Fang Yining froze for a moment.
She’d labeled him “Unsubscribe,” yet somehow she hadn’t expected to get a call from him.
She rolled her eyes again, about to toss the phone aside, but just then, Gu Zhaoye called again.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance but, for the sake of Zhaoping-jie, reluctantly answered.
“What the hell do you want?”
Gu Zhaoye, finally getting through, was about to unleash his fury when Fang Yining’s impatient scolding cut him off, choking his words in his throat!
“What do I want? Fang Yining, I should be asking you what you’re doing!”
Gu Zhaoye laughed in rage.
“Where are you right now? Why didn’t you answer my calls? Who’s that guy with you?”
Fang Yining let out a mocking laugh.
“Gu Zhaoye, you’re hilarious. How does your brain even work? With your level of comprehension, how are you the heir to the Gu family?”
“Is it that hard to figure out? It’s late at night, prime time for fun—what do you think I’m doing? What should I be doing? Don’t play innocent, you know exactly what’s up. Of course I’m out having fun with guys!”
Gu Zhaoye’s eyes widened.
But she went on, hitting him harder:
“You’ve got some nerve, questioning me now? Anyone can call me out, but you, Gu Zhaoye? What gives you the right? Oh, please, this isn’t you cozying up with Ruan Nian or finding your little stand-ins, is it? Your skin’s thicker than a wall—truly worthy of inheriting the family fortune. Amazing, living in modern society yet acting like you can have three wives and six concubines, completely ignoring the law. Did the fall of the Qing dynasty forget to take you with it?”
“Oh, haha, right, I saw the news recently.”
Fang Yining sounded like she’d discovered a new world, sipping her drink with glee.
“Didn’t you make a fool of yourself at that summit, broadcasted live globally? The whole world’s laughing at you! Oh, and I remember you almost left Liang Zhiwei stranded on a mountain, right?”
“Tch, I’m really curious how you’re gonna get out of this one. Forget the Gu family—even Yuanqi Tech’s orders alone must be keeping you busy, huh? Have people started canceling contracts with you yet? Are you still the mighty Gu CEO?”
The more Fang Yining spoke, the more excited she got, especially since she’d had a bit too much to drink.
Normally, she might not have gone off on Gu Zhaoye like this.
On the other end, Gu Zhaoye was trembling with rage, nearly crushing his phone, eyes bloodshot, wishing he could drag Fang Yining out right then and there!
“Fang Yining, what did you say?!”
He couldn’t believe it.
Was this the Fang Yining he knew?
In his mind, she’d always been the dull, traditional, soft-spoken young lady who never raised her voice.
What had gotten into her, running off to party with other men?
Recalling what Liang Zhiwei had said to him before, Gu Zhaoye’s chest surged with anger, a lump of blood rising in his throat that he couldn’t spit out!
“Oh, right, didn’t you mess up that business game show last time?”
Fang Yining laughed.
“You lost spectacularly, didn’t you? A defeat so grand it’s unprecedented! That’s our Gu CEO—when you lose, you lose big, and when you live, you live loud!”
She burst into laughter.
“And you got beaten by Zhaoping—congrats, truly! Your life’s been so thrilling lately. I thought mine was pretty exciting, but compared to you, I’m outdone. I bow to you!”
Gu Zhaoye was so furious his eyes were about to pop, his teeth nearly grinding to dust!
He couldn’t fathom how Fang Yining had become like this.
“You—”
Before he could spit out,
“Don’t you want the engagement anymore?”
Fang Yining cut in, suddenly remembering something and saying decisively,
“Oh, right, I find you too embarrassing. Pick a time to break off our engagement. The Fang family can’t have a son-in-law like you—too humiliating to show off.”
The other end went silent, stunned.
Fang Yining, losing patience as she was eager to get back to her night, added,
“Oh, and congrats on you and Ruan Nian. Don’t bother me again. Keep your mess to yourself and don’t drag others into it.”
With a gleeful chuckle, Fang Yining hung up, leaving Gu Zhaoye on the other end, his face ashen.
He took deep breaths, his face numb and twitching, his chest roiling with fury, nearly blacking out from rage.
How could this happen?
How could she treat him like this?
Liang Zhiwei had done the same, and now Fang Yining too!
None of them were as devoted to him as he’d imagined, not caring about him in the slightest.
Gu Zhaoye’s domineering CEO confidence was utterly shattered.
These people weren’t just breaking him—they were stomping on him and spitting in his face.
No one truly liked him.
They were only drawn to the halo of his status, the Gu family heir, the domineering CEO title—all of which came from the Gu family.
Gu Zhaoye himself?
Nothing but a rotten fish, a pile of garbage.
Fang Yining’s life had been quite comfortable lately.
Ever since Zhaoping woke her up, she’d opened the door to a new world, realizing how miserable her old life had been.
She didn’t even bother glancing at Gu Zhaoye unless he insisted on shoving his face in front of her for a slap.
In that case, she’d be happy to take off her shoe and smack him with it.
In front of Gu Zhaoping, stripping away the so-called charm of these “alpha male” auras became so much easier.
What handsome, domineering CEO allure?
What lofty, untouchable control?
All fake.
Who does he think he is, still acting all high and mighty?
Still putting on airs like he’s above everyone else?
Real top-tier entrepreneurs show warmth and approachability to the public, but you—what are you, acting like some domineering CEO, lording over everyone, living out your feudal emperor fantasy, thinking everyone’s just a servant or concubine for you to trample on?
