Originally, as Gu Zhaoping spoke, Gu Zhaoye’s expression had already turned very ugly, and it took a twitch of his eyebrow for him to react.
His face was clearly off—how could he really have lost?
He had intended to use this opportunity to take Gu Zhaoping down a notch, so who would have thought things would turn out this way?
But—this wasn’t his fault!
Within 0.001 seconds, Gu Zhaoye had already come up with an explanation for himself.
He hadn’t participated in the earlier stages of the program’s filming, so of course he didn’t know what rules they had before!
When Gu Zhaoping brought it up, he had even hesitated, wondering what was going on.
She said his methods only made them lose more?
How was that his fault?
At first, Gu Zhaoye simply couldn’t believe it.
Then, looking at Li Xunxi and the others—what were those looks?
Were they blaming him for losing the competition because he didn’t know the group’s situation?
Gu Zhaoye immediately wanted to retort that it was their fault for not explaining things properly, for not telling him about their high costs!
What attitude was that?
He had come to help them!
Now they were acting like he caused the loss?
Who begged him to come here?
If they had explained things clearly in advance, would he have lost to Gu Zhaoping like this?
Gu Zhaoye’s first instinct was to defend himself, but then he quickly paused, realizing how petty he looked for caring so much about winning or losing over something so trivial.
He wasn’t like Li Xunxi and the others—wasting the whole day taking some silly game this seriously.
It was just a show setup.
He had only been here for half a day—what was there to argue about?
But when he caught the look in Li Xunxi and her brother’s eyes, as if they were looking down on him, maybe even doubting his ability, Gu Zhaoye grew extremely irritated.
He closed his eyes, forcing down the surge of anger in his chest.
Getting into petty arguments like this—it was beneath him.
So what if Gu Zhaoping won?
It didn’t prove anything.
This kind of game had nothing to do with real-world capabilities.
Losing here—could that really change the fact that he was Gu Zong, someone everyone feared and respected in the real world?
Only people who lacked a sense of presence in real life cared this much about winning or losing.
Already stinging from being hit by Gu Zhaoping earlier, Gu Zhaoye’s face still throbbed faintly with pain.
Seeing the result, his first instinct had been to lash out at Gu Zhaoping with sarcasm.
But the pain in his face doused his fire before it could rise.
He could only turn and vent his anger at Li Xunxi, who had pushed him into this situation.
“What are you looking at?”
Gu Zhaoye frowned and snapped.
Li Xunxi couldn’t believe it and let out a short laugh,
“Ha.”
What was she looking at?
How dare he ask?
Wasn’t he the one who made their team lose so miserably?
Who would have thought his ability was only at this level?
Wasn’t he supposed to be a business genius?
Ruan Nian had been singing his praises for ages!
Ruan Nian seemed stunned too.
Her pupils contracted, and she hurriedly said,
“But we were supervised by Zhaoye personally—how could we have lost so badly?”
“Director, are you sure about the results?”
Seeing that Ruan Nian was about to ask the director’s team to recount the results, Gu Zhaoye reacted quickly, grabbing her wrist tightly and pulling her back.
What?
Recount?
Recount what?
It was already embarrassing enough—did she want them to look like sore losers too?
Didn’t she realize the more she refused to accept the loss, the worse it looked?
At that moment, Gu Zhaoye regained a rare bit of clarity.
But Gu Zhaoping clearly wasn’t done yet.
While their group was still pulling and arguing, she smoothly asked,
“Didn’t Ruan Nian say you were accompanying the sick old master? What’s going on?”
Gu Zhaoye froze, his expression gradually turning confused.
Ruan Nian also faltered, but others didn’t immediately catch on.
However, the one whose face changed the fastest was Ruan Nian.
Her first thought was: It’s over!
She tried to stop Gu Zhaoping, but the words had already slipped out, and there was no time to salvage it.
She had no way to stop it!
“Accompanying the old master?”
Gu Zhaoye frowned, not understanding.
What accompanying?
