Chapter 128: Misunderstanding
Translator: Lonelytree
Gu Ziye was waiting for her at the entrance of his hotel when Xiao Lingyu arrived.
“Miss Xiao!” Gu Ziye was very happy to see Xiao Lingyu. “Please come in!”
Xiao Lingyu followed Gu Ziye to his private room. When they arrived, Xiao Lingyu was surprised to see three other young men.
Zheng Haiyang, Qian Yifan, and Yuan Xuanhao were stunned at first when they saw Gu Ziye bringing a young woman to the private room. Then, they became excited.
Zheng Haiyang sat up in his seat and asked mysteriously, “Ziye, who is this woman? Is she your girlfriend?”
“Ziye, when did you get a girlfriend? How did you hide it well?” Qian Yifan suddenly asked.
“Ziye, you’re evil for not telling us about this!” Yuan Xuanhao grumbled, “Do you still consider us your friends?”
Then, the three pushed Gu Ziye aside and greeted Xiao Lingyu, “Hello, sister-in-law! I’m Zheng Haiyang, Gu Ziye’s good brother!”
Gu Ziye was older than Zheng Haiyang, so naturally, he had to be respectful to Gu Ziye’s girlfriend.
Since it was the first time they met, Zheng Haiyang naturally had to be polite.
“Hello, sister-in-law! I’m Qian Yifan.”
“Hello, sister-in-law! I’m Yuan Xuanhao.”
Gu Ziye was so anxious that his face turned red when he heard his three brothers. He stammered, “You… You…”
Xiao Lingyu was not offended. She smiled. “Hello, everyone. But I’m afraid there’s a misunderstanding. I’m not President Gu’s girlfriend!”
“Huh?” The three were dumbfounded. Then, they turned to Gu Ziye to ask for confirmation. Gu Ziye was still blushing. He looked at his three friends and said shyly, “Miss Xiao and I are just ordinary friends. We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend!”
The three were awkward. The girl was not even Gu Ziye’s close friend, and they were already rushing to call her their sister-in-law. It was really embarrassing.
Zheng Haiyang said angrily, “Gu Ziye, why didn’t you explain that earlier?”
“That’s right!” The other two echoed.
Gu Ziye rolled his eyes. “As if you people gave me time to do that. Once Miss Xiao walked in, you assumed she is my girlfriend and kept calling her sister-in-law.”
The three were embarrassed and quickly moved to the sofa to sit down.
Zheng Haiyang smiled and said, “Ziye, you can’t blame us. You are never around a woman. Since you’ve brought a woman here, it’s normal for us to think she’s your girlfriend!”
Gu Ziye huffed. “That’s enough!” Then, he turned to Xiao Lingyu, “Miss Xiao, please don’t mind them. They are never serious.”
Xiao Lingyu shook her head with a smile. “It’s okay. I understand these are jokes between friends.”
“Haiyang, Yifan, Xuan Hao, this is Miss Xiao Lingyu. Miss Xiao, this is my three good friends, Zheng Haiyang, Qian Yifan, and Yuan Xuanhao,” Gu Ziye introduced officially.
“Hello, Miss Xiao!” The three of them greeted her formally.
Xiao Lingyu nodded to them and said, “Hello!”
Then, Xiao Lingyu asked, “President Gu, you said that there is a shop in the city center for rent. Where is it located?”
She was going to the seedling market when she received a call from Gu Ziye. Gu Ziye had found a shop for rent in the city center, and he planned to show it to her. Why was Gu Ziye willing to help Xiao Lingyu? Of course, it was to cement their relationship!
But, his friends assumed they had the other kind of relationship.
Gu Ziye answered, “It’s Number Three, Building Five, Salvation Street!” Salvation Street was the county town’s commercial center. It had high foot traffic and thus a high shop rental price.
“Number Three, Building Five, Salvation Street?” Zheng Haiyang was confused, and he frowned, “Ziye, isn’t that my shop? The one that has been giving me problems?”
Gu Ziye said, “That’s why I told Miss Xiao to come to meet you.” He was reminding Zheng Haiyang to do him a favor. The shop lease was almost up. The current owner had not said if they still wanted to continue the lease, and Zheng Haiyang had some issues with the owner.
Zheng Haiyang was finally certain that Gu Ziye and Xiao Lingyu were just ordinary friends. They were very formal around each other, referring to the other as Miss Xiao and President Gu. However, Gu Ziye was clearly trying to gain favor with Xiao Lingyu. Perhaps Gu Ziye wanted to pursue her? Either way, Zheng Haiyang would do this favor for Gu Ziye.
