Rejecting the Big Shot - Chapter 7

It was a pity that Gu Sheng’s puzzlement and wild guess were not known to the other two parties.

 

Bo Xiyun once again got into Yi Zhongshen’s car and sat in the front passenger seat. This time when he got in, a faint herbal smell was evident.

 

After buckling the safety belt, Bo Xiyun looked up and saw a quaint sachet hanging from the rear-view mirror.

 

The driver beside him was currently turning the steering wheel, the fingers on the steering wheel were well-defined and strong. He detected Bo Xiyun’s gaze as he looked into the rear-view mirror, and explained, “It’s an anti-motion sickness medicine pack.”

 

Bo Xiyun was well aware that with Senior Yi’s family background, he would be surrounded by bodyguards whenever he left home. It was quite apparent that someone was instructed to obtain and put this up.

 

Bo Xiyun felt a little embarrassed after thinking about this, “Sorry to trouble you, the motion sickness medication earlier was already very useful. Thank you.”

 

Yi Zhongshen’s expression did not change and Bo Xiyun was used to this senior’s stern and silent ways. But when the car left the car park, the young man whose eyes never left the road suddenly spoke, “Don’t use that medication too much. You will develop an immunity to it.”

 

Bo Xiyun paused and nodded, “OK.”

 

He never thought the other party would have reminded him about this detail.

 

Yi Zhongshen glanced at Bo Xiyun in the rearview mirror, his voice low and cold.

“Rest for a while, don’t look out the window.”

 

Bo Xiyun closed his eyes obediently.

 

He discovered that Yi Zhongshen liked to prepare in advance and take control of the situation. Just like himself.

 

But Senior Yi was better at it. He could do everything with ease and avoid a lot of unnecessary troubles and risks.

 

Faced with Yi Zhongshen’s list of detailed instructions, Bo Xiyun couldn’t help but exclaim to himself.

 

This is why Senior Yi is so excellent.

 

The black and silver Maybach continued on its way in the dark.

 

Without his sight, the rest of his senses became sensitive. In the warm interior, he could detect whiffs of the herbal scent.

 

But the real scent that permeated the environment was a cool, minty one.

 

He recognized that scent that belonged to Yi Zhongshen.

 

Bo Xiyun relaxed gradually under the steady drive.

 

The car was silent with no music, the cool minty scent surrounded his nostrils. Bo Xiyun fell into a trance and had a slight hallucination.

 

He thought he saw frost-covered ice.

 

That hard ice silently burned, giving off that cool scent in the biting cold.

 

The journey from the Bai mansion to the hotel wasn’t considered long. But due to the comfortable interior, Bo Xiyun almost fell asleep again.

 

Upon reaching the hotel, porters took over both Gu Sheng’s and Bo Xiyun’s luggage. During the check-in at the lobby, Gu Sheng remembered that Yi Zhongshen did not confirm where he was staying that night.

 

“Zhongshen, where…”

 

Gu Sheng did not finish his sentence when he saw the receptionist return with three room cards and Yi Zhongshen taking one of them.

 

Gu Sheng was surprised, “You are staying here too?”

 

When did he find the time to make a reservation?

 

Yi Zhongshen just nodded his head and did not explain further. He turned and placed three deposits.

 

Gu Sheng stared at Yi Zhongshen’s back, feeling stunned and unable to react.

“Why do I feel that he’s quite weird today…”

 

Gu Sheng stroked his chin, thought deeply about it and believed he had a clue. “Could he be in a bad mood from taking care of the rumor today?”

 

Bo Xiyun heard him and concurred, “That’s probable.”

 

“Hopefully. Senior Yi’s mood will improve soon.”

 

Their rooms were on the same floor and they passed by a balcony on their way to their rooms. Bo Xiyun took a glance when they walked by and saw the beautiful scenery outside.

 

They each went into their room to settle down. Bo Xiyun’s luggage was the one he had brought back from B City, and he had more things compared to the other two. Quite a number of study materials for the Olympiads were also included inside.

 

He unpacked the study materials and intended to look through them before he turned in for the night.

 

Unfortunately, Bo Xiyun quickly encountered a hurdle – the room’s air conditioner’s vent seemed to be stuck. It was facing upwards and was unable to move.

 

The air conditioner was installed pretty high up and Bo Xiyun was unable to reach it even when standing on the chair. He could only get help from the hotel staff.

 

His room was at the end of the corridor. Once he stepped out, he saw a tall figure standing in the corridor.

 

That person was standing beside the glass window of the balcony and was taking a phone call. He had a white cigarette between his lips and his eyes were slightly lowered. Under the cool moonlight, his handsome features looked even more aristocratic.

 

“Yes, I personally feel we should stop all cooperation.”

 

Bo Xiyun was blinded by the moonlight for a moment and only recognized who it was after a short while.

 

It was Gu Sheng.

 

Gu Sheng’s call quickly ended. He disengaged the call while looking outside the window. His solemn face gave a sense of unfamiliar distance, as if he was saturated with this night’s coldness.

 

Bo Xiyun finally remembered what he had heard; the Gu family was even more prosperous than the Yi family.

 

Second Young Master Gu was also so excellent that he was known to be a legend that was on a different level from others.

 

But now, this legend turned his head and saw Bo Xiyun, blinked and a faint smile appeared in his eyes.

 

That sense of distance disappeared as if it was a wrong perception. Gu Sheng asked, “Xiyun, what’s the matter?”

 

His voice was mild and gentle as usual.

 

He looked at the room card in Bo Xiyun’s hand and asked, “You’re going out?”

 

“To the front desk.” Walking towards him, Bo Xiyun replied, “I need someone to take a look at the air conditioner, the air vent is stuck.”

