Chapter 142
The night had just fallen over Wuzhen, and the wind by the Dyehouse Bridge still carried a hint of the day's lingering heat.
The two of them, carrying several bags of local specialty Gusao cakes, walked back along the bluestone path.
Ye Zhenzhen's steps were bouncy; like a child, she was walking by stepping on the grid of the bluestone slabs.
Her white cotton and linen dress swayed gently in the night breeze, like a gardenia blooming on the road.
"Gu 'Dog' Ran, hurry up~"
The girl walking in front would occasionally turn her head to urge the boy behind her.
"Alright, alright. Ye Zhenzhen, are you a childish brat, skipping as you walk."
You're the childish brat!
Annoying brat...
The girl pursed her lips and turned her head away, leaving the boy who didn't know how to speak properly with a cold back.
Gu Ran smiled at this, then lowered his head to fiddle with the camera in his hands, looking through the photos he had taken of the childish girl today. The curve at the corner of his mouth just couldn't be suppressed.
"Ye Zhenzhen, the lighting in this one is absolutely amazing. It gives you an eight-foot-tall aura."
He shook the camera triumphantly. "I'll send it to Pei Susu when we get back and make her die of jealousy."
"Call me sister, show some respect."
The girl continued without turning her head, "And that's my graceful figure, what aura? That sounds terrible."
Seeing that they were about to return to the guesthouse, Gu Ran put away his camera, stuffed one hand in his pocket, and followed slowly behind.
"Right, that's not an aura, that's a graceful figure stuffed by two bowls of mutton noodles."
"Gu 'Dog' Ran! You're asking for it!"
Ye Zhenzhen's almond eyes widened in a glare. She turned around and was just about to raise her foot to teach this mood-killer a lesson when her wrist suddenly tightened.
A strong force struck.
In a dizzying spin, she was firmly pinned by Gu Ran behind the advertising billboard on the side of the guesthouse's main door. The shadows instantly swallowed both of their figures.
"Mmph..."
Just as the girl was about to struggle, her mouth was once again covered tightly by a large hand.
Ye Zhenzhen: "???"
Couldn't he change the move?
Why did it always feel like a mental insult every time?
"Shh—don't move."
Gu Ran kept his voice low in his throat and gestured forward with his eyes. "Look there."
Ye Zhenzhen looked in the direction of his gaze. Through the bright floor-to-ceiling glass, a man and a woman were standing at the front desk.
With just one glance, Ye Zhenzhen felt like she was losing her mind, instantly stiffening like a block of wood.
The man was dressed in a sharp dark gray suit, his hair combed meticulously, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, his back perfectly straight, exuding the aura of a veteran cadre from head to toe.
The woman was wearing an elegant silk qipao and a shawl, looking down at the brochures on the counter, every movement full of gentleness.
Uncle Gu and her mom?!
They were also coming to this guesthouse?!
For a moment, the girl felt her heart stop for a second.
With this kind of luck, she could easily win five million if she went to buy a lottery ticket.
Gu Ran was equally dumbfounded by this.
For a split second, he even wondered if Lao Gu was playing a trick on them.
Almost getting caught on the waterway during the day was one thing, but how could they run right into them when returning to the guesthouse at night?
Just how small was this Wuzhen?
Were they really hunting them down?
And that meticulous look... are you even a proper gentleman, pretending so well?
Having seen Gu Xiangcheng's greasy appearance before, looking at his strict old father now, Gu Ran only felt the image collapsing.
The girl beside him didn't have as big of a heart. Being separated from Lao Gu and her own mother by just a wall was thrilling, sure, but mostly it was nerve-wracking.
Her small hands couldn't stop sweating; she could only grip Gu Ran's sleeve tightly, not even daring to breathe loudly.
Through the glass door, the conversation inside floated out clearly.
The guesthouse boss was typing away at the computer screen, looking troubled: "Sir, I'm sorry, it's peak season these days. The standard rooms and double rooms are all full."
"Full?"