He hadn’t been back to the old house in ages, let alone made time to visit his grandfather in the nursing home.
He was just about to accuse Gu Zhaoping of spouting nonsense—
Then he suddenly realized: it was Ruan Nian who had said that.
“I… I…”
Ruan Nian’s mind went blank, stammering to explain.
“Right before the program started, the director team asked Ruan Nian why you hadn’t shown up. She said you were accompanying the old master, who wasn’t in good health, so you couldn’t participate. I was even feeling regretful, thinking the old master must be seriously ill if he didn’t call for me too,”
Gu Zhaoping said with a calm smile, her tone seemingly gentle but full of hidden barbs.
Chu Yanze’s eyes gleamed as he realized—no way—could Ruan Nian have lied?
From Gu Zhaoye’s completely clueless look, it certainly seemed like it.
If there was ever a time to add fuel to the fire, it was now.
“Yeah,”
Chu Yanze chimed in,
“Didn’t Ruan Nian say Gu Zong wasn’t coming? Because the old master was seriously ill and Gu Zong had to stay by his side? I even wondered why Sister Zhaoping didn’t go visit the old master too.So now the old master’s all better? Congratulations, seems like Gu Zong’s company really worked wonders.”
He also smiled while speaking.
Chu Yanze was usually silent and aloof, rarely speaking in front of crowds.
People said he was proud and rebellious, but those close to him knew he actually had mild social anxiety.
And because he’d often been misunderstood in the past, he had grown increasingly quiet over time.
His agent was stunned to see him speaking up now, almost like he’d gone crazy.
What the hell?
Had this kid taken the wrong medicine?
Why was he firing shots like this?
The agent’s heart skipped a beat—it felt ominous.
Gu Zhaoye’s first reaction was: what were they talking about?
What nonsense was this guy spouting?
Why would Ruan Nian claim he was looking after a sick grandfather?
Wasn’t that cursing the old master?
The old master might be living in a nursing home, but he’d been perfectly healthy lately, just scolding Gu Zhaoye earlier with plenty of vigor.
Did that sound like someone sick?
Besides, Gu Zhaoye had never told Ruan Nian that he was accompanying the old master!
Then that could only mean—
Gu Zhaoye suddenly turned his head, looking at Ruan Nian in disbelief.
Ruan Nian’s face turned pale immediately!
She had thought that even if someone in the Gu family knew the truth, no one would be petty enough to expose her.
Who could have predicted Gu Zhaoping would blow everything up?
“Did you say that?”
Gu Zhaoye asked, barely able to believe it.
In his impression, Ruan Nian had always been gentle, kind, pure, and naïve—a harmless soul bullied by others in the dirty entertainment industry.
How could she lie?
In front of him, Ruan Nian had always seemed open and sincere, looking at him with eyes full of innocence.
There was no way she would have lied to him behind his back!
This wasn’t the Ruan Nian he knew.
But once Gu Zhaoping said that just now and no one refuted it—did that mean it was true?
Gu Zhaoye seemed shocked, unable to believe it.
Hadn’t he already told her why he wasn’t coming to the show?
That he was in a bad mood and didn’t have the time or desire to come—and that she should stay away from Gu Zhaoping?
But only now did Gu Zhaoye break through that filter and remember: in that case, Ruan Nian didn’t actually listen to him at all.
Not only did she come to the show, but she also had so many run-ins with Gu Zhaoping.
What else had Ruan Nian been hiding from him?
Would it have been so hard to just tell him truthfully that she was coming?
Why say it was because she was accompanying the old man?
Did she think he not showing up would embarrass her that much?
Or did she see him as just someone she could name-drop for status?
Gu Zhaoye’s expression darkened.
The lie itself wasn’t the worst part—it was one thing for her to lie to him—but if this got out, if it reached other members of the Gu family, especially Gu Kaichang, he too would get dragged down by it.
The old man was perfectly fine, yet she claimed he was seriously ill?
No—
Gu Kaichang didn’t even need to know.
