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Chu Zeshen came out of the kitchen with two glasses of water and handed one to Gu Bai.

Gu Bai took it and said, "Thank you."

Chu Zeshen sat down. "We might need to visit the Gu Family tonight to confirm when the two families will have dinner."

Gu Bai took a sip of water. "There's no need to go to all that trouble. Just confirm my father's availability and don't worry about the others. They have plenty of free time. I'll speak to my father's assistant in a bit."

Chu Zeshen asked, "You don't want to go back to the Gu Family?"

Gu Bai suddenly laughed. "No. It wasn't easy for me to finally move into the Chu Family home. Why would I go back there? It's better here."

Affection within prominent families shifted according to interests. Chu Zeshen knew what had happened in the Gu Family before, but he hadn't expected Gu Bai's relationship with them to seemingly have grown even more strained.

Chu Zeshen's eyes seemed to say that he shouldn't have brought up the question, carrying a trace of apology.

Gu Bai joked, "I used to stand on my own in the Gu Family. Now, at least, there's another person on my household register, so I have a bit more backing."

Chu Zeshen's name was on Gu Bai's household register.

Chu Zeshen said, "If you need my help with anything, just ask. I'm yours."

Chu Zeshen was an excellent partner, but this arrangement fell within the scope of their contract. Anything beyond the contract was Gu Bai's own responsibility.

Gu Bai took those words as a polite gesture and smiled at Chu Zeshen, his eyes narrowing. "Okay."

Chapter 13

Recently, Xie Wen had heard an utterly ridiculous rumor. He had no idea what obscure corner it had come from, but it had kept him laughing all day.

Chu Zeshen, the young master of the Chu Family who was notorious in their circle for never showing any romantic interest, had gotten married. Wasn't that hilarious?

Did the word "marriage" have anything to do with Chu Zeshen? The answer was absolutely not. The man was destined to stay single forever. Chu Zeshen was more likely to top the rich list than get married.

Xie Wen brought this rumor along to their gathering of friends. The moment he saw Lu Shengfan, he mysteriously pulled him aside to talk.

"A Sheng, I heard something really interesting today. You'll die laughing when you hear it."

Lu Shengfan glanced around and also lowered his voice to speak to Xie Wen. "I was just about to tell you that I heard something unbelievable today too."

Xie Wen shook his head. "No, hear me out first. Mine's more important."

Lu Shengfan looked a little serious. "Mine's more important."

Xie Wen gave way first. "I'll count to three, and we'll say it together."

Lu Shengfan agreed.

"One, two..."

Before he could count to three, the rapport they had built growing up together made them both speak early at the same time.

"A Ze got married."

Hearing that Lu Shengfan had said the same thing, Xie Wen frowned. "You heard it too? Isn't this absurdly fake? It's even reached both of us. Wouldn't we know whether A Ze was married?"

Lu Shengfan also thought it was absurd. The three of them could be considered genuine friends in this circle. How could they possibly not know if their friend had gotten married?

"Where did you hear it?"

Xie Wen picked up his glass and took a sip of wine. "From that young master of the Lin Family, of course. I just played a round of golf with him yesterday, and first thing this morning, he was asking me about it."

Lu Shengfan took the glass from Xie Wen's hand and snapped, "Didn't I tell you to stay away from Lin Du?"

Xie Wen cast a somewhat guilty glance at Lu Shengfan. "But he booked an entire golf course and invited me over. I only went to play for a bit. I went home without even having dinner with him."

Lu Shengfan set the glass down hard on the table. Xie Wen shamelessly moved over to sit beside him. "What's going on between me and the Lin Family's young master is a minor issue. What's important right now is why everyone's saying A Ze got married."

Lu Shengfan shook off Xie Wen's hand on his arm. "When I was discussing a contract with Mr. Tan this afternoon, he brought it up. I bluffed my way through it."

"The Lin Family, the Tan Family-Lin Du and Tan Zhao are both on Chu Ningwei's side. So after all this, it came from the Chu Family themselves?" Xie Wen snorted. "Has that second young master of the Chu Family been asking for trouble again lately? He actually dared to spread romantic rumors about his own cousin."

Lu Shengfan thought for a moment before saying, "It doesn't seem entirely baseless."

Xie Wen found that funny. "What basis could there be? The three of us are together practically all the time. When would he have had time to get married?"

Lu Shengfan said, "We asked him out over the weekend, and he said he wasn't free."

Xie Wen's eyes widened in disbelief. "Where could he have found someone to marry in just two days? Even if he skipped dating and went straight to bed, someone would have to be able to get close to him first, right? There's no one around him. What's he going to do with thin air... Anyway, I don't think it's possible."

All their talk couldn't compare to hearing the truth from the man himself, but he seemed to be running late today.

Unable to resist, Xie Wen sent Chu Zeshen a message on WeChat. A few seconds later, he received a reply, and his expression immediately went through a whole range of changes.

Lu Shengfan asked, "What did A Ze say?"

Xie Wen cleared his throat and solemnly read out, "I'm bringing someone."

After that, the two stared at each other for a long while, reading in each other's eyes that the man who never showed any romantic interest might really have found someone.

Today was Mocha's day to go out for a bath. Gu Bai had forgotten to book ahead because of his game, and by the time he remembered that afternoon, it was almost four. He unhurriedly called the pet shop, and they said they had an opening around five.

Just as Gu Bai put Mocha's leash on and prepared to head out, Chu Zeshen came downstairs.

After a brief exchange of questions and answers, Gu Bai got into Chu Zeshen's car to go to the pet shop.

This wasn't Mocha's first time riding in Chu Zeshen's car. He settled into the back seat with practiced ease, then poked his head up front and stared ahead curiously.

Gu Bai entered the pet shop's address into the navigation system. "You can just drop us off when we get there."

Chu Zeshen fastened his seat belt. "There's still plenty of time. No rush."

Judging by Chu Zeshen's outfit, Gu Bai figured he was heading out. Mocha's bath would take at least an hour, not to mention the travel time there and back. Chu Zeshen was under no obligation to drive them around.

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