The Silly Shou Transmigrated Into a Book - Chapter 43

Jiang Hansa’s confusion toward Chu Yueguang had reached its peak.

He asked Gu Qiuyi, “Have you two completely made up now?”

Gu Qiuyi replied somewhat uncertainly, “He should have forgiven me by now, right? After all, I was forced by my mother. I’m quite innocent too.”

Jiang Hansa: “?” “Do you think I’m buying that?” Jiang Hansa asked.

Gu Qiuyi replied righteously, “Chu Yueguang believed it, so why don’t you?”

Jiang Hansa: “…” That was a fair point. The excuses Gu Qiuyi usually came up with were so far-fetched that no one would believe them; the one about being “forced by family” was actually the least ridiculous—though whether it was even true was a different story.

Xu Muqing, standing nearby, asked, “What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing,” Jiang Hansa said. “He had a falling out with a friend and they stopped speaking for a while, but they’ve recently reconciled.”

“Is that so?” Xu Muqing’s gaze fell on Gu Qiuyi. “So, the tutor has been decided?”

Under his gaze, Gu Qiuyi felt a slight pressure and his voice softened. “Decided!”

“I still suggest you find a professional teacher,” Xu Muqing said. “Though expensive, it’s worth the price.”

Gu Qiuyi leaned closer to Xu Muqing and lowered his voice. “Too expensive. Hansa-ge is almost unable to afford me anymore.”

He was so close that Xu Muqing could smell the faint scent of orange blossoms on him. The fragrance carried a hint of warmth that drifted into his nose, stirring a slight itch.

Xu Muqing’s eyes settled on Gu Qiuyi’s face. The boy’s skin was very fair, his cheeks still retained a bit of baby fat, and he looked at people with eyes that were clear, simple, and utterly defenseless. He could say something like “letting someone else raise him” with such natural ease, as if it were only right for everyone to love and cherish him.

And he truly did possess that kind of charm.

Unaware of Xu Muqing’s internal reaction, Gu Qiuyi continued whispering to him, “His monthly allowance is only 100,000 yuan. He can’t spend all of it on me.”

Just as he finished speaking, Xu Muqing suddenly reached out and touched his forehead.

Gu Qiuyi paused. “Muqing-ge, what are you doing?”

Xu Muqing brushed the stray hairs on the boy’s forehead to the side and said gently, “Your hair has grown long.”

Gu Qiuyi instinctively replied, “Impossible. Hansa-ge’s stylist trimmed it for me just yesterday.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah!” Gu Qiuyi said with certainty. “Hansa-ge actually has a personal stylist at home!”

His attention shifted instantly as he turned to ask Jiang Hansa, “Hansa-ge, do you pay that stylist a salary?”

“Yeah,” Jiang Hansa replied. “200,000 a year, on call 24/7.”

Gu Qiuyi was envious. “That’s so much money.”

“It’s nothing compared to what you can earn if you study hard,” Jiang Hansa noted. “My dad’s company wanted to hire an Ivy League graduate who used to be a professional manager on Wall Street. He asked for ten million a year. My dad hesitated, and the guy was immediately snatched up by the Long Group for fifteen million a year.”

“And then?” Gu Qiuyi pressed.

Jiang Hansa gave a bitter smile. “Then, in that one year, that person generated three billion in profit for the company, instantly boosting the Long Group’s valuation by a massive margin.”

“Ah… then your dad must have regretted it to death?”

“More than just regret—his heart practically bled with remorse,” Jiang Hansa said. He paused before adding, “There is no upper limit to the wealth that knowledge and wisdom can create. You need to study hard so that life won’t be as difficult later. With a degree, you can make it anywhere. If you don’t finish high school, your only path might literally be working in a factory.”

Gu Qiuyi nodded. “I understand.”

“Do you really understand, or are you just saying that?” Jiang Hansa asked suspiciously.

“I really do,” Gu Qiuyi said seriously. “I’ll study hard.”

Jiang Hansa looked into his eyes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and he could usually read Gu Qiuyi through them. This time, his light-colored pupils held a spark of sincerity. It seemed he had actually taken the advice to heart.

Jiang Hansa clapped his hands. “Alright, let’s adjourn for today. It’s getting late. Everyone go home and find their mothers.”

Xu Muqing packed his bag and told Gu Qiuyi, “Eight o’clock tomorrow. Don’t be late again.”

“I promise I won’t be late!” Gu Qiuyi responded energetically.

Xu Muqing glanced at Jiang Hansa. “Keep a close eye on him.”

While Jiang Hansa agreed, he was already proactively helping Gu Qiuyi pack up the erasers, mechanical pencils, and pens scattered on the table. He tucked the stationery into the pencil case and organized the test papers and textbooks. Gu Qiuyi stood by, simply handing over two books for Jiang Hansa to put in the bag.

When did it become like this? watching them, an unreadable curve appeared at the corner of Xu Muqing’s mouth. “I have to visit a relative later, so no need to see me off.”

Jiang Hansa acknowledged him, and Xu Muqing picked up his bag and left.

Gu Qiuyi tugged at Jiang Hansa. “Aren’t you even a little curious about Muqing-ge’s family situation?”

Jiang Hansa zipped the bag, swung it onto his back, and said, “What is there to be curious about?”

Only then did Gu Qiuyi tell Jiang Hansa what he had seen earlier.