Gu Zhaoping already knew!
If Gu Zhaoping went and told the old man, the old man would explode in fury!
Gu Zhaoye could hardly believe Ruan Nian would do something this stupid—it didn’t fit with the image he had of her at all.
Everyone around them had picked up on something being off too.
So Ruan Nian hadn’t told the truth?
Had she been lying?
Had she been exposed?
And considering what just happened earlier today—how she organized fans to show support and then blamed it on the fans themselves—many people’s perception of Ruan Nian began to shift drastically.
Was she really someone who lied through her teeth?
If she could lie about something involving Gu Zhaoye, even going so far as to use his grandfather as an excuse, wasn’t that pretty low?
How many other lies had she told before?
How many lies had she told about her issues with Liang Zhiwei?
With Gu Zhaoping?
Right!
Didn’t Gu Zhaoping offer a reward recently for people to submit evidence about those matters?
If that was fake and this was also fake—then what part of Ruan Nian was even real?
Even Li Xunxi and his sister, who had always disliked Gu Zhaoping, were now frowning at Ruan Nian, their faces showing shock and speechlessness.
Great.
So Ruan Nian lied to them too?
So from the start, Gu Zhaoye never intended to come, and Ruan Nian just didn’t want to lose face, so she told everyone he was going to come, but was held up because the old man was sick?
She’d been playing them from the beginning!
Damn it—this Ruan Nian!
They really underestimated her.
She’d been lying all along!
Ruan Nian felt as if her blood had frozen in her veins.
For the first time, she experienced what it was like to be the target of whispered gossip—all of it bad.
Her palms were cold, her mind blank—she couldn’t think of anything to say.
She was used to having someone else take the blame whenever something went wrong.
The fan gathering?
She blamed it on Manager Li.
The smashed camera?
Blamed it on the director.
When fans caused trouble?
She said it was their idea.
She’d gotten so used to shirking responsibility, she never learned to take it—or accept embarrassment.
After all, her charm was so high, everyone liked her, everyone believed her—what harm could a little white lie do?
Why should she have to pay the price?
But only now did she begin to feel a flicker of panic.
Had she really told this many lies?
Once one lie was exposed, the others began collapsing like dominoes.
“I…didn’t…that’s not…”
Ruan Nian’s mind was blank.
The only thing she could think of was to deny it no matter what.
After all, only three people heard her say that—
Li Xunxi, his sister, and Gu Zhaoping.
If she just stuck to her story, she could explain it to Gu Zhaoye later…
Seeing her like this, Gu Zhaoye finally snapped out of it.
He hesitated.
Even though he didn’t want to believe she would lie to him like this, he couldn’t start questioning her in public.
He took a deep breath and said with a grim face,
“We’ll talk at home.”
His grip tightened on her wrist—his fingers digging in painfully.
Ruan Nian felt a jolt of pain.
Her heart was in chaos.
She didn’t dare imagine what she’d face when they got back.
Her mind was a mess—she wanted to scream!
But unexpectedly, Gu Zhaoping wasn’t done with her yet.
“Don’t go just yet.”
Gu Zhaoye froze.
He didn’t want to stop—but his feet, ever attuned to political winds, came to a halt on their own.
“How many more lies are you going to tell?”
Gu Zhaoping asked casually.
“Ruan Nian, I’ve been meaning to ask—what exactly happened between us before? Care to explain in detail?”
These past few days, Gu Zhaoping hadn’t been idle.
She’d looked into everything and found that in all their past interactions, she had never actually hurt Ruan Nian.
So how did such a false accusation get spread so widely?
The moment the words fell, the air felt as still and heavy as stone.
What did that mean?
Was Gu Zhaoping declaring war?
Were they really confronting each other now?
The onlookers were getting nervous.
But Gu Zhaoping remained calm, as if she were just casually chatting, catching up on old times.Ruan Nian’s face was pale as a sheet—she didn’t even dare look at her.
How could Gu Zhaoping be so petty, listening in and picking a fight now?