Chapter 55

Gu Tingyu stared in silence at Shen Lihuan, who bore a striking resemblance to his older sister.

He had known from a young age that he was an illegitimate child—he was only seven when he found out.

That day after school, he had been playing on the street with a group of friends when he unexpectedly saw his father walking by, holding hands with a pretty young girl and accompanied by an elegant woman.

He had wanted to call out to his father but, for some reason, suddenly lost the courage to do so.

When he returned home, troubled, he saw his mother hiding in her room, talking to his father on the phone. Instinctively, he crouched by the door to listen.

On the other end of the call, his father spoke in a gentle tone, saying he couldn’t leave because it was his eldest daughter’s birthday today.

Gu Tingyu froze. His father’s eldest daughter was Gu Qingrong, but… today wasn’t her birthday.

His mother began to cry softly and said, “Brother Xiujin, I know I shouldn’t complain, but living like this in the shadows is really unbearable. When will you divorce your wife? Qingrong and Tingyu are both so grown up now—how painful would it be for them to find out that they’re just illegitimate children?”

…

Gu Tingyu didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Even though he was only seven, he knew that “illegitimate child” was a cruel term. He had heard his deskmate say before that illegitimate children were born to mistresses, that they should have been drowned at birth, that they never should have existed in this world.

To this day, he still remembered the look of hatred in his deskmate’s eyes. If his deskmate found out that he was an illegitimate child too, would he lose that friend? He didn’t dare to think about it.

Angry, he confronted his mother, asking why she would become a mistress. Didn’t she know how shameful that was? His mother looked at him in shock and said, “How could you think that? Your father and I truly love each other!”

He looked at her with contempt. “If you truly loved each other, then why didn’t Father marry you? Why did he make you a mistress instead? He already has a wife and children—I saw them with my own eyes!”

His mother went mad after hearing those words, smashing everything in the house. “Very soon, very soon your father will marry me! Pei Yuanning—that woman couldn’t even give Brother Xiujin a son! Why does she get to keep the title of the Gu family’s young madam? That title belongs to me!”

Terrified by her twisted expression, he fled from the house. That wasn’t the gentle, kind mother he had known. She had willingly become a mistress and was even plotting to take someone else’s place. How could she be so terrifying?

From that moment on, he could no longer see his parents as good people, and his attitude toward them turned cold. Compared to Gu Qingrong, his spoiled and hypocritical full sister, he much preferred his other sister, the one who was truly gentle and dignified. He had even found out her name—Gu Qinglan. It was much prettier than Gu Qingrong’s.

Like a little fanboy, he quietly followed his sister’s life from a distance. One day, however, he noticed that she seemed unusually downcast. Later, she stopped coming to school altogether. He panicked, but not knowing where she lived, he could only worry helplessly.

Then, his mother and Gu Qingrong were brought into their father’s home, and he finally learned the truth—his sister’s mother, the elegant woman he had seen, had passed away. His own mother had indeed stolen her place and become the new young madam of the Gu family.

His sister also learned the truth about him—that he was her father’s illegitimate child. Faced with her cold, indifferent expression, he couldn’t utter a single word.

Gu Qingrong turned out to be truly vile, constantly bullying his sister. He tried to stand up for her, but he couldn’t out-argue Gu Qingrong. In the end, he got into a fight with her. Gu Qingrong tattled to their parents, and as punishment, he was sent to endless calligraphy, painting, and piano classes, barely allowed to stay at home. He had no idea how much his sister had suffered afterward.

By the time he entered high school, his sister was dating Shen Jiashu, that cunning wolf. Gu Qingrong, of course, started stirring up trouble again, trying to steal Shen Jiashu from her. Though Gu Tingyu was also annoyed that Shen Jiashu had taken his sister away, there was no way he would let Gu Qingrong succeed.

But his words carried little weight. His father ignored his protests and insisted that his sister give Shen Jiashu to Gu Qingrong. Furious, she severed ties with their father and moved out of the Gu family home.

In his final year of high school, his sister and Shen Jiashu left the imperial capital together, finally bringing an end to the ridiculous battle over Shen Jiashu. From then on, he completely despised his family and used adulthood as an excuse to move out of the Gu household.

More than a decade passed in the blink of an eye. When he finally had the means to search for his sister and Shen Jiashu, he chose not to. It wasn’t that he didn’t care—it was just that staying away was the greatest kindness he could offer her. After all, he was the product of their father’s infidelity. She probably wouldn’t want to see him and be reminded of such a painful past.

Now, seeing his little niece, he wondered—had his sister ever mentioned him to her? She was staring at him intently. Had she recognized him as her uncle?

Gu Tingyu kept his expression neutral, but his mind was running wild. If only his sister had told Lihuan about him, that would be nice.

No one could tell what he was thinking beneath his emotionless exterior—not even Shen Lihuan. Seeing her so-called “cheap uncle” staring at her, she felt stiff and quickly looked away.

Meanwhile, the result of Chen Youhong’s jade-cutting contest against the old master was finally announced. Unsurprisingly, Chen Youhong won. The darkened face of the old master alone made it obvious.

After a long silence, the old master let out a deep sigh and said, “The younger generation is truly formidable. I concede.”

A faint smile appeared on Chen Youhong’s pale face. “Master Liang, thank you for letting me win.”

“Senior Brother Chen, you’re amazing! I’m cheering for you!”

