22: Chapter 22 You Are My Moonlight: The Substitute Male Supporting Character 21

"How do you know that? Only He Jingjing and the others know about the agreement."

"No, that's not right. They wouldn't have told you."

He Jingjing had previously apologized to her for revealing her secret crush to Gu Qingyan; if she had also mentioned the agreement, she surely would have brought it up.

Seeing Su Qingxue's furrowed brows, Gu Qingyan suddenly narrowed his eyes.

He had a bold idea: could it be that Old Master Su knew about the agreement, but Su Qingxue was unaware?

Thinking of this, he decisively swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"Unfortunately for you, the cafe where you signed the agreement back then belongs to the Gu Family, and it is under my name."

This was not a lie.

After learning about the agreement from Old Master Su, Gu Qingyan hadn't fully believed it, so he had investigated it himself.

As it happened, that cafe really was his.

Fortunately, the waiter from that year had not resigned, and he even remembered the documents on the table where the man and woman sat by the window. Although he didn't know the content, he remembered the title, which was written in quite large letters.

Su Qingxue opened her mouth, somewhat speechless.

But very quickly, she realized what was important at the moment.

Thus, her gaze became firm, and her tone solemn.

"CEO Gu, regardless of the state of our marital relationship, I have already made myself very clear: a business marriage is impossible, and I will definitely not divorce my husband."

"Why?"

Gu Qingyan's brows furrowed; he had already realized that things were not as easy as he had thought.

"Qingxue, I have brought back top-tier AI technology from abroad, and you have the most mature automobile manufacturing technology. If we cooperate, all the new energy market in the country will be our cake."

"This is a mutually beneficial arrangement; why would you refuse me?"

"If you have any concerns, I am also willing to be in a contract marriage with you; we can take it slow."

He was clearly becoming impatient.

But the more he did so, the more Su Qingxue resisted. Her subconscious told her that Gu Qingyan was very likely to disrupt the peaceful life she had with Meng Zhu.

And even more likely, to extinguish the small spark that had just ignited between the couple.

She took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.

"Gu Qingyan, this isn't about an agreement; it's about feelings. I have fallen in love with Meng Zhu, do you understand?"

"That's impossible. You should be in love with me. A man whose family is in decline and who has nothing, just messing around in the entertainment industry with my younger brother—what right does he have to compare with me?"

When these words were spoken, Gu Qingyan was visibly angry, even anxiously closing the distance between them.

Su Qingxue hurriedly stepped back two paces, her expression also turning unpleasant.

"That is truly enough. Only animals, when choosing a mate, only want to choose the most superior one."

Her eyes were filled with irritation and impatience.

"Gu Qingyan, look at yourself now. What are you doing? You are completely different from how you were in your youth. Could it be that for the sake of profit, you actually want to force me?"

"I, I didn't, I just don't understand."

Meeting Su Qingxue's gaze, Gu Qingyan felt somewhat flustered, mixed with the anger he could barely suppress in his heart.

But as the male lead, his reason ultimately prevailed, preventing him from losing control of his emotions and doing anything physical.

In Su Qingxue's eyes, besides coldness, there was something else—perhaps mockery, or perhaps disappointment.

"Heh, you cannot understand feelings, yet you want to marry me. Am I, Su Qingxue, some kind of cheap person?"

"Gu Qingyan, do not contact me again. We are simply not the same kind of people."

After saying this, Su Qingxue turned and walked away, not wanting to communicate with him any longer.

"It seems to have ended on a sour note."

Gu Qingyang didn't know what his mindset was; he seemed somewhat surprised, yet also somewhat relieved.

The two of them saw clearly from the second floor, but the sound was intermittent, requiring them to guess and piece things together.

However, compared to him, Meng Zhu also had the comments.

This conversation between the male and female leads—whether it was the Xuezhu Faction or the fans of the original work—no one could possibly miss it.

But whether it was because their worldviews were impacted, or their filters had shattered, the comments seemed sparse, scattered, and pitifully few.

[I've invented a new term: NPC collapse. What do you all think?]

[I haven't read the original work, so I don't know if this counts as a collapse, but I mean, this pathetic state—is this the male lead from the original work?]

[It's really disappointing, a sense of cheapness, mixed with a strong aura of a supporting character.]

[Actually, thinking about it, it's normal. In the original work, the feelings between the male and female leads also inexplicably dragged on for a long time. Now that Meng Zhu and Gu Qingyang are cooperating, many things have changed.]

[That's true. As the saying goes, pulling one hair affects the whole body. The male lead felt a crisis from his younger brother, leading him to be too impatient with the female lead.]

[The male lead only had a crush on the female lead to begin with; their relationship hadn't heated up yet, so such impatience directly soured things in the female lead's eyes.]

[Forget it, forget it, I surrender. I declare the Xuezhu Faction the winner.]

[To the one above: I recognize you. You were already part of the Xuezhu Faction, pretending to be a fence-sitter, right?]

[Those who adapt to circumstances are wise; what are you still resisting for? If you can't beat them, join them. I'm only doing this for your own good.]

[...]

Further on, the comments were basically nonsense, lacking any substance.

Meng Zhu also said goodbye to Gu Qingyang and went to look for Su Qingxue.

When he received the call from Su Qingxue, Meng Zhu clearly sensed her panic.

In her mind, Meng Zhu would most likely be waiting for her where they had been; not seeing him when she returned, she immediately panicked.

Is it possible someone said something?

Could someone have seen her and Gu Qingyan, or even taken some misleading photos?

The more she thought about it, the more afraid she became, to the point that making this phone call required her to muster up courage and hesitate for a long time.

"Husband, are you still there?"

There was a somewhat suppressed sobbing tone. It is worth mentioning that Su Qingxue called him husband again.

Meng Zhu's voice remained gentle, filled with an inexplicable sense of comfort.

"Of course, I am behind you!"

Su Qingxue turned around abruptly and only then saw Meng Zhu's figure standing quietly by the window in the distance, raising one hand, with a gentle smile on his face.

Su Qingxue lifted her dress and ran over in a hurry.

But upon nearing him, she restrained herself and did not throw herself at him. After all, this person was thin-skinned, or perhaps it was because their relationship had not yet been confirmed.

"Why are you running so fast?"

Meng Zhu held her arm, and Su Qingxue took the opportunity to link her arm with his.

"It's nothing. Have you been waiting for me for a long time?"

"No, Qingyang pulled me over to talk for a while."

So it wasn't because of some messy reason that he hadn't waited for her.

Su Qingxue quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

She pinched Meng Zhu's arm again, feeling the sense of security that this reality brought, and Su Qingxue calmed down much more.

"Let's go home!"

"Are you tired?"

"Yes!"

"Okay!"

Meng Zhu nodded, and the two left side by side, walking towards the outside of the banquet hall.

In a corner on the other side, Gu Qingyan watched their retreating figures, his brows filled with hostility and anger.

Returning home, everything was as usual.

The difference was that tonight, Su Qingxue did not work overtime and returned to her room early.

However, she was not really tired.

Instead, she returned to her room to call her best friend.