Chapter 542 — The Live-in Son-in-Law

So Uncle Qing quietly started the car, then said to Zhong Yongliang, "Mr. Gu is still at the company, but I'll call ahead to confirm."

"No trouble, go right ahead!" By now Zhong Yongliang had taken the measure of Uncle Qing and knew the man could do nothing to him, so he hardly cared. Even if Gu Pengzhan were warned in advance, what of it? Sooner or later he would have to meet Gu Pengzhan anyway.

Uncle Qing nodded and dialed Gu Pengzhan's number.

These past few days Gu Pengzhan had known nothing but fair winds and smooth seas. Jin Gubang was gone from the company, and Xie Guangbo with him; Wei Zhao, the second-largest shareholder, had handed Gu Pengzhan full authority over every decision. And so, whether it was the board of directors or the shareholders' meeting, everything had become Gu Pengzhan's one-man show.

No minor shareholder dared to stick his neck out and set himself against Gu Pengzhan now. The fates of Jin Gubang and Xie Guangbo were there for all to see, and no one wished to become the next target.

Gu Pengzhan happened to be in the middle of a shareholders' meeting at that very moment. Not a soul dared switch on a phone during the proceedings, Gu Pengzhan himself excepted, and no one dared say a word about that either.

Glancing at the caller's number, Gu Pengzhan picked up. "Li Fu, what is it? I'm sitting in a shareholders' meeting."

"Mr. Gu, Mr. Zhong Yongliang wishes to see you." Uncle Qing wasted no words, going straight to the point. "The young lady should be in his hands."

"What? Yaoyao is in Zhong Yongliang's hands?" Gu Pengzhan was stunned. He had never expected Zhong Yongliang to be so brazen as to abduct Gu Mengyao. Of late he had grown used to his own authority, and to hear that someone dared scheme against his daughter, his fury flared at once.

Uncle Qing tried to explain, but Zhong Yongliang snatched the phone from his hand. "Better let me have it. I'll speak with Uncle Gu!"

Uncle Qing did not insist. He simply passed the phone over, for in truth he had not yet worked out what Zhong Yongliang had done with Gu Mengyao.

"Uncle Gu, this is Zhong Yongliang!" He took the phone with studied courtesy, straining to keep his tone respectful. In his eyes, Gu Pengzhan was about to become his father-in-law.

"Zhong Yongliang, where is Yaoyao?" Gu Pengzhan had no patience for pleasantries; a chill had crept into his voice.

"Uncle Gu, Yaoyao has agreed to be my girlfriend. We made it official just today, and she's resting at my home right now!" Zhong Yongliang said. "I was thinking I'd come and discuss our engagement with you, Uncle Gu!"

"Yaoyao agreed to be your girlfriend?" Gu Pengzhan was taken aback, and his brows knit. "Come to my company now."

Gu Pengzhan gave no sign of his doubts, for some things could not be made clear over the phone; he would decide once he had seen Zhong Yongliang face to face. He still could not fathom what game the young man thought he was playing.

"All right, I'll be right over!" Seeing that Gu Pengzhan had not doubted him outright but had instead summoned him to the company to talk, Zhong Yongliang assumed he had been believed. He was overjoyed. Hanging up, he ordered Uncle Qing, "You heard that? Uncle Gu wants you to drive me to the company."

"All right." Uncle Qing said no more. He put away his phone, turned the car around, and headed for the Gu Group.

Watching Pengzhan Tower stand in all its grandeur by the roadside, Zhong Yongliang was in an incomparably fine mood. He was about to become Gu Pengzhan's son-in-law, and Gu Pengzhan had no son. Did that not mean this vast estate would one day be his? The thought set him scheming all the harder: when he met Gu Pengzhan in a few minutes, he must move the man by whatever means, must make him accept this son-in-law!

Gu Pengzhan had been in a meeting, but at the news that something had happened to his daughter, he had no heart left for it. He wrapped things up in haste and returned to his office.

In his heart of hearts, Gu Pengzhan did not much believe Zhong Yongliang's words. If his daughter could have taken a fancy to Zhong Yongliang, she would have done so long ago; she would never have waited until now. And Zhong Yongliang's claim that Gu Mengyao had agreed to be his girlfriend was sheer nonsense.

What puzzled him, though, was how Uncle Qing could possibly be playing along with Zhong Yongliang's farce. That left perhaps a single explanation: his daughter had gone missing. Uncle Qing had gone to the school to collect her after class; he must have failed to find her, and found Zhong Yongliang instead.

With that thought, Gu Pengzhan called Gu Mengyao, then Shen Yushu. When both calls came back with the phones switched off, his earlier guess was confirmed.

After these upheavals in the company, Gu Pengzhan had grown a shade steadier than before. Anxious as he was within, he let nothing show. He sat quietly behind his desk and waited for Zhong Yongliang to come to him.

Some half an hour later, Uncle Qing brought Zhong Yongliang into Gu Pengzhan's office.

"Uncle Gu, how do you do!" Zhong Yongliang had observed every propriety to the letter, bowing to Gu Pengzhan outright, the very picture of a son-in-law come courting.

"Zhong Yongliang. Sit." Gu Pengzhan gestured mildly for him to take a seat, then turned to Uncle Qing. "Pour some tea."

"How could I put Uncle Qing to the trouble? I'll do it myself!" Zhong Yongliang was delighted. Could it be that Gu Pengzhan meant to accept him? Otherwise, what was Uncle Qing's station? How could he be made to pour tea for him personally? Zhong Yongliang had of course learned of Uncle Qing's standing from his own uncle. The man was second only to one in the whole company, a mere driver, yet Gu Pengzhan's most trusted confidant. What ordinary employee would dare let Uncle Qing pour his tea? Uncle Qing served only Gu Pengzhan and Gu Mengyao!

And now Gu Pengzhan was ordering Uncle Qing to pour tea for him. Did that not mean he too had been acknowledged by Gu Pengzhan, and made his son-in-law? Zhong Yongliang thought exultantly. He had not yet spoken a single word, and the man already believed him?

He was still exulting when Gu Pengzhan said coldly, "You kidnapped my daughter?"

"Huh?" Zhong Yongliang had been about to take the cup of tea Uncle Qing held out to him, and the shock was so great that it slipped from his fingers and shattered on the floor with a crack. "Uncle Gu... don't talk nonsense. I... how could I ever do anything illegal?"

"Is that so? Then where is my daughter?" Gu Pengzhan's gaze turned icy as it fell on Zhong Yongliang, and the young man flinched as though the look could pierce straight through to his soul, forcing his head down; he dared not meet Gu Pengzhan's eyes.

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