Su Mianmian happened to be bored at home anyway, so she agreed without much hesitation. After changing her clothes, she took a taxi directly to the Gu Group headquarters. This marked Su Mianmian's very first visit to Gu Yizhou's workplace.
The Gu Group building was considered a landmark in Jiang City; the entire structure was grand and imposing. Everyone entering and exiting was clad in suits and ties, moving with a hurried air—clearly the elite of society.
Su Mianmian glanced down at herself. She was wearing a loose, pale-blue mohair sweater paired with a short black pleated skirt. Her long, slender legs—the kind one usually only sees in manga—were clad in beige mid-calf socks, and on her feet were a pair of black patent leather Mary Janes she had just bought a few days prior.
To conceal the injury on her forehead, she had gotten wispy "air bangs" cut just the day before, which made her already delicate features appear even more petite. From a distance, she looked utterly innocent and sweet; let alone passing for a university student, if someone were to claim right now that she was still in high school, surely no one would doubt it.
Su Mianmian let out a silent breath, feeling she had made a grave miscalculation. She didn't merely clash with her surroundings; she stood out like a "crane among chickens"—a stark anomaly. She wondered if, dressed in such an outfit, the security staff would even let her enter the Gu Group building.
Gu Yizhou had previously messaged her, instructing her to contact Gao Ze directly upon arrival. However, she had barely stepped out of the taxi when she realized her phone battery had died and the device had shut down; now, she couldn't get in touch with anyone.
Su Mianmian let out a long sigh, then steeled herself and walked into the Gu Group lobby, heading straight for the reception desk. "Excuse me, could you help me get in touch with Gao Ze—Assistant Gao?" Su Mianmian had originally intended to ask for Gu Yizhou, but she worried he might be busy.
Upon hearing that she was looking for the CEO's assistant, the beautiful receptionist looked her up and down, her eyes betraying an irrepressible sense of astonishment. *Where did this little girl come from? She looks so fresh and radiant—as if she's stepped right out of a manga.* "Assistant Gao? May I ask what your relationship is with him?
Or, did you happen to have an appointment scheduled with him in advance?" Su Mianmian bit her lip; she hadn't realized—until seeing that one actually needed an appointment just to see Assistant Gao. "I don't have an appointment with him, and my phone is dead, so I can't reach him right now. Could you possibly help me give him a call?"
The lovely receptionist, finding such a cute young girl—whose tone of voice didn't sound at all like she was lying—decided to dial an internal extension to the Chief Assistant's office. After ringing a few times, the call was answered by Gu Yizhou's First Secretary. "Hello? Is Assistant Gao in? There's a young lady at the front desk asking for him."
"A young lady?" The First Secretary's slender brows furrowed slightly. Assistant Gao had gone to meet with a client; before leaving, he had indeed instructed her that Mrs. Gu would be stopping by later, and that if a call came through for him at that time, she absolutely must remember to notify him. But he hadn't mentioned anything about a "young lady," had he?
"Ask her to wait in the lobby for a moment. Assistant Gao is currently attending to a client; I'll ask him about it when he gets back." The receptionist hung up the phone and looked at the pretty young girl standing before her—who looked just like a porcelain doll.
"I'm sorry, miss. Assistant Gao is busy right now and doesn't have time to see you. If you really want to wait, you can go sit on the sofa over there for a while." Su Mianmian tapped her slender fingers against the marble countertop. "In that case, could you help me contact your CEO, Mr. Gu?
Seeing him would work just as well." She couldn't even get a hold of Assistant Gao, and now she wanted to contact the CEO? The receptionist politely declined. "I'm afraid not, miss. As for Mr. Gu—without an appointment, it is absolutely impossible to see him." Su Mianmian let out a soft sigh. "Well then, miss—do you happen to have a phone charger?
Surely you could lend me one to charge my phone, couldn't you?" Su Mianmian was standing at the front desk charging her phone when a man dressed in a sharp suit walked in through the main entrance. He glanced at Su Mianmian, finding her face vaguely familiar, and shot a meaningful look at the receptionist. "Who is she here to see?"
The man was a senior executive at the Gu Group, so the receptionist naturally treated him with the utmost deference and respect. "Manager Qin, this young lady first asked to see Assistant Gao, and then asked for President Gu. Since she hadn't made an appointment with either of them in advance, well..." The more Manager Qin looked at Su Mianmian, the more familiar she seemed. He narrowed his eyes, feeling certain he had seen her somewhere before—specifically, by President Gu's side.
After thinking for a couple of seconds, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Miss, are you... President Gu's..." "No!" Su Mianmian had been on guard the moment Manager Qin began sizing her up.
She had never actually set foot in the Gu Corporation before. If anyone at the company *could* have seen her, it would only be during that one incident at home—the time she was wrapped in a bath towel and spotted by several of President Gu's senior executives.
