Chapter 130: I Must Have Owed You in My Past Life!

Sensing Wen Zhixia looking over, the woman adjusted her hat and turned to leave.

"I can't..." Zhao Fuhe cried. "I can't talk about it. If I do, they won't let me go... and I don't dare to speak."

Gu Pingsheng bent down, pinched her chin, and narrowed his icy eyes. "If you don't dare to cross her, then spend the rest of your life in the Underworld. Don't you like serving men? You should be grateful that I found a suitable place for you."

Just then, someone waiting outside the police station pushed the car door open, stepped out, caught sight of Gu Pingsheng, and gave a respectful bow. "Mr. Gu."

Gu Pingsheng raised a hand. "Take her away. Don't let her escape."

He wasn't worried that Zhao Fuhe would commit suicide. If she had wanted to end her life for relief, she would have had the chance three years ago.

Zhao Fuhe tried to cry and beg, but her mouth was muffled, and she was dragged away.

Wen Zhixia paused. "You... sent her to the Underworld?"

Could it be that time she saw her being humiliated by a group of men at the hotel? The women in the Underworld had neither freedom nor dignity; as long as they didn't die, they were continuously forced to serve men. Wen Zhixia had learned this from Xu Qichen after escaping from that nightmare years ago.

"Do you pity her?" Gu Pingsheng asked coldly. "Or do you think I'm cruel?"

It was as if he had suddenly grown thorns, his brow furrowed with boundless chill, which he was merely forcing himself to suppress.

Wen Zhixia glanced at him, said nothing more, and walked straight toward the car.

Watching her slender waist sway as she moved on her own accord, Gu Pingsheng felt an itch of fierce exasperation. She had cuckolded him, yet not a single soft word passed her lips, and on top of that, she was giving him the cold shoulder!

Once inside the car, he pinned her hand on the steering wheel. "Did you sleep with him?"

If he didn't get a clear answer today, he wouldn't be able to eat or sleep in peace. "Our marriage still exists! If you slept with him, that is infidelity!"

"It's touching that Mr. Gu even knows what infidelity is, considering how you were all over other wom—" Wen Zhixia took a deep breath and cut herself off. She must have been out of her mind to still be arguing with him about past accounts. She yanked her hand back. "Think whatever you want."

A storm gathered in Gu Pingsheng's deep eyes. All his composure and good breeding were thrown to the winds. "I must have owed you a debt in my past life! Just what woman was I all over?! What is that on your neck? Don't tell me you expect me to believe it was a mosquito bite?!"

Even back in his most reckless days, he rarely swore in front of her, terrified that she would look down on him for lacking manners. But this suffocating grievance was something he simply could not swallow.

Wen Zhixia stared straight at him and frowned.

"What are you looking at? Still looking!" The day he finally stopped loving her, he would exact every bit of this humiliation back from her, tormenting her for three full days and nights just to see if she would still dare to act so defiant with him!

On the way back to the hospital, Gu Pingsheng wore a grim expression throughout. All the patience and self-control he possessed in his entire life had been spent entirely on her!

Yet she showed no appreciation, constantly finding fault with him day in and day out, exactly like back in their school days—infuriatingly so.

With a loud "bang," he slammed the car door shut. Slammed was perhaps too gentle a word; it was more like he smashed it.

Sitting inside, Wen Zhixia felt the entire car vibrate twice.

*One Lotus, One Summer*—this was the name Wen Zhixia and Xu Qichen had conjured together for their advertising agency.

Upon arriving at the company, Wen Zhixia was met by a visitor who claimed to have a major project and wanted to discuss it with her personally.

Meeting the person in the conference room, Wen Zhixia felt a vague sense of familiarity, though she couldn't immediately place where she might have seen them.

Wu Wenjing's attire and hairstyle differed from what she had worn outside the police station two hours earlier. Moreover, given the distance and the fleeting glimpse she had caught then, Wen Zhixia failed to recognize her.

"Ms. Wu, my assistant mentioned that you're looking to shoot a promotional video for your jewelry store?" Wen Zhixia personally poured two cups of tea and placed them by the edge of the table. "Please."

Wu Wenjing's eyes swept over her with a casual, assessing look before she spoke with dignified elegance. "I didn't expect the boss of One Lotus, One Summer to be so young and beautiful."

