After divorcing the mute girl, President Gu knelt down and begged for reconciliation.

Chapter 95 Birthday Dinner
She could have skipped greeting guests, but she wanted to see Gu Xijue, so she stood outside, hoping to see him at first glance.

Waiting outside with Du Lan was her best friend, Shen Qianqian, who had flown in from abroad specifically to celebrate Du Lan's 22nd birthday.

Seeing how impatient she was, Shen Qianqian teased, "You've been standing outside waiting for two hours, why don't you go inside and wait?"

She had heard Du Lan talk about Gu Xijue before. She had only seen this man in financial magazines before. Today, she was going to meet him in person, and she was a little excited. But... she had heard that Gu Xijue had a mute wife. Although the rumors were that the two had divorced, they had not officially announced the divorce. Moreover, he and the mute woman had a daughter.

This means she'll become a stepmother after marrying into the family. Shen Qianqian felt that Du Lan should be more cautious.

Duran smiled and said, "My senior brother should be here soon. I'll wait a little longer."

Just then, Gu Xijue's car arrived, and Duan Nanhe, the young master of the Duan family, got out with him.

Shen Qianqian knew Duan Nanhe, and the two had even met on some occasions. However, she disliked Duan Nanhe, who was a womanizer who only knew how to play around with women. He had changed women one after another and was practically a rotten cucumber.

As soon as Du Minghua and his wife came out, they saw Gu Xijue arrive and greeted him with smiles: "You're here, come in quickly."

Duran cheerfully called out, "Senior brother, you've arrived!"

Gu Xijue nodded, his voice steady, and then had Wei Zhou, who was standing at the back, take out the gift: "This is a gift for you, happy birthday."

He didn't have time to choose, so Wei Zhou picked it out. He only knew it was a bracelet from a mid-range luxury brand, costing around ten or twenty thousand yuan, which wasn't expensive.

Wei Zhou thought the package was going to be sent to the wrong person, but when Du Lan opened the box, the look of delight in her eyes was enough to show that it was her preference, and she had just stumbled upon it by accident.

"Thank you, senior brother, I like it very much."

Standing to the side, Duan Nan noticed that Du Lan liked it very much and thought to himself, "A woman like this must like jewelry and diamonds without me even realizing it."

Du Lan smiled and said thank you, genuinely liking it. In fact, she also liked Gu Xijue who gave her the bracelet. While she was still standing there smiling foolishly, Du Minghua had already led Gu Xijue and Duan Nanhe into the men's social circle to discuss business.

"Sisi, help me put it on." It's not easy for her to do it alone.

Shen Qianqian helped, but couldn't help but say, "You just accepted it and you're already wearing it on your wrist. Your little scheme will be seen through at a glance."

Duran beamed with a bright smile, holding out his hand and gazing at the bracelet with obvious delight: "So what if you see through it? I just love the things my senior brother gave me."

Shen Qianqian: "I'm glad you like it."

The Du family's dinner party was nothing more than using Du Lan's birthday as an opportunity to promote the Du family's expansion into the domestic market.

When Gu Xijue and the others were almost done chatting, Du Lan walked up to Gu Xijue, her eyes flashing slightly: "Senior brother, thank you for coming to my birthday party, I'm very happy."

Gu Xijue smiled faintly, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Duan Nanhe, who was already mingling with the other young ladies.

"Since you invited me, I will come."

Du Lan was only twenty-two years old and had been well-protected by her family since childhood, never having experienced early romance. Therefore, she didn't understand the unspoken meanings behind men's words and naturally couldn't comprehend Gu Xijue's words, only assuming he meant she valued him highly. But in reality, he would have attended the birthday banquet regardless of whether Du Lan invited him or not, because it wasn't just a simple birthday party, but a business banquet to expand the group's operations; he had just closed another big deal.

Duran blushed and looked at him, "May I ask you to dance before the banquet starts later?"

Before dinner, she was to perform an opening dance. Originally, it was a solo dance, but Du Lan changed her mind and wanted Gu Xijue to dance the opening dance with her.

At this moment, Shen Qianqian came over and also helped her best friend, saying with a smile, "Yes, I heard that President Gu is very good at dancing. Let's take Lanlan for a dance and have a friendly competition."

Shen Qianqian speaks in a very respectable manner, as if she has really made a name for herself in this industry.

Gu Xijue smiled and said, "My dancing skills are not as good as rumored, and there are still fifteen minutes before the meal starts. A duet dance still needs to be practiced in advance to create a good stage performance."

His answer sounded impeccable, maintaining a distance, after all, time was indeed tight, and if he really forced it, it would be embarrassing if something went wrong.

Du Lan thought that this made sense, but Shen Qianqian didn't think so at all. She understood what was going on and was about to say something for her best friend when Du Lan spoke first.

"Yes, it was indeed my oversight."

Shen Qianqian and Du Lan exchanged a glance, and then she spoke up: "It's just a dance. If she embarrasses herself, it's just a matter of having her feet stepped on. I believe that President Gu's skills are so good that he wouldn't let Lanlan fall down, right?"

Gu Xijue looked at Shen Qianqian: "That's not necessarily true."

Just when Durant was full of hope, he suddenly threw out this sentence, which even a fool could guess.

Du Lan's eyes stung, but Shen Qianqian dragged her away to a corner. With red eyes, she said tearfully, "Qianqian, does Senior Brother not like me...?"

Shen Qianqian looked at her and nodded seriously: "You just realized that?"

"I told you before, he has a wife, and we don't even know if they're divorced yet. And even if they are, he has a young daughter. Are you really going to marry him and become a stepmother?"

Shen Qianqian felt there was no need to rush into becoming someone's stepmother.

Dulan wiped away her tears, her makeup almost ruined, but she quickly calmed down: "Actually, I know it's not easy to be a stepmother, and I also know that my father wanted me to marry him so that the company could raise more funds."

Hearing her say that, Shen Qianqian frowned: "You know your dad is using you, why are you still stupid enough to jump into the fire?"

She said that no matter what, a wealthy family can't raise a truly naive and innocent girl.

“I like him,” Du Lan said. She really liked Gu Xijue. She didn’t know why, but her heart was pounding the moment she saw him. In order to spend more time with him, she even accepted Mrs. Gu’s suggestion to teach his daughter to play the piano.

Upon hearing this, Shen Qianqian frowned slightly. She hadn't expected Du Lan to be so love-struck, and she had a bad feeling about her.

Then she continued, "My dad introduced me to many wealthy young men before, but I didn't like any of them. Xixi, you know that in families like ours, we can't decide our own marriages. But this time, my dad likes one that I also like, so I want to give it a shot."

(End of this chapter)