21: Chapter 21 You Are My Moonlight: The Substitute Male Supporting Character 20

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyan looked surprised.

"It seems it has been too long since we last met; have we grown distant? Didn't you always call me Brother Qingyan before?"

These words made even Gu Qingyang frown.

Su Qingxue glanced at Meng Zhu again.

Her subconscious defensiveness had backfired, giving Gu Qingyan the opportunity to overstep.

She was too worried and fearful, which caused her to lose her composure.

She took a deep breath to calm herself.

Su Qingxue finally regained her wits.

"When I was young, I called everyone 'brother.' Now that I've grown up, it's time to change that. Besides, I'm married now, so the old way of addressing you is naturally no longer appropriate."

Very good, she had found her voice.

Gu Qingyang raised an eyebrow. Originally, he had thought that whether it was Gu Qingyan or Su Qingxue,

If either of these two dared to embarrass Meng Zhu today, he, Gu Qingyang, would flip the table.

Meng Zhu gave Gu Qingyang a look, signaling him to rest assured.

Then, with a calm expression, he looked at Su Qingxue, clearly waiting for her to introduce him.

Su Qingxue met his gaze and felt a bit guilty, but quickly calmed down. So what if he knew?

A childhood crush doesn't count.

Thinking of this, she introduced him generously:

"By the way, this is Meng Zhu, my husband."

"This is Gu Qingyan; we attended the same high school and university."

Meng Zhu was very satisfied with Su Qingxue's introduction.

In fact, compared to the bullet comments, he could understand Su Qingxue's feelings at this moment better.

In his view, if she truly cared about this so-called "white moonlight," the hand holding his arm shouldn't be gripping it tightly, but should have pulled away immediately.

Clearly, rather than nervousness, she was more likely afraid and lacking a sense of security.

"Hello, welcome back to the country."

Meng Zhu revealed a warm smile and shook hands with Gu Qingyan generously.

The scrutinizing gaze from the other side was undisguised.

"President Meng, I heard that you have a partnership with my younger brother's media company?"

"There is some. Is CEO Gu interested?"

Gu Qingyan's lips curled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"I think President Meng should keep a longer-term perspective and be a bit more cautious."

"Just as any contract has an expiration date, so does a partnership. There is an annual review every year, isn't there?"

As his words fell, Su Qingxue's expression stiffened.

But she bit her lip tightly and said nothing.

Meng Zhu kept smiling.

He knew that besides disparaging Gu Qingyang's company, these words actually had a hidden meaning.

He was pointing out to Meng Zhu that contracts have expiration dates. Unlike Su Qingxue, who was guessing whether Gu Qingyan knew about the contract marriage,

Meng Zhu was very clear that Gu Qingyan knew about the agreement; the information came from the bullet comments.

"I appreciate CEO Gu's good intentions, but my company is run by me alone. Sometimes, if I think a contract is suitable, I sign it; there's no need to consider so much profit."

Gu Qingyan stopped smiling.

It was as if he were saying, "There is only one reason why Laozi wrote the 'Tao Te Ching': because Laozi wants to!"

He looked deeply at Meng Zhu, then glanced twice at Gu Qingyang and Su Qingxue, and then turned and left just like that.

"What a piece of work, acting like he can give advice. Why didn't he say that while lying in a hospital bed?"

Gu Qingyang pouted, looking disgusted.

This remark made Meng Zhu and Su Qingxue chuckle, but after she laughed, Su Qingxue felt a bit worried.

She wasn't sure if Gu Qingyan knew about the agreement, especially at this moment, when she was preparing to tear up the agreement and turn their fake marriage into a real one.

The group started chatting again. Later, the old man of the Gu Family appeared, briefly introduced Gu Qingyan to the guests, and announced congratulations on his return from his studies, blah blah blah.

During this time, the Old Master Gu glanced at Su Qingxue, who was offstage. It seemed like just a casual glance, with nothing more to follow.

However, after meeting a few friends, Su Qingxue's phone received a text message notification.

She opened it casually to take a look, but upon seeing the content, Su Qingxue's pupils contracted sharply.

The text message was from Gu Qingyan, saying he wanted to talk in private.

Talk about what?

Su Qingxue didn't know.

But stalling was useless; she might as well go and see what he really wanted.

"Meng Zhu, you go ahead and chat; I'm going to the restroom."

[It's over, meeting in private, Su Qingxue, you are so confused!]

Meng Zhu looked up at the bullet comments, then his eyes met Su Qingxue's.

Will you let me down?

Meng Zhu asked Su Qingxue in his heart. After looking into her eyes for several seconds like this, he finally spoke.

"Alright, call me when you get back!"

The hand she was holding onto him let go. Su Qingxue handed her bag to Meng Zhu, and with her phone in hand, she lifted her dress and walked toward the back of the stairs.

Gu Qingyang saw this scene from not far away, frowned, and without thinking, he came over.

"Let's go, good brother, let's go take a look."

This was the Gu Family's banquet hall; Gu Qingyang knew it all too well.

He pulled Meng Zhu up the stairs, taking several turns, and sure enough, they quickly found Su Qingxue.

However, Gu Qingyang and Meng Zhu were on the second floor, while Su Qingxue was right below them.

This was the area behind the side of the first-floor staircase; usually, no one would come to this secluded spot.

But at this moment, before Su Qingxue had walked over, Gu Qingyan was already waiting here.

"Brother, why didn't you stop her?"

Gu Qingyang leaned on the railing, looking down, and glanced at Meng Zhu with a confused frown.

Meng Zhu stopped smiling. With his own people around, he didn't need to disguise himself.

Calmly watching the two people below, his gaze was deep, and his tone was flat.

"What is more terrifying than entrapment is self-righteous dissuasion."

"There was once an inspector who stopped a child who was about to kill his father, believing he had upheld great justice. But he didn't expect that the next day, he would receive a report that the boy had been beaten to death by domestic violence, and that last night had been his only chance to resist."

"People can empathize, but there is no true shared experience. So, don't use self-righteous excuses to make choices for others."

Gu Qingyang didn't know if he understood or not, but regardless, he looked at the two people on the first floor below, stopped talking, and his expression was somewhat unreadable.

"CEO Gu, you called me over, what is it you want to say?"

Su Qingxue stood at a standard distance, neither too close nor too far, and asked.

Gu Qingyan felt a bit uncomfortable, though he hadn't figured out why he felt that way.

He pushed up his glasses, thought for a moment, and decided to get straight to the point.

"Qingxue, the Gu Family wants to cooperate with you. At the same time, I hope we can have a marriage alliance."

Su Qingxue was stunned.

"CEO Gu is joking. Cooperation is certainly fine; we can discuss it in detail when there is time, but a marriage alliance is unnecessary. I believe I just introduced that I already have a husband."

Honestly, the secret crush during high school and university was the most beautiful time of a girl's youth.

Although Gu Qingyan went abroad to study before finishing university, and they hadn't seen each other for several years in a flash.

But when they met today, Su Qingxue still felt her own fixation.

Just as many people with secret crushes yearn for an answer, some also yearn to draw a period to something that has passed.

She was very sure that she no longer liked Gu Qingyan, but she had once had a crush on him, especially since he knew about it.

Su Qingxue still hoped for a decent and clean ending, especially, it would be best not to let Meng Zhu know; she didn't want any complications at this time.

But what Gu Qingyan said next completely caught Su Qingxue off guard.

Gu Qingyan pushed up his glasses and smiled confidently.

"Qingxue, why lie to me? I know you are a contract couple; there is nothing between you."

Hearing these certain words, Su Qingxue's pupils dilated in shock.

He, why would he know?