“What?!”
The voices of the two old men, in varying pitches, echoed, as though they had stepped on hot water, leaping up from their chairs.
One had an expression of disbelief, the other one of fear and trembling, as though they had seen a ghost.
What was Gu Zhaoping saying?!
16 years old, no, was she joking or serious?
It didn’t seem real, but Gu Zhaoping’s ability was she really lying about this?
Her calm demeanor in this moment didn’t seem like someone trying to show off!
They just couldn’t believe it!
Gu Zhaoping even politely said, “Other things, I might not be able to do, but this was just a coincidence.”
A coincidence…
You could say this was modest, but when combined with the move she just played, easily keeping Master Qi under control, that level of modesty only made people frustrated and embarrassed!
Master Qi’s face turned green, he wanted to cry.
Just now, he had been boasting about his ability to break the game, saying he was close to solving it…
Who knew, in the next moment, he was slapped in the face, with the real solution sitting right in front of him.
Thinking back on what he said earlier made him want to dive into the old master’s fishing lake.
What does a textbook slap in the face look like?
This!
Can anyone be more embarrassed than him?!
Master Qi suddenly became suspicious.
Why had he never seen this method of solving the game before?
Was she this low-key?
He carefully observed Gu Zhaoping, with caution and trembling.
Old Master Gu wasn’t sure either.
He looked between the two players and couldn’t help but nudge Master Qi, whispering,
“Old Qi…What level is my granddaughter? Do you think she has FM?”
Master Qi: “…”
He looked at his old friend.
If they weren’t so familiar, he really would have wanted to strangle him.
What do you mean?
Are you two trying to humiliate me together?
FM?
Look at me, a proper FM, can I withstand a beating from her?
Master Qi wanted to say something, but stopped, then wanted to speak again.
His guesses about Gu Zhaoping…were becoming more careful, more profound.
Clearing his throat, he vaguely said,
“Ahem, I’m not sure. This requires points; titles can’t determine specific skill levels.”
Old Master Gu could only nod in regret.
It seemed he would have to find a few more members from the Chess Association to put on a show, no, to ask about it.
Anyway, he had the foresight to record the game.
The chessboard is like a sand table, Gu Zhaoping is very good at it and very interested; every game is a rehearsal for her business battles.
Sometimes, this chess player identity would be a major highlight on her resume.
She wasn’t shy to show it off.
But that was during her student days, enough to add color to her CV.
After becoming CEO, it was just a hobby.
For a widely renowned entrepreneur, people generally believe she reasonably possesses super abilities in many aspects.
Even if her level matched a professional chess player, it wouldn’t be surprising; it would only make people think that successful people indeed have their reasons for success.
So she wouldn’t bring it up on her own.
But when Old Master Gu finally realized, he didn’t feel the same level of awkwardness that Master Qi did.
Old Master Gu was completely excited, invigorated, feeling his blood rush as he grabbed Gu Zhaoping’s chair and shook it: “With such talent and ability, why didn’t you say anything?!”
Gu Zhaoping thought about it in a practical sense and gave the most self-beneficial answer: “Grandpa, because no one asked me.”
Now, she was too honest, and both Old Master Gu and Master Qi were speechless.
If they hadn’t asked, she wouldn’t have said anything?
If they had that kind of ability, they’d have spread the word to the whole world by now!
Old Master Gu was at a loss for words.
Suddenly, guilt filled his heart.
Compared to his other grandsons, he indeed paid less attention to Gu Zhaoping, thinking she just needed to graduate from a prestigious school and come back to get married.
He had never cared what special talents Gu Zhaoping had or thought about whether she was better than his other grandsons.
In the past, Gu Zhaoping was never on the same evaluation system as the other grandsons.
Old Master Gu was suddenly filled with guilt, stammering for a while, then said,
“I’ve wronged you, Zhaoping.”
He imagined what it must have felt like for his granddaughter, who wasn’t noticed.
Of course, she wouldn’t pop up and say she was better at chess when Grandpa and the other grandsons were excitedly discussing it.
“It’s okay, Grandpa. I’m not someone who likes to show off.”
Gu Zhaoping said calmly,
“If you want to play chess in the future, just call me. I’ll leave now.”
In this short exchange, the two chess-loving old men had already tacitly forgotten Gu Zhaoping’s past behavior.
Hearing her give in like this made them feel even guiltier.
Not wanting to show off, what a good child.
They even started to wonder if she had a reason for being so low-key.
Both of them trembled.
Was she hiding her strength?
The key was that her parents were also low-key.
The big house really had the patience; they hadn’t spoken up for Zhaoping in all these years.
These two old men just couldn’t stop thinking.
The more they thought, the more they imagined: Was she enduring hardship in silence like Sun Bin?
Old Master Gu suddenly became upset thinking about how the second branch had been frequently slandering the main house in front of him.
The two old men quickly reached an agreement to keep secret the fact that Gu Zhaoping had learned chess at some unknown time in the past.
But now, the honor had to be reclaimed for her, after all, this was the honor of the Gu family mainly the honor of Old Master Gu!
