Chapter 42: Just send the commission to them
But He Huanhuan didn’t know any of this. She simply assumed Gu Chacha was lucky—lucky enough to stumble upon an investor who truly appreciated her and was willing to spare no expense to support her.
She closed her eyes and listened to Gu Chacha’s piano piece, then couldn’t help sighing: “Why doesn’t anyone invest in me?”
She had skills too!
She... she...
She was great at walking!
That probably wouldn’t cut it, though—there was no room for performance.
It wasn’t like she could just walk in circles around the hall for everyone to see.
Okay, how about this: she was really good at cursing people out!
Right, she could cuss like a champ.
Every time Qi Meili offended someone, Huanhuan was the one who argued them into submission.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ended up transmigrating into this book.
“You want to hold a concert too?”
A low voice came from Han Mo beside her. Huanhuan shook her head without a second thought. “What could I even perform?”
It wasn’t like she could just stand on stage and swear, right?
She could definitely do the swearing part, but she was afraid of getting beaten up.
A concert lasted an hour and a half. But before half an hour had even passed, Huanhuan had already fallen asleep.
She sprawled lazily in her chair, her head resting on Han Mo’s shoulder, sleeping like a log.
In a corner, a lean figure held up a phone and snapped a series of candid shots of the two.
Han Mo glanced at the person, who grinned back and shook the phone in his direction.
Han Mo looked at the photos on his phone. In the images, he sat completely relaxed in his seat, his shoulder leaning toward Huanhuan to let her rest more comfortably.
Ha! Han Mo, you’ve fallen for her!
You don’t even realize it yourself, do you?
Only when the performance ended did He Huanhuan wake up.
She clapped enthusiastically. “Great playing!”
Gu Jinghan teased her and said, “Great how? As a lullaby?”
He’d even heard her snoring!
Huanhuan nodded seriously. “Being able to hypnotize people is impressive in itself, no? Do you have any idea how many people toss and turn every night, unable to fall asleep?”
Gu Jinghan was speechless. She actually had a point.
Standing on stage, waiting for her family’s praise, Gu Chacha was seething with rage.
Were you this desperate for attention, He Huanhuan?
Today was supposed to be her moment!
“Daddy...”
She was about to pull everyone’s attention back when Han Mo beat her to it. He turned to Old Mr. Gu and said, “Uncle, I’d like to take Huanhuan out for a stroll. Is that alright?”
Old Mr. Gu beamed. “Of course! Young people love to have fun! Go on!”
The moment they left, Gu Jinghan made up an excuse and slipped away too.
Gu Jingchen didn’t even need an excuse—he had barely squeezed these two hours out of his schedule anyway.
The entire hall instantly emptied, leaving only her, Han Xuan, and the couple Gu Chengye and his wife.
Jiang Yulan, however, was full of relief as she came up to praise Gu Chacha. “Chacha, your piano skills keep getting better and better. Mom is so proud of you.”
Gu Chacha forced out a fake smile. What use was her praise?
Jiang Yulan was nothing but a useless stay-at-home wife—she had neither a say in the household nor any control over money.
In the past, since she was her mother, Gu Chacha had been willing to humor her.
But now that they shared neither blood nor any kind of transactional relationship, she couldn’t be bothered to waste even a shred of consideration on Jiang Yulan.
She turned to Gu Chengye with a sweet smile. “Dad, how did you like my performance tonight?”
Gu Chengye nodded and smiled. “Dad doesn’t understand music, but you looked every bit like an artist sitting up there.”
Yet the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He asked her, “Didn’t Han Xuan come to accompany you today?”
Hadn’t they said they were together?
How could he miss her very first concert?
Gu Chacha smiled sweetly. “He went to the back to take a call. He’ll be here soon.”
Old Mr. Gu frowned. “Calling that investor of yours?”
He looked around. The Golden Stream Hall was the top-tier concert venue in Jiang City, offering a full-service package. A single event there couldn’t have cost less than three million yuan.
And this was just Chacha’s first solo recital. Was that person really willing to throw that much money around?
Who the hell was he?
He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Gu Jingchen: Look into Chacha’s investor. Find out what their background is. Any red flags?
After all, Chacha was still his daughter. He could ignore everything else, but he had to ensure her safety.
Gu Jingchen replied almost instantly: Got it.
He put his phone away just as Han Xuan walked in after ending his call.
He approached them with a beaming smile. “Dad! How’d the performance go? Did I steer Chacha wrong?”
Gu Chengye nodded stiffly. “You’ve got the right intentions. But you need to know...”
He wanted to warn Han Xuan to be careful.
But Han Xuan wasn’t in the mood to listen. He cut him off midsentence:
“Dad, when does big brother have time? We need to get that East City project moving! I’ve got all the funds ready—just waiting to team up with big brother for a big success!”
The arrogance in his tone made Gu Chengye frown. Setting aside the Han family themselves, even his own Gu Corporation wouldn’t dare claim to have all the necessary funding lined up and be ready to go big.
The East City project was a massive regional development initiative. This wasn’t some small investment worth hundreds of millions—it was a long-term, decade-plus investment plan involving trillions.
What the hell was this kid so cocky about?
He shot Han Xuan a look. “Didn’t realize you had that kind of financial muscle.”
Han Xuan smirked proudly. “No way. It’s my friend. He was worried I’d fall short on funds, so he offered to lend me some to keep things moving.”
That friend again?
Who was this friend that would fund a concert and also lend him money to invest in East City?
If he had that much money, why wasn’t he doing it himself?
Gu Chengye felt increasingly uneasy, but he knew that Chacha and Han Xuan were riding high and wouldn’t appreciate him raining on their parade.
So he forced himself to stay quiet, made a bit of small talk with the two, and then headed home.
As Old Mr. Gu and the others left, Gu Chacha leaned lazily against Han Xuan. “I’m exhausted today!”
Han Xuan eagerly massaged her fingers. “Who told you to have such a gift? From now on, I’ll just live off my wife!”
“Hmph!” Gu Chacha pouted playfully. “You’re just trying to slack off!”
Han Xuan pulled her into a tight embrace. “Do you really think I’ve been slacking off? Don’t you know me by now?”
Half an hour later, Gu Jinghan’s phone buzzed with a ding.
He picked it up and groaned, “Damn it. Are there no other hotels in Jiang City?”
Did they absolutely have to push his buttons?
Did it have to be like this?
Gritting his teeth, he opened a shopping app and bought the most expensive bug he could find.
Screw it! He wouldn’t put it in the room—he’d install it outside the hallway door!
What if they happened to stand in the hallway and chat?
What if they let slip something crucial?
He wasn’t short on cash anyway. He’d buy it, install it!
One way or another, he’d dig up every bit of gossip there was to find!
Somewhere in Southeast Asia, a dark-skinned man stood in front of floor-to-ceiling windows, waiting.
When the phone rang, he picked it up briskly. “Boss, all thirty million have been transferred in.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “Cleaned?”
“Clean as can be.”
The man flashed a wicked grin. “Good. Send them their commission now.”
Inside a penthouse suite, two figures began rolling together wildly, tangled in a heated frenzy.