Chapter 172: President Lu Embraces His White Moonlight, the Appraisal Group Force-Ships the CP

Lu Shijing sat there, looking like death incarnate. The surrounding staff made sure to keep their distance.

It was unclear who he was on the phone with, but his voice was low. "Find out which antique dealers are targeting her. They’re finished in this business."

He fought for control, but the corners of his eyes were still tinged with red.

After Gu Shengsheng got off the plane and her phone connected to the internet, she saw a missed call from Lu Shijing and immediately called him back.

Lu Shijing answered instantly. "Shengsheng."

"Where are you?"

"Mr. Ryan? I just got off the plane. What’s wrong?"

"Where are you?" he asked again, his patience wearing thin.

"At Exit C..."

The words had barely left Gu Shengsheng’s lips when she saw Lu Shijing, a powerful figure in a long coat, striding toward her.

Seeing him, Gu Shengsheng jogged over. Just as she was about to greet him, Lu Shijing pulled her into his embrace.

His long fingers threaded through Gu Shengsheng’s hair. He held her with forced restraint, yet couldn’t stop himself from pulling her tighter, and tighter still...

Gu Shengsheng: "..." She was starting to run out of air.

Zhang Zhengyi, Shang Jinhao, and the other older gentlemen immediately turned away, looking rather embarrassed.

’Kids these days... So incredibly romantic.’

Gu Shengsheng tried to speak, but her head was held fast.

’This is when you really feel how important a height difference is...’

"Shengsheng," he said, his voice trembling slightly.

"I’m here. What’s wrong with you?" Gu Shengsheng asked, her head still lowered. She could tell something was strange about him.

"Shengsheng..." he murmured, as if in a daze.

Gu Shengsheng wanted to shove him away and demand what he was doing, but she couldn’t budge him.

Finally, when she really couldn’t breathe properly, Gu Shengsheng tugged on his sleeve. "Mr. Ryan, I can’t talk."

Her voice was soft and weak...

Only then did Lu Shijing snap out of it, loosening his grip enough for her to lift her head.

Gu Shengsheng could feel his heart beating fast, a strong and powerful rhythm. The palm of his hand was very warm.

More importantly, she really liked Lu Shijing’s hands.

For a moment, Gu Shengsheng was lost in a daze.

Then she cleared her throat and said, "Mr. Ryan, aren’t we standing a little too close?"

she reminded him.

’Mr. Ryan is acting very strangely tonight.’

Lu Shijing finally let her go, his gentle and refined demeanor returning.

"Something happened online today, and I couldn’t reach you. I thought something had happened to you."

Gu Shengsheng opened her phone to look. "It looks like something did happen, but now all the accounts have been deleted. Their IP addresses looked really strange. And they were definitely targeting me."

"This kind of thing is bound to happen a lot lately. I helped Mr. Shang, and I stepped on a lot of people’s toes in Anxi City, so of course they’re upset."

Gu Shengsheng had always considered Ryan a close confidant, so she told him what had happened in Anxi.

As he listened, Lu Shijing began to relax.

He said, "As long as you’re okay."

"Yeah. I was planning to invite you over for dinner once I got back to Beijing City. I’ll cook."

"Okay."

’Anything she said was fine by him.’

’When he couldn’t see her, he felt like he was going to lose his mind.’

Just then, an airport employee came over to remind Lu Shijing to board. "Mr. Ryan, your flight to Anxi is about to take off. You can board now."

"I’m not going," he said nonchalantly.

An answer was on the tip of Gu Shengsheng’s tongue, but she still had to ask, "Were you going to find me?"

’He... was worried about me, so he was going to look for me?’

After this bold thought occurred to Gu Shengsheng, her heart began to race, as if she had stumbled upon some incredible secret.

Lu Shijing looked into her eyes and said, "Yes."

"..." Gu Shengsheng immediately looked away, feeling as if his gaze could burn her.

’Mr. Ryan was just too strange tonight.’

Just as Gu Shengsheng was about to say something more, Zhang Zhengyi, Shang Jinhao, and the other older men gathered around them, watching as if they were spectators at a romance.

They wore the proud smiles of fathers watching their daughters come of age.

Gu Shengsheng: "...What are you guys doing?"

Zhang Zhengyi said, "We were coming to tell you it’s time to go, but we didn’t expect this. You two look so good together. Just standing next to each other, you look like a couple."

Zhang Sanwang scratched his head. "What’s that thing the young people say? Something like, ’You two should just get married right now!’"

A smile touched Lu Shijing’s lips. ’Not a bad idea. I’ll have to consider it.’

Gu Shengsheng quickly waved her hands in dismissal. "Don’t be ridiculous! You can ruin my reputation, whatever, but Mr. Ryan and I are from two different worlds."

"Besides, I’m doing just fine on my own."

The light in Lu Shijing’s eyes dimmed, and he fell silent, walking behind Gu Shengsheng.

The group departed.

Gu Shengsheng could also feel that his mood was off. Whatever she asked him, his answers were terse and noncommittal.

Then, lowering his gaze, he said, "I have to get back to the company."

Gu Shengsheng let out a breath of relief. The oppressive atmosphere finally lifted. "Okay, okay!"

"We’re heading straight to the Imperial Palace Museum then. Bye, bye!"

Her eagerness to see him off only made him more sullen.

He stood there watching for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh.

’I’m in a bad mood. I’ll take it out on the Lu Family. By tomorrow morning, Lu Chaoyang should be bankrupt.’

—

Gu Shengsheng slowly pieced together what had happened with the online smear campaign. She figured the person who helped counter it was probably Ryan; no one else really had that kind of power.

She then recalled the warmth of his large palm, and her face couldn’t help but flush. ’Mr. Ryan... is pretty great.’

Quickly shaking off these jumbled thoughts, Gu Shengsheng reckoned her opponents must have even more vicious methods up their sleeves.

’I’ll have to be more careful from now on.’

For now, it was just an online troll army, which Lu Shijing was keeping under control. But if the antique dealers tried to pull some other tricks, it definitely wouldn’t be possible to shut them down so quickly.

She and Shang Jinhao only had one day. If their enemies were willing to resort to any means necessary, one day was more than enough time to create a scandal about her.

’How ridiculous. Did these old fools really think she, Gu Shengsheng, was just some online streamer?’

She scoffed. She had never been one to be intimidated!

When Gu Shengsheng arrived at the Forbidden City, Zhao Dehai and Gao Liu were already waiting anxiously.

"You’re finally here!" they said. "Come take a look at this artifact. We’ve brought the Twenty-four Musicians over from the Hanwu Museum."

"Shengsheng, the Hanwu Museum and the Hang City Museum have brought the items over. They’ll coordinate with us here."

"Alright," Gu Shengsheng nodded.

Then, Zhao Dehai apologized to Shang Jinhao. "Mr. Shang, you acted with the best of intentions. We never thought it would cause you to spend so much."

"It’s nothing. A mistake must be corrected. Besides, I’m the one who caused this whole mess. If it weren’t for a kid like Shengsheng, we wouldn’t even have a way to fix this."

"Tomorrow’s exhibition still depends on Shengsheng."

"After all, we have to put on a big show."

This whole affair, from Anxi until now, needed a conclusion—and it had to be a good one!

Everyone wanted to be the parasite fanning the flames, but Gu Shengsheng would be damned if she let them get their way!

After a moment of thought, Gu Shengsheng added, "We should probably give National Security a heads-up to keep an eye on things."

Zhao Dehai nodded. "Right. National Security already knows. They’ll definitely be here."

All the preparations were made; they were just waiting for the final piece to fall into place.