Chapter 4: The Eldest Miss Has Been Eating Sand for Three Years Now (3)

Of course, this so-called nemesis was a title Shen Yu bestowed upon himself.

Gu Yeting had always carried himself with an air of utter arrogance, never deigning to acknowledge Shen Yu’s existence, which left Shen Yu gnashing his teeth in frustration.

Just like now. They had agreed to a showdown. Shen Yu, punctual as ever, arrived early, but Gu Yeting was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, do you think that Gu guy got scared and ran off in the middle of the night?" Shen Yu, growing impatient, couldn't help but sneer aloud.

"Nonsense, you think the boss would be afraid of you?"

With Shen Yu’s opening taunt, both sides instantly launched into a heated, if somewhat refined, exchange of insults—the air practically thick with flying spittle.

Shen Yu stepped back, dodging the onslaught, feeling his spirits sag. Without Gu Yeting, was there anyone across from him who could put up a decent fight? A one-sided brawl was frankly boring.

Meanwhile, the other party on Shen Yu’s mind had only just left the hotel, trailed by Ye Xiaoxiao, who walked several paces behind, her demeanor timid and hesitant.

Gu Yeting couldn’t stand her cowering manner, a trace of impatience flickering in his eyes. "Get lost."

He had always been this abrasive. Ye Xiaoxiao, long used to it, obediently stepped aside. But recalling what she’d overheard, she couldn’t help but pause. Looking back, she saw that Gu Yeting had already climbed into a car and driven off without a backward glance.

When Gu Yeting finally arrived at the rendezvous, the opposing sides were still mid-insult. He slung his jacket over one shoulder, strolling over at a leisurely pace.

"So you finally decided to show up!" Shen Yu instantly spotted him and greeted him with a barrage of colorful language.

Gu Yeting paid no mind to the barking, sweeping a lazy glance around. "So, are we doing one-on-one or a group fight?"

Shen Yu ground his teeth, annoyed, but soon his mood brightened again.

With a sly grin, Shen Yu jeered, "You look so relaxed—don’t tell me you haven’t heard about the young lady going abroad?"

The title “young lady” between Shen Yu and Gu Yeting always referred to one person: Qin Yue.

Gu Yeting’s expression turned icy. "What did you say?"

"Wow, so you really didn’t know. Ha! She didn’t even tell you she was leaving?"

Shen Yu’s laughter brimmed with schadenfreude.

Gu Yeting knew exactly what kind of person Shen Yu was; if he said something, it was rarely a baseless rumor. Irritated, Gu Yeting couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and simply turned to leave without another word.

How rare it was to see the aloof Gu Yeting rattled.

Shen Yu kicked the lackey next to him. "Did you get that on video?"

"Yeah, we got it. 4K high definition."

"Good job."

Naturally, the fight never happened—the boss had already left.

Gu Yeting, wordless and sullen, went straight to the teacher’s office. "Is it true that Qin Yue is going abroad?"

The teacher blinked. "Ah? Yes, it’s true."

With his face still dark, Gu Yeting left without another word.

The teacher was left baffled.

He reported the incident to the principal, who reassured him not to worry—the current cohort would soon be gone from the school anyway.

After soothing the teacher, the principal immediately called Qin Ye. "Director Qin, someone really did ask about your daughter—yes, it was the Gu family’s boy. Huh? Oh, alright. Wait, is it true the Gu family is going under?"

The principal couldn’t resist gossiping. His relationship with Director Qin was average, but since Qin’s daughter studied at his school, and Director Qin was famously doting, he called every few days to quietly check on her.

Over time, the principal and Director Qin’s relationship had grown less ordinary.

Qin Ye himself hadn’t paid much attention to the protagonist’s situation; it was simply that the original body’s habits had been to take charge of all matters relating to Qin Yue, always worrying she’d fall in love too young. That’s why he’d spoken with the principal in advance.

Without the Qin family’s support, how was the Gu family supposed to survive the current crisis?

Best to wait until the Gu family weathered this storm before discussing anything else.

The original body’s obsession was to keep Qin Yue away from Gu Yeting. Qin Ye thought he had done a stellar job—even sending Qin Yue off to the East African savannah. Could she be any further away?

[The East African savannah doesn’t have sand, though, does it?]

The third voice piped up.

Shut up. If I say there’s sand, there’s sand.

Animal migrations, clouds of dust—call it what you will.

Qin Ye was deeply intrigued by certain ideas in the books, deciding to shed some industrial assets and shift into military technology—no, rather, research in weaponry.

As a sword cultivator who had known poverty, he naturally had some insights into refining weapons. It made perfect sense, didn’t it?

He personally took charge, poaching relevant talent with high salaries, and soon dove headlong into the field.

From then on, except for matters relating to Qin Yue, everything else had little to do with Qin Ye. As for the Gu family’s potential bankruptcy, he couldn’t even recall if he’d ever spoken of it.

The principal, a notorious blabbermouth, couldn’t help himself—no sooner did he learn about the Gu family’s impending bankruptcy than he let it slip to others.

Thus, before the news about Qin Yue studying abroad had settled, the rumor of the Gu family’s collapse was already trending.

Gu Yeting had always been so brazen and proud—aside from his own fighting skills, much of that arrogance stemmed from the family behind him.

The Gu family was far more brazen than the Qin family; if there were classes among the second generation, the Gu family would be at the very top.

