A President’s Out-of-Body Experience - Chapter 71

Having just gone through the incident with Tan Zhugui, Renzi had yet to get over the scare, and thought, could Tan Zhugui have come knocking on the door?

However, he thought about it from another direction. Since Shu Jingyi had already said that he had already cleaned this matter up, it should have been dealt with neatly. Also, Tan Zhugui did not have the guts to come make a fuss at their Yu mansion. Although his character was a little feeble, his father and brother were not people who should be provoked easily.

Renzi went out of the door to see a purple SUV outside. Next to the door stood a young man in a T-shirt and jeans. What did not match the outfit was the luxury watch on the young man’s left hand. With the way his left hand was stuck in the pocket, that watch glittered slightly under the sun. In his right hand was a huge red rose, like one of those staples from a romantic movie.

“B-brother Xiaoshan!” Unwittingly, Renzi blurted out the name he had been using for so many years, forgetting the “boyfriend” label that he had been mentioning constantly over the past few days.

Seeing Gu Xiaoshan was a joyful surprise, but currently, Renzi was feeling more of guilt and helplessness. Even so, he could not help but call out “Brother Xiaoshan”.

Gu Xiaoshan was also slightly startled. Having not heard “Brother Xiaoshan” in a while, despite being angry, his heart softened a little.

Although upset with his lover, Gu Xiaoshan still held that flower and pressed it into Renzi’s arms with a smile, “Are you surprised?”

“Very… v-very surprised.” Renzi accepted the heavy blossom without thinking. He suddenly thought of his father’s teachings: To prepare a surprise or something romantic at an unsuitable timing was essentially a trick!

Gu Xiaoshan smiled. “As long as you like it.”

Renzi still had yet to catch on, and thought for a moment before asking suspiciously, “Aren’t you supposed to be on Old Goo’s island working?”

Gu Xiaoshan was angry hearing Old Goo’s name, but still maintained his smile, “I’m back.” He then asked again, “Are you surprised?”

Renzi kept feeling that something was wrong, and had a guilty conscience seeing Gu Xiaoshan, so he stiffly nodded, “Mn.”

After preparing flowers and a surprise, if they were to see their lover reaction like Renzi, they would definitely feel disappointed, suspicious, and even angry. However, Gu Xiaoshan did not react, and only kept smiling. He pulled Renzi’s hand, as though he could not see Renzi’s timidness. “Then, let’s go.”

Renzi was alarmed. “Where are we going?”

“We’ve been apart for so long, of course we’re going on a date now.”

Gu Xiaoshan then tried pulling him into the car, and his behaviour at that moment made Renzi feel as though he was experiencing a kidnapping. Renzi suddenly swatted Gu Xiaoshan’s hand away. Gu Xiaoshan was a little shocked, and the anger in his heart grew, his face almost heating up with his emotions. He discovered that he could not allow Renzi to do any actions that would distance him from himself.

Gu Xiaoshan turned his head, and his smile was still on his face. “What’s wrong?”

Renzi pointed at his own feet. “I’m still wearing flip flops. Are they suitable for the date?”

Gu Xiaoshan saw that Renzi’s feet were even a little dirty, and suddenly laughed, his anger lessening. “Mn, it’s really quite unsuitable. We even have a candlelight dinner later.”

Renzi’s eyes rounded. “Really? We’ve been together for so long but we’ve never had a candlelight dinner before!”

Gu Xiaoshan laughed. “Isn’t it because of you? You always want to eat meat.”

Renzi had to agree. Every time Gu Xiaoshan asked him what he would like to eat, he had always said that he wanted to eat lots of meat. Then, what could he do? Candlelight roasted whole lamb, or roses with fish and pickled cabbages?

Renzi then asked, “Then I have to change my clothes? What’s our plan today?” He thought about it and continued asking, “Or you can’t say it? Are there more surprises?”

“No, there isn’t.” Gu Xiaoshan smiled. “I only felt that we’ve never had a proper date before. This time it’s going to be very cliche. I’ll drive this car and pick you up, with flowers in my hand, then we’ll go for a drive to the aquarium outside the city, and we’ll have a candlelight dinner there. There’s really not much surprise to it.”

