Chapter 267
Ye Shulian had already walked over.
Covering her mouth, her eyes lit up as she looked at the young man.
Her eyes curved into a smile, showing the kind of deep affection a mother-in-law has when looking at her son-in-law.
"Whose handsome young man is this? Quick, quick, stand next to Zhenzhen, Mom will take a picture of you two!"
Ye Zhenzhen lowered her head, her pretty face blushing as her mother pushed her to Gu Ran's side.
Slightly brushing against the young man's arm, as if sensing the heat beneath his clothes, the girl subconsciously took a half-step sideways to maintain a proper distance between siblings.
The young man turned his head and whispered teasingly,
"Sister, the way you were looking at me just now was so intense, it was practically dripping with affection."
Ye Zhenzhen: "!!!"
Hearing this, the girl immediately clenched her small hands, her heart going on high alert, wishing her little ears could prick up.
Was she really that unreserved?!
Was it that obvious?!
If she wasn't afraid of drawing attention, she would have raised a hand to wipe the corners of her mouth...
"You weren't secretly drooling in your head, were you?"
The girl bristled on the spot.
N-No way?!
Gritting her teeth, she couldn't help but reach out and pinch him on the waist.
"Shut up, if you keep blabbering, I'll knock your head off!!!"
She thought her authority as an older sister could suppress this disobedient guy, but not only did he not back down, his eyes actually lit up.
"Then I'm really looking forward to it."
Gu Ran looked up at Ye Shulian's phone, a relaxed smile on his lips.
"Sister's punishment... I've always been very cooperative with it."
Ye Zhenzhen: "???"
What on earth was going through this dog's head?!
What Sister's punishment series...
Was she talking about that kind?!
The girl was completely left speechless. At Ye Shulian's call to look at the camera, she stiffly twitched the corners of her mouth, squeezing out a half-dead smile.
Gu Ran lowered his head.
He looked at the little person next to him, who was as angry as a pufferfish yet still trying to keep up appearances.
He couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Ye Shulian pressed the shutter at that exact moment.
She looked down at the screen—
In the photo.
The young man was looking down with a smile, his gaze soft.
The girl's cheeks were slightly puffed out, but the corners of her mouth unconsciously carried a trace of a smile.
Standing there together, they looked exactly like a painting.
Ye Shulian was overjoyed, and the shop assistant next to her added fuel to the fire.
"A match made in heaven! Congratulations!"
"With these looks, their future children will be absolutely gorgeous!"
Ye Shulian tried hard to maintain a calm facade, but the smile in her eyes completely betrayed her true feelings.
She didn't even want to explain that they were siblings; she just covered her mouth, chuckled softly, and replied, "Thank you."
At the same time, she began to fantasize about her future grandchildren.
Looking at the perfect couple in the photo, their future genetics... would definitely be top-notch!
...
After picking out the clothes and matching shoes, they changed back into their own outfits.
Gu Ran walked briskly to the cash register, took out his bank card, and before Ye Shulian could rummage through her bag—
"Beep."
The card was swiped.
Ye Shulian gave him a helpless glare from behind and scolded him playfully.
The three of them walked out of Yunjin carrying exquisite shopping bags.
Gu Ran handed his bags to Ye Zhenzhen.
"I'm going to the restroom. You guys take your time looking around."
With that, he turned and disappeared into a quiet corridor of the mall.
Reaching a corner, he took out his phone and scrolled to a contact.
[Lao Gu].
He dialed the number.
"Ring—"
"Ring—"
After two rings, it connected.
"Hello? You brat, what is it?"
Gu Xiangcheng's voice came from the other end of the line, accompanied by the rustling sound of flipping documents in the background.
Gu Ran lowered his voice and said mysteriously,
"Dad, come home from work early today."
"I have a huge surprise for you."
"A surprise?"
Gu Xiangcheng scoffed.
