Chapter 160: I Was Lying to Myself (2)
“Unless you’re still unable to get past what happened three years ago?” With that statement, the warmth in Xu Shuai’s eyes slowly dissipated and was replaced with a coldness that permeated his tone as well.
Three years ago…
Gu Yu pulled his lips into a sardonic smile, and his face looked even more ominous. He leaned back against the backrest of the couch, and as his eyes turned into icy shards, he laughed in self-deprecation.
Even after such a long time, that still remained his weakness.
Xu Shuai nodded his head in understanding, “It’s only normal that you can’t get past it. Back then, you did give Xu Weilai three chances. However… she disappointed you again and again. Eventually, you probably lost hope…”
Xu Shuai had only been a spectator of the events that happened three years ago, but even he found it impossible to forgive Xu Weilai. As such, he knew how much harder it was for Gu Yu, the actual victim of the incident.
Xu Shuai knew that Gu Yu’s parents both died at the prime of their lives. Their chauffeur, who had grown up together with Gu Yu, had manipulated his trust in him, resulting in the accident that had cost his parents their lives.
That was the reason for Gu Yu’s drastic change in personality after his parents’ deaths. He had blamed their deaths on himself.
Mr. Gu Sr., himself an adult who had weathered various storms, had been unable to withstand that blow. How much worse it had been for Gu Yu, who was only ten at that time.
Xu Shuai had no idea how Gu Yu managed to pull himself through that tragedy. He only remembered that since the day he witnessed the doctors covering his parents’ faces with a white cloth as they laid lifeless on the hospital beds, he had never seen Gu Yu laugh again.
Xu Shuai believed that if not for the fact that Mr. Gu Sr. was old and needed his grandson to care for him, Gu Yu would have lost all hope and committed suicide long ago.
Furthermore, because Mr. Gu Sr. had collapsed during that period, the different factions within the Gu Corporation had taken steps to wrestle the company away from the grandfather and grandson. After all, with Mr. Gu Sr. down, Gu Yu was still too young to do anything, their enemies wanted to get rid of both of them once and for all!
They had contacted all the directors privately and bribed whomever they could to convene a board meeting to demand the removal of Mr. Gu Sr. on the grounds that if anything happened to him, it would cause panic among the shareholders and plunge the Gu Corporation into crisis.
Mr. Gu Sr. had been severely ill, and when he heard the news, he suffered further from a stroke and had become bedridden.
The ten-year-old Gu Yu attended the board meeting on behalf of his grandfather. As a mere child, he was then the target of the predatory adults who had sneered and scoffed at him and deliberately bombarded him with professional industrial jargon.
Everyone had expected Mr. Gu Sr. and Gu Yu to suffer a crus.h.i.+ng defeat in this battle. Unexpectedly, Gu Yu had emerged victorious.
Xu Shuai hadn’t witnessed the board meeting personally. After all, he himself had been a kid back then. But according to his father’s and brother’s accounts, Gu Yu hadn’t behaved like a ten-year-old at all. His speech had been clear and his thoughts coherent. He decimated his opponents with his tongue and refuted his second and third uncles until they had nowhere to retreat to in shame.
The members on the board were mostly individuals who went with the flow. They considered Gu Yu’s performance at ten years of age and contrasted it with the inept.i.tude of his fellow contenders. They knew then, that if the Gu Corporation was entrusted to his opponents, the company would be headed for eventual ruin.
Moreover, Mr. Gu Sr. was still alive. After his recovery, none of them would be able to bear the brunt of his rage.
Gu Yu safeguarded the Gu Corporation until his grandfather slowly recovered. But ever since then, he turned cold and vicious, and Grandpa Gu had become the only warmth left in his heart.