Chapter 281: Gu Sen Apologizes to Jiang Lai on His Son's Behalf

Seeing it was Uncle Gu, Ke Zhongying stood up and walked over, and Ellie beside her also said they could give up the private table first.

Gu Sen and Gu Hui also walked toward them.

Ke Zhongying called out, "Uncle Gu."

Gu Sen's expression was kindly: "Chongying, having dinner here with a friend?"

Ke Zhongying: "Yes, Uncle Gu."

Gu Sen: "Would it be convenient for us to squeeze in at one table?"

From the corner of his eye, he kept glancing at Jiang Lai, who had already stood up; there seemed to be some mysterious force that made him keep wanting to draw closer to this young junior.

Ke Zhongying did not immediately agree, but said, "Uncle Gu, I need to ask my friend first."

Gu Sen said, "Sorry to trouble you to go ask."

Ke Zhongying's eyes held some confusion—Auntie Ellie had already said they could use the private table that was often empty, but since the elder had put it this way, she'd better go ask Sister Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai had heard their conversation, and her gaze fell on the middle-aged man who had just spoken—an elder with refined manners, whose look cast her way carried not scrutiny or assessment, but polite goodwill.

Ke Zhongying called him Uncle Gu, so this must be the father of Gu Zhiyan and Gu Yinxue.

Completely different from the two siblings.

Jiang Lai nodded as if possessed by some unseen force; in the unseen, there seemed to be a kind of pull.

Ellie, seeing this, didn't linger—she happened to have a date of her own tonight anyway.

Ke Zhongying gave a parting reminder: "Auntie Ellie, don't go easily falling for the charms of young pretty boys—my mom said so, she doesn't trust you."

Ellie blew her a kiss: "Don't worry."

She then winked at Jiang Lai: "You two little darlings enjoy your meal."

Jiang Lai: "Goodbye, Auntie Ellie."

Ellie passed by Gu Sen, nodded politely with a smile, then went to the front desk, picked up her bag, and left.

Gu Sen and Gu Hui took their seats across from Jiang Lai.

Ke Zhongying introduced them: "Sister Jiang Lai, this is Uncle Gu Sen and Uncle Gu Hui. Uncle Gu, Uncle Gu Hui, this is my good friend Jiang Lai."

Gu Hui said, "Miss Jiang, we meet again."

Jiang Lai gave a slight nod: "Hello."

She then looked at Gu Sen, who had been watching her with a kindly expression all along, and said politely, "Chongying calls you Uncle Gu, so I'll take the liberty of calling you Uncle Gu as well."

Gu Sen looked at her with a warm smile and opened with: "I'm sorry—I don't know whether my ignorant son has caused you any trouble. I'm Gu Zhiyan's father."

Jiang Lai was visibly taken aback for a moment.

Ke Zhongying whispered close to her ear: "Uncle Gu is a very reasonable person; otherwise, Ms. Nian wouldn't have been friends with him for so many years. Uncle Gu is not like Gu Zhiyan and Gu Yinxue."

Jiang Lai looked at the middle-aged man before her and felt a sense of closeness; she replied politely, "No, Uncle Gu, you're overthinking it."

Facing such a genial elder, Jiang Lai couldn't very well tell him to his face where his son had acted inappropriately.

Dinner was served—Ellie had already ordered portions for four.

Gu Sen didn't eat much; he kept watching Jiang Lai, and said, "I recently read an article about Dr. Jiang. Dr. Jiang is from G Province?"

Jiang Lai ate slowly and carefully, nodding: "Yes."

Gu Sen: "What a coincidence—I worked in G Province for a while when I was young. Later, for personal reasons, I returned to B City and haven't been back to G Province since. Thinking about it now, I feel a bit nostalgic."

He spoke unhurriedly, with a natural air of refinement and elegance, not much like a businessman—rather different from most elders Jiang Lai had met.

That was probably the reason she felt such closeness.

Jiang Lai was not good with words, so she didn't say anything more after that; Gu Sen and Gu Hui didn't ask further either, nor did they put on any elder's airs. They finished dinner quietly and harmoniously.

As if they had genuinely just bumped into each other, happened to share a table for dinner, and chatted a couple of sentences along the way.

Reaching the roadside, Gu Sen asked, "Did you two drive? We can give you a ride back on our way."

Ke Zhongying smiled and said, "We drove, Uncle Gu. You two head back and rest early."

Gu Sen nodded: "All right."

After a couple of steps, as if remembering something, he came back and handed Jiang Lai a business card, telling her: "If my son speaks disrespectfully to Dr. Jiang again in the future, you can contact me directly. I will discipline my son properly."

Gu Sen had been in politics in his early years and turned to business in middle age. Back at the Chengxin Pavilion, when he heard his son mention Jiang Lai using the word "orphan," combined with the barbed undertones between his son and Ke Zhongyu—

—as well as the relationship between Jiang Lai's ex-husband and his son's love interest—he had already guessed the connections among these people. They must have met long ago, and his good-for-nothing son had surely spoken disrespectfully to Jiang Lai at some point.

Jiang Lai found she couldn't refuse the elder before her, and reached out to accept it: "Uncle Gu, be safe on the road."

Gu Sen nodded affectionately: "All right, you two kids as well."

After getting in the car, Gu Sen had the driver head to the hotel without the slightest pause.

The car fell into silence.

Gu Hui's gaze swept over Gu Sen two or three times before he finally asked after a long while, "Should I make another trip to G Province?"

Gu Sen was slow to speak, as if lost in a memory, and only after a long moment did he pull himself back to the present.

"No need," he said. "If possible, find out about Jiang Lai's preferences. Never mind, I'll look into it myself—you probably wouldn't be able to find out anyway."

He could still learn some things from Ms. Nian and the Ke siblings.

Back at the hotel.

Gu Sen saw his daughter waiting for him in the hotel lobby; upon seeing him, she immediately stood up and came over: "Dad, where did you go tonight? Brother and I knocked on your door and there was no response, I sent you messages and you didn't reply—I only found out from the front desk that you'd gone out in the afternoon. Were you meeting a friend?"

Gu Sen smiled and said, "I went to take care of some personal matters."

Her father hadn't answered directly, which made Gu Yinxue a bit nervous inside; naturally, she linked her arm through her father's and said, "Mom even asked me today when our family plans to go back, leaving her all alone at home."

Gu Sen patted his daughter's arm: "I'll call your mother in a bit."

Still no direct response—Gu Yinxue tensed up again. She didn't know if she was being too sensitive; her father had said it was personal business, so it was normal not to tell her.

But her father had just a couple of days ago been urging her brother to go home together, and now suddenly he wasn't in a hurry anymore—it really invited overthinking.

"When Dad calls Mom later, you can share a bit more about things in A City—Mom will be very happy."

Gu Sen turned his head to look at her: "You miss your mama so much, so how come you rushed over right after going home for a visit?"

Gu Yinxue smiled and said: "It's just work, isn't it? I already promised the Fu Family, so I can't do the kind of thing where I fish for three days and dry my nets for two. I also want to finish up sooner so I can go back and spend more time with Mama."

Gu Sen asked her: "How long are you staying home this time?"

Gu Yinxue: "A very, very long time, of course. I want to stay with Papa and Mama forever."

Gu Sen smiled warmly.

Out of the elevator, passing by Gu Zhiyan's hotel room, the electronic status on the door showed he wasn't in, so he asked: "Where's your brother?"

Gu Yinxue: "He probably went to see friends."

"Mm." Gu Sen didn't ask further, his tone turning slightly serious. "Have him come see me before bed tonight."

Gu Yinxue's heart gave a lurch.