Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Gu Yubai truly hadn’t meant to ignore the message—it was just that… he had been ambushed by two thugs sent by Su Shengli.

What was even more unfortunate was that this time, Yu Li wasn’t by his side, nor was he in some glitzy banquet hall. Instead, he was trapped in a dark, sketchy alley.

Su Shengli hadn’t acted as blatantly as before, openly displaying his malice under the watchful eyes of the public or even inciting others to harass him.

He had grown smarter, choosing to lurk in the shadows and let "professionals" do the dirty work for him.

These so-called professionals were two thugs Su Shengli had somehow dug up from god-knows-where.

----

Flashback to two hours earlier—Gu Yubai had just returned home with Yu Li when he received a call from Lin Xuyan.

Lin Xuyan told him that he had managed to round up those seniors from different majors and had even arranged a gathering, urging Gu Yubai to hurry over.

"These seniors are pretty confused and don’t understand why you’re looking for them."

What Lin Xuyan didn’t say was that if not for his repeated invitations—and the fact that Gu Yubai, this year’s Science Top Scorer, still carried some prestige—these seniors wouldn’t have given Gu Yubai the time of day.

He didn’t know Gu Yubai’s exact purpose for seeking them out, but based on their shared traits, he had a vague guess.

Lin Xuyan became even more attentive toward Gu Yubai.

He knew Gu Yubai wasn’t just some average, run-of-the-mill Top Scorer. Behind him… stood the overprotective brother Gu Yihong!

And Gu Yihong? He was the true young master of the ultra-wealthy Su family.

Even if he had fallen out with the Su Group, who could deny that the blood running through his veins was a whole different breed from that of ordinary people?

Whether it was out of his own admiration for Gu Yubai, the formidable financial backing behind him, or simply his own reliable intelligence, sucking up to Gu Yubai was anything but a loss for Lin Xuyan.

Gu Yubai wasn’t looking for these seniors for trivial reasons. In his past life, he had co-founded a company with them on campus. Nothing could help him make bank faster than replicating past successes—especially since this was a path he had already walked before. Now, he was simply taking a shortcut.

Gu Yubai could have approached them directly, but at this point, he wasn’t a finance major, hadn’t won annual scholarships to build his reputation, nor had he made waves in the stock market to draw attention. The only thing he had going for him was his title as the Science Top Scorer, which was far from enough to earn the trust of Mingcheng University’s many outstanding students.

But Gu Yubai didn’t have time to follow the slow, steady pace of his past life. So, he had to rely on Lin Xuyan—who at least had some name recognition—to act as the intermediary.

Gu Yubai got into the car, tossed his phone aside, and told Lin Xuyan he’d be there soon before hanging up.

In his past life, Gu Yubai’s first venture had been remarkably simple. His partners covered several different majors at Mingcheng University.

Their first project was an ink-wash-painting-style, classically poetic farming-themed competitive game that combined gacha mechanics, dueling, forums, farming, and IQ-based challenges. When it first launched, it was roasted endlessly for being a chaotic, unfocused mess.

The team took the criticism to heart and removed the gacha system and the forum—which had devolved into a battleground of insults and challenges—in the next update. But then, players flooded the company’s bare-bones website, demanding the forum’s return and insisting the farming mechanics be scrapped instead.

Before long, what had originally been a farming-centric ancient-style game pivoted into a pure competitive dueling experience.

Within half a year, the first game had earned the company two million. Gu Yubai seized the opportunity to restructure the startup’s operations. Another six months later, the company was fully legit and had begun building a solid reputation in the industry.

In his past life, Gu Yubai had studied finance. While he had little experience in game development, he took full charge of investment, management, marketing, hiring, and more. The company’s later success was due in equal parts to his partners’ technical skills and his own contributions.

Gu Yubai had also maintained excellent relationships with his partners, never letting conflicts of interest arise. Later, when Su Wanlin forcibly dragged him back to the Su family, Gu Yubai even found them a reliable manager before leaving.

Lin Xuyan, following his instructions, had taken these seniors to a hot pot spot near Mingcheng University.

They were all still naive college kids with tight budgets. Whatever extra money they earned from tutoring middle and elementary school students was poured into their collaborative game development. They had long been craving good food. At an age where college students could devour enough for five cows in one meal, whoever treated them to an all-you-can-eat feast was practically a godfather!

Gu Yubai had no intention of becoming their surrogate dad.

But he had always excelled at achieving the biggest bang for his buck. He knew their weaknesses and could replicate past successes with the smallest possible cost.

There was one thing Gu Yubai didn’t want to admit but had to acknowledge.

He truly had a talent for business. Having single-handedly managed the Su Group for so long in his past life, the instinct to take risks and leverage small advantages had become hardwired into him.

He could even blow off Yu Li to focus on what he currently deemed most important.

This implied that, in his worldview, emotions weren’t everything. He could no longer love someone wholeheartedly—his affection was divided among life, family, and friends, leaving only a small, uncertain portion quietly waiting in some forgotten corner.

Though Gu Yubai appeared solitary, he was skilled at socializing. After Lin Xuyan’s introductions, he effortlessly engaged everyone in lively conversation, soon chatting and complaining about their lives like old friends.

By the time the food arrived, they were already clicking like old buddies.

Lin Xuyan, the intermediary who had brought them together, was shook at how thoroughly Gu Yubai had charmed these seniors in under half an hour.

