txolops Chapter 427 - 412: Not Worth It
Chapter 427 - 412: Not Worth It
As Gu Xi stepped out of the conference room, she saw a young girl blocking Ye Junhan at the other end of the hall. The girl must have heard the door open, because she glanced over at Gu Xi before running off, her eyes red.
Gu Xi was speechless. ’Something feels very strange about that,’ she thought, ’but I can’t put my finger on it.’
Over at the other end of the hall, Ye Junhan saw Gu Xi too. But for some reason, he didn’t approach. Instead, he just stared at her for a moment before turning and striding away.
Tang You, who had been waiting off to the side, watched this unfold, his eyes darting back and forth. ’Why does the atmosphere between those two feel so strange?’
Curiosity clawed at him like a cat.
But he didn’t dare to ask.
It was Gu Xi who broke the silence. "How many people are on the investigation team?"
Following behind her, Tang You paused for a second before quickly replying, "Thirty-seven in total."
That was quite a lot.
However, there had only been seventeen people in the conference room just now, including Shen Yue’s father and Zhou.
Gu Xi nodded and asked another question. "Do you know how long they plan on staying in City A?"
"Well," Tang You hesitated, glancing cautiously at Gu Xi’s expression. He chose his words carefully, offering a subtle reminder. "That will probably depend on your arrangements, Miss Gu."
Gu Xi walked out of the administration building and glanced back over her shoulder without a word.
Tang You hurried forward to open the car door for her, only to freeze when he saw Shen Yue in the driver’s seat. ’What’s he doing here? Wasn’t it Mr. Ye who drove Miss Gu over?’
But then he remembered that Mr. Shen was upstairs. Tang You’s expression flickered, but he ultimately said nothing, simply stepping aside to let her get in.
Gu Xi got into the car, and the window slowly rolled down. The car drove away, disappearing from his sight.
A moment later, Tang You watched the SUV gradually disappear from view. He raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and sighed silently.
Just as he’d thought, trouble was brewing.
With one hand on the steering wheel, Shen Yue glanced at Gu Xi in the rearview mirror. She was sitting in the back, her eyes slightly downcast, lost in thought. He looked like he wanted to say something, but held his tongue.
"What is it?" Gu Xi lifted her gaze, her eyes meeting his hesitant ones in the mirror.
"You saw my old man?" Shen Yue let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding and asked with a devil-may-care attitude, "What do you make of all this?"
Gu Xi replied, "It’s hard to say." She had originally assumed they came to City A for the Superpower Seed, but now, it didn’t seem that way...
Gu Xi gave him a brief summary of what had just happened.
After she finished, Shen Yue tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the steering wheel. After a long moment, he said, "Let’s just wait and see, then." He decided he’d also find some time to try and get some information out of his father.
’I’m his son, after all. The old man can’t be so stingy that he won’t give me even a tiny hint, right?’
...
After Gu Xi left, the investigation team summoned several other people for questioning.
Tang You was very proactive about sending her updates, but Gu Xi didn’t seem particularly interested. After replying to one or two of his messages, she handed the matter over to Shen Yue to deal with.
By the time the two of them got back, Wei Heng had already finished cooking. Qi Xiang was sitting at the table, tapping her chopsticks against an empty bowl, waiting for Gu Xi so they could eat.
The moment Qi Xiang saw Gu Xi, she opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when Shen Yue pounced on the dining table like he hadn’t eaten in a week.
Qi Xiang was speechless. ’Forget it,’ she thought. ’We can talk while we eat.’
But in truth, there wasn’t much to discuss.
Gu Xi briefly explained the situation. After listening, Qi Xiang said thoughtfully, "So, you’re saying this so-called joint investigation team isn’t exactly a united front?"
Their reasons for coming to City A might differ, but they were all in agreement on one thing: Gu Xi was a juicy piece of meat, and everyone wanted a bite.
"It’s hard to say about the others, but..." Wei Heng glanced at a certain someone who was busy shoveling down rice while fighting Qi Xiang for a piece of bone-in meat. He let out a soft sigh. "The military’s stance is too ambiguous this time. I don’t know..."
"Don’t look at me," Shen Yue said lazily, spitting a bone onto his plate. "I am me, and my dad is my dad."
Wei Heng was speechless.
So was everyone else.
After dinner, Gu Xi went back to her room. After a moment of thought, she raised her wrist and activated her personal terminal.
The call connected quickly. On the other end, Li Ming was sitting in front of a large, floor-to-ceiling window, reading a book.
Sunlight slanted through the glass, casting dappled spots of light across his aged face.
"Xiaoxi." Li Ming closed the precious paper-bound book in his hands and looked warmly at the girl on the other side of the screen.
"I met with the investigation team," Gu Xi said. She was also sitting by a window where the sun streamed in, one hand resting on the sill. She idly toyed with a mutant plant that had crept up from somewhere and was now trying to snake its way into her bedroom.
"And Gu Shen." She paused before adding, "I didn’t kill him."
On the other end of the call, Li Ming’s fingers, which had been resting idly on the book’s cover, twitched. He looked up at Gu Xi, his expression complicated. "Xiaoxi, you..."
Gu Xi lowered her gaze, nudging aside a little sproutling that was secretly trying to fend off the intruding mutant plant. After a moment, she said, "Ming, I want to handle the Gu Family’s affairs myself."
Li Ming looked at her, a hint of disapproval in his eyes. "They aren’t worth you dirtying your hands."
It was true that since the apocalypse began, stories of fathers turning on sons and brothers fighting to the death were hardly anything new. But if the Gu Family was pushed into a corner, they might reveal Gu Xi’s identity and use public opinion against her...
Who knew what people would start saying about her then.
Even though Li Ming knew Gu Xi didn’t care about such things, it really wasn’t worth it for the likes of them.
They weren’t worthy of her.
But then Gu Xi suddenly changed the subject. "Ming, would you like to go live in South City for a while?"
Li Ming paused, taken aback. "South City?" ’Why would she suddenly suggest I go to South City?’
Gu Xi gazed out the window and said slowly, "As you know, I’ve leased a lot of land in South City. I have a small farm there, and I’ve planted an entire hillside with fruit trees. But there’s no one there right now. I’ve had to entrust the orchard to Mr. Zhao from the experimental fields next door..."
At this, Gu Xi turned back to the screen to look at Li Ming. "The new fruit saplings I’ve cultivated on my farm are already being supplied to the major bases. My business there is only going to get better from now on. It would be a huge help if you could go and oversee things for me, Ming."
"After all, you know I’m not much of a businesswoman," Gu Xi said with a hint of melancholy.
Li Ming had watched Gu Xi grow up; how could he not see through her little ploy?
He hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed. "Alright. As it happens, my work here at the Central Base is mostly finished. With Qee Ran and Xiao Yu around, there’s not much more I can do to help here. Your place, on the other hand..."
He smiled at that. "You don’t have any family there, and an entire orchard on a hillside... you really do need someone you trust to look after it for you. Fruit is a hot commodity these days..."
Gu Xi smiled as well. She was about to speak, but Li Ming cut her off. "Xiaoxi, nothing more needs to be said between us. I’ll be in South City, waiting for you to come home."
"...Okay," Gu Xi replied, her gaze falling.