CHAPTER 256: CHAPTER 240: STRANGERS TO EACH OTHER

At this moment, Gu Qili was calm as still water. She gave a bitter smile, her gaze drifting towards the window: "I didn’t tell you about my relationship with Mu Shuoqian because I didn’t want our interactions to become overly cautious due to my identity; I didn’t tell you about being a top student at Australian University because you’ve always felt inferior about your education; As for the bidding incident, that was unexpected for me too, and I was just as baffled, so how could I talk to you about it? I didn’t tell you about the money and the oranges because I didn’t want to hurt your pride. Actually, you’re not really blaming me for not telling you many things; it’s your jealousy that has been stoked by listening to too much gossip, and of course, Luan Yi’s manipulation played a part."

Zhu Ping pursed her lips, her emotions at the bottom of her eyes complex and thick.

"Gossip is called gossip because it’s a mix of truth and lies, but the listeners do not distinguish between the two, and most people take it as truth. Over time, your mental scale has also tilted, right? You claim to resent me, but in reality, it’s your own jealousy that’s haunting you. Zhu Ping, you say I don’t tell you many things, but what about you?"

After speaking, Gu Qili didn’t look at Zhu Ping’s regretful and ashen face; she picked up her bag and prepared to leave.

"Qili." Zhu Ping suddenly ran over and grabbed her, crying as she spoke: "I’m sorry, Qili, I misunderstood you. It turns out all this was Luan Yi’s doing; she deliberately made me misunderstand you. She spoke ill of you so much in front of me, I was really bewitched to believe her. Qili, I was wrong, I really was wrong. I didn’t realize she could be so malicious, even putting a snake in your locker."

Gu Qili looked down at her tightly gripping her arm, her gaze indifferent as if looking at a stranger.

She shook off her hand vigorously, her voice carrying a hint of self-mockery and desolation: "Thanks to you, I think I won’t have friends anymore."

Having been deeply hurt by Hu Jiaojiao before, and now having Zhu Ping rub salt into her wounds, Gu Qili began to doubt whether she was simply blind in choosing friends or if in this materialistic society, people’s hearts change too easily.

"Qili, Qili, listen to me, I really made a mistake, please forgive me this one time." Zhu Ping cried louder, her tears filled with regret. Perhaps she didn’t realize yet that she had lost a truly invaluable friend, a rare confidante on the path of life, a foolish girl who was willing to help her selflessly without leaving a name.

"Qili, my father is still in the hospital, I can’t go to jail." Zhu Ping grabbed her hand again, her tears falling on the back of her hand, as painful as sulfuric acid corrosion.

Gu Qili paused in her steps and amidst Zhu Ping’s hopeful gaze said: "I will take care of your father’s illness, but you should also take responsibility for your mistakes. Zhu Ping, from now on, we are strangers to each other."

This time, she shook off her hand even more forcefully, leaving without a hint of reluctance.

Zhu Ping stared blankly at her resolute silhouette for a while, then someone behind her called out: "Zhu Ping, come here and sign your statement. Sigh, you, having such a good friend yet not knowing to cherish her, now conspiring with others against her, you’re really bringing disaster on yourself."

Zhu Ping gave a despairing smile, and after laughing, she quickly stepped forward to pick up a pen. As she signed her name, she gritted her teeth and said, "This was Luan Yi’s doing, I will tell you everything I know, don’t worry, I have proof."

~

She did not go up to the twenty-fourth floor but sat in the cafe downstairs, waiting to have lunch with Mu Shuoqian.

She had just ordered a cup of coffee when someone pushed the door and entered. The person looked around the cafe and then headed straight towards her, sitting down across from her after reaching the table.

Gu Qili was looking at her phone, feeling someone sit down opposite her before she slowly looked up.

Her brows furrowed deeply, she said with a look of disgust: "The place is so big, why do you have to sit here and annoy me?"

Hu Jiaojiao placed her little red handbag aside, casually flipping through the menu on the table while selecting a drink: "I didn’t want to see you either, but I have something to say to you."

"Spit it out then."

Hu Jiaojiao waved over a server and ordered a glass of juice.

She remembered that she used to like to come to such places, order a cappuccino, sit by the window, and pose with her coffee cup in a melancholic way to attract the attention of men.

Maybe because she was pregnant, she had switched from coffee to juice.

Before the drink even arrived, Hu Jiaojiao played with the order plate on the table, her voice carrying a few strands of scorn and envy: "I didn’t expect you to have actually married Mu Shuoqian. You really are capable."

Gu Qili narrowed her eyes: "Not as capable as you, though. The child is conceived even before you married into the Mu Family, but don’t get too ahead of yourself. Even if Mu Haotian is spoiling you with luxuries right now, it’s just because you’re carrying his descendant. Once the child is born, not waiting for Qi Meihui to act, Mu Haotian will be the first to kick you out. Then will you still count on Mu Hewen to protect you? You’ve seen it yourself, if it weren’t for Mu Haotian’s fierce protection that day, Qi Meihui would have thrown you out long ago."

