Chapter 16: The Kiss

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While the two of them were arguing in the gym, the subordinates waiting outside for the meeting could hear every word perfectly.

A little while later, President Su emerged as though nothing had happened and calmly announced, “Let’s continue the meeting.”

“President Su…” someone finally ventured, “Shouldn’t we go comfort Miss Gu? What if she takes things too hard and leaves?”

“It’s fine,” Su Yu replied淡ly. “I know her. She’s a very rational person. She won’t leave.”

His once-immaculate shirt was slightly rumpled. He raised a hand and loosened his collar. Although his expression remained as stern as ever, an almost imperceptible smile glimmered in his deep eyes.

Sure enough, when Gu Yao came back downstairs, everything was normal apart from the slight chill in her expression. She found the nanny and asked politely, “Excuse me, do you have a firmer mattress? The one in my room is simply too soft. It isn’t very comfortable.”

“Yes, yes, we do.” The nanny hurried off to search the storage room.

While waiting, Gu Yao chatted with the people around her, deliberately skipping over Su Yu. She did not even spare him a glance, acting as though he did not exist at all.

The subordinates struggled to hold back their laughter. They thought to themselves: Who would have imagined that President Su would ever be disliked by someone? He had always been the one disdaining others…

Su Yu frowned. “Come over here and get ready for the meeting.”

He summoned everyone over.

The next morning, when Gu Yao left the house, she noticed that the car that usually took her to the hospital was still parked in the garage. The driver’s seat was empty, and the driver had not brought the car around to wait for her.

She pursed her lips. Su Yu was truly petty. Was he refusing to let the car take her?

Unwilling to go inside and ask, she walked straight out. Just as she was about to hail a taxi on the road, a car followed at an unhurried pace from behind and gave a brief honk.

She turned around and raised an eyebrow. The ostentatious car made it obvious who was inside without her even needing to look at the driver’s seat.

The window slowly descended. Su Yu kept one hand on the steering wheel and said coolly, “The driver is taking the day off. Get in. I’ll take you.”

Gu Yao ignored him and continued walking. Ever since what had happened the previous day, she had been deeply unwilling to deal with Su Yu. She did not know where this aversion came from. It was just like the incident with the stocks—no matter how much she thought about it, she could not make sense of it. In any case, it had no great impact on her life, so she might as well follow her heart.

The car behind her did not leave. It continued to trail her, and the person inside did not say another word.

In the end, Gu Yao stood by the roadside for a long while without managing to hail a taxi. Seeing that she was about to be late, she turned back expressionlessly, walked over, opened the car door, tugged at the handle, and got in.

Once she had shut the door, Su Yu started the car. Tactfully, he remained silent. The two of them traveled in silence for most of the journey. They were almost at the hospital when, after turning at an intersection, Gu Yao glanced out the window and suddenly said, “Stop.”

A young woman in a patient’s gown was slowly crossing the road. The light was red, but she did not stop. She stumbled through the stream of traffic, forcing drivers to brake sharply. From time to time, one of them would stick his head out and curse at her.

She staggered and fell to the ground, yet made no attempt to explain herself. She simply got back up and continued forward.

It was the same young woman who had come to the hospital the day before because of a headache. The diagnosis had pointed to emotional distress, but her mother had refused to believe it, causing a huge scene at the hospital and forcibly having her admitted.

“What is it?” Su Yu asked, following her gaze.

“She’s a patient from our hospital. She must have slipped out.” As she spoke, Gu Yao got out of the car and called Cen Xi.

When the call connected, she said directly, “Look into the young woman who was admitted to the internal medicine ward yesterday—the one whose mother caused that disturbance. Is she still in her room, or has she already been discharged?”

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Just then, the light turned green. Gu Yao crossed the road and called out from the other side, “The patient in front wearing the hospital gown, could you stop for a moment?”

The young woman heard her voice and glanced back only briefly before quickening her pace. With surprising agility, she turned into a narrow side street.

Something was wrong.

Cen Xi did not need to confirm it. Gu Yao had already more or less guessed what was happening and immediately quickened her steps in pursuit.

“She’s still hospitalized, but when Dr. Li went on rounds just now, he discovered that she had escaped. Everyone is searching for her,” Cen Xi replied over the phone.

“I know. I can see her now, and I’m following her. We’re near the Starbucks beneath the building on Spring Happiness Road. She’s turned into a side street. Have an ambulance come over, and find several psychiatrists to assist as well. The patient seems emotionally unstable.”

Gu Yao spoke quickly and hung up. After following the young woman into the side street, she saw her figure flash into an old, dilapidated high-rise ahead.

Gu Yao stopped to survey the surroundings. It was an abandoned residential building awaiting demolition. She rummaged through her bag, pulled out a defensive stun baton, and headed toward the entrance, intending to go inside.

Footsteps sounded behind her. Su Yu had already caught up.

“What are you doing?” His long arm reached out and seized her firmly by the arm.

“I don’t think she’s emotionally stable. If my guess is right, she entered this building intending to kill herself.” Gu Yao looked up as she spoke. It was a very tall building, perhaps more than twenty stories. If she jumped from there, death would be certain.

“I’m coming with you.” After considering her words for a moment, Su Yu moved in front of her protectively, switched on his phone’s flashlight, and led the way inside.

