Chapter 41
The woman who was standing next to him, holding tightly onto his arm, raised her head to look at Zuo Hancheng. She realized that he was looking at the other end of the lobby. The woman looked toward the other end of the lobby out of curiosity but she did not see anything.
Was the most important thing right now not to get rid of these reporters?
The woman quickly leaned against Zuo Hancheng’s shoulder as she asked him, “Hancheng, what are you looking at?”
Zuo Hancheng withdrew his gaze as he glanced as the young and beautiful woman standing next to him. After that, he asked her in a gentle voice, “What do women usually do when they are in a bad mood?”
“What?” The woman, who was snuggled close to him, was stunned by his sudden question. After thinking about it for a short while, she replied, “If I am in a bad mood, I will either cry by myself or go shopping to cheer myself up.”
Cry?
It seemed as though Gu Anhao was not crying at all.
“Then, what would you do if someone hits you?”
“…” The woman was a little confused and she did not know why Zuo Hancheng suddenly had so many inexplicable questions.
However, since there were so many reporters and paparazzi around them, the woman did not want to let go of this opportunity to look like the both of them were sharing secrets with one another as they were whispering to one another with their heads lowered. Therefore, she shook her head before she whispered, “I have never thought about it before, n.o.body would dare to hit me.”
Zuo Hancheng raised his brows before he let out a sigh.
That was right. One was an orphan who had been bullied throughout her entire life whereas the other party was a celebrity who had a strong and powerful father in the American Chinese business community. How could he compare the both of them?
***
Boom!
It was getting dark and the rain was getting heavier.
Anhao did not want to be hospitalized again. Since working hours had just ended, the pedestrians and office workers had already booked all the cabs, and Anhao would need to walk for another ten minutes to get to the bus station. Therefore, Anhao had to temporarily take shelter under the eaves of a cafe nearby.
As she stood under the eaves in the strong and heavy rain, she leaned back against the wall of the cafe, trying to avoid the heavy rain.
Anhao rubbed her cold arms as she raised her eyes to look at the dark dense clouds floating in the dark sky. She then recalled what her mother said to her when she was fourteen years old.
“Anhao, please don’t blame your mother for choosing this path for you. You are still very young and this world is too complicated. No matter how the Gu family treats you, it is still better for you to have a family and a home, than for you to become a wild child wandering around on your own…”
Family?
Could that be considered a home?
She had been punched, kicked and scolded ever since she started living in that house. She had to suffer numerous insults and humiliation daily, and her family treated her worse that they would treat a dog.
This was because Mrs. Gu would always buy all sorts of new clothes and snacks for her puppy, but on the other hand, Gu Anhao had to survive on any leftovers that they gave her as she lived in a small and dark hut.
She could still remember the first time she met Chunchun. At that time, Chunchun had asked her innocently why she was learning Taekwondo when she was the mayor’s daughter. All the other young ladies from these prestigious families would usually learn how to play the piano, or take dancing or art cla.s.ses instead.
It was only much later that Chunchun finally discovered the h.e.l.l that Anhao had suffered on a cold winter night five years ago. Anhao had no choice but to learn how to protect and defend herself because she did not have anyone else that she could rely on.
If she did not learn how to protect herself, she would not be able to survive in this cruel world.
However, Gu Anhao’s hands were still tied even though she now had the ability to take revenge on those who bullied her in the past.
The Gu family was extremely powerful. She would definitely have to pay the price and face very serious consequences if she even tried to touch Gu Shishi’s hair.
As an orphan, Gu Anhao could not afford to offend any of them unless she had the courage to face the consequences of taking revenge.
When she was much younger, she always wanted to grow up as soon as possible. Now that she had already grown up, she realized that there was nothing that she could do to avenge her mother and herself.
Now that she had grown up, she had to face the reality of this society, the indifference in the hearts of these people and the patience that she had to have to endure all of these unfairness.
Gu Anhao could feel the cold wind drilling in from the bottom of her dress. She shivered reflexively, and at this time, the door of the cafe was suddenly pushed open from the inside.
“Anhao?”
Anhao froze for a moment before she turned around and stared at the person who had just stepped out of the café. She quickly turned around, wanting to walk away under the freezing rain. “Anhao!” Yi Zeyang quickly stepped forward as he grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her back under the eaves. “You just recovered after falling sick a few days ago. Do you want to fall sick again?”
“I am not as weak and delicate as you think I am! Let go of me!” Anhao refused to look at him as she struggled to free herself from his grasp. “Let go of me!”
Yi Zeyang continued holding onto Anhao’s wrist as he could clearly feel that she was freezing.
As he lowered his head to look at her, he saw the obvious red mark on the swollen left side of her cheek. Yi Zeyang squinted his eyes, and when Gu Anhao gradually stopped struggling, he quickly dragged her into the café.
“What are you trying to do? Please let go of me…”
Gu Anhao continued struggling but when she saw that there were many other people in the cafe, she stopped struggling and she quickly lowered her voice. Yi Zeyang dragged her toward an empty table as he sat her down.
Gu Anhao could not help but glare angrily at him as she sat down on the sofa. She quickly shook his hand off as she turned around to look out the gla.s.s window that was not too far away.
Yi Zeyang quickly called for a waitress before he made a request, “Please get me a gla.s.s of ice and a clean towel. Thank you.”
The waitress nodded before she left, and Yi Zeyang looked at Gu Anhao before he asked, “What happened to your face?”
Anhao did not bother to reply to his question and she merely continued staring out the gla.s.s window as she thought about how unlucky she was to run into him at this cafe.
Yi Zeyang could not help but sigh when he realized that Gu Anhao had no intention of answering him. “I was supposed to meet up with a friend at this cafe but he stood me up. I really did not expect to run into you here.”
Gu Anhao continued keeping quiet but when she saw another waitress pa.s.sing by, she suddenly asked, “Excuse me, can you get me a gla.s.s of wine, please? Thank you.”
“Okay, miss. What kind of wine do you want?”
“What is the strongest beverage that you serve here? Do you serve beer or liquor? It would be best if you can get me a gla.s.s of brandy. It does not matter how much it is. Anyway, the man sitting next to me can definitely afford to pay for the drink.”
“Alright then.”
Yi Zeyang frowned when he heard Gu Anhao’s words. “What is wrong with you? What happened to you today? Who hit you in the face? What problem can you solve by drinking?”
“…”
“Anhao, talk to me!”
Yi Zeyang had always been like an elder brother to her and this was the first time that he had ever spoken to her using such a harsh tone. Anhao was not used to it at all.
At this time, the waitress quickly delivered a gla.s.s of brandy over to them. Gu Anhao took the gla.s.s of brandy before taking a big sip. The taste of the brandy was not that strong but as Anhao drank too quickly, she choked and started coughing. However, she closed her eyes and continued to force herself to finish the gla.s.s of brandy.
Yi Zeyang could not sit still and watch on so he grabbed the square gla.s.s in her hand before he dropped the gla.s.s on the ground, smashing it directly.
Gu Anhao was extremely stunned and before she could even regain her senses, Yi Zeyang had already stood up and was grabbing Gu Anhao’s hand. This was the first time that she had ever seen him reacting in this manner, and she could not help herself from stuttering as she was so nervous, “What are you doing?”