Old Master Gu had built the family fortune himself, but once it passed to Gu Xingteng, it began to falter.

Old Master Gu had died young; had he lived longer, power would never have fallen into Gu Xingteng’s hands. He would likely have skipped his son entirely and handed the family business directly to his grandson.

In fact, that was precisely his plan—to bring Gu Yeting to live by his side, raising him himself, instead of leaving him with Gu Xingteng and his wife.

Unfortunately, Old Master Gu didn’t last long enough—he died before his grandson was grown.

Thus, Gu Xingteng and Gu Yeting were locked in a rivalry, and the most galling part was that the adult could never outdo the child.

This made Gu Xingteng look upon Gu Yeting with particular disdain.

After repeated quarrels, the father-son relationship plummeted to subzero.

Without the grandfather who had pinned all his hopes on him, and left only with a father who despised him and indulged in debauchery, Gu Yeting began to let himself go, deliberately causing trouble outside.

Gu Xingteng was happy to see it, letting his wife spoil their son. When it became clear the son was beyond saving, Gu Xingteng would unleash his fury, but deep down he felt a twisted satisfaction.

If only Old Master Gu were still alive, he’d surely complain: "See, this is the golden grandson you pinned all your hopes on."

Gu Xingteng was all ambition and little talent, yet he was inexplicably confident. Old Master Gu had promoted several key figures in the company before his death; even after he was gone, the company should have run smoothly.

But with Gu Xingteng at the helm, the moment Old Master Gu died, he began to sideline everyone his father had promoted.

Once those people left, Gu Xingteng set out to make his own mark in the business world.

But just as his ascent began, everything plummeted. He brought the Gu family to the brink of bankruptcy, and only then did he start to panic.

So ambitious, so lacking in ability, yet so convinced he was the one destined for greatness: "As long as I try, I’m bound to succeed!"

Reality struck him hard: the Gu family was doomed!

In the original plot, it was the Qin family who extended a helping hand in their hour of need. Once the Qin family stepped in, others followed suit, and the Gu family was saved from bankruptcy.

But the original body had staked everything to bring Qin Ye into the story, all to ensure his daughter would avoid the pitfall that was Gu Yeting.

From the original’s perspective, the Qin family had saved the Gu family; without them, the Gu family would have collapsed long ago.

Even if he disliked Gu Yeting, since his daughter liked him, all he did was treat him with cold indifference. He never tried to suppress or teach him a lesson, nor did he warn him, "Don’t be a toad lusting after a swan; if you know what’s good for you, stay away from my daughter."

But what did Gu Yeting do in return? He stabbed the Qin family in the back, seized their assets, and, while the original was ill, brought about the Qin family’s downfall.

And that wasn’t enough—he went after Qin Yue as well.

Whenever Qin Yue found a job, Gu Yeting would see to it she was bullied out of it.

In the end, Qin Yue was forced to work in seedy establishments, as only there could she avoid Gu Yeting’s reach.

Gu Yeting was determined to see Qin Yue suffer, to watch her fall from a pampered heiress to someone trampled and humiliated, to see her cast down from the clouds to the dust.

He believed that as long as Qin Yue was miserable, Ye Xiaoxiao would take him back.

To be honest, Qin Ye really couldn’t fathom Gu Yeting’s way of thinking.

Gu Yeting was the one who bullied Ye Xiaoxiao, who looked down on her yet still wanted to sleep with her. He never treated her as a person, summoning and dismissing her at will. Yet when he lost her, he saw no fault in himself; it was all Qin Yue’s fault.

When he liked Qin Yue, he put her on a pedestal. Once he stopped, he saw her as detestable, blaming her entirely for losing Ye Xiaoxiao.

And the most absurd part? Ye Xiaoxiao actually did come back to him.

Qin Ye had no desire to see the original plot play out. He devoted himself to work, reading whenever he could, with no time for any other entertainment. Drinking and socializing were things of the past; at his current status, others catered to him, not the other way around.

The sun was shining, a rare and beautiful day. Qin Ye was fully focused, listening intently to his subordinates reporting on their research progress.

His subordinates were all smiles, brimming with excitement.

Who wouldn’t be, with a boss who gave them money and never interfered? It was a dream come true!

"Wait—you’ve made a major breakthrough in holographic technology?"

Qin Ye interrupted the animated report.

He remembered he had funded weapons research. So how did weapons development end up connected to holography?

Liu Yang: ...

Uh-oh. Had they perhaps, possibly, maybe forgotten to tell their investor that they'd been selling one thing and delivering another?

"Boss, weapon development requires approval and reporting. Before we got your investment, we could barely keep the lights on—there was no way we could get approval for weapons R&D. Actually, from the very start, we were working on games. When we mentioned 'weapons,' we really meant game equipment..."

Liu Yang’s voice grew quieter and quieter.

Qin Ye appeared quite calm. He thought their ideas weren’t bad—at least, from his perspective, they showed promise. But it turned out they’d been discussing game equipment with him?

[Ha!]

The third voice burst out laughing.

Qin Ye, flustered and defensive, snapped, "Of course I knew you were working on games all along."

Liu Yang froze.

He sneaked a glance at the investor—his hair white, his face deeply lined, and yet inexplicably, he exuded a striking, almost rakish charm.

The investor appeared completely unfazed, as if he truly had known all along.

And Liu Yang believed him.