"Yu Hao, let's not be like them in front of so many people." Gu Xiaonan walked around to face Yu Hao from behind, then put her hands on his shoulder. She then bit her lips and shook her head vigorously, revealing a wronged expression on her face.
But, in Yu Hao's opinion, Gu Xiaonan's words seemed to have a hidden meaning. He shook Gu Xiaonan's hand immediately, then said to all of the people present, "Xiaonan, we are not the ones holding on to the past... It's them!" Yu Hao then nudged his head in Shi Zhiwen's direction, indicating that he was the one who was fighting and holding on to the past.
Gu Xiaonan was considered to be a great beauty within the Leng Group. At this time, some people in the crowd had even begun to talk about it. She would naturally not miss such an opportunity to be the center of attention, much less miss the chance to slander An Qi!
"Even if you're just taking into account that An Qi is single and has a daughter, let's not bother with either of them, okay?" someone in the crowd sneered.
Soon after that, the entire crowd also began whispering amongst themselves. They were all looking at An Qi and pointing their fingers at her and gossiping...
"Looking at this woman's clothes alone, we can see that she is no good. She is single and has a daughter. Isn't that what a single mother is?"
"Yes, Manager Gu has been at the Leng Group for so long, but we've never seen her boyfriend. Who would've thought that he would be so memorable once he arrived?"
"What was that phrase again? 'The thief's concern is worse than the thief itself?' But, I don't understand. Who gave this grey mouse the confidence that she needed to try and steal the man from the manager?"
Gu Xiaonan looked back gratefully at the people who were speaking in her favor. In fact, she almost offered them all kisses, one by one!
This undoubtedly encouraged them, so more and more ugly words started to be hurled towards An Qi like a tsunami.
"Get them to shut up!" Shi Zhiwen let go of Yu Hao's hand and pointed at Gu Xiaonan, while yelling furiously.
Facing Shi Zhiwen's muscular figure, Gu Xiaonan was not afraid. In fact, she was feeling pretty happy and pleased with herself.
From an angle that no one could see, she stuck out her chest and grazed the edge of her skin against Shi Zhiwen's shirt, causing him to feel something intense. Gu Xiaonan had inquired about him earlier this morning, so she had learned that Shi Zhiwen was only a handsome part-timer. Thus, she knew that the poor boy would not be able to resist her.
Gu Xiaonan stood close to him and whispered in Shi Zhiwen's ear, "What benefits can you get from An Qi? If you go back now, I'm sure you can get both the person and money tonight, how about that?"
Upon hearing her shameless attempt at bribery, Shi Zhiwen's expression was far from that of Gu Xiaonan's expectation. In his eyes, Gu Xiaonan saw nothing except contempt and disgust.
"What nonsense are you speaking of now?" Shi Zhiwen frowned and jumped back several steps, deliberately pulling away from Gu Xiaonan.
In his opinion, this woman was a great scourge. Besides, she was not as cute as An Qi at all!
Gu Xiaonan was surprised by his intense and exaggerated reaction, but she soon recovered her composure. Then, faced with Shi Zhiwen's accusation, she immediately adjusted her rhythm and quickly adopted the victim's role.
"I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted you to pull An Qi away from here quickly... To keep her from embarrassing herself any further," she insisted.
"Xiaonan, why are you still talking nonsense? Besides, I don't care what you think! Anyway, neither of them are leaving, not unless An Qi gives me an explanation today!" Yu Hao exclaimed.
He was still immersed in the pain of losing his child. His tortured mind was also filled with the fact that An Qi now had a healthy daughter and a masculine man like Shi Zhiwen to protect her.
Yu Hao had thought that since he had an affair with Gu Xiaonan, others would also have had affairs like him. He would have never believed that they were innocent, not in a million years!
Just when Yu Hao's angry eyes seemed like they were going to burn a few holes in An Qi's body, An Qi snickered. "Explanation? Yu Hao, I don't know what you expect me to say!"
"You!" Yu Hao was so angry at her impertinence that he nearly choked on his next words, "Stop playing games with me!"
"Playing games? Sorry, but a single mom like me has no time to play games with the likes of you. I have to earn money to raise my baby when I have time!" An Qi retorted.
Looking at Yu Hao's face made An Qi feel sick. She hadn't expected to see him again. After calming herself down, she didn't even want to say another word to him.
But, Gu Xiaonan on the other hand, couldn't give up the chance to humiliate An Qi. So, she seized her words and said with an incredulous expression on her face, "An Qi, you can't just ask this man to threaten us because you are short of money! And... You're saying that if we don't pay you, you'll falsely accuse Yu Hao of being the child's father and asking him to pay for child support! Shameless!"
All of the people present, including Yu Hao, were stunned by Gu Xiaonan's words. "Xiaonan, do you mean that this kid just pulled you aside to blackmail you with the child?" Yu Hao was the first to respond, and his words immediately aroused the attention and subsequent whispers of all of the people around him.
Shi Zhiwen immediately stood up and retorted, "How dare you spout such bullsh*t? What child? What money? I, for one, never said anything like that!"
"Hmph, I can see from your poor clothes that you've been going through a rough patch recently, but An Qi you could've just told me if you needed money. I'd never have ignored your problems. Why hatch such a plot with a random man?" Yu Hao looked askance at Shi Zhiwen, his eyes full of price tags.
Shi Zhiwen's entire wardrobe could be worth no more than 200 dollars in his eyes. Yu Hao thought to himself… Besides having a little more strength than me, what qualifications could such a man have to compete with me?
The people behind Yu Hao were also snobs, and as such, they followed Yu Hao in all things. Thus, they were also making a fuss and not allowing An Qi and Shi Zhiwen to leave, regardless of their attempts to do so.
Seeing that this was the case, An Qi walked up to Yu Hao helplessly and looked him in the eye as she said, "Yu Hao, keep your mouth shut! This 'random man' is a colleague I've just met. And as for monet, what does it matter to you if I am poor or rich? No matter how rich I am, I wouldn't give you a penny. No matter how poor I am, I wouldn't ask you for a meal!"
Upon hearing An Qi's words, Yu Hao's face turned bright red. He knew that An Qi was hinting to him that all of the money he had used to start his business had actually been earned her hard-earned money.
Yu Hao's eyebrows twitched as he said, "Well said. Well then... What are you doing now? Are you dressed like this to go on stage and beg for money?"
"You stubborn fool! It's impossible to communicate with you!" When An Qi saw that his focus was always on money, she couldn't imagine why she'd ever been with such a person in the first place!
Shi Zhiwen saw that she was turning away from Yu Hao and was about to leave, so he rushed to protect An Qi and took her out through the crowd. As he looked at the back of An Qi's departing figure, somehow in Yu Hao's heart, a sudden trace of reluctance for her to leave, as well as regret appeared. It wasn't clear if this was because of his nostalgia for the time that he had spent with An Qi in the past or simply because of his disgust for Shi Zhiwen.