Chapter 649: Piano Piece’s Face-Slapping Alert

Without even lifting her head, Gu Mang continued calmly eating her meal as she gave them Lin Shuang’s WeChat handle. “LS, one followed by eight zeroes.”

“Even her WeChat handle sounds so rich.” Qin Fang slapped the table in awe when he heard that, leaving everyone dumbfounded by his foolish actions.

He Yidu, meanwhile, was quite surprised that Gu Mang would so readily give him Lin Shuang’s contact information. He took out his phone to search for the aforementioned WeChat handle and Lin Shuang’s profile picture appeared at once. Her profile picture was just a black square, but unlike Gu Mang’s, it had the letter ‘Y’ on it. He requested to add her as a friend and even sent a message stating his name and intention.

Almost immediately, Gu Mang’s phone vibrated. There was no need to even guess who it was. There was a message from Lin Shuang that read, [???] Gu Mang ignored it, but she received another message from her soon after.

[Lin Shuang: Gu Mang, are you trying to get me into a marriage alliance?]

Lu Chengzhou, who was sitting next to Gu Mang, smirked when he saw the message. Lifting his chin in He Yidu’s direction, he said, “Pay her a higher salary.”

“Of course,” answered He Yidu as he pushed his gold-rimmed gla.s.ses up.

Gu Mang relayed the message to Lin Shuang, typing at a leisurely pace. [Name your price.]

While others might not know who Shen Xie’s secret helper was, there was no way Lin Shuang did not know. She sent a bland reply, stating, [You’re playing with fire, boss.]

Gu Mang lifted an eyebrow. [Do as you deem fit.]

Lin Shuang did not accept He Yidu’s friend request right away. She was still considering it. The group of men continued chatting about business matters, although it was mostly just He Yidu and Qin Fang talking with Lu Yī agreeing with what they said. Lu Chengzhou, on the other hand, only joined in every now and then.

When they were almost done with their meal, they leaned back against their seats. Their conversation was about Gu Mang now.

“Sis-in-law, did you know that your university also invited He Yidu to Welcome Night? He’s an alumnus of your university’s finance school.” Smiling, Qin Fang asked, “Will you be performing that day? We’ll all go there to support you.”

Gu Mang stretched her arms out and placed her wrists on the table as she continued playing a game on her phone with one hand. “No.”

The mention of Welcome Night reminded He Yidu of who he had met at the entrance of the restaurant earlier. He placed his teacup down and looked up to say, “I ran into Master Bi and the second daughter of Country K’s president at the entrance earlier.”

Because Master Bi was from Jijing Island, even Old Master He and Old Master Qin had to pay their respects to him, even more so for the youngsters like He Yidu and Qin Fang. They dared not tarry him at all. The maestro had been in the capital for some time now, so a few families had paid him a visit and hosted banquets for him out of hospitality. Basically, anyone with prominence in the capital had already met him.

It was not at all surprising to see An An together with Master Bi, since she was his student. Hence, Qin Fang could not help but find it strange that his friend would specifically mention the maestro to them. “What’s the big deal about running into him when we’ve already met him at the banquets our families have hosted for him?”

He Yidu s.h.i.+fted his gaze to Gu Mang, however, which confused Qin Fang even more. “Why are you looking at our sister-in-law?”

He Yidu said, “Sister Mang, your sister and your uncle’s family were together with them. Master Bi appeared to be quite respectful toward them.”

Upon hearing that, Lu Chengzhou, as well as Gu Mang who was in the middle of playing her mobile game, looked up. Qin Fang narrowed his eyes. “What’s up with the Lei family? Looks like Gu Yin’s network has become quite extensive after going to Country K, seeing how she’s on good terms with the president’s family and Master Bi.”

“From what I gleaned from their conversation, I think Master Bi intends to make Gu Yin his disciple.” He Yidu had been quite surprised when he first heard this piece of news.

“His disciple?!” Qin Fang could not believe his ears. “Can she play the piano very well?”

So far, Master Bi had only taken in two students, namely Shen Qianzi and An An, so Qin Fang could not understand why he wanted Gu Yin as his third student.

He Yidu explained, “Word has it that Master Bi had wanted to make Gu Yin his student when he heard her play the piano two years ago, but her parents didn’t agree to it because of her studies. After meeting her again in Country K, he mentioned the apprentices.h.i.+p again.”

Qin Fang turned to look at Gu Mang. “Did you know about this, Sister Mang?”

“No,” replied Gu Mang. She never asked what was going on in the family since she was not interested in such matters.

