It was just past ten o'clock in the evening. The butler dispersed the idlers in and out of the lobby, walked around the screen, handed the carved mahogany brocade box to the main seat, and stood quietly beside it. The lantern cast a dim yellow light on it, and He Suichen's fingers were tapping lightly without care.
When He Yuliu adhered to the old ideas of his ancestors and always believed that the ancestral teachings could not be broken.
He Sui Chen opened the mahogany brocade box, and inside was a marriage certificate with the words "A happy marriage forever" written on it.
The light was so bright that it seemed to dazzle people's eyes. He Yuliu saw the handwriting on the marriage certificate and smiled very coldly: "When did the old patriarch write this for you?"
He Sui Chen has never taken out the chips in his hand. This marriage certificate with his and Gu Qingwu's birth dates is enough to show the clan leader's position.
For generations, they have not intermarried with the children of the Gu surname in Yanling. In this generation, the people have changed and the old rules should be abolished.
The old patriarch was quite authoritative in the He family. When it came to family affairs, even the head of the family had to show respect, not to mention He Yuliu. He was unable to make use of the matter any further for the time being and could only hold back the anger in his heart.
She picked up the celadon teacup, her delicate nails almost white, and vented all her emotions on it. After a while, she picked it up and put it down again: "Okay, you are really capable. Even the old patriarch was convinced by you... and you kept it a secret."
Even when he got the marriage certificate, no news was spread, and she wasted her efforts last year to find ladies from all over the rich circle to match him up. Now, she has kept a trick up her sleeve.
He Suichen slowly put the marriage certificate back into the mirror box, still abiding by the proper attitude of being filial to his nephew. He was respectful in words, but in fact, his behavior showed that he didn't take anyone seriously. He glanced at his coughing brother with a half-smile in his eyes and said, "Now, the matter of future generations will be shared by my eldest brother. Aunt, don't worry. The men in our He family will never be extinct."
He Yuliu was really annoyed by his weirdness. The way he looked at people was definitely not friendly.
However, He Yunjian's attitude was ambiguous. He stood neutral and did not take sides with anyone. He just came to watch the show.
The secretary came in and whispered, "Mr. He, Third Uncle is waiting for you in the side hall."
He Suichen nodded, then stood up and took his marriage certificate with him before leaving.
The huge and spacious lobby suddenly seemed deserted because there was only one person missing.
He Yunjian stopped coughing, but still looked pale and sick. He raised his hand to pick up the tea to rinse his mouth. The female nurse came in and brought a grey blanket to cover his legs. She made no sound throughout the process and her movements were gentle.
The nurse's name was Wu Chuixi, and as her name suggested, she was a very beautiful, young and charming woman. She caught He Yuliu's eye at the New York Hospital and was specially arranged to be with He Yunjian, where she was responsible for his physical care.
Seeing that He Yunjian was not averse, but rather had a good impression of Wu Chuixi, He Yuliu felt relieved. He knew what kind of women his nephew, whom he had raised, liked. He was probably deceived by a bland woman like Yu Siqing in New York, which was why he was willing to give up his life for her.
Fortunately, it's good to forget it. He Yuliu always has a smile on her well-maintained face. She said earnestly: "Yun Jian, your brother is becoming more and more undisciplined... What aunt said before was right, right?"
He Yunjian had just finished rinsing his mouth and was about to put the teacup aside when Wu Chuixi reached out to take it.
He slightly avoided her, his voice was gentle and pleasant: "Go down first."
Wu Chuixi's eyes curled up and he smiled at him: "I'll go make you some stomach-nourishing midnight snack and bring it to your room later."
He Yunjian watched her leave quietly until there were no outsiders around. Then he spoke to He Yuliu, "Aunt, why did you force him to separate from Miss Gu? Now that I am in this state and have no real power, the He family still has to rely on Sui Chen to take charge."
This is what He Yuliu hated to hear the most: "Next month, I will hold a board meeting with shareholders. Jian'er, Yu Siqing has already returned the shares to you. With your aunt's shares, Sui Chen may not have as many chips as us."
