Chapter 88: Renting an Apartment

“Mr. Gu? What Mr. Gu? How old is he?” Zhuang Nian was watching a drama series when he received a call from the front desk, feeling somewhat surprised.

“About 20 years old.” The receptionist glanced at Gu Jin Yi and whispered into the phone.

“20 years old?” Zhuang Nian pursed his lips.

A young man of 20 coming to the group and asking for Fan Xia by name – instinct told Zhuang Nian this couldn’t be anything good.

But since the person had come all the way here, he couldn’t just bar him from entering. If he had the courage to come to the company, he must have an unusual relationship with Fan Xia and surely had her personal contact information. Yet he didn’t call Fan Xia’s personal phone, but rather deliberately had the front desk contact Zhuang Nian to then inform Fan Xia.

Creating such a fuss was clearly intended to let more people know that his relationship with Fan Xia was out of the ordinary.

Although Zhuang Nian hadn’t met Gu Jin Yi yet, he already had a poor impression of him. They were both old foxes, and he could see through such tactics at a glance – they were only good for fooling women.

Zhuang Nian said irritably, “Let him come up.”

The receptionist immediately escorted Gu Jin Yi into the elevator and pressed the floor number for him.

When the elevator doors opened again, Gu Jin Yi saw a man with a face full of smiles: “Hello, are you Mr. Gu? May I ask what business you have with President Fan?”

“I-I have some personal matters to discuss with Elder Sister Fan,” Gu Jin Yi said softly in a gentle voice.

He had been crying earlier, his eyes were red and swollen, and his eyelashes, wet with tears, hung sparsely like reeds dampened by mist.

Zhuang Nian laughed coldly in his heart. Fan Xia hadn’t even come out yet, and he was already putting on this pitiful act – who was he trying to impress?

“Please wait a moment, I’ll go inform President Fan right away,” Zhuang Nian said, turning to enter the office to tell Fan Xia.

“Gu Jin Yi?” Fan Xia was focused on her work, an exquisite pen twirling in her slender fingers like a flower.

Zhuang Nian said, “Yes, he’s waiting for you outside now.”

Hearing that Gu Jin Yi had come to see her, Fan Xia was genuinely surprised. She and Gu Jin Yi only had some personal connections, with no work-related interactions. Why would he come to the company to find her?

Although puzzled, Fan Xia still put down her pen and said, “Then bring him in.”

Zhuang Nian nodded and brought Gu Jin Yi into the office, but he left some room for maneuvering by not closing the door completely. The president was still at home pregnant, and they were a lone man and woman – he couldn’t create conditions for that white lotus to climb up.

“Elder Sister Fan-” Gu Jin Yi saw her.

The company had strict dress code requirements for employees, mainly professional attire, and the office decor was all cold, cool tones. Gu Jin Yi wore a toggle coat with a creamy white sweater underneath, its fluffy collar wrapping around his slender neck, making him look both docile and harmless, yet out of place in the cool-toned office – like a little rabbit that had accidentally wandered into a concrete jungle, afraid and ill at ease.

“Jin Yi, why have you come?” Fan Xia stood up from her desk and came to his side to ask.

Upon hearing Fan Xia’s voice, Gu Jin Yi’s eyes filled with tears again, rolling down one by one.

“Why are you crying? Did… did someone bully you?”

Fan Xia pulled out a tissue to wipe his tears, but he was wearing a mask covering half his face, so she simply helped him take off the mask. As she did so, the red, swollen handprint on half of his face was fully exposed, forming a stark contrast with the other half of his fair, flawless cheek.

Seeing this, Fan Xia asked angrily, “Who hit you? I’ll go find them.”

Hearing that Fan Xia wanted to stand up for him, all of Gu Jin Yi’s pent-up grievances poured out. He cried and hugged Fan Xia: “Elder Sister Fan, some people are jealous that I’m doing well in the basketball team and gaining popularity. They spread rumors about me, saying I have an affair with the coach. No matter how I explain, no one listens. Today, the coach’s husband came to take his anger out on me. But how could I do such a thing with the coach? I’ve suffered for so many years, how could I do such a shameless thing? But now I can’t defend myself, everyone looks down on me…”

Gu Jin Yi cried out his grievances, his arms tightly wrapped around Fan Xia’s waist, his face buried in her embrace. His endless tears soaked her clothes, feeling somewhat cool.

Fan Xia’s hands hovered in mid-air before finally resting on his shoulders to move him away from her embrace, guiding him to sit on the sofa.

“So that’s what happened. I understand. I’ll arrange for someone to investigate and see who’s behind this mischief,” Fan Xia said.

“Really?” Gu Jin Yi held Fan Xia’s hand, his eyes still glistening with tears.

Fan Xia nodded.

“But now my teammates and the coach all have issues with me. They all look down on me and don’t want to train or play ball with me anymore. My dad says that with this kind of incident, the basketball team will definitely think I have improper personal conduct and will kick me out.” A hot teardrop fell on Fan Xia’s hand.

Fan Xia sighed, thinking of when Rong Xiu was cyberbullied. It was like that back then too.

Even though it was the two of them who had an affair, all the blame and insults were directed solely at Rong Xiu, with accusations of being a loose man raining down. Now Gu Jin Yi was the victim of false rumors, and miraculously, the female coach, who should have been the main character, had disappeared from the story.

Remembering everything Rong Xiu went through back then, she still felt guilty. Now seeing Gu Jin Yi, whom she had watched grow up, encountering such a situation, she couldn’t and wouldn’t sit idly by.

