had been watching me the whole time, stopped me. “Something’s gone missing. Stay for now and help look for it.”
I glanced at the countless servers in the hall and found it inexplicable.
The childhood sweetheart seemed to have lost her mind. She pointed at my nose.
“She was leaving in such a hurry. She must have taken it.”
I looked at Gu Jinzhi. “Does Mr. Gu think so too?”
His gaze flickered. “Buxun, you never reply to my messages, so I…”
These two childhood sweethearts really were well matched. Both were complete idiots.
At a high-society business event, they openly accused a guest of theft without the slightest fear of embarrassing the host.
Sure enough, Old Chairman Gu’s secretary came over. She was extremely efficient. After the matter was resolved, she escorted me out.
“Professor Yu, the driver is waiting for you outside, and the party favor is in the car as well. I’m truly sorry.”