He had played chess for half his life, and now he had such an outstanding granddaughter, how could he not show off?
He was a gentleman, not a simple man.
Old Master Gu grabbed her hand, thinking to himself that he must get the Chess Association to come over and review the game.
After a long pause, he could only say,
“…Okay.”
“Grandpa will never ignore you again.”
Gu Zhaoping just smiled slightly and didn’t ask for anything more, but it made her seem even more heart-wrenching.
Turning around, her expression became calm again, just like before.
Gu Zhaoping didn’t have any real grievances or dissatisfaction; it was just a strategy to stir up the other party’s guilt.
The agreement to play chess with Grandpa in the future wasn’t just the touching moment of a granddaughter finally being seen, she had just used a bit of rhetorical art to exclude those few younger brothers.
The next task was to establish a private dialogue system with Grandpa, which would be crucial for her to gain control over the family’s voice in the future.
As Gu Zhaoping walked out of the garden, she saw Gu Kaichang and Gu Yingjie still standing there.
Though she didn’t know them, she could tell right away that they were from the second and third branches, two brothers who were basically no competition at all.
Gu Kaichang had been cursing loudly, while Gu Yingjie was trying to stop him.
When they saw Gu Zhaoping coming out, they were taken aback.
The two of them shivered and realized they had to go in and see Grandpa now.
Grandpa must have time now, right?
Gu Kaichang glared at her with venom and turned around to knock on the door.
“Grandpa, Yingjie and I are still here. Can we come in to see you?”
His tone was enthusiastic.
But after knocking for a while, the nurse came out and said,
“The two young masters should go home. Old Master has something important to do now and is not seeing anyone.”
Gu Kaichang’s eyes widened in shock.
How could he have just seen Gu Zhaoping, and now suddenly there’s something important that needs to be done?
Gu Kaichang turned around and glanced at Gu Yingjie, suddenly realizing something.
He immediately became furious, pointing at Gu Zhaoping’s back:
“Gu Zhaoping, did you put something in our food?!”
“What did you tell Grandpa?!”
Gu Zhaoping didn’t pay attention to them suddenly jumping up and cursing.
She lifted her sunglasses that she had taken off earlier and placed them on her nose.
She extended her finger to push open the iron gate and boarded the sightseeing car.
After she got on the car, Gu Kaichang finally reacted,
“Damn, she took this bus again!”
They had wasted half the day and still didn’t leave first, they had left it to Gu Zhaoping!
Gu Zhaoping leaned back in her seat and adjusted the collar of her coat.
She looked up and saw two figures running towards her, looking frantic in the slightly slanted rearview mirror.
The driver, seeing the young lady taking the initiative to adjust the rearview mirror, quickly thanked her.
“Thank you, Miss, this rearview mirror was accidentally misaligned earlier!”
Gu Zhaoping shook her head casually, adjusted the mirror, and the figures of the two people disappeared from view.
She sat back and said,
“You’re welcome.”
Now, you don’t have the game of chess anymore.
Not to mention the shockingly intense conversation between Old Master Gu and Master Qi about today’s observations and the need to apply for an honor for her.
Gu Zhaoping sat in the car and noticed many missed calls.
When meeting important elders, she always keeps her phone’s ringtone off, as per social etiquette.
She looked at the calls and picked the one from the most familiar person to call back: “Fang Yining, what’s up?”
Fang Yining woke up drunk, sitting on a large bed, rubbing her hair, suddenly remembering who’s card she had used yesterday.
Her heart raced for a moment, feeling guilty, but not giving up hope, praying that maybe it wasn’t her card after all.
She quickly called the nightclub to ask, and they answered very politely, even cheerfully, saying it was Miss Gu’s golden card.
A golden card she was finished.
Fang Yining had a breakdown for the whole morning.
That card had been given to her by Gu Zhaoping’s beloved fiancé, Shen Yifeng, to use as a symbol of their good relationship in front of their elders.
If there were any large transactions, the bank would notify Shen Yifeng.
Fang Yining, feeling like her heart was dead, called Gu Zhaoping to confess, and it took her the whole morning to get through.
“Hello, Zhaoping…” she said timidly, telling her everything.
She expected Gu Zhaoping to collapse or go mad.
But on the other end, there was only a slight pause before a very calm voice said,
“Is that so? You used the wrong card.”
Fang Yining was stunned, not understanding why she wasn’t pursuing it.
Suddenly, she remembered the calm eyes of Gu Zhaoping when she left yesterday, eyes that were as dark as an icy lake, but not piercing.
It was just observation, as if she were…watching.
“I see, get some rest.”
Gu Zhaoping hung up.
Before Fang Yining could stop her, she quickly called out,
“Wait, wait a minute! Zhaoping, aren’t you mad?”
“If you’re worried about Shen Yifeng misunderstanding, I’ll go explain it to him! The nightclub has cameras, and they can see that I paid the bill, not you who ordered the male models…”
At this point, Gu Zhaoping’s actions truly stopped, and with a slight raise of her eyebrows, she seemed confused.