"Besides... the old patriarch is about to retire. Even if he doesn't stand on our side, it won't be a big deal."
If He Yunjian didn't wake up, He Yuliu would have accepted her fate as the person in charge of the He family, and would have become a seemingly harmonious aunt and nephew with He Suichen, pretending to care about him perfectly.
But God has made things take a turn for the better. How could she be willing to watch He Yunjian, whom she had raised with great difficulty, wake up with nothing and have to live like a useless person in the He family, relying on her younger brother's breath.
What's more, the first heir to the power was He Yunjian, so the title of Mr. He also belonged to him.
Seeing that He Yunjian was still filial, He Yuliu made up her mind, stood up and walked over, holding his cold hand outside the blanket, and said emotionally: "Jian'er, I am really relieved that you can make a decisive decision to part ways with Yu Siqing when you wake up. You are ten thousand times better than your brother. In this He family, I have always believed that you are my support for the rest of my life. Don't let me down."
Brotherhood is one thing, fighting for the position of power is another, the two cannot be confused because of feelings.
Under the halo of the lantern, He Yunjian's eyes darkened slightly. He placed his left hand on the back of He Yuliu's hand and patted it gently: "Even though I have lost my memory for a few years, I still remember the promise I made to my aunt when I was a child that I would not let you suffer any grievances in the family."
These words were much more pleasant to hear than what He Sui Chen often said, advising her to take care of her health and to take care of her until the end of her life.
He Yuliu's eyebrows gradually relaxed and she smiled: "I see that Wu Chuixi's parents are both professors, and her family background is clean. This girl studied medicine and has a likable personality. What do you think, Jian'er?"
He Yuliu would not bring the beautiful ladies in the city who she had introduced to He Suichen before to He Yunjian again.
With the previous experience of Yu Siqing as a lesson, she planned to find him a girl with a likable and simple personality this time. As long as she had a clean family background, parents with higher education, and was pleasing to him, it would be fine.
Otherwise, if someone like Yu Siqing comes in and whispers in his ear, He Yuliu will have had enough.
He Yunjian lowered his thick eyelashes, with a look of resignation, and said, "Aunt picked it, it suits my taste very well."
-
That night.
Wu Chuixi brought a warm midnight snack that she had cooked herself, and easily obtained permission to freely enter and exit the floor where He Yunjian lived. She raised her hand and knocked on the door gently and walked in. The lights in the room were all adjusted to a non-glaring thermos, very similar to those outside.
Because He Yunjian didn't like the cold and bright environment, after he returned to the He family, the housekeeper followed his instructions and replaced all the lights with lanterns for lighting.
In the eyes of others, this undoubtedly seemed like some kind of signal.
Even though He Yunjian has not regained power for the time being, he is still treated as the head of the family.
Wu Chuixi saw the man sleeping lightly on the couch leaning against the window, and subconsciously walked over with very light steps. In the semi-darkness, although He Yunjian was thin, his bone structure was excellent. His high nose bridge and lips seemed to be coated with a layer of light, which made him look calm and elegant.
Such men are the most deadly. In the past six months, Wu Chuixi has watched how he went from being a vegetative state unable to get out of bed to exercising every day and, through the help of the people around him, quickly adapting to this strange world.
Almost every day, he could be seen leisurely chatting with his brother in the convalescent ward, discussing the development trends of major companies and the stock market conditions over the past seven years.
For some unknown reason, Wu Chuixi had no feelings for He Suichen, but instead became uncontrollably infatuated with He Yunjian who was in his convalescent period.
When she came to her senses, she had already walked over to the sleeping man and squatted down. She gently touched his brow with her fingertips. Her heartbeat accelerated wildly. As soon as she touched him, she saw him slowly open his dark eyes.
There seemed to be a very deep whirlpool inside, which instantly sucked her whole body in.
Wu Chuixi was in a stiff position, her fingertips slightly bent, her charming face with a hint of innocence began to turn red, until He Yunjian raised the long fingers on his knees and touched her face in return, pausing for half a second, her voice was low and sexy when she just woke up: "So hot?"
