Chapter 113 - 110: The Purest Self

Chapter 113: Chapter 110: The Purest Self

In a bit, he was going to take Lin Wanyu to the Lin Group to check on the face mask product and drop off the small pill while he was at it.

At the front door of Lin Wanyu’s house.

Gao Yuan rang the doorbell. After a short wait, the door was opened by none other than Qi Zilin.

Seeing the tall, straight-backed figure of Gao Yuan at her door, Qi Zilin’s mind instantly flashed back to the sounds she had heard last night.

It wasn’t just Lin Wanyu’s cries; she had also heard Gao Yuan’s deep, forceful grunts.

Qi Zilin’s face flushed red in an instant, and she couldn’t help but squeeze her thighs together.

Her eyes darted away, not daring to meet Gao Yuan’s gaze.

Gao Yuan smiled and greeted Qi Zilin. She immediately stepped aside to let him in, taking a deep breath to compose herself as she closed the door.

"President Gao, please have a seat."

"Wanyu is upstairs changing."

That explained why Lin Wanyu hadn’t been the one to answer the door. He’d told her they were going to the Lin Group, but he hadn’t expected her to feel the need to dress up for it.

"It’s alright, I’m not in a rush."

As Gao Yuan spoke, he looked up at Qi Zilin.

At that moment, Qi Zilin was bent over, pouring him a glass of water.

The sight made Gao Yuan’s heart beat a little faster.

It wasn’t that Qi Zilin was some stunning beauty, nor was it because of how busty she was.

Alright!

She was indeed quite a bit bigger than Lin Wanyu.

But those weren’t the real reasons.

The real reason his heart sped up was that Qi Zilin looked up, too.

She didn’t stop pouring the water, nor did she speed up. Instead, she held the pose and shot Gao Yuan a playful eye-roll.

In Gao Yuan’s eyes, that wasn’t an eye-roll at all, but a flirtatious glance.

Not a single word was exchanged between them.

Once she finished pouring the water, Qi Zilin left the living room and headed for the kitchen.

Gao Yuan watched her retreating back, his eyes lingering for a moment on her swaying hips.

He picked up the glass and took a sip. ’Wouldn’t you know it,’ he thought, ’this warm water actually tastes a little sweet.’

「Meanwhile,」

In the kitchen, Qi Zilin stood clutching her chest, her breathing heavy once more.

It was only when she caught Gao Yuan’s gaze that she realized her loungewear was far too loose.

For a moment, she felt a flutter of bashfulness.

But in the next moment, that feeling was replaced by a sense of accomplishment.

’After all, I’m much bigger than Lin Wanyu!’

’Especially since this Gao Yuan doesn’t just have a refined air about him—his body looks so much stronger than my husband’s, and he has such a potent, masculine scent.’

「After a good while,」

Qi Zilin managed to calm her racing heart.

A sudden wave of regret washed over her. ’Why did I act like that toward him? If he marries Lin Wanyu, how are we ever going to face each other again!’

But...

...then again, thinking about her own husband, and how her father-in-law had always refused to let her work at the company, Qi Zilin felt she hadn’t done anything wrong.

’It’s not like he saw much.’

’Those celebrities and beach babes wear far more revealing things, and it’s no big deal.’

’What I was wearing is practically conservative in comparison.’

With that thought, Qi Zilin felt much better.

When she emerged with a platter of fruit, she was wearing a captivating smile.

"President Gao, have some grapes!"

Qi Zilin placed the fruit platter on the table and sat down across from Gao Yuan.

Seeing the grapes on the platter, Gao Yuan couldn’t help but shoot another glance at Qi Zilin.

"They’re quite large," he said, "and you can tell from the color that they’re perfectly ripe."

With that, Gao Yuan picked one up and popped it directly into his mouth.

Qi Zilin acted as if he were just complimenting the fruit, smiling without responding.

Inwardly, however, she cursed, ’Men are all the same. Always eating from their own bowl but eyeing what’s in the pot.’

But...

...she failed to consider that she was the one trying to jump into his bowl, and it wasn’t even certain he would take a bite!

They had only exchanged a few more words when Lin Wanyu came running down the stairs.

"Honey!"

She ran to the sofa and threw herself right at Gao Yuan, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek.

Lin Wanyu paid no mind whatsoever to Qi Zilin’s presence.