Jiang Hansa found it hard to believe. “Are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?”

“How could I see it wrong? My vision is great! And he said he’s studied Judo and BJJ for eight years!”

“Uh… those are both very expensive,” Jiang Hansa said. “If you hire a world-class champion as a coach, it costs four to five hundred thousand a year. Is he just posing?”

“Do you think he’s the type to pose?” Gu Qiuyi asked.

Jiang Hansa thought about Xu Muqing’s calm, unhurried demeanor. He didn’t seem like the type. If he loved “posing,” he would have at least changed out of those faded, washed-out clothes.

Gu Qiuyi, acting on a whim, said, “Let’s go tail Muqing-ge! He definitely has a secret.”

Jiang Hansa was truly exasperated by him and advised gently, “I think it’s best not to be too curious. After all, he’s tutoring you. If you make him angry… well, you know what happens.”

Gu Qiuyi thought about it and gave up. “Fine.”

Jiang Hansa breathed a sigh of relief; at least the boy could still be reasoned with. “Let’s go back. I had the auntie make your favorite Coca-Cola chicken wings tonight.”

Gu Qiuyi cheered, “Hooray! Hansa-ge, I love you!”

Jiang Hansa said coldly, “I’m straight. Stop trying to charm me; I’m not falling for it.”

Gu Qiuyi changed his tune: “Dad, I love you?”

Jiang Hansa: “…” He turned his head away. He didn’t have such an embarrassing son.

That night, after eating and drinking his fill, Jiang Hansa brought him a glass of fresh watermelon juice. “Take Kou Huai off your blacklist. He did drink a bit too much yesterday; he was drunk.”

Only then did Gu Qiuyi remember he had locked Kou Huai in his “little black room” for an entire day.

He took a sip of juice, removed Kou Huai from the blacklist, and messaged him: “Kou Huai-gege.”

Kou Huai, who practically lived on WeChat, replied instantly: “Gu Qiuyi, I am very disappointed in you!”

Gu Qiuyi felt a bit guilty. “What happened? Why are you disappointed in me?”

Kou Huai: “You know very well!”

Gu Qiuyi: “Uh… I really don’t.”

Kou Huai’s tone softened immediately. “Qiu-ah, next time can you not blacklist me for so long?”

Gu Qiuyi: “Fine, next time it’ll be for half a day at most.”

“…” Kou Huai said earnestly, “Can’t you just not blacklist me at all?”

Gu Qiuyi typed back: “Then don’t go crazy! You scared me, waaaa.”

Kou Huai: “That’s because I was drinking. I won’t drink anymore in the future!”

Just as Gu Qiuyi was about to reply, his phone began chiming. He exited the chat and saw it was W, Gu Dancheng.

W: “Chiu Chiu, want me to play games with you? I reached National rank with Ma Chao. Want a carry?”

As he sent this, he transferred 100,000 yuan to Gu Qiuyi.

Gu Qiuyi’s hands immediately started itching to play. He abandoned Kou Huai and replied to W: “Why are you transferring so much money to me?”

W: “I want to compensate you. I’m sorry. Right now, all I can give you is money and my time to play games with you.”

Gu Qiuyi: “You never sent me money before. Why now?”

W: “…Chiu Chiu, that 3,000 yuan monthly allowance you got? I was the one sending it.”

Gu Qiuyi: “!!! That 3,000 yuan was from you?”

W: “It was me.”

Gu Qiuyi confirmed: “…That 3,000, since middle school… it was always you?”

W: “Yes. I’m sorry, I didn’t dare send you too much.”

Gu Qiuyi: “…” Damn! He actually had expectations for that pair of parents, thinking they were the ones giving him an allowance! He was such a massive idiot!

Gu Qiuyi said to W, “Whether you believe it or not, I don’t want to lie to you. I’m not the same younger brother you had before. If you don’t mind, I don’t mind calling you ‘Brother’.”

Gu Dancheng didn’t understand. If he wasn’t his brother, what else could he be? “I don’t mind, as long as you forgive me.”

Gu Qiuyi scratched his cheek. Did he have the right to forgive him on behalf of the original “Gu Qiuyi”? Probably not. But since the original was gone and he was occupying everything “Gu Qiuyi” owned, it wasn’t impossible to give W a false response if it made him happy.

Gu Qiuyi replied: “Fine, I forgive you, for the sake of that 3,000 yuan.”

W: “That’s enough. That’s plenty. Thank you.” W: “Do you still want to play?”

Gu Qiuyi was tempted, but at that moment, a message from Chu Yueguang popped up. Gu Qiuyi’s eyes widened—this was the first time Chu Yueguang had reached out to him first.

He clicked the message. Chu Yueguang asked: “When are we starting?”

Gu Qiuyi typed back: “Starting what?”

Chu Yueguang: “?”

Gu Qiuyi: “? Brother?”

Chu Yueguang: “…”

Gu Qiuyi: “What’s wrong, Brother?”

Chu Yueguang: “The tutoring!”

Gu Qiuyi realized. “Oh, oh! The tutoring! Is after the National Day holiday okay? Is it convenient for you, Brother? We seem to live quite far apart.”

Chu Yueguang: “I’ll have someone pick you up.”

Gu Qiuyi asked: “Am I going to your house?”

After a moment of feigned indifference, Chu Yueguang said: “Perhaps you can stay at my house.”