After Transmigrating into a Book, I Saved the Cheap Shou - Chapter 24

Nighttime, in the banquet hall of a certain international hotel.

Crystal chandeliers sparkled like diamonds, hanging from the ceiling. One classical piece after another was performed by professional musicians. Countless elegantly dressed politicians and business elites entered one after another.

Inside the hall, glasses clinked and toasts were exchanged. Gu Jingning felt completely out of place in this kind of setting. He huddled alone on a remote sofa, eating the snacks on his plate.

Desserts like this couldn’t fill him up at all. He was already starting to miss Su Chen’s cooking, especially the braised pork ribs. He had only eaten it a few times, yet he couldn’t stop thinking about it. No wonder Su Chen’s cooking could cure the scumbag gong’s stomach problems. If he were Su Chen’s future partner, he would definitely hurry up and kidnap Su Chen home.

After saying goodbye to Lin Zhenchuan that day, he rushed straight home without stopping. The moment he stepped through the door, a large vase came flying straight at him.

He dodged nimbly. The vase grazed his cheek, smashed against the wall, and shattered into pieces. The small porcelain shards that flew up cut his foot.

Gu Jingning calmly calmed his emotions, raised his head again, and smiled at Gu Linghai. “Dad, who made you angry this time?”

Gu Linghai stood in the center of the living room, his face full of rage. “You unfilial son! I called you so many times and you didn’t answer. Do you think I’m dead?!”

Gu Jingning continued smiling, seemingly unconcerned by Gu Linghai’s accusations.

“No, I already explained — I was sleeping, so I didn’t hear it.”

“Fine, let’s say you really were sleeping. Then let me ask you, what’s going on with the trust fund your mother set up for you?”

“Huh? What’s wrong with the trust fund?”

Gu Linghai cursed directly, “What did you do with that money you transferred out?! I called to ask and they said it was for charity?! You’re just a high school student — what kind of charity are you doing with such a huge sum of money?!”

With sharp eyes, Gu Jingning noticed a corner of a black dress that hadn’t been properly tucked away at the staircase landing. He understood immediately. No wonder they were so eager to call him home — these two people could no longer sit still.

“Aiyo! Dad, calm down. Here, have some water.” Enduring his disgust, he pulled Gu Linghai to sit on the sofa, picked up the glass on the table, poured some water, and placed it in Gu Linghai’s hand.

However, the next second — crash! — the glass shattered on the floor just like the vase, breaking into pieces. The servants didn’t dare breathe loudly and quickly retreated from the living room.

Yu Wan heard the sound of breaking glass and hurried down the stairs, pretending to come and mediate.

She was wearing a black dress. Her well-maintained skin paired with her attractive appearance, and the jewelry on her body was clearly expensive. Her slender, fair fingers were painted with bright nail polish. She gently stroked Gu Linghai’s back and spoke in a soft, soothing voice to calm him down.

Gu Linghai took the glass from Yu Wan’s hand and told her to be careful of the glass on the floor, completely ignoring the bloodstains on his other son’s leg.

Gu Jingning sat bored on the sofa opposite them, waiting for the two to finish their strict-father-kind-mother act in front of him. This kind of performance had been staged every day since Yu Wan entered the family.

Back then, relying on Gu Linghai’s favor, Yu Wan had never shown him, her stepson, any kindness. Behind his back she pinched and hit him, and in serious cases even locked him in a small dark room. During those days without sunlight, he could always hear the laughter of their family of three through the crack in the door.

Later, when Yu Wan learned that An Minggeng had left him a large sum of money, her entire attitude became kind and gentle.

She probably thought he was too young back then to remember, but perhaps because he had transmigrated, he remembered clearly how Yu Wan had secretly abused him when he was a child.

He continued living in the Gu family, pretending nothing had happened. He was also grateful for their overly inflated confidence, which allowed him to play the role of the filial son under their noses for more than ten years.

After comforting Gu Linghai, Yu Wan turned to Gu Jingning and said, “Xiao Ning, don’t blame your dad. He was just afraid you were being deceived, that’s why he was so anxious.”

“I understand, Aunt.” Gu Jingning smiled.

Yu Wan: “I knew Xiao Ning is the most understanding. You’re usually not at home, so you don’t know how often your dad thinks about you living alone at school — whether you’re eating well and dressing warmly. Aunt will go make a table of your favorite dishes later. You father and son should talk things out properly here and not create any conflict, okay?”

“Okay, Aunt.”

After Yu Wan left for the kitchen, Gu Linghai spoke again. This time his tone was no longer as aggressive and returned to his usual cold demeanor. He asked, “Explain. What did you do with that money?”

“Just like what you investigated, Dad. Didn’t you find out I donated it?”

