Chapter 287: Chapter 287: Dare to Steal My Wife?
Mr. Wen enthusiastically invited three elderly men whom Gu Jiaojiao didn’t recognize, along with Xi Guodong and another young man, to sit at the same table as Su Shuochi and his wife.
At the dining table, Mr. Wen exchanged a few pleasantries with everyone and introduced the scientists from the research institute to Su Shuochi.
Then he picked up his chopsticks and invited everyone to eat, acting as if the fight his daughter just had with Sheng Yueyue never happened.
Gu Jiaojiao remained a background figure the whole time, wearing a polite yet distant smile.
She had always preferred to keep a low profile. Her only public achievement was being the top scorer in the province for this year’s college entrance exams.
But with a rising star in research like Su Shuochi present, a top exam scorer was hardly worth anyone’s notice or compliments.
The person everyone was trying to flatter was Su Shuochi, because he had recently "developed" two new medical devices.
They had already passed inspection by top experts and entered production, though this couldn’t be publicly announced yet.
Su Shuochi and his core technical team had also been designated as nationally protected individuals.
Among them were promising young talents like Xi Guodong, the next successor of the Xi Family, and Wen Wenjin, the eldest son of the Wen family.
They were all very young and came from excellent family backgrounds. Su Shuochi, the only one from an ordinary family, was their leader.
Su Shuochi’s contributions to this medical device research and development project were indispensable.
The results of this research were being closely monitored by the relevant departments, and the credit was ultimately traced back to Divine Doctor Su Gu.
But the Divine Doctor was notoriously elusive, only appearing when the country was in need.
People without sufficient status naturally couldn’t contact the Divine Doctor. That was why men like Mr. Wen could only try to curry favor with Su Shuochi, hoping to indirectly establish a connection.
Mr. Wen dominated the conversation at the table, with every word being praise for Su Shuochi. The other two research experts also smiled like Maitreya Buddhas.
They encouraged everyone to eat freely while chiming in with Mr. Wen’s compliments. The other young man was even more proactive, opening wine bottles and passing serving dishes.
"Comrade Shuo Ci, Mrs. Su, I’d like to specially invite you both to next month’s prestigious family conference," Mr. Wen offered generously.
"Uncle Wen, Jiaojiao has to report to the Imperial City early for school, so we won’t be attending this year."
Su Shuochi replied in a tone that was neither servile nor overbearing. ’Prestigious families? The Su family isn’t one of them.’
"Couldn’t you take Mrs. Su to her school first, and then Shuo Ci could return to Qing City for the conference?" one of the senior research experts asked with a smile.
"Mr. Xia, as you can see, it’s not convenient for me to get around. You could say that without Jiaojiao, I’m a helpless man!"
Everyone at the table: ... ’That seems to be the case, but not really.’
’He could easily hire a couple of bodyguards!’
But everyone knew this was just an excuse Su Shuochi was using to avoid the conference.
"Comrade Su, you’re being too modest. If you’re willing, I would be happy to push your wheelchair for you," the young man at the table said sincerely.
He was good friends with Xi Guodong. The two of them had been raised as future successors since childhood.
As a result, they were very sensitive to all sorts of matters and knew what should and shouldn’t be said.
This time, however, he couldn’t hold back. His grandfather was in poor health, and their family hoped to get an introduction to Divine Doctor Su Gu by befriending Su Shuochi.
Su Shuochi: ... ’Where did this idiot come from? So clueless!’
"Uncle Wen, we’re all familiar with each other, so there’s no need for so many formalities. Please, just invite everyone to eat and drink as they please."
"Shuo Ci is right. We’re all friends here. Please, eat and don’t be strangers," Mr. Wen said, taking the hint and addressing the table.
Just then, the bride and groom came over to offer a toast. Everyone stood up to exchange polite pleasantries, and the topic was dropped.
After the banquet, everyone went their separate ways. Gu Jiaojiao pushed Su Shuochi’s wheelchair and left as well, without going inside to see her maternal grandfather from the Dong family.