"You not causing trouble for me would be the biggest surprise!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
"It's definitely going to be a grand spectacle."
"Hanging up."
Gu Ran hung up abruptly.
On the other end of the line, Gu Xiangcheng held his phone, looking completely baffled.
A huge surprise?
A grand spectacle?
He snorted aloud, but a hint of uncontrollable anticipation welled up in his heart.
...
The Chief's Office.
Gu Xiangcheng put down his phone, muttering, "Acting all mysterious."
But the corners of his mouth were already twitching upward, unable to suppress a smile.
Right at that moment.
Deputy Chief Zhang Jianguo knocked and walked in, carrying a stack of documents.
Catching sight of his unconcealed smile, he casually asked,
"Chief Gu, what are you smiling about? Why so happy? Did our Xiao Ran come home for the holidays?"
Gu Xiangcheng picked up the stainless steel thermos from his desk and slowly blew on the floating tea leaves.
He let out a sigh.
The expression on his face perfectly illustrated the meaning of "feigned distress."
"You actually guessed right, it is that brat of mine."
He shook his head, his tone feigning deep disappointment.
"Back then, I told him to study hard for the police academy and take over my mantle, but he absolutely refused to listen! He insisted on getting into the internet business and started some... GR Company."
Lao Zhang chimed in:
"Young people nowadays are all like that, full of ideas. Opening a small company to get some experience is quite nice."
"Nice, my foot!"
Gu Xiangcheng slammed his thermos onto the desk, looking heartbroken.
"It's pure nonsense! A while ago, he insisted he pulled in some Sequoia Capital, an investment of several million dollars."
"And now, he's recently gotten into a business war with that Penguin Group."
"Tell me, how massive is the Penguin Group? Yet he just had to butt heads with them!"
Clearly contradicting his expectations, Lao Zhang listened in stunned silence, only managing a few awkward chuckles.
Moreover, being a shrewd man, he naturally heard the showing off in his chief's words, so he had no choice but to continue playing along, acting as a qualified hype man.
"Well... young people have drive. Taking a loss is a blessing in disguise."
"Taking a loss? If he actually took a loss and learned his lesson, that would be fine."
Gu Xiangcheng sighed, but the smugness in his eyes was like needles piercing straight into Zhang Jianguo's eyes.
This guy...
"So what was the result?"
"The result? Who would have thought, this kid actually won! He made some software called WeiLiao, which apparently launched nationwide now and is insanely popular. I'm worried he's getting too big for his boots."
"Tell me, he's single-handedly carrying a platform of millions of users. If his health collapses, what's the use of making those hundreds of millions?"
"Hehe, hehehe... Chief Gu is right. You already work hard enough steering the overall direction of the bureau's work. Now you also, also have to worry about your son's business. It's truly too exhausting. You need to focus on taking care of your own health too."
Lao Zhang flattered him with a forced smile. Thinking of his own son who only knew how to play online games all day, the fiery urge to grab his leather belt ignited in his eyes.
Then he cast a resentful glance at Gu Xiangcheng and twitched his lips.
How is this worrying at all!!
It's clearly blatant showing off!!
And to think he actually wanted to comfort him!
Lao Zhang coughed dryly and placed the documents on the desk.
"Um... Chief Gu, I'll leave the documents from the provincial office here. I have some matters to attend to, let's talk later."
Before his voice even faded, he had already turned around and slipped away.
Returning to his office, he immediately turned on his computer and opened the browser, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
He searched for "GR Company".
A few seconds later, a string of financial news reports flooded the screen:
"Sequoia Capital Leads 5 Million USD Series A Round! Social Media Rising Star WeiLiao Surges!"
"Rejecting Penguin's Acquisition! The GR Company Founder's Path to Breakthrough!"
Lao Zhang stared at the screen, his eyes wide as saucers, feeling a sudden tightness in his chest.
Did Lao Gu's family ancestral tomb... just erupt in flames?
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
