I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

But with the rise of the IT and cultural entertainment industries, one new wealthy person after another has emerged, and these established families have long been starting to panic.

Everyone knows that traditional industries are declining and will only get worse in the future. Those big families all want to take advantage of their wealth to enter new fields and make a name for themselves.

Just like Gu Zongyan said, one billion yuan is a lot for an industry leader like Donghuang Qixing, but for the Gu family, it's just so-so.

Moreover, the Lu family recently ventured into the entertainment industry, acquiring Haiya and establishing Aihua Company with great fanfare and success, which must have made the Gu family envious.

The Gu family's foray into this venture was certainly planned long ago, and their decision to invest in Cai Zhenyi's studio was simply a matter of chance.

This is not something I can control on my own.

But now that even the Gu family has gotten involved, what should she and Chen Ya do?

……

After the meeting, Gu Zongyan took Gu Yuqing downstairs and got into his Lincoln van parked outside.

The extra-long and widened rear seats are like a small KTV room, with a massage chair behind it, aromatherapy, and an antique wooden square tea table on the side.

Gu Zongyan got into the car and sat in the main seat, while Gu Yuqing sat on a bench next to him.

After staring at Gu Yuqing for a long time, he asked, "What are you thinking?"

"What do you mean, what are you thinking?" Gu Yuqing's neck was stiff and her tone was rude.

Sitting in his private car, Gu Zongyan completely lost his pretense of being a loving father and said:

"Are you going through puberty? Feeling the stirrings of first love? Wanting to date freely?"

Gu Yuqing remained silent. She never expected Gu Zongyan to remember her birthday. One day when she was in high school, Gu Zongyan suddenly decided to pick her up, but ended up waiting for her at the elementary school she used to attend.

She didn't want to remind Gu Zongyan that she was already over twenty and her adolescence was long over.

“I don’t care what you think of that person, but I’m telling you, if you still want to be my daughter, then I have to choose a husband for you.” Gu Zongyan took a sip of tea.

Gu Yuqing turned her face away: "I don't want to find a husband."

“I don’t care,” Gu Zongyan said. “If you want to find your own husband, then let me tell you, on the day you get married, you will no longer be my daughter.”

Gu Yuqing remained silent.

Gu Zongyan continued, "If you want to have a free love relationship, I will not acknowledge any of the absurd terms and conditions that your own mother forced me to sign. I will pretend that I do not have a daughter like you, and I will pretend that I have never been married or had children before marrying Wen Shujing."

Gu Yuqing's heart was in turmoil. Her current distress was like a surging tide. If she could choose, she would choose to have never been born, never been brought into this world.

She would rather Gu Zongyan's first wife have been a mistress than have herself been born. If she could time travel, she would go back into her mother's womb and strangle herself with the umbilical cord.

Gu Yuqing endured for a long time, using all the goodwill she had accumulated, and barely managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"Why would I want to fall in love freely? I don't want to be in a relationship."

"That's good." Gu Zongyan narrowed his eyes, his tone softening slightly. "You're not a child anymore, you shouldn't still have some girlish fantasies."

Gu Yuqing said softly, "I'm not a little girl anymore. I've always considered myself a boy."

“I don’t encourage you to do this, but I have no objection either.” Gu Zongyan didn’t hear the sarcasm in his daughter’s words.

After he finished speaking, he rolled down the car window to let the driver get in, and said, "Let's go home."

After saying that, he turned to Gu Yuqing and said, "It's time to go home for dinner today. Your mother misses you, and you haven't seen your younger brother and sister in a long time."

Gu Yuqing remained silent.

The "Mom" that Gu Zongyan mentioned was not Gu Yuqing's biological mother, but Wen Shujing, Gu Zongyan's stepmother.

The "younger brother and younger sister" he mentioned were naturally the two children born to his stepmother, the two who saw her as a thorn in their side and whom she also considered annoying.

Gu Zongyan was determined to mend the rift in his family and regularly brought Gu Yuqing home, unaware that it had no positive effect other than disgusting both of them. Yet he still did it with great enthusiasm, as if he was trying to move himself.

Gu Yuqing didn't know what his mindset was.

She didn't understand why he always lived so stubbornly in his own world, without considering the feelings of others at all;

It's a mystery what's going on in his thinning brain that led to such a successful business empire while his family life was such a failure.

But what else could she do? She could only submit.