However, Renzi was very satisfied hearing about it. He said happily, “I like such plans very much! I’ll go change my clothes now!”

Being together, they had really never tried freeing a day to have a date with each other. When Gu Xiaoshan took time out to meet with him, they would go a restaurant, watch a movie, and sometimes they were also with a big group of friends, and there was completely not a trace of romance to it. Renzi sometimes even felt that Gu Xiaoshan and him were still buddies, not lovers.

As for whatever yellow-legged chicken, Renzi had long forgotten about it. His mind was only occupied with what he should wear for this rare, first “official date”.

Renzi said he wanted to change, and so ran back into the house, while Gu Xiaoshan followed behind him. Hearing that Gu Xiaoshan was here, Yu Yuntao went to the living room to welcome the guest. The two people exchanged a friendly handshake, and just like usual, had a warm yet awkward conversation —

“Ah, President Yu!”

“Hey, President Gu!”

“Have a seat!”

“You have a seat first!”

“Come, have some tea!”

“Tea, you have some too!”

“Hahaha, it’s so good to see you today!”

“Exactly!”

After the helper serving the tea and snacks left, Yu Yuntao reverted to his nature and spoke bluntly, “You came back so urgently? I thought you were going to handle Shu Jingyi? Why are you drinking tea here?”

“Why should I look for him urgently?” Gu Xiaoshan sipped at the tea leisurely. “Coming back from a business trip, I should of course first look for my boyfriend.”

Yu Yuntao laughed. “I bet you just haven’t came up with an idea of how to deal with him yet!”

Gu Xiaoshan smiled, “You’re really a very rough person, how can you still be thinking about other people? With something like this, shouldn’t we first show Renzi some concern? He’s big-hearted, but timid, and he must be very frightened now. Of course I have to cheer him up first, everything else would come later.”

Yu Yuntao had wanted to deride Gu Xiaoshan, but never thought that he would be mocked instead. When he finally got back on track, he said, “Hah, what nice words! Having such a thing happen, aren’t you angry with Renzi?”

Of course I am.

— Gu Xiaoshan laughed. “Why would I?” With a look of gentle kindness, Gu Xiaoshan spread open his palms, “Nobody wanted something like this to happen.”

Yu Yuntao could not determine if Gu Xiaoshan was lying or not.

Gu Xiaoshan continued, “Renzi has actually improved a lot. He knows that he shouldn’t go to those entertainment centres, but you also know that he’s most afraid of boredom, and he even actually went to a study group! Meeting his old schoolmates at a chain KTV also doesn’t sound like anything to be wary of! In my opinion, he’s actually a victim!”

“Although it’s like this, keeping it to himself and not telling his family about what happened, if our father finds out about it, even if he doesn’t hit him, he will also scold him to hell and back!” Yu Yuntao himself got a little angry, “Also, he actually trusted that diabolical Shu Jingyi, and didn’t tell either of us. Just by this alone, aren’t you angry?”

Don’t say anymore, I’m furious!

— Gu Xiaoshan smiled. “It’s Shu Jingyi that’s too sly, how can I blame Renzi?”

Yu Yuntao then said, “That Renzi is really frustrating. He clearly knows that Shu Jingyi has bad intentions, yet he’s trusting him over others.”

Gu Xiaoshan sneered. “When did he ever know that Shu Jingyi has bad intentions? He’s very close to Shu Jingyi, there’s no distance between them.”

Yu Yuntao cocked his brow. “Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you know it already?” Gu Xiaoshan remembered that Yu Yuntao had mentioned Shu Jingyi wanted to come between them.

Only at this moment did Yu Yuntao realised that their understanding of the situation was completely different.

“Oh,” It dawned upon Yu Yuntao. “You mean, Shu Jingyi likes Renzi?”

Gu Xiaoshan scoffed, “How would I know?”