“Are you an idiot? Such a huge sum of money, and you just donated it? Do you even have me in your eyes?”

Gu Jingning looked at Gu Linghai calmly for a moment. Gu Linghai felt a little uneasy under his gaze. Then Gu Jingning put on his usual smile again and said, “That was money Mom left for me. I can use it however I want. Didn’t Dad say before that you wouldn’t interfere?”

Gu Linghai choked. After thinking for a moment, he once again put on the dignity of the head of the family. “Then you should have discussed it with me first. If you used that money to buy a car, a house, or jewelry, I wouldn’t care. But you just threw it all away like pouring water into a sieve!”

“Anyway, it’s only a small portion of the money Mom left me. If it’s donated, then it’s donated. It’s nothing to our family, right, Dad?”

“Just treat it as accumulating some good karma for our family. Otherwise, what if one day Heaven can’t stand it anymore and takes us away?” Gu Jingning said with an implied meaning.

Gu Linghai rubbed his temples. “Tell me, did someone instigate you to donate the money? 200,000 isn’t a small amount. I know you’ve never had to worry about money since you were young and aren’t sensitive to it. Other people tell you it’s charity, but you don’t know whether that money will actually reach the people who truly need help. Be careful not to get scammed.”

Gu Jingning was rolling his eyes so hard in his heart they almost flew to the sky, but on the surface he pretended to be gratefully moved by the concern. “It’s fine. The other party gave me a donation receipt. It’s a legitimate national organization. I’ll send the documents to you for review. Don’t worry.”

Gu Linghai nodded and didn’t say anything more, but his doubts had not been dispelled. Years of experience in the business world gave him an intuition that still made him suspicious of Gu Jingning. However, if he wanted to get his hands on An Minggeng’s inheritance, he couldn’t let Gu Jingning know he had his eyes on that money.

So he decided not to say more and planned to have someone investigate.

Gu Jingning also knew that Gu Linghai hadn’t fully believed him. His methods were still immature and he couldn’t confront the old fox head-on. His only golden finger was his understanding of the plot.

Time passed minute by minute. The father and son sat in silence until Yu Wan called them for dinner, finally breaking the heavy atmosphere.

At the dining table, Gu Linghai once again reminded Gu Jingning to attend the banquet hosted by Mayor Xu. Gu Jingning tried probing several times but couldn’t get the real purpose of his attendance out of either of them.

After entering the venue, he felt like he had become invisible. Gu Linghai and Yu Wan left him behind to socialize.

Just when he thought he was only there as a background eater, a sweet voice sounded beside his ear. “Senior! You’re here too!”

The person patted his shoulder. Gu Jingning turned his head and found it was actually An Zhixia.

The girl was wearing a one-shoulder chiffon dress. The tender yellow fabric was dotted with white pearls, making the overall look bold yet appropriate. However, a glaring red brooch was pinned to her chest, completely out of place.

An Zhixia sat down beside Gu Jingning with a natural expression. She only held a glass of juice and quietly watched Gu Jingning eat.

“……” Why did it feel like being watched by his grandma while eating?

An Zhixia’s gaze was far too gratified. Even though he wasn’t full yet, he still put down his fifth plate.

An Zhixia was Su Chen’s friend. Gu Jingning had spoken to her no more than five times. Although he didn’t know what to talk about, he couldn’t let a girl just sit there watching him eat.

So he spoke first. “This brooch is really special. Is the design a pomegranate?”

An Zhixia’s eyes lit up with delight. She quickly introduced it to Gu Jingning. “Senior is so amazing! You could tell right away that it’s a pomegranate.”

Girl, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but Gu Jingning still felt pleased by An Zhixia’s praise. Who doesn’t like compliments from a pretty girl?

“It looks handmade. Did you make it yourself?”

An Zhixia shook her head. Her fingertips unconsciously stroked the smooth surface of the brooch as she smiled. “My cousin made it. My pheromone is pomegranate, so he specially made it for me.”

“Then you two must have a very good relationship?”

An Zhixia’s smile faded. She looked at him steadily. After being stared at for quite a while, Gu Jingning wondered if he had said something wrong.

But then he heard her say, “Mm, it used to be very good, but now I’m not sure.”

Gu Jingning asked carefully, “Did you… have a fight?”

An Zhixia didn’t answer him. Instead, she asked another question.

“Senior, this is something I’m asking for a friend.” Her gaze was sharp as she asked, “If the person you always thought was an Omega suddenly became an Alpha one day, would you still be close to her?”

Throughout history, when someone says “for a friend,” it’s usually about themselves, right? Seeing An Zhixia’s serious expression, Gu Jingning guessed this question was very important to her.

He didn’t know what other Alphas and Omegas thought. He was a Beta, and his views on ABO genders were different from the people in this world.

