Gu Qingshuang’s VIP suite was on the top floor. Standing in the elevator, Ming Li was still scrolling through the trending topics.
The fervor surrounding Zhu Hanxing’s scandal hadn’t died down. If anything, it was intensifying because of Hanxing’s “audacious remarks” in the comment section.
#TheAbsoluteBestBestBestBestFriendInTheWorld#
#ZhuHanxing Friend’s Girlfriend#
#ZhuHanxing Denies Relationship But Not Sexual Orientation#
Clicking into any of those hashtags revealed a chaotic mix of sentiment. The positive comments were mostly from Zhu Hanxing’s fans trying to control the narrative, but the negative ones were far more numerous. There were curious bystanders looking to stir the pot, anti-fans hurling insults, and “cloaked” haters pretending to be fans just to cause trouble. It was a digital cesspool.
Naturally, interspersed within the vitriol were queries born of curiosity regarding Ming Li’s identity. People were desperate to dig up every scrap of information about her.
The public was divided on this as well. Some felt it was shameful to dox a private citizen, while others argued she wasn’t a private citizen at all. Regardless, behind the safety of their screens, the internet was in an uproar.
Seeing that the fire hadn’t truly spread to her yet, Ming Li ignored it.
She stepped out of the elevator and switched off her phone. She began walking toward Gu Qingshuang’s room, only to be intercepted halfway by Gu Xueqiang’s assistant.
“Miss Ming,” the assistant said with a polite nod.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Ming Li gripped Gu Qingshuang’s phone, her head instinctively tilting forward as she tried to catch a glimpse of Gu Qingshuang.
The assistant smiled. “Not at all. You can just give the phone to me.”
“Where is Gu Qingshuang?” Ming Li didn’t hand it over. “I heard she’s awake.”
The assistant was highly professional, maintaining a faint, calm smile that made her seem unshakeable. “She is awake, but she’s currently undergoing an examination.”
“Oh. Then I’ll wait until she’s finished,” Ming Li said, her lashes fluttering downward. “It shouldn’t be long.”
The assistant hesitated for a couple of seconds, seemingly unable to find another excuse, yet she remained firmly in the middle of the path, blocking Ming Li’s way.
“President Gu’s instructions were for you to go home first. Miss Gu will return once she has recovered,” the assistant said eventually. “You can leave the phone with me.”
Ming Li’s brow furrowed. She didn’t want to back down.
However, she also didn’t want to make things difficult for the assistant; they were both just doing their jobs, after all.
“Where is President Gu? Where is she now?” Ming Li asked.
“She is with the young miss for the exam. They’ll be out shortly,” the assistant replied.
Ming Li paused. “Then I’ll wait for them.”
The assistant pursed her lips. Wanting to help Ming Li out, she leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “President Gu’s expression wasn’t very good after she saw the news. You should really give me the phone and head home.”
“What’s the use of going home? When things happen, they have to be faced,” Ming Li argued. “I haven’t done anything wrong, have I?”
“That may be true, but you appearing on the trending topics with someone else…”
“It was with a good friend. It’s fine.” Ming Li offered a small smile. “I appreciate the concern, Assistant Lin.”
Assistant Lin thought to herself that President Gu didn’t care whether they were friends or not. To her, as long as Ming Li appeared in the news, it was bad for the Gu family.
Seeing Ming Li’s resolve, Assistant Lin stopped trying to persuade her and simply led the way.
Ming Li sat on a bench in the hallway and waited. She scrolled through the trending topics for a while longer until the door to the room finally opened.
Ming Li stood up to greet them, but she only saw a weary-looking Gu Xueqiang. Gu Xueqiang hadn’t removed her makeup from the night before, and her face looked slightly oily—a far cry from her usual elegant and radiant self.
It was clear the night hadn’t been easy on her.
Ming Li stepped forward to support her. “Mother.”
Before she could say anything else, Gu Xueqiang’s voice rang out coldly. “What were you doing this morning?”
“I was accompanying a friend to the hospital.” Ming Li lowered her gaze. Even though she had used Zhu Hanxing as an excuse, in Gu Xueqiang’s eyes, no reason justified news that reflected poorly on the Gu family.
Ming Li was prepared for a lecture.
She didn’t expect Gu Xueqiang’s next question: “Are you sure it wasn’t for yourself?”
Ming Li froze. For a moment, she thought her illness had been exposed. She spent a few panicked seconds in suspense, but then she remembered that Gu Xueqiang was always direct. If she knew the truth, she wouldn’t be asking tentatively; she would be making an accusation. This meant she wasn’t certain.
Ming Li didn’t want to make a scene, and she certainly didn’t want Gu Xueqiang to know.
After a few beats, Ming Li answered calmly, “My friend had a headache, so I went with her.”
