chapter 6

Mu Nuannuan did not know much about Gu Zhiyan; they had only met a couple of times. If the rumors online were anything to go by, Gu Zhiyan was a playboy with tons of girlfriends. However, they were mostly hearsay accompanied by questionable photographic “evidence”.

Hence, they were just gossip about him as he had never admitted to having any real girlfriend. He had been Moo Tingxiao’s partner in crime in lying to her, and due to his complicated relationship with Shen Liang, her impression of Gu Zhiyan was not the best. Despite that, she did not follow Shen Liang in condemning him.

Taking a close look at the photo, Mu Nuannuan started to analyze things for Shen Liang. “This photo was taken in front of the Golden Cauldron at night. That meant someone had been trailing him for a long time. Considering that Gu Zhiyan is a big cheese in the entertainment industry, average media outlets should be very cautious when it comes to writing about him. They wouldn’t dare offend him.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.” Shen Liang was calmer now. “He really brought two women to the club and spent the whole there.”

Shen Liang had a point, Mu Nuannuan thought. Although she did not know what happened between Shen Liang and Gu Zhiyan, she could feel that they had yet to let go of each other. Otherwise, Gu Zhiyan would not have asked her about Shen Liang every time they met, and Shen Liang would not have called her to pour out her anger and frustration toward Gu Zhiyan.

...

The rumors immediately took a life of their own when news about Gu Zhiyan broke out. Some comments in his Weibo account were as follows:

“Our President Gu is now into threesomes?”

“Why don’t you get into a serious relationship?”

“Isn’t he afraid of an STD?”

“Big Brother Gu, how can I join Shengding Entertainment?”

“I wonder why it isn’t actresses this time.”

“Everyone’s become a rubberneck here. Have you all forgotten about the Mu Corporation factory incident? #MuCorporationFactoryExposed.”

That last comment had many replies.

“I think he has a point.”

“So, President Gu is just a scapegoat?”

“If that’s the case, then the Mus really hit below the belt!”

“Poor President Gu.”

Mu Nuannuan had just finished reading the comments before she checked on the topic ranking. The entry about Mu Corporation’s factory exposure was no longer there.

She screenshot the comments and sent it to Shen Liang, telling her, “If you still care, why don’t you listen to what he has to say?”

She did not know Gu Zhiyan very well, but she knew Shen Liang almost like the back of her hand. Shen Liang was her senior by two years, and they met when they were still in high school. It had been six years since, during which tons of guys had been queuing up to pursue Shen Liang. Among the many admirers were wealthy gentlemen, but Shen Liang had never been moved by any of them. Mu Nuannuan could not make sense of it until she saw the way Shen Liang looked at Gu Zhiyan. If your heart was occupied, no other man would ever get to enter.

“Only a fool would listen to that piece of trash.” Shen Liang was still up in arms, but her tone of voice had softened a lot.

…

After work, Shiye came to pick Mu Nuannuan up as usual. Moo Jiachen was also in the car. Shiye had probably gone to pick him up from school first before he came for her.

“Hi, Nuannuan,” Moo Jiachen greeted her, then went back to digging his school bag, seemingly looking for something. He took out some books, opened the calculator on his phone, and started to hit the number pad.

“What are you doing?” Curious, Mu Nuannuan tilted her head over to take a peek. It was primary-school homework.

Moo Jiachen put the workbooks back into his school bag, then leaned over to whisper in her ear, “Don’t tell my elder cousin.”

“Don’t tell him what?” Mu Nuannuan asked. “What are you doing with those primary-school workbooks?”

“Some side income. I’m helping them with their homework. A hundred dollars per homework.”

It took Mu Nuannuan three seconds for things to sink in. This kid had business sense. “Are you strapped for money?” she asked.

“Tingxiao has stopped giving me my allowance. I have no money for games now.” He pulled a sad face, then with a puzzled look, asked, “What’s going on between Tingxiao and you? All I know is you guys have some kind of conflict, but I just don’t know about what. Besides, I can feel that Tingxiao doesn’t like me too much. He’s been strict with me but he’s never cut all of my allowances like this time.”

That was likely because Moo Jiachen’s appearance had exposed Moo Tingxiao’s scam. Speaking of which, she had to thank Moo Jiachen for that. If not for him, she would have still been living in Moo Tingxiao’s lie. Even so, that was between the adults, and there was no need to tell Moo Jiachen about it.

Patting Moo Jiachen on the shoulder, she said, “Tell me if you need money…”

“You’re earning just as much.” He put his hand up in derision.

Mu Nuannuan took a glimpse of the stack of workbooks in his bag. It looked like there were about ten of them, which meant the kid earned at least a thousand dollars a day? It appeared that he was earning more than her.

“Are primary school children this wealthy nowadays?” A hundred dollars per workbook was no small amount.

“They’re from the elite school at the back of my school.” Moo Jiachen nodded.

Poverty must have limited her imagination.

…

Back at home, Moo Jiachen disappeared into his room and started to work on his money-making project. Seeing the kid’s enterprising spirit, Mu Nuannuan found herself having no excuse to abandon her profession, so she began to work on her scriptwriting. She was working on a thriller. Once she was done, Shen Liang would assist her in contacting directors and companies to see if anyone was interested in her work. She figured that staying in Mu Corporation was not something she was aiming for in the long term.

After working on it for a while, she was running out of ideas. She got to her feet and left the room to do a little stretching. That was when she heard voices in the living room; apparently Moo Tingxiao had come home and was now having a discussion with Gu Zhiyan. Not interested in what they were saying, Mu Nuannuan turned around. Just then, she heard them talking about Mu Corporation, which grabbed her attention. She quietly went closer to the stairs and heard Gu Zhiyan’s angry voice.

“Are the Mus mad or what? Instead of solving their own sh*t, they’re dragging me into this to divert public attention. Something must be wrong with their heads! Don’t stop me, I’ll make them pay!”

“My wife is a Mu too,” Moo Tingxiao replied faintly.

Gu Zhiyan calmed down a little, clearing his throat. “Mu Nuannuan is an exception. All the other Mus have something wrong with their heads.”