Wen Zhixia twitched the corner of her lips. "You flatter me. We have some relevant proposals put together by our designers here; you can take a look first."

Wu Wenjing nodded, accepted the folder, and occasionally asked a question or two as she flipped through the pages, to which Wen Zhixia patiently responded.

Wu Wenjing seemed to form a very favorable impression of her. "Professionals excel in their own fields. I believe you can do a great job, and with Manager Wen being so meticulous, there surely won't be any mistakes."

She took a checkbook from her bag. "This is the deposit. I wonder when you can deliver a proposal? I'm in rather a hurry; as long as your proposal satisfies me, money is no object."

Undoubtedly, this was a decisive and generous client.

"Currently, all of our independent designers have full schedules. If it's a rush order, it will probably take at least five days," Wen Zhixia thought for a moment before giving a conservative estimate.

Wu Wenjing tapped her finger on the check and smiled. "Five days... that's a bit late. Does Manager Wen feel this deposit isn't enough, and that's why you won't pull strings for me?"

Though middle-aged, Wu Wenjing maintained an approachable air, much like a friendly neighbor. Her features were not strikingly gorgeous, but she possessed a refined grace and a pleasant countenance that easily drew people in.

Wen Zhixia smiled faintly. "That's not the reason. As you can see, One Lotus, One Summer has just opened recently. Thanks to everyone's generous patronage, our orders are already booked two months in advance. This is already the expedited timeframe."

"Since Manager Wen puts it this way, it wouldn't be right for me to make things difficult for you. Keep the deposit for now, and I'll go back and wait for your news," Wu Wenjing said, standing up.

Wen Zhixia made a polite gesture. "Let me see you out."

Downstairs, having forgotten to put on her coat, Wen Zhixia shivered slightly in the chill. "You should head back up first. You're dressed too lightly, and the weather is awfully cold."

Wen Zhixia nodded, watched her get into the car and drive away, and then hurried back inside.

The winter in Sasong seemed exceptionally cold this year.

Inside the car, Wu Wenjing glanced at Wen Zhixia through the rearview mirror, an unfathomable glint flashing in her eyes.

The events of those years had ultimately left behind a hidden disaster.

***

The Underworld.

When Zhao Fuhe was summoned alone to a room, she had just stepped off the previous man's bed. The men who came here invariably harbored some psychological pathology or peculiar fetish.

The men and women working here were either impoverished and driven to desperation, or they had offended people they shouldn't have—people with no choices and no way out.

When she knocked and entered, she heard a rough, booming male voice. Without even looking, she knew it belonged to a burly, coarse man, and her legs instantly turned weak.

She simply couldn't endure another ordeal today.

"Get in! Do I have to personally invite you to stand outside?!" the man bellowed in a fiery temper.

Gritting her teeth, Zhao Fuhe stepped inside. "B-Boss."

"Get your ass over here." The man hurled his wine glass fiercely at her.

With her legs already unsteady, Zhao Fuhe collapsed straight to the floor, then scrambled forward on her hands and knees.

With a kick, the man sent her sprawling. Without another word, he actually pinned her to the ground and began slapping her face.

The crisp, resounding smacks drew blood from her lips.

Zhao Fuhe pleaded for mercy repeatedly, but to no avail.

Finally, exhausted from hitting her, the man slumped onto a nearby sofa to catch his breath, sparing her further abuse. By then, Zhao Fuhe's mouth was covered in blood, two of her teeth had been knocked out, and she looked completely dazed as she curled into a ball on the floor, continuing to babble incoherent pleas for forgiveness.

"Crawl over here and pour the drink! You blind, useless piece of trash!" the man cursed.

Terrified of further beatings, Zhao Fuhe wept as she crawled to the table and poured his wine.

After downing two cups, the man grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head back so her face pointed upward. Zhao Fuhe wept bitterly, begging, "Let me go, please let me go. I know I was wrong, I truly know I was wrong."

The man splashed the remaining wine directly onto her face. The raw alcohol stung the raw skin of her hands and face, causing a burning agony. Cradling her face, Zhao Fuhe wailed in torment on the floor.

She needed this face to earn a meager meal in the Underworld; otherwise, the only fate waiting for her would be grueling physical labor like scrubbing toilets and kneeling to wash floors.

