["You don't want my grandparents to know about this either, do you?"]
The words Gu Yan had said to her earlier echoed in her mind.
Xuehua left Gu Zihua's bedroom with a pale face.
Why did this happen? How could this happen?
Her actions had been discovered, and by this good-for-nothing young master no less?
He even had evidence of her wrongdoings on his phone. If the two elders were to see it, everything would be over!
Being just a maid herself wouldn't matter much, but if the two elders investigated and discovered that she and Gu Zihua were actually in a relationship...
Young Master Zihua would surely be implicated!!
If the gentle Young Master Zihua were to be expelled from the family because of her, it would be disastrous!
No, anything but that!
With an anxious heart, Xuehua prayed that Gu Yan wouldn't tell anyone.
After all, she had already promised to do whatever he said.
However...
Just thinking about Gu Yan's expression made her shudder, terrified of what desperate things he might make her do.
If it came to that... Xuehua shook her head violently.
No, no, her everything belonged to Young Master Zihua, but... if that good-for-nothing young master really asked her to do such things, what should she do?
If it were Young Master Zihua, would he forgive someone like her?
Xuehua wrung her hands together and nervously went downstairs.
Inside the Gu Family Manor.
Gu Yan was walking along a forest path with Old Gao.
If this place were open to the public, it would undoubtedly be a 5A-grade tourist destination.
While tossing half of a Dragon King jade pendant in his hand, Gu Yan asked Old Gao, "Old Gao, what do you think? I've made everything so obvious."
"Do you think my grandparents' attitude toward me will change this year?"
Besides his parents, Old Gao was the person he trusted most, so there was no need to keep secrets from him.
After all, in the original story, he was someone who would take Xiao Lin's punch for him even knowing it meant death.
Old Gao watched the Dragon King jade being casually tossed around, his eye twitching with concern: "Young Master, please be careful with that. There isn't a second one."
"As for the Madam and Sir..."
"How could a mere servant like me guess their thoughts?"
Hearing this, Gu Yan put the jade pendant back around his neck. His lips curved into a slight smile as Xuehua's face flashed through his mind.
He chuckled, "Make a bold guess. After today, grandfather and grandmother will surely recognize me as the next heir."
Old Gao was surprised and asked curiously, "Young Master, why do you think so?"
After all, the young master's reputation had been quite poor in the past two years.
Though it had improved somewhat this year, it wasn't by much, considering he had beaten up half of Jianghai City's prominent figures.
Gu Yan shook his head and held up four fingers: "Because, Old Gao, think about it. Though I have many siblings, only a few can compete with me or even have the desire to become the heir."
"First is my brother Gu Zihua. He has always wanted to become the Gu family heir, or rather, everyone else thinks that if my father retires, he would be the undisputed next heir."
"After all, he's gentle, filial, and has established a tech company worth 1 billion. He seems like the most suitable person to succeed as the head of the Gu family."
"Second is my sister Gu Yunrou. She has a finance degree from a top world business school, and after graduation, she quickly joined the elite circle in the financial sector. She has exceptional business acumen and leadership abilities, and is considered the Gu family's new generation business genius."
"Everyone calls her the second Madam Gu."
"Third is my sister Gu Yingying. Though only 13 years old, she's a genuine all-around genius. Cybersecurity, finance, computer programming, painting, composing for the guzheng... she's won international awards in all these fields."
"People call her the new Leng Qingqiu, heh, though she's still not as good as my Qingqiu."
"Fourth is my brother Gu Linyi. He doesn't seem to have any special talents. If I had to name his only advantage, it would probably be that he's grandfather and grandmother's favorite."
"And me? In others' eyes, I'm just a useless good-for-nothing young master. It seems impossible for me to succeed as the next head of the Gu family. Hey, hey, hey, Old Gao, what's with that expression?"
Listening to Gu Yan's words, Old Gao's expression had become increasingly difficult to maintain.
He wanted to laugh but couldn't.
Taking a deep breath, he coughed lightly: "Young Master, since you know how excellent the others are and how strong the competition is, then why..."
Before he could finish.
A confident smile appeared on Gu Yan's face. He held up the jade pendant on his chest and said to Old Gao with a smile: "It's not just because of the Dragon King jade on my chest."
"It's because I am Gu Tianming's son."
"And because my cultivation level and starting point are higher than all four of them."
Hearing this, Old Gao's heart trembled.
Looking at the confident Gu Yan before him, he couldn't help but smile genuinely: "Hehe, indeed, Young Master is after all the Master's son."
The young master has finally awakened... Well, isn't this just perfect?
Seeing that Old Gao understood, Gu Yan smiled and said: "Alright Old Gao, let's walk around the manor and prepare to stay here for a long time."
The latter heard this and went: "??"
........
........
At Jianghai High School.
Mei Xue was hiding in the shadows, silently watching over Leng Ling'er.
However today, she noticed something strange.
That boy who liked Leng Ling'er hadn't come to class.
"What's going on? Was he taken by the Black Tortoise Gate?"
Mei Xue was on alert, wondering if she should report this to her master.
Meanwhile, with Leng Ling'er.
Bai Qionglan whispered to Leng Ling'er: "Sister Ling'er, have you noticed who's missing from our class?"
Leng Ling'er, who was eating potato chips, frowned upon hearing this. She tried hard to think, then looked at Bai Qionglan in confusion: "Who?"
"Ah..."
Bai Qionglan sighed softly, took one of Leng Ling'er's potato chips and said: "Deng Feng! The one who asked you questions before!"
"Deng Feng... oh right, haven't seen him today."
"He probably took sick leave, nothing strange about that."
Leng Ling'er said casually, then continued eating her chips.
In her mind, she was complaining about how that small fry Gu hadn't come to take her to school today.
Seeing this, Bai Qionglan showed a mischievous smile: "Oh? I thought he liked you, after all, you helped him drive away Wang Zilin and his group before."
"Shouldn't he be here watching you even if he had to drag his injured body to class?"
Hearing these words, Leng Ling'er reacted as if something had struck a nerve, and grabbed Bai Qionglan's cheeks: "Qionglan! Do you want to die?"
"Just because I answered someone's question and helped them out, they'll fall in love with me?"
"Then since my brother-in-law has helped me so many times, shouldn't I have fallen in love with him by now?!"
When she said this, Leng Ling'er's eyes unconsciously showed some unnatural emotion. She released Bai Qionglan's cheeks: "Anyway, don't overthink it!"
Bai Qionglan covered her injured cheeks, wailing: "I was just saying! Sister Ling'er, why are you so worked up!"
"Who's worked up?!"
"See! You're worked up again!"
"You!"
Mei Xue withdrew her gaze from Leng Ling'er and vigilantly observed the surroundings. Although she hadn't detected any enemy presence yet.
She had to be extremely careful.
It was clear from the previous banquet that her master would even pause his plans for Miss Ling'er's sake.
So Miss Ling'er must be very important to her master.