Chapter 214: He’s My Brother-in-Law. Be Polite.

Chapter 214: He’s My Brother-in-Law. Be Polite.

The sudden rise in Gu Ruibo’s voice startled Mao Rusong.

His reaction was far too strong.

Mao could hear the bewilderment in it as well.

Of course Gu Ruibo was bewildered.

One of Mao Rusong’s trusted men had called him to say there was trouble.

That some terrifying assassin had appeared…

And now it turned out—

What?

It was Wu Chen?

“Brother Gu, Wu Chen… who exactly is he? I remember you mentioning him once,” Mao Rusong asked again.

His gaze remained fixed on Wu Chen.

Asking someone else who Wu Chen was while sitting directly in front of the man felt extremely strange.

But Wu Chen showed no sign of taking offense.

He remained perfectly calm.

He knew exactly who “Brother Gu” was.

Wu Chen was not certain whether Gu Ruibo knew of him at this point in time.

After all, it was no longer July 7.

Time had moved forward.

Everything was changing.

Still, based on what he knew, Wu Chen could infer that Gu Ruibo had most likely heard of him.

First, there was the matter of their social circles.

Mao Rusong was a billionaire in Modu, a man who could move comfortably through every social sphere, but he had no powerful family background of his own.

He had his businesses and his network.

Ding Ruilong was merely one important connection among many.

Apart from voluntarily helping watch over He Shiqin and He Xinxin, Mao had no especially close ties to him.

Naturally, Mao Rusong knew nothing about the wager between Li Ruobing and Ding Ruilong.

He had no reason to pay attention.

Four years had already passed since the failed marriage arrangement.

So even if something had recently happened in Donghai—such as Li Ruobing finding yet another boyfriend—there was no reason for that news to reach Mao Rusong directly.

Gu Ruibo was different.

Like Li Ruotai, he was a scion of a major family.

They moved in the same circles, and when people from families like theirs gathered, conversation inevitably turned to the affairs of other prominent families.

More importantly…

Gu Ruibo and Li Ruotai were genuinely close friends.

Whenever Li Ruotai came to Modu, he met with Gu Ruibo.

Li Ruotai had good relationships with many scions of Modu’s prominent families, but Gu Ruibo was the one closest to him.

They had naturally gravitated toward each other because Li Ruotai had never liked Ding Ruilong.

As far as Wu Chen knew, after Li Ruobing rejected the marriage, Li Ruotai had even complained privately to Gu Ruibo about certain family matters.

He had never mentioned the wager, of course.

But he had said that he wanted to help his sister and could not.

That his father and grandfather were both too stubborn.

That they still wanted to keep pressuring her…

As an outsider, Gu Ruibo had not been in a position to say much.

All he could do was pat Li Ruotai on the shoulder in consolation.

Thus, Wu Chen believed Gu Ruibo most likely knew who he was.

“You… wait. Let me verify something. I’m not sure yet…” Gu Ruibo said. “Keep things under control for now. I’m bringing people. I’ll be there soon!”

He offered Mao Rusong no direct explanation.

Then he hung up.

Mao Rusong listened to the busy tone, momentarily dazed.

Why did this need to be verified?

“Gu Ruibo is coming?” Wu Chen asked with a smile.

“…Yes.” Mao paused before nodding.

Then he asked, “Um… Mr. Wu, do you know Brother Gu?”

The moment he asked, the question felt strange.

If they knew each other, why go through all this?

“No.” Wu Chen smiled. “But I know of him, and he knows of me.”

“Then…” Mao Rusong began to ask something else.

“Let’s talk about He Shiqin,” Wu Chen interrupted, steering the conversation back.

Wu Chen asked a few simple questions about He Shiqin’s recent situation.

What he truly wanted to know was whether anything had changed in the days since July 7.

He already knew everything from before that date.

In theory, nothing unusual should have happened over the past several days.

He was only asking casually.

While Wu Chen questioned him, Mao Rusong repeatedly tried to sound him out in return.

He kept wondering what Wu Chen was actually planning.

As for the fact that He Shiqin had witnessed Dong Yuantao’s death, Wu Chen naturally had no intention of telling Mao Rusong.

He gave Mao only one instruction.

Pretend not to know anything.

It was very simple.

For the next few days, no matter what happened involving He Shiqin, Mao Rusong needed only to act as though he knew nothing.

Mao had taken it upon himself to protect her. He had never promised Ding Ruilong anything, nor had Ding Ruilong ever asked him to do so.

