Chapter 156: Su Jin × Gu Chen: She Fell in Love with Someone

Su Jin has a secret.

She fell in love with someone.

Someone who belongs to a completely different world from her.

He is the clouds in the sky, the snow on a high peak, the star she can only look up to no matter how hard she tries to see.

"A-Jin, what are you daydreaming about? Did you hear what Mom said?"

Su Jin came back to her senses; the porridge in her bowl had already gone cold. She looked up, meeting her mother's earnest gaze: "What?"

Mother Su sighed and put down her chopsticks.

"I'm talking about your life's big event. That young man Auntie Wang introduced, he teaches at Jingda, his conditions are quite good, and he's a steady person. Will you go meet him?"

Su Jin lowered her head, stirring the porridge in her bowl: "Mom, I'm not in a rush."

"You aren't in a rush, but I am!" Mother Su's voice rose a little, then lowered again, "You're already twenty-seven, your job is stable now, what are you still waiting for? As a young woman—"

"Mom." Su Jin interrupted her.

Mother Su paused, her eyes suddenly turning red.

"With your father's health the way it is, who knows how many years he has left. He doesn't say it out loud, but he worries about it in his heart. He just wants to see you settled..."

Su Jin's hand holding the spoon tightened.

Silence lasted for a long time.

"When?"

Mother Su was stunned, then her eyes lit up: "Tonight at seven, at that Western restaurant near your newspaper office. Auntie Wang said that young man is very sincere and good-looking; he definitely won't let you down."

"Got it." Su Jin stood up and put the bowl into the sink, "I'm going to work."

"Hey, remember now, don't be late!" Mother Su chased her to the door.

Su Jin didn't look back, just waved her hand.

The car slowly drove out of the residential complex, and she took a deep breath.

Outside the window was the familiar street scene, the morning rush hour traffic crawling along. She gripped the steering wheel, but her mind was a mess.

A blind date.

Twenty-seven years old.

She remembered the words her mother had just said.

When her father was diagnosed with his illness, she was working as a foreign correspondent abroad, and her mother's voice on the phone was hoarse beyond recognition. After hanging up, she booked the earliest flight.

Those years spent abroad, those paths walked alone, those desperate efforts to get closer to someone.

They all seemed to have become less important.

She felt a bit irritable.

She reached out and turned on the music.

When the prelude started, she froze for a moment; it was the song she had listened to for many years, "You Should Hide It In Your Heart".

"Not every wish has an echo, how to be brave..."

While waiting for a red light, she glanced out the window, and her gaze stalled.

On the outer wall of the high-rise building across the street hung a huge advertisement, the cover of a certain finance magazine.

The person on the cover wore a dark gray suit, his brows and eyes cold, his gaze calm.

Gu Chen.

Su Jin's hand on the steering wheel froze.

He was looking at her just like that, across a street, across all the time that had passed over these years.

The singing continued: "You should hide it in your heart to maintain this just-right distance... and I watch you from afar like admiring a cloud..."

The red light turned green, and a car behind her honked its horn. Su Jin came to her senses, withdrew her gaze, and stepped on the gas pedal.

She thought she would no longer have any ripples in her heart.

But in that instant, her heartbeat still skipped a beat.

This was not an emotion she should have; if just a photo could disturb her mind, what would she do when she saw him in person in a while?

After all, the person she was interviewing today was him.

The heir to the Gu Group, Gu Chen.

——

Su Jin adjusted her makeup in the mirror inside the elevator and took a deep breath.

This was just an ordinary interview.

He was the interviewee, and she was the reporter.

That was all.

The assistant led her to the door of Gu Chen's office and smiled politely: "Reporter Su, please go in, President Gu is waiting for you."

"Thank you." Su Jin nodded.

She pushed the door open and walked in.

Inside the office, Gu Chen stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, his back to the door, talking on the phone. Hearing the movement, he turned around, his gentle gaze falling upon her.

Su Jin's footsteps faltered, and her heartbeat suddenly quickened.

He hung up the phone and walked over.

"Finance Weekly?" His voice seemed different from what she remembered, a bit deeper.

Su Jin nodded and reached out her hand: "Hello, President Gu, I am Su Jin, a reporter from Finance Weekly."

He shook her hand back, letting go after a light touch: "Please sit."

Su Jin sat down in the chair, opened her notebook, and set up the voice recorder.

"Shall we begin? I won't take up too much of your time."

He nodded slightly: "Please."

The interview lasted for forty minutes.

Su Jin started with Gu Group's recent overseas acquisitions and asked a few questions about their strategic layout. Gu Chen answered at a measured pace, occasionally throwing out data to support his points.

"Your judgment on the Southeast Asian market, Mr. Gu, seems a bit different from the mainstream view in the industry." She looked up at him. "Do you really believe the growth point in this market lies in consumer electronics rather than fintech?"

A flash of surprise crossed his eyes: "Reporter Su has done her homework."

Su Jin curled the corners of her lips: "Doing homework is expected."

Gu Chen picked up his coffee and took a sip: "Then what is your take?"

Su Jin paused, weighing her words.

"Looking at the data, the penetration rate of fintech in Southeast Asia is indeed rising, but the base for consumer electronics is larger, and the growth is more stable. However," she looked at him, "if Gu Group's goal is a long-term layout, the room for fintech is indeed greater, though the risks are also higher."

Gu Chen nodded: "Continue."

"Gu Group's past overseas acquisitions have tended toward a conservative style. This sudden shift toward a high-risk, high-reward field is either because there is a new strategic judgment, or..."

Su Jin stopped and smiled: "I shouldn't guess blindly."

Gu Chen curved his lips: "You may guess."

Su Jin still didn't speak. After a few seconds, the man spoke: "You're right, a new strategy."

"Could you elaborate?"

"Fintech in Southeast Asia is like China ten years ago. We missed that wave, and we don't want to miss this one."

Su Jin looked up: "So Gu Group intends to be a leader, not a follower?"

A glimmer of appreciation flashed in Gu Chen's eyes: "Reporter Su is very good at grasping the main point."

For the next twenty minutes, she asked a few more questions regarding technical barriers, talent reserves, and localization strategies.

He answered them one by one, occasionally asking for her opinion in return. She held her own; it was a back-and-forth, like a well-matched duel.

The interview ended, and Su Jin closed her notebook and turned off the voice recorder.

"Thank you, Mr. Gu, for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview. I will send it to your assistant for confirmation once the draft is finished." Having said this, she stood up, ready to leave.

Gu Chen leaned back in his chair, looked at her, and suddenly called out: "Reporter Su."

Su Jin paused her steps and turned back.

"You really don't remember me?"

The man's voice, carrying a smile, came through clearly, and Su Jin felt her heart skip a beat.

——

(PS: The song "You Should Hide It In Your Heart" is truly a masterpiece for unrequited love; the lyrics perfectly capture the bitterness of a secret crush. My favorite line is: "So I carefully choose topics to discuss, fearing that I might be seen through by you at a glance; the wind at the equator finally waited for the snow, but it instantly melted into despair.")