“That friend of yours…” Gu Xueqiang’s brow pinched, her tone laced with disdain. “That little starlet?”
“Yes, her,” Ming Li said.
Gu Xueqiang fell silent, her eyes scanning Ming Li from head to toe.
Standing before her, Ming Li felt her shoulders wanting to slump. Her heart was drumming against her ribs with anxiety, but she forced herself to keep her spine straight. Her friend had done nothing wrong. If Gu Xueqiang insulted Zhu Hanxing, Ming Li was determined to talk back, even if it meant being punished.
Resolved, Ming Li waited for Gu Xueqiang’s reaction.
Every second felt like an eternity.
Suddenly, Gu Xueqiang let out a soft sigh. “Do not let this happen again.”
Ming Li pressed her lips together. She hadn’t expected the older woman to drop the matter so easily after making such a big deal of it.
For a moment, she didn’t know how to react.
Gu Xueqiang reached out her hand. Ming Li looked up, startled. “Hmm?”
“The phone,” Gu Xueqiang said.
“I’ll go give it to her myself.” Ming Li’s knuckles ached from how tightly she was gripping the device, the veins on the back of her hand prominent. Yet, she remained firm. “I haven’t seen Shuangshuang since last night. Mother.”
She deliberately emphasized the title. It was a plea, but also a reminder.
After all, she was Gu Qingshuang’s wife in the eyes of the law.
Gu Xueqiang glanced at her. “Shuangshuang just fell asleep. Go home for now. You’ll see her naturally once she returns home.”
Ming Li stood her ground, her eyes brimming with a stubborn streak as she looked at Gu Xueqiang.
Gu Xueqiang didn’t yield either. She simply said with finality, “Go home.”
“I have something I need to tell Shuangshuang,” Ming Li said, playing her last card.
Gu Xueqiang’s face instantly darkened. “Are you threatening me?”
Ming Li shook her head. “No, Mother. I’m not.”
“Go home.” Gu Xueqiang’s voice grew even colder.
In those few minutes, a bloodless war had been waged. The standoff finally ended with Ming Li surrendering the phone.
Before leaving, Ming Li couldn’t help but try one last time. “Mother, when Shuangshuang wakes up, please remember to tell her I came. Ask her to call me or send a message.”
Gu Xueqiang wasn’t entirely heartless. “Fine.”
***
Standing in the elevator on her way down, the more Ming Li thought about it, the more miserable she felt.
She had rushed over the moment she heard Gu Qingshuang was awake, yet she wasn’t even given a chance to visit.
Even if she and Gu Qingshuang were wives by contract, they were legally married. The state recognized them.
Besides, Gu Qingshuang had basically been injured because of her. What was the big deal in letting her visit?
When the elevator doors opened, Ming Li stayed rooted to the spot. A ball of fire seemed to be smoldering in her chest.
From the moment she saw Gu Qingshuang fighting for her in that crowd last night, sparks had begun to fly. Now, they had grown into a wildfire.
Just as the doors were about to close, Ming Li hit the button for the top floor again.
Standing in the elevator, she felt like a little lion cub about to charge for love, ready to bare her fangs at a moment’s notice.
Upon returning to the floor, she found Gu Qingshuang’s room with ease. Assistant Lin had been sent away by Gu Xueqiang to handle other matters, and the door was unguarded.
Ming Li stood at the entrance. Just as she raised her hand to knock, she heard Gu Xueqiang’s voice from inside.
“She’s already gone.”
Gu Xueqiang had said that Gu Qingshuang was asleep, so who was she talking to?
Ming Li’s hand froze in mid-air. She instinctively held her breath.
A moment later, she heard Gu Qingshuang’s low, heavy response. “Mm.”
Gu Qingshuang was awake?
Ming Li was about to burst in when she heard Gu Xueqiang speak again in a neutral tone. “She seemed very worried about you. Why won’t you see her?”
The lights in the room appeared to be off, and the curtains were drawn. It was very dark. Even looking through the crack in the door, Ming Li couldn’t see anything.
It was as if two ghosts were conversing in the dark.
Ming Li had assumed it was Gu Xueqiang who was blocking her, perhaps to hide some family secret or something about Qingshuang.
She never imagined it was Gu Qingshuang who had refused to see her.
This was the very question Ming Li wanted to ask. Her heart tightened as the fire in her chest burned to its peak.
After a long silence, Ming Li felt as though she were about to suffocate, yet she still hadn’t heard an answer.
The room fell silent.
Just as Ming Li prepared to push the door open, she heard Gu Qingshuang’s cold, detached voice speak with a weary heaviness.
“I don’t want to see her.”
Ming Li’s heart felt as if it had been struck by a blunt object. A dull, throbbing pain spread through her.
“It’s pointless,” Gu Qingshuang added.
The fire in Ming Li’s chest was extinguished in an instant.