Xiao Lingyu was a little puzzled. When she went to look for a suitable shop to rent yesterday, she didn’t see any available shop at Salvation Street. Then again, people would not post rental ads for shops with existing leases, even though it was expiring. After all, the current renter might continue the lease.
Zheng Haiyang said, “Miss Xiao, the lease term for my shop is almost up, and the owners owe me several months of rent. Since you have the need, I’ll end the lease with the current renter and rent it to you!”
For Zheng Haiyang, it didn’t matter who the new renter was. But since Gu Ziye was clearly trying to win brownie points with Xiao Lingyu, naturally, Zheng Haiyang would help his friend first.
“But, Gu Ziye, you haven’t even told us what your relationship with Miss Xiao is?” Zheng Haiyang asked excitedly, his eyes flashing with gossip.
Gu Ziye looked at his good friends, who were grinning too brightly, and he sighed. “Miss Xiao is my business partner. She is the new supplier for my hotel.” His three friends were not in the hotelier business, so he was not worried about a conflict of interest.
Once they heard that, Gu Ziye’s three friends’ eyes glowed.
Qian Yifan said, “Miss Xiao, you’re the person behind those delicious vegetables? Can you sell some to me? Don’t worry. Money is not a problem.”
Zheng Haiyang and Yuan Xuanhao also said, “Yes! Miss Xiao, can you sell them to me too?”
Gu Ziye’s face darkened. He stood protectively in front of Xiao Lingyu and said, “Hey, what are you guys doing? Are you trying to scare Miss Xiao by jumping on her like this?” Then, he turned to Xiao Lingyu and said, “Miss Xiao, please don’t mind their rudeness. They are just too excited!”
Xiao Lingyu smiled and said, “It’s okay, I won’t mind!”
“Good, please sit down!” Gu Ziye offered. For Gu Ziye, Xiao Lingyu was his Goddess of Fortune. He needed to treat her well so that luck would remain on his side.
“Yifan, sit over there!” Gu Ziye nudged Qian Yifan over to the four-seater so Xiao Lingyu could have the single sofa.
Xiao Lingyu sat down and smiled, “President Gu, you have such cute friends.”
In her previous life, she did not have many friends. Any friend she had started to alienate her. Now that she thought about it, that should be Chen Ran’s doing. In the end, she didn’t have any friends left, much less a confidant. Thinking of her past, Xiao Lingyu wanted to cover her face in shame.
However, this time, she would change everything. She was jealous of Gu Ziye’s good friends, but that only made her more determined to make new friends.
Zheng Haiyang and the others blushed when they heard a woman their age call them cute. It had been such a long time since they received a compliment like that.
Zheng Haiyang’s face was a little red as he said, “Miss Xiao is also very cute!” Then, he became serious. He stared at Xiao Lingyu with burning eyes and continued to ask, “Miss Xiao, can you sell us some of your vegetables too? They are really delicious. But we can’t bring our family here to eat every day.”
Xiao Lingyu smiled and shook her head.
Zheng Haiyang and the other two looked a little disappointed.
Zheng Haiyang asked sadly, “Aren’t your vegetables for sale? Or you can only provide for the Gu Family Hotel?”
Xiao Lingyu smiled and said, “It’s not that. I simply do not have enough stock. I only have just enough to supply the Gu Family Hotel.”
“We don’t ask for much. We only need a little bit.” Zheng Haiyang pleaded.
“That’s right. We only hope to have enough to cook them daily. Don’t you even that small amount?” Qian Yifan and Yuan Xuanhao also asked.
Xiao Lingyu shook her head, “I’m sorry, but my production is limited. Before I cooperated with President Gu, I sold around 300 catties daily. After the cooperation, I really don’t have much excess.”
The three of them were disappointed.
Gu Ziye said, “Haiyang, when I went to grab the vegetables this morning, I ran into Grandma Song!”
“Huh? You saw my grandma?” Zheng Haiyang was surprised.
“Grandma Song is your grandma?” Xiao Lingyu was surprised too. “Grandma Song is my landlady!”
‘Grandma Song has been purchasing from me. Has Zheng Haiyang not tasted them? That has to be it. Or else Zheng Haiyang would have known immediately that his grandma got the vegetables from the same place as Gu Ziye.’
At that moment, Zheng Haiyang also remembered something. ‘That’s right. My cousin told me that Grandma recently bought some very delicious vegetables. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I even denied Grandma’s invitation to join her for dinner. Oh my God, what have I done?!’
Zheng Haiyang got over the regret and asked, “Miss Xiao, you mean my grandmother will go to your house to buy the vegetables every day?”
If that was the case, it was awesome. From then on, he would go to his grandmother’s place to eat daily!