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As Gu Bai savored the fragrance of the tea, he suddenly found himself saddled with blame out of nowhere.

And what a hefty load of blame it was.

Gu Bai felt very calm at that moment. Did the conversation turning to him mean this meeting was almost over?

Gu Haisheng asked Gu Bai, "Tell me, Third Brother, what's the difference between a buyout and a management buyout?"

Everyone looked at Gu Bai.

Under several burning gazes, Gu Bai set down his teacup and asked without a hint of embarrassment, "What do buyout and management buyout mean?"

Gu Ruilin: ...How had he forgotten that Third Brother was an idiot without the slightest head for business?

Gu Bai naturally knew what both terms meant and how they differed. But the original owner of this body had majored in literature in college and had no interest in business. The question he had just asked was perfectly in character.

"Third Brother doesn't know the first thing about business, and you're telling me he threatened you with the acquisition plan? Even if he could get his hands on it, he'd have to understand it first." Gu Haisheng slammed his teacup onto the table. "Don't come to me with your after-the-fact excuses. I thought acquiring Jinhe would let me see our family living in peace and harmony. Instead, I got to see my own funeral."

Zhao Xinran blurted out, "We thought you'd been killed. Laying you to rest was what mattered."

Gu Haisheng barked, "Shut your mouth! You've been going on about me being killed all day. You venomous woman, you just want me dead so you can find someone else to share your bed, don't you?"

Zhao Xinran shuddered and shook her head. "No... I've never thought that."

Gu Haisheng was growing quite agitated, and Gu Jiazi helped soothe him at his side. "Father, don't be angry."

Gu Haisheng said, "Since you're all so eager to divide up my property, you can have your fill. Mr. Hu."

A middle-aged man carrying a briefcase came in through the door. Everyone in the Gu family knew Mr. Hu. He was Gu Haisheng's personal lawyer.

Everyone watched in bewilderment as Mr. Hu took a document out of his briefcase. Standing beside Gu Haisheng, Gu Jiazi spotted the word "will" on it.

Gu Haisheng told Mr. Hu, "Revoke all my previous wills. I'm making a new one now."

Mr. Hu agreed. "Of course, President Gu. Go ahead, and I'll take it down."

"My seventy-eight percent stake in the Gu Group, registered in my name, will be inherited by my son Gu Bai. My other children may make no claims to it," Gu Haisheng said. "The assets in my name will be divided equally among my four children."

The masks on Gu Jiazi's, Gu Ruilin's, and Zhao Xinran's faces shattered when they heard Gu Haisheng say he was leaving seventy-eight percent of the shares to Gu Bai. Everything they had done had been to get the Gu Corporation. How had it ended up going to Gu Bai?

Zhao Xinran was the first to object. "Haisheng, I've been by your side for seventeen years. Even if you won't think of me, you should think of our daughter. How is she supposed to hold her own in this family from now on?"

She did not want more for herself, either. What belonged to Zhao Yi belonged to her. She was doing this for her daughter now.

Seeing her mother lose all composure, looking nothing like the gentle mother she usually was, Gu Yi panicked and hurried to steady her. "Mom."

Gu Ruilin had lost every trace of his rich young gentleman's bearing, the corners of his eyes red. "Father, that useless Gu Bai doesn't have a shred of business sense. How can you trust him with the Gu Corporation? My sister and I have poured our hearts and souls into it. What about us? Why won't you think of us?"

Gu Jiazi closed her eyes, her face deathly pale. "Father, can you really trust Gu Bai with the Gu Corporation?"

Gu Haisheng did not answer them immediately. Instead, he turned to Gu Bai and asked, "Third Brother, don't you have anything to say?"

Gu Bai actually did not want shares in the Gu Corporation at all. He really only wanted to live off his inheritance and idle his life away, but saying so now would be ungrateful.

A will, by definition, was something that only took effect after death. Gu Bai knew very well that if Gu Haisheng could change his will once, he could do it again.

This time, Gu Bai was being used to keep those ravenous ambitions coveting the Gu family's shares in check.

"Father, I don't know how to run a business."

Gu Haisheng suddenly laughed. "That's all right. Unless something unexpected happens, your father should still have a few years left to live. I have my own plans. You only need to do as I say."

Gu Haisheng had never groomed Gu Bai as his successor, and he still was not doing so now.

Gu Bai agreed. "I'll follow your arrangements, Father."

Gu Haisheng nodded in satisfaction, then dealt with the others. "If you don't want to spend the rest of your life without a roof over your head, shut your mouth. Gu Yi is my daughter. She'll never have to worry about food or clothing. As for you, think carefully about whether you want to live a peaceful life or walk out that front door."

"And you two siblings. I've never let you have contact with the group's senior executives, yet you've been associating with them behind my back. I know exactly what you're after. I can let you get involved in the subsidiaries, but I haven't said I'm handing the group's affairs over to you. You can continue working as department managers in the subsidiaries. If you don't want to, you're welcome to resign and find better positions elsewhere."

Gu Jiazi and Gu Ruilin were left speechless. Losing their status as members of the Gu family would do them no good at all in the outside world and would, in fact, be a major obstacle. Yet they did not currently have the ability to strike out on their own. If they wanted to maintain their present lifestyle, they could only remain dependent on the Gu Corporation.

Gu Jiazi accepted her fate. "I'll follow your arrangements, Father."

Seeing his sister agree, Gu Ruilin had nothing left to say.

Before Gu Bai left the Gu family home, Gu Haisheng said one thing to him: "Come back here in a few days."

Chapter 6

Gu Bai finally returned to his own home. The moment he opened the door, Mocha darted eagerly to his feet.

A housekeeper came to prepare three meals a day. Since Gu Bai had gone out today, she had been responsible for Mocha's three meals and had also helped walk the dog that morning. Mocha's excitement now was a welcome home for his owner.

Dragging his exhausted body inside, Gu Bai lay down on the sofa without even putting on his slippers. Suddenly, he heard a noise and opened his eyes to see Mocha coming over with his slippers in his mouth and setting them beside the sofa.

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