A President’s Out-of-Body Experience

Renzi’s brash tone just now was not because he was bold or confident. It was the exact opposite, he was afraid, embarrassed, and so spoke brusquely on purposed, and it did not matter even if his face turned red. He had sailed in today, giving his utmost effort, only to be rejected, exhausted. His courage had been completely wiped up, and Gu Xiaoshan’s reaction worsened the impact. He basically had nowhere to hide, wishing desperately that he could dig a hole to escape, and no longer see anyone else.

Picking up the wine bottle he had spent so much time on, he got a taxi and flew back home. At home, he felt giddy, but thought that it was because he was too heartbroken. Uncorking the bottle again, he drank directly from it. Full of sorrow, his eyes clouded, and he sent a text to his brother. “Brother Xiaoshan hates me! He’s disgusted by me! I don’t want to live anymore!”

Yu Yuntao was on a date with Zhi Xuan. When he saw this message, his brow creased. Zhi Xuan was also quite resigned. “Give him a call first to see what’s going on?”

Yu Yuntao called him, but no one answered. He then called his dad to check on the situation.

Old Mister Yu and Yu Yuntao naturally did not feel that Renzi’s “I don’t want to live anymore” was said in seriousness. However, the heartbreak should be real, so they should still show some concern. Old Mister Yu asked the butler, “Is Second Young Master back already?”

“He’s back, but it seems like he’s drunk.”

Both Old Mister Yu and the butler went to knock on Renzi’s door. Renzi had no response, and his door was even locked. The butler asked, “Should I go get the keys?”

Old Mister Yu sneered. “Only sissies need keys!”

He then kicked the door with a foot, but due to his age, his strength was not as powerful as before. Old Mister Yu nearly fell, but thanks to the butler’s quick reflexes, he managed to catch him.

The two of them walked in and got a shock. On the floor was a shattered wine bottle, and the room was filled with a strong stench of alcohol. Yu Yunren was lying on his bed, his face ashen, his lips purple, looking as though he was poisoned. The colour of Old Mister Yu’s face drained away. “Quick, call for the ambulance!”

When Yu Yuntao received Old Mister Yu’s call, he also got a shock. “Hmm???!!!! Huh???!!!”

Holding his face, Old Mister Yu wept bitterly. “Gu Xiaoshan that vixen! Seducing our Renzi! And didn’t take any responsibility for it! Making our silly Renzi poison himself to commit suicide!”

“Are you sure?” Yu Yuntao found it inconceivable. “Also, where would Renzi get the poison from?”

After a bout of investigating, the problem proved to be due to the lack of conformity to standards when producing the wine. Old Mister Yu even paid off people who knew about this, asking them not to spread it out. They were a family well-known for their wines, if news about their little master nearly poisoning himself to death with his own wine, how would they be able to face others?

Old Mister Yu still did not know that Gu Xiaoshan was a victim as well. However, it was fortunate that Gu Xiaoshan only had a small glass, and his symptoms were not as bad. It was only because Renzi had drank more than half the bottle, therefore he needed his stomach pumped.

When Renzi was confirmed to be no longer at risk, he was then sent home to rest. Old Mister Yu regained his nature, and started to complain about Gu Xiaoshan in front of Yu Yuntao again. “You say, the words in the bottle had yet to be revealed, but Renzi was already rejected, and came home sorrowfully and started drinking some more. This is all Gu Xiaoshan’s fault!”

Yu Yuntao had yet to comprehend this logic. “Hmm? Huh?”

Old Mister Yu explained to his son. “You see, if not for Gu Xiaoshan, would Renzi have tried to ferment the stupid wine? If not for Gu Xiaoshan, would Renzi be so upset? If not for Gu Xiaoshan, would Renzi have tried drowning his sorrows in wine? …”

“I understand now,” Yu Yuntao saw the light. “If not for Gu Xiaoshan, Renzi wouldn’t have been hospitalised!”

“That’s right!” Old Mister Yu slapped the table, peeved. “That’s right! It’s exactly like that!”

Yu Yuntao also slapped the table, filled with righteous indignation. “Where’s the cane! Where’s the baseball bat!”

The two of them maintained that Gu Xiaoshan had a hand in Renzi’s hospitalisation. In reality, Gu Xiaoshan had already gotten his due “punishment”. He had also lay in bed for two days already. All thanks to that wine filled with Renzi’s love, that very night, Gu Xiaoshan had diarrhoea and vomiting, almost getting dehydrated.

Gu Xiaoshan had thought it was because of the trauma his mother had left him with, and had not expected it to be so severe. It was only when he started having diarrhoea and vomiting, along with