Thus, if anything happened to He Shiqin, it had nothing to do with Mao Rusong.

If He Shiqin suddenly disappeared, Ding Ruilong certainly wouldn’t blame anyone for it. If he contacted Mao, it would only be to ask for help finding her.

Of course, the crucial question was—

Why should Mao Rusong listen to Wu Chen?

Because Wu Chen had leverage on him.

Leverage that could cause Mao enormous trouble.

It might even provoke Ding Ruilong into taking extreme revenge against him.

Yet Wu Chen possessed that leverage and was not using it to threaten or harm Mao. He was only asking Mao to do one thing that posed no danger to him whatsoever.

Do nothing.

Mao Rusong was already close to Gu Ruibo.

And Gu Ruibo was Ding Ruilong’s business rival.

So psychologically, Mao Rusong was fairly willing to agree.

He was a man who disliked trouble.

If pretending to be blind was all it took to stay out of a conflict between major families, he was more than happy to do it.

Seven or eight minutes later, Wu Chen and Mao Rusong had more or less finished their discussion.

Ring, ring…

Wu Chen’s phone rang.

He picked it up and checked the screen.

Li Ruobing.

He answered.

“You’re in Modu?” Li Ruobing asked directly.

“Yeah. A-Tai called you?” Wu Chen asked with a smile.

“He did,” Li Ruobing replied.

Then she asked, “What are you doing in Modu?”

Just moments earlier, Li Ruobing had received a call from her younger brother, Li Ruotai.

He had immediately asked whether his brother-in-law had gone to Modu.

He said he had heard it from a friend.

Li Ruobing had not been certain.

She had only said that Wu Chen had indeed gone out that day, so probably.

“Modu… taking care of some business,” Wu Chen said with a laugh. “Why didn’t A-Tai call me directly? Why ask you?”

“What do you think?” Li Ruobing replied, sounding annoyed. “Would you tell him what you’re doing? You wouldn’t even tell us what you discussed with my dad. He doesn’t know whether you’re still angry with him…

“Fine. Get back to what you’re doing. I’m having lunch with Qingying. A-Tai will probably call you. You two can talk.”

With that, Li Ruobing hung up.

Only a few seconds later, Wu Chen’s phone rang again.

Li Ruotai.

“Hello, A-Tai,” Wu Chen answered.

“Brother-in-law, I heard from a friend that you’re in Modu?” Li Ruotai asked.

There was even a faint note of caution in his voice.

“Yeah. Gu Ruibo called you?”

“He did. Brother-in-law… um… Brother Gu is one of my closest friends. So if he did anything wrong, could you go easy on him? I’ll talk to him…” Li Ruotai immediately began pleading Gu Ruibo’s case.

The longer he knew Wu Chen, the more clearly he understood just how terrifying Wu Chen was.

His father Li Maoren’s attitude toward Wu Chen had influenced him particularly strongly.

That very morning, Li Ruotai had spoken with his father again at length.

“You’ve misunderstood. It’s nothing like that.” Wu Chen smiled. “I only came here to discuss something.”

“But he called me just now and asked whether you were my brother-in-law. He said someone named Wu Chen wanted to…” Li Ruotai trailed off.

He could not explain it clearly either.

Gu Ruibo had not been clear himself.

He had only said something about a gunman, threats…

“I told you, it’s a misunderstanding.” Wu Chen laughed.

Just then—

Bang!

The office door flew open.

Two bodyguards in black entered first.

Behind them came a group of other bodyguards surrounding a thin man in his early thirties.

He wore a perfectly tailored dark-purple suit, his slicked-back hair arranged without a strand out of place.

Gu Ruibo.

Seated in his chair, Wu Chen turned and glanced over.

Then he said into the phone, “He’s here. All right, we’ll talk later. Nothing’s wrong…”

He hung up.

The bodyguards were highly alert.

Gu Ruibo, however, looked perfectly composed.

He saw the young Wu Chen seated in the chair and paused.

“Wu Chen, you’re the one from Donghai…”

He did not even finish the question.

Ring, ring…

Gu Ruibo’s phone rang.

He was already holding it, waiting for Li Ruotai to call back.

And now it rang.

Sure enough, it was Li Ruotai.

“A-Tai…” Gu Ruibo answered as he turned and walked several steps back toward the doorway.

“Yes, he’s my brother-in-law…” Li Ruotai said directly. “Be polite.”