"Someone asked me to pass along a message. You'd better watch your tongue and know what can be said and what cannot, otherwise... next time, what's poured on your face won't be red wine, it'll be sulfuric acid. And that includes your family."

Hearing the man's words, the wailing Zhao Fuhe on the floor abruptly widened her eyes. "She sent you! It was her!"

Seeing her contorted face, the man lost whatever fleeting urge he had left to play with her. "You don't need to know who it is. Some things should just rot in your stomach. Otherwise, if you cross her, being sent to the Underworld will be the least of your worries."

With that, the man downed another glass of wine and left.

As the door clicked shut, Zhao Fuhe let out a shrill, desolate scream.

"Did you see her?"

In a remote corner devoid of security cameras, the man climbed back into the car and lunged at the woman inside. A look of rapturous intoxication washed over the woman's still-charming face. Tipping back her neck to enjoy the man's kisses, she asked, "Did you handle that little bitch's matter?"

"Do you doubt my work? How long has it been since we've been intimate?" The man flattened the car seat.

The woman wrapped her arms around his neck. "Tell me first—how did you deal with that little wretch?"

"Rest assured, she won't dare to open her mouth... Frankly, you should have just quietly gotten rid of her once and for all. Why invite all this lingering trouble?"

"She wrote down what happened back then in a suicide note and hid it somewhere. If she dies, how long can the past remain buried? You know as well as I do that the brat born from that bitch has already grown into the universally revered Mr. Gu."

"..."

Half an hour later, the woman lay breathless and limp in the man's arms, recovering her rhythm.

Once they redressed and the interior lights clicked on, the woman's features gradually became clear. Had Wen Zhixia been present, she would have been utterly astounded to see that the virtuous, gentle, and dignified matron she met just yesterday had seemingly transformed into an entirely different person after a single day.

"The old man will be home in an hour, hurry back," Wu Wenjing said while smoothing her clothes, though the man was clearly still unsatisfied.

"Let's wait until the old man falls asleep, then..."

"..."

***

Hospital.

After dry-heaving over the washbasin, Gu Pingsheng pressed his throbbing temples.

Yelanzhou sat comfortably on the sofa with crossed legs, peeling an orange. "Mr. Gu, wasn't the price for playing the hero a bit steep? The doctor says with your condition, it won't heal for at least three to five days."

"If you have nothing constructive to say, no one is mistaking you for a mute." Gu Pingsheng rinsed his mouth and stepped out of the bathroom.

"You really should cherish the time I take to visit you, because..." Yelanzhou curved his lips in a self-satisfied display of superiority, "Look at you, all alone with no woman to take care of you. Quite pathetic, really."

"Hah." Gu Pingsheng gave a cold laugh. "Does Hua Qianjiao not treat you like a brother anymore?"

A snake is hit at its seventh inch; a fatal blow.

Yelanzhou's smile stiffened. "You deserve to stay single!"

"Even if I'm single, I'm a married man. We've kissed, hugged, held each other..." His failures were exclusively with Wen Zhixia; anyone else? Non-existent.

Reminding himself not to bicker with a patient, Yelanzhou tossed a court summons onto his lap. "Then let me congratulate Mr. Gu. You are being sued for divorce by the very wife you speak of—now Mrs. Xu Qichen."

Gu Pingsheng gripped the summons, his expression turning predictably dark. With a flick of his wrist, he tore it to shreds.

Yelanzhou didn't even have time to stop him.

***

One Lotus, One Summer Advertising Agency.

Inside the conference room, Wen Zhixia was discussing Wu Wenjing's jewelry advertisement concept with her designers when her young assistant hurriedly knocked and whispered something in her ear. Wen Zhixia paused, her fingers holding the proposal freezing. "He came to discuss business in person?"

The assistant nodded. "Yes, he came personally, and without any prior notice. For the past few weeks, all liaison work with Gu Xia Group was handled by Secretary Zhou. I have no idea why Mr. Gu decided to show up himself today."

After a moment of silent calculation, Wen Zhixia set down the proposal and told the two designers, "Keep going. I need to handle something."

