Although Shen Mianyin was engaged to Gu Luo'an, she had little interaction with Gu Huaizhi. Even when they did meet by chance, she lacked the courage to speak much to him.
In fact, no one in the entire Gu family was not afraid of Gu Huaizhi. Even Gu Luo'an's parents would not dare to speak loudly or act out of line in front of him.
Though Gu Huaizhi was only five years older than her, the overwhelming aura he carried felt as though it were a towering, snow-capped mountain, pressing down on her with an almost suffocating force.
"Mr. Gu..." Shen Mianyin hesitated, realizing that since she was breaking off her engagement with Gu Luo'an, it made no sense to continue calling him "Uncle Gu San." She quickly changed her tone and asked,
"How long have you been here, Mr. Gu?"
Gu Huaizhi wasn't sure why he suddenly felt a sense of restlessness. His long, defined fingers lifted slightly and tugged at his tie. His hand gleamed a cold white under the moonlight, even his fingers exuding a chill.
He looked down at Shen Mianyin without speaking. He hadn't paid much attention to her before, only vaguely remembering that she was Gu Luo'an's fiancée.
Shen Mianyin, steeling herself, spoke up. "I didn't see you come in earlier. My apologies."
Gu Huaizhi's fingers were still holding his phone. He had just finished a call and hadn't had time to put it away before Shen Mianyin collided with him.
Gu Huaizhi placed his phone into his pocket, and his low, indifferent voice seemed even colder under the moonlight. "Mm."
What did "mm" mean? Shen Mianyin felt a chill run through her, and couldn’t help but think: could he not say something more?
"Then I won't disturb you, Mr. Gu," she said, her voice a little strained. She had never expected that Gu Huaizhi would also be at the event tonight.
"Mm," came his distant reply from above.
Shen Mianyin didn’t dare look at him again. She quickly turned and walked away, no longer interested in taking a break or stepping outside. The pressure was too much; it would be better to return to the banquet.
As Shen Mianyin walked, she muttered angrily to herself, wondering whether Gu Huaizhi had overheard her conversation with Gu Luo'an just now.
Even after leaving, the scent of cedar from Gu Huaizhi still lingered around her, refusing to fade.
The realization that it was Gu Huaizhi suddenly made his earlier actions seem a little more understandable. He hadn’t even considered helping her steady herself, but instead tried to pull her hand off his clothes.
Gu Huaizhi, she thought, was like a flower on a high mountain peak—untouchable, a person no one could approach, regardless of gender.
Arriving at the entrance of the banquet, Shen Mianyin took a deep breath and entered once again.
This time, she could clearly feel the piercing, unmasked stares from the guests, their gossip more blatant than before.
Shen Mianyin spotted Lin Jinshen in the crowd and was about to walk over. But just a few steps in, she was stopped by Su Father and Su Mother.
"What are you doing here?" Su Mother glared at her viciously, but afraid of being overheard, she gritted her teeth and whispered, "Aren't you embarrassed enough?"
"Mrs. Su, I'm here for business," Shen Mianyin replied coldly, trying to move past them. But Su Mother grabbed her wrist tightly, not letting go.
"What business? Why leave your position as the general manager of Su Corporation and go work for another company? Isn't this clearly telling everyone that the Su family can't accept you?" Su Father’s face darkened.
When they didn’t know Shen Mianyin wasn’t their biological daughter, they had been so pleased with her. Now, their disdain for her was palpable.
Su Yiqing walked over, linking her arm with Gu Luo'an's. Upon hearing the conversation between Su Father and Su Mother, she subtly tugged at Su Mother's sleeve.
Su Mother, recalling how Su Yiqing had been supported by Gu Luo'an when she returned, claiming to be in pain again, had just discussed with Su Father the importance of convincing Shen Mianyin to return to the Su family.
The idea was to restore her health and then have her donate her kidney to Su Yiqing.
Taking a deep breath, Su Mother suppressed her disgust toward Shen Mianyin and gripped her wrist tightly, as if afraid she might run away.
With a forced smile, she said, "Mianyin, I understand that it's hard for you to accept the truth right now. But after all, you were raised by us. We never intended for you to leave the Su family."
"Stop being stubborn and come back," Su Mother continued, her voice full of feigned sincerity.
Shen Mianyin couldn't help but laugh bitterly. In her previous life, how had she not seen through the false affection in Su Mother's words?
In her previous life, how could she have believed that Su Mother truly wanted to keep her? Looking at it now, Su Mother was clearly unwilling, but had to feign reluctance to keep her, all for the sake of her kidney.
"Mrs. Su," Shen Mianyin said coldly, "from now on, I have nothing to do with the Su family."
"The money Su family spent raising me, and the profits I've earned for Su Corporation over the years, have more than paid back what I owe, with interest."
As for the debt of gratitude for raising her, in her previous life, she had repaid it with her life. In this life, she would not play along.
