Chapter 174: A Splendid Show

Stepping out of the psychological clinic, Fu Wenzhou couldn't help asking, "What did that old man say to you? Am I really crazy?"

Song Qingyou didn't hide it from him. "Mhm, so you need to cooperate with the treatment properly and take your medicine every day."

Fu Wenzhou's eyes lit up, his voice cheerful, "Great."

"?" Song Qingyou raised her eyes slightly.

Fu Wenzhou explained, "I can take my medicine with you every day now."

Song Qingyou: "…Why do you have to accompany me in everything?"

Fu Wenzhou gave a cold hum. "I like doing the same things as you."

The corners of Song Qingyou's lips curved upward slowly. The sunlight directly overhead was just right, and even the spring breeze carried a hint of warmth.

Fu Wenzhou lost himself gazing at Song Qingyou and slowly leaned down. Just as their lips were about to touch, an inopportune ringtone shattered the moment.

Fu Wenzhou's expression darkened. He wanted to ignore it and lowered his head to continue.

Song Qingyou gently pushed him away, her earlobes burning red. "Answer the phone."

With a forced smile that didn't reach his eyes, Fu Wenzhou picked up the call. "Xu Zezhan, you damn well better have a good reason."

Xu Zezhan indeed had one, letting out a light chuckle. "There's a good show at the Mingsheng Hotel. Coming or not?"

He hung up immediately after speaking. Fu Wenzhou's brows knitted slightly.

Song Qingyou asked, "What is it?"

Fu Wenzhou said, "Unclear. Xu Zezhan told us to go over to Mingsheng."

Meanwhile, inside the presidential suite at Mingsheng, a steamy and provocative scene was unfolding, full of vivid and stimulating sights.

The passionate, breathless sounds carried out through the door panel, echoing loudly in the luxuriously decorated living room.

A spoiled, delicate voice shattered the alluring atmosphere.

"Young Master Gu, as you can see, your girlfriend and my fiancé are sneaking around in there. How do you plan to handle this?"

Zhou Yuanning leaned against the leather sofa, her face flushed red with anger.

Gu Bai was equally furious. He had finally managed to start dating a girlfriend, and less than a night after confirming their relationship, he had a green hat slapped right onto his head.

The lighting played across the man's rakish features. Xu Zezhan leaned against the doorframe, watching the unfolding drama with unexhausted interest.

Gu Bai's voice rang out from inside: "Miss Zhou has quite the enthusiasm. I thought you invited me out early in the morning to admire the peach blossoms of early March, but it turns out you called me here to catch an affair. What a pity—"

Gu Bai deliberately paused, leaning his tall, slender body slightly backward, crossing his legs casually as he looked with amused interest at the woman opposite him.

He might lose the match, but he couldn't lose face! He certainly couldn't show the embarrassment of being cuckolded!

He had to maintain his persona as a seasoned playboy!

"The whole capital knows that Gu Bai is a notorious scoundrel. Just a woman, I can always swap for a new one tomorrow."

Zhou Yuanning truly hadn't expected Gu Bai to be so shameless. Her curled eyelashes shimmered with a layer of mist due to her anger.

Gu Bai fished out a cigarette, his fingers twirling it nonchalantly, and offered "kind" consolation: "Besides, romance and intimacy are completely normal things. Miss Zhou should learn to look on the bright side. As for a fiancé, if one is gone, we'll just find another; it won't delay anything."

Hearing Gu Bai's words, the corners of Xu Zezhan's mouth slowly curved into a profound, meaningful arc.

This guy really was—all bark and stubbornness from head to toe.

Zhou Yuanning's expression remained unchanged. She raised her eyes to look at Gu Bai and stated the real purpose of her visit: "You're right, which is why I intend to find you."

Gu Bai's cigarette-rolling motion paused, and he chuckled dryly. "Find me?"

Zhou Yuanning parted her red lips slightly. "Yes."

The two of them engaged in a back-and-forth verbal sparring match, while the rising and falling sounds inside the bedroom seemed to have no effect on them whatsoever.

The corners of Gu Bai's lips slowly curved upward as he let out a scoff. "I have no interest in Miss Zhou."

Angered by his words, Zhou Yuanning grew flustered and furious. Her gaze subconsciously flickered toward the doorway before quickly pulling it back, and she said through clamped teeth, "I came to find you to suggest we cooperate. After all, isn't that what aristocratic marriages are all about? How much genuine affection do you have for your girlfriend? I have just as little feeling for my fiancé. It would be far better for us to enter a marriage of convenience, acting as a facade of a couple and living our own lives separately after marriage without interfering with each other."

"I never would've guessed, Miss Zhou is quite modern," Gu Bai remarked sarcastically.

Forcing down the fury in her heart, Zhou Yuanning repeated the words that person had taught her: "And if not? Are you planning to hold out for true love? Do you have the courage for that? Don't joke around, Young Master Gu; you simply don't."

Just as the words fell, Gu Bai abruptly withdrew the nonchalant smile from his lips, stood up, and walked away.

Zhou Yuanning couldn't read his intentions, but her mission for the day was already accomplished.

As Gu Bai passed Xu Zezhan, he suddenly halted his steps, grabbed Xu Zezhan's arm, and demanded, "Did you do this?"

Xu Zezhan weighed the hand on his arm for a moment before suddenly flipping his palm, pinning Gu Bai in reverse and trapping him against the corner of the wall.

Within that tight space, the air was filled with an unfamiliar and cool scent of tobacco.

Their hips brushed and their abdomens aligned, a posture possessing extreme aggression.