Whether someone was an Alpha or Omega didn’t matter to him at all. He could only smell pheromones, but they were just scents — no different from the people in his previous life who liked to wear different perfumes. Whether Alpha or Omega, to him they were just people wearing different fragrances.

This world had six genders. Seeing An Zhixia so troubled, he felt he couldn’t give a casual answer. She might have been at her wit’s end and had come to ask this unfamiliar stranger for advice.

After careful consideration, Gu Jingning gave his answer: “If it were me, when getting along with someone, I look at their essence.”

“I prefer to be around people with good tempers rather than those with explosive tempers. I prefer honest people over liars. But I wouldn’t dislike you just because you’re any one of the ABO genders.”

“Gender is just your outer appearance. The person who truly loves you will love you no matter what you are. So if your brother dislikes you because you’re an Alpha or Omega, then just get a new brother!”

An Zhixia burst out laughing with a “pfft.” She lowered her head, her eyes turning red as she tried hard to hold back her tears so her makeup wouldn’t smudge.

Gu Jingning breathed a sigh of relief. That answer should have been fine. He really wasn’t used to playing the role of a caring older brother.

Hearing his answer, An Zhixia seemed to gain courage. She grabbed Gu Jingning’s hand and said with determination, “Senior, I have something to tell you.”

“Mhm, I’m listening.”

“Actually, I…”

At that moment, commotion came from the entrance. A man in a well-tailored suit entered the banquet hall. His powerful aura made people不敢 approach. After walking in, he looked around for a moment, his gaze locking onto their small corner. Then he strode over with firm steps.

From the moment the man entered the banquet hall, the noise in the venue gradually quieted. His shiny leather shoes stepping on the marble floor seemed to strike everyone’s hearts. The man stopped beside the sofa where Gu Jingning and An Zhixia were sitting, looking at An Zhixia with cool eyes.

She immediately stood up from the sofa and called out to the man, “Dad.”

Gu Jingning turned his gaze to the newcomer. The fine lines on the man’s face didn’t diminish his handsomeness; instead, they added a sense of maturity and depth. At first glance, what left the strongest impression wasn’t his face, but the steady and powerful aura surrounding him.

His sharp eyes swept over Gu Jingning, then settled on An Zhixia.

He only said one sentence: “Come with me.” Then he walked away from their small corner.

An Zhixia apologized to Gu Jingning and quickly chased after her father.

“Why did An Qingyu come? Usually he absolutely refuses to appear if the Gu family is present.”

“Maybe he’s giving the mayor face. Isn’t that plot of land in the east district about to be developed? It’s a juicy piece of meat. I bet the An family also wants a share!”

“With what happened to his son, I thought he would be too ashamed to show his face!”

“Speaking of that An Zhiqiu kid, tsk tsk, an Omega acting like that — so shameless!”

“I heard last time…”

Gu Jingning sat back down on the sofa. The gossiping voices around him gradually faded. The moment he looked at An Qingyu, it felt as if someone had struck his head with a heavy hammer. The sharp pain made his head feel dizzy. He closed his eyes and gently rubbed the back of his head with his palm, hoping to ease the pain.

“Not feeling well?”

Gu Jingning leaned against the sofa and slightly opened his eyes. Pei Yuanqing’s upside-down face appeared right above him. He immediately closed his eyes again and calmly spat out one word: “Scram.”

Pei Yuanqing laughed in anger. “Your dad is looking for you. Otherwise, do you think I’d come here to endure your rotten temper?”

The pain eased a little. Gu Jingning stood up, his body slightly unsteady. Just as he was about to fall, Pei Yuanqing grabbed his shoulder and steadied him.

“Where’s Jiang Yunhe? Isn’t he with you?”

Gu Jingning shook off his hand and said coldly, “None of your business.” He turned to leave.

“Your illness isn’t cured yet. Why don’t you go abroad for treatment with Xiao Yu?”

Hearing this, Gu Jingning gave a scornful laugh. “Go for treatment or go to be a slave? I know exactly what it is.”

He grabbed his hand and, in a volume only the two of them could hear, said with a slight tremble in his voice, “You want to cut ties with me just because I was good to Xiao Yu? When will you finally let go of your prejudice against him?”

Veins bulged on Pei Yuanqing’s hand as he gripped Gu Jingning’s tighter and tighter. When he saw Gu Jingning’s pained expression, he hurriedly let go.

“Sorry…”

Gu Jingning was almost losing his temper from the torment. Couldn’t Pei Yuanqing understand human language?

“You’re the one who’s blind. Don’t expect the person involved to agree with what you did.”

His heart felt stifled. Tormented by the headache, it felt like if he got angry he might just pass out right there at the banquet. He quickly left. He didn’t want to faint here and be treated like a monkey.