Compared to his cold fingertips, Wu Chuixi's whole body was too hot, his knees were weak, and he knew very well the ambiguity between men and women. He took the initiative to put his face in his palm: "Yun Jian... Your name is so nice, can I call you like this in private from now on?"
There was a faint smile in He Yunjian's eyes, and under the warm and dim light, it could be said to be fatally gentle: "It's up to you."
Wu Chuixi felt that her relationship with him had become different tonight. It was no longer an ordinary relationship between an employer and a nurse. She even had a bold illusion that He Yunjian's eyes at this moment were so affectionate, as if he had fallen in love with her.
This illusion of being in high spirits lasted until the next day, when He Yuliu sent his butler to give her a pair of exquisite jade bracelets.
The wealthy families were very vague in their expressions in this regard. Wu Chuixi was filled with excitement and joy. He accepted the jade bracelet and found some free time at noon that day to go and thank He Yuliu.
In June, there were showers almost every day in Licheng, which made filming like competing with God for food. When the rain stopped, we started filming quickly, and when it rained again, we had to retreat under the eaves.
Because of the closed filming, Gu Qingwu turned down all the notices, and the news about her gradually faded. Hengcheng Entertainment ignored the rumors about her and Shen Xingdu, and only Jiang Dianying was still struggling, quarreling with the anonymous whistleblower from time to time.
Every Weibo post and every word contains a strong hint of exposing my scandal.
But the anonymous whistleblower refused to expose the scandal and insisted on Gu Qingwu. Until half a month ago, Gu Wenhan could no longer stand it and spent a lot of money to package the hot searches for the whole year and did not allow any related entries to appear on Weibo.
Gu Qingwu has also been harassed for a while. According to Gu Wenhan's logic, if you are involved in a scandal, you must abide by the agreement with the Gu family and quit the circle.
Gu Qingwu sneered in her heart and asked casually: "Retire from the entertainment circle and go home to take care of your husband and children? Then I will marry Shen Xingdu..."
This sentence undoubtedly strangled Gu Wenhan. Compared with marrying the son of his mortal enemy, he would rather let Gu Qingwu continue to stay in the entertainment industry. After weighing the interests, it finally calmed down in June.
Gu Qingwu's world suddenly became quiet. Apart from studying the script and acting seriously, she would check her friends' circle when she had nothing to do. She tapped the screen with her fingertips and just as she scrolled down, she saw Zhou Tingliu's circle of friends: "He Suichen has abdicated."
She sat up straight abruptly and asked the stylist next to her to wait a moment before continuing. She lowered her long eyelashes and read the words again carefully. Soon, she saw Cheng Shu and Lin Yuanting commenting below.
— "Let's get together tonight at Ink Spot."
— "I'm so angry... What is the heart of Sui Chen's aunt made of? Is it cold iron? She really treats him as a substitute for He Yunjian, and joins hands with some respected elders of the He family to force him to return the position of the head of the family. It's really too much!"
Zhou Tingliu replied to Lin Yuanting's message after a while: "Sui Chen is also thinking about the relationship with his brother."
Lin Yuanting replied immediately: "He Yunjian is also a black-hearted person. How could he not care about the brotherhood? During the seven years of sleep... If it weren't for Brother Sui Chen holding the power, would he be able to take it back so easily?"
Cheng Shu interjected at the right time: "He Yuliu supported He Yunjian to regain power, hoping that Sui Chen would continue to work for the He family."
Lin Yuanting was even more furious: "Agreed?"
Cheng Shu was very frugal with his words, which hit Gu Qingwu, who was watching, in the heart: "No, so Sui Chen chose to leave the He family."
All the high power and position were taken away from his brother, and in the eyes of the outside world, he was like a stray dog who was kicked out of the house.
Gu Qingwu's fingertips were trembling. She didn't know if Zhou Tingliu had forgotten to block her. He said everything he shouldn't have said in his circle of friends.
"Green mist?"
Seeing that she hadn't moved for a long time, the stylist calculated the time and saw that the director was about to start shooting in about 20 minutes, so he had to walk over to remind her carefully: "It's time to do the styling."