Gu Bai scowled fiercely, opening his mouth to curse him, but unexpectedly Xu Zezhan suddenly pressed forward, locking his neck and preventing him from moving.

"Figure it out now?"

Gu Bai struggled to breathe, his large eyes widening even further. Before him was an enlarged, strikingly handsome face, and ringing in his ears were the lewd, breathless cries echoing from the room.

He struggled fiercely, glaring at Xu Zezhan with angry, wide eyes. "Is this funny, Xu Zezhan? I'm asking you if this is funny! It really must have taken a lot of effort for you to hire people to stage this whole show for me first thing in the morning!"

Instead of getting angry, Xu Zezhan laughed. "I hired people to stage a show? Could it possibly be that I instigated your girlfriend to sleep with someone else? Gu Bai, your imagination really is something else."

Gu Bai's brain was practically scorching with anger. Of course he knew that his girlfriend sleeping with another man had nothing to do with Xu Zezhan, but how could it be such an incredible coincidence that both he and Zhou Yuanning found out at the exact same time?

It was far more likely that Xu Zezhan had known about this all along, but deliberately kept quiet, simply waiting to watch him jump into the fire pit with his own eyes, only to put on the guise of a good Samaritan afterward to inform him it was a trap.

Just to make himself look so damn capable.

And those things Zhou Yuanning had said just moments ago—her tone and phrasing were practically identical to Xu Zezhan's.

It was impossible for Gu Bai not to put the pieces together.

He glared fiercely at Xu Zezhan, hoping to stir a shred of guilt in the other man so he would explain himself clearly.

Yes, even now, Gu Bai was still hoping Xu Zezhan would offer a clear explanation; as long as he said he didn't do it, Gu Bai was willing to believe him.

Xu Zezhan scoffed, his expression stern as he practically dragged Gu Bai forward.

All the way until they reached that door.

*Knock, knock.*

Xu Zezhan knocked on the bedroom door with elaborate gentleness. Inside came a flurry of clattering noises, and shortly after, a disheveled man rushed out in a panic.

"Which blind idiot is ruining my good thing!" Li Nanmu cursed loudly as he opened the door, his words cutting off abruptly the moment he saw the people standing outside. Panic immediately replaced his anger, visible to the naked eye: "Young Master Xu, Young Master Gu, why—why are you guys here?"

A couple of seconds later, he spotted Zhou Yuanning sitting on the sofa, and every cell in his body gave a violent shudder: "Yuanning, why are you here too!"

Zhou Yuanning watched Li Nanmu's panicked, flustered face and found it somewhat amusing.

Her voice was soft and steady as she stated a fact: "You cheated. We're over."

Li Nanmu pulled his pants up, attempting to explain, "Yuanning, listen to me, this is all a misunderstanding. I only got drunk and—"

"Nanmu, who is it so early in the morning—" A woman with large wavy hair and painted red lips walked closer, draped in a bath towel swaying seductively. When she saw Gu Bai, her face distorted in sheer terror: "Gu... Young Master Gu! I..."

Gu Bai had no time to listen to these two talk nonsense; his own situation was hardly any better.

"Get lost!" Gu Bai ground out through his teeth.

Trapped in Xu Zezhan's hold without any ability to resist, he had lost every single ounce of his damn face.

His sole thought was to get these people to leave immediately so it would clear the space for him and Xu Zezhan to have a proper, violent brawl.

Xu Zezhan lifted his gaze to look at the man and woman inside the room. The typically charming peach-blossom eyes were currently overflowing with utter disgust and aversion, icy cold enough to freeze someone's heart.

Li Nanmu and Chen Ruoyi were terrified by that casual glance.

Chen Ruoyi didn't even bother putting her clothes back on, bolting away wrapped tightly in her bath towel.

Seeing Zhou Yuanning stand up to leave, Li Nanmu hurriedly chased after her.

In the blink of an eye, only Gu Bai and Xu Zezhan remained in the spacious room.

Gu Bai finally dropped all pretense; the expression he had been forcing himself to maintain all morning completely crumbled. His struggling movements intensified, and his gaze looked as though he wanted to murder Xu Zezhan on the spot.

However, the disparity in strength was vast. Xu Zezhan had trained in boxing and was once a Sanshou champion, making it effortless for him to handle Gu Bai.

Refusing to admit defeat, Gu Bai resorted to dirty tricks since he couldn't win by strength, lunging forward to bite Xu Zezhan's hand.

Xu Zezhan let out a sharp hiss. "Are you a dog?"

That only made Gu Bai even angrier, and he used every ounce of his strength to tackle Xu Zezhan to the ground.

Xu Zezhan's sharp tongue wasn't a secret of just one or two days.

Even while fighting fiercely like this, he still found the mental capacity to mock Gu Bai: "Are you even using any strength? Is this supposed to be tickling me?"

Whether he was completely blinded by rage or simply found Xu Zezhan's incessantly babbling mouth utterly intolerable—

Gu Bai suddenly opened his mouth and bit down hard on Xu Zezhan's lower lip.

A real, forceful bite.

Xu Zezhan gasped in pain, reaching out to pull the other man away, only to find that the struggle caused his lip to tear further, a distinct trace of blood lingering on his palate.

"Damn you, Gu Bai! Let go!" Xu Zezhan's lower lip was clamped between Gu Bai's teeth, making his speech heavily muffled and unclear.

Outside the door.

Fu Wenzhou and Song Qingyou stood three meters away, staring blankly at the scene playing out inside.

Both of them turned to stone on the spot.

—It truly was a good show...