Chapter 791: Chapter 685

At the critical moment, Gu Shaozhen suddenly appeared. He reached out with a long arm, pulled Pang Xiaoji back into his embrace, and spun around. SLAP! SLAP! Two hard slaps, a forehand and a backhand, made Zeng Rong’s face drain of color, instantly swelling it up like a pig’s head!

Many people saw this and were stunned, especially the young women who had always held a favorable view of Gu Shaozhen. Their expressions revealed a trace of fear. ’Who would have thought? The usually easygoing Third Young Master Gu, with his radiant, sunny smile, is actually a violent brute who hits women!’

At that moment, however, Pang Xiaoji thought, ’There’s no man in the world more handsome than Gu Shaozhen!’

However, Pang Xiaoji only swooned for a moment. Once she came to her senses, she calmed down. She knew exactly what kind of man Gu Shaozhen was—a total player. ’He can be a brother, but any other ideas are out of the question.’

But then something else happened, something that made Pang Xiaoji genuinely start to entertain those kinds of thoughts. She became distracted and absent-minded all day, unable to eat or sleep properly, trapped in a state of conflicted hesitation she couldn’t escape.

It was late October, on a weekend when she came home from school. She saw her brother, Pang He, loading things into a car and asked where he was going. Pang He said he was off to a friend’s country villa to hang out and eat some wild game. Pang Xiaoji, being both a foodie and at an age where she loved to have fun, couldn’t possibly pass up the chance for good food and a good time. She hopped right into the car with him.

When they drove out to rendezvous at the side of the road, Pang Xiaoji realized there were five cars in total, carrying a group of over ten men and women. Gu Shaozhen was among them, but unlike the others, he hadn’t brought a female companion. He had once declared to their circle that he would swear off women and not get a girlfriend for three years. At first, no one took him seriously, but they’d come to believe him after seeing he was for real. Spotting Pang He with his sister, Gu Shaozhen tutted and said he would have brought Gu Shaoling if he had known.

Their destination was a reservoir area. The journey was long, taking up most of the day, but the place was incredibly fun. The scenery was gorgeous, with beautiful mountains and water. The group went swimming and fishing, while another bunch went hunting in the mountains, actually managing to bag some small game like wild rabbits and pheasants. The friend’s villa was located at the foot of a mountain not far from the reservoir. It was open and secluded, with the nearest village a good distance away. At night, they could light a bonfire and party as wildly as they wanted without worrying about disturbing anyone.

The three-story villa had ten rooms. Couples who wanted to share a room were free to do so, and the others paired up as they pleased; there was more than enough space for everyone. Pang He picked out a room on the second floor for Pang Xiaoji to share with another girl, while he and Gu Shaozhen took the room next door.

The group ate meat, drank, and partied by the bonfire late into the night. Pang He had had quite a bit to drink and, feeling he was about to get properly drunk, quickly urged Pang Xiaoji to go back to her room and rest. As long as he sent his sister off first, it didn’t matter where a grown man like him ended up passing out.

The girl sharing a room with Pang Xiaoji was having a blast and didn’t want to go to bed so early. "You go ahead and get some sleep," she told Pang Xiaoji. "I’ll be back later."

Pang Xiaoji went upstairs by herself to wash up and get some rest. She needed to leave the door open for the other girl, so she didn’t bolt it shut.

After sitting in a car for most of the day and then partying wildly until midnight, the relaxing shower only made her feel more exhausted. Pang Xiaoji fell asleep almost the instant her head hit the pillow. She had no idea how much time had passed when the sound of the door closing woke her. In a groggy daze, she felt someone touch her foot, then suddenly flop down on the other side of the bed. The impact made the whole mattress shake. Pang Xiaoji tried to open her eyes to see what was happening, but they felt glued shut. ’Right, I’m not at home,’ she remembered. ’The other girl is supposed to be sleeping here. It must be her.’ She couldn’t help feeling annoyed by her roommate’s clumsiness and all the noise she was making, but she was also reassured. She sank back into her dreams.

Pang Xiaoji’s internal clock was always precise; she could wake up at six in the morning on the dot, no alarm needed. Even when she stayed up late and wanted to sleep in, she would inevitably wake up at her usual time before being able to drift off again. And this time, waking up left her frozen in shock.

