Begging the Female Lead to Let Me, a Salted Fish, Go (GL) - Chapter 18

As soon as she got into the car, Gong Zhi closed her eyes, looking like she didn’t care about anyone.

Gong Yi looked at his sister a few times, wanting to say something, but in the end, he didn’t. He just silently told the driver to start the car. Gong Zhi, meanwhile, was calling out to the system in her mind.

[Has Shen Ying’s darkness meter changed?]

[Host, the female lead’s darkness meter has not changed.]

[Notify me immediately if there are any changes.] Gong Zhi felt exhausted just thinking about the rising darkness meter. [Don’t let it happen again where I don’t even know when it went up.]

The system felt wronged when she said this. [I did warn you, but the host was sleeping at the time.]

Gong Zhi gritted her teeth. [Then play “Horse Racing on the Prairie” in my head. You have to, you have to wake me up.]

[Yes, host!] The system knew there wasn’t much it could do, but it was excited by even a little bit of a task and immediately agreed.

Gong Zhi felt exhausted. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Gong Yi put down his tablet and turned to look at Gong Zhi. “Are you very tired?”

“Not really…” Gong Zhi replied. She thought for a moment and found an excuse. “It’s just that I’ve been trying to manage the company recently, and it’s tiring.”

“Of course managing a company is tiring. That small company was just a shareholder’s gift for you to play with. I heard from Sun Jing that you’re even seriously looking at the financial reports?” Gong Yi smiled slightly. “With her there, you don’t have to worry so much. It doesn’t matter even if the company goes bankrupt. You still have me and Dad.”

Gong Zhi shook her head. She didn’t like her father and brother’s way of thinking, but she also knew that they didn’t have bad intentions. They were just following the beliefs of most people in this world.

This wasn’t a lack of love. It was just a little uncomfortable for Gong Zhi, who was used to being independent in her last life.

“The company was given to me, so it’s mine. You guys shouldn’t interfere.”

Gong Yi laughed. The Qiming Group had so many subsidiaries. How could he interfere? “Okay, I won’t. Just let us know if you need anything.” When he said this, Gong Yi remembered something. “We can give you a capital injection, even cash, but this money can’t be spent on that woman.”

Gong Zhi suddenly laughed. She looked at the man who was destined to be with Shen Ying in the novel. “Brother, don’t worry. I’ve said it before, she’ll earn much more money than I gave her.”

Gong Yi’s brows furrowed. He felt that his sister’s heart had been taken by some random woman. “You trust her that much?”

“Her name has been on the honor roll on our school’s wall for four years.”

Gong Zhi replied, feeling a little emotional herself.

In the novel, the female lead’s academic background was probably just a medal to showcase her hard work and perseverance because her main purpose was to fall in love. Even in the synopsis Gong Zhi had seen, it was only a brief mention, a passing remark.

But in the real world, it was the knowledge and insight she had gained from studying hard for many years.

A pearl should not be covered in dust.

Gong Yi shook his head. “We’ll have to see how those grades work out in the real world. You can tell me these things, but don’t mention them to Mom and Dad later. They’re already unhappy with your previous actions.”

Gong Zhi nodded, showing that she understood. Although she was an adult now, she was still a student. She owned a company, but her finances were limited. A large expense of five million yuan being transferred from the company account to a private one would not have gone unnoticed by her parents. It was normal for them to have their own thoughts.

But Mom’s previous hatred for the female lead stealing her son has now been transferred to…

A random woman stealing her daughter?

Gong Zhi imagined this and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Gong Yi was a little helpless. “You need to think about how to deal with Mom and Dad, and here you are giggling.”

“I’m not giggling.” It had to be said that a brother without a love-crazed brain was much more pleasant to be around. Gong Zhi’s eyes darted around. “Why did you go looking for her in the first place? She does look a little like Sister Song, but…”

“You, don’t talk nonsense!” Gong Yi quickly said. His face was red. He looked at the front seats.

The partition slowly rose, and Gong Yi breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had been caught doing something wrong. He looked at Gong Zhi’s half-smile and lowered his voice. “Anyway, I didn’t do anything. But you, you actually spent the money.”

Gong Zhi couldn’t argue. She looked at Gong Yi’s smug expression and narrowed her eyes. “Who knows if you have other women who look like Sister Song out there.”

“No! I only got carried away that one time!!” Gong Yi reacted as if his tail had been stepped on. He looked at his sister with a helpless sigh. “I’m so busy I could die… And, I, sigh, I just felt a little unwilling.”

When he said this, Gong Yi showed a bitter smile. “I still don’t know why I was dumped back then.”

The synopsis did mention it. Gong Zhi recalled that the “white moonlight” had gone abroad for treatment… How dramatic.

She shook her head. This was her brother’s business, and she didn’t plan on interfering. Gong Zhi thought for a moment. “How about this? You help me, and I’ll help you. I won’t talk about you looking for a substitute, especially if Dad finds out you’re still thinking about her…”

Gong Yi was silent. Finally, he pinched his sister’s cheek. “Deal. You’re getting more and more cunning.”

