CHAPTER 469: CHAPTER 469 CURSE

"Even if you curse me, you’re no better yourself. There’s no way I’ll fall for it."

Gu Qixiao remained firm on his principles regarding the matter.

At least for now, judging by the circumstances, his heart was still steeped in darkness.

Ji Yu wasn’t particularly interested in what was transpiring between the two of them.

"You two should go back to your own places. I have zero interest in your affairs. Right now, all I want is to get some proper rest."

She needed a good rest and was unwilling to chase after these so-called messy matters any longer.

"Ji Yu, you are truly important to me. If you leave just like this, I absolutely won’t agree." Gu Qixiao gazed at her, his eyes deep with affection.

But Ji Yu was already feeling agitated with the current situation.

And so, her words were utterly frank and without courtesy.

"The thing I care about most is myself. If you keep acting like this, I’ll never develop any affection for you. Gu Qixiao, you better think this through for yourself."

Gu Qixiao thought of Ji Yu’s weary countenance.

His heart ached for her.

"Go get some proper rest."

In the end, he compromised.

Watching him walk away, Ji Yu felt her strength drain.

She collapsed onto the sofa, looking at her own pathetic state with a sense of helplessness.

"How did such a terrible thing even happen?"

She genuinely didn’t want this to continue any longer.

Meanwhile, after returning to the villa, Gu Qixiao encountered an unexpected visitor.

"President Gu, Jiang Huai is already waiting for you in the living room. It seems that he has something he needs to discuss with you," Assistant Li informed, knowing full well that Jiang Huai was the key to the antidote and definitely not someone to bar at the door.

Gu Qixiao’s expression remained calm.

"I understand."

He would see what this was all about.

Jiang Huai noticed the unfavorable expression on his face as Gu Qixiao entered and realized that, yet again, he likely hadn’t succeeded.

"It seems that getting back to Yu’s side is going to be quite the challenge. That woman can be incredibly heartless at times. Even I can’t get close to her, let alone you, who’s only known her for a short while."

His words carried an evident tone of schadenfreude.

But Gu Qixiao’s demeanor remained steadfastly indifferent.

"My matters with Yu don’t need outsiders meddling. What you’ve done is pointless anyway. I trust that Fan Mingxing has already told you—you must resolve this matter."

But Jiang Huai cared little for anyone’s words. "Do you think Fan Mingxing can control me? People like him fill the entire base. It’s a pity that they all end up being handled by me, neat and tidy."

He indeed held absolute authority over the issue.

"This organization can change its heir, but it cannot replace me."

From the very beginning, Jiang Huai carried an unwavering confidence.

So the idea of fearing Gu Qixiao never crossed his mind.

Gu Qixiao understood then that resolving this matter would undoubtedly be a challenge.

"What exactly do you want?"

"What I want is simple — for you not to be with Ji Yu. Or, rather, I want Ji Yu. It’s unfortunate, though, that she can’t calmly accept this arrangement." Thinking back to the last incident, he still felt a bit shaken.

So this time, he refrained from using coercive measures.

"Don’t think for a second I hold any expectations for you," Jiang Huai remarked indifferently, caring only about Ji Yu.

"You’ll never succeed anyway." At least, in Gu Qixiao’s eyes, they were utterly incompatible.

For Ji Yu, what mattered most was her freedom.

"The moment you try to take her freedom, you’ve already lost her." Gu Qixiao’s tone revealed his pity for Jiang Huai as he spoke.

Loving someone begins with understanding them before anything else.

But Jiang Huai had made the unwise choice.

"Gu Qixiao, do you truly think you understand Yu? You’re just someone who’s already lost his chance. A piece of trash like you will never win her over."

Jealousy simmered within Jiang Huai.

At the same time, he held disdain for Gu Qixiao. In his opinion, Gu Qixiao’s inability to be with Ji Yu in this situation only made him pathetic.

"Whether I succeed depends on me. But you, you’ve already lost your chance—that much is undeniable. You might as well hand over the antidote now. Maybe then you’ll get to live a bit longer."

Gu Qixiao cared little about anything else; he only wanted to rid his body of this cursed drug.

For a moment, the two wounded each other deeply.

Both of them had their own struggles, making resolution seemingly impossible.

At that very moment, Ji Yu received word and headed to Lin Zhiyuan’s lab.

Lin Zhiyuan’s expression as he looked at her was somewhat complicated. "Yu, if you want to resolve this matter, it’s going to be a challenge. Although I’ve created the antidote, I’m not sure whether it’ll actually work."

He feared that if anything went wrong, there would be no salvaging Gu Qixiao’s situation.

"I’ll test the medicine." Ji Yu displayed her bravery in this matter—for her, testing its efficacy was merely a small ordeal.

"Yu, if you really decide to do this, there’s a high risk that you’ll experience the same symptoms as Gu Qixiao. In that case, things between the two of you will become endlessly complicated."

Complicated indeed.

Whenever the two met, they felt discomfort, even physical unease—circumstances that only made them more exhausted.

"You’ve seen what Gu Qixiao is like after forgetting you. You’ll exhibit similar behaviors afterwards as well—I’m sure you don’t want to see things turn out like that."

Lin Zhiyuan understood Ji Yu’s character all too well.

Ji Yu took a deep breath, finding the matter increasingly convoluted.

"If this research yields an antidote yet can’t be tested for effectiveness, isn’t it effectively the same as not having produced anything at all?"

"That’s why you could look for someone else to test it." Lin Zhiyuan had evidently deliberated on this matter for a long time before mentioning it.

"Are you joking?" Ji Yu was genuinely stunned.

She refused to believe anyone like that existed in this world.

"I’m not joking; I mean it. Don’t you think there’s merit in doing this? As long as you offer a sufficient reward, there will naturally be plenty of people willing to try." He had already grasped the realities of the situation.

"Let me think about it." Ji Yu hesitated, still unsure.