The performance in the center of the square had reached its middle stages. The audience seats were packed, and staff were handing out bottled water and snacks to everyone.
In an A-class private room at Yan Yin Tower, Gu Zhiyue held a sour pear cake in one hand and propped his chin on the other. One cheek bulged as he chewed, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the performance in the square.
"Our house used to be too far from the square. My Lin Dad was busy with work, and Mom Qinglan couldn't drive, so we always watched the live broadcast on TV. This is my first time watching it in person."
Xing Yisheng poured a glass of juice and handed it over. "The pastries are dry. Have some juice to moisten your throat."
"Okay. You're so thoughtful." Gu Zhiyue took the glass, tipped his head back, and drank half of it.
Luo Yunhe couldn't help coughing a few times. Gu Zhiyue hurriedly put down his glass and went over, and Xie Zhen ran to Luo Yunhe's side too.
The two of them peppered him with questions. "What's wrong? What's wrong?"
"Do you need medicine? Are you okay?"
Luo Yunhe smiled helplessly. "You two are too nervous. My throat just tickled a little."
Xie Zhen asked worriedly, "Your throat tickled? You're not coming down with a cold, are you? That's no small matter."
Gu Zhiyue asked, "Are you not wearing enough? I'll have someone turn on the heat in the room."
"I'm really fine. I only coughed lightly a few times. If anything were wrong, the monitor would have gone off already."
Only after they saw that Luo Yunhe really was fine did the two return to their seats.
Gu Zhiyue let out a relieved breath. "As long as you're okay. Back to my sour pear cake. You know, these sour pear cakes really do taste good. They're tart, with a mellow aftertaste, but they aren't sweet."
Gu Shuoyan waved a hand grandly. "If you like them, buy more to eat at home. We'll get another two portions to take back when we leave!"
Zhao Wanling smiled helplessly, then remembered something and turned to Luo Yunhe. "Yunhe, I contacted that doctor a couple of days ago. He's still overseas, but he's already arranged to return in two months. He'll personally give you a thorough examination then. It'll probably be in three or four months."
"Th-thank you, Auntie..." Luo Yunhe felt an ache in his throat, and tears blurred his vision. He didn't dare blink for fear they would fall, but the moment he lowered his eyes slightly, the tears spilled out.
Gu Zhiyue and Xie Zhen exchanged a glance. Neither went over; they simply kept an eye on Luo Yunhe from the side.
Zhao Wanling chuckled softly. "My child is the same age as you. Since you're Zhiyue's friend, I think of you as practically one of my own children too. What's there to cry about? Isn't it perfectly normal to help a child solve his problems?"
Gu Shuoyan pulled out a tissue and wiped Luo Yunhe's tears with seemingly casual ease. "Exactly. You're my little brother's friend, so you count as my little brother too. We're all family. Why be so formal?"
Gu Zhiyue snorted. "Take it easy, Shuoyan. If Yunhe can't stop crying later, you'll have to comfort him yourself."
Luo Yunhe took a deep breath and stopped his tears. "You want to keep watching me cry? Not a chance!"
Xing Yisheng quietly watched them joke around from the side, his gaze lingering mostly on Gu Zhiyue. Only after the tea beside him had gone cold did he remember to drink it.
His phone rang, and Xing Yisheng took it outside to answer.
"Mom, what is it?"
A gentle woman's voice with a slight regional accent came through the receiver. "Oh my! Can't I call you unless something's wrong?"
"Of course you can. It's just that it's past one in the morning over there, isn't it? You're usually long asleep by now."
"It's because your dad said you'd made a new friend. I thought I'd call and ask you about it."
The corners of Xing Yisheng's lips curved up slightly. "I did make a new friend recently. He's Uncle Gu's youngest son, the one who just came home."
"So he's Chairman Gu's son. You really are lucky, you know. Their son's only just been found, and he's already friends with you. No wonder your dad told me that luck of yours had finally proved a little useful. What good was winning one yuan in a roadside stall's prize draw like you used to?"
Xing Yisheng held a fist to his lips and coughed softly. "Mom, I'm still out having fun with them. I'll hang up now. I can't keep them waiting too long."
"All right, all right, go on. This is the first time I've heard you hang up on me to go have fun. Go on, go on. I need to get some rest too."
The person on the other end ended the call with excitement and enthusiasm.
Xing Yisheng put his phone back into his pocket and pushed open the door to return to the private room. He had just sat down when a message from his father, Xing Shan, arrived.
[Plenty of friends in our circle have come across you out having fun at the square. I was wondering why you were in such high spirits today. So you went to see Young Master Gu.]
Xing Yisheng asked, [Where did they see that?]
[In Young Master Gu's post. It's hard not to notice, especially with you in the picture too.]
Xing Yisheng thought back. When they had come up earlier, Gu Zhiyue had thought the night view outside was beautiful and asked him to take a photo together to post as a keepsake.
Normally, he would have refused, but this time, for some reason, he had not only agreed but obediently cooperated.
Xiao Jiu suddenly appeared and sat on the table in front of Gu Zhiyue. [Host, I just found some information about Xing Yisheng. Want to hear it?]
Gu Zhiyue nodded. [Sure. I'm bored anyway.]
Zhao Wanling and Gu Shuoyan also instinctively straightened their backs a little. This was good. They wanted to hear it too.
Xiao Jiu chuckled twice. [Xing Yisheng showed extraordinary academic talent from childhood. He started skipping grades in elementary school as he completed his studies. By his second year of middle school, local top universities had already reserved places for him-and quite a few of them, too.]
Gu Zhiyue gave a nasal huff. [Comparisons are infuriating. Why can't I skip grades?]
[Host, you still focus on such strange things. Let me continue. Xing Yisheng graduated from university at nineteen, then took over his family's group and became its head at twenty-one.]
[That impressive! There really is always someone better out there. How old is he now, then? He was already the boss at twenty-one, while I might still be miserably rushing to eight a.m. classes at that age.]
Xiao Jiu shifted position to sit cross-legged. [Xing Yisheng is twenty-four now. He's been managing the group for exactly three years and seven months.]
Gu Zhiyue's eyes darted around. [Let me work this out. Xing Yisheng is twenty-four this year, six years older than me. When he graduated from university at nineteen, I was thirteen. Holy crap! He was already out in the working world when I'd only just left elementary school behind.]
[If he were an ordinary person, Xing Yisheng might still be attending classes at school like me this year. Did heaven close a single window for him? How could it play favorites like this!]
Gu Zhiyue wanted to ask that too. If he had such an extraordinary brain, he would have finished school and gone out to make money long ago. Heaven really was unfair!
As Zhao Wanling listened, however, she simply couldn't help smiling. She had heard about Xing Yisheng's abilities everywhere.
When Xing Yisheng first took over as head of the Xing Group, the established families and wealthy households had discussed it for a long time. For the Xing Family, one of the four great families, to let a young man barely into his twenties take charge, that young man had to be someone truly exceptional.
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