Naturally, Su Mianmian wasn't about to admit she was Gu Yizhou's wife right now; doing so would be tantamount to forcing people to relive the memory of her standing there in nothing but a bath towel. It was simply too mortifying. Consequently, Su Mianmian hurriedly denied it before the man could even finish his sentence.
Manager Qin looked taken aback. "I hadn't even finished speaking yet, and you've already said no." He shook his head, muttering to himself, "Could I be mistaken? Are you not President Gu's niece?"
Manager Qin suddenly recalled an earlier occasion when he had been dining at a restaurant and happened to run into President Gu having a meal with his niece; he remembered that his niece appeared to be about this young lady's age. Upon hearing that he had mistaken her for Gu Yizhou's niece, Su Mianmian felt her cheeks flush with warmth.
However, she then realized that if she were to claim she was Gu Yizhou's niece right now, this man would likely be able to escort her directly to Gu Yizhou's office. Dressed as she was, the last thing she wanted was to stand in the lobby like a fool, being gawked at by everyone. And so, Su Mianmian immediately changed her tune. "Uncle, how did you know I was Mr. Gu's niece? Have you met me before?"
Manager Qin was completely flustered by the young girl addressing him as "Uncle." "You little rascal! When I just asked if you were Mr. Gu's niece, you denied it; now you're admitting it? I told you my memory was good—I couldn't possibly have been mistaken!"
Su Mianmian feigned embarrassment. "In that case, Uncle, could you take me upstairs to find my uncle? My phone is switched off, and this lovely lady at the front desk didn't feel comfortable letting me up on her own." The beautiful receptionist had listened to the entire exchange between Manager Qin and the young girl from start to finish.
Upon hearing this, she gave an awkward tug at the corners of her mouth. "I'm so sorry! It's mainly my fault—you didn't mention that you were Mr. Gu's niece."
*So she really is Mr. Gu's niece,* she thought to herself. *No wonder she's so stunningly beautiful; exceptional genes truly cannot be underestimated...* Manager Qin waved his hand dismissively. "You were just following standard protocol. Tell you what—I'll personally escort our young niece to Mr. Gu's office right now."
Su Mianmian waved goodbye to the receptionist and followed Manager Qin into the elevator. The elevator ascended directly to the sixty-sixth floor. Stepping out, Manager Qin led her straight to the desk of the Chief Secretary. "Secretary Cai, is Mr. Gu in his office? His niece has come to see him."
"His niece?" Secretary Cai looked Su Mianmian up and down, then immediately rose from his desk. "Mr. Gu is currently in a meeting. Why don't I take you to the reception room so you can wait for a little while?"
That seemed to be the only option.
Su Mianmian nodded; after thanking Manager Qin profusely once more, she was escorted to the reception room by Secretary Cai. She sat down on the room's black leather sofa and took a moment to observe her surroundings.
The Gu Group truly lived up to its reputation. The moment she stepped out of the elevator, she had immediately sensed the distinct stylistic atmosphere of the sixty-sixth floor: understated yet grand—an exact reflection of the aura that constantly radiated from Gu Yizhou himself. Even this reception room, in every minute detail, exuded an air of understated luxury.
Su Mianmian had barely been seated for a few moments when Secretary Cai returned with a small plate of pastries and a glass of fruit juice. Su Mianmian thanked him, and while nibbling on the pastries, she settled in to wait for Gu Yizhou. Gu Yizhou was in a meeting, mentally calculating that Su Mianmian should be arriving at the company any moment now.
Glancing at the watch on his wrist, his stern, cold gaze swept across the executives seated before him. "Stick to the essentials; keep this meeting as brief as possible." Instantly, everyone straightened their backs even further, snapping to full attention with heightened vigilance.
Little did they know that, at that very moment, photos of Su Mianmian were already sparking a heated discussion in the company's internal chat group. "Is this President Gu's niece? My god, she's absolutely adorable!" "Quick, look at those legs in the photo—are those the legendary 'manga legs' we can only ever dream of having?"
"How could they be anything else? I admit it: I'm jealous. As a leg-lover myself, I simply can't resist them." "Why are you guys only looking at her legs?
I'm different; I prefer looking at faces—especially a baby face like hers. It looks so rosy, plump, and bouncy—just bursting with collagen! I'm practically drooling." "Whoa, whoa, whoa—can you guys please show a little restraint?
I heard President Gu's niece is only sixteen this year; she's still just a kid." "So what if she's a kid? With a niece this cute and beautiful, President Gu must absolutely dote on her!"
Gao Ze stepped out after seeing off a client. Noticing he had no missed calls on his phone, he was just beginning to wonder why Su Mianmian was taking so long to arrive when the First Secretary approached him with a smile. "Assistant Gao, President Gu's niece has arrived. I've already arranged for her to wait in Meeting Room No. 2." "President Gu's niece?"
Gao Ze frowned slightly as a sudden thought flashed through his mind; quickening his pace, he urged, "Hurry—take me to see her!"