Chapter 94

Chapter 94

An ominous feeling crept into her heart.

Chu Suosuo wailed even harder. “Grandpa, why are your hands so cold? Grandpa, Grandpa, you have to wake up!”

She slapped his face with her hands, trying to wake him.

Gu Jinyao found her sobbing and wailing annoying. Frowning, he snapped, “If you’re going to cry, do it somewhere else. Don’t interfere with me saving him!”

He had naturally cold, sharp features that warned strangers to stay away and even made ghosts and gods keep their distance. When he grew fierce, his presence was incredibly intimidating.

Chu Suosuo was so frightened that she immediately stopped crying. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and stood up, sobbing. Habitually, she reached into her pocket for her phone to call for an ambulance, but after fumbling for a while, she couldn’t find it. She thought it might have fallen into the water.

After a moment, she remembered that her phone had run out of battery and she had left it in the house to charge. She had been in such a rush to chase Su Hua out earlier that she hadn’t bothered to bring it.

She turned and ran toward the main house to get her phone.

Once Chu Suosuo was far enough away, Gu Jinyao patted Hua Tianshou’s shoulder and said, “She’s gone. You can open your eyes now, Elder.”

Hua Tianshou slowly peeled his eyelids back, gazing at him with a slightly puzzled look. “How did you know I was faking?”

Gu Jinyao stood up and wrung out his wet clothes, saying nonchalantly, “It’s pretty hard for someone who could swim across the Yangtze River in his youth to drown.”

Hua Tianshou let out a hearty laugh. “You brat, nothing gets past your sharp eyes.”

Propping his palms against the concrete ground, he sat up with some effort. “I did this to teach Suosuo a lesson. That girl has been spoiled by all of us since she was a child; she likes everyone to revolve around her. If I didn’t give her a scare, she’d dare to pull a stunt like this again next time.”

Gu Jinyao raised an eyebrow slightly. “You guessed it was her?”

Hua Tianshou hummed in affirmation and raised a hand to wipe the water from his hair.

Gu Jinyao asked, “How did you figure it out?”

Hua Tianshou spoke slowly. “Hua’er is cautious in her actions; it’s impossible for her to accidentally fall into the water. Suosuo can swim, so it’s impossible for her to drown. Both of them falling in at the same time is clearly a little girl’s trick to vie for favor. Hua’er is steady while Suosuo is competitive; it was easy to deduce that Suosuo was the one behind it. It’s never good to show favoritism at a time like that, so I saved them both. Women hold the longest grudges, regardless of age.”

Gu Jinyao’s lips curled slightly. “You certainly know how to handle people, Elder.”

Hua Tianshou shook the water from his clothes. “It comes from experience.”

Gu Jinyao raised an eyebrow.

Hua Tianshou smiled. “I have two daughters, Qinwan and Qirou. My eldest, Qinwan, has a personality like Hua’er-gentle and steady. My second daughter, Qirou, is like Suosuo-competitive and aggressive. This kind of drama happened plenty of times while they were growing up. I’ve long since been trained for it.”

As he spoke, the smile slowly vanished from his face.

He thought of his eldest daughter, Hua Qinwan, who was currently living in a psychiatric hospital.

He had taken Su Hua as his disciple partly because he recognized her extraordinary talent, but more so because she bore some resemblance to Hua Qinwan, especially in her personality. Keeping her by his side served as a way to remember his daughter and make up for the regrets in his heart.

Gu Jinyao didn’t say anything, reaching out to support him. “Let me take you back to the house to change. Don’t catch a cold.”

Having wet clothes clinging to one’s body was truly uncomfortable.

Hua Tianshou allowed Gu Jinyao to help him walk back. As they passed a side building in the front, Hua Tianshou said, “I’ll go in here to change instead of going to the living room. It’s too embarrassing to be seen by the guests in such a sorry state.”

“Alright.”

The two entered the room. Hua Tianshou pointed to the landline and said, “Give Suosuo a call and tell her not to call for an ambulance.”

Gu Jinyao nodded slightly. “Okay.”

After Hua Tianshou recited Chu Suosuo’s mobile number, he went into the bathroom to shower.

Gu Jinyao picked up the landline and dialed Chu Suosuo’s number. He said in a cold, indifferent voice, “There’s no need to call an ambulance.”

Chu Suosuo was stunned. “Why?”

Gu Jinyao said emotionlessly, “It’s no longer necessary.”