Gu Qingwu took a deep breath to calm her chaotic thoughts. Her delicate and bright face showed no smile. She said quietly, "Well, let's start."
Throughout the whole day of filming, Gu Qingwu's eyes and eyebrows were cold. It happened that she played the female lead in the evil film, and the director was very satisfied with it, and every scene was shot in one take.
After finishing her tasks for the day, Gu Qingwu returned to the dressing room to remove her makeup while calling He Sui Chen. However, no one answered the call no matter how many times she called. She anxiously called the tenth time and then stopped.
At this time, He Sui Chen might not want to answer her call.
Gu Qingwu sat in front of the makeup mirror in a daze, with bloodshot eyes. She closed her eyes and told herself to stay calm.
When she calmed down in the evening, Jiang Dianying took the initiative to send her a video invitation. Her beautiful face looked as if she had learned a big secret. She said very quickly: "Baby, I have something to tell you. You must stay calm. Your man has stepped down from the position of power."
Gu Qingwu curled up at the head of the bed. It started raining outside the window again. She felt cold and wrapped her shoulders with the quilt. She said softly, "Cheng Shu told you?"
"It's my brother."
Jiang Jibai has been involved in the family business since he was in high school, so his family would not deliberately avoid him when it comes to some of the inside stories of the wealthy families. When Jiang Dianying learned the news from her brother, she immediately ran to inform her best friend.
She even wondered if the world was upside down, and asked again: "Did you know this a long time ago?"
Gu Qingwu was calmer than expected and said, "Diandian, can you help me ask Cheng Shu... where He Suichen is?"
"no problem."
Jiang Dianying hung up the video call and immediately went to bombard the man who did not return home at night.
Ten minutes later.
She sent a message to Gu Qingwu saying, "Cheng Shu is having a party with someone at Modian, there is no sign of He Suichen."
Gu Qingwu finished reading it silently, leaning against the head of the bed without moving until the light on the screen went completely dark.
…
He Sui Chen seemed to have disappeared out of thin air. Apart from the news of his abdication spreading among the wealthy families, no one knew his whereabouts.
Gu Qingwu waited quietly in the crew for three days. During that time, he asked about the process, but the answer he got was that he didn't know.
Jiang Dianying was afraid that her mood would be affected, so she called her from time to time to chat: "Baby, I think all men have self-esteem... Just think about it, He Suichen fell from the clouds to the mud, and he must be short of oxygen without the life of being the moon and star! And you, you are now a popular female star with a lot of traffic..."
"When I first met him at Nanming Temple, he was just an ordinary teenager who chanted sutras and meditated."
Jiang Dianying had no choice but to say, "It's different. You see, He Suichen used to be generous enough to give you the Lan family's blue dragonfly. But now, if he wants to give you something, you can only design it yourself."
Gu Qingwu had never thought that a man as cunning as He Sui Chen would one day lose. In her opinion, it didn't matter whether he wanted the position of head of the family or not. However, the situation seemed to mock her for being too naive.
In real life, life is extremely cruel to losers.
The only thing she could do was to stay patiently in the crew and wait for this man to come to her.
The busy filming time passed quickly, and no one in the crew noticed her abnormality. After the filming, Gu Qingwu stayed quietly in the dressing room, occasionally checking the financial news.
On June 15th, she saw a report about the He family on the news headlines.
The news release about the reshuffle of the He family was written with great desire for survival, and only focused on He Yunjian's awakening after years of sleep and his official return to the family business. He and He Suichen were on good terms, and how they discussed the younger brother's abdication and the older brother's taking over.
The outside media all thought it was reasonable, after all, He Yunjian was the real first heir chosen by the He family.
Some people were also worried that without He Suichen, a business genius, the He Group's stock market would be shaken. Soon, He Yunjian held a press conference and dispelled some doubts with thunderous force.
Gu Qingwu's role in the crew was coming to an end. It was as if time was stolen. She was always online. Only when it was very quiet at night would she suddenly wake up from her sleep and subconsciously look towards the door.
She dreamed of New Year’s Eve, also in Licheng, and He Sui Chen came to see her with a suitcase.
