Chapter 362: Extra Story (Part Four)
The vast Gu family empire soon had someone stepping forward to claim inheritance.
That person was none other than Assistant Gu, whom Gu Fengchuan had personally recruited and brought into the company.
Back when the Gu family’s milk powder business was shut down due to a scandal, Assistant Gu fled abroad to avoid being held accountable.
Now, seeing the massive fortune up for grabs, he immediately returned, bringing with him a paternity test confirming his relationship with Father Gu.
The test was conducted nine years ago, around the summer after Assistant Gu finished the college entrance exams, when he was admitted to a top university in the country with high scores.
It was likely because of his outstanding performance that Father Gu considered formally recognizing him as family, even allowing him to work in the Gu Corporation.
Xu Youyou speculated that at that time, Father Gu merely saw Assistant Gu as a backup option. However, as Gu Fengchuan’s performance declined, the idea of replacing him grew stronger.
Having worked at Gu Corporation for years, Assistant Gu was privy to many of Father Gu’s dealings. After carefully assessing the situation while abroad, he determined that even if the Gu family empire was crumbling and facing bankruptcy, their assets still outweighed their debts.
So, he returned to China.
Unfortunately for him, just as he hired a lawyer to claim the inheritance, the police arrested him.
He thought the Gu family was entirely wiped out, and that all past crimes were buried.
But he didn’t expect that someone had been waiting for him to resurface. The moment he showed up, a well-prepared dossier of evidence—detailing the crimes he had committed within Gu Corporation—was handed over to the authorities.
When Xu Youyou received the news, she was puzzled. “Someone’s still keeping an eye on the Gu family? Who is so determined to eradicate them?”
Lu Jingyao, who had some inside knowledge, didn’t keep her in the dark. “The ones watching the Gu family… are the other Gu family.”
A name immediately surfaced in Xu Youyou’s mind. “The Gu family from Hong Kong?”
Lu Jingyao nodded. “The feud between the Hong Kong Gu family and the Shanghai Gu family has lasted for decades. The young master who was schemed against all those years ago was the only child of the Hong Kong Gu family’s leader and his first wife. They were childhood sweethearts, deeply in love, but due to his wife’s fragile health, they had only one child.”
“After their son was killed, the wife also passed away from illness. Even though the family head remarried and had more children, he never forgot his first wife and their son.”
“Now, he’s old, and the family is transitioning leadership. According to sources from Hong Kong, the test for the new heir of the Gu family is… eliminating the Shanghai Gu family.”
Xu Youyou hadn’t expected this story to involve the loss of a life. A devoted wife and a deeply cherished son—caught in a struggle for power. It was no wonder the Hong Kong Gu family spent so much effort to destroy the Shanghai branch.
After Assistant Gu was arrested, the other illegitimate children of Father Gu, despite coveting the wealth, no longer dared to make a move. The Gu family’s assets became ownerless.
Soon, with the influence of hidden forces, the Gu family’s assets were auctioned off, and most of them ended up in the hands of the Hong Kong Gu family.
Thirty years ago, the Hong Kong Gu family had been planning to expand into mainland China. Now, at last, they had achieved their goal.
Xu Youyou sighed. She had never deliberately sought revenge, yet the Gu family ended up completely eradicated.
With the Gu family and the Red Dragon King both gone, Xu Youyou was finally free from danger. Even though she loved the Imperial Jade Seal, after much deliberation, she decided to donate this national treasure to the country.
When news of the Imperial Jade Seal’s discovery broke, it caused a nationwide sensation. After several rounds of expert verification, it was confirmed to be authentic.
Xu Youyou received countless official and unofficial honors, but she felt somewhat lost—until her new life began.
She was getting married.
After experiencing an extravagant, internet-breaking proposal, the entire country eagerly awaited Xu Youyou’s wedding.
Her grand wedding took place on a private Nordic island owned by Lu Jingyao. Private planes were arranged to transport guests, and the entire island was blanketed in pink roses.
Under the aurora borealis, the couple exchanged vows.
Despite the grandeur, only a few photos from the wedding circulated online. Even so, detail-oriented netizens managed to piece together glimpses of its opulence.
Lu Jingyao had spent years meticulously planning the wedding. Afterward, he and Xu Youyou traveled the world for a month-long honeymoon.
When the trip ended, Xu Youyou—now an unemployed millionaire—chose not to continue treasure hunting. After some idle time, she decided to start working again.
She founded an investment company.
Not one led by Xie Ran, but one entirely under her control, dedicated to supporting projects she found interesting. Rather than making money, her goal was to help ordinary entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.
Out of every hundred projects she invested in, ninety-five lost money. Most of her investments were absurd—akin to helping a fish learn to ride a bicycle.
She didn’t care about making a profit. What she loved was the passionate spark in entrepreneurs’ eyes when they pitched their ideas.
She was drawn to their boundless confidence, their belief that their wild ideas would succeed despite the odds.
Strangely enough, amid all the bizarre investments, some projects inexplicably thrived. One successful investment would yield returns substantial enough to cover the losses of all the failed ones.
At the end of the year, when the company settled its accounts, Xu Youyou always expected a deficit—only to find a small but steady profit.
For the average person, this was an astronomical sum. To Xu Youyou, it was just pocket change.
She wasn’t interested in such trivial amounts, so she distributed all the profits among her employees.
Year after year, her wildly unorthodox investment strategies led to increasing success. Eventually, her company rivaled the one managed by Xie Ran.
People started calling her the “Investment Queen.”
Her legendary investment skills were rivaled only by the legendary status of her marriage.
By their third wedding anniversary, thanks to Xie Ran—the ultimate workaholic—Xu Youyou’s net worth surpassed Lu Jingyao’s, making her the richest person in China.
The media dubbed them the “Billionaire Couple” since either one alone had held the title of richest person.
Some speculated that a marriage between two powerhouses would eventually lead to conflict. But year after year, the billionaire couple remained as loving as ever. Every year, during peak travel seasons, they were seen vacationing around the world, always surrounded by bodyguards.
By their 30th anniversary, their eldest daughter and second son had respectively inherited Xu Youyou and Lu Jingyao’s companies. Within a few years, people began calling them the “Billionaire Siblings.”
In contrast to this lifelong romance stood superstar Song Zhibai.
His debut film was both a box office and critical success, saving the struggling cinema industry and earning him two “Best Actor” awards.
His fame extended far beyond China, and throughout his life, he starred in countless tear-jerking films and breathtaking love stories.
Yet, he never married.
After his passing, his entire fortune was donated. But his estate manager discovered a treasured sketchbook—filled with drawings of one person.
Every single portrait was of Xu Youyou.
It was only then that his lifelong secret was revealed—an unspoken love spanning more than half a century.
By then, Xu Youyou was already elderly. She had long suspected, but Song Zhibai had always been restrained and composed. She thought those feelings had faded with time.
She never knew he had buried them in his heart for a lifetime.
[The End]