Yu Yuntao continued, “I understand now… He’s only known Shu Jingyi for such a short time and he trusts him so much? He’s been deceived and he’s still helping him. Don’t they all say that the best way of getting closer to a person is to share a secret? Isn’t he sharing a secret with Shu Jingyi now? Shu Jingyi can use this to challenge you and play with him. Also, Renzi will be grateful to Shu Jingyi, and will always listen to him, and keep saying that Shu Jingyi is a good person in front of you. Won’t you be furious?! If Shu Jingyi secretly asks him out, he will also go. Since they’ll be settling the Tan Zhugui matter, Renzi will also keep it from you that he’s meeting Shu Jingyi. Like this, isn’t your relationship doomed? Say, aren’t you angry?”

Fuck you! Are you the only one with a mouth? Why do you keep blabbering on?!

— Gu Xiaoshan’s rage was brewing, but the smile on his face was as pleasant as ever. “That’s all Shu Jingyi’s issues. So what if he’s not a good person? I believe that Renzi will come clean with me. Like this, I won’t be angry.”

Yu Yuntao still managed to hear a trace of what he wanted, and he laughed, “What if Renzi doesn’t come clean with you? What would you do?”

Gu Xiaoshan smiled back. “Of course I’ll forgive him.” His voice was extremely gentle, so gentle that goosebumps appeared on Yu Yuntao’s skin.

Yu Yuntao thought about it, should he persuade Renzi to not go out with Gu Xiaoshan today?

Renzi was finally done dressing up, his feet pounding against the solid wood floor as he ran downstairs. Hearing those footsteps, Gu Xiaoshan determined that Renzi was not wearing leather shoes. Actually, he had been worried that Renzi would overdress — his worry was reasonable, as Renzi had really considered about wearing a black suit and black leather shoes.

However, he recalled Gu Xiaoshan’s clothes. Gu Xiaoshan was wearing a T-shirt and jeans today, if he dressed like that, it would not match well next to Gu Xiaoshan. If people did not know, they might even think that he was trying to sell insurance to Gu Xiaoshan.

So, he pondered over it, and decided to dress up like Gu Xiaoshan, in a T-shirt and jeans.

Yu Yuntao was rather surprised when he saw Renzi’s getup. “These clothes have been stored at the bottom of your wardrobe for over 10 years already, right?” He had not seen Renzi dressed like this for a long time. Renzi kept saying that he was a “successful man amongst the circle of presidents”, and so always like to wear suits. It was not necessarily those old fashioned and stern looking black suits, most of the time he was dressed in a casual style of suit. With his attention attracting sports car, he looked just like an idle rich man’s son.

Dressed like this, Renzi looked just like a college student, extremely youthful. This was also the reason why Renzi normally did not like dressing like this. He felt that he had to dress a little more maturely to be able to stand in society.

In the end, there also was not much standing he could do.

Seeing Renzi dressed like this, Gu Xiaoshan felt that it was like a novelty, and he suddenly recalled the past. He was surprised to find that Renzi did not seem to change much over the years. His appearance did not change, nor did his character, and it was just as Old Mister Yu said, he had made no progress in life.

Thinking about this, Gu Xiaoshan started to get angry again.

Ever since he discovered Renzi’s strange behaviour yesterday, his fury had not abate.

His rage burned continuously, making him feel like he could not bear it. Logically, he knew that Renzi was a victim. Renzi was not that smart, and he could not be blamed for falling into a trap. Emotionally, Gu Xiaoshan unreasonably wanted to scold him. What friends were you meeting? Why did you go see your classmates? Someone asked you out and you just went, someone gave you a drink and you drank it? How are you so good at attracting people? Yesterday was a He Jun, today is a Shu Jingyi! They’re all up to no good, but did you do nothing wrong?

He clawed his reasoning back. He thought, it was very normal for Renzi to not be guarded against his schoolmates. He Jun wanted to take advantage of this foolish and rich Renzi, Shu Jingyi wanted to seduce this docile and pretty Renzi, these were all normal behaviours. How come it was Renzi’s fault that others had bad intentions?

However, he frowned. I don’t care, I’m just angry! Fuck!