Gong Zhi chuckled and didn’t reply.

The siblings reached an agreement, and it wasn’t long before they arrived at the family’s old estate.

The Gong family had been in the capital for several generations. The old house was very large. When there were many people, each person had a room, and it still felt a little crowded. But in this generation, there were only four people in the main family. The old man, Gong Zhengqi, liked a lively atmosphere, so they all lived together to make it feel more populated.

Therefore, the siblings grew up under the same roof and were even closer than most siblings. Although they had grown a little distant with age, they still helped each other out when something came up.

The old man, Gong Zhengqi, was a serious man. His hair was gray at the temples, and he always wore a formal suit, making him look stern and old-fashioned. His wife, Qiu Siyan, was a typical lady from a prestigious family. She always wore a qipao and looked elegant and graceful. The two were in an arranged marriage, but their relationship was respectful.

When he was young, the old man focused on his career and wasn’t known for being a womanizer. He was very respectful of his wife. Qiu Siyan managed the household and raised the children. She was more devoted to her children than to her husband, which made her dote on them even more.

This was a traditional family with a strict father and a kind mother.

Now, Gong Zhengqi was slowly handing over power to Gong Yi. When he had free time, he would take his wife on trips. The two of them were much more harmonious than when they were young.

“Mom and Dad.”

The siblings entered the house. Gong Yi handed his jacket to the housekeeper, Aunt Zhang, who had come to greet them, and together with Gong Zhi, he called out to their parents.

Gong Zhengqi looked up at the two siblings. Seeing their harmonious expressions, he nodded. And Qiu Siyan, who hadn’t seen her children in months, had already come forward, hugged her son, and then hugged her daughter. She held one in each hand, looked at them from left to right, and contentedly led them to the sofa. “Your father and I were in France for a while. We bought you a lot of things.”

When Gong Yi heard this, a bitter expression appeared on his face. He looked at his sister, who had the same expression, and immediately sold her out. “Mom, you worked so hard. Let my sister try them on. My sister’s a woman; she definitely needs more clothes. I’ll go keep Dad company first.”

Qiu Siyan glanced at her son and knew exactly what he was thinking. But men were indeed more focused on their careers. Besides, there were some things she needed to say to her daughter.

Gong Yi saw this and knew what his mother was thinking. He gave Gong Zhi a “good luck” look and turned to run away. Gong Zhi looked at her brother’s back with a blank expression. What a jerk! And he said he would help her.

“…I heard you spent a lot of money to sign a girl?” Qiu Siyan said, looking at Gong Zhi’s expression. It was hard for her to say. “Is it… the one… that your brother was interested in… that one? Did your brother secretly…”

She didn’t know how to start. Whether it was the siblings fighting over a woman, or the brother being inappropriate and having his sister help him with a sugar baby, both were extremely shameful.

“Mom,” Gong Zhi sighed. “No, she’s my senior. She’s a talent that the professors think highly of. If it weren’t for her mother’s serious illness, she might have gone straight to grad school for her master’s and Ph.D. It would have been a waste to let a talent like that go. It’s better to provide help in a time of need than to add to something that’s already great. She has the ability.”

Qiu Siyan frowned. “You know I don’t understand business. You’re a Gong family daughter; you don’t need to worry about business. You have to know that making a big fuss like this… it’s very bad for your reputation.”

It would have been fine if it was done in private, but so many people saw it. Qiu Siyan also deeply regretted letting her daughter get involved. When she found out, she was so shocked that she didn’t think too much about having her daughter try to stop Gong Yi.

“I just sponsored her, and she will earn enough money to pay me back during the contract period. In short, I’m just making an investment,” Gong Zhi replied.

“No matter what, this matter needs to be cleared up,” Qiu Siyan replied. “Your father and I have met a lot of great kids recently. You should go and meet them, too.”

Gong Zhi’s face fell, and she didn’t say anything to Qiu Siyan.

Qiu Siyan felt a little nervous. Gong Zhi was usually smiling and had a calm personality. It seemed like she didn’t care about what others said. But when Gong Zhi was a child, Qiu Siyan remembered that when her father-in-law was still alive, he had commented that Gong Zhi was “calm and collected, a person with her own ideas.”

From childhood to adulthood, this child had never made Qiu Siyan worry. She had her own opinions, otherwise she wouldn’t have let her daughter try to persuade Gong Yi in the first place.

“Mom…” Gong Zhi just started to speak.

“Go and see them. If you don’t like them, you can come back. But you must go.” Gong Zhengqi spoke up. Gong Zhi turned to look at the old man. She knew that in this family, what the old man said was final.

“Dad, I’ll go with my sister,” Gong Yi quickly said, winking at his sister.

Gong Zhi knew her brother was helping her, but she was still a little unhappy. She pursed her lips, and after a while, she let out a small laugh. “Okay.”

Gong Zhengqi saw the fire flickering in his daughter’s eyes, and his brow twitched.