Ruan Nian was completely dumbfounded.
She wished she could slap her own mouth so that she had never said those words just now.
She had only been trying to act cute when she said,
“I really wish Old Master Gu didn’t value you so much.”
And now, great — had she ruined the whole meeting?
Ruan Nian’s face turned pale and then green.
She knew that in these wealthy families, they took metaphysical omens very seriously, and something like her words immediately coming true was definitely a bad sign.
If Gu Zhaoye had an even slightly worse temper, a huge argument between them could have broken out.
Serves me right for saying something like that!
I’ll never dare say such things again!
Her face only stayed pale for a moment before she quickly said,
“Zhaoye, is…is something wrong?”
Ruan Nian quickly tried to brainstorm:
“What just happened? Why would Old Master Gu suddenly treat you like this? He mentioned provoking your sister — could it be that Gu Zhaoping said something in front of him?”
She did her best to comfort him: “Zhaoye, don’t worry. Let’s hurry up and find the root of the problem and explain everything to Old Master Gu. He’s always valued you the most. It must have just been angry words; it’ll be resolved soon…”
She knew how important this summit was — she had heard Gu Zhaoye say so just now.
She absolutely couldn’t allow herself and Gu Zhaoye to lose this opportunity and let it be tied to being scolded by Old Master Gu.
Thinking back to Old Master Gu’s harsh scolding — telling them both to stay behind closed doors with that little starlet, saying Gu Zhaoye was a disgrace —
Ruan Nian, just by thinking a little, could figure out that someone must have been stirring up trouble before Old Master Gu.
The main suspect: Gu Zhaoping.
After all, she and Gu Zhaoye hadn’t seen each other in a while — how could they have done anything recently to make the old man unhappy?
Ruan Nian was truly concerned and very naively thought that as long as they explained things clearly, it would all be fine, and Old Master Gu would definitely believe them.
But what she didn’t expect was that when she said this, Gu Zhaoye’s face grew even darker.
She didn’t know why, but Gu Zhaoye certainly did.
It was because he had just gotten into a fight with Gu Zhaoping in the restaurant — no, it was basically Gu Zhaoping beating him up! Some busybody must have leaked the news!
He had already arranged for people to suppress the rumors, but somehow, despite his influence, the matter couldn’t be contained?
Was someone trying to make a move against the Gu family?
Gu Zhaoye’s mind was a bit of a mess.
Right now, that was the only explanation he could think of, and his face grew even gloomier.
He felt like disasters were piling on top of each other, but he didn’t even suspect Gu Zhaoping — in his eyes, Gu Zhaoping wasn’t cunning enough, even though the current Gu Zhaoping was actually quite frightening.
“No need to talk about it anymore. Since Old Master has already made up his mind, there’s no room for negotiation. No need to plead,”
Gu Zhaoye said stiffly, pushing Ruan Nian aside.
Ruan Nian froze.
They weren’t even going to try pleading?
Otherwise what — explain everything about what happened between him and Liang Zhiwei, and between him and Gu Zhaoping, in front of Old Master Gu?
He’d rather die.
Gu Zhaoye took a deep breath.
He knew better than anyone how Old Master Gu’s temper worked — going now would only make things worse.
If he still wanted to attend the summit, it would be better to wait a couple of days, wait for Old Master’s anger to cool down, and then personally pay a visit.
Hearing the way Old Master Gu spoke, it seemed he was upset that Gu Zhaoye hadn’t visited recently.
Gu Zhaoye frowned — ironically, the last two times he had gone into seclusion were precisely because of being angered by Gu Zhaoping.
Gu Zhaoping really was a bringer of bad luck.
He didn’t want to say any more to Ruan Nian. He just lifted his eyes and said lightly,
“Don’t worry about it.”
Gu Zhaoye’s face was so dark that Ruan Nian grew a little scared.
Why wasn’t he telling her anything anymore?
Was her affection level not high enough?
She bit her lip and nervously asked the system:
[Do I still have any charm points I can convert?]
[Nian Nian, there are no extra points left. Right now, your overall stats are dropping. If you need to transfer points, it would have to be deducted from other attributes.]
Ruan Nian thought hard for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said: [Lower my constitution stat a few points and transfer it to affection points for Gu Zhaoye.]
[Nian Nian, are you sure? Lowering your constitution will make you prone to getting sick.]
