Volume One, Chapter 143: Innocence

Page 1/3

Sheng Yuru had never encountered such a situation before; she was so frightened that her face paled and she was overwhelmed with panic. Her first instinct was to find Gu Yuandong. In times of danger, only her all-capable second cousin could save her.

“Cousin! Help!” Sheng Yuru cried out, reaching her hand out excitedly as she saw Pei Jingmo running toward her. She knew that in critical moments, her cousin’s greatest concern was still her.

But in the next second, Pei Jingmo pressed her head down and forcefully shoved her under the table, even paying no mind when her head bumped against the edge.

“Hold still and don’t move!”

Sheng Yuru clutched her aching head and watched helplessly as he ran toward Song Qingyu.

Just when she thought Song Qingyu would be shoved under the table like herself, she saw the usually cold and indifferent cousin suddenly embrace Song Qingyu, holding her tightly as if protecting her with his very life.

Sheng Yuru cursed softly under her breath—damn Song Qingyu, she always knew her cousin had special feelings for her.

The shaking lasted about ten seconds. If it weren’t for seeing Gu Yuandong’s usual mask-like expression, Song Qingyu might have thought Pei Jingmo was the one who had come.

“President Gu—”

Being held by a man who was not her husband, Song Qingyu felt slightly uneasy.

“Don’t move. It’ll be alright.”

His reassurance calmed her considerably.

After the building returned to calm, Song Qingyu broke free from Pei Jingmo’s embrace and stood up, noticing that everyone’s gaze toward her had changed. Realizing something, she stepped back a few paces, putting some distance between herself and Gu Yuandong.

But it was already too late to stop the spreading rumors.

The epicenter was a small town over a hundred kilometers from Shangjing City. Though Shangjing was affected, fortunately, there were no major casualties.

Afterwards, everyone busied themselves tidying up, and Song Qingyu was packing her workstation.

“Hey, did you see that? During the earthquake, President Gu actually ran over to save Song Qingyu. If there’s nothing going on between them, no one would believe it.”

“Maybe Song Qingyu was really in danger at that moment, so President Gu rushed over?”

“Who wasn’t in danger then? Weren’t you? Weren’t we? President Gu didn’t protect you or me; he ran to protect Song Qingyu even though we were closer to him.”

“Exactly. President Gu was so far from Song Qingyu but still risked everything to get to her. That’s true love.”

Sheng Yuru listened from the side, her face growing darker with each word.

Page 2/3

Angrily, she walked up to Song Qingyu and said coldly, “Song Qingyu, come with me.”

Song Qingyu put down the documents and glanced at her. “What is it?”

“I called you; just come. Why so many words?”

Sheng Yuru grabbed Song Qingyu’s wrist and dragged her into the break room.

She stared at Song Qingyu’s delicate and beautiful face, burning with jealousy and anger.

“I really underestimated you. You made that worker husband of yours completely devoted to you, made Chu Xingzhi obsessed with you, and now even my cousin isn’t letting you go. Are you trying to make all the men in the world love only you?”

Song Qingyu frowned. “What nonsense are you spouting now?”

“Hmph, you have such audacity to make my cousin willingly be your kept man.”

Song Qingyu thought Sheng Yuru was seriously ill. “If you’re sick, go get treatment. Don’t come here and act crazy.”

She was about to leave when Sheng Yuru blocked her way.

“Do you dare say there’s nothing going on between you and my cousin?”

“Yes! President Gu and I have a purely professional superior-subordinate relationship.”

“Pure my ass. Don’t you see my cousin treats you differently than others?”

Song Qingyu was speechless. She wasn’t money; why did they always think so many men liked her?

“Then tell me, what’s different?”

Sheng Yuru hadn’t expected Song Qingyu would still play innocent at this point. She intended to expose her.

“During today’s earthquake, my cousin was so far away from you. When danger came, he didn’t even care about me, his cousin, but in the chaos, he rushed over to protect you.”

Song Qingyu lowered her eyes slightly. She herself sensed something was off today, but she couldn’t imagine President Gu liking her. There was only one explanation.

“President Gu is a good man—”

“Hmph! And before that, when Ma Dandan told you about the data room incident, it wasn’t a big deal, but my cousin was furious, firing Ma Dandan and ruining her future in Shangjing.”

Song Qingyu said, “If someone makes a mistake, they should be punished. Besides, President Gu doesn’t tolerate any nonsense.”

Sheng Yuru gritted her teeth in anger. “At Xiao Xi’s birthday party, my cousin was clearly dancing with Lu Rongrong. Why did he suddenly dance with you? Normally, he acts so aloof, he hasn’t even touched my hand, but he was holding your waist.”

Song Qingyu frowned more deeply. “Fu Shao wanted to swap dance partners; President Gu was just accommodating him—”

“What about that painting by your mother? You should know, given your mother’s fame, there’s no way a painting could sell for fifty million, but my cousin bought it and then sold it to you for one yuan.”

“That’s because Xiao Xi is my mother’s fan. President Gu just wanted—”

Before Song Qingyu could finish, Sheng Yuru cut her off coldly. “Stop making excuses. Do you believe those lies you tell yourself?”

Memories flashed in Song Qingyu’s mind, her heart unsettled.

“The incident in the cafeteria today, everyone saw it. Now everyone thinks there’s something unclear between you and my cousin. Your reputation might not matter, but don’t ruin his.”

Page 3/3

Though Sheng Yuru didn’t have strong feelings for Gu Yuandong, she hated Song Qingyu and didn’t want her involved with the Gu family.

“Don’t forget, you’re already married, playing with fire trying to keep both sides. Sooner or later, you’ll be the one who gets burned,” Sheng Yuru warned.

“My cousin’s fiancée is Lu Rongrong, from a family of equal standing. Don’t ruin your life.”

After Sheng Yuru left, Song Qingyu stayed in the break room for a long time.

Before today, she truly hadn’t thought President Gu had any special feelings for her.

But now, things felt very wrong.

Thinking of something, she went to check Gu Changhe’s office.

Gu Changhe was tidying a vase on his desk. Seeing Song Qingyu enter, he smiled.

“Hey, Qingyu, what brings you here? Were you scared today?”

“Manager Gu, I have something to ask you.”

Seeing her troubled expression, Gu Changhe asked, “What’s wrong?”

“When I first joined Tianqi Group, why did you take such good care of me? I know you had already scrapped several narrative-driven games before, so why did you keep ‘The Interpreter’?”

Gu Changhe saw through her suspicion immediately. It was obvious President Gu’s favoritism toward her was abnormal.

But since President Gu hadn’t said anything, Gu Changhe didn’t dare tell the truth.

“Heh… why would you ask that? Didn’t I tell you before? I really like the story and innovation of ‘The Interpreter.’ Besides, I took a liking to you from the start and wanted to look after you. Isn’t that enough?”

Song Qingyu narrowed her eyes. “Is that really true?”

“Yes, yes, it is. Enough now, don’t overthink it. The meeting is about to start; go prepare.”

Leaving Gu Changhe’s office, Song Qingyu felt even more uneasy.

Gu Changhe’s reaction was clearly nervous.

If he had nothing to hide, why would he be so flustered?

Could it be that her joining Tianqi Group was really President Gu’s plan?

President Gu had said so much before, even mentioning his first love was already married.

Could it really be her?