Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Caught off guard and slapped several times in quick succession, Chu Suosuo was stunned.

Her face burned with a stinging pain, her ears rang, and she saw stars before her eyes.

In all her years, no one had ever dared to lay a finger on her.

Losing her temper, she grabbed the other woman’s arm and began scratching wildly.

The two of them fell into a scuffle.

The Chu family driver, who had been hiding in the corner, rushed over and forcibly pulled the two apart.

Only then did Chu Suosuo see clearly that the person who had hit her was Gu Beixian’s biological younger sister, Gu Nanyin. She froze instantly.

Su Hua was also very surprised to see that it was Gu Nanyin.

Fearing that the girl might be bullied, Su Hua hurried over and shielded her behind her back.

Catching a glimpse of Gu Nanyin’s wrist, which Chu Suosuo had scratched until it bled, Su Hua felt a pang of distress. She took a Band-Aid out of her bag, carefully applied it to the wound, and asked softly, “Does it hurt?”

Gu Nanyin hissed through the pain but said, “It’s fine, Sister-in-law. She didn’t manage to scratch your face just now, did she?”

Su Hua shook her head. “No.”

Gu Nanyin glared at Chu Suosuo fuming. “You don’t need to be polite with someone like her. Just slap her. Why bother trying to reason with her? Reason is for people, and she isn’t one!”

Upon hearing this, Chu Suosuo was nearly driven mad with rage.

She suppressed her anger, forced out a few tears, and said aggrievedly, “Nanyin, we grew up together. I’ve always treated you like my own sister. How could you…”

Gu Nanyin rolled her eyes. “Forget it. I don’t have a sister like you. My brother was so good to you, and our whole family treated you so well. But as soon as something happened to my brother, you ran faster than a rabbit. Now that you see my brother’s legs are better and everything is back to normal, you come back to home-wreck and bully my sister-in-law. Have you no shame?”

Chu Suosuo’s face turned white and then red. “I had my reasons…”

“Reasons, my foot! My brother might believe you, but I don’t!”

Just as Gu Nanyin finished speaking, Su Hua’s phone rang.

Glancing at the caller ID, she saw it was Gu Beixian.

Su Hua hesitated for a second before answering.

Gu Beixian asked, “Where are you?”

“At the Western restaurant south of the main entrance of Antique Street.”

“I happen to be passing by. I’ll be there in three minutes.” He hung up the phone.

The image of him and Chu Suosuo embracing last night flashed through Su Hua’s mind, leaving her feeling unsettled.

Seeing the white roses he had given Chu Suosuo on the table made her chest feel even more stifled, as if a giant boulder were pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe.

A few minutes later, Gu Beixian walked into the restaurant with his subordinates.

He was tall and upright, with cool, fair skin and exceptionally handsome features. Beneath his black trousers, his long legs moved with a brisk stride. Every gesture exuded an air of noble elegance and poise that made it impossible for people to look away.

Originally, the people in the restaurant had been drawn to the fight between Chu Suosuo and Gu Nanyin.

The moment Gu Beixian appeared, all eyes shifted to him.

Seeing him, Chu Suosuo’s eyes lit up. She ran toward him with a sob, crying out, “Beixian!”

Gu Beixian’s brow furrowed. “Why are you here too?”

With red eyes, Chu Suosuo said pitifully, “I came to find Sister Su Hua to explain what happened last night. But after only a few words, she started insulting me, and Nanyin even hit me.”

She pointed to her swollen cheek and pouted coquettishly. “It hurts so much.”

Gu Beixian glanced at Su Hua. “Is what she said true?”

Su Hua smiled.

She hadn’t expected the ‘white moonlight’ he cherished so much to be this kind of person-not only heartless and ungrateful but also a bold-faced liar who struck first by playing the victim.

Indeed, those who are favored always act without fear.

Just as Su Hua was about to speak, Gu Nanyin beat her to it. “Brother, think about it. My sister-in-law has such a good temper. If Chu Suosuo hadn’t provoked her, would she have insulted her? During those two years when you were unwell and had such a volatile temper, did she ever lose her cool with you once? As for why I hit Chu Suosuo, it’s because she tried to scratch my sister-in-law’s face. I only regret that I didn’t hit her harder!”

Gu Beixian looked at Chu Suosuo. “How did you provoke Su Hua? Why did you try to scratch her face?”

Chu Suosuo’s face turned pale. Tears streamed down as she said aggrievedly, “I didn’t. Sister Su Hua and Nanyin misunderstood me. Beixian, you have to believe me.”

She reached out to grab Gu Beixian’s hand, her body leaning toward his chest.

Gu Nanyin stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and jerked her aside, snapping, “Are you spineless or just sick? My brother is a married man, and you’re still trying to crawl into his arms? You shameless jellyfish!”

Chu Suosuo clutched her chest in pain, her tears falling like pearls from a broken string.

Gu Beixian frowned slightly and said to Gu Nanyin, “That’s enough. Suosuo has severe depression. Don’t trigger her.”

Gu Nanyin sneered. “Don’t use depression as an excuse to be a bitch. I’ve seen many people with depression; they have self-respect, they’re kind, and they’re wonderful. Unlike her, who refuses to be a decent human being and insists on being a homewrecker!”

Chu Suosuo burst into loud sobs, covered her mouth, and stumbled out of the restaurant.

Her driver hurriedly grabbed her bag and the check and chased after her.

Gu Beixian turned and instructed his bodyguards, “Follow her and keep an eye on her. Don’t let her try to kill herself again.”

“Yes, President Gu,” the bodyguards replied and followed her out.

Gu Nanyin scoffed. “If she really wanted to die, she’d just find a deserted place and do it. Who is she trying to scare with all that crying?”

Gu Beixian’s gaze turned cold as he scolded, “Nanyin, you’ve gone too far!”

Su Hua pulled Gu Nanyin behind her and said, “If you’re going to blame someone, blame me. Nanyin was just standing up for me.”

Looking at Su Hua, Gu Beixian’s gaze softened. He took a tube of imported ointment from his bag and handed it to her. “This is a scar-removal cream I had sent from abroad. Apply it according to the instructions. Don’t let that wound on your neck leave a scar.”
Su Hua stared at the tube of ointment, her heart a tangled mess of emotions.

She knew he didn’t love her, yet sometimes she felt like he actually cared about her.

Soon, she gave a self-deprecating smile. If he truly cared, how could what happened last night have occurred?

Last night had been too painful.

So painful that she had lost the courage to even question him.

Gu Nanyin reached out, took the ointment, and shoved it into Su Hua’s hand. She glared at Gu Beixian and said, “Brother, if you dare let my sister-in-law down, I won’t acknowledge you as my brother anymore!”

Gu Beixian said indifferently, “This is adult business. Children shouldn’t interfere.”

“I’m only a year younger than my sister-in-law. I’m not a child!”

Gu Beixian ignored her. He took Su Hua’s hand and asked softly, “Have you eaten? If not, I’ll take you to get something.”

As if struck by an electric shock, Su Hua pulled her hand back from his. “I’m full.”

Gu Beixian looked down at her, his gaze exceptionally tender. “If I said what happened last night was a misunderstanding, would you believe me?”

Su Hua straightened her neck, her usually gentle voice carrying a sharp edge. “It was my poor timing. I’m sorry for interrupting you two.”

Gu Beixian’s smile deepened, tinged with a hint of helplessness. “Forget it. I’ll take you back.”

Su Hua picked up her bag and walked out.

Gu Beixian took a long stride to follow her, with his assistant trailing at a distance.

After leaving the Western restaurant, they passed a flower shop. Su Hua pushed the door open and went inside.

Scanning the room, she pointed to a bouquet of white roses. “I’ll take a bouquet of those.”

The clerk asked, “How many stems would you like, ma’am?”

Thinking of the twenty roses Gu Beixian had given Chu Suosuo, Su Hua said out of spite, “Give me two hundred.”

The clerk paused for a moment before smiling. “Please wait a moment.”

After a long wait, the flowers were finally wrapped. Only then did Su Hua realize why the clerk had hesitated.

Two hundred roses, once packaged, were nearly a meter in diameter.

It was huge and very heavy.

It was a struggle for her to hold, but it felt cathartic. If she wanted flowers, she could buy them herself. Why wait for someone to give them to her? It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it.

Gu Beixian pulled out his card to pay, but Su Hua handed over her own card. “I have my own money.”

She spoke firmly.

She was spending the money she had earned from working.

Gu Beixian gave a faint smile, knowing she was acting out of spite.

After paying, Su Hua walked out carrying the massive bouquet of white roses.

The bouquet was so large it made her figure look even more delicate, like a slender, straight stalk of bamboo-graceful yet resilient.

Gu Beixian reached out to take it from her.

Su Hua dodged to the side, avoiding his hand.

Gu Beixian’s hand froze in mid-air for a second before he slowly withdrew it.

The two walked side by side.

Looking at the dense cluster of roses in her arms, Gu Beixian asked, “Do you like white roses too?”

“I don’t.”

“Then why buy so many if you don’t like them?”

“Because!”

A hint of a smile touched the corners of Gu Beixian’s eyes. “I didn’t think you liked flowers. I thought you only liked paintings.”

“I’m a woman too!”

Accustomed to her good-tempered nature, this was the first time he had seen her so huffy. Gu Beixian found it refreshing. “Then what flowers do you like? I’ll give them to you next time.”

Su Hua pursed her lips and remained silent.

She had grown up with her grandparents at the foot of a mountain. She liked the kalimeris and dandelions of the hills, as well as the irises, four-o’clocks, and moss roses planted under their window.

She felt a connection to those simple, hardy little flowers, but felt nothing for the expensive, delicate imported roses in her arms.

Buying so many was purely an act of defiance.

As they neared Gubaozhai, Su Hua suddenly stopped. “Don’t walk me any further.”

Gu Beixian raised an eyebrow slightly. “Are you afraid your colleagues will see me?”

“We’re going to get a divorce sooner or later, aren’t we?” Her voice trembled slightly, and her heart quivered.

The current state of affairs-neither divorced nor truly together-was like a dull knife sawing through flesh, a slow, lingering pain.

Gu Beixian fell silent for a moment. He stopped in his tracks and watched quietly as her figure receded into the distance, his eyes as deep as a calm sea.

When Su Hua reached the entrance of Gubaozhai, she ran into the shop’s Young Master, Shen Huai.

He smiled. “Such a big bouquet of flowers. From a boyfriend?”

“No, I bought them myself.”

Shen Huai’s smile widened. “They must be heavy. Let me help you with those.”

Su Hua handed the flowers to him and said with a smile, “Thank you.”

Shen Huai joked, “You’re the backbone of our shop. What’s helping you carry some flowers?”

“You’re exaggerating, Young Master Shen.”

The two chatted and laughed as they walked into the shop side by side.

Gu Beixian stood tall and elegant in the distance, watching them. His gaze grew cold, filled with a sudden chill.

He couldn’t quite describe the feeling.

It was as if a pig had suddenly barged in to root around in the garden where he had carefully tended a prize cabbage for three years.

His instinct was to drive the pig away.

Only then did he realize he wasn’t as magnanimous as he had imagined.

Gu Beixian swept his tongue across the inside of his cheek and instructed the assistant behind him, “Have someone look into that man.”

“Yes, President Gu.”

The two got into the car to head back to the company.

Half an hour later.

The assistant took a phone call and reported to Gu Beixian, “President Gu, that man is Shen Huai. He’s a doctor by profession, and Gubaozhai belongs to his grandfather. There are records of phone calls between him and the Young Mistress from three years ago.”

Gu Beixian looked up, a cold light flickering in his eyes. “Check Shen Huai’s childhood nickname. See if it’s Ah Yao.”