Yun Le, Chen Youhong’s number one fanboy, immediately jumped up in excitement, blurting out trendy phrases he had learned from the internet. He almost shouted, “Senior Brother Chen, I want to have your babies!” If he hadn’t remembered that he was a guy, he might have completely thrown away his last shred of dignity.

“Alright, Yun Le.” Master Kang interrupted him. “Since Nephew Chen’s match is over, you and Miss Shen should begin your match soon.”

“But Miss Shen is different from you. She’s a novice in the art of stone gambling, so don’t be too aggressive—be careful not to upset her.”

His words made Shen Lihuan cast a sharp look his way. What did he mean by that? Was he truly worried she’d be unhappy if she lost, or was he deliberately trying to humiliate her?

Why was everyone today trying to trample on her? Did they really want to see her upset?

Shen Lihuan narrowed her eyes dangerously.

What she didn’t know was that she had never offended Master Kang—but her mother, Gu Qinglan, had.

Back then, Gu Qinglan’s company had hired Master Kang to help select jade raw stones. However, due to certain reasons, the company had terminated their contract with him. Master Kang had held a grudge ever since. Now that he had encountered Gu Qinglan’s daughter, Shen Lihuan, he simply shifted his resentment onto her.

To put it bluntly, Master Kang wasn’t afraid of facing Shen Lihuan at all. He was a professional in the jade gambling world, making his money through skillful betting on raw stones. As long as he continued to gamble wisely, he would never lack wealth. And Shen Lihuan? She had no way to deal with him—unless she had the power to make all the world’s jade suppliers stop selling raw stones to him. But was that even possible?

Even Yun Le, despite being a bit slow, could hear the odd tone in his master’s words. But technically, his master wasn’t wrong—Miss Shen was indeed a novice, and it was only natural that she might lose. However, Yun Le’s original intention had simply been to have a friendly exchange with Miss Shen. His master’s blatant suggestion to go easy on her seemed a bit inappropriate…

Scratching his head in confusion, he found himself at a loss for words.

“Master Kang is right,” Hu Zhiyuan added with a smirk. “Niece Shen is a novice with little experience in stone gambling. Be careful not to make her cry.”

Gu Tingyu couldn’t take it anymore. With his long legs, he strode forward and said angrily, “Hu Zhiyuan, you’re going too far!”

Hu Zhiyuan was momentarily startled, then turned around and laughed when he saw who it was. “Oh? Are you standing up for Niece Shen? But she agreed to this match herself. I was merely stating the truth—how does that count as bullying?”

“You—!”

Gu Tingyu glared at him furiously. “You’re twisting words to justify yourself!”

“If you want to defend my niece, you should first consider your own status. Are you even worthy?”

Hu Zhiyuan snorted. Gu Tingyu was clearly Qingrong’s younger brother, yet he had always been cold and indifferent toward her. Qingrong had complained about him to him countless times—how could he possibly look favorably upon Gu Tingyu?

“Whether he is worthy or not is not for you, Uncle Hu, to decide,” Shen Lihuan suddenly interjected. “No matter what, he still carries my mother’s surname, Gu. Uncle Hu, speaking like this is overstepping your bounds.”

For some reason, she had a good impression of this “cheap uncle” of hers. She even felt a sense of familial connection with him. So when she heard Hu Zhiyuan’s insulting remarks, she couldn’t help but feel anger rise within her.

Ignoring Hu Zhiyuan’s now dark expression, Shen Lihuan continued, “Since Uncle Hu is so sure that I will lose, why don’t we make this bet a little more interesting?”

“Oh? What do you have in mind?” Hu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow, signaling her to continue.

“Normally, in jade gambling, people place bets on who will win or lose. But this time, why don’t we wager something ourselves?” Shen Lihuan said with a smile.

Hu Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes. “And what exactly do you want to bet?”

“If we’re going to bet, let’s make it big. I have 5% of Jialan’s shares. Let’s see if Uncle Hu is willing to put up 5% of Hu Corporation’s shares against mine.”

“Deal!”

“No way!”

Both Hu Zhiyuan and Gu Tingyu spoke at the same time—one with a gleeful smile, the other looking extremely anxious. Gu Tingyu couldn’t care less about anything else as he turned to Shen Lihuan, trying to persuade her, “Lihuan, don’t be reckless! You’re falling into his trap. Shares aren’t something you can just gamble away!”

Seeing the near-panic on his face, Shen Lihuan suddenly burst into laughter. “Relax, I wouldn’t do something I’m not confident about.”

This “cheap uncle” of hers was so amusing. He was already in his thirties, yet when he got anxious, his eyes turned red like a child’s.

Standing nearby, You Changqing spoke up confidently, “Don’t worry! Lihuan never pretends to be something she’s not. She wouldn’t do anything without certainty.”

She had complete faith in Lihuan—there was nothing in this world that could stump her!

However, Gu Tingyu didn’t share her blind confidence. His brows remained tightly furrowed. “This is 5% of Jialan’s shares, Lihuan. You absolutely cannot treat this as a game.”

“Why are you interfering?” Hu Zhiyuan snapped. “The shares belong to Niece Shen. How she chooses to handle them is her business.”

Hu Zhiyuan had already mentally pocketed that 5% of Jialan’s shares and was unwilling to let them slip away.

“No!” Gu Tingyu firmly opposed. “Lihuan isn’t even an adult yet. If she really loses and wants to transfer the shares, she would need her guardian’s approval!”

He refused to back down even an inch.