When she sat up, she saw that the person sharing the large bed with her wasn’t a girl, but a grown man, stripped down to nothing but his underwear!

That man was Gu Shaozhen!

After the shock wore off, Pang Xiaoji was flooded with shame, anger, and embarrassment. Her poor brain couldn’t process it; she had no idea what to do. Don’t be fooled by her usual "good girl" demeanor; she’d grown up in a circle of wealthy heirs, and when her temper flared, she was anything but gentle. If it had been anyone else in the bed, she would have kicked them right off. But this was Gu Shaozhen, the man who protected her like a brother!

Pang Xiaoji froze for a full thirty seconds. Swallowing her shame and indignation, she threw the thin blanket over Gu Shaozhen’s body and started to get out of bed to find Pang He. He was the only person she could think of at a time like this.

But just then, Gu Shaozhen woke up. When he opened his eyes and saw Pang Xiaoji sitting beside him in her pajamas, he was stunned too. He lifted a hand and rubbed his eyes, suspecting he was dreaming.

Gu Shaozhen stopped Pang Xiaoji from leaving. As he frantically threw on his clothes, he explained, "I didn’t do it on purpose! I must have gone into the wrong room! I was wasted last night. I stumbled in here with my eyes half-closed and didn’t even turn on the light. Since Pang He came up before me, I just assumed the person in bed was him..."

As he spoke, he added an annoyed curse, "Damn it! Can you and your brother stop sharing a suitcase every time you go somewhere? All your clothes are mixed together, so everything smells the same! It made it impossible for me to tell the difference!"

Pang Xiaoji: "..."

Still, she completely believed Gu Shaozhen. ’He just went into the wrong room.’

’But still... a single man and a single woman, sharing a room, sleeping in the same bed all night... how could they possibly explain this to anyone and be believed that they were innocent?’

Gu Shaozhen walked to the window, drew back the curtain, and peered out through the sheer fabric. Pang Xiaoji saw it too. On the lawn not far away, last night’s bonfire was now just a pile of black ash. Three mats were spread out beside it, with people sleeping on them in disarray. Among them, a girl in a lime-green top was sleeping soundly, her head pillowed on a man’s arm. That was the girl who was supposed to have shared a room with Pang Xiaoji.

Gu Shaozhen opened the door and went out first. After changing her clothes, Pang Xiaoji followed him. The entire building was silent; everyone was still deep in sleep. The only two people awake this early in the morning were Gu Shaozhen and Pang Xiaoji. ’So far,’ Pang Xiaoji realized, ’it’s impossible for anyone to know that he and I spent the night in the same room.’

The two of them went to look for Pang He, but the room next door was empty. Gu Shaozhen found him in the room across the hall and dragged him off the bed. There were four people in that room, all of them dead to the world. They couldn’t be woken up no matter how loudly they were called. It was anyone’s guess how much they had drunk last night to get into that state.

Pang Xiaoji’s thoughts were in a jumble, but she could still think straight. After some consideration, she told Gu Shaozhen, "Since it was just a misunderstanding and no real harm was done, let’s just let it go. I don’t want a third person to know about this."

Gu Shaozhen looked at her for a long moment, then smiled and said with great seriousness, "It’s true, we could hide it from everyone. I’m not one to spill secrets. But what if... what if you talk in your sleep? What happens if your family finds out? Pang He would try to kill me. And how would our parents look at us? If we let the adults handle it, there’s only one possible outcome: we get married! And that’s not so bad, is it? Men are meant to marry and women are meant to wed; it’s a path we both have to walk. I only just realized today that we’re actually a pretty good match. Think about it: our families are on equal footing, we know each other inside and out. You’re a good girl, and I’m not so bad myself. Pang He spoils you now, but once he gets married, he definitely won’t be able to dote on you anymore. But me? I can spoil you for a lifetime. And I guarantee I’ll spoil you even more than your brother does! If you’re not interested in me right now, that’s fine too. I’m not planning on getting a girlfriend for the next three years anyway. You can take your time to think it over. When you’ve made up your mind, just let me know. I’ll arrange everything. I won’t let you down."

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