The day before, she had been having her injuries checked by Ruan Nian, and now she was collecting evidence for the things she had done in the past.
Was she trying to make a clean break and wash away her dark history?
Shen Yifeng had no idea what Gu Zhaoping was planning.
“Is she at Baichuan Mall today?”
Shen Yifeng handed out a card casually while sitting in the car.
This car was entering this neighborhood for the first time, and the security guards needed to verify the card.
After scanning, the security guard saw his face and quickly saluted him and bid him farewell.
Shen Yifeng nodded slightly, not shifting his gaze, and put the card back into his pocket as the car window rolled up.
In that brief moment, he saw a young man walking by.
He appeared to be around 20 years old, looking youthful and reckless, completely different from Shen Yifeng’s refined aura.
This person was dressed like a college student, with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
He even peered out from under the brim of his hat to glance at Shen Yifeng, seemingly stunned.
Shen Yifeng didn’t recognize the person and didn’t pay him much attention, but turned to his assistant and instructed: “I need to head to Baichuan. If Gu Zhaoping is free, tell her to join me for a meal. We need to have a serious discussion.”
He felt it was about time to sort out this whole mess.
As he was on his way to Baichuan Mall, it would take 40 minutes.
Chu Yanzhe sat quietly, stretching his long legs in the backseat of the taxi.
He opened his phone and repeatedly searched for that brand of watch, zooming in and out on the webpage.
After opening several pages, he finally found the series for the watch.
The phone’s screen now showed a women’s and a men’s version of the same style, the same color, and indeed, it was the exact watch they were both wearing.
Chu Yanzhe was still very thorough.
He researched the brand of watch and found out that only about 20 pieces had been sold worldwide.
When he saw the conclusion, he fell silent.
Was this just a coincidence?
It was then that he decided to search for more information about Gu Zhaoping.
Until now, he had been avoiding looking into her, not wanting to know any personal details.
He had been deliberately keeping a distance, almost as if avoiding confirming the subtle feelings he had.
Those feelings, at this moment, were still so subtle that he couldn’t quite place them.
Chu Yanzhe understood.
If he had to keep verifying things little by little, then the current feelings, as people call it nowadays, could be considered a “crush.”
But that was too bold, too sudden.
To maintain a sense of subtle clarity, he had only just now allowed himself to look deeper into the media coverage about Gu Zhaoping.
The wealthy were not the same as the entertainment industry.
Although some of the wealthy families had significant media presence, most people didn’t pay as much attention to their romantic lives.
Their emotional and marital experiences were often kept private, and they didn’t need these scandals to gain attention.
So finding relevant information required thorough searching.
Chu Yanzhe searched multiple times, but only found past traces of Gu Zhaoping’s involvement with male models.
That made him breathe a sigh of relief.
It was just male models nothing more.
For someone like Gu Zhaoping, having a few partners wasn’t surprising.
Chu Yanzhe knew that in such an industry, the people involved were highly skilled, and such relationships were likely temporary, not something long-term.
This industry also wasn’t necessarily clean.
Chu Yanzhe continued to browse the pages, and compared to what he had just seen, he could easily cover those details.
Whether it was age, physique, or even educational background or talents, none of them surpassed him.
His background made him closer to Gu Zhaoping and gave them more common ground.
When Gu Zhaoping arrived at Baichuan Mall, Fang Yining and the others hadn’t yet arrived.
They were delayed by some traffic accident, so Gu Zhaoping decided to wait.
She hadn’t visited the mall in a while, so she curiously looked at the exquisite stores.
She analyzed the brand’s profitability based on the store layout, brand reputation, location, and customer flow.
In fact, Gu Zhaoping stood out a bit in the crowd.
However, she was very good at blocking out attention.
No matter how many people stared at her, she could walk calmly without any sign of discomfort.
She didn’t even care about the fact that she had just trended online.
If she wanted to make her mark in the Gu family and take over the family business in the future, it was completely normal for her to be in the public eye.
As someone frequently seen in the finance and society sections of the media, she had long been immune to cameras and public attention.
When Chu Yanzhe arrived, he spotted her immediately and was momentarily stunned.
He put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, looked around, and quickened his pace to catch up to her.
“Zhaoping Jie.”
The young man’s voice caught Gu Zhaoping’s attention.
She turned around and looked him up and down, then deduced from his heavily wrapped-up appearance that it was Chu Yanzhe.
This entertainment industry boy was really careful about his image.
From today’s help, Gu Zhaoping had a pretty good impression of Chu Yanzhe.
She nodded and greeted him: “Xiao Chu, you came early.”
Chu Yanzhe looked around and asked: “Is it just the two of us? No one else?”
“They had an accident on the road, they’ll be here shortly. Let’s wait for a while.”
Gu Zhaoping didn’t mind and walked ahead confidently.
Chu Yanzhe stayed behind for a moment, a little stunned, and didn’t move for a while.
After a moment, he quickly caught up, his loose jeans and red sneakers radiating the youthful energy of someone in their early 20s.
He didn’t even realize why his steps had suddenly become so much lighter.
Catching up to her, he tugged at his hat’s brim: “Zhaoping Jie, do you need to disguise yourself a bit?”
“Disguise? What for?”
Gu Zhaoping looked at a store beside them, and Chu Yanzhe followed her gaze.
It was a well-known luxury women’s fashion store.
He thought she was interested, so he glanced at it too.
“…You’re quite famous now.”
“Famous or not, it doesn’t matter.”