She said, “Don’t worry, the basketball team won’t expel you. I’ll get to the bottom of this as soon as possible and clear your name.”

“Mm, I believe in you, Elder Sister Fan.” Gu Jin Yi looked up at her, his watery eyes unable to hide his full admiration despite still brimming with tears.

Fan Xia averted her gaze, pretending not to notice, and said, “Go home first, buy some ointment to apply on your face, and rest for a while.”

Gu Jin Yi lowered his head dejectedly: “I don’t dare go back. There are so many people online cursing at me and threatening me, saying they want to dox me and throw paint on my house. My dad is terrified and won’t let me go back, afraid those lunatics might come after me…”

“Ah-” Fan Xia rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Those men with their formidable fighting spirit, if only they could put that energy into their careers, how much better it would be, instead of tearing each other apart.

“How about this, I’ll arrange for someone to rent you a high-end apartment in the city center, and you can stay there for now.”

“Really? Is that okay?”

Fan Xia nodded: “Renting is not like buying a house, you can move in as soon as you sign the contract. And usually, apartments are fully equipped, you just need to bring a few changes of clothes. Of course, if you don’t like it, staying at a hotel is also an option.”

“No need, an apartment is already very good.” Gu Jin Yi bit his lip as he looked at Fan Xia.

Although hotels seemed nice, they couldn’t compare to apartments. If word got out that Elder Sister Fan had rented a house for him, it would naturally be much more ambiguous than staying at a hotel, with a hint of keeping a secret lover.

Fan Xia smiled slightly: “Alright then, I’ll have someone arrange it right away. You sit here for a while and have some fruit.”

She pointed to a plate of berries on the coffee table.

Gu Jin Yi nodded obediently, picked up a plump red raspberry, and gently bit into it. The juice burst between his teeth, sweet and slightly tart. The red juice stained his full lips, glistening and extremely tempting.

Fan Xia smiled as she saw that his mood had calmed down. She walked out of the office and lightly tapped on Zhuang Nian’s desk: “Secretary Zhuang, can you help me with something?”

Zhuang Nian closed his computer: “What is it?”

“Help me rent an apartment for the young man in my office,” Fan Xia said.

“Rent a house?” Zhuang Nian’s voice almost cracked in shock.

Fan Xia nodded: “Yes, and make sure it has good security and privacy. Go on.”

“Alright.” The smile on Zhuang Nian’s face was very forced. If the president found out that he was being disloyal, using the salary paid by the group to rent a house for Fan Xia’s seductive little toy, with the president’s vengeful nature, he probably wouldn’t live much longer.

But he couldn’t disobey Fan Xia’s orders either.

The fact that she could successfully take over the Shanhai Group from the president’s hands and keep the people below her in line showed that she wasn’t as gentle and harmless as she appeared on the surface.

Caught between Rong Xiu and Fan Xia, Zhuang Nian felt like dying.

But in the few minutes that Zhuang Nian was questioning his life choices, Fan Xia had already brought Gu Jin Yi out: “This is Secretary Zhuang, just follow him. I have some matters to attend to, so I won’t be able to accompany you.”

“If I rent the apartment, will you come to see me, Elder Sister Fan?” Gu Jin Yi’s hand clutched Fan Xia’s sleeve, his voice mumbling: “I’m a bit scared.”

Zhuang Nian felt nauseated inside. Little slut.

Fan Xia patted his hand: “Don’t worry, I’ll come.”

Gu Jin Yi smiled: “Okay then, I’ll wait for you.”

Zhuang Nian couldn’t take it anymore: “Mr. Gu, let me take you to rent an apartment.”

Gu Jin Yi nodded politely: “Thank you for the trouble, Secretary Zhuang.”

“It’s no trouble, let’s go.” Zhuang Nian rolled his eyes imperceptibly.

Zhuang Nian drove, thinking about taking Gu Jin Yi to look at some nearby high-end apartments, but his mind kept drifting to Rong Xiu’s cold face. In the past, it was Rong Xiu who sat in the back seat of this car, and now he had actually let a seductive little slut sit there. If Rong Xiu found out, he would surely skin him alive.

Men’s hearts are the most poisonous. Offending Fan Xia would at most result in being fired, but if he offended Rong Xiu, he feared even his wife-master’s job would be jeopardized.

Zhuang Nian swallowed hard, ultimately succumbing to Rong Xiu’s ruthlessness.

While waiting for a red light, Zhuang Nian secretly sent a message to Rong Xiu.

President, your wife-master is keeping a little toy outside, and she’s even renting him an apartment to hide him away. Are you going to do something about it? If not, the little fourth might climb up the ranks.

These were Zhuang Nian’s true thoughts, of course he didn’t dare send them to Rong Xiu like that. After careful consideration, he tactfully mentioned that a ‘young and beautiful’ young man had come crying to find Fan Xia, and that Fan Xia was preparing to rent him an apartment.

Rong Xiu quickly replied: “Take him to the Guanhai Apartments.”

Seeing the message, Zhuang Nian’s heart sank.

The Guanhai Apartments were the Rong family’s private property, even the property management was under the Rong Group. Was Rong Xiu planning to arrange for this Gu Jin Yi to live in the Guanhai Apartments? Wouldn’t that be completely handing him over to Rong Xiu’s palm? He could torment him however he wanted, and no one would hear his cries for help.

Zhuang Nian glanced at Gu Jin Yi, who was still immersed in joy, through the rearview mirror and silently mourned for him.