Chapter 121: Lord Junlin's fancy apology
The National Ancient Martial Arts Exchange Conference had officially begun. However, it was still in the preliminary selection phase, which would last for about a month.
During this time, the seeded contestants did not need to participate in the tournament. They could take the opportunity to learn about the overall strength of this year's competitors via the official livestream platform. For the past few days, Lu Heng has been staying home, fully focused on studying the preliminary selection videos, even ordering takeout for meals.
Naturally, this left a certain someone feeling neglected.
However, Gu Lingjun didn't see it that way. Ever since that day when Lu Heng had thrown him into the livestream room's blacklist, he hadn't been let out. Although their nightly hunts still continued, the daytime meal benefits had been cut off.
"Have you eaten?"
"I'm ordering takeout, take care of yourself."
Yet another response like this. Gu Lingjun frowned slightly, even feeling a bit irritated—not at Lu Heng, of course. Gu Lingjun was angry at the popular post that had stripped Lu Heng's vest.
He decided to take a closer look at that post. As a result, after clicking on it and following the thread, he found himself in the GuIdol Corner.
A new world opened up in front of Gu Lingjun.
In this sub-forum, most of the content was produced by CP fans who had their own enjoyment, including clips extracted from livestream replays highlighting sweet moments, as well as various fan arts and fan fiction.
The top post was a fanfic titled: "The Domineering CEO's Tsundere Little Sweetheart."
Gu Lingjun didn't really understand the meaning of the title, but he was drawn in by the brief introduction which read: See how SovereignGu masterfully coaxes the ever-angry Idol.
Ah Heng is not at all ever-angry, Gu Lingjun thought. However, given the current situation, this story might still provide some useful reference.
Gu Lingjun—gifted, smart, and with unusually beautiful comprehension—skimmed through the fanfic at lightning speed, swiftly extracting the most important information.
SovereignGu: Since it's the people in this company that upset you, I hereby declare that the company is now yours.
Gu Lingjun pondered this deeply.
The third son of the Gu family was something of an outlier among the sons of Patriarch Gu. Though he had inherited the Gu family's Martial Arts talent, he didn't follow that path. Instead, he became captivated by the fast-paced, ever-changing world of finance. With his sharp intellect and remarkable courage, he made a name for himself in the financial industry.
One day, during a high-level company meeting, the third son of the Gu family, who was cunning and accustomed to playing power games, received a phone call—a private number known only to family members. Glancing at his phone, he saw a name that left him momentarily incredulous.
The caller ID read: Xiao Lingbao.
Xiao Lingbao[1] was Gu Lingjun's childhood name.
When Gu Lingjun was born, the Gu brothers were almost all adults. As a result, they cared for this baby brother with a mindset more like that of raising a son. Especially when Gu Lingjun was little—he was as adorable as a jade doll, yet always carried himself with an air of maturity and seriousness. This cute contrast made the Gu brothers want to pour out their hearts to this baby brother.
Unfortunately, Gu Lingjun was independent from a young age, leaving his older brothers with no outlet for all their affection and love.
This is the first time Xiao Lingbao has called me of his own accord! The third son of the Gu family, a workaholic who never let personal matters interfere with business, immediately waved his hand to suspend the meeting and walked out with his phone in hand: "Lingjun, what's going on?"
"Third Brother, I need to consult you for something."
"There's no need to be so formal with your brother. Just tell me."
"How do you acquire a company?"
"What?" The third Gu brother wondered if all those late nights were finally catching up with him—was he hallucinating? His Martial Arts-obsessed little brother wanted to acquire a company?
"Yes, I want to acquire the OhMyMy livestream platform," Gu Lingjun said.
"..." The third Gu brother fell silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts. If Patriarch Gu found out that he had led Gu Lingjun, the most talented of the Gus, astray and onto the path of business, he'd probably be beaten to death with a cane.
Concerned for his own safety, the third Gu brother replied, "Lingjun, why are you suddenly interested in acquiring a company? I'm sure this isn't as interesting to you as martial arts."
"Not interested," Gu Lingjun responded. "Just want to buy the OhMyMy livestream platform."
Accustomed to his little brother's way of speaking, the third Gu brother immediately understood that Gu Lingjun only wanted to buy a livestream platform: "That's simple. But can you tell me why you want to buy this platform? From what I know, it's just a livestream platform for regular people and has nothing to do with martial artists."
"To give it away," Gu Lingjun replied, cutting straight to the point, no frills attached.
