Chapter 7: Huai City

Back home, the house was dead quiet.

Gu Father and Gu Mother hadn't been home these past few days.

It was just the three Gu siblings, plus Wen Zhizhi, along with the servants and the butler.

At this hour, the servants and butler had long since gone to bed.

Gu Ran called out to Wen Zhizhi, who was about to head to her room. "Need a hand packing?"

Wen Zhizhi said, "No need. I don't have much. I'll be done in a bit. It's late—go get some rest."

Gu Ran lingered, reluctant to leave, looking torn, like she had something to say but couldn't figure out how to start.

Wen Zhizhi threw her a rope. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Gu Ran looked up at her, opened her mouth, and finally managed to squeeze out, "Say hi to Mom and Dad for me when you get back."

The "Mom and Dad" she meant were Wen Zhizhi's parents back in the countryside.

Wen Zhizhi nodded. "Okay."

Gu Ran clearly had a lot she wanted to say, but meeting Wen Zhizhi's calm eyes, the urge to keep going suddenly drained out of her.

"You get some rest too." And with that, Gu Ran turned to leave.

Wen Zhizhi called after her. "Sister, I'm sorry. I've caused you and your family a lot of trouble these past few days. Please apologize to Uncle and Auntie, Gu Dage, and Gu Yan for me."

That apology was what the original owner owed the Gu family.

She was saying it on the original owner's behalf.

Gu Ran's steps faltered. She turned to look at Wen Zhizhi, and met those same calm eyes.

Gu Ran couldn't put a name to what she felt.

The Wen Zhizhi standing before her had become exactly what she'd hoped for.

She should have been happy.

But she couldn't muster a shred of happiness.

"Oh," she said, and turned and walked away.

After seeing Gu Ran off and closing the door, Wen Zhizhi started packing.

The original owner's luggage really was sparse.

When she'd first followed Gu Ran to the Gu house, she'd brought only two changes of clothes.

Once she arrived, the original owner had shoved the clothes she'd worn and the ones in her suitcase to the very bottom.

The Gu family had been genuinely good to her.

Room and board, plus new clothes bought for her.

Every month, ten thousand yuan in pocket money.

Ten thousand yuan—that was more than two whole months of her salary.

What a shame...

The original owner was the type who knew neither gratitude nor contentment.

She compared herself to Gu Ran at every turn, wanting the same treatment...

But she forgot—she had no ties to the Gu family at all...

Wen Zhizhi planned to take only the two changes of clothes she'd brought when she came.

Everything else had been provided by the Gu family, and she had no intention of taking any of it.

Only after finishing the packing did Wen Zhizhi have time to properly face this new body of hers.

Looking at the heavily made-up woman in the mirror, Wen Zhizhi finally understood why Gu Yan called her an ugly woman.

She really was pretty ugly.

Two black circles that could rival a national treasure, a face caked with putty thick enough to paint a wall, big red lips with half the color faded off, fly-leg eyelashes...

For the first time in her life, Wen Zhizhi sympathized with men.

Poor Gu Yan had it rough.

Staring at this appetite-killing face of hers, and all he'd done was curse a few times...

After removing the makeup, Wen Zhizhi let out a breath of relief.

Thank god she wasn't actually ugly.

This new face was seventy or eighty percent similar to her original one.

Frankly speaking, the original owner wasn't bad-looking.

She wasn't a stunner like Gu Ran, the kind that stopped you in your tracks, but she was still a pleasant-looking little beauty.

An oval face, a pert nose, big eyes, and a small dimple on each cheek—exactly like the ones she'd had before.

Satisfied no matter how she looked at it.

The original owner hadn't taken care of her body and face, but Wen Zhizhi would.

Face mask, bath, skincare...

By the time all that was done, it was already two-thirty in the morning.

Only a little over four hours left before she had to get up.

Wen Zhizhi hurried into bed.

She even set two alarms before sleeping.

She'd expected insomnia, but within minutes of lying down, she was out cold.

……

North City First Hospital.

Gu Yan looked at the man on the hospital bed radiating cold air, and carefully opened his mouth. "Zhique, what exactly happened?"

He was still completely lost.

Hadn't Zhique left to go back to his room and rest ages ago?

How did he end up fainting?

What was even more baffling—he'd fainted in the bathtub.

If the club staff hadn't noticed something off when delivering something and found him in time...

Who knows what could've happened to the little ancestor...

Just thinking about it made a layer of cold sweat break out on Gu Yan's back.

Thankfully, the little ancestor had only fainted from soaking in a cold bath.

But...

Why would Zhique, perfectly fine, soak in a cold bath?

Gu Yan had a belly full of questions.

Shen Zhique had never been this stifled in his life.

He, the illustrious Second Young Master of the Shen family—in North City, who didn't take a detour when they saw him? It was always him making others uncomfortable. When had anyone ever dared to make him uncomfortable?

Yet tonight, some blind fool had gone and done exactly that...

More than uncomfortable.

It was practically throwing Second Young Master Shen's face on the ground and stomping on it again and again.

In all his years, no one had ever dared treat him like this!

But what happened tonight, he couldn't say it to Gu Yan.

A man's got to save face!

"Go pull all the surveillance footage from the Dihao Club tonight for me." Shen Zhique, who hadn't spoken until now, finally spoke in a hoarse voice.

That damned ugly woman—he was definitely going to find her.

He was definitely going to repay the humiliation he suffered tonight a hundredfold, a thousandfold.

Gu Yan instinctively asked, "What do you need the Dihao Club's surveillance for—" Suddenly, something occurred to him, and Gu Yan turned serious in a second. "Zhique, is someone targeting you?"

Shen Zhique waved his hand irritably. "Cut the crap. I told you to pull the footage, so pull it."

Seeing Shen Zhique's impatience, Gu Yan wisely didn't ask more and went out to make a phone call.

Just as he stepped out of the ward, he ran into Gu Chen, who had hurried over.

Seeing Gu Chen, Gu Yan said in surprise, "Dage, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see Zhique. How is he now? Is it serious?" Gu Chen asked with concern.

Gu Yan glanced back at the ward and lowered his voice. "He fainted from soaking in a cold bath. He's awake now."

Gu Chen furrowed his brow. "Fainted from soaking in a cold bath?"

The Second Young Master of the Shen family did have some unusual habits.

But he'd never heard of him having a hobby of soaking in cold baths?

Gu Yan leaned closer to Gu Chen and said seriously, "I'm worried someone's targeting Zhique."

He and Shen Zhique were childhood friends who'd grown up sharing the same pair of pants.

He knew better than anyone what kind of person Shen Zhique was.

Tonight's Shen Zhique was way too abnormal.

So abnormal that it gave him an unspeakable sense of stifled frustration.

For something to stifle the Second Young Master of the Shen family, who feared nothing in heaven or earth—aside from that person outside the Shen family, he couldn't think of a second candidate.

Gu Chen's expression darkened. "Has the Shen family been notified?"

Gu Yan shook his head. "Zhique won't allow it."

Gu Chen nodded.

Gu Yan was still thinking about what Shen Zhique had told him to do. He waved at Gu Chen. "Dage, Zhique's inside. Go in and see him. I've got to go handle something first!"

Gu Chen frowned in displeasure. "What could be more important than Zhique?"

Gu Yan said, "Something Zhique told me to do."

Hearing that, Gu Chen asked no more.