Chapter 7: Maybe He Really Has Changed

When it came to Gu Zai'an and Gu Qingbai, Qin Shaofen was two entirely different people.

With Gu Qingbai she was gentle and attentive, patting his head and comforting him: "Qingbai, keep your distance from him from now on. Don't let him lead you astray."

At those words Gu Qingbai's brow creased, his tone cooled several degrees at once, and his gaze toward Qin Shaofen gained a new distance.

He gently drew her hand away:

"Mom, I don't think you should talk about big brother that way."

Qin Shaofen was stunned. The sweet, obedient boy she'd met had actually gone cold over one unkind word about Gu Zai'an.

"He was always—"

"He wasn't."

Before she could finish, Gu Qingbai cut her off at once.

"I don't understand why Mom would scold her own child the way those outsiders do. Even if big brother isn't your own son, you shouldn't join them in scolding him. My mother in the countryside never once scolded me like that. Why can't you be like her, and treat your own children a little better?"

"Xiaobai, Mom knows you were deceived by Zai'an. He really isn't a good child. You don't know what he used to be—"

"The past is the past. Why does Mom keep dragging up the past? From the day I walked in, all I've seen is Mom never giving big brother a kind look — and big brother has never once gotten angry."

Her son's words did remind Qin Shaofen of something: Gu Zai'an's attitude really had changed enormously. Like right now.

Gu Zai'an's expression was mild, entirely stripped of that old contemptuous swagger.

Qin Shaofen shook her head.

Never angry, nothing of the sort. She had frozen his cards, that was all — he was scared, and didn't dare act so high and mighty anymore.

She let out a long sigh. "Fine. Whatever you want to eat, Mom will make it."

"What about big brother?" Gu Qingbai clutched at his clothes, docile as a child begging his mother for a toy.

The gloom in Qin Shaofen's chest eased considerably, and a smile touched her mouth. "I'll make everything."

"Yay~ Thank you, Mom~" Gu Qingbai nuzzled against Qin Shaofen's hand like a spoiled child.

Standing behind them, Gu Zai'an could not have looked more like an outsider.

Well — he was an outsider, never quite fitting into this family.

In his original world, he had been an orphan. In elementary school, the other kids mocked him for having no parents; in middle school, they pitied him for it.

By high school, everyone was too buried in exam prep to ask about anyone's family, so he simply played the part of a good kid with loving parents.

After the college entrance exam he was truly on his own. He finally got into a decent university — only to be hit by the college graduate saturation. Twenty-nine years from then, university graduates were cheaper than high schoolers; jobs paying more than a thousand yuan in internship wages could be counted on one hand.

So that year's graduates either went into factories or made bubble tea as servers.

Even landing the bubble tea job took the right looks.

Luckily Gu Zai'an was genuinely good-looking — the type whose face could show on camera doing the internet's latest dance trend.

After half a year of bubble tea, worn out, Gu Zai'an switched to waiting tables.

Waiting tables was even more exhausting, and the contract was a full year.

For the money, he had swallowed a great many scoldings.

In short, he had traveled far, far down the road of the workhorse.

The little psychological pressure Qin Shaofen was dishing out was nothing compared with his old penny-pinching boss.

Gu Zai'an and Gu Qingbai sat in the living room watching TV and waiting for dinner. Somewhere in all that waiting, Gu Qingbai fell asleep against Gu Zai'an's shoulder.

When Qin Shaofen came out and saw the scene, her face went iron-gray. Her first instinct was to call Gu Zai'an away right at the kitchen door.

But she was afraid of waking Gu Qingbai, so instead she walked to the coffee table and said quietly, "Gu Zai'an. Come with me."

Hearing this, Gu Zai'an looked down at the groggy Gu Qingbai, then slowly eased the boy's head onto the back of the sofa, shielding it as he moved, and followed Qin Shaofen into the study.

The study was furnished in a classical style — you could tell its owner was a modest sort.

Qin Shaofen sat down at the desk, flipped open an account book, drew out a single sheet of paper, and made a few strokes with a fountain pen.

She said not one word, only sat there writing, her features cold and sharp.

Gu Zai'an, unprompted, seated himself across from her. At last she saw what was on the paper.

It was a check.

Gu Zai'an perked up instantly, sitting ramrod straight.

When she finished writing, Qin Shaofen pushed the check across to him, her tone cold, hard, and distant. "Gu Zai'an, I told you that day you are no longer the Gu family's young master. From now on you are not to set another foot inside the Gu family. And don't think that getting on Xiaobai's good side will erase what you've done. Your character is rotten, and you and Xiaobai will never get along. I hope you'll take this one million and leave of your own accord, and stop disturbing our lives."

Inside, Gu Zai'an was thrilled and electric. He had never seen that much money in his life.

One million!!! One MILLION!!!

A life of ease!!! The kind of ease he could dream about for a lifetime!!!

Gu family!!! I love you!!!

But the lovely daydream collided head-on with the system's icy warning:

[Warning, warning: Second Protagonist detected showing signs of abandoning the main storyline. Punishment: immediate death!]

[Host! Put those starry eyes away! Are you trying to die?!]

"Damn little bee, can't a guy even dream about it? I wasn't actually going to take it!"

Gu Zai'an curled his lip and pushed the check back. "If you want me gone, I have no objection. But whether I keep up with Gu Qingbai isn't my call alone. Mom, you'll have to ask Qingbai how he feels."

Hearing this, Qin Shaofen could barely keep her expression in place. She glared at Gu Zai'an. "You could take this money abroad and live your free and easy life. Once you're out, no one will bother with you. As long as Xiaobai can't see you, how would you ever know he keeps remembering you?"

Gu Zai'an was rather helpless about it all. He said to the little bee, "See that? That's the travel money Her Majesty the Queen Mother has granted me for going abroad. It's not that I'm greedy — she insists on giving it, and I can hardly refuse, can I?"

[Are you trying to exploit a glitch in me?! If you go abroad, how are you supposed to complete the main storyline?!!! You are the Second Protagonist! You must remain entangled with the female lead, or the mission will be judged a failure — immediate death!]

"Threatening me again." Gu Zai'an scoffed, staring hard at the check without moving a finger toward it.

Qin Shaofen, however, was losing patience. She slapped her hand down on the desk. "Are you taking it or not?"

"Let me think—"

Before he finished, the study door swung open: "Mom! Big brother! What are you two doing?"

Gu Qingbai stood in the doorway, his face calm, his gaze sweeping over Gu Zai'an and Qin Shaofen, and the lone check sitting on the desk.

"Abroad? Are you all going abroad to travel? Or is big brother going all by himself?"

"No — no, Xiaobai, you're awake? Then let's go eat." Qin Shaofen reflexively changed the subject and shot Gu Zai'an a meaningful look.

Gu Zai'an, however, seemed constitutionally unable to read her signals, and gave her no face at all, telling the plain truth: "Mom wants me to keep my distance from you. She's paying me to get lost abroad."

"Mom! Is what big brother said true?"

Qin Shaofen truly had not expected Gu Zai'an to tell the truth. She had raised him from childhood; naturally she knew his nature.

Vanity, competitiveness, and lies beyond counting.

He lied for one purpose: money. Apart from money, he acknowledged nothing.

Now he was penniless — and he truly did not care one bit about a million?

Had Gu Zai'an really changed?

Or was he currying favor with Gu Qingbai to squeeze money out of him?