Chapter 185 - 167: Stealth Luxury and Harvest

Chapter 185: Chapter 167: Stealth Luxury and Harvest

By the time they had finished browsing, it was already dark outside.

Gu Heng held Jiang Ruan’s hand as they walked toward the mall exit.

Unexpectedly, by a stroke of bad luck, they ran into Han Yijia and Zhang Peng, who were just coming out of the Hermes store.

Zhang Peng was carrying several Hermes shopping bags, while Han Yijia was all smiles, holding a milkshake-white Hermes Picotin bag in her left hand.

However, the moment their paths crossed...

...the bright smile on Han Yijia’s face instantly froze.

"What’s wrong, babe?"

Zhang Peng asked reflexively, only then noticing the group of people walking toward them.

When he saw Jiang Ruan, he froze on the spot.

He had always thought his girlfriend, Han Yijia, was the epitome of beauty, able to hold her own even against minor influencers and starlets. But he never imagined a heavenly beauty like Jiang Ruan could exist.

Her flawless, exquisite face and her aloof, transcendent, noble aura made her seem like a fairy from the Cold Palace who had descended to the mortal realm.

While Zhang Peng was staring, dumbfounded, Han Yijia—who had just fulfilled her dream of getting her first Hermes bag—lost all her good cheer in an instant. The moment she saw Jiang Ruan, and especially the glacier-white crocodile Birkin bag in Jiang Ruan’s hand, her mood evaporated.

Outclassed!

Completely and utterly outclassed!

Seeing Jiang Ruan again after several days, Han Yijia was consumed by a raging fire of jealousy.

Then, her gaze slowly shifted to Gu Heng, who stood beside Jiang Ruan.

He was looking at her with a smirk, his eyes flickering between her and Zhang Peng with a hint of amusement.

"What a coincidence."

"I didn’t expect to see you here."

Jiang Ruan’s delicate brows arched slightly. She spoke up, "Is this your boyfriend?"

"Yes."

In the past, whenever she was out with her girlfriends, she had always been proud to introduce Zhang Peng. But today, she found it hard to even say his name.

"He’s really lucky to have such a great girlfriend like you."

Jiang Ruan smiled. On the surface, it sounded like a compliment, but Han Yijia could easily detect the sarcasm dripping from her words.

Faced with Jiang Ruan’s taunts, Han Yijia could only force a smile, but she was practically grinding her molars to dust.

’Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west!’

’Don’t underestimate a girl with nothing!’

’Jiang Ruan, just you wait!’

’One of these days, I’ll be the one riding your man!’

Han Yijia screamed internally while shooting a slightly aggrieved look at Gu Heng, as if to say, ’See? Your woman is bullying me. Aren’t you going to help?’

However, Gu Heng—who had just given her such a shock—maintained his usual detached expression, as if he hadn’t seen the message in her eyes at all.

Seeing this, Han Yijia’s heart soured with jealousy.

Watching Han Yijia’s expression grow uglier by the second, Jiang Ruan felt as refreshed as if she were eating a popsicle on a hot summer day. It was absolutely satisfying.

She recalled how wantonly Han Yijia had provoked her that night. Now, she felt that a few sarcastic remarks were enough to count as getting her revenge.

Of course...

...if Jiang Ruan knew that Han Yijia had secretly "eaten her lollipop," she definitely wouldn’t have let her off so easily.

"You and your boyfriend can continue your shopping."

"We’ll be leaving now."

Having vented her frustration, Jiang Ruan took Gu Heng’s arm and continued toward the main entrance of the mall.

But as she brushed past Han Yijia, her beautiful brows furrowed slightly. Han Yijia’s perfume was the exact same scent she had smelled on Gu Heng when she first saw him.

A flicker of suspicion arose in Jiang Ruan’s mind, but she didn’t dwell on it.

After all, Gu Heng met all sorts of women every day. It was only normal for him to occasionally run into someone wearing the same perfume.

Surrounded by their entourage, the two of them quickly exited the mall.

