CHAPTER 272: CHAPTER 254: BROTHER SHUOQIAN

She asked if he could do her a favor, and from her slightly trembling shoulders, he could feel her helplessness.

Mu Shuoqian’s expression turned solemn, gently pulled her a short distance away from his embrace, and lowered his head to look directly into her misty, smoky eyes: "What happened?"

Gu Qili thought about the phone call she had just received, from her uncle Yu Kai, with whom she hadn’t been in contact for many years.

"My uncle called and said that my mom is seriously ill and needs a sum of money for surgery. He asked me to figure out a way."

"The card I gave you is for you to spend freely, there’s no need to report to me, that’s yours."

"I know, but the cost of the surgery isn’t a small amount, so I think I need to let you know."

"Now I know. Is there anything else I need to do?"

Gu Qili shook her head, "It’s always been my Dad who provided the money, but my Mom doesn’t know it came from him. She thinks it was earned by my uncle. My mom doesn’t like my dad, and she doesn’t like me either, so I was rejected several times when I mentioned visiting her to my uncle."

"Now I heard she’s sick, and I’m pretty worried. My sister still hasn’t been found to this day, her life or death is uncertain, and my mom only has my uncle by her side." Gu Qili said as she rubbed her nose, "When I was little, my dad seldom mentioned my mom, but he didn’t deny her existence either. He even lied to me, saying my name Qili was because my mom walked seven miles before giving birth to me. I’ve never seen her, don’t know what she looks like, nor do I know what kind of person she is. She probably has a deep grudge against my dad, so she doesn’t like me, who was raised by my dad, and for all these years, she didn’t want to see me, let alone let me visit her."

"After all, you two are mother and daughter, and you’ll meet one day, don’t be too sad." Mu Shuoqian hugged her shoulders, walking her towards the house, "I will have someone check on your mother’s situation tomorrow. If they don’t refuse, I will find the best doctors in M country to perform her surgery."

"Thank you." Gu Qili looked up at him, he was always so dependable, as if he could resolve any difficulty she encountered.

"I don’t just want a verbal thank-you, give me something practical after a while." He whispered in her ear with his warm breath, who knows what he said, Gu Qili’s face immediately turned red, and then she glared at him fiercely with her eyes.

Mu Shuoqian, thick-skinned as ever, pretended not to see, kissed her lips lightly, and then headed to the tea room: "I’ll get you a glass of water."

Gu Qili, with nothing else to do, sat down on the sofa, instinctively reaching out to grab a cushion to hold in her arms. There should be three pillows on this sofa, but now only two remained—the one on her side was missing.

She bent down to look for it on the floor and suddenly remembered that the girl she met in front of the elevator was holding a cushion identical in color and shape to the two on the sofa.

Gu Qili looked towards the tea table; there was a bamboo tea tray on it. However, there was only one cup on the tea tray—the teapot was missing. If she wasn’t mistaken, the girl was holding a teapot in her hands.

Gu Qili stared at the small puddle of water on the tea tray, lost in thought, until Mu Shuoqian placed a glass of water in front of her, only then did she belatedly look up to ask him: "Did you have a guest just now?"

"No, why?" Mu Shuoqian put his lips to the glass and took a sip.

Gu Qili felt that Mu Shuoqian had lied to her again. The items that the girl had taken away were clearly from his room,

But why would he allow that girl to enter his room and take his things?

Gu Qili’s heart suddenly felt a bit chaotic.

However, this time, instead of continuing to hold back, she asked very naturally: "Really? I clearly saw a woman leaving just now."

His hand holding the glass paused for a moment, but still he carried on drinking water, as he drank slowly, seemingly suppressing the astonishment in his heart; had she bumped into Qiu Yufei on her way out?

Damn Qiu Yufei, always causing him trouble.

"I accidentally dirtied the sofa cushion when making tea just now, so I had the room service take it away for cleaning." Mu Shuoqian said, and then tapped the cup in her hand with his finger, "Are you not thirsty?"

"Oh." Gu Qili smiled at him and took a gentle sip from the cup.

If she hadn’t run into that girl at the airport, his explanation would have been impeccable, but could someone who had unhesitatingly bought that expensive tie be working as a hotel maid?

Just how many secrets does he have that she knows nothing about.

~

Liu Zhining was not a nosy person, but when Gu Qili came to work, he did not ask her a word, and the two continued their work as usual.

Gu Qili came out of the wine cellar, a freshly checked list in hand to give to Liu Zhining.

Both were carefully comparing it with the menu when they heard a waiter say: "Miss, we’re not open yet, please stop."

Gu Qili looked up and saw the girl from yesterday, dressed fashionably, with a backpack on her, standing at the entrance looking around.