Ever since she came into this world, she had never once met Mr. Dong.
From the moment Old Dong kicked Grandpa Gu, Mr. Gu, and Mrs. Gu out of the Dong Family’s home, Gu Jiaojiao had no intention of ever acknowledging him as her grandfather.
From the moment Su Shuochi entered the courtyard, he had been surrounded by people, so Mr. Dong couldn’t get close to them.
Besides, his second son was getting remarried today, and he had invited many of his old friends, who were all sitting and chatting at one table.
Mr. Dong had assumed that once the guests left, his granddaughter, Gu Jiaojiao, would come inside to pay her respects.
Who would have thought she’d leave right after eating? Mr. Dong couldn’t really get angry either; according to custom, it wasn’t wrong to leave after the banquet was over.
Dong Yuanyuan and her husband had been assigned to accompany the bride’s escort party, so they couldn’t get away to speak with Su Shuochi either.
But her eyes often followed Su Shuochi’s figure.
She hadn’t seen Su Shuochi in a long time and found that he was more handsome than ever before.
Especially when she saw the beautifully smiling Gu Jiaojiao by his side, she wished she could take her place.
He Aiguo was with the groom’s male escort party and was seated separately from Dong Yuanyuan, so he had no idea his wife was secretly watching Su Shuochi the whole time.
Gu Jiaojiao pushed Su Shuochi along a tree-lined boulevard. She had promised to perform surgery for the Ren family’s grandfather this afternoon.
So, she didn’t plan on going to the venue. If she wasn’t going, Su Shuochi naturally didn’t want to go either.
Gu Jiaojiao had been at the warfront for over forty days, and Su Shuochi had been busy every day replicating and manufacturing samples. He decided to take a day off with his wife.
Thinking it was still early before her appointment, Gu Jiaojiao walked slowly to aid her digestion.
When the couple was alone, Su Shuochi became very talkative, completely unlike the cold and aloof image he presented to others.
He teased Gu Jiaojiao until she burst out laughing. Just as the couple was enjoying themselves, they ran into Song Zijin walking toward them.
"Jiaojiao, what’s so funny?" Song Zijin’s eyes were glued to Gu Jiaojiao.
His eyes seemed to hold something deep and dark, which made Gu Jiaojiao’s skin crawl.
Gu Jiaojiao, of course, paid Song Zijin no mind. She held onto the wheelchair and stared quietly at the ground.
In Song Zijin’s eyes, her behavior made him think that Gu Jiaojiao was resenting him for abandoning her to marry Sheng Yueyue.
He had brought this upon himself. He’d assumed that Gu Jiaojiao, having been pampered since childhood, would have a spoiled "young miss" temper.
Who knew that Sheng Yueyue, a true "young miss," had a personality that was far more shrewish and willful.
If only he had been more tolerant of Jiaojiao back then and trusted her, perhaps none of this would have happened.
He wouldn’t have been mocked by everyone today, and yet the final outcome was still this inescapable fate!
Especially seeing her now—her skin was like fine jade, her lips red and teeth white. Every expression was like a moving painting, a beauty that seemed otherworldly.
Song Zijin sighed and said in a gentle voice, "Jiaojiao, I know you still resent me. Actually, I regretted it a long time ago.
"If I can divorce Sheng Yueyue, will you stop being mad at me? If so, I’ll take her to file the papers tomorrow, and you can divorce your husband and marry me instead."
Song Zijin’s words made Gu Jiaojiao feel like she was about to throw up last night’s dinner. Her face was a mask of incredulous revulsion.
’What kind of screwed-up logic does this book’s male lead have?’
Su Shuochi’s ink-black eyes instantly radiated a frigid, biting chill.
He narrowed his cold eyes, the piercing light in their depths carrying a bone-deep iciness. "Song Zijin? Who gave you the nerve to try and steal my wife?"