Han Yijia was already fuming from Jiang Ruan’s face-to-face taunts. When she saw that Zhang Peng was still staring intently at Jiang Ruan’s retreating back, she completely exploded.

"You like looking at her so much, why don’t you chase after her?"

"Your own girlfriend is right here, and you’re still staring at another woman?"

"I’m speechless!"

"Pathetic man!"

After spitting out these cold words, Han Yijia turned and stalked off in the opposite direction from where Jiang Ruan and Gu Heng had gone.

Anyway, she had already bought everything she wanted. She had been trying to think of a reason to start a fight with Zhang Peng. Otherwise, after he’d spent so much money on her today, it would be hard to justify not "giving him some" in return.

But she had promised Gu Heng that she wouldn’t let Zhang Peng touch her again, and she intended to keep her word. Now that Zhang Peng had given her the perfect opportunity, she decided to seize it and blow the issue out of proportion.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

"Babe, don’t be angry!"

"In my heart, you’re the most beautiful woman! No one can compare to you!"

When Zhang Peng saw that Han Yijia was angry, he started to panic.

Knowing he was in the wrong, he quickly chased after her.

"If I’m the most beautiful, then why were you staring at another woman?"

"Because..."

"So in the end, you just like whoever is prettiest, right? I don’t think you love me at all!"

"Babe, it’s not like that."

"I think we need to cool off. Why don’t you take some time to think about whether you like me for me, or just for my face. Then you can come find me."

...

Zhang Peng watched Han Yijia’s retreating figure and slowly came to a stop.

"I’m such an idiot!"

"I have such a beautiful girlfriend, how could I not cherish her!"

"It’s all my fault!"

While Zhang Peng was wallowing in guilt, Han Yijia was already skipping with joy, heading straight for an electronics store to pick out a real-time monitoring device for herself.

...

「Several more days passed in the blink of an eye.」

Since the day Gu Heng, Xu Ke, and Qin Ying finalized the family equity structure plan, Deloitte China had demonstrated astonishing efficiency to Gu Heng.

First came company registration, followed by talent recruitment.

During this period, Gu Heng acted as an interviewer, meeting with numerous high-level talents every day.

These included managerial, economic, legal, and interdisciplinary talents, from senior executives of multinational Fortune 500 companies to top students from Ivy League universities abroad.

From Zhao De Inheritance to Dingdun Capital, and from Changze United Holdings to Celestial Air Holdings.

As if playing a game, Gu Heng gradually placed these top talents from around the world into his various companies, turning what were once mere paper plans into tangible realities.

Besides interviewing different types of high-level talent every day, the legal review and financial audit for Ruyi Airlines were also proceeding in an orderly fashion and were expected to conclude within the next two days.

Once the legal review and financial audit were complete, Junyao Group and Ruyi Airlines would simultaneously convene their boards of directors to formally appoint Gu Heng as a director of Junyao Group and an independent director of Ruyi Airlines.

While busy with serious business, his life of lavish indulgence hadn’t slowed down either.

Through rich scions like Wang Yan, Deng Zhihong, and Gao Zihang, Gu Heng met many people in Zhonghai and experienced the full spectrum of the city’s nightlife, both the public and the hidden.

During this time, Wang Wan Ning would often tag along with Wang Yan to hang out with Gu Heng. Occasionally, when Wang Yan was busy with work, she would message Gu Heng herself to ask him out. Their relationship steadily warmed up through their frequent interactions.

Finally, there was Liu Sheng, whom Gu Heng had met once before. First, Gu Heng treated Liu Sheng to a meal to thank him for his help that day. Then, Liu Sheng returned the favor, further deepening their connection.

All in all, Gu Heng had gained a great deal.

If the Gu Heng before leaving Beichun was version 1.0, then the current Gu Heng was version 3.0. He had skipped a whole version, which showed just how much he had gained.

As time slowly passed, the various rewards from the second level of the [Golden Tower of Wealth] were also progressing.

On this day, following the equity reward from Deloitte China and the asset reward from Ruyi Airlines, the progress for Gu Heng’s luxury reward—the Bombardier Global 7500 private jet—finally reached 100%...