Not even five yuan

[Host, you can just call me Xiao Jiu.]

[Okay, Xiao Jiu. What happens to the Gu family in the future? Hurry up and tell me.]

Xiao Jiu kept clicking his tongue.

[Calling it tragic wouldn't even begin to cover it. Even a system like me couldn't bear to watch or listen.]

Gu Zhiyue clicked his tongue. [Keep speaking in riddles, and you can go find another host.]

[All right, calm down, host. I'll tell you how things end for the Gu family.]

Gu Zhiyue took a moment to look up at Gu Shuoyan and Zhao Wanling. "Why are you both looking at me?"

Zhao Wanling immediately reacted. "I just wanted to ask whether the food is to your taste."

Gu Zhiyue smiled and nodded. "It's delicious. I really like it."

Gu Shuoyan chimed in, "Glad you like it. Here, have some more."

Gu Zhiyue lowered his head and took a few bites of his food, then said to Xiao Jiu, [Hurry up and tell me.]

Xiao Jiu deliberately cleared his throat.

[Host, the Gu family's future ends tragically. Everyone's does. Your rivals will scheme against the Gu family, bringing about its decline, and ultimately, even the family's ruin and deaths.]

[Your father, Gu Jiangfeng, will be jointly pressured by your rivals and the company's scheming longtime employees until he suffers a stroke from anger and becomes bedridden and paralyzed; your mother, Zhao Wanling, will have no choice but to beg on the streets and collect trash for a living.]

Zhao Wanling's hand trembled, and her chopsticks clattered onto the table. Gu Zhiyue asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"

Zhao Wanling forced a strained smile. "Nothing, nothing. My hand slipped, and I lost my grip."

Gu Zhiyue nodded dubiously. "All right."

[What about my three older brothers? What happens to them?]

[Your eldest brother, Gu Tingchuan, will be framed by your rivals and stabbed repeatedly by a passerby, dying on the spot; your second brother, Gu Shen Ci, will be disfigured by sulfuric acid, ending his acting career, and eventually kill himself by overdosing on pills; your third brother, Gu Shuoyan, will suffer one blow after another, have a mental breakdown, and spend the rest of his life in a psychiatric hospital.]

Gu Zhiyue sucked in a sharp breath. [Why would that happen? With the Gu family's current wealth and power, who could scheme against them so badly?]

Xiao Jiu sighed.

[Host, one person certainly wouldn't be capable of it, but things change when there are more people. As the saying goes, many hands make light work. One person couldn't bring down the Gu family, but a hundred would be a different story.]

Gu Shuoyan suddenly felt as if the food he had just eaten tasted like wax. It was as though something had blocked his throat, leaving him unable to swallow.

Dad would have a stroke, Mom would beg, his eldest and second brothers would die tragic deaths one after another, and he himself would become mentally ill! Was their future really that miserable?!

This so-called system was spouting absolute nonsense! The Gu family was so powerful. Forget a hundred people-even a thousand or ten thousand would have to take a good hard look at themselves before trying to bring the Gu family down. How could the Gu family just disappear like that?

Outwardly calm, Gu Zhiyue ate slowly while furiously discussing things with Xiao Jiu in his mind.

[With the Gu family's current capabilities, even ten thousand people couldn't bring them down. Are there traitors inside the family?]

[Bingo! You're so clever, host. Not only are there traitors, there are quite a few. They're not just in the household, but also at the very core of the company. They make enormous contributions to bringing down the Gu family.]

Gu Zhiyue's brows drew together slightly. [Why would they betray and hurt the Gu family? Do Mom and Dad treat them badly? Or have they suffered in the Gu household?]

Xiao Jiu paused for two or three seconds before speaking.

[Don't you humans have an emotion called jealousy?]

Understanding dawned on Gu Zhiyue. [Oh, I see. I get it now. Then what should we do? Is there any way to save the Gu family from that tragic fate?]

[Of course! How could I have the nerve to bind myself to you otherwise?]

