Back Then, I Adored You

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

It was on the tip of Gu Yusheng’s tongue, but he did not say it out loud. He suddenly turned to Xiaowang and nodded at him to let him know he remembered it.

“Master Gu, didn’t you suspect someone was messing with Secretary Qin on purpose behind her back? I asked my people to do an investigation on those taken to the police station and any of their contacts. Turns out, the family of one of them paid his bail. I had my people watch him after he got out. He acted normally at the beginning, but soon he had started hanging out with unemployed people and going to blubs and drinking every day. This afternoon, my people told me they saw him with Bro Ling at the club. Bro Li was nice to him, and he even passed a cigarette to him and gave him a bottle of wine.”

Bro Li?

Gu Yusheng had never hung out with anyone in that world, but he’d heard of this name. He was famous in his world, but he had always lived in the shadows.

After what happened to Qin Zhi’ai, Xiaowang had already done an investigation on these people and found out they were from normal families. They were just no-name gangsters.

They should have shown their respect to Bro Li when they had met with him, not the other way around. How could Bro Sheng be so nice to him?

Gu Yusheng did not say anything, but Xiaowang could guess what was on Gu Yusheng’s mind based on his frowns. Xiaowang continued, “Bro Li, in such a high position, treated a nobody gangster particularly well, meaning that gangster must have done something extremely risky for him.”

“The only big thing that gangster did was kidnap Secretary Qin. Master Gu, I think it was Bro Li who did this to Secretary Qin, not those gangsters. There was no connection between Secretary Qin and Bro Li. Secretary Qin did nothing to Bro Li to cause him to take revenge on her. There was no reason for Bro Li to do anything to Secretary Qin.

“Someone must have paid a lot of money to Bro Li to get him to do it. I checked the bank transactions on Bro Li’s account, and a large amount of money was transferred into Bro Li’s account a few days before Secretary Qin was kidnapped. The money, however, was transferred by a seemingly regular people in S city.

Xiaowang hesitated, looking as though he did not want to continue talking.

Gu Yusheng frowned harder and looked up at Xiaowang to signal him to continue.

Xiaowang pressed his lips hard and took a deep breath before he told Gu Yusheng the more shocking information. “‘Regular people’ would not have this much money. Logically, it didn’t make sense, so I continued investigating all his relatives, and I found a familiar name, Zhou Jing.”

“Oh, but Master Gu, to be more accurate, her name is actually Zhou Caixia. She’s from S city, and that regular person from S city is her long-distance relative. Zhou Caixiao changed her name to Zhou Jing when she moved to Beijing.”

After pausing for a second, Xiaowang told Gu Yusheng everything. “Master Gu, you know Zhou Jing is Miss Liang’s agent. I learned by chance that she went to the same high school with Bro Li.”

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Xiaowang had said all he wanted to say.

The room fell into an eerie silence.

Gu Yusheng leaned against the headrest of his bed and stared out into the pitch-black darkness beyond the window. His expression did not let on that he had heard anything out of the ordinary.

Xiaowang could not tell what Gu Yusheng was thinking about, but certain thoughts kept swimming in his own mind. While he yearned to say them, he did not have the courage to do so,

He knew that Master Gu did not like Liang Doukou, but because the Gu family had always been on good terms with the Liang family, even if Master Gu was always mean to Liang Doukou, he had never gone overboard. This was largely because Old Master Gu had owed his life to both Old Master Liang and Liang Doukou.

In terms of family background, Secretary Qin would not be able to compare with Liang Doukou. In terms of her relationship with Old Master Gu, it seems that she could not compare with Liang Doukou either.

As Xiaowang depended on Master Gu for his livelihood, there were certain matters that he did not dare to interfere with.

Xiaowang had a long internal struggle as he stood before Gu Yusheng. Eventually, with his teeth clenched and his mind prepared to receive a lashing from Gu Yusheng, he broke the silence once more.

“Master Gu, I know that I am not in a position to pass judgement about Ms. Liang, but it should be clear to you that there is no reason for Zhou Jing to make things difficult for Secretary Qin out of the blue. Ms. Liang probably had a part to play in this.”

Upon hearing these words, the unresponsive Gu Yusheng sneered coldly, “Do I need you to tell me that?”

Xiaowang’s head hung down and he spoke no further.

Silence filled the room once more.

Gu Yusheng casually placed his hand on the arm rest of the hospital bed and drummed his fingers rhythmically, creating a rapping sound that was strikingly clear in the quiet room. Once… twice… For some reason, the sound made Xiaowang panic.

After a long time, Gu Yusheng finally stopped rapping and lifted his head to peek at Xiaowang. “Contact Mr. Xia and arrange for me to meet with him as soon as possible.”

“Mr. Xia?” Xiaowang asked hesitantly.

Gu Yusheng was aware of the reason behind his uncertainty.

If the problem weren’t so dire, he would not want to have much to do with Mr. Xia, who was more powerful than Brother Ding and wielded some 80 percent of control over the shady underworld.

If he were to step in to deal with the matter, they will undoubtedly be kept apprised of the situation on Brother Ding’s end. This was akin to gaining knowledge about Zhou Jing’s and Liang Doukou’s subsequent moves.

He who has a thorough knowledge of the enemy and himself is bound to win in all battles.

As this thought crossed his mind, Gu Yusheng looked up and glanced at Xiaowang. Speaking much more solemnly than before, he said, “Proceed according to my instructions.”

“Yes, Master Gu.” Seeing Gu Yusheng’s resolution, Xiaowang agreed.

As it was already very late, Xiaowang proceeded to take his leave. Gu Yusheng didn’t stop him, but he quickly recalled that he had yet to contact Qin Zhi’ai. He spoke again as Xiaowang was about to walk through the door. “Drop Secretary Qin a text to inform her that I have regained consciousness.”

……

The next day, Xiaowang informed Gu Yusheng that Mr. Xia had scheduled to meet with him on Friday.

…

On Friday morning, despite still recovering from his accident and surgery, Gu Yusheng insisted he be discharged from the hospital. Accompanied by Xiaowang, they met Mr. Xia in an old hutong in Beijing.

After they had clarified the purpose of their meeting, without further ado, Mr. Xia proceeded to make a call in their presence and a man in his 30s arrived in no time.

Upon his entrance, Mr. Xia introduced him to Gu Yusheng. “Master Gu, this is Li’s most trusted aide. You can learn anything you want to know about Li through him.”