Lu Yī, however, looked at Gu Mang weirdly.

Just two week ago, Butler Lu told me that Miss Gu played the piano very well and that she might be the student that Master Bi was coveting. How did it turn out to be her young sister instead?

He Yidu took a sip of tea before saying, “In any case, this matter has been decided. Master Bi invited the Lei family to dinner in the capital and will be taking Gu Yin to Jijing Island with him once Capital University’s Welcome Night is over.”

Qin Fang tutted. “The Shen family has grown so much over the past few years because Shen Qianzi has Master Bi as her teacher. They’ve almost caught up to the Lu family. Sis-in-law, the news of Master Bi dining together with the Lei family will soon spread all over the capital. It won’t be long before that uncle of yours gets transferred to the capital.”

Everyone would surely extend their goodwill to the Lei family once they heard that the Lei family had connections with people from the four major clans of Jijing Island.

Lifting an eyebrow, Gu Mang asked nonchalantly, “Is that so?”

He Yidu nodded. “You should know how formidable Jijing Island is. Among the many prestigious families in the capital, the Lu family is the only one they dare not to touch. The Shen family has always kept in touch with Jijing Island and no other families dare to offend the people from Jijing Island. That includes the Qin and the He families.”

She smiled. “Can’t we just overthrow them?”

The others’ expressions turned wry at that. Qin Fang hesitantly said, “Sis-in-law, I think you’ll take back your words once you find out how formidable Jijing Island is.”

Doesn’t she know Huo Zhi? Does she not know how fearsome Jijing Island is?

Gu Mang did not respond to him. Even though she still had a smile on her face, it did not reach her eyes. Seeing this, her fiancé drummed his fingers on the table as he remained silent.

…

Once they were done with their meal, Gu Mang and the gang left the restaurant. Lei Xiao’s group was just a few steps behind them. When he exited the restaurant, he happened to see his niece and her gang getting into a car. He snorted in her direction before s.h.i.+fting his gaze away.

Even though the Xia family were no longer in the capital’s elite circle, they were wise enough to watch their behavior and manners in front of Master Bi. After sending the maestro off, the Xia and the Lei families left in their own cars.

On the way back to the Xia residence, Lei Xiao sarcastically commented, “Gu Mang’s still hanging out with that group of miscreants, huh?”

Gu Yin did not answer him. Having met Lu Chengzhou at the presidential palace, she knew that he was no simple character, but she did not want to let her uncle know that her older sister was lucky enough to know a big shot like him.

…

It turned out that Qin Fang was right. The news of Master Bi dining together with the Xia and the Lei families quickly spread throughout the capital, which led to many families extending olive branches to them. Even those who had higher status than the Xia family took a submissive stance to pay them a visit. Because of this, the younger generation of the Xia family praised Gu Yin to the skies.

“Sister Yinyin, you’re amazing. Not only did you enter the medical organization, Master Bi even wants you as his disciple.”

Gu Yin gave a modest smile. “You guys are pretty smart too. I heard that Mengmeng is top ten in her grade.”

The girl, Mengmeng, pouted. “But mommy told me that tenth place isn’t anything to be proud of.”

“What’s the use of placing first?” said another girl. “Just look at Sister Gu Mang. She was the top scholar on the joint national exams, but she’s not doing any better than Sister Yinyin.”

Gu Yin felt a little uncomfortable hearing those words at first, but when she thought about the gap between Gu Mang and her, a smile reappeared on her face.

…

That night, An An gave Gu Yin a call and asked, “Yinyin, do you want to go attend Capital University’s Welcome Night on Friday? We don’t have any plans for that day anyway.”

Gu Yin hesitated for a moment before answering, “I doubt we’ll be allowed to enter, since we’re not studying there.”

“I’ll ask Master Bi for help.” An An flipped to a page of the book she was reading while lying on the bed. “Besides, Professor Kang is also invited. As his student I’m sure you’ll be allowed in.”

Gu Yin gave it a thought. “If it’s too troublesome, let’s not bother Master Bi.”

An An laughed. “Don’t worry and just leave it all to me. Let’s go and have some fun.”

“Okay,” replied Gu Yin with a laugh.

When An An ended the call, her phone resumed playing the music she was listening to before the call. After a few songs, low and heavy piano music began playing. When she heard the song, she froze for a moment before picking up her phone and sending the audio file to Gu Yin via WeChat. “Yinyin, this is Master Bi’s cover. Listen to it and see if it’s the same as how you used to play it.”