[But it’s still above the base value, right? If I don’t lower constitution, what else can I lower — appearance? Figure? Acting skills? Those are essential to my career. I absolutely can’t lower them.]
Ruan Nian’s attitude was extremely firm, and the system could only sigh and help her transfer the points.
Gu Zhaoye’s expression froze for a moment.
He suddenly felt a strange emotion welling up inside him — all the irritation and resentment he had just felt because of Liang Zhiwei seemed to dissipate instantly, leaving only Ruan Nian’s face before his eyes.
Even the urgent problem of the news leak slipped from his mind.
He felt a little dazed, and almost involuntarily murmured,
“Forget it. I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’ll stay and keep you company for two days.”
Ruan Nian was overjoyed and immediately hugged him.
Though his hand hurt, he didn’t push her away.
“Yay! You’re so good to me!”
Behind them, Li Xunxi rolled her eyes.
Great, now they’re showing off their love.
But what about our business?
Who’s going to take care of that?
Even if it was just a show task, seeing that Ruan Nian now had a powerful backer and couldn’t be ordered around made Li Xunxi quite displeased.
The restaurant she had painstakingly planned was now deserted — all because of the incident Ruan Nian caused.
Now there were even police barriers downstairs, and almost no customers were coming in.
If it weren’t for Ruan Nian, their team had a good chance of winning.
Thinking about all the stakes and deposits she had wagered, the more Li Xunxi thought about it, the angrier she got.
Finally, she couldn’t help but speak up: “President Gu, are you planning to stay here and record the show with Ruan Nian?”
Gu Zhaoye pressed down gently on Ruan Nian’s shoulders, looked up, and gave Li Xunxi a cold glance.
His eyes were full of possessiveness and protectiveness, as if he wanted to fuse Ruan Nian into his very bones.
Li Xunxi almost laughed out loud.
She clapped her hands and said sarcastically,
“Well, that’s great! Then you can help us run this restaurant too!”
“Do you know what Ruan Nian did this morning?”
Ruan Nian’s face changed instantly in Gu Zhaoye’s arms.
She quickly turned her head, trying to stop her, but it was too late —
Li Xunxi had already spilled it:
“She organized her fans to act as our customers, but it disrupted public order and the police had to disperse them. Now we don’t have a single customer left.”
“President Gu, aren’t you called a business genius? Could you help us get this restaurant running? We all placed our bets — if we don’t win first place, we’ll lose everything to Gu Zhaoping’s team!”
Ruan Nian nervously clutched Gu Zhaoye’s hand, afraid he would blame her for the trouble.
But thanks to the newly boosted affection points, Gu Zhaoye didn’t think too much about it — he just frowned.
Using a cannon to shoot a mosquito — way overkill.
But thinking of Gu Zhaoping, he felt that letting her win so easily would be unbearable.
Even if it was a small competition within this show, he still had to win.
He couldn’t let Gu Zhaoping keep feeling triumphant.
His face still hurt.
Gu Zhaoye frowned deeper.
He looked down at Ruan Nian, who was gazing up at him with tearful, pleading eyes.
He didn’t treat it as a big deal and casually agreed: “Okay.”
It would also be a good way to ruin Gu Zhaoping’s mood a little.
He turned his head to look around the entire restaurant:
“According to my idea, we need to reorganize everything.”
Li Xunxi spread her hands.
“We don’t have the budget anymore.”
Gu Zhaoye was taken aback.
“What did you spend your budget on?”
The mention of it made Li Xunxi furious.
She couldn’t wait to say,
“Isn’t it all because of your sister?”
The moment she arrived, she started setting them up—tricking them out of their ingredients, monopolizing the oil, and even getting them to gamble all their funds.
Now they had no capital left to continue!
But before she could speak, Li Xunwen pressed her down and quickly cut in,
“We spent too much in the early stages. Now there’s no budget and we can’t afford to hire anyone. It’s just the few of us doing all the work. President Gu, you’ve been running Yuanqi Tech for so many years—you must be able to come up with a way to get this business back on track, right?”
Gu Zhaoye couldn’t help but laugh.
Although he had encountered a hiccup during a previous financing effort, running a single restaurant—especially in a simulated TV setting—was hardly beyond him.
Even though he still had a slight psychological shadow from the last issue raised by Gu Zhaoping, his confidence far outweighed it.
“It’s just a game. I’ll help you win it, simple as that.”
