Tycoon: From Rags to Riches

Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Stupid Foot, You’re So Considerate

Night fell over Zhenhai.

Inside the spacious and brightly lit private room, everyone was toasting and drinking, the atmosphere lively.

Gu Heng sat in the host’s seat, flanked by Luo Xiwen and Jiang Ruan.

The banquet had started at seven in the evening and had now been going on for nearly three hours.

They had already gone through four full bottles of Singleton 39 Year Old, each worth over ten thousand yuan.

Under the brilliant lights, the amber liquid gave off a magnificent glow.

"Gu Heng..."

"Congratulations on finally seeing your hard work pay off and getting what you wished for!"

Luo Xiwen raised her glass, her beautiful eyes seeming to shimmer.

Her graceful and lovely face was flushed with a tempting rosy hue from the alcohol.

Gu Heng gazed at Luo Xiwen, his eyes burning with a palpable heat.

As the saying goes, one develops a taste for food and lust. He had just tasted the forbidden fruit when, because of a challenge task, he was forced to be celibate.

For more than two whole months, he had lived like an ascetic monk every single day.

But now, the challenge task was successfully completed, and the "golden hoop" that had been constricting him was naturally removed.

Gu Heng was well aware of Luo Xiwen’s feelings for him.

If not for that inopportune night, if not for the sudden start of the challenge task, Luo Xiwen would have likely become his woman over two months ago.

A twist of fate had delayed it until now.

Holding her glass, Luo Xiwen felt Gu Heng’s gaze grow even more intense, and she suddenly seemed to sense what was coming.

"Okay?"

Gu Heng asked softly, watching Luo Xiwen’s face slowly turn crimson.

It was a bit abrupt, a bit out of nowhere.

But Gu Heng knew that Luo Xiwen would understand what he meant.

’You understand my ill intentions, and I know your feigned modesty.’

They were both adults; there was no need for beating around the bush.

"Mm..."

Luo Xiwen nodded lightly, her voice as faint as the buzz of a fly.

The moment Gu Heng saw Luo Xiwen agree, he found it impossible to keep the smile off his face.

"Gotta hit the bathroom. We’ll finish up when I get back!"

With that, he stood up and headed for the restroom.

As one of the most high-end banquet venues in the Ji Province restaurant scene, every private room at Zhenhai came standard with its own restroom and serving pantry.

As Gu Heng neared the restroom, he saw Jiang Ruan standing by the public vanity, washing her hands.

Their eyes met in the vanity mirror.

"Should I call Sister Li ahead of time and have her prepare a pot of hangover soup for you?"

Jiang Ruan looked at Gu Heng, who was clearly tipsy. Her face was expressionless, her voice as cool as ever.

"No need."

"I’m not going home tonight. Who would I be making hangover soup for?"

Gu Heng waved a hand, his tone casual.

’Not going home?’

Jiang Ruan, who was drying her hands with a paper towel, froze for a fraction of a second upon hearing this.

"Not going home?"

"Then where are you going?"

Jiang Ruan appeared nonchalant on the surface, but inside, her thoughts were already in turmoil.

"A man, not coming home for the night."

Gu Heng stood less than half a meter behind her. He looked at her beautiful eyes in the mirror, a slight sneer playing on his lips as he retorted, "Where do you think he could possibly be going?"

"Go wherever you want to go."

As if in a pique, Jiang Ruan tossed the paper towel into the trash can and turned to leave. "What does it have to do with me?"

"Of course it has something to do with you."

"Because in a bit, you’re responsible for driving me there."

Jiang Ruan had barely taken two steps when Gu Heng’s voice drifted over to her again.

’Drive him there?’

’You’re going to get a room with another woman, and I have to be the one to drive you both there?’

Jiang Ruan’s eyes widened, and her breathing instantly grew ragged.

"Gu Heng!"

"Don’t you go too far!"

Jiang Ruan said through gritted teeth, her back still to Gu Heng.

"Too far?"

"Assistant Jiang, wherever did you get that idea?"

Gu Heng turned around, feigning surprise as he looked at Jiang Ruan. "You’re my assistant. How is asking you to drive me somewhere ’going too far’?"

"You..."

Jiang Ruan was at a loss for words.

"Actually, I could go home tonight."

Gu Heng took two steps back and leaned against the vanity. He gazed at Jiang Ruan’s perfect, sharp shoulders and suddenly spoke.

With her back still to Gu Heng, Jiang Ruan heard his words, and a glimmer of light quietly returned to her eyes.

"Then go home."

Jiang Ruan feigned calmness, her tone inexplicably softening.

"Beg me."

Gu Heng slowly uttered two words.

"Fine, don’t go home then!"

In an instant, Jiang Ruan’s tone reverted to its previous state.

After speaking, she strode away, her retreating figure and her gait giving off the distinct impression that she was in a huff.

Gu Heng had known this would be the result, so he didn’t pay it any mind.

He turned, walked into the toilet, and relieved himself.

...

The party ended, with both hosts and guests thoroughly pleased.

After arranging a car to send off Huang Xue and the others, Gu Heng looked at Jiang Ruan. He didn’t say a word, but his gaze said it all.

"Chairman Gu!"

"Please wait a moment!"

Unwilling to lose face in front of Luo Xiwen, Jiang Ruan spoke through gritted teeth, then took the keys to the Maybach GLS 600 and strode quickly toward the parking spot.

’I should have just drunk with them earlier!’

Jiang Ruan felt a strange pang of regret.

Soon, Jiang Ruan had driven the car to the main entrance of Zhenhai.

While the general manager of Zhenhai bowed and scraped, Gu Heng and Luo Xiwen stepped onto the automatic running boards and settled into the back seat.

"To the Beichun Junlan Hotel."

Gu Heng ordered Jiang Ruan directly after getting into the car.

"Fine!"

Jiang Ruan felt like she was about to explode with anger.

The thought of what might happen between Gu Heng and Luo Xiwen tonight made her heart ache with a sourness she couldn’t explain. It felt like a heavy stone was pressing on her chest, making it hard to breathe.

’If I begged him right now...’

’Would he leave Luo Xiwen and come home with me?’

For the first time, Jiang Ruan, who had always been so strong-willed, felt her resolve waver. She didn’t know why, but the thought of Gu Heng about to become intimate with another woman filled her with an unbearable reluctance and resentment.

However, before Jiang Ruan could come to a decision in her tangled thoughts,

the Beichun Junlan Hotel, also located in the city center like Zhenhai, was already right in front of them.

Perhaps due to the "professional habits" she had developed, Jiang Ruan subconsciously drove them right up the ramp to the hotel’s main entrance.

By the time Jiang Ruan snapped out of it, a hotel doorman had already stepped forward and opened the car door.

’Stupid foot!’

’So considerate of you!’

Jiang Ruan was so angry her breasts ached.

At that moment, she watched through the car window as Gu Heng and his companion walked into the hotel arm-in-arm. The sour feeling in her heart intensified to an indescribable degree; she even felt a faint, sharp pain in her chest, right where her heart was.

’What is wrong with me?’

Jiang Ruan took a deep breath, feeling that something was very wrong with her current state.

’Could it be...’

’Impossible!’

’Absolutely impossible!’

Jiang Ruan thought of that possibility and immediately crushed the notion.

But...

How could she know that once certain seeds are planted, even if hammered and chiseled a thousand times or burned in a raging fire, they will sooner or later blossom?

PS: 5k words for today, will make up for it with 8k tomorrow.

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