After the rain, the wind stopped in front of the river. - Chapter 4

Gu Junchuan Cheated

The Way to Make Money?

Lin Shuxue stifled a laugh and poured herself a glass of water, watching them with keen interest. Her life rarely had any entertainment, and seeing her ‘bad son’ pretending to be a big shot while that girl treated him like a pretty boy, both scheming secretly, was just too funny.

“What’s that little Gu’s way of making money?” Lin Shuxue asked, holding her water as she sat next to Gu Junchuan, deliberately letting her hand brush his shoulder. Gu Junchuan felt very uncomfortable and glared at her.

“It’s not important, not important,” Lin Yuluo said quickly, afraid Gu Junchuan would reveal that he was introducing male clients to her. She didn’t want to lose her temper and intervene, so she cut him off, “I’m doing very well at the studio. They provide meals every day, regular training and courses, and salaries are paid on time. It’s very good.”

“You could also consider coming to my place as a long-term coach, living and eating here,” Lin Shuxue said. 

“Anyway, I’m bored alone. I’ll pay you 20,000 a month, and you won’t have to struggle around.”

Gu Junchuan looked at his mother’s scheming. She paid 2,000 per class, at least 50,000 a month. Hiring a full-time coach could save her a lot. He was just surprised she chose Lin Yuluo, since Zoey had been her coach for a long time before.

For Lin Yuluo, 20,000 wasn’t a small sum. She was tempted for a moment, but shook her head, “Thank you for your trust, Sister Lan. Fang Jie treats me well, and even though I’m clumsy, she still teaches me. Zoey has something going on at home, and the studio is busy, I can’t do that.”

Gu Junchuan smiled, seeing his mother’s plan misfire was quite amusing.

That evening, when he was sending Lin Yuluo out, he asked, “Do you want to try some part-time work?” Then added, “Not the kind you’re thinking of.”

“What part-time work?”

“Modeling?”

“No, thank you. I’m not really suited for that.”

Lin Yuluo didn’t understand much. Previously, when she went to Wangfujing with someone, so-called scouts had approached her and even given her business cards offering high-paying jobs, but Lin Yuluo didn’t want to do it. She knew her own limits, she was content working as a beautician or a yoga coach. At least for now, she couldn’t handle the complexities of being a model.

Fine, the interviews would continue. Gu Junchuan thought Lin Yuluo was a bit foolish. She had a stunning appearance but was still stuck in a run-down city village, truly an oddity.

The two of them walked out together. According to the usual routine, Gu Junchuan should have gone to drive the car, but today he didn’t.

“Where are you going?” Lin Yuluo asked.

“I have someone to meet,” Gu Junchuan replied. After finishing his important matters and confirming that Lin Yuluo’s refusal was genuine, he didn’t feel like chatting with her, time was being wasted. He strode forward. 

Lin Yuluo didn’t follow out of rudeness, but she couldn’t keep up either. Struggling along, she finally reached the gate of the residential area and saw a luxury car parked across the street. A beautiful woman leaned against the car, waving at Gu Junchuan.

“I’m off,” Gu Junchuan said, leaving her behind, crossing the street, and politely hugging the woman before getting into the car.

Lin Yuluo felt that Gu Junchuan was utterly ungrateful. He was living in Sister Lan’s house on her money, flirting with her, yet now he was hugging and cuddling with a beautiful woman, what on earth was going on! Her heart instantly filled with disdain for Gu Junchuan. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should tell Sister Lan what she had seen, but she had never dealt with a situation like this before, so halfway through composing the message, she deleted it.

That night, Wang Liuzhuang finally had electricity restored.

Lin Yuluo turned on the old, buzzing air conditioner and saw it puffing out white smoke. Gratitude filled her heart. She took a thorough shower, applied a face mask, and lay back in bed, feeling the night was wonderfully beautiful, ready to sleep and take care of her health.

The self-built house had poor sound insulation. After eleven o’clock, all sorts of noises started. In the room to her left, someone was playing guitar and singing, simultaneously thanking their friends for sending ‘rockets’ in a live stream; in the room to her right, a girl was moaning, “You’re so strong, so strong, slow down, I can’t take it.” 

Electricity had been out for so long, and everyone, finally re-energized by the restored power, began to celebrate.

This didn’t affect Lin Yuluo’s mood at all. In fact, she even thought the singing on the left was fairly pleasant, and the noises from the right weren’t bad either. One person had earned money today, the other had enjoyed a fulfilling sexual experience, finally, no more sighing, slamming chopsticks, or overturning chairs.

She stuffed earplugs in her ears, lay flat on the bed, meditated, and isolated herself from everything. Finally, she fell asleep.

The next day, Sister Lan had something come up and canceled the morning class. Fang Liu asked Lin Yuluo to go with her to attend a training session. 

On the way, Lin Yuluo shared her dilemma, “Should I tell Sister Lan about this?”

Fang Liu gave her a meaningful look: “You decide for yourself.”