The words were so bold and charismatic that Ruan Nian looked up at him with admiration in her eyes. Only then did Li Xunxi relax.
“Alright, no wonder you’re President Gu—you really handle things with style!”
He asked first,
“What was your original concept?”
“High-end private cuisine.”
Li Xunxi replied.
“That won’t work.”
Gu Zhaoye dismissed the idea without hesitation.
Li Xunxi didn’t look pleased, but remembering Gu Zhaoye’s impressive track record, she suppressed her frustration and asked,
“Then I’d love to hear President Gu’s idea.”
“Today’s a weekday. The main consumer base around here is office workers. Very few people would choose high-end private cuisine for lunch on a workday. If you want to build brand recognition, it takes time—it can’t be done in a day.”
As he spoke, Gu Zhaoye frowned slightly, but everything flowed from him effortlessly.
He seemed so composed and magnetic that Ruan Nian couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“The direction was wrong from the start. You should’ve targeted the actual local demographic.”
Li Xunxi didn’t look happy.
She’d done her best, starting from what she knew—how could that be her fault?
She had no experience with everyday restaurants.
How was she supposed to know where to begin?
Gu Zhaoye glanced at her and finally understood why so many second-generation elites failed at starting businesses and lost all their capital.
They jumped in impulsively without doing any market research, relying only on their personal preferences.
But Gu Zhaoye wasn’t that type.
He’d been through the ups and downs of the business world, gaining extensive experience.
Among his generation of the Gu family, he was the most seasoned.
“Listen to me: immediately lower your pricing and market positioning. Focus on regular consumers to draw in more customers.”
“Use the pricing and positioning of the most popular nearby restaurant as a reference—one that’s packed every day and requires reservations. We’ll act as their alternative, quickly drawing in their overflow customers.”
Gu Zhaoye delivered all this without batting an eye.
The others stared at him.
He frowned,
“What are you waiting for? Move!”
What he said made sense to Li Xunxi, even though his commanding tone annoyed her.
Still, for the sake of their pride, she endured it.
“Fine. Looks like we’re all working for President Gu now. Let’s hope everything you say is right!”
The only one who didn’t question Gu Zhaoye was Ruan Nian.
She knew he was the male lead of this novel.
As a rising star in the business world, he was always a key player in the tides of commerce.
How could he possibly lose to another team over something like this?
As soon as he stepped in, everything fell into place.
Ruan Nian was so excited she’d completely forgotten something important.
Like…
Over at Team 1’s restaurant, President Hou was bidding them farewell.
Gu Zhaoping smiled and said,
“Take care.”
As Liang Zhiwei watched him leave, she suddenly remembered something.
She slowly edged up beside Gu Zhaoping and whispered,
“Zhaoping-jie, what was the second hidden issue with their team you mentioned earlier?”
“Their second problem is that their initial positioning was too high—it doesn’t match the consumption habits of the local demographic,”
Gu Zhaoping said casually.
“But the issue is, it’s too late for them to change now. The ingredients and equipment they bid for earlier were all high-end. If they stick to the original plan, they might be okay. But if they lower their positioning now, they’ll definitely lose money.”
“Their second problem is that their initial positioning was too high—it doesn’t match the consumption habits of the local demographic,”
Gu Zhaoping said casually.
“But the issue is, it’s too late for them to change now. The ingredients and equipment they bid for earlier were all high-end. If they stick to the original plan, they might be okay. But if they lower their positioning now, they’ll definitely lose money.”
Liang Zhiwei suddenly understood.
“Oh! Then they’re bound to lose!”
She excitedly followed Gu Zhaoping into the restaurant.
“If our team wins, we’ll get all the wagers, right? I heard they carry over to the next episode. The next one’s about extreme sports—it’ll be super useful. I think we’re filming abroad next time!”
“But it’s a shame Zhaoping-jie won’t be in the next episode. I really wanted to see her do extreme sports…”
“Next time,”
Gu Zhaoping said, about to explain there wasn’t much to see.
She’d gotten bored of those long ago.
Extreme sports had stopped being a way to unwind or get an adrenaline rush—they’d become a kind of social calling card.
Some businessmen, once they reached a certain point in life with no more real challenges, sought out thrills.
That was when she’d shine and leave them awestruck—sometimes even earn their admiration.
After doing it enough times, it stopped being impressive.