Meanwhile, Lu Heng, who had been engrossed in the livestream of the preliminary selections, suddenly realized that he hadn't gone out for a meal in several days. If he stayed in any longer, he might become moldy. Deciding he needed to go out for dinner, Lu Heng thought it would be a good idea to invite Gu Lingjun.
Perhaps the two hearts beat as one. Just as Lu Heng had the thought, he received a WeChat message from Gu Lingjun.
"I've made a reservation for dinner. It's bad to stand someone up."
Lu Heng snickered to himself. After being rejected so many times, Gu Lingjun had surprisingly learned to act first and inform later.
"Alright."
Gu Lingjun had reserved a table at the revolving restaurant atop the tallest building in S City's financial district. The food was good, but what was even better was the stunning view of the city's nightscape through the floor-to-ceiling windows. As the city's lights began to twinkle, the glowing skyline cast a fiery red hue across the sky.
Since arriving in this world, Lu Heng had been so entangled in various matters that he hadn't had the chance to fully appreciate the beauty of the city. Now, with a glass of fine wine in hand and the company of a beautiful woman—well, let's call it a beautiful woman—he swirled the red wine in his glass, enjoying the slowly changing view as the restaurant rotated.
As the restaurant turned to a particular angle, Gu Lingjun pulled out a manila envelope and slid it across the table toward Lu Heng. Then, he pointed outside, signaling Lu Heng to look out the window: "For you."
Even though his and Gu Lingjun's hearts beat as one, this time, he had no idea what Gu Lingjun meant. Outside the window stood a building with the large characters "OhMyMy" prominently displayed, presumably the headquarters of the OhMyMy livestream platform.
Gu Lingjun pointed again, this time at the envelope on the table. Lu Heng, catching on, opened it. To his surprise, it was an acquisition plan detailing the purchase of none other than the OhMyMy Livestream Platform Corporation.
Lu Heng was even more confused: "Acquisition plan?"
Gu Lingjun, however, seemed to misinterpret Lu Heng's confusion and explained, "Although it's just a plan, my third brother has assigned his most elite team to handle the case. The success rate is one hundred percent. In a few months, OhMyMy livestream platform will be yours."
"Wait a second," Lu Heng interrupted. "Why would I want the OhMyMy livestream platform? No, more importantly, why on earth are you giving it to me?"
"You're angry because that post made you lose your vest."
"So?" Lu Heng still couldn't follow Gu Lingjun's logic.
"I read online that buying whatever upset someone and giving it to them is the best way to apologize," Gu Lingjun explained earnestly, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.
"..." OMG, what sort of stuff is he reading these days? Please don't suddenly turn into a domineering CEO! Lu Heng dumbfoundedly asked the heavens in his heart.
Gu Lingjun's gift-to-apologize plan: failed.
That day's hot thread on the GuIdol sub-forum was this: Idol rejected company as a gift. Unhappy. What to do now?
The poster? JunlinErGu[2].
The entire sub-forum of CP fans was abuzz with enthusiasm. Everyone assumed this was just a CP fan with similar tastes playing a cosplay game, and they all went on stage one after another, wholeheartedly cooperating with the performance.
The poster, of course, was Gu Lingjun himself. Originally, he had intended to post using his "SovereignGu" alias, but found that after Lu Heng had blacklisted him, this alias had also been banned in the forum. Left with no choice, Gu Lingjun had to create a new alias—thankfully, OhMyMy platform's rules weren't as strict as those of the Martial Arts Livestream platform.
In no time, the thread had grown into a "skyscraper" of several hundred floors. Gu Lingjun once again quickly extracted the most critical points from all the replies.
When a gift is rejected, it usually comes down to a few reasons: first, the recipient dislikes the person giving the gift. Second, the recipient is being duplicitous, saying no but actually meaning yes. Third, the gift-giver failed to figure out what the recipient truly wants.
Gu Lingjun pondered each reason carefully. The first one—Ah Heng's attitude towards me is definitely not of dislike, so that can't be it. The second one—Ah Heng's personality is free, easy, and direct. He won't say no but mean yes, so that's not it either.
It should be this third one. So giving gifts should cater to the person's preferences. Reflecting on the amount of effort Lu Heng had been putting into the Martial Arts Exchange Conference lately, Gu Lingjun realized what he needed as an apology-gift.
[1] 小灵宝: Little Precious Ling.
[2] So silly. Sovereign Gu is Junlin YiGu. Yi means first. Now his vest is Junlin ErGu aka second Gu.
Translator:
😆Any guesses if Domineering CEO Gu will get it right?