The car stopped in front of Gu Zongyan's new house. The two got out of the car. Gu Yuqing went into the house looking exhausted, but as soon as she saw Wen Shujing and Wen Shujing's two children who came to greet her, she instantly perked up.

"Honey, you're back?" Wen Shujing greeted Gu Zongyan with a smile as she helped him take off his clothes. "Yuqing, you're here too?"

Wen Shujing is almost forty years old this year, but she still retains her gentle speech patterns from back then. In comparison, her own mother can only speak in a rough voice and would never call her "husband" because she would find it cheesy.

No wonder her own mother couldn't compete with this woman.

Gu Yuqing muttered to herself as she followed the others into the house. At the door, her younger brother and sister, two children, stared at her warily.

My younger brother, Gu Benli, is about ten years old and still in junior high school. He is dressed in an extravagant little suit jacket, with a bow tie around his neck, and his hair is neatly combed, giving him a slicked-back look.

Wen Shujing constantly boasts about how popular her son is at school; boys like him, girls like him, and even the teachers like him. He's treated like a superstar at school.

But every time Gu Yuqing saw him, she would only think, "This is such a beautifully crafted doll. If I punched him, I wonder how long he would cry."

Gu Chengxi, the younger sister, is a bit older than her brother and is already in high school. She is wearing a doll-like princess pink tutu, but Gu Yuqing knows that this girl is at the rebellious age.

"Knowing that Yuqing is coming today, I specially instructed the chef to prepare your favorite lobster and crab... Benli, Chengxi, would you like to say hello to your sister?"

When Wen Shujing called out, the two children nodded in greeting.

When Gu Yuqing was a child, she did think about getting along well with these two children. Although their biological mother had taken away her father's and mother's love, the children were innocent.

I treated them very well, but they didn't appreciate it. After I went to university and came back, the two children were more like strangers to me.

She couldn't understand why before, but now that she's experienced in human relationships, she naturally knows the reason: with Wen Shujing guiding these two children behind the scenes, how could they possibly have feelings for her?

Besides, her mother forced Gu Zongyan to agree to her promise by risking her life, but she also took away most of the children's inheritance. People are naturally inclined to seek advantage and avoid harm, so why would they like her?

After taking their seats at the table, the family sat down like emperor and his subjects. Gu Zongyan sat in the head seat, head held high, gesturing and giving orders. Gu Yuqing yawned several times. If she could choose, she would like to wear headphones.

"Yuqing, I heard that you've been getting close to a guy lately?" Wen Shujing suddenly turned around and spoke to her.

Gu Yuqing had a headache. That's how these people are; they always spread their words until the whole world knows. Even Wen Shujing knows, so it's likely that the Gu family is gossiping about her behind her back.

She didn't know how to deal with these gossipy women, but she did know that her cousin Zefeng was definitely doomed.

“That’s not true,” Gu Yuqing said. “It’s all business dealings, not personal relationships.”

“Business dealings can develop into personal relationships,” Wen Shujing said with a smile. “If you feel the person is suitable and you get along well, why not bring them home to meet us?”

Gu Yuqing said impatiently, "I told you there was no such thing..."

"Ahem," Gu Zongyan coughed lightly twice from above, "Watch your tone when you talk to your mother."

Gu Yuqing immediately felt nauseous.

He said in the car earlier that he would disown his daughter if she started dating, but now that Wen Shujing is saying this, he has no objection whatsoever.

Gu Yuqing couldn't understand why this kind of man could achieve such great success; it was simply that God was blind.

"So what kind of person is that guy? Tell me about him," Wen Shujing said. "I can't say for sure about other things, but your eye for people is definitely sharper than yours, even though you're still a girl."

Gu Zongyan said, "I've seen him. He's an ordinary entrepreneur from a rural background, with no family connections whatsoever. He's not a good match for my family."

Wen Shujing said, "As long as you are healthy, have no bad habits, and have a clean background, isn't that enough? Why have such high requirements?"

“How can you not have high standards? What’s the point of marrying someone like that? You’ll just become a laughingstock for the rest of the family,” Gu Zongyan said sternly.

“Yuqing is at the age where marriage is a topic of conversation.” Wen Shujing smiled veiledly, changing the subject, “Since this one won’t work, what about Cai Zhenyi from the Cai family? Haven’t you always had a good relationship with him? What do you think of him?”

Gu Yuqing said weakly, "My relationship with him has never been good..."

“That Cai Zhenyi is too slick,” Gu Zongyan said. “I think the Yi family’s son is quite good, but somehow, whenever we let them spend some time together, she manages to offend someone.”