Gu Yao did not waste time arguing and immediately followed. In the pitch-black space, the only illumination came from their two flashlights. Soon, several more beams appeared behind them. When she looked back, she saw that four bodyguards dressed in black had followed. This reassured her considerably.

The elevator had long since fallen into disuse, so they had no choice but to climb the stairs. By the time they reached the rooftop, Gu Yao was breathing heavily, while the men were still relatively fine.

The wind howled past their ears. The space around them was open and exposed. Beyond the railing, the young woman in the patient’s gown was sitting with her legs already hanging outside, swaying precariously over the void.

Hearing them arrive, she turned around and cried out in panic, “Don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll jump!”

Su Yu stopped where he was and turned to look at Gu Yao, signaling for her to speak with the girl.

“You’re a patient from Mingxi Hospital. Your name is Chen Xiyue, right?” Gu Yao tried taking a few steps forward, but when the girl grew even more agitated, she stopped.

She asked several times, but the girl did not answer. She merely pressed her lips together warily.

Gu Yao changed her tone, making her voice gentler. “I know you. I’m a doctor at Mingxi Hospital. My name is Gu Yao. I spoke with your mother yesterday.”

As she said this, she carefully observed the girl’s expression. The moment she heard the word “mother,” the girl visibly shrank back, as though she were afraid.

Gu Yao continued, “Your mother is a very strict person—almost harshly so. Am I right?”

The girl finally reacted. Her lips parted, and she whispered, “How did you know?”

Gu Yao smiled. “I know more than that. I also know that she controls you very strictly. You’re terribly lonely, but you have no one to confide in. You’ve been suffocating under it all. Would you like to talk? I’m only a stranger, after all. Before you die, you could tell me everything you’ve been wanting to say. At least then, you wouldn’t leave with regrets.”

The girl’s expression finally softened slightly. Her gaze shifted past Gu Yao toward the people behind her, and she said, “I want them to go downstairs. All the way down.”

Gu Yao turned around and saw Su Yu wave for the four bodyguards to leave. He himself did not move.

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“Is it all right if only two people remain? He’s my boyfriend. There are no secrets between us. Besides, whatever we say here will eventually reach his ears, so there’s no harm in letting him stay.” Gu Yao turned back and spoke frankly.

After a long silence, the girl finally nodded. She stared down at the ground below without saying a word. Only after a while did she confirm, “They’re downstairs now. Let’s talk.”

There was a trace of yearning in her voice.

“All right.” Gu Yao nodded, then made another request. “Can I come a little closer? The wind is too strong. I can’t hear you clearly.”

After the girl agreed, Gu Yao slowly moved forward, drawing nearer and nearer to the rooftop railing.

“Just stop there. Don’t come any closer.” The girl was slightly uneasy. Yet immediately after she finished speaking, Gu Yao suddenly quickened her pace and lunged forward, grabbing the girl by the arm.

“I’m sorry. I’ll listen to everything you have to say later, but not while you’re in such danger.” As Gu Yao spoke, she pulled with all her strength and dragged the girl back onto the rooftop. Su Yu came over to help, and together they quickly brought her to safety.

The girl struggled for a while, but when Su Yu fixed her with a single sharp look, she immediately fell silent. Curling in on herself, she began to sob softly.

“Let’s go.” Faintly, Gu Yao heard the sound of an ambulance below. She let out a breath of relief and turned to speak to Su Yu, but her eyes slowly widened, her gaze becoming solemn.

“Look out!” she shouted.

At some point, several burly men had silently made their way up the stairs and onto the rooftop. Each carried a heavy iron bar, and they advanced toward the two of them, forming a semicircle.

The four bodyguards were still downstairs.

“Who sent you?” Su Yu had also noticed them. His sharp gaze swept over the group as he spoke in a low voice. He took two steps backward, positioning himself directly in front of Gu Yao.

The men said nothing. Their encircling formation slowly tightened, their intentions unmistakable: they wanted to force the two of them toward the rooftop railing.

“Call the police.” Su Yu suddenly lunged forward, seized one of the men surrounding them, and knocked him down with ease. He snatched away the iron bar, weighed it in his hand a few times, then turned back to Gu Yao.

“All right.” Gu Yao nodded. She pulled the girl to her feet, dragged her behind herself, took out her phone to call the police, and notified the bodyguards downstairs. Then she raised her defensive stun baton and held it before her.

The attackers were thrown into obvious disarray by the sudden turn of events. Their formation broke apart, and they swarmed toward Su Yu in a nervous assault. Yet they were clearly no match for him.

The man was terrifyingly fierce.

His expression dark, his entire presence surging outward, he wielded the iron bar with crisp, efficient movements. After nimbly dodging their attacks, he focused on striking their legs. Before long, four or five men were clutching their legs and howling on the ground.

There were simply too many of them. Whenever he dealt with the men in front, others rushed in from behind to ambush him, and his back soon took several blows.

Watching from behind, Gu Yao grew increasingly irritated. Did they take her for a dead woman? What kind of skill was it to gang up on only one person?

She dragged the girl over to the stairwell and hid her there. The girl immediately collapsed like a puddle of mud, so Gu Yao no longer had to worry about her.

Gu Yao turned and hurried back. Holding the extended stun baton against one attacker’s back from a distance, she pressed the switch. The man convulsed and collapsed to the ground.