Shen Mianyin lowered her gaze to look at Su Mother's hand, which was tightly gripping her wrist. Su Mother didn’t even realize how hard she was holding on, leaving Shen Mianyin’s wrist reddened. Because she didn’t care, she didn’t bother controlling her strength.
With a self-deprecating smile, Shen Mianyin slowly pried Su Mother’s fingers off one by one.
Seeing this, Su Yiqing's eyes filled with tears as she looked at Shen Mianyin. "Sister, can we talk at home? Please? No matter what, let’s not make a scene here and let people gossip about us."
"Exactly!" Su Father barked in a rough voice. "How have I raised you? You're still not as sensible as Yiqing! What have we ever done to wrong you? Why do you insist on embarrassing us like this?"
Shen Mianyin pressed her lips together in frustration, realizing that there was no way to communicate with them.
"I act with integrity, and I have nothing to be ashamed of," she said calmly. "If you're worried about being laughed at, perhaps you should reflect on whether you've done something dishonorable."
"Shen Mianyin, you're pushing it!" Su Mother shouted, raising her hand as if to slap her.
Su Yiqing quickly intervened, holding her mother back. "Mom, we can’t do this here."
"Right…" Su Mother was furious, but slowly regained her composure. She then gave an order, "You're coming with us tonight. Even if you don’t want to stay at home, at least come with us. You can leave halfway if you really want, but you can’t let others gossip about us!"
Shen Mianyin sneered, "The ones being laughed at aren’t me, so why should I cooperate with you?"
As she spoke, her gaze shifted toward the door, wondering what was taking Gu Huaizhi's time, why hadn't he entered yet?
While she was thinking this, she suddenly spotted Gu Huaizhi's figure at the entrance.
His presence was striking, standing out in the crowd like a crane among chickens, immediately catching everyone's eye.
Before she could even take a proper look, she quickly turned to Su Father and Su Mother and said,
"Ah, Gu Huaizhi is here. Excuse me for a moment."
Gu Luoan's expression immediately darkened.
"Did Shen Mianyin really have her eyes on his third uncle?"
Su Father spat with disgust and hurriedly grabbed Gu Luoan, "Lao'an, quickly take us and Yiqing to meet Third Master Gu." Gu Luoan nodded, not wanting Shen Mianyin to have a chance to approach Gu Huaizhi.
He shot her a warning glance and then led Su Yiqing, along with Su Father and Su Mother, toward Gu Huaizhi.
However, by the time they reached the entrance, many others had already noticed Gu Huaizhi and gathered around him.
Even Gu Luoan was too late to squeeze in. Despite being his own nephew, he couldn't even make it through the crowd.
Shen Mianyin sneered mockingly and noticed that Lin Jinshen was also alone. Just as Lin Jinshen looked over, the two exchanged a knowing smile, and Lin Jinshen walked over to her.
"Mr. Lin, why aren't you going over there?" Shen Mianyin asked with a smile.
Lin Jinshen chuckled and shook his head. "I won't go join the crowd at this time. Besides, even if I did, I wouldn't be able to squeeze in."
"There are so many people now. Even if you do manage to talk to him, Gu Huaizhi might not even remember it," Shen Mianyin remarked, glancing around. "It might be better to just schedule a time with Mr. Gu directly."
"Oh?" Lin Jinshen was surprised. "You're planning to schedule a time with Gu Huaizhi?"
"Who wouldn't want to compete for Gu Corporation's business?" Shen Mianyin said. "Now that you've given me the position of Sales Director, I have to show some results to prove I deserve it."
At the moment, people only knew that Gu Corporation owned high-end private hospitals and medical laboratories in various regions.
However, they were unaware that Gu Huaizhi, in his private capacity, had become a major shareholder in Covey, a top-tier foreign medical equipment brand.
If it weren’t for the memories from her past life, Shen Mianyin wouldn’t have known about this.
What she intended to discuss with Gu Huaizhi wasn’t Gu Corporation’s business, but rather the agency rights for Covey in China.
She remembered that, according to the current timeline, Covey was about to launch a new type of surgical robot, which would be of immense help in large, high-difficulty surgeries, with much greater functionality than the current surgical robots.
If she could secure the agency rights, Jincheng would be set for life. This would also serve as her proof of loyalty to Jincheng and silence many of those who looked down on her.
"You shouldn't put too much pressure on yourself. Your abilities were already well demonstrated during your time at Su Corporation," Lin Jinshen said gently. "You don't think I brought you into the company just because of Wanran's request, do you?"
"Of course not," Shen Mianyin replied confidently. "That would be underestimating you. You're not someone who mixes personal matters with professional ones."
Lin Jinshen paused for a moment, then quietly said, "Maybe I would."
"What?" Shen Mianyin didn't quite hear.
"Nothing," Lin Jinshen shook his head.
Shen Mianyin suddenly noticed that the people returning from Gu Huaizhi's side all had strange expressions.
This made her forget about what Lin Jinshen had just said. Curious, she overheard someone passing by whispering,
"How could there be lipstick marks on Mr. Gu's shirt?"
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