Chapter 20: Want to... go back to the master bedroom?

Meng Shutang saw this and stood up to grab Ruan An.

But it was too late—Ruan An had already shouted it out.

Everyone's gaze turned over. Ruan An was about to speak again when Qiao Mo raised her wine glass toward Gu Yunci and Bai Cixian. "President Gu and Manager Bai are here. Come, let's all raise our glasses together."

In the workplace, Bai Cixian was at the height of her prominence. Everyone knew that Bai Cixian was the favorite in Gu Yunci's eyes.

Mistress or rightful wife, they all knew full well that even if Bai Cixian was the mistress, this occasion was not suitable for gossip.

Everyone raised their wine glasses one after another toward Gu Yunci and Bai Cixian.

All the applause and flowers in the room went to the two of them.

Ruan An's presence was completely drowned out amid wave after wave of praise and flattery. She sat down dejectedly. "Sister Sweetie, I feel so wronged on your behalf.

Meng Shutang placed two pieces of cake on her plate. "I'm not wronged."

Gu Yunci seemed to notice something and looked over, his gaze landing on Meng Shutang sitting quietly in the corner.

Bai Cixian noticed. "President Gu, you chat with President Zhou and the others. I'll be right back."

Bai Cixian went to Qiao Mo's side. "When we came in just now, what was little assistant Meng Shutang shouting?"

Qiao Mo glanced around. "Saying you're the mistress."

Bai Cixian smiled. Good, very good!

She walked gracefully to Meng Shutang's side. "Miss Meng, is the cake tasty?"

Meng Shutang smiled. "It's tasty."

She wanted to leave, but Bai Cixian had no intention of letting her off just like that. Today, in front of all the Gu Clan employees, she would let everyone see who the real mistress was!

Meng Shutang had just started to move when Bai Cixian dug the tip of her shoe into the tablecloth and yanked the long table over.

With a scream that pierced the air, Bai Cixian pulled Meng Shutang down with her as they both fell into the mess of shattered cups and plates.

Meng Shutang's slender arm was cut by a broken glass. Before she could even wince from the pain, Bai Cixian was already reaching pitifully toward Gu Yunci beside her. "Brother Yunci, help me."

Gu Yunci turned his eyes and saw her lying on the ground. He set down his glass and pulled her up.

She didn't stand steady and stumbled into Gu Yunci's arms, eyes brimming with tears, pointing at Meng Shutang on the ground. "Miss Meng, we have no grudge between us. Why did you push me?"

One sentence thrust Meng Shutang, lying on the ground, into the center of everyone's attention.

Qiao Mo: "Miss Meng looks so gentle and quiet. How could she do something like that!"

Wang Dan: "Probably jealous of Manager Bai. Talk about counting your chickens before they hatch—looks to me like she took a much harder fall than Manager Bai.

Best if she hit her face and got herself disfigured."

Meng Shutang looked up and saw the man's brow tightly furrowed, with neither questioning nor concern.

She then saw even Zhou Songyan looking hesitant. She knew no one believed her.

Covered in wine stains, she lay on the ground in wretched disarray, feeling the surrounding gazes piercingly cold.

"Qin Zheng, pull her up."

The man pushed Bai Cixian aside and said coldly.

Before Qin Zheng could walk over, Ruan An had already helped up Meng Shutang, who was struggling to her feet. "Sister Sweetie, are you okay... ah, blood."

A long gash had opened on her arm, blood pouring out. Meng Shutang pressed down on the wound. "You all have fun. I have something to attend to, so I'm leaving first."

She offered no explanation and no argument, and left amid a crowd of astonished and bewildered gazes.

She went to the restroom, rinsed it briefly, pressed down on the wound, and left.

She couldn't drive, so she took the subway.

On the way, she called Ruan An. "An'an, I'm sorry. I can't give you a ride."

Ruan An: "It's okay, Sister Sweetie. I can take the subway. It's direct, very convenient.

How are you? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Meng Shutang looked down at the wound. "It's just a scrape. I'm fine."

Qian Shui Wan was a wealthy district. The subway didn't run here. She got off at the nearest station, then called a car.

After getting home, she didn't tell Aunt Zhang about the injury and went upstairs to work.

Gu Yunci had Qin Zheng go buy medicine for Meng Shutang. After buying it, Qin Zheng searched everywhere but couldn't find her, so he told Gu Yunci, "The young madam has left."

The man ignored Zhou Songyan and Bai Cixian's attempts to make him stay, found an excuse to leave, and went to the underground parking garage.

As he started the car, he caught a glimpse of Meng Shutang's car still parked there out of the corner of his eye, and abruptly killed the engine he had just started.

He waited a full hour.

He didn't see Meng Shutang come down, so he called Aunt Zhang.

"Yes, the young madam came back early. She went upstairs and hasn't come down since," Aunt Zhang said.

The man started the car and floored the gas pedal all the way home.

Aunt Zhang saw him return. "President Gu, didn't you say you had a social engagement and would be back late?"

Gu Yunci didn't hear what she said. "She's still upstairs?"

Aunt Zhang: "Yes. I brought her fruit, but her door is closed. I don't know what she's busy doing in there."

The man strode quickly upstairs, but when he reached the door, he suddenly wasn't in such a hurry anymore.