 

“Oh?” Gu Sheng was still biting on that white cigarette but it did not impede his ability to talk, “It can’t be opened?”

 

When Bo Xiyun was near, he discovered that Gu Sheng did not smell of cigarette smoke.Instead, there was a gentle mint scent.

 

That was when he realized it was not a white cigarette.

 

It was a stick of mint candy.

 

Gu Sheng had already taken out that stick of mint candy and chewed it up, throwing the white stick into the rubbish bin. He rolled up his sleeves, showing his slender wrists.

 

“Come, I’ll go take a look.”

 

Eh? Bo Xiyun was surprised and belatedly caught up to him, “Is this ok? Thank you, Senior.”

 

“Not a problem,” Gu Sheng smiled, “No need to be so polite.”

 

What Bo Xiyun was not aware of was; that the phone call that Gu Sheng was on, was related to him.

 

Gu Sheng had called his family when he was beside the balcony.

 

Although the bodyguards had relayed to the Gu family on what had happened in the Bai family, Gu Sheng wanted to talk to his family personally. At the same time, he had another goal.

 

Stop all their business cooperations with the Bai family.

 

Gu Sheng’s visit this time was also to do some observation. Although the Gu family had left Q City, their family’s business was spread throughout the country. Recently, there was an upcoming business deal for the Gu family in the Eastern Region.

 

Originally, the Gu family wanted to cooperate with their old neighbour. But now, Gu Sheng was persuading his father to look for another partner.

 

Gu Sheng’s previous contact with the Bai family was only through business. He did not have any personal impressions of Bai Gelei himself.

 

But now, he felt he could not entrust Bai Gelei with anything, even if it was only a business relationship.

 

After finishing his call and seeing such an obedient kid, his mood lifted. He followed Bo Xiyun into his room, took a look at the air-conditioner and spoke, “Pass me a piece of paper.”

 

There were quite a lot of study materials on Bo Xiyun’s table and he tore a piece of plain paper and handed it over. Gu Sheng placed the paper on the seat of the chair before stepping up on it.

 

As he had expected, there was something stuck in the air vent. Gu Sheng reached up and pulled the scrap out.

 

The air-conditioner vent started working normally immediately.

 

“It’s done.”

 

Gu Sheng patted his hands and climbed down the chair. He was immediately faced with Bo Xiyun’s bright eyes.

 

“Senior, you’re the best.”

 

Gu Sheng smiled, “Is that true?”

 

Bo Xiyun nodded affirmatively and started feeling envious while looking at the other party’s height. His own back straightened imperceptibly.

 

When he was next to Yi Zhongshen, he had already felt short as he was almost one head shorter than him. Gu Sheng was not as tall as Yi Zhongshen but was still much taller than him.

 

Gu Sheng wanted to laugh even more.

 

So far today, he had only seen Bo Xiyun’s calmness and indifference. He would never have thought Bo Xiyun had such an adorable side.

 

“You can grow taller when you eat more.” He immediately tried to fool Bo Xiyun with the pie in the sky as he felt this kid was just too thin. “That’s right, we haven’t had dinner. What do you want to eat?”

 

As he spoke, he took the piece of paper that was now dirty with his shoe print and prepared to return the chair to the desk.

 

“Young Master Yi should be taking a shower right now.” This was Yi Zhongshen’s habit. Gu Sheng continued, “When he finishes, we will go…”

 

He was distracted while talking and did not notice the low table by the side and walked into it.

 

The table swayed and some papers that were placed on it fell off.

 

“Sorry.”

 

Gu Sheng placed the chair back and stretched his hand to pick the papers up. But he suddenly paused when he saw their contents.

 

“It’s ok.” Bo Xiyun said and prepared to pick them up himself.

 

But he too paused when he saw the papers clearly.

 

What fell off was a normal plain envelope. But the envelope had no creases on it, showing the care that was taken when keeping it.

 

The envelope was sealed with tape, but perhaps the tape had lost its stickiness and from the way it fell off the table, the contents that were carefully kept in it had all slipped out.

 

Because there were too many materials for the Olympiad, Bo Xiyun had not gone through all of them and he had never seen that envelope before.

 

He did not expect that when the envelope was opened, what was kept neatly inside—

 

Were pages and pages of handwritten drafts.

 

The papers were scattered so each page was displayed clearly. What was written on them ranged from working steps for problem sums, and the highlighting of key terminology, while some had nothing to do with studies, just the random penning down of a few words.

 

The handwriting on the drafts was from the same person. The handwriting was handsome, the penmanship sharp and strong.

 

It was evidently Yi Zhongshen’s handwriting.

 

Someone had quietly kept Yi Zhongshen’s used draft paper, carefully collecting them in the envelope.

 

The scattered drafts lay quietly on the floor and the silence in the room was deafening.

 

Bo Xiyun’s body stiffened. The drafts were closer to Gu Sheng and naturally, Gu Sheng could see them clearly.

 

He also knew, as an old friend of Yi Zhongshen, Gu Sheng would definitely recognize the handwriting.

 

Bo Xiyun did not want Gu Sheng to misunderstand and wanted to explain. But he had not started when “thud”, a soft knock on the door came from the door.

 

This sound was loud in the silent room and both of them turned towards the source of the sound together.

 

They had forgotten to close the door and it was wide open. Besides the door stood an expressionless Yi Zhongshen, one of his long fingers still against the door.

 

He had knocked on the door once.

 

As he had just taken a shower, there was an obvious feeling of moisture around him and the fringe on his forehead was down. Those were all signs of a relaxed person but all those after-shower differences did not manage to lessen the usual air of coldness around Yi Zhongshen.

 

Yi Zhongshen was expressionless and he swept his cool gaze across Gu Sheng before focusing on the stiff Bo Xiyun.

 

“What are the both of you doing?”

 

***