Chapter 937 — Old Master Chu's Attitude

Gu Pengzhan had not gone to see Wei Zhao off, because he did not want to tell Wei Zhao what had happened at the company and make him bear that burden. That burden was his own to carry—not Wei Zhao's.

Gu Pengzhan was a light smoker, yet by now the cigarette butts in the ashtray on his desk had piled into a small mountain; many had even tumbled onto the desktop, and ash lay scattered everywhere.

But Gu Pengzhan had no heart at all to clear away those butts and ashes; his mind was wholly fixed on the future of the Gu Group and of Yaoyao.

The Gu Group—that he could give up. But his most beloved daughter—that he could never give up.

Gu Pengzhan was a man who prized affection, the polar opposite of those who put their careers first. Some men would sacrifice their children's marital happiness for the sake of their own advancement, forcing them to wed someone they did not love. Gu Pengzhan, by contrast, would give up everything for his children's happiness.

At this moment Gu Pengzhan even wished for death. If there were matters that a single death could settle, then he would rather die and have done with it all.

But not now—he could not die. Even in death he could not change Gu Mengyao's fate. From the Xiao family's words one could detect a little room for maneuver, and Zhao Qibing's demand was the most reasonable of the three: he had not opened his mouth like a lion, yet his appetite was by no means small either—it merely came to rest within a limit that Gu Pengzhan could accept. The Yu family's demand, however, crossed the line: not content with taking the company's shares, they also wanted Yaoyao to go to the Yu family as a concubine.

Had Gu Mengyao been willing to be another man's concubine, Gu Pengzhan would have let it be. But as things stood, Yaoyao could never marry into the Yu family; Gu Pengzhan knew his daughter's temper too well. Force her, and she would sooner die.

He glanced at the time. Wei Zhao should have left by now, shouldn't he? In his helplessness, Gu Pengzhan made his final decision. After hesitating again and again, he at last dialed his father's number.

Gu Pengzhan truly did not want to make his father fret over him any longer. His father had retired and ought to be enjoying a quiet and comfortable old age, yet he himself kept troubling him with company affairs.

This time the Gu family had reached a moment of utter crisis. If no way out could be found, the Gu family would very likely be wiped out.

If the Yu family insisted on having Gu Mengyao marry into their house, was Gu Pengzhan to dress his daughter in bridal robes himself?

"Pengzhan, are you very troubled just now?" Old Master Chu picked up the phone and asked, quite calmly.

"Father, you know what has happened here?" Gu Pengzhan asked, slightly taken aback.

"I know a little. You may be the company's chairman at present, but don't forget that the Gu Group was founded by my own hand. I have eyes and ears in the company as well," said Old Master Chu.

"Father, then what am I to do now? The Gu Group is finished—the Xiao family, Zhao Qibing, and the Yu family have all pressed in at once. In a single instant it seems every force has converged on Songshan City, all of them coming to make trouble for me!" Hearing that his father already knew what had happened here, Gu Pengzhan opened his heart and poured out his troubles: "I truly feel powerless. I don't know what to do..."

"The Gu Group—if they want it, let them take it. You may know a little of this: when I was young I ran a company too, but owing to lack of experience and poor management, it went bankrupt..." Old Master Chu consoled him with a smile. "And the Gu Group was my second enterprise! When I founded it, I was already as old as you are now. So even if we fail this time, there may yet be chances ahead..."

"Father, I can give up the Group, but Yaoyao's happiness I absolutely cannot give up! I cannot let her marry into the Yu family—it would ruin her whole life!" Gu Pengzhan said with a bitter smile. "And you know Yaoyao's temper. Force her into the Yu family, and she would rather die!"

"Why marry her into the Yu family?" Old Master Chu laughed. "Didn't I tell you to marry her to Wei Zhao?"

"Oh?" Gu Pengzhan was startled, then smiled bitterly. "Wei Zhao's martial arts have been completely crippled. He wants to go back to his hometown to seek a way to restore his strength. I tried before to hold him back—I wanted him for my son-in-law, to marry Yaoyao with the Gu Group as her dowry—but he refused..."

"Pengzhan, your thinking was wrong from the start. The Gu Group means nothing to Wei Zhao! So you must look further ahead, and not torment yourself over the gains before your eyes!" said Old Master Chu. "Have you forgotten what I told you before? It is our Gu family that must attach itself to Wei Zhao—never he who schemes after the Gu family's fortune!"

"I have not forgotten. I keep that firmly in mind, which is why my manner toward Xiao Yi has always been kindly, and I have treated him as one of us..." Gu Pengzhan said humbly.

"Then what problem remains, in the difficulty before you?" Old Master Chu said with a smile.

"Hm?" Gu Pengzhan did not quite grasp his father's meaning.

"Keeping Wei Zhao here matters more than keeping the company!" said Old Master Chu.

"You mean..." Gu Pengzhan was slightly startled. He had some inkling of his father's meaning, yet could not be entirely certain.

"Isn't Wei Zhao going back to his hometown to take refuge? Then you take Yaoyao and go take refuge with him!" Old Master Chu laughed. "If Wei Zhao won't stay, then you take the initiative and deliver Yaoyao to his door!"

"Ah? But Wei Zhao has a girlfriend... And his girlfriend is going back with him this time too. For me and Yaoyao to trail after him—wouldn't that be rather improper?" Gu Pengzhan felt this seemed a little shameless.

"Who said anything about trailing after him?" Old Master Chu shot back. "Don't tell him beforehand. After he leaves, you take Yaoyao and set out afterward. By the time you arrive, can he really drive you away?"

"Is that so?" Gu Pengzhan said. "But isn't this a little shameless? And Xiao Yi has a girlfriend too. If Yaoyao goes like this, won't she be taking the lesser place?"

Though Gu Pengzhan could accept Tang Yun for his daughter's sake, and had made that point plain when he spoke with Wei Zhao, it had been premised on Wei Zhao marrying Gu Mengyao—in which case his daughter would hold the leading place, and as for Tang Yun, so long as his daughter raised no objection, Gu Pengzhan naturally had nothing to say.

But now, to follow Wei Zhao back under such circumstances—would that not put her a notch below Tang Yun?

"Mm, then would you rather have Yaoyao be a concubine to the Yu family, or a lesser wife to Wei Zhao?" Old Master Chu asked.

"I... understand!" Enlightenment dawned on Gu Pengzhan. So the old master had seen it most clearly after all!

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