Gu Zongyan frowned as he said this, clearly quite dissatisfied with Gu Yuqing.

“How is Cai Zhenyi slick? He gave you good wine and tea, how could you accept it so readily?” Wen Shujing retorted.

“Receiving gifts is one thing, and I naturally have other ways to repay him,” Gu Zongyan said. “But making him my son-in-law is another matter.”

"..."

Gu Yuqing finished her meal in silence, left the table in silence, washed her face in silence, and touched up her makeup in silence.

She didn't eat much. She was too angry to eat anything.

Turning around, she found her younger sister, Gu Chengxi, standing at the door, looking at her coldly.

This girl inherited more of Gu Zongyan's looks. You can tell that her mother's genes are trying their best to make up for it, but she still can't be called pretty, and she can't compare to the stunning Gu Yuqing at all.

Moreover, Gu Yuqing felt that there was always an annoying arrogance in her expression, which she disliked very much.

"I sympathize with you," Gu Chengxi said to her sister. "You can't decide your own marital happiness."

Gu Yuqing looked at her expressionlessly, shook the water off her hands, and said:

"What happiness is there in marriage? Not getting married is true happiness."

“If I were you, I would leave this family and run away with my love,” Gu Chengxi said.

Gu Yuqing smiled from the bottom of her heart.

My younger sister is obsessed with romance and watches too many romance dramas. The things she says make her seem like she has a low IQ, and she really does have a low IQ.

And she knew nothing about it.

Gu Yuqing simply patted her shoulder and left.

That evening, Gu Zongyan had his chauffeur take Gu Yuqing home. Halfway there, Gu Yuqing got out of the car, ordered an iced lemonade at a coffee shop, and sat there for a while, sipping the straw.

Beneath her pleated skirt, her long, slender legs were crossed, her high heels dangling from her toes. Her delicate white hands supported her cheeks, making her look radiant and captivating. Anyone passing by the shop window couldn't help but glance at her.

After sitting for a long time, she dialed Chen Ya's number and said only one sentence: "Come over."

Chen Ya then came over.

Chen Ya rushed over and sat down in front of her. Gu Yuqing didn't say anything, but looked at the man from all angles and found him more and more pleasing to the eye. As if she wanted to make up for all the anger she had suffered today, she stared at Chen Ya with great intensity.

"What's wrong? What are you doing?" Chen Ya was completely confused.

Gu Yuqing hooked her arm around the back of his neck, pulled him close, bit his lip hard, and then let out a long sigh.

"Comfortable."

"???"

Chapter 342 What about you? (Thanks to Alliance Leader Banxia Zimao~)

"What are you doing?!" Chen Ya quickly wiped the drool off his chin with his sleeve.

Gu Yuqing squinted, her expression subtle. It was as if she was still unsatisfied, or as if she had found sand in a scallop.

Did you not shave?

"I was in a bit of a rush when I left."

"You pricked my tongue, look."

Gu Yuqing stuck out her pink tongue for Chen Ya to see.

Chen Ya sensed something was wrong with her expression and pulled her chin to shut her mouth.

"Serves me right. My beard didn't grow out for anyone else to eat."

"Unsatisfactory service, bad review!"

"We are very sorry, this customer, please choose another store next time."

Gu Yuqing raised an eyebrow: "Do you really want me to choose another company next time?"

Chen Ya immediately said, "Let's forget it. Other companies might not be qualified to serve you. I'll do it myself. I'll improve next time."

Gu Yuqing, with an expression that seemed to say, "You think I can't handle you?", relaxed her shoulders and lay back in the chair, revealing her fair and tender chest and straight collarbone beneath her V-neck.

"So why did you call me out?" Chen Ya asked. "It can't just be for Ah Wu to bite me, can it?"

Gu Yuqing said, "The main reason was to give Ah Wu a bite. Now that the main thing is done, let's talk about the secondary things."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Donghuang Qixing Company has established a new studio and has already started developing an open-world game."

Chen Ya was too lazy to comment on how Gu Yuqing's brain worked, to be so unable to distinguish between primary and secondary matters, so he chose to get straight to the point.

"How much inside information do you know?" he asked.

"I don't know much right now. I might visit their new studio in a while to learn more. All I know for now is that their game has at least 20 billion in investment, and the genre is exactly the same as the game you're planning."

Gu Yuqing took a deep breath and continued, "Anime and manga, open world, they have more investment than you, and they got their projects approved faster."