Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âIâll be too busy, probably not able to spare any time,â Qin Zhiâai said.
âYouâre right. Can you write down the steps for me? Iâll follow your recipe to make it for Mr. Gu. If you have time, you can make it, too,â the housekeeper joked with a smile. âMr. Gu must like your cooking more.â
Qin Zhiâai curled her mouth up, but she didnât say anything back. Instead, she immediately looked down to hide her sadness, then she turned around and walked out of the dining room.
...
The day before, Gu Yusheng had slept soundly at the Four Seasons Hotel. He was woken up by the landline phone in the room.
Actually, he hadnât slept that long, but he felt like it had been more than a century. When he woke up, he wasnât sure what day it was.
The phone kept ringing, so he frowned and picked it up. It wasnât the hotel staff. Instead, tt was his driver, Xiaowang. He sounded worried when he said, âMaster Gu, itâs me, Xiaowang.â
Gu Yusheng sounded a little grumpy and sleepy at first, since he had been woken up by the call. âWhatâs going on?â Gu Yusheng asked.
âSomething happened at the Shanghai office. They need someone from headquarters to help them. Master Gu, who do you think we should send thereââ Gu Yusheng interrupted without evening asking what was wrong with the Shanghai branch. âBook a plane ticket for me. Iâll go there.â
Xiaowang seemed to be shocked by Gu Yushengâs decision. He had been so mad the previous day and smashed his whole office. He was shocked for a second before he responded to Gu Yusheng, âYes, Master Gu.â
âIâll be waiting for you outside of the Four Seasons Hotel in half an hour. On the way, can you stop by a mall and buy me a new cell phone?â After pausing for a second, Gu Yusheng gave more instructions to Xiaowang. âThere are clean clothes in my room at the office. Can you bring two outfits for me?â
After they hung up the phone, Gu Yusheng leaned back on the headboard of the bed. He lit a cigarette and held it between his fingers, taking the time to smoke it. After he finished the cigarette, he flipped the blankets open and got out of bed. He walked to the bay window and opened the curtain to see how beautiful the night view of the city was.
Gu Yusheng stared at the view outside the window for a long time until his eyes became sore. He looked at the watch on his wrist, anticipating when Xiaowang would come so that he could put on his clothes and walk downstairs.
On the way to the airport, Xiaowang remembered he hadnât booked a return ticket for Gu Yusheng. He asked, âMaster Gu, itâs not a serious issue at the Shanghai branch. I think things will be settled by tomorrow morning. Should I book a ticket back to Beijing for tomorrow afternoon?â
Gu Yusheng watched the street lights pass by outside the window. He looked like he was lost in thought. After a long time, he responded affirmatively to Xiaowang. He turned around and took a look at Xiaowang, saying calmly, âNo rush. You can book it for later.â
The reason he was going to Shanghai was to go to a different place and relax a bit.
Thinking of this, Gu Yusheng said, âDidnât the Shanghai Finance channel ask me to do an interview with them a couple times before? Contact them to see when they would be free to interview me in the next few days.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âYes, Master Gu.â Xiaowang had worked for Gu Yusheng for many years. He might not have understood every thought in Gu Yushengâs mind, but he could at least guess at most of them. He had never seen Gu Yusheng expose himself to the media. If he wanted to do an interview, he was merely looking for excuses to not go back to Beijing.