Concealment

Chapter 274

Ye Shulian suppressed the terrifying doubts in her heart: "That photo of you holding hands last night! Your Uncle Gu is very old-fashioned and conservative in his thinking."

"If he saw you two pulling and tugging at each other outside in the middle of the night, would there be any peace left in this house!"

Ye Zhenzhen's mind buzzed.

Last night's Moments!

She had completely forgotten about it just now!

Cold sweat instantly soaked her back. The young girl frantically took out her phone, her fingers trembling as she opened WeChat.

In the living room.

Gu Xiangcheng put down his newspaper and glanced at the tightly closed door of the master bedroom.

He stood up, jerked his chin at Gu Ran, and said in a serious tone, "Come to the balcony with me."

Gu Ran didn't know what was going on, but followed Lao Gu to the balcony.

As soon as the sliding door to the balcony was shut tight.

Gu Xiangcheng's originally calm old face immediately hardened.

He lowered his voice, pointed at Gu Ran's nose, and scolded, "What's wrong with you, kid? No matter what I tell you, you just don't take it to heart! What are you doing posting that kind of photo?"

Gu Ran was taken aback by his words. "What photo?"

"Stop playing dumb!"

Gu Xiangcheng glared, suppressing his voice as he roared, "Hurry up and delete that Moments post from last night!"

Gu Ran finally realized that Lao Gu was talking about the shadow photo.

"Dad, listen to me..."

"Listen my ass!"

Gu Xiangcheng directly interrupted him, "Even with my reading glasses on, I can tell who's in the photo!"

"If your Aunt Ye sees it and thinks you're forcing yourself on Zhenzhen and taking advantage of her, let's see how you clean up that mess! Hurry up, don't dawdle!"

Seeing Lao Gu flushed with agitation, Gu Ran found it rather amusing.

However, he didn't dawdle. He quickly took out his phone and swiftly set the post to "Only visible to myself."

"It's done," Gu Ran said, waving his phone.

Gu Xiangcheng leaned over for a look, and only let out a long sigh of relief after confirming it was really gone.

He patted Gu Ran on the shoulder and warned him earnestly, "Be more steady in how you do things from now on! Don't leave a trail!"

"Understood!" Gu Ran stood at attention and gave a mock salute.

Seeing his unserious demeanor, Gu Xiangcheng laughed and scolded, "Get out of here."

A few minutes later.

The master bedroom door and the balcony sliding door opened almost simultaneously.

Gu Ran and Ye Zhenzhen returned to the living room one after the other.

Their gazes collided in mid-air.

Ye Zhenzhen's eyes still held lingering traces of panic, while Gu Ran's face was full of helplessness and amusement.

They turned to look at the sofa.

Gu Xiangcheng was holding a teacup, his eyes fixed on the morning news on the TV screen. His expression was serious, but his tense shoulders had clearly relaxed.

After coming out of the bedroom, Ye Shulian sat at the other end of the sofa. Holding a rag in her hand, she wiped back and forth across the already spotless coffee table, a relieved smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Gu Ran walked behind the sofa and inconspicuously squeezed the girl's fingers.

Ye Zhenzhen pinched the back of his hand in return, but the corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably.

"Ahem."

Gu Xiangcheng cleared his throat, put down his teacup, and broke the silence. "Ran, the holidays are almost over. Your school is about to start classes soon, right?"

Gu Ran withdrew his hand and walked over to sit on the single sofa to the side.

"Yeah, I have to head back to Qinglin by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

His gaze swept over Ye Shulian, who was wiping the coffee table, and then looked at Gu Xiangcheng.

"Everything is ready for WeChat's nationwide launch. Going back this time, there's a tough battle to fight."

Gu Xiangcheng straightened his posture. "That Penguin Company or whatever is going to wage war with you again?"

"That's for sure. After all, the business world is like a battlefield, though they haven't made a move yet."

Gu Ran leaned back in his chair, pouring tea for his sister as he spoke. "But they definitely won't just sit back and watch WeChat grow big."

"Once WeChat starts its comprehensive rollout, Penguin's blockade and counterattacks will definitely follow one after another."

Ye Shulian didn't understand all this, but she could grasp the danger involved.

She immediately stopped what she was doing, showing concern. "Ran, are you confident about this? That's a huge company."

"Don't worry, Aunt Ye."

Gu Ran smiled, his tone steady but revealing absolute confidence. "Since I dared to draw my sword, I never planned on losing."

He turned his head to look at Ye Zhenzhen. The young girl was gazing at him with sparkling eyes, her gaze full of trust.

"Going back this time, not only will I win, but I'll also completely tear through Penguin's social networking blockade."

Gu Ran gently tapped his fingers on the armrest of the sofa. "WeChat will become the new rule-maker."

Gu Xiangcheng looked at his sharp and brilliant son, feeling somewhat gratified, but he also sighed and picked up the newspaper again.

If it were about navigating the bureaucracy, he could still offer his son some strategies.

Even if Gu Ran were doing some small business, he could offer guidance.

But when it came to this kind of commercial warfare involving tens or hundreds of millions, he really didn't dare to point fingers or interfere rashly.

"Go all out and do it. No matter what happens, Dad has your back."

Sunlight bathed the living room.

Gu Ran stood up, stretched, and grinned at Gu Xiangcheng. "Alright, just wait for your son's good news."

After saying that, he looked again at the well-behaved girl sitting on the sofa.

"Well then, since we still have one day of vacation left, Sister Zhenzhen and I will go buy some local specialties to bring back to our roommates."

Ye Zhenzhen nodded as if granted amnesty, following him quickly to the entryway to change shoes.

The two pushed the door open and went downstairs.

As soon as they walked out of the apartment building door, the girl grabbed her younger brother's ear.

"Gu 'Dog' Ran! You almost got me killed!"

Knowing what she was talking about, Gu Ran took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace.

"Isn't everything fine? Besides, I think our parents coordinated perfectly."

"They probably figured it out a long time ago, they're just playing dumb."

Our... our parents?

Ye Zhenzhen froze for a moment, her cheeks turning slightly red, and her head suddenly spun dizzily, making her completely deaf to whatever he said next.

"Then... then can we be open about it from now on?"

Gu Ran looked down at the girl's expectant yet shy eyes and chuckled softly.

"Don't you think sneaking around and hiding it is more thrilling?"

Thrilling?

The girl lowered her head, biting her plump lips as she carefully recalled the illicit feeling of potentially being caught at any moment.

It really was... quite lethal.

Along the way, the girl's mind grew increasingly muddled.

As for where she was led by her foolish younger brother, or what they bought, she had no idea.

All she knew was that whatever Gu Ran handed over, she obediently took into her mouth... or into her hands...