Watching Gu Yubai shoot the breeze with effortless ease, Lin Xuyan felt an inexplicable wariness rise alongside his admiration.

His gaze toward Gu Yubai shifted repeatedly.

----

As the group were getting lit, Gu Yubai quietly arranged rides back to campus for them via his phone.

When he looked up, he noticed two figures standing outside the hot pot spot’s glass window—one of them was Su Shengli, while the other appeared to be his muscle, stuck holding shopping bags while rocking his all-black security look.

Su Shengli had been watching him for who knew how long, his eyes bloodshot, full of hate.

Gu Yubai raised an eyebrow, a quick flash of surprise crossing his face.

*This… was truly some shitty luck.*

He and Su Shengli seemed to embody the phrase, *like two bad pennies*.

Just his luck—on the rare occasion Gu Yubai went out, he ran into Su Shengli shopping at the same mall.

Su Shengli hadn’t even bothered to clear out the mall beforehand, which meant they ended up crossing paths again in the crowded space.

After a brief glance, Gu Yubai turned away and resumed his conversation.

When he looked up again, Su Shengli was gone from view.

Gu Yubai figured the guy had finally learned his lesson and decided to avoid him altogether.

Little did he know he’d be tailed the moment he left the mall. This time, Su Shengli had gotten smarter—the two goons he hired were clearly street thugs, with no paper trail to him.

But only on the surface.

Anyone with eyes could tell who had sent them.

Gu Yubai couldn’t help but laugh.

"How obvious can you get?"

He could even guess that Su Shengli was hiding somewhere nearby, watching.

The two thugs, ignored by Gu Yubai, exchanged glances before swinging wooden bats and sneering.

"Tough break, kid. Someone paid us to teach you a lesson."

With that, they came at him swinging.

The sky was dark, and the small alley near the mall, with no streetlights, was even darker.

The thugs came at him yelling, only to be sent flying with one kick in seconds.

Gu Yubai didn’t even flinch, his kick packed power.

After knocking them to the ground, he didn’t press his advantage. Instead, he walked right past them in the dark, his foot must've hit something, making one of the thugs yelp and curl into a ball.

Gu Yubai ignored them and made his way to the mouth of the alley, immediately spotting his car parked by the roadside.

The mall area was packed, and late arrivals couldn't find parking spots. Rows of cars lined the street, but apart from his own, only one had a dim light inside.

Amateurs.

If you’re going to watch the show, at least do it discreetly—turn off the interior light.

Cocking his head, Gu Yubai walked over, his footsteps light but making no effort to hide.

The people in the car finally noticed him approaching and panicked and fumbled to start the engine to flee. However, the street was packed with cars, barely any room to move, so they couldn't get out fast.

That was when Gu Yubai reached their car.

He rapped on the driver’s window, scaring the driver into stalling the car.

After a long pause, the back lights suddenly went dark, and the driver nervously cracked the window open.

The driver asked, "Hello, is there something you need?"

Gu Yubai casually glanced at the back seat, barely making out two shadowy figures inside.

He chuckled, his tone deceptively pleasant.

"Nothing important, really. I just wanted to remind your Second Young Master Su Shengli of the Su family that next time he wants to cause trouble for me, he should at least cover his tracks better."

Just then, a car passed by with its headlights on, illuminating the interior of the parked vehicle.

Standing by the driver’s side, Gu Yubai clearly saw Su Shengli’s face go pale then flush with anger, his eyes shooting him a murderous glare.

And the person beside him…

Heavyset, with a broken eyebrow, dark skin, and wearing an ill-fitting white T-shirt stained with red oil and grime—this middle-aged man looked disheveled but had hawk-like eyes that promised violence, making it clear at a glance that he was not to be trifled with.

…His face seemed familiar, as if Gu Yubai had seen him somewhere before.

Musing, Gu Yubai’s eyes narrowed slightly. Under the man’s suddenly sharp glare, his tone remained teasing and amused.

"I always thought we had an unspoken agreement with the Su family to leave each other alone. But now, it seems your Young Master Su Shengli isn’t satisfied with that."

"I’ll let this slide for now, but remember—I don't do second chances. If the Su family breaks this understanding again, I will return it tenfold."

His voice turned cold again.

"I hope this time, your Young Master Su Shengli actually listens to me. Mutual non-interference is the best way for us to coexist."

With that, he walked away without another glance, ignoring Su Shengli’s face contorted in rage as he faded back into the darkness.

The driver nervously glanced back at the silent Su Shengli before raising the soundproof partition between the front and rear seats at the heavyset man’s order.

Once sure their conversation wouldn’t be overheard, the heavyset man’s face darkened.

Instantly, his jowls quivered with rage, his tone vicious, his eyes filled with a murderous disregard for human life.

The man: "These petty schemes of yours won’t solve the problem for good."

The man: "Last time, he was lucky to survive that truck accident. But this time, I won’t let him escape death again."

Su Shengli’s face darkened. Remembering Gu Yubai’s confident, composed smile, a chill ran down his spine.

"Uncle, I can’t shake the feeling that he knows about his origins."

His voice was hollow.

"If he ever gets the chance to team up with that old bastard from the Su family, not only will the Su family be thrown into chaos, but you and I won’t have a peaceful life either."

"Don’t forget—you’ve got more than two lives on your hands. We’re already in a fight to the death with him."

The heavyset man’s expression twisted violently.

His eyes turned deadly cold. "Don’t worry. This time, I won’t let him live to stand in your way!"