Hu Jiaojiao’s fingers suddenly tightened around the menu, crumpling the fine paper into a ball. She couldn’t deny that what Gu Qili said was exactly what she feared. How could someone as high and mighty as Mu Haotian allow a woman with no family background like her to become his daughter-in-law? Yet, why could Gu Qili?

"Qili, you and I are grasshoppers on the same string right now. Do you think I can’t see that? Mu Haotian doesn’t like you either, and your position as the Second Young Master of Mu Family’s wife isn’t secure. So, the best strategy right now is for us to join forces. You help me deal with Qi Meihui, drive her out of the Mu Family, and then I’ll stand with you against Mu Haotian," Hu Jiaojiao said, her eyes earnest as she looked at her.

When Hu Jiaojiao came to see Gu Qili, she indeed thought this way, but her deeper thought was that if she could legitimately move into the Mu Family’s home, she would find all sorts of opportunities to get close to Mu Shuoqian. Being under the same roof would certainly make it easier to create opportunities than having no contact at all as they did now.

"You’re right. Mu Haotian doesn’t like me. But unlike you, even if Mu Haotian frowns upon me, I still have Mu Shuoqian to back me up. What about you? You’re cautious in every step you take in the Mu Family, afraid to make a mistake because you can’t afford to lose. Mu Hewen won’t help you, and Qi Meihui is always making things difficult for you."

The waitress came over with coffee, and Gu Qili stopped talking. Once the coffee was served and the waitress left, she continued: "Hu Jiaojiao, what I’ve always been puzzled about is why you were so persistent about that translator position. I thought before that it was to spite me, but now I finally understand..."

Gu Qili held her cup, her gaze intense as she stared at the visibly flustered Hu Jiaojiao, "You’ve taken a fancy to Mu Shuoqian."

Emotionally agitated, Hu Jiaojiao knocked over a dish in front of her, splashing the juice inside. She hurriedly grabbed a few napkins to wipe it up.

Seeing her panic like this, Gu Qili knew her guess was right.

"Hu Jiaojiao, are you sick in the head? Do you have a delusional disorder? All the painstaking effort to get close to and use Mu Hewen, just to hook up with Mu Shuoqian? Not to mention that Mu Shuoqian himself is very averse to women, even if he didn’t have this issue, do you think he would fancy a woman his brother has been with? You are sick, Hu Jiaojiao. Have you ever seen a psychiatrist? Your self-perception is way too good. Do you think you are second to none, and nobody dares to claim to be the first?"

"Have you said enough?" Hu Jiaojiao’s articulate tongue showed no sign of stopping, but the sudden voice that sounded from behind carried a hellish chill, making her mouth reflexively clamp shut.

She turned her head and saw Mu Shuoqian standing not far away. Her facial expression went from pale to flushed, and it took her a while to utter two words: "Shuoqian."

He walked over, pulled Gu Qili up, and without giving Hu Jiaojiao a glance, strode out of the cafe.

Probably noticing that Gu Qili’s coffee hadn’t been touched, he went to the cashier to get the same drink to-go.

When leaving, he held the door open for her, his voice calm yet filled with overwhelming indulgence: "Why are you drinking an iced mocha again? Who was it that had a stomachache during their period last time?"

He remembered every detail of her menstrual cycle. Despite his fear of her tummy ache, he still spoiled her and let her drink whatever she wanted.

Hu Jiaojiao was completely petrified. Could this man really be Mu Shuoqian?

Gu Qili got into the Maybach parked not far away by Mu Shuoqian. He had turned on the air conditioning when he got out, and now the temperature inside was just right, sparing the feeling of getting hit by a ball of fire as soon as one entered.

Gu Qili buckled her seatbelt and sipped her iced mocha, the fire stoked by Hu Jiaojiao slowly subsiding.

"What was said?" Mu Shuoqian started the car.

Gu Qili recounted the matter with Zhu Ping to him. Afterward, biting her straw, her voice revealed sorrow: "Mu Shuoqian, besides you and Xiao Mi, I don’t dare to trust anyone anymore. It feels like everyone wears a mask, showing one face in public and another in private. No matter how good I am to them, they either take it for granted or ignore it. Am I too stupid to tell the good from the bad?"

Mu Shuoqian held her hand in his lap, gently massaging it. The wind from outside brought his faint words into her heart: "Stay true to your original aspiration, and you will have success in the end."

"Stay true to your original aspiration, and you will have success in the end." Gu Qili silently pondered on these words, and as if a lightbulb went off inside her head, her mood which had been gloomy all morning due to Zhu Ping’s matter brightened because of him.

As long as she doesn’t forget her original kindness, sincerity, and tolerance, whatever anyone else becomes is irrelevant to her. She just needs to be herself.

"Mu Shuoqian, thank you." She leaned her head against his arm, her smile one of relief.

They had not gone far when a loud "bang" suddenly came from behind them...