Chapter 37: Chapter 37 Gu Jinxiu’s Invitation

    Gu Yikun moved his gaze from the document and looked at the woman standing in front of him with an indignant expression. He said in a cheerful tone, "So?"

    "Don’t you think you’re giving me too much work?"

    He took another sip of coffee and said, "Not really."

    An Junxi was fuming inside; these capitalist pigs!

    An Junxi mumbled, "The workload has gone up, but the salary hasn’t."

    Gu Yikun, who rarely showed any expression, suddenly looked enlightened. "Oh, is that it? How much do you want to increase it by?"

    An Junxi didn’t expect him to be so easy to talk to. She sat down, eyes shining with money signs, "Any amount is fine?"

    Recently, she had her eyes on a small apartment. She was originally planning to think about buying a house in two years, but she really liked this place. Besides, what if house prices went up even more in two years? When would she ever be able to live in her own home?

    She also thought about borrowing a bit from her senior sister, paying the down payment first and getting the property rights settled, but her senior sister’s villa still needed renovation and required a significant amount of money. She felt embarrassed to ask.

    Gu Yikun didn’t expect this woman to be so bold; he was curious to see how big her appetite was. "Tell me how much you want."

    An Junxi made a "V" gesture and tentatively asked, "Is two thousand okay?"

    Her monthly living expenses didn’t exceed a thousand, and the rent, including utilities, was also under a thousand. An additional two thousand meant her living expenses would be covered, and she could save her original salary entirely.

    Gu Yikun couldn’t help but sigh. He thought she wanted a lot, but it turned out she was just beating around the bush for two thousand bucks. He opened his golden mouth, "Approved."

    An Junxi couldn’t hold back her cheer, "Thank you, boss! You’re the best!"

    Gu Yikun was infected by her enthusiasm, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

    An Junxi didn’t notice. She saw that the plants on his desk seemed to be in need of water and eagerly said, "Let me take care of these plants, and I’ll also trim the ones on the balcony."

    Gu Yikun said, "No need." Meaning he needed to work and didn’t want her messing around.

    An Junxi, being considerate, said, "It’s okay, I just got a raise, so I should do more. I won’t disturb you; you go ahead."

    Gu Yikun couldn’t be bothered to respond and continued to review the documents.

    An Junxi was really quiet. If he hadn’t glimpsed her figure in the distance when he raised his eyes, he wouldn’t have realized there was another person in the study.

    He used to think women were annoying, so even his assistants were all men. But this woman... wasn’t too bad.

    After a while, An Junxi went downstairs to the third floor. The servants were all used to her freely coming and going. Gu Jinxiu would often ask her, "What is Father doing?"

    Poor kid, wanting to be close to his father but not daring to go up and disturb him.

    An Junxi said, "Your father is either working or working, what else could he be doing?"

    Gu Jinxiu replied softly, "My father is really too tired."

    An Junxi thought that Gu Yikun must have done something incredibly good in his past life to have such a good son in this one. Clearly, he neglected Gu Jinxiu because of work, yet Gu Jinxiu didn’t mind a bit and was even concerned about his father’s busy schedule.

    Can Gu Yikun really not see how great his child is?

    Gu Jinxiu thought for a long time before finally saying to An Junxi, "Sister Jun Xi, our school is having a Children’s Day gala next Sunday, and I’ll be performing Tai Chi. Do you want to come watch?"

    "Of course I’ll go," An Junxi said joyfully, "Thank you for inviting me!"

    Gu Jinxiu was overjoyed to see An Junxi so interested and not just humoring him, "Then I’ll ask the teacher for tickets. One for you, one for Brother Cheng, and one for Uncle Yue."

    An Junxi hadn’t met this "Brother Cheng" yet. As she knew, he lived near the company and often traveled for work, handling legal matters for the Gu Family, so it was rare to see him.

    What kind of person could he be? Uncle Cheng was so stern; he was probably another serious, no-nonsense type.

    Since Gu Jinxiu didn’t mention Gu Yikun, An Junxi didn’t ask, fearing it would make the kid sad.

    Gu Yikun definitely won’t go, right? She’s been at the Gu Family for so long, and Gu Yikun hardly inquired about his son’s studies, only making a few indifferent comments at the dinner table.

    Their father-son relationship was quite poor.

    Over time, she had gotten to know Gu Yikun a bit. He was a workaholic with a cold personality, reasonable, ruthless when needed, and didn’t consider others much in his actions. After all, most people obeyed him; maybe he got used to it.

    She used to watch him from afar, thinking this man was mysterious and arrogant, not someone ordinary people could easily approach. Now that she’s closer, he still seems unreachable but not as extraordinarily distant.

    However, he’s still not easy to get along with; as long as she doesn’t make any major mistakes, he won’t specifically give her a hard time.

    After all, President Gu has way too many things to worry about; he doesn’t have time to fuss over minor details.

    It’s only Tuesday, and there’s some time before Gu Jinxiu’s school event. She asked him, "How’s the preparation for your performance?"

    Gu Jinxiu loved it when An Junxi showed interest in his matters. This feeling was so novel to him. He said, "I’ve been training with the coach these past few days. I should be able to win an award."

    An Junxi corrected his thinking, "It’s okay even if you don’t win an award. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself."

    Gu Jinxiu obediently said, "Okay."

    The next day, after dealing with the company’s matters, An Junxi picked up her camera and went out for a shoot.

    She had one day off every week when she didn’t have to report to the Gu Family. She wouldn’t really rest, though. If she had the time, she would take on freelance work. Recently, she had less time for photo shoots, and many of her model friends were complaining.

    Since An Junxi didn’t come to the Gu Family, Gu Jinxiu focused on sparring with the coach. Although he had said he’d take it easy and not pressure himself too much, he still hoped Sister Jun Xi would see him win an award on stage.

    That evening, Sister Li brought coffee to the third floor. Gu Yikun had just finished a video conference. Seeing Sister Li come up, he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until she was about to leave that he casually asked, "Where’s An Junxi?"

    Sister Li was stunned. "Today is Jun Xi’s day off; she doesn’t have to come to work." Jun Xi had days off before; why was the young master asking about it today?

    A flicker of subtle emotion flashed through Gu Yikun’s eyes. After a long moment, he said, "Got it."

    Sister Li wanted to wait until the young master drank the coffee to see how her brew turned out, but his expression seemed off, so she didn’t stay long and found a reason to go downstairs.

    Gu Yikun took a sip from the cup and didn’t touch it again.

    He picked up some documents and flipped through a few pages but couldn’t concentrate on anything and tossed them back on the desk.

    Thinking, he had already given her a raise; could he cancel her day off now?

    If she found out, she’d probably get worked up, right?

    Imagining An Junxi getting all worked up, Gu Yikun felt a faint, rare sense of joy in his heart. Then, he picked up the documents and continued reading.