Mr. Gu suddenly slammed on the brakes, and the car jolted before coming to a steady stop.
"Hiss!" The seatbelt tightened abruptly, causing a sharp pain in Xia Qingtian's shoulder. She glared at the person beside her, frowning. "Why did you slam on the brakes? It really hurts!"
"My apologies," Mr. Gu said, only offering a brief apology before continuing, "Did you say earlier that Hua Heng is connected to that Teacher Song on Shenshan?"
During the Shenshan incident, he had pursued Teacher Song all the way, but he had still been a step too late. Teacher Song was killed before his eyes, and the clues he wanted were also lost.
"Do you remember that time we pretended to be students from Z University's Fine Arts department, and when Teacher Song was driving us back to Z University, I pointed out his tattoo and said the pattern was very unique?" Xia Qingtian hesitated before sharing this with Mr. Gu. "Today, on the coat of the young master of Hua Heng, I saw a metal button, and the pattern was the same as Teacher Song's tattoo."
"Whether I'm being overly suspicious or it's a coincidence, it's always wise to be a little more vigilant." Xia Qingtian found it difficult to elaborate further and looked at Mr. Gu, saying, "In short, I think there's something wrong with Hua Heng."
Meeting Xia Qingtian's gaze, Mr. Gu looked at her for a good while before finally asking, "Where were you standing when the shooting happened upstairs today?"
"What?" Xia Qingtian was taken aback.
"The reason you could see Teacher Song's tattoo clearly was because we were very close to him at the time. But under the circumstances today, you could not only see the button on the young master of Hua Heng clearly but also successfully escape pursuit," Mr. Gu said, fixing his gaze on Xia Qingtian. "Where were you hiding?"
Xia Qingtian was utterly stumped by Mr. Gu's question. Where had she been hiding? Under the invisibility cloak. But that was something she absolutely couldn't reveal!
Xia Qingtian pursed her lips, her gaze shifting away from Mr. Gu's. The silence in the car became somewhat awkward. It wasn't until a car behind them honked its horn that Mr. Gu finally shifted his gaze and drove the car out of the parking lot and onto the main road.
Xia Qingtian felt a pang of annoyance. If she had known this situation would arise, she should have found other ways to remind Mr. Gu, or simply not mentioned it at all. Now, it was difficult for her to even concoct a believable excuse. Mr. Gu was too intelligent. Xia Qingtian had praised this intelligence countless times in her heart when they were still the best of partners. But now, Mr. Gu's cleverness made Xia Qingtian feel a little scared.
As the car continued to drive, Mr. Gu spoke first, "Originally, I was planning to cooperate with Hua Heng to jointly develop and utilize sa-101. However, I will have to reconsider my cooperation partner now."
"Oh," Xia Qingtian replied vaguely.
"Xia Corporation, what do you think?" Mr. Gu asked.
"Xia... Xia Corporation?!" Xia Qingtian was stunned and turned her head abruptly to look at Mr. Gu. "Which Xia Corporation?"
"What do you think?" Mr. Gu countered.
Seeing Mr. Gu's reaction, Xia Qingtian immediately understood, feeling that her previous questions were rather redundant. The car continued to drive smoothly, and the atmosphere between them grew increasingly subtle.
As they were getting closer to her home, Xia Qingtian took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Gu, when I brought up the matter of Hua Heng, I didn't intend to help Xia Corporation secure the new energy cooperation opportunity for sa-101, nor was I playing any 'honey trap'." After saying this, Xia Qingtian's own cheeks felt a little hot. "Before I knew you were Mr. Gu, I always saw you as a friend and had no other thoughts."
"If you only see me as a friend, then that's rather troublesome..." Mr. Gu murmured to himself as if in thought.
"What?" Xia Qingtian hadn't heard clearly and looked up at Mr. Gu's profile. A passing car light momentarily cast a faint golden halo on Mr. Gu's silhouette, making her heart flutter.
"It's nothing," Mr. Gu replied before continuing, "We need to announce our partner at the meeting tomorrow. Even if it's not Hua Heng, I will choose another company."
"Since today's destination is the Xia family's residence, and it's on the way, I'll choose Xia Corporation," Mr. Gu said. "Don't worry, I know you're not trying to use your beauty to seduce or manipulate me, although... you are quite beautiful."
"What do you mean 'quite beautiful'?" Xia Qingtian was slightly displeased upon hearing this. She had beauty and a good figure, and even her harshest critics couldn't honestly call her ugly. How could she be just "quite beautiful"? Crossing her arms, Xia Qingtian let out a cold snort. "I just can't be bothered to use my unique advantages. Otherwise... Hmph~"
"Then... I'm truly looking forward to it," Mr. Gu's lips curved into a meaningful arc. "When the day comes that I'm worthy of Miss Xia's seduction or manipulation, please don't hesitate."
"You!" Xia Qingtian's face flushed red. She felt there were too many things to retort to Mr. Gu's words that she didn't know where to begin.
"Hehe." Seeing this, Mr. Gu couldn't help but chuckle.
"Are you mocking me? You're not allowed to laugh!" The blush on Xia Qingtian's cheeks spread to her neck.
"My apologies— *cough*."
"Annoying! Stop laughing!"
"Alright, I won't laugh— *heh*."
"!!!"
The rest of the journey was much livelier in the car. When the car finally stopped steadily in front of the Xia family's residence, Xia Qingtian, somewhat flustered, opened the car door and got out directly. Noticing Xia Honglang who had come out to greet them, Mr. Gu concealed his smile and got out of the car.
"Mr. Gu, I'm truly sorry to trouble you to personally send Qingtian back so late," Xia Honglang said apologetically as he shook hands with Mr. Gu.
"No trouble at all. I happened to want to discuss new cooperation with Director Xia," Mr. Gu said, resuming his usual businesslike demeanor. "Sending Miss Xia back was merely on the way."
"New cooperation?" Xia Honglang blinked his eyes in surprise. What new cooperation?
"It's related to the new energy of sa-101," Mr. Gu replied.
"!"
Xia Honglang never expected that the new energy project for sa-101 would involve Mr. Gu, let alone that he would want to cooperate with him. However, as a businessman with experience in the business world, he immediately adjusted his facial expression and said solemnly, "Please, Mr. Gu, let's discuss it in my study."
"Certainly, thank you for the intrusion," Mr. Gu responded and walked into the Xia residence with Xia Honglang.
As soon as he entered the house, Mr. Gu had a face-to-face encounter with Xia Qingyu. Xia Qingyu had come downstairs after hearing that Xia Qingtian had returned, but she never expected to see a stranger there. In an instant, Xia Qingyu's danger-sensing radar went on high alert. Beep, beep, beep— Someone was going to fight her for her sister!