Gu Xia Group was a major client for the agency. Although Wen Zhixia had initially wanted nothing to do with the olive branch they extended, the other party acted with absolute professionalism, making her repeated rejections look like she had something to hide.

Since everything had proceeded smoothly up to that point, Wen Zhixia hadn't needed to step in personally; Zhou Anbei had handled the liaison for Gu Xia Group, keeping everything on a track of mutual benefit.

Yet today, Gu Pingsheng had suddenly appeared, arriving right downstairs and catching her completely off guard.

Having stormed off in his car only two days prior, Wen Zhixia had assumed he would at least vanish from her sight for a while, given that he couldn't possibly be as idle as they were back in school days. But once again, she had overestimated him.

Gu Pingsheng stood immaculately suited in the center of the lobby of One Lotus, One Summer, hands clasped behind his back. His sharply slanted, handsome brows framed narrow black eyes brimming with keen edge, his thin lips were pressed into a firm line, and his jawline was sharply chiseled. Tall and upright, he exuded a cool, proud, yet overwhelming presence. With a coat draped casually over his shoulders, his scholarly yet refined appearance combined with an exquisitely tailored dark suit projected a restrained yet formidable aura.

Merely standing there, he drew the covert, captivated glances of every young female employee in the office.

Yet Gu Pingsheng merely looked up at the company's logo: *One Lotus, One Summer*.

As Wen Zhixia walked over, the staff instantly snapped back to work. The sound of approaching footsteps made Gu Pingsheng turn his head.

Wen Zhixia walked closer, opening her mouth to softly ask what he was doing here, but Gu Pingsheng spoke first, his tone detached and distant. "Manager Wen."

Such formal address was almost never heard from him, not even during the few years they had both worked at Gu Xia Group.

His sudden use of the title made Wen Zhixia freeze for a few seconds before she replied, "Mr. Gu."

"If Manager Wen has a moment, I'd prefer to discuss what comes next in your office." He raised a hand, and Zhou Anbei immediately placed a document into his palm. Gu Pingsheng dropped it flat into Wen Zhixia's hand.

It was the design drafts and final product presentation for One Lotus, One Summer. She quickly flipped through it and, as expected, spotted the highlighted errors marked in red.

Wen Zhixia paused. "This way, please."

Without even sparing her a glance, Gu Pingsheng strode purposefully toward her office.

As the two disappeared inside, the employees who had witnessed the scene began whispering among themselves. "If I wasn't seeing things, didn't Mr. Gu bring over the exact documents our company submitted a few days ago? Mr. Gu looked so furious—could there be a major problem, and is he here specifically to cross-examine us?"

"But aren't these matters usually handled by Secretary Zhou? How did this reach Mr. Gu's ears? Could it have caused massive losses?"

"If that's true, can our company... even survive? I've heard Gu Xia Group is always ruthless, and Gu Pingsheng never cuts anyone slack. The number of companies driven to bankruptcy under his watch over the years is no small figure."

Amidst the speculation, an undercurrent of panic rippled through the office.

Meanwhile, inside the office, the trembling assistant set down two cups of tea and backed out. Though brief, she could distinctly feel the suffocatingly heavy atmosphere in the room.

Especially just as she pulled the door shut, she heard Gu Pingsheng's deep voice demanding: "We trusted One Lotus, One Summer's professional competence and handed an entire quarter's worth of advertising budget to your firm. Is this the kind of report card you hand in?"

As the door clicked shut, the assistant paced anxiously back and forth outside. This was her first job after graduation; she had thought she was entering a company with infinite potential where she could eventually become a core pillar. Was the company going to collapse just like that?

Part of the advertisement had already been broadcasted. Wen Zhixia pulled up the finished product online. She hadn't been involved in this particular project—perhaps due to a subconscious aversion—yet she never expected such a blunder to occur.

A missing section of the map in the advertisement's background was a fatal mistake.

It had already caused quite a stir online, as netizens were extremely sensitive to such matters. It had even drawn the attention of official authorities, who ordered an immediate rectification.

Such a rectification meant not only recalling all aired advertisements and incurring massive financial losses, but also suffering severe reputational damage.

Even though they were a subsidiary under Gu Xia Group, still—

"This was our company's oversight. I will immediately investigate whose responsibility this is and ensure—"

"Responsibility?" Gu Pingsheng sneered.