After a moment of silence, Gu Zhaoping asked her good friend and future sister-in-law: “Did Gu Zhaoye explain it to you?”
A thunderous strike.
Fang Yining: “…”
She froze, almost spitting blood!
Gu Zhaoye had been messing around with Ruan Nian for years, so if he had plans to explain it to her, that would be weird!
Not to mention Ruan Nian, Gu Zhaoye had even been involved with other people in a messy way, and even created a “substitute literature” situation…but he never bothered to explain to her.
She quietly muttered,
“…No.”
“Mm.”
Gu Zhaoping seemed to notice something in front of her and fiddled with it, then said flatly,
“Gu Zhaoye is out there living freely and charmingly, not planning to explain anything to you. As for mine…”
“He’s just a fiancé, why should there be an explanation?”
Fang Yining remained silent for a long while.
She slowly opened her mouth, forming an “O” shape.
When she hung up the phone, she suddenly realized, wait!
Why did she care?
Why could Gu Zhaoye indulge in a life of luxury, but she couldn’t?
What was she afraid of?
What was she afraid of?!
The driver of the car was also trying his best not to let his shocked emotions affect his driving.
He didn’t dare look at the young lady in the backseat, only feeling that her current aura was quite intimidating.
Gu Zhaoping casually tapped on the ashtray embedded in the middle of the seat and asked,
“Is this my car?”
The driver jolted, quickly responding,
“Yes, yes, Miss, this is your 25th birthday gift.”
Gu Zhaoping nodded and said,
“Why does my car have an ashtray? Get rid of it today.”
The driver was momentarily stunned,
“Huh…?”
What kind of order was this?
He couldn’t figure out her intentions, so he cautiously replied,
“Maybe Young Master Shen, or Old Master, or Second Young Master might need to sit in it later…”
“My car, why should it have pre-set functions for them?”
Gu Zhaoping raised her eyebrow, genuinely confused as she calmly looked ahead.
“My car, why should it allow them to smoke?”
The driver was stunned.
For a moment, he could only awkwardly respond,
“Oh…sorry, sorry, Miss. Yes, I will take care of it.”
Gu Zhaoping had a bit of OCD.
Once she solved this problem, she continued searching for her fiancé Shen Yifeng’s contact information.
She then saw that one of the missed calls was from him.
Perfect, this could solve things at the same time.
“Shen Yifeng/Gu Zhaoping.”
The two voices rang out simultaneously when the call connected.
The cold, distant female voice seemed even more suppressive.
Shen Yifeng, who had been pinching his brow with some impatience, froze when he heard the cold tone.
Was this Gu Zhaoping’s voice?
After a moment, he realized, sneering.
She was contacting him on her own?
Was she planning to explain the card incident with the male models yesterday?
Or was she using his card to deliberately show her dominance after he had scolded her?
Did she think he cared about those male models?
Or that he would get jealous?
Shen Yifeng was not bothered by his fiancée’s flirting around.
What irritated him was that she seemed to be trying to make him jealous, to provoke him with this childish game.
He had had enough of these petty emotional games.
If a few harsh words could make Gu Zhaoping stop this childish provocation and stop treating him as a partner to play these emotional games with, then he would be more than willing to disregard any sense of face.
Shen Yifeng opened his mouth.
“Send the payment details by email, I saw the bill. A total of 1.38 million, venue booking fee 30, male model appearance fee 27, air transport for Turkish mica stone Roman bathhouse…”
Gu Zhaoping frowned, reading through the unfamiliar services, but it didn’t matter.
Shen Yifeng’s face turned pale.
What was this?
Did she want to read out every service she received?
Roman bathhouse?
Was it fun?
“Add 22.8 for champagne, 56 for Louis XIII Black Pearl limited edition, I’ve confirmed everything, I’ll send it all with the bill.”
Her words ended crisply, and Shen Yifeng’s own words were stuck in his throat.
…Wait a second.
What, wasn’t Gu Zhaoping supposed to explain?
Didn’t she say yesterday’s extravagant spending was because she liked him?
Shen Yifeng was a bit stunned.
This unexpected behavior threw him off for a moment.
He froze with the phone in his hand, the other hand holding a pen, not signing the document.
She went through all this trouble just to match the bills and transfer the money to him?
Did he need that money?
A ping echoed from his phone, followed by several more.
He looked down and saw that it was a message from Gu Zhaoping.
It was as dense as usual.
For some reason, he surprisingly let out a breath and cracked a cold smile, one filled with irony.
Now, she was bombarding him with messages.
Unlocking the simple lock screen, Shen Yifeng saw the messages on the screen none of them had any text.
There were no cute, pouty, playful emojis like she usually sent.
Instead, there were several EXCEL files, with the transaction records from his card.
Shen Yifeng furrowed his brow in confusion, then suddenly looked up, realizing.
This was the first time he couldn’t read Gu Zhaoping’s motives.
What was Gu Zhaoping doing?
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