Nor did she notice the look of envy in Qi Zilin’s eyes.

"Let’s get going!"

Lin Wanyu knew Gao Yuan was heading to the Lin Group to see the products, and she wanted to go too, to help him get his startup off the ground quickly.

"Not just yet."

Gao Yuan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, gourd-shaped jade bottle.

It contained the restorative pill, and the bottle itself was also a gift from the System.

Taking Lin Wanyu’s hand, Gao Yuan poured a small, round, brown pill into her palm. "I got this from an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor back home," he said. "It’s supposed to speed up bone healing."

"Go give it to your mom."

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Wanyu poured a glass of water and headed upstairs.

Qi Zilin watched Lin Wanyu leave. She started to say something, even half-rising from her seat, but ultimately sat back down.

She couldn’t believe Lin Wanyu trusted Gao Yuan so completely. She was taking a so-called "pill from an old doctor"—with no instructions or anything—and giving it directly to Li Xiumei.

’Wasn’t she afraid something would go wrong?’

Gao Yuan noticed Qi Zilin’s hesitation but paid it no mind.

’It’s a product of the System,’ he thought. ’Even if it were made of arsenic, it would still have some miraculous effect.’

The pill’s effects were something only Li Xiumei herself could attest to.

When Lin Wanyu came back downstairs, the glass of water in her hand was less than half full.

Gao Yuan didn’t ask how Li Xiumei had reacted to the pill; he just took Lin Wanyu’s hand and led her out of the house.

After they left, Qi Zilin quietly slipped back to her bedroom.

She opened a wardrobe and took a box from a corner inside.

A moment later, a strange sound began to emanate from the bedroom...

「Lin Group headquarters.」

In Lin Hongnian’s office, five or six people were sitting with face masks on.

The only difference was that the masks on Gao Yuan and Lin Wanyu’s faces had been "tagged" by the System.

He also wanted to see for himself just how big the difference in effect was between a mask tagged by the System and one that wasn’t.

「15 minutes later.」

After everyone removed their masks and washed their faces, they sat back down in the office.

As Gao Yuan looked at the others, he saw they were all looking back at him—or more accurately, their attention was focused on Lin Wanyu.

This particular mask was a whitening mask. Before they had put them on, Gao Yuan had taken a "before" picture of everyone with his phone.

Now, as they compared the photos to the people in the room, they noticed that while the change in the others was minimal, both Gao Yuan and Lin Wanyu were noticeably a full shade lighter.

"It just works better on young people. Their skin absorbs it faster!"

One of the directors said with a sigh, after glancing at Lin Wanyu a few times.

The others all nodded in agreement, assuming that was the reason.

But Gao Yuan knew the truth: it was the effect of the System’s tag.

’Numerically, the difference between 6% and 10% isn’t that big,’ he thought. ’But what separates them is a cheat code!’

’Anyone who uses a System-tagged skincare product is basically activating a life hack. The only catch is that the hack is temporary. If you stop using the product, you’ll slowly revert to your old self.’

Having personally tested the mask produced from the System’s secret formula, Gao Yuan now had a clear picture of its capabilities.

The next step was to discuss the supply contract with Lin Hongnian.

After the other directors had left, only the three of them remained in the office—a family, one might say, stretching the definition just a little.

"Gao Yuan, what are your plans from here?"

Lin Hongnian was the first to speak.

He wanted to know Gao Yuan’s intentions so that the Lin Group could avoid competing with him directly.

Gao Yuan fell silent for a moment, thinking.

He didn’t answer Lin Hongnian’s question right away.

The face mask product was ready, and he had already mapped out a development plan for his "GY" brand. But after his recent... mental evolution, he had a new idea.

He wanted to completely separate the standard products from the System-tagged ones.

The GY brand would only sell the standard line of skincare products.

’I need to create a new brand,’ he decided, ’one that is built entirely around traditional Chinese aesthetics.’

’If I want to create a true ’pride of the nation’ product, I can’t just use letters for a trademark. I won’t just be building a skincare brand; I’ll be combining it with traditional culture and exporting that culture to the world.’

’That way, my venture will align with the broader national sentiment. In the future, if I run into any difficult situations, there might even be people who will stand up for me.’

"I’ve already registered the trademarks related to ’GY’," he finally said. "My next step is to focus on online sales, using affordable pricing to capture market share."