He knocked on the door.

Meng Shutang's clear, sweet voice came from inside. "Aunt Zhang, I'm not eating. You tidy up and get some rest. No need to busy yourself."

"It's me." His tone was no longer cold and angry—husky and tight.

A moment of silence from inside. "President Gu... is something the matter?"

The man's Adam's apple bobbed lightly. He didn't even know himself why he was standing here. They were clearly about to get divorced.

He just wanted to see her injury and give her the medicine.

"Open the door."

The cold, low voice carried a command.

Meng Shutang thought for a moment, then slowly rose and opened the door.

The crack of the door was not wide.

She leaned against the wall, curled by the door, the corner of her lips bruised red and seeping thin traces of blood, her slender fingers hanging slightly, beads of blood from her arm congealed and clinging to her fingertips.

Small and pitiful, she stood there, eyes veiled in a mist of moisture, breathing softly, inspiring tender sympathy.

In stark contrast to her was the man opposite.

He was, as ever, refined and upright, handsome and distinguished.

Their eyes met across the short distance, stirring endless emotion.

"President Gu, if there's nothing else, I'm closing the door."

Meng Shutang met his gaze and spoke slowly.

The man looked at her. "Take the medicine."

Meng Shutang didn't want it—by now, the wound had already healed.

But she knew that if she didn't take it, the man wouldn't leave.

She squeezed out a decent smile and took it. "Thank you, President Gu."

After bringing it inside, she was about to close the door when the man suddenly stuck his foot out to block it.

Meng Shutang's delicate brows furrowed slightly, somewhat puzzled.

"I want to go in and have a look. I used to sleep here quite often."

Meng Shutang let go of the door.

She didn't look at Gu Yunci, casually set the medicine on the desk, and bent over it to begin designing cultural creative accessories.

The man's hand curled slightly as he entered the room, but the moment he pushed open the door, he froze.

The attic was cramped and drafty, its beams and pillars mottled, and the bed in the dim light in particular instantly unlocked childhood memories.

In his youth, his mother used to set up an easel here to paint.

Smiling, she would wipe the paint he'd accidentally gotten on his nose; sit in the wicker chair and count the returning birds outside the window lattice with him; secretly press candies that Gu Yeheng forbade him to eat into his palm.

The attic was his mother's favorite place to stay during her lifetime, and the only time in his twenty-seven years of life that was filled with gentleness, when the years were most tranquil.

Recalling each scene here one by one, pity and old pain surged in his eyes, making his refined spine stiffen slightly.

He bent down and picked up the medicine box from the desk. "Let me apply the medicine for you."

Meng Shutang said, "No need."

An hour had passed—was he going to rub off the scabs and make her bleed again?

"It's growth factor, to prevent scarring."

The man was somewhat stubborn. He pulled Meng Shutang up, had her sit on the bed, knelt on one knee and half-crouched before her, and gently rolled up her sleeve.

His fingertips were slightly warm as he dabbed the growth factor and gently applied it to her wound, his touch so light it was almost cautious, even his breathing slowed to an extreme, as if afraid of causing her pain.

After applying it, he wiped the blood from her fingertips. "Don't get it wet these next few days. Let the scab fall off naturally, and after it does, apply this patch."

Meng Shutang remembered—the man loved to kiss her fingertips.

After wiping, he deliberately lowered his head. "Do you want to… move back to the master bedroom?"

His voice was rather soft, but Meng Shutang still heard it clearly.

She couldn't understand why Gu Yunci was suddenly being kind to her, and why he was asking this.

Did she want to return to the master bedroom?

In her heart, she couldn't suppress a voice that wanted to throw herself into his arms, hold him, and cry her heart out, soaking his shirt with tears, and tell him that she did.

She also wanted to ask him why he treated her this way.

Using her as a tool for revenge.

Why was he so cold-blooded, so heartless? Why did he choose her—just because she had accepted Gu Jin Xing's proposal???

Meng Shutang's sobbing startled the man, and he slightly raised his eyes.

Against the light, Meng Shutang couldn't see his expression clearly.

But she was certain he was making some kind of decision. "As long as you—"

He wanted to say, as long as she threw away the ancient bead necklace around her neck, but before he could finish, Meng Shutang interrupted, "I don't want to!"

She stood up briskly and went out to the small terrace.

Far away from him.

She didn't want him to know that she had cried because of him.

Letting him mistake it for the pain of the wound, or for the wretchedness of earlier—either was fine.

The man crouched for a while, then slowly stood up. "Alright."

With that, he turned and left.

He went downstairs for water and saw Aunt Zhang standing in the living room. "President Gu, did you just go to the attic to find the young madam?"

Gu Yunci nodded. "Is she doing well living there?"

Aunt Zhang nodded. "The young madam is doing very well, and she likes that place a lot too.

She's planted flowers on the terrace. It's just a pity that it's late autumn now—if it were spring, it would be even more beautiful."

Gu Yunci nodded. "Good."

Aunt Zhang said, "President Gu, do you want to explain things to her?"

"Explain what?" The man gave a bitter smile. "The one he cares about isn't me anyway."

With that, he tilted his head back and drained the Burgundy in one gulp. "Aunt Zhang, go back and rest!"

"You should rest early too."

"Mm."