Gu Xiangcheng frowned slightly, raised his hand to check his watch, and spoke in a steady tone: "Boss, we heard from others that the environment here is quite nice, which is why we came specifically. Please check again. Any room type is fine as long as we can stay. My wife and I just decided to come look around on a whim, and we don't want to go through the hassle of changing places."
These words were spoken flawlessly, highlighting his taste while establishing the "arriving on a whim" big-shot vibe.
Hiding outside the door, Gu Ran applauded wildly in his heart: Brilliant, truly brilliant.
Lao Gu's trick of retreating to advance perfectly captured that middle-class vibe of "money is no object, just want the experience."
The boss scratched his head, clicked the mouse twice more, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Oh? Wait! There really is one room left!"
"Oh?" Gu Xiangcheng nodded reservedly. "What type of room?"
The boss pushed his glasses up and smiled ambiguously: "The 'Honeymoon Couple Supreme Grand Round Bed Suite' on the top floor. It was originally booked by a young couple a couple of days ago, but maybe they didn't like it or something, so they canceled it at the last minute. If you two..."
The unspoken implication was obviously a fear that these two, at their age, wouldn't be used to something so flashy.
Outside the door.
Gu Ran: "???"
Ye Zhenzhen: "???"
It felt as if the world suddenly went quiet for three seconds.
Inside the lobby.
Hearing the combination of words like "round bed," "couple," and "supreme," Ye Shulian, who was standing beside him, blushed slightly. She gently tugged at Gu Xiangcheng's sleeve, seemingly feeling that staying in such a room at their age was a bit inappropriate.
But who was Gu Xiangcheng?
He was an old criminal investigator who wouldn't change his expression even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him.
Lao Gu's expression didn't change. He even pushed his glasses up very calmly: "A round bed? That works. We're out traveling, after all. Experiencing the lifestyle of young people isn't a bad idea. The key is that it's quiet here and suitable for resting."
After saying that, he took out his ID card and slapped it onto the counter with a smack. The movement was smooth and flowed with dominating confidence.
"Check us in. Oh, by the way, boss..."
Gu Xiangcheng paused and lowered his voice, but the sound still slipped out through the crack in the door: "...Does that suite come with complimentary red wine?"
Outside the door.
Ye Zhenzhen turned her head abruptly to look at Gu Ran, her eyes filled with shock and absurdity.
Gu Ran's mouth twitched wildly as well. He had to bite down hard on the tip of his tongue to keep from laughing out loud.
The boomerang had finally hit home.
This "love motel room" really had some deep f*cking destiny with his Gu family.
After going round and round, it actually ended up in his own dad's hands.
What, were all the men in his Gu family... secretly perverted?
They even needed red wine to set the mood?
Well done, Lao Gu!
It seemed that tonight, the Gu family's ancestral graves wouldn't just be emitting green smoke; they'd be blowing pink bubbles!
Ye Zhenzhen was so mortified by this point that she was about to evaporate on the spot. Her whole face was as red as a bright red cloth, and she wished she could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
She signaled wildly with her eyes to Gu Ran, who still seemed to be enjoying the show: Let's go! If we keep eavesdropping, we'll get styes in our eyes!
To this, Gu Ran thought: Styes in the eyes?
I'm listening with my ears; if anything, I'd get styes in my ears!
Seeing that he wasn't moving, the girl, pressed against the shadow of the billboard and not daring to move a muscle, could only "helplessly" continue listening, feeling a sense of thrill.
It wasn't until their parents took the room card and walked arm in arm toward the elevator.
Watching the floor numbers jump all the way to the top floor, the two of them sighed with slight disappointment.
"Let's go."
Taking advantage of a moment when no one was around, Gu Ran grabbed Ye Zhenzhen. Hunched over, they quickly slipped into the guesthouse lobby.
"Oh? You're back?"
The owner had just finished checking Lao Gu in and was looking down to sort out some receipts. When she looked up and saw two dark figures flash by, she instinctively called out a greeting.
Before she could get a clear look at them, the two had already sprinted into the stairwell.
"Strange..." the owner muttered, scratching her head. "Now that I think about it, why did those two kids look a bit like that couple from just now?"
...
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
