Chapter 282 - 280: Holding One’s Head High

Chapter 282: Chapter 280: Holding One’s Head High

Politics exist wherever people gather, and sizing others up is a universal failing. The Zhang Group’s motor pool was certainly no exception.

Although everyone called Gu Lihuang "Huang," it was only because he was the oldest driver on the team. To them, he was just a guy from some county town. Judging by the cowardly way he always kept his head down, never daring to cause trouble—and never daring to fight back even when others provoked him—it was obvious he had no connections. Naturally, over time, many of them stopped giving him any respect.

That was why even Chen Yisheng, despite his junior status, dared to butt heads with him, and always managed to come out on top.

"Yeah. Huang, from the sound of it, is your niece some big shot or something?" Gu Lihuang’s usual demeanor was plain for all to see. Chen Laosan, the deputy foreman of Gu Lihuang’s team, only asked this out of cautious habit. In reality, just like everyone else, he didn’t believe the niece he was talking about could possibly be anyone remarkable.

Once Chen Laosan asked his question, the others fell silent, grinning as they settled in for the show, waiting to see how Gu Lihuang would try to talk his way out of this one. If you looked closely, you could see their amused expressions were laced with more than a little contempt.

But to everyone’s surprise, Gu Lihuang actually nodded seriously. "Heh heh, you guessed right. My niece might not be considered a big shot out in the world, but here in our company? She’s absolutely, without a doubt, the number one person."

Gu Lihuang shot a sideways glance at the crowd, deliberately holding back the most crucial piece of information. He felt a satisfying rush, the kind that comes from finally being able to vent a long-held frustration.

’Damn it, I’ve had to grovel like a coward in this motor pool for way too long.’

He hadn’t wanted to cause trouble in the motor pool; after all, it wasn’t easy for him to get a job at the Zhang Group. He had even just turned down a promotion his former sister-in-law had offered him because of Nuannuan, but he still had no desire to test the Zhang Family’s patience. The mere thought of Nuannuan’s terrifying maternal uncle, Zhang Wei Qiang, was enough to make him shudder.

But he never expected that his attempts to keep a low profile, to shrink back and avoid "throwing his weight around," and his "better-safe-than-sorry" attitude would result in him being utterly disdained by everyone shortly after he transferred to this team. By the time he realized things were going south, it was too late to turn it around. Everyone had already decided he was a coward, and when push came to shove, he really didn’t dare to risk it all.

’Has it been easy for me?’

He’d been waiting for a chance like this to let everyone know who he was. He wasn’t asking for much—just for people to stop thinking he was a coward and provoking him all the time. He never imagined that coming to Yingkou Village to freeload a meal and watch the festivities would lead to a wonderful surprise like running into Nuannuan!

"Hey, what are you dawdling for? Spit it out! What’s the deal with your niece? Look at you, all shy and hesitant like an eighteen-year-old maiden. You’re killing us with the suspense!" Gu Lihuang was keeping them on the hook, and before Chen Laosan, the one who asked the question, could even get impatient, someone else couldn’t stand it anymore and pressed for an answer.

"Yeah, yeah, Huang! Do us a solid and put us out of our misery! Tell us!" Once one person started, the others grew visibly impatient. A big fellow named He Dazhuang nodded along.

"Dazhuang, you actually believe him?" Chen Yisheng roared with laughter. "Just look at what a pathetic loser he usually is. If she’s really his niece, how much of a big shot could she possibly be?" Many others joined in his laughter.

"Bah, pathetic loser? You’re the damn pathetic loser, you punk! What I was doing is called ’better safe than sorry’! I didn’t want to lower myself to your level! It’s called keeping a low profile, you get it? A low profile!" Gu Lihuang finally snapped. He roared, shedding his usual meek and submissive demeanor, and his outburst stunned everyone into silence.

Being young and hot-headed, Chen Yisheng couldn’t stand the shame of being yelled at by the motor pool’s most notorious coward. He felt he was losing too much face. In a fit of rage, he lunged forward, grabbed Gu Lihuang by the collar, and postured as if to start a fight. "Watch your fucking mouth! Who the hell are you talking about?"

Everyone went quiet for a moment, then froze.

Seeing this, Ye Laosan quickly tried to mediate. "Hey, you two can joke around, but what’s all this for? I invited you all here to have a good time, not to start a brawl. Yisheng, let him go. Let’s talk this out calmly."

"Hmph. You’re lucky. I’ll give Third Brother Ye some face today and won’t stoop to your level. You should take a good look at yourself in a puddle of piss. With a pathetic attitude like yours, you have the nerve to talk about a ’low profile’? Pfft! I don’t know what kind of bullshit background your niece has, but you dare to use her to act like you’re some big shot?"

Chen Yisheng didn’t dare to disrespect Ye Laosan, so he did indeed let go. However, he wasn’t going to let Gu Lihuang off easy. He took the opportunity to give him a hard shove, then spat and continued his merciless, sarcastic tirade.

"Nuannuan, it looks like something’s happening with your second uncle," Lin Qiao said worriedly, tugging on Gu Nuan Nuan’s arm as she looked toward Ye Laosan’s group.

"I see it." Gu Nuan Nuan had not only seen it but had also heard the entire exchange with perfect clarity. She wasn’t blind; she could naturally tell what kind of standing her second uncle had in the eyes of his motor pool colleagues. At first, she was confused, but then she thought about it and pieced it together. ’I don’t know why Second Uncle didn’t go to the breeding farm and ended up in a motor pool instead. He must have continued to be overly cautious, and since no one here knows him, the meek get bullied.’

’Sigh. Although her second uncle often didn’t deserve to be called ’meek,’ he was at least sensible enough in her presence now. He was technically under her protection, and it wasn’t her style to stand by and watch him suffer in such a predicament.’

Watching her second uncle get shoved back by that young man, Chen Yisheng, she gave Chen Yisheng an extra-long look. Her face remained expressionless, but she silently committed his name to memory.

As for Gu Lihuang, he stumbled back several steps before others helped him steady himself. Hearing Chen Yisheng’s words, a strange expression crossed his face. He curled his lips into a smile, not of anger, but of amusement. "Kid, you really have a relative who’s a trusted aide to our President Zhang?" He made sure to emphasize the words "trusted aide."

"What do you mean? And what business is it of yours whether I do or not? Why should I tell you?" Chen Yisheng’s expression flickered.

"Heh heh, if you really did... that doesn’t make sense... Did your relative not even tell you some of the basic things to watch out for? Otherwise, after hearing me call out my niece’s name, how could you dare to shove me right in front of her? I’m her biological uncle. If this had happened in private, whatever. I’m not the type to stir up trouble or run off tattling over every little thing. But for you to do this right in front of her... this isn’t just about disrespecting me; it’s about disrespecting my niece, isn’t it? Did you really think she would just stand there and watch someone bully her own uncle right in her face?"

"Stop talking like your niece is actually some big shot," Chen Yisheng snorted.

"The niece of our President Zhang and the biological daughter of the head of finance at the main office, Manager Zhang. If that background isn’t big enough, then what is?" Gu Lihuang sneered inwardly, no longer bothering to keep everyone in suspense. He shot back with a question, "Don’t you know that in the Zhang Family, even President Zhang’s own two children combined aren’t as doted on as my niece?"