But when I woke up, the door of the room was empty, there was nothing there.
Gu Qingwu took an eye mask to cover his dark eyes and continued to sleep, but for the past half month, he kept the light in the entrance on.
The wrap day was very lively.
In order to celebrate, the director specially customized a ten-layer cream cake and distributed red envelopes to all the crew members. As the protagonist, Gu Qingwu was naturally the center of attention. She didn't even have time to change out of her costume before she was dragged away to take various photos.
Luo Yuan also came and said worriedly, "As soon as you finished filming, the entertainment media heard about it and came. They almost didn't celebrate with you."
Gu Qingwu has been confined to the crew to film the past few months. The media reporters followed her and waited outside Hengdian, but they ended up filming in vain. She had no interaction with the male lead in the play, let alone any mysterious boyfriend visiting the set.
Now I'm leaving the crew.
Those media reporters were even more excited than Gu Qingwu himself, as if they had been released from prison.
Gu Qingwu showed little interest and didn't even eat the cake. She put it aside and meticulously wiped off the heavy makeup on her face with a cotton pad: "Brother Yuan, go and give red envelopes to all the media reporters waiting in Hengdian. Just think of it as making friends."
Luo Yuan looked at her differently: "You've grown up!"
Gu Qingwu didn't care about these things in the past. She might even take the initiative to provoke those media that followed her to shoot her dirty laundry. Now she is more mature and knows how to deal with things. She took off her makeup, turned around and said, "I'm very tired today... I won't go back to Sicheng yet. Please help me book a hotel near the airport to rest."
Luo Yuan had a strong premonition that she was reluctant to leave Licheng because she was waiting for He Sui Chen.
"Are you sure... Mr. He will come to see you?"
Gu Qingwu's thoughts were very calm under her eyelashes. She said, "He asked Cheng Shu to tell him that he would come to Licheng before I finished shooting."
Luo Yuan didn't dare to mention this to offend her some time ago, so he could only say tactfully: "Mr. He is really something. Even if you want to break up, you should make things clear. It's really painful to be so unclear like this."
Gu Qingwu ignored the words and held the cold phone in her white fingertips.
-
When the lights came on, Luo Yuan handed over the luggage of the crew to his assistants to pack, and first sent Gu Qingwu to the booked hotel to rest. After receiving a thick stack of red envelopes, the media reporters who had been following the filming for several months tacitly formed a small group in private and had a heated discussion that lasted for two hours.
Finally, I decided not to follow Gu Qingwu tonight. After all, the female star has been staying in the crew filming for half a year, so let her relax tonight.
Complete the check-in procedures.
Gu Qingwu took the elevator all the way to the suite on the top floor. She did not let Luo Yuan accompany her. After going in alone, she took off her silver high heels and sat down in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. She looked at the prosperous street below, which was connected in all directions. The lights were extremely bright, but she did not even blink.
It’s like seeing familiar vehicles like this.
After an unknown amount of time, her phone rang. It was a message from Luo Yuan: "I guessed you wouldn't eat tonight. Are you hungry? I ordered a meal for you. Be obedient... Fill your stomach first and wait. If he comes, you will eventually be able to wait."
Gu Qingwu stared at these words, and suddenly there seemed to be a hole in his heart, and he felt a little uncomfortable after realizing it belatedly.
At this moment, the doorbell of the suite rang clearly.
Because Luo Yuan genuinely cared about her, she slowly stood up and walked barefoot to open the door.
Gu Qingwu had preconceived that it was the hotel employee who delivered the meal. The moment he opened the door, he was not mentally prepared at all, and he stared blankly at the man standing in the corridor, as if he had lost his soul.
How long has it been since we last met? A full year and six months, I can hardly remember the days.
The light from above clearly illuminated He Suichen's handsome face. He was born with a very good appearance. When he smiled, he was particularly warm and could touch her heart. His pleasant voice flowed from his thin lips, as if it was close to her ear: "Standing there like an idiot, don't you recognize your brother?"
The author has something to say: He Da Lao dragged his sick body and lit a cigarette: "For this brother, I have sacrificed too much."
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