“Sister Lan treats me very well,” Lin Yuluo said. “I think I should tell her.”

“Do you think Sister Lan is stupid? She’s sixty years old, running such a huge operation. What kind of people hasn’t she seen? What kind of things hasn’t she gone through? Do you think she doesn’t know her pretty boy is cheating?” Fang Liu reminded Lin Yuluo. “Don’t bother yourself. Today I’ll give you the commission first. You give it to that person. Don’t worry about anything else.”

“Okay.”

Meanwhile, Gu Junchuan was in the office with Gao Peiwen, watching model auditions, and the more he watched, the worse his mood became. Gao Peiwen tried to console him. “Only you can tell the difference. If you show them to a client, they’ll think the models are fine. The styles are similar too.”

Gao Peiwen had neatly combed short hair, shiny earrings, and a floral tattoo covering his left arm, a totally cool guy.

“Is this your first day knowing me?” Gu Junchuan snapped.

“Well, then go find a suitable model!”

“I did, but that person is clueless and not very smart.”

“Then just say you can’t handle it.” Gao Peiwen knew Gu Junchuan cared about saving face, so he didn’t go easy on him. Seeing Gu Junchuan’s phone constantly buzzing, he tapped the desk: “Check the messages. Nothing serious anyway.”

Gu Junchuan opened it. Nothing important. He didn’t even bother with small talk. Lin Yuluo had transferred him 5,000 yuan, and he casually tapped ‘receive.’ 

Lin Yuluo might be a bit foolish, but she was sincere. When she said she’d give him half the commission, she really did, she wasn’t stingy when it came to sharing money. That was one of her few redeeming qualities.

As for whether he felt guilty about taking Lin Yuluo’s money, of course not. He just treated it as her paying tuition to the cruel world.

That evening, when he got home, he conveniently went upstairs with Lin Yuluo. She was a bit colder toward him than before, politely nodding as she said: “I won’t tell Sister Lan about the money.”

“Go ahead and tell her,” he said.

“No, that wouldn’t be right,” Lin Yuluo shook her head. “But I will tell Sister Lan about you cheating.”

“Me? Cheating?” Gu Junchuan looked at her in bewilderment, not understanding at first what nonsense she was spouting.

“Yes. Yesterday, you were hugging another beautiful woman and even got into her car. I’ll tell Sister Lan about this,” Lin Yuluo said very seriously. 

“I’ve thought about it day and night. My conscience tells me I can’t hide it from Sister Lan. But I also feel it’s wrong to talk about someone behind their back, so I wanted to give you a heads-up first.”

Her expression was as if she were about to die for what she said. It was clear she was struggling internally. Gu Junchuan probably caught a glimpse of her value system and also understood why she had so decisively refused to become a model.

“I’m serious. I will tell Sister Lan.”

“Go ahead then. Any conditions?” Gu Junchuan pretended to be a little anxious. “State your terms.”

The elevator doors opened, and Lin Yuluo stepped out first. She felt unusually empowered today, almost capable of “looking down” at the arrogant Gu Junchuan. She blocked his way and whispered, “The condition is that you tell Sister Lan yourself.”

“You’re not asking for money?”

“A gentleman loves wealth but acquires it in the right way,” Lin Yuluo said. “I don’t make dirty money.”

Gu Junchuan suppressed a laugh and nodded seriously, “Fine, I’ll think about it. You’re quite cute. You could use this to blackmail me and not give me the commission.”

“The commission was agreed on beforehand. What’s agreed can’t change.”

“You’re pretty stubborn,” Gu Junchuan said, tugging at his lips. “Come on in, Coach Lan. A new challenge awaits you!”

Gu Junchuan was almost dying of amusement.

He had grown up with his parents, he’d seen all kinds of clever people. Now, suddenly, someone so rare was standing in front of him, and his playful side flared up. He wanted to see what Lin Yuluo would do if he didn’t confess, how she’d react to him, a “cheating pretty boy”, and also to see her reaction once she realized her own brain wasn’t all that sharp and she tended to underestimate people.

In short, he pretended to be clueless while fully understanding the situation, even acting the part in front of Lin Yuluo. He deliberately avoided looking at her; if their eyes accidentally met, he would act guilty.

Su Jingqiu asked him what he was doing. He replied, “Playing with a cat?”

“Did you get a cat?”

Gu Junchuan glanced through the clear glass at Lin Yuluo suspended in the air, limbs stretched, neck arched back, body lines flowing smoothly. Her aura was clean and cool, such a shame not to have her as a model.

“I’m asking you, did you get a cat?”

“I did.”

“How old?”

“Five days.”

Gu Junchuan spoke offhandedly, tossed his phone aside, pushed open the door to the yoga room, and said to Lin Shuxue, “Sister Lan, I need to talk to you about something.”

Hearing this, Lin Yuluo came down from the air and stood in front of him, her breath uneven, slightly panting, but her eyes were full of encouragement.

Encouragement for Gu Junchuan to be a responsible “pretty boy.”