Hearing that they could still be saved, a glimmer of hope returned to Gu Shuoyan's and Zhao Wanling's faces. Then they heard the system called Xiao Jiu say,

[The Gu family isn't brought down overnight. It's slowly torn apart. Right now, the family's wealth and power are still at their peak. As long as you cut your losses in time, the Gu family will remain the Gu family.]

[Then how do we do that? What do we need to do now?]

Xiao Jiu said,

[Host, the most urgent problem right now is that your eldest uncle's family will come to visit in three days. Your eldest uncle will deliberately draw information out of your dad about the key details of the next bid, then sell the recording to your rivals. As a result, the Gu family will lose five hundred million yuan at this auction.]

Gu Zhiyue was briefly stunned. [Five hundred million?! No, I won't allow it! Forget five hundred million-not even five yuan!]

Gu Shuoyan silently nodded in agreement. That was money their family had worked hard to earn. Forget five hundred million-they couldn't let anyone swindle them out of even five yuan.

Zhao Wanling felt the same way. Although five hundred million wasn't much to their family, they couldn't let anyone swindle them out of even five yuan.

Gu Zhiyue put down his chopsticks. "Mom, Shuoyan, I'm full. I'm a little sleepy, so I'll head back to my room for a nap."

Zhao Wanling smiled and nodded. "All right, go ahead. I'll have someone call you when dinner's ready."

"Okay."

Gu Zhiyue headed upstairs. [Three days from now... How should I warn Dad to be careful? What's wrong with this uncle, helping outsiders hurt his own brother? Is there something wrong with his brain development?]

[That, I don't know.]

Gu Shuoyan looked at Zhao Wanling. "Mom, you can hear it too, right?"

Zhao Wanling nodded. "Could your dad and your two older brothers hear it too?"

"Possibly. We can test it when they get back."

"But what should we do now? Your eldest uncle is your dad's only brother, and he helped us back when we first went into business. Your dad trusts him a lot. If we tell him outright, I'm afraid he won't believe us."

Gu Shuoyan thought for a moment. "Then let's put it tactfully for now. Tell Dad to be careful and not tell Uncle everything about the bid. It can't hurt to stay on guard."

Zhao Wanling nodded. "All right. That's all we can do for now. Thankfully, there's still time. Still time. Every single one of us has to stay safe. Nothing can happen to any of us."

Gu Shuoyan murmured his agreement. "We have to get rid of everyone who wants to hurt the Gu family. Not a single one can remain."

Zhao Wanling put down her chopsticks. "I need to go back to my room and process all this."

Gu Shuoyan called a servant over to clear the table, then returned to his own bedroom.

His second brother, Gu Shen Ci, who was filming on set, sent him a message. He was probably on a break.

[I was filming on and off all night and only just woke up. How is it going? Is our little brother settling in at home?]

Gu Shuoyan replied, [Everything's fine, except he couldn't see clearly coming downstairs last night and fell down the stairs. He only came back from the hospital this morning.]

[What? How could you all be so careless? Is he okay?]

[Just superficial injuries, nothing serious. Dad has already told Uncle Qian to keep the night-lights on in the house twenty-four hours a day from now on.]

Gu Shen Ci sent a cat meme of it patting its chest and breathing out. [That's good, that's good. Who does our little brother look like?]

[Mom, especially his eyes. They tilt up at the outer corners, exactly like hers. His features also look a bit like yours. Don't your fans all call you an aloof beauty? I suppose he counts as one too, but he's cuter than you.]

Gu Shen Ci sent a yellow emoji covering its mouth and laughing shyly. [Really? I wish I could hurry home and see him. You and our eldest brother take after Dad, and only I take after Mom. Now that our little brother is back, there's finally one more person who's inherited Mom's beautiful looks.]

Gu Shuoyan smiled at the message. [Find some time to come home after filming. There's something incredibly important and absurd I need to tell you.]

[What is it that you can't tell me over the phone?]

[It's impossible to explain over the phone. You'll have to see it for yourself to understand.]

There was no reply from the other end. Gu Shuoyan didn't even have to think to know that he must have gone back to work.