CHAPTER 345: CHAPTER 345: I WILL FOLLOW YOU FROM NOW ON

After An Junxi was "taught a lesson" by her mother-in-law, the relationship between them subtly changed. Liang Huiyun was still neither warm nor cold toward her, but she no longer targeted her specifically.

An Junxi figured out her mother-in-law’s temperament; she was someone who was tough on the outside but soft inside. As long as An Junxi was in the right, her mother-in-law’s words might not be pleasant, but her intentions were not bad.

Little Ai Xi was also a clever child. She knew who treated her well and who did not. She didn’t like being close to her grandma before, but now she was extremely warm toward her. On the other hand, she was much colder toward Gu Qianlan.

Every time Gu Qianlan tried to play with her little niece, Ai Xi would ignore her, pointing at her and saying, "Bad auntie!"

Gu Qianlan would lose her temper with her parents, "How can Ai Xi be like this?"

Of course, Gu Kuangyong sided with his precious granddaughter, "You know Ai Xi doesn’t like playing with you, so why do you keep bothering her? Don’t scare the child."

Liang Huiyun also said, "You’re not a child anymore. Stop competing for affection with the children!"

Gu Qianlan ran back to her room crying, then packed her things and left despite objections. An Junxi knew she was going to find You Ran.

She silently mourned for You Ran for ten seconds, hoping he could survive the clutches of Gu Qianlan.

You Ran didn’t understand why he was so unlucky. Ever since he met Gu Qianlan, he hadn’t had a single good day.

Two years ago, he was first hunted by Gu Yikun’s men. Even hiding in the tropical rainforest with his photography team was useless. The mercenaries under Gu Yikun were like beasts; a mere rainforest couldn’t stop them.

You Ran was tormented so much that he wished he was dead. After half a year of escaping for his life, he didn’t want to drag his companions down anymore. He stopped resisting and stepped forward to surrender, "I’m not afraid to die. If you want my life, take it!"

They still wouldn’t let him go, treating him like an animal in a zoo, playing with him, constantly showing up to destroy his photography equipment, hacking into his computer system to destroy all his work. Those were the fruits of his half-life’s hard work!

As a professional photographer, seeing his painstakingly taken works destroyed like this would drive even the most carefree person insane.

He simply did nothing and wandered around New York City.

On a cold, hungry night, he stood in the park shouting, "Gu Yikun, you’re not human!"

Just after shouting, he was hit on the back of his head. His head buzzed, and he thought it was Gu Yikun’s people hitting him. Looking down, he saw a woman’s handbag.

He turned around and saw Gu Qianlan standing behind him in a long dress. She didn’t care about the leering stares of the nearby homeless people and cursed with her hands on her hips, "You scoundrel, you dared put a green hat on my brother and still curse him behind his back!"

You Ran still remembered the pain of being kicked in the groin by Gu Qianlan in a hotel. He knew he couldn’t mess with this lady and turned to leave, "You’ve got the wrong person."

Gu Qianlan, in her high heels, chased after him, "What are you feeling guilty about? Did you think hiding in the United States would make you safe? I won’t let you go!"

You Ran raised his hands in surrender, "Nothing happened between me and your sister-in-law; it was all a misunderstanding."

"I saw it with my own eyes, and you still want to deceive me?"

You Ran said, "Believe it or not, I like men."

Gu Qianlan eyed him up and down, "Are you bi, then? Swing both ways?"

You Ran laughed, "What do you know, little girl?"

"I’m not a little girl!"

Gu Qianlan knew You Ran was lying. Bored at the office, she decided to track him full-time, "When I find evidence that you’re not gay, you’re dead!"

Initially, she just wanted to pass the time, but found that following You Ran was quite fun. Seeing him look lifeless made her happy.

To avoid her, You Ran hid in the dirty, chaotic slums. He underestimated Miss Gu’s courage, who dared to enter the slums alone.

The slums were rife with thugs. In an alley, Gu Qianlan was stopped by a black guy who had just smoked marijuana. Terrified, she screamed for help, "You Ran, save me!"

The black guy was as tall as a mountain and taunted, "Little Chinese chick? I’ve never tasted one!"

You Ran sat at the alley’s corner, leisurely swinging his legs, thinking, "Go ahead and scream, your brother’s bodyguards will save you."

After a few screams, there was silence. Thinking the mercenaries watching him had acted, he rounded the corner to check. He saw Gu Qianlan being dragged into a house by a man covering her mouth.

You Ran cursed, "Those well-fed idiots usually come to bother me but are nowhere to be seen when something actually happens!"

He knew a bit of basic fighting; picked up a stick and struck the black guy’s neck hard. The black guy didn’t budge, turning to glare at him with hippo-like eyes.

You Ran felt weak at the knees, having not eaten well for two days. He lacked strength!

The black guy let go of Gu Qianlan to deal with You Ran, "I hate you Asian men the most!"

You Ran got angry too, "I hate you African buffaloes!"

They started brawling. You Ran, being tall and agile, dodged the black guy’s punches with a couple of feints, grabbed Gu Qianlan’s hand and fled, "Still staying for the festival?"

The two ran wildly, and once out of the slums, You Ran scolded Gu Qianlan, "Are you crazy, coming to the slums? If you want to die, don’t die here so we don’t have to deal with your body!"

Gu Qianlan, still shaken, cried, "I didn’t know the slums were like this. I either live in apartments or estates in the United States. How would I know the slums were so terrifying!"

Seeing stars, You Ran muttered, "Rich girl with no sense of reality, you’re something else."

Gu Qianlan didn’t care that You Ran hadn’t changed his clothes in half a month. She clung to his arm and cried, "I was scared to death just now. You brought me here; if something happened to me, you would pay!"

"I didn’t ask you to follow me!"

"No way, I’m following you from now on!"

You Ran thus began a seemingly endless life of despair.

No matter how much he cursed, he couldn’t get rid of Gu Qianlan. It even landed him in jail twice, accused of disrespecting women and suspected sexual harassment, causing a bad social impact.

Excuse me???

You Ran slammed the table in the police station, "You capitalist idiots with too much money, why don’t you deal with the rapes, robberies, and shootings instead of this nonsense? Morons!"

His rant felt great but cost him another month in detention.

When he got out, Gu Qianlan welcomed him with much fanfare. Thanks to Miss Gu, this low-profile internationally renowned photographer was finally discovered by the media, but at such a low point in his life.

He caused a stir in the United States again. Media constantly came to interview him about why he was sent to prison. You Ran’s lifelong reputation almost got ruined. Desperate, he quietly returned to China.

It was inevitable he couldn’t escape Gu Qianlan. Back home, he got into a car accident due to her bad luck, leaving him a half-dead wreck.