Chu Yanzhe paused for a moment and blurted out,
“But after you become famous, many people start paying attention to you, watching you, even invading your privacy…”
Those gazes felt like parasites hiding under the skin, pricking the eyelashes in the eyes, making a person uncomfortable, unable to clean them out.
This was his personal experience, and at that moment, it unconsciously slipped out of his mouth.
“It’s a good thing. A gentleman is cautious when alone. Others’ gaze makes me more mindful of my image, always maintaining morals and reputation, which is a strong, effective form of social supervision,”
Gu Zhaoping casually said.
Chu Yanzhe was stunned.
…What?
“Attention is always a double-edged sword. Being noticed means I lose some freedom, but it also means I have the greatest commercial value. This is the age of attention. Whoever captures the most attention from others holds the most wealth.”
It seemed like she was referring to what Chu Yanzhe had said during the Weibo debate, and Gu Zhaoping casually mentioned it, even letting out a laugh.
“I am a capitalist. No one’s watching is the legitimate thing.”
Gu Zhaoping’s attitude toward all the prying eyes was always to let them come.
If you want to spy on my life,
I happen to be someone extremely disciplined.
I even have a desire to challenge, to see if other people’s prying eyes can last longer, or if my disciplined life can last longer.
Chu Yanzhe stared at her blankly, slightly dazed.
It was the first time he had heard such an argument.
Attention…determines wealth?
Someone’s supervision…is the legitimate thing?
From Gu Zhaoping, there was an aura that made all emotions seem to be placed in her heart, focused only on plans and the big picture, giving off a cold, abstinent feeling.
This almost inhuman, machine-like coldness…
It really drew people in, to be close, to submit, to look up to her.
Chu Yanzhe blinked, raised his head again, and looked at Gu Zhaoping, pointing at the store they had been eyeing earlier,
“Zhaoping Jie, do you like this store?”
If he were smart, he would probably offer her some gifts now.
Gu Zhaoping shook her head,
“No.”
“I just think this brand is doing really well, but in a few years, it will probably pull out of this mall.”
Chu Yanzhe: “…”
Okay.
So you’ve been looking at these stores because of that?
He found it a bit amusing, yet admirable, and helpless.
He raised his hand and rubbed his forehead.
He thought to himself,
“I understand commercial matters, so I’ll just do what I can.”
“Jie, there’s a milkshake shop nearby that’s really good. Do you want to try it?”
When Gu Zhaoping nodded, Chu Yanzhe took long strides and quickly ran to buy the milkshake.
When Shen Yifeng arrived, he saw Gu Zhaoping at a glance.
There was no surprise; she was really standing out now.
Shen Yifeng paused for a moment.
He noticed that Gu Zhaoping was quite tall, and even though she wore her favorite high heels, she was still taller than everyone else around.
She was dressed in a well-tailored suit, and when she stood there, she captured everyone’s attention.
It was remarkable how strong her aura was today.
Shen Yifeng was a bit surprised, and he paused in place.
Then, he saw her looking up at the store of one of the brands under his name.
Was she…reminiscing about someone?
Or was she secretly mocking him?
No matter what, Shen Yifeng’s mood became slightly complicated.
This was the first time he had seen Gu Zhaoping since this whole debacle began.
The handsome man walked up and called out in a low voice,
“Gu Zhaoping.”
He then casually put his hands in his pockets and stood next to her,
“You’ve been staring at this brand for so long, what are you thinking?”
Gu Zhaoping was a bit surprised, wondering who was so familiar with her that they greeted her this way and asked her what she was thinking.
She glanced at the stranger, then calmly and indifferently answered the question without any significant meaning:
“This store is doing poorly. I’m just wondering when it will close down.”
Shen Yifeng: “…”
For a moment, his face changed, and he slightly twitched.
He looked up at the luxurious store sign, almost unprepared for Gu Zhaoping’s sudden comment that could’ve made him laugh out loud.
Was she intentionally trying to provoke him?
Who would’ve thought that this was one of his brands, and it was actually doing very well?
Shen Yifeng turned his head to continue talking to her, speaking indifferently,
“Have you been stimulated recently? Is it related to me?”
“If it is, what kind of solution do you need?”
Shen Yifeng considered himself to have quite a bit of patience, even though Gu Zhaoping repeatedly provoked him, challenging his bottom line, he always handled it with tolerance.
Originally, he had planned to be tolerant this time, but for some reason,
Perhaps it was seeing those trending topics, or perhaps it was because after Gu Zhaoping sent him the bill, there had been no further contact.
He felt a slight, unprecedented hesitation in his heart.
In the end, he chose to remain calm and offer tolerance one last time.
It would definitely be the last time, he thought.
Who would have expected Gu Zhaoping to stay silent for a long while, longer than he had expected.
Shen Yifeng turned his gaze toward her, trying to read her expression.
As he leaned in to look, Gu Zhaoping’s face was strange, as if she was looking at him like he was a person with some kind of mental problem.
This was a look Shen Yifeng rarely saw on her face, as she was always cautious with her actions.
But this man’s reaction was completely absurd.
“ Who are you?”
Gu Zhaoping raised her eyebrows and asked coldly, her voice even more so, clinical and probing, making one instinctively feel the need to explain.
This was completely different from the Gu Zhaoping he knew…
Shen Yifeng stopped.
Who am I?
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Gu Zhaoping, who he was her fiancé, Shen Yifeng!
The words were out before he could stop them.
As soon as he said them, both Gu Zhaoping and Chu Yanzhe were stunned.
When Chu Yanzhe realized who the older man was, the one who had passed by earlier, his pupils contracted.
It was him?
And hearing this, his expression shifted dramatically.
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Welp. Not for long bud.