"Everyone says President Gu is indifferent to women. Even if a woman falls in front of him, he would step aside to give her room to fall. But now..."
"Ha! Well, he’s thirty after all. If he keeps being indifferent, surely he’d have *some* impulses by now, right?"
"I have to admit, I’m curious about what kind of woman could win him over."
"Exactly. The kind who could make him show up to a party with lipstick marks on his shirt collar..."
"Hey! Do you think President Gu’s woman might be here?"
"Hmm?"
"Think about it. If it happened outside, he would’ve tidied up before coming, right? Unless it happened right here at the party, and he couldn’t resist for a moment nearby, getting the mark without even realizing it."
"You know, you might be onto something. It could even be intentional—left there on purpose, as if to announce it to the world."
Shen Mianyin had been listening with great interest, but suddenly felt that something was off.
She abruptly turned her head to look in Gu Huaizhi’s direction.
Now there were fewer people around him, with only Gu Luo’an lingering nearby along with the Su family.
Shen Mianyin finally got a clear view of the lipstick mark on the lower part of Gu Huaizhi’s collar, perfectly visible just outside his suit.
It was an exact match for her lipstick color!
Shen Mianyin could only hope that the men present weren’t sharp enough about lipstick shades to figure out whose it was.
Still, she nervously pressed her lips together.
Gu Luo’an hesitated before asking, "Third Uncle, do you… have a woman now?"
Staring at the lipstick mark on Gu Huaizhi’s shirt, Gu Luo’an sneered inwardly. So much for Shen Mianyin’s little scheme.
However, he suspected Shen Mianyin had claimed to like Gu Huaizhi on purpose just to irritate him.
After all, she was clearly quite afraid of Gu Huaizhi.
"Where did you hear such nonsense?" Gu Huaizhi said, his face dark.
Su Yiqing shrank back behind Gu Luo’an, unable to withstand Gu Huaizhi’s overpowering aura.
Especially when he wore that stern expression—he was truly intimidating.
"Ahem!" Gu Luo’an awkwardly pointed at Gu Huaizhi’s shirt. "Third Uncle, there’s a lipstick mark on your shirt."
Gu Huaizhi paused for a moment, first lowering his head to look at his shirt, then instinctively glancing in Shen Mianyin’s direction.
For some reason, when he had entered the venue earlier, his first instinct had been to look for Shen Mianyin—and he had immediately found her.
Now, Gu Huaizhi happened to catch sight of Shen Mianyin nervously pressing her lips together.
Gu Huaizhi: "…"
Why hadn’t she warned him earlier?
Without a word, Gu Huaizhi turned and walked away.
"Third Uncle, where are you going?" Gu Luo’an called after him.
Gu Huaizhi didn’t respond, striding out of the banquet hall toward the restroom.
Shen Mianyin, worried that Gu Huaizhi might misunderstand her intentions and see her as a calculating woman, grew increasingly anxious.
If he formed a bad impression of her, how would they negotiate business in the future?
Hurriedly, she said a few words to Lin Jinshen about needing to go to the restroom, then quickly chased after Gu Huaizhi.
On the way, she could also touch up her lipstick in the restroom, ensuring no one noticed the color on her lips had faded slightly.
However, Gu Huaizhi’s strides were far too quick.
By the time Shen Mianyin reached the corridor, he was already out of sight.
Guessing that Gu Huaizhi had gone to the restroom to clean up, she headed in the same direction.
When she reached the restroom, she happened to see Gu Huaizhi stepping out of the men's restroom.
The lipstick mark on his shirt had faded somewhat, but upon closer inspection, it was still faintly visible.
"Gu—" Shen Mianyin had just called out a single syllable when the corridor lights suddenly went out with a *snap*.
The entire hallway plunged into darkness, so pitch black that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face.
From the direction of the banquet hall behind her came bursts of startled exclamations.
"Ah!" Shen Mianyin screamed, instinctively crouching down and hugging her head, trembling in fear.
She was afraid of the dark.
She hadn’t always been, but in her previous life, she had been trapped by Su Yiqing’s scheme.
Su Yiqing had dragged her and Gu Luo’an to play an escape room game, but then abandoned her alone in a small, dark, enclosed room.
She had waited for the staff to rescue her.
But then, Su Yiqing suddenly fell ill, experiencing severe pain in her side.
Gu Luo’an completely forgot about her and rushed Su Yiqing to the hospital.
With such an unexpected incident, all the staff in the escape room became focused on Su Yiqing, rushing around to take care of her, worried that something might happen to her on their watch and they’d be blamed.
As a result, they ended up leaving Shen Mianyin locked in the room for a full seven hours.
From that point on, she developed a fear of the dark.
Gu Huaizhi frowned slightly and walked up to Shen Mianyin.
Seeing him, Shen Mianyin felt as though she had found a lifeline, and without thinking, she grabbed onto his leg.
Gu Huaizhi: "…"
He tried to move his leg, attempting to pull it free, but he couldn't understand where this girl had gotten so much strength from. She clung to him tightly, unwilling to let go.
"Let go." Gu Huaizhi said.
"Gu… Gu Huaizhi…" Shen Mianyin’s voice trembled, laced with a hint of tears. "Don’t go, I’m scared…"
Gu Huaizhi muttered something under his breath, clearly frustrated. "What kind of five-star hotel has a power outage?"
Shen Mianyin thought the same thing, but right now, she couldn’t care less about complaining. She was clinging to Gu Huaizhi’s leg, her fear overwhelming her.
Gu Huaizhi: "…"
Gu Huaizhi had no choice but to squat down, otherwise, being clung to like this would be too awkward.
Shen Mianyin felt the warmth of his presence near her, and it reassured her. She finally let go of his leg.
Just as Gu Huaizhi let out a sigh of relief and was about to leave, Shen Mianyin’s hands moved even faster, grabbing onto his suit and pressing herself tightly against his chest.
Gu Huaizhi gritted his teeth, wondering if Shen Mianyin was deliberately throwing herself at him.
He grabbed her wrists, intending to pull her away, but she tightened her grip on his suit.
Shen Mianyin’s forehead rested against his neck, her hair brushing unintentionally against his earlobe, the corner of his lips, his chin, and even his Adam's apple.
The sensation made Gu Huaizhi shiver slightly, and he could feel his throat tighten as it moved.
The scent from her hair and body continuously filled Gu Huaizhi’s nose.
He gripped her shoulders firmly, intending to push her away.
But the intense fear seemed to give Shen Mianyin an unexpected surge of strength, causing her to cling to him even tighter, pressing herself further into his chest.
Her nose brushed against his neck, her breath lightly sweeping across his skin. The warmth and tickling sensation at his neck caused his heart to skip a beat, his breath catching.
"Don't go..." Shen Mianyin’s voice was filled with a sob, and as she spoke, her soft lips accidentally brushed against his skin, sending a wave of warmth through him.
In her fear, Shen Mianyin was unaware of the effect she was having, but Gu Huaizhi froze, feeling an overwhelming sense of discomfort.
He licked his dry lips, trying to control himself as he pushed her away.
But the harder he pushed, the tighter she clung to him.
Her nose and lips brushed against his neck, pressing against him more insistently.
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