"Hey, it’s you! Do you remember me?" The girl suddenly spotted Gu Qili, took steps towards her, and the confused waiter, not daring to hold her back, could only follow behind repeatedly shouting for her to stop.

Gu Qili smiled at her: "I remember."

"Is she your friend?" asked Liu Zhining.

"No..." Gu Qili was about to deny, but the girl enthusiastically grabbed her hand, "How can we not be friends? I remembered you the moment I saw you at the airport. Meeting again means we have a fate, and having a fate makes us friends, right? My name is Qiu Yufei, and you?"

Gu Qili hesitated for a moment: "Gu Qili."

"Look, aren’t we friends now?"

Qiu Yufei glanced around the opulently decorated French Restaurant, "Qili, you work here? Then what were you doing in Aus City last time?"

"I’m from Aus City."

"Then why did you come to work in City A, it’s so far away."

Gu Qili said something to Liu Zhining, who nodded in response.

Only then did Gu Qili come out from behind the bar, standing face to face with her. Qiu Yufei was slightly taller than her, but appeared to be around the same age.

"Miss Qiu, this is a workplace and it’s not suitable to chat here. After work, I can accompany you to talk about whatever you want."

"Why are you still calling me Miss Qiu? It’s too formal, just call me Feifei."

Gu Qili was least skilled in handling such overly familiar people; despite everything, she still wouldn’t leave. It’s not like she could just toss her out.

In truth, she didn’t have a bad impression of Qiu Yufei, but now was not the time for idle chitchat.

At this moment, Mu Shuoqian and two executives were about to inspect the restaurant. Before they even entered, he saw Qiu Yufei speaking with Gu Qili.

Mu Shuoqian’s face suddenly darkened. He turned around to leave and instructed the executives beside him: "Have security clear out that idler from the restaurant."

The executive was somewhat shocked; it was he who had taken the initiative to visit the restaurant, yet now they were turning back.

Still, the executive went to find two security guards.

Qiu Yufei was in the midst of speaking when suddenly two security guards grabbed her arms, "Miss, we are not open for business yet, please leave."

The security guards spoke politely but did not hesitate to escort Qiu Yufei out of the restaurant.

"Hey, hey, how can you treat a guest like this?" Qiu Yufei kicked her legs a couple of times, then shouted towards Gu Qili, "Qili, wait for me to have lunch at noon."

Gu Qili forced a smile with stiff lips; she suddenly felt a bit of a headache coming on.

Just as she thought to get back behind the bar to continue her work, Feifei suddenly yelled, "Brother Shuoqian."

These three words forcefully grabbed Gu Qili’s attention again.

Qiu Yufei actually only saw a figure from the back but she was sure that was Mu Shuoqian; she brushed past the security guards and chased in the direction where Mu Shuoqian had left.

Gu Qili told Liu Zhining, "I’ll go have a look," and hurriedly ran out.

Mu Shuoqian was climbing the stairs in the lobby; Qiu Yufei gasped as she chased after him, repeatedly calling out "Brother Shuoqian," making Mu Shuoqian furrow his brows tightly.

"Qiu Yufei, how come you haven’t rolled back to Aus City?"

"I haven’t finished my business yet, of course I won’t leave so early. Brother Shuoqian, I just made a friend, she works at your restaurant..."

Qiu Yufei was chattering on when she saw Mu Shuoqian’s complexion suddenly change, his deep black pupils flickered with a trace of panic.

Following his gaze, she saw Gu Qili standing not far away, silently watching this scene.

"That’s her, her name is Gu Qili." Qiu Yufei happily waved at Gu Qili.

Gu Qili said nothing and turned back into the restaurant.

Mu Shuoqian clenched his fist, his eyes reflecting an intensified urgency and panic, but by the time Qiu Yufei looked back, his expression had returned to indifferent. He stared down the girl in front of him and warned coldly, word by word, "I don’t care what business you have, but if you appear here again, I won’t mind having someone throw you onto a plane back to Aus City."

Qiu Yufei pursed her mouth, knowing he was really angry, and obediently dared not cause any further trouble.

Mu Shuoqian did not even spare her another glance and strode towards the elevator.

As he waited for the elevator, the corner of his eye caught sight of Qiu Yufei walking out the main entrance; he then looked towards the French Restaurant, his already clenched fist tightened a bit more.

Gu Qili thought Mu Shuoqian would explain something to her, but he did not, and she had not heard a single word from him even after work and returning to the hotel.

Gu Qili sat on the bed, not in the mood to take a shower, until the doorbell rang. She then went to open the door.

She opened the door but did not unhook the chain; instead, she looked at him expressionlessly through the gap: "What is it?"

Mu Shuoqian’s lips moved as if he had something to say, but in the end, he just said, "Let’s have dinner."