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Their destination for this trip was an island within the country. The flight took three hours, and they had lunch on the plane.

The journey was fairly harmonious. After all, there were three flight attendants serving them, so there was no need to let anything show in front of outsiders.

The people behaved themselves, but Mocha did not. It was his first time on a plane, and perhaps out of fear, he remained restless and agitated. Even snacks failed to calm him down.

Gu Bai had no choice but to hold him on the sofa, rubbing his belly to ease his nerves.

Mocha was unusually clingy, staying glued to Gu Bai's side without moving.

When lunchtime came, Gu Bai put off eating because he had Mocha beside him. After Chu Zeshen finished his lunch, he came to take over from Gu Bai.

Mocha gradually settled down, and Chu Zeshen tore up chicken jerky to feed him.

With his hands finally free, Gu Bai did not go to the dining table. He ate his lunch right there on the sofa.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Xie Wen glanced at the sofa and remarked casually, "A genuine family of three. It's not every day you see A Ze feeding the kid."

Now, apart from Lu Shengfan, who was enjoying the sight, the other four each had their own hidden agenda.

After the plane landed, Mocha, who had still been clinging to his owner, turned the tables and took charge. He was the king of dry land. The moment his paws touched the ground, he dragged Chu Zeshen forward at a run. Chu Zeshen tightened the leash, and just like that, the king of dry land fell.

They were not staying at a hotel. Xie Wen had booked a villa, but because Gu Jiazi and the others had joined the trip late, they had booked another place for themselves.

As luck would have it, their villa was in the same area. More coincidentally still, the two villas faced each other.

The two groups split up to check in. Their luggage had already arrived, and just as Gu Bai was leading Mocha through the door, Gu Ruilin, who should have been checking in across the way, came over.

"Little brother, sorry to intrude. My room doesn't have an en suite bathroom, which is a little inconvenient, so I'll be staying over here with you."

"How do you know we have a spare room with an en suite bathroom?" Gu Bai asked.

Gu Ruilin scoffed. "You really do have a short memory. Our family came here on vacation a few years ago. This was the very villa we stayed in."

Gu Bai fell silent. Despite all his precautions, it seemed he had let something slip.

Chu Zeshen came out and heard Gu Ruilin say, "What's the matter? There are four rooms with en suite bathrooms in this villa. Are you using all of them?"

"No, there's one left."

Chapter 20

Hearing Chu Zeshen's answer, Gu Ruilin suddenly smiled. "Then that settles it. No one's staying there anyway. I'll pay my share of the accommodation costs."

With that, he made to enter with the person helping him carry his luggage behind him.

Chu Zeshen walked over to Gu Bai, neatly blocking the doorway. "No person is staying there, but Mocha will be."

Gu Ruilin froze, then looked down at Mocha in amusement. "A dog gets a room to himself?"

"He's used to it at home," Chu Zeshen said without a hint of embarrassment. "So there are no rooms with private bathrooms left here."

"Little brother, I remember you sharing a room with Mocha at home. Since when does a dog get the same treatment as a person?" Gu Ruilin said heavily. "I'm your own brother."

Whether he was his own brother no longer mattered to Gu Bai. To be precise, blood ties mattered far less to him than his interests, and he had no inclination to tend to this relationship.

"You said it yourself, second brother-that was before. I'm married now. How could I still share a room with Mocha?" Gu Bai said. "In the Chu Family, Mocha really does get the same treatment as a person. He has his own room and someone specifically assigned to look after him."

In the end, Gu Ruilin took his helper back to the villas across the way.

The villa's butler had already taken Mocha's little bed and toys out of the suitcase. Mocha's sleeping spot was in the living room on the ground floor.

Once inside, Gu Bai unclipped the leash, and Mocha went about his usual routine of sniffing around to familiarize himself with this territory.

Xie Wen and Lu Shengfan were already sitting on the living room sofa. When the two came in, Xie Wen asked, "What did Gu Ruilin want?"

"To borrow a room," Chu Zeshen said.

Xie Wen gave a derisive chuckle. "I'm not used to staying with strangers. Tell him to find somewhere else."

"I already sent him away."

Chu Zeshen turned to Gu Bai. "Your room is on the right, upstairs."

Gu Bai nodded. "I'll head upstairs first. Give me a shout when you're leaving."

Xie Wen was just about to point out that the room on the right was unoccupied when Lu Shengfan stopped him.

Only after Gu Bai went upstairs did Xie Wen catch on and tease Chu Zeshen. "Don't tell me you two still haven't shared a room after all this time. What good is being a gentleman at a time like this?"

"If he weren't a gentleman, you wouldn't get to see that happy family of three," Lu Shengfan said with a smile.

Xie Wen understood. That was true. On that level, a direct relationship of mutual interests was fundamentally different from a □□ relationship. Unless both parties were willing, a □□ relationship was far more fragile than one based on interests.

"Isn't an arranged marriage just shooting yourself in the foot?" Leaning back on the sofa, Xie Wen reached out to ruffle Mocha's head and drawled, "You can't touch him, can't have him, can't tease him. All you can do is look. He's even harder to please than Mocha."

Seeing that Chu Zeshen showed no displeasure, Lu Shengfan said, "It's not as if you don't know what a mess the Gu Family is. Gu Haisheng gave all his shares to Gu Bai, and Gu Bai knows nothing about business. If he didn't find someone to back him through marriage, was the Gu Family really supposed to live off its reserves until there was nothing left?"

"Even a backer should get a little something sweet out of it. Who would be a sucker for no reason?" Xie Wen glanced at the utterly calm Chu Zeshen. "Are you keeping some big move up your sleeve?"

Chu Zeshen beckoned to Mocha. "Marriage isn't about scheming against each other. There's no need to bring the tricks that work in business into it."

What a sanctimonious act, Xie Wen cursed inwardly. "So you are keeping a big move up your sleeve."

Lu Shengfan chuckled. "When have you ever seen A Ze negotiate a deal with nothing in it for him? Ah, no, I suppose I should say marriage now."