Chapter 17

Gu Xiu looked a little aggrieved. "I didn't know. You didn't tell me after you came back, either. Everyone was worried about you."

Gu Chen gave an "Mm." "So this is how you show your concern—by spreading rumors about me in front of the entire school?"

Wang Miao immediately said, "Gu Chen, don't falsely accuse us. When did we spread rumors about you? Didn't you come back drunk yesterday? You said yourself that the phone was a gift from a client, didn't you?"

"If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for not making things clear. So we were wrong to worry about you?"

Gu Chen wanted to say something, but then he felt it was pointless. It was always like this, and he could not be bothered to explain anymore.

"Forget it." Gu Chen picked up his tray. "I'm done eating. I'm in a hurry, so I'm heading to work first."

Zhou Xiaoting waved at Gu Chen. "Hope work goes well."

"What kind of attitude is that?" Watching Gu Chen walk away without another glance, Wang Miao and Xia Tian could not help complaining to Gu Xiu. "Your brother really doesn't appreciate kindness."

"Don't talk about my brother." Gu Xiu said self-reproachfully, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let my imagination run wild and worried when I didn't know the truth. It was my mistake. It's only natural that my brother got angry."

"But you were worried about your brother, too." Wang Miao and Xia Tian comforted Gu Xiu. "Forget it. He doesn't appreciate it anyway. Just stay out of his business from now on."

"Exactly. If he hadn't always liked accepting things from other people at home, you wouldn't have misunderstood. Weren't you worried he might take petty advantages and go down the wrong path?"

"Taking kindness for malice!"

"What are you talking about?" After finishing basketball practice with his two childhood friends, Huo Mingzhang walked into the cafeteria, drenched in sweat. Coming face-to-face with Gu Xiu and Zhou Xiaoting, he found it rather surprising. "Did the sun rise in the west today? How did you two end up together?"

Though Huo Mingzhang was usually careless, he could tell that Zhou Xiaoting did not think much of Gu Xiu. He was quite surprised to see the two of them chatting together.

Gu Xiu glanced at Zhou Xiaoting. "Nothing. I just feel that Senior Zhou has misunderstood me."

Zhou Xiaoting poked at her tray with her chopsticks. "Don't falsely accuse me. I have nothing to misunderstand about you. You're the one who misunderstood Gu Chen."

"What happened?" Jin Wei glanced at Gu Xiu and said, "We ran into the legend when we came in! He seemed really unhappy. I thought he just didn't like Young Master Huo."

Huo Mingzhang looked especially innocent. "What did I do to him that he doesn't like me? On registration day, he wasn't feeling well, and I carried him to the infirmary, okay? I saved his life! I never even asked him to repay me, so why would he have a problem with me?"

"Maybe you two just clash by nature." Tao Jiang patted his childhood friend on the shoulder in consolation, then continued, "So what exactly happened just now?"

Gu Xiu looked ashamed and found it hard to speak. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have let my imagination run wild and made my brother angry."

"He suspected his brother of selling his body to close a deal." Zhou Xiaoting put it bluntly. "It's no wonder Gu Chen got angry. No one would be able to accept that."

"That's not what I meant." Gu Xiu was both angry and aggrieved as he stared wide-eyed at Zhou Xiaoting. "Senior Zhou, do you have a prejudice against me? Why do you misunderstand me every time?"

"Really?" Zhou Xiaoting shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's because every time, you say things that make people naturally misunderstand you and do things that invite misunderstanding."

"What did I say?" Gu Xiu could not tolerate Zhou Xiaoting's baseless accusations. "I was only worried that my brother drinks all the time at work. It's bad for his health."

"Didn't you also say that your brother likes accepting things from other people at home?" Zhou Xiaoting sneered. She simply could not stand people like Gu Xiu. "That wasn't something someone else said, was it?"

"So what if I said it?" Gu Xiu retorted indignantly. "Those were all things given by elders. I ate them and accepted them too. Does that mean I'm calling myself someone who likes taking petty advantages?"

"I know about this." Huo Mingzhang took over. "Gu Chen and Gu Xiu's mother is an elementary school teacher. The children in their village are all her students. Maybe those parents think she teaches well, so whenever they see the two brothers, they give them something to eat. What's wrong with that? Isn't that perfectly normal?"

"It was because of that remark that someone spread rumors saying Gu Chen drank with a client last night and got the client to give him a phone." At this point, Zhou Xiaoting glanced at Gu Xiu. "Weren't you thinking the same thing?"

Gu Xiu could not help raising his voice in rebuttal. "I wasn't."

"My brother has never asked anyone else for things. I never said that either. You're the one spreading rumors about me." Gu Xiu looked deeply aggrieved. "I don't know how I offended Senior Zhou, but why are you always trying to drive a wedge between my brother and me?"

"I'm driving a wedge between you and your brother? You're obviously the one who can't stand seeing your brother do well!" Zhou Xiaoting had finally seen just how formidable Gu Xiu was. She had only said a few things, yet how many buckets of dirty water had already been thrown at her? No wonder Gu Chen always acted as though he could not be bothered to argue with Gu Xiu.

Anyone without strong debating skills really could not afford to argue with him!

"On his first day at work yesterday, Gu Chen closed a forty-million deal. The Great Zhou World sales department group chat went wild, and everyone thought he was amazing. So why did all these nasty rumors start spreading the moment he came back to school? I asked around, and all those rumors came from your dorm!"

"I wasn't the one who said them!" Gu Xiu glared angrily at Zhou Xiaoting. "What right do you have to falsely accuse me?"

"If it wasn't you, then it was your roommates. You know your roommates dislike your brother and badmouth him everywhere. They even ran to the teachers to report Gu Chen, yet you still eat and attend classes with them. Doesn't that mean you approve of what they do?" Zhou Xiaoting had competed in debate contests since childhood. If nothing else, her logic and eloquence would never leave her at a disadvantage in an argument.

Thinking of the rumors they had heard all the way from the basketball court to the cafeteria, Jin Wei and Tao Jiang suddenly understood. "No wonder. I was wondering why those people had suddenly started spreading gossip about the legend again."