Some men with poor character, once they gain power, start thinking all the world’s resources belong to them—even women are just resources.
In their casual banter, these old and middle-aged men clink glasses, deluded into thinking they control the world’s narrative, that they can sit on top of everyone else, and the whole world has to grovel at their feet.
It’s all just a self-directed play they’re engrossed in, reveling in their power games.
But the moment someone refuses to follow their rules, they lose it.
Fang Yining hung up the phone, rolled her eyes, and spat in disdain.
On the other end, Gu Zhaoye was trembling with rage for so long he couldn’t calm down.
Suddenly, gripping the table beside him, he felt a metallic taste in his throat.
For the first time, he truly understood what it felt like to be so angry he could spit blood.
Was Fang Yining so sure he was about to be dethroned because of this incident?
Is that why she was so brazen with him?
Who gave her the guts to be so certain?!
He had already laid out his plans for the next steps, and there was still a huge opportunity for a turnaround!
It was just a temporary PR storm—soon the public would forget, and he’d remain the CEO of Yuanqi Tech, the heir to the Gu family.
Fang Yining, you really want to burn bridges with me and kick me while I’m down by ending the engagement?
Fine, fine, fine. Gu Zhaoye finally saw Fang Yining’s true, opportunistic colors.
But even though he’d labeled her as a gold-digger, the realization that she had no feelings for him whatsoever stung deeply.
So she and Liang Zhiwei…
How could they have no feelings for him at all?
Back when he rejected them, the sadness in their eyes was real.
Could they have faked even that?
Gu Zhaoye felt like the blood vessels in his chest were bursting from rage.
At that moment, his group of second-generation rich friends finally managed to get through to him, calling to check in.
Gu Zhaoye held back his anger for a while before finally closing his eyes and answering.
“Gu Ye, what’s been going on with you lately? How did things blow up like this? How could your sister treat you this way? What’s the beef between you two?”
The mention of it sent a surge of fury through Gu Zhaoye’s chest, nearly making his lungs explode again.
“I don’t know!”
The group on the other end was at a gathering. In the past, Gu Zhaoye had always been the leader among them, everyone calling him Gu Ye.
He was the golden boy, and they had never seen him so broken and defeated.
The young heirs exchanged glances.
In the smoky private room, someone suddenly made a suggestion: “Gu Ye’s in trouble this time. As his brothers, we can’t just stand by and watch him suffer. Whatever help we can offer, let’s put it out there.”
The others exchanged looks.
Stepping up to vouch for Gu Zhaoye publicly was simple enough.
They were influential figures, frequent faces in business circles, with countless admirers.
If they came out firmly supporting Gu Zhaoye and cleared his name, surely many would change their opinions.
But the bigger issue now was why Gu Zhaoping had taken Gu Zhaoye’s place to speak publicly.
That was a bad sign.
After a pause, someone finally suggested,
“Isn’t Gu Zhaoping trying to make a name for herself in Haishi’s business world? Even stepping over her own brother to do it.”
“If she wants to play, let’s play along. Let her see that the elite business circle isn’t something she can just waltz into. It’s not as easy as she thinks.”
“If she wanted to enter our circle politely and respectfully, fine, we’d give her some credit as Gu Ye’s sister.”
“But since she’s so arrogant and clueless, it’s time we step in and show her how it’s done.”
Hearing this, Gu Zhaoye finally felt some relief.
He snapped impatiently,
“If you guys have a plan, just do it already!”
At the very least, curbing Gu Zhaoping’s momentum would be good, keeping her too busy to take further action.
That would buy Gu Zhaoye time to seal that deal and save Yuanqi Tech.
The group exchanged glances and said,
“When Gu Zhaoping returns to the country, we’ll invite her to one of our gatherings.”
Let her see that standing against Gu Zhaoye means standing against all of them.
Let’s see how she plays then.
The leader said this calmly, and the others seemed to defer to him.
He was the highest-ranking among them, aside from Gu Zhaoye, and the others generally followed his lead.
As they were talking, he suddenly got a call.
Stunned, he saw it was from his old man.
He quickly stood up and stepped outside to answer.
“Hello? Yes, yes, I’m listening, Dad. What’s the matter? Oh, from Uncle’s side? Uncle’s taken a liking to someone and wants my cousin to meet her, right?”
He smiled broadly.
The Ni family’s highest-status branch was his uncle’s, though they were mostly abroad.
When his uncle’s family had instructions, they jumped to carry them out.
Especially since this was about his cousin, Ni Tiansong, whom the entire Ni family admired.
He quickly noted it down.
“So my cousin’s coming back to the country for a while? Great, great, I’ll make sure to host him well!”
He chuckled, then heard the call switch to his uncle himself.
“…Xiaojun, this isn’t just a simple blind date. The young lady is exceptional, and it’s not guaranteed your cousin will win her over. So you’d better behave yourself when you’re with him, got it? You’re always out partying, and we don’t say much, but if this doesn’t work out, you’ll be in big trouble.”
The Ni family heir froze, nodding frantically.
“Yes, yes, yes, Uncle, I get it. How could I mess this up? I’m done partying for now, I swear!”
“Good. Also, this young lady is remarkable. Don’t just treat her as a potential match. If there’s a chance, our family wants to secure a major deal with her. On that front alone, you absolutely cannot upset her.”
“Understood, understood, I’ll make it happen!”
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