Gu Group
Xiang Wanniao walked straight in from the ground-floor lobby and headed for the gates, only to find she had no access card and was stopped by a security guard.
The guard looked her up and down and asked, "Are you an employee here? How come I've never seen you before?"
"I'm not an employee. I'm here to see your CEO."
"Our CEO?" The guard's eyes grew somewhat more vigilant. "Do you have an appointment?"
Xiang Wanniao answered very honestly, "No."
Without caring who she was, the guard became even more determined to keep her out upon hearing she had no appointment.
"Sorry, you can't go in without an appointment. Come back another day."
Amused by the security guard's earnestness, Xiang Wanniao said in a calm tone, "My appointment with your CEO is personal."
"A personal appointment?"
"Mhm. If you don't believe me, you can have the front desk call Special Assistant Xiang Yuan."
Upon hearing the name "Xiang Yuan," the security guard walked doubtfully over to the front desk and had the receptionist call the CEO's office on the top floor to verify the situation.
In the meeting room, Xiang Yuan received word that Xiang Wanniao had arrived at the Gu Group, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
After all, in the past, Xiang Wanniao had been unwilling even to set foot in Guiyuan, let alone the Gu Group.
She utterly loathed anything even remotely connected to Lord Zhan.
To think she would actually show up here of her own accord today—heaven knows what trick she had up her sleeve.
Even though he didn't care much for Xiang Wanniao either, given how much this lord and master cared about her, he still had to report the news to him.
Xiang Yuan moved his chair forward, leaned close to Gu Jingzhan's ear, and said, "CEO, Madam is here. She's in the ground-floor lobby right now."
Hearing this, Gu Jingzhan was first startled, and then his cold, calm, dark eyes gradually rippled with a smile.
The next second, he stood up, his aloof voice ringing out: "Today's meeting is adjourned."
With that, the man strode out of the meeting room on long legs.
Everyone: "???"
What on earth was going on?
He had been reprimanding them the second before, and now he was ending the meeting?
Xiang Wanniao stood waiting outside the gates. After a short while, she saw Gu Jingzhan slowly emerge from the elevator and walk straight toward her with steady strides.
The man had a tall, straight figure, dressed in a well-tailored black high-definition suit that outlined his broad shoulders and lean waist, radiating the authority of someone in power and a steady, aristocratic composure.
Every step he took toward her trod upon her heart, making her pulse race uncontrollably.
At that, Xiang Wanniao began to reflect on herself once more.
She truly had no idea what was going on in her head in her past life. Her brain must have been flooded with water to pass over a man as delectable as Gu Jingzhan and instead take a fancy to someone like Xiao Xu'an.
Stupid, utterly, incredibly stupid!
"What brings you here?"
Half of the chill wrapping around Gu Jingzhan faded away, and a hint of tenderness softened his aloof voice.
Xiang Wanniao arched an eyebrow, her tone rather playful: "What? Can't I come?"
"You can."
"What were you busy with just now? Why didn't you reply to my messages?"
"I was in a meeting earlier and didn't look at my phone."
Only after answering her did Gu Jingzhan notice her attire and makeup today, which were vastly different from how she usually appeared before him.
Noticing that he kept staring at her, Xiang Wanniao feared he would let his imagination run wild and misunderstand her intentions, so she deliberately explained herself.
"To come see you and have lunch together, I spent over an hour doing my hair and makeup at home today. How is it? Does it look good?"
Gu Jingzhan wore little expression, merely giving a flat hum and offering two stiff words: "It looks good."
Seeing his lackluster reply, a trace of desolation flashed in Xiang Wanniao's eyes, and she felt somewhat displeased.
Yet the lobby was packed, and people were casting curious and surprised glances in their direction.
Unable to make a fuss over the matter, Xiang Wanniao consoled herself, then stepped forward to link her arm through the man's, asking him in a soft and gentle voice, "Are you finished with your work now? Can we go have lunch together?"
"Where would you like to go?"
"I'll listen to you this time."
With a profound gaze, Gu Jingzhan looked at her before leading her away from the Gu Group building.
"Oh my god! Did you guys just see that? Mr. Gu was so gentle with that woman!"
"Who is she? She actually has the magic touch to turn our living Hades into an obedient little puppy!"
"Didn't they say Mr. Gu is already married?"
"Married or not, the person in Mr. Gu's household doesn't care about him at all. After a long time, even Mr. Gu is bound to get lonely!"
"That woman looks like the person Mr. Gu married half a year ago—the eldest miss of the Xiang family, Xiang Wanniao."
"Didn't rumors say the eldest miss of the Xiang family and Mr. Gu have a terrible relationship? But looking at how they interacted today, it doesn't look like they're on bad terms at all!"
"The outside world keeps spreading rumors that the eldest miss of the Xiang family doesn't love Mr. Gu, but is head-over-heels for Xiao Xu'an, that illegitimate son of the Xiao Family. Word is she even threw a fit to divorce Mr. Gu and tried to kill herself over him just a few days ago!"
"No way!"
"..."
Opinions were flying in all directions.
Much of what was discussed by the people in the Gu Group reached Xiang Yuan's ears. Though true, this was still the workplace, and discussing the employer's personal affairs in the workplace always left a bad impression.
He immediately tagged everyone in the large work chat.
[Special Assistant Xiang: @All]
[Special Assistant Xiang: During working hours and within company premises, no one is permitted to casually discuss anything related to the CEO and the CEO's wife, or else bear the consequences!]
As soon as the notice went out, Zhan Jiu's call came in.
Extremely agitated, he barraged Xiang Yuan with questions without pause: "Xiang Wanniao went to the Gu Group? What is she doing there? Is she still holding out hope and trying to steal Gu Group secrets?"
"The security guards stopped her in the ground-floor lobby when she arrived. Lord Zhan found out and went down to pick her up, but instead of bringing her to the office, he went out with her to grab lunch."
Xiang Yuan calmly explained the situation to Zhan Jiu.
He then added a final remark: "So, we haven't found any such motive from her yet."
"Lunch?" Zhan Jiu always felt Xiang Wanniao harbored malicious intentions. "I bet she's planning to sweet-talk Lord Zhan into a daze first, and then execute her own scheme!"
Xiang Yuan chuckled softly, a tone of helplessness in his voice: "Even if she is, so what? Do you think your words carry any weight with Lord Zhan, or are you able to talk him out of it?"
Zhan Jiu was silent for a few seconds before answering, "Neither."
"Therefore, you have no way out of it either."
"..."
Anyone else would be easy to handle, but this particular person happened to be Xiang Wanniao.
Although Gu Jingzhan also suspected her motives were impure, he remained completely defenseless against her.
What could subordinates like them possibly do about it?