With that, he hung up the phone.

To Chu Suosuo’s ears, however, those words carried a different meaning: even an ambulance couldn’t save her grandfather now.

It felt like a bolt from the blue! It was as if her world had suddenly collapsed.

Distraught and panicked, she didn’t even stop to change her clothes. She ran into the living room, grabbed Hua Qirou’s hand, and pulled her toward the door.
She dragged her mother out into the courtyard in one go.

Hua Qirou asked, frustrated, “What are you doing? Why are you in such a panic?”

Chu Suosuo’s tears fell like an open faucet. “Mom, Grandpa… something happened to Grandpa!”

Hua Qirou frowned. “What happened? Speak properly. Today is your grandfather’s birthday. Crying like this is such bad luck.”

Chu Suosuo sobbed, “Just now at the lotus pond, I wanted to test if Grandpa loved me or Su Hua more. So I pushed her into the water and called for Grandpa to save her. Who knew that trying to save both of us at once would be too much for him? He drowned. I didn’t have my phone, so I came back to find it and call 120. But… but Gu Jinyao just called me and said there’s no need to call 120 anymore.”

“What? Say that again!” Hua Qirou’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head in shock.

Chu Suosuo’s face was covered in tears. “Grandpa… he’s dead.”

Hua Qirou grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her hard against the wall behind them. “You stupid girl! You actually killed your own grandfather!”

Her back hit the hard wall.

Chu Suosuo was in agonizing pain.

Wincing as she rubbed her back, she argued, “I didn’t kill him. It’s all Su Hua’s fault. She was trying to steal Grandpa from me. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have tried to test him, and Grandpa wouldn’t have drowned.”

Hua Qirou felt like her head was going to explode. “Stop talking! Where is he? Take me there now!”

The two of them rushed back to the edge of the lotus pond.

But there was no one there.

All that remained was a wet patch on the ground.

Hua Qirou and Chu Suosuo looked at each other in confusion.

The courtyard was empty; all the servants were busy in the living room.

There was no one to even ask.

Chu Suosuo dialed the number Gu Jinyao had called from earlier.

No one picked up.

The two of them panicked completely, searching everywhere like headless flies.

In another side room.

Su Hua finished a hot shower and stepped out.

Wrapped in a large bath towel, she sat on the bed and pulled the quilt around herself.

While she was showering, Gu Beixian had asked a servant to brew a bowl of ginger soup.

Seeing her come out, he handed it to her. “Drink this. It’ll help prevent a cold.”

Su Hua looked at his damp clothes and said, “You should drink some too.”

“I already did.”

Su Hua took the bowl and drank it down. After finishing, she asked, “Is my Master okay?”

Gu Beixian took the empty bowl and said calmly, “I just called Gu Jinyao to check. He’s fine. He said the old man was faking it just now-he wanted to scare Chu Suosuo to teach her a lesson.”

Su Hua didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He really was an old prankster.

Of all things to fake, he chose to fake his own death.

And on his own birthday, no less; he wasn’t superstitious at all.

However, hearing that he was fine, the heart that had been lodged in her throat finally settled back into her chest.

Su Hua found a hairdryer and began to dry her hair.

Gu Beixian went into the bathroom to take a shower.

By the time he came out, the driver, Ah Hong, was knocking on the door.

Gu Beixian opened the door and took a shopping bag from him.

He looked inside, took out one of the brand-new suits and a shirt, and handed them to Ah Hong, instructing, “Take these to Gu Jinyao.”

“Yes, President Gu.” Ah Hong took the bag and went to find Gu Jinyao.

He tried calling his phone, but no one answered.

After searching for five or six minutes, Ah Hong finally spotted him in front of another side room.

Still in his wet clothes, he was standing at the doorway smoking.

An orange glow flickered at his fingertips.

His handsome, chiseled face looked straight ahead, his expression tinged with a hint of loneliness.

Ah Hong stepped forward and handed him the bag, saying politely, “Mr. Gu, President Gu asked me to give this to you. The suit and shirt are brand new and have never been worn.”

Gu Jinyao stubbed out his cigarette, reached out to take the bag, and offered a word of thanks.

He went back into the room, showered, and changed.

The fit was perfect.

He took out his phone and sent two words to Gu Beixian: “Thanks.”

When Gu Beixian received the message, he gave it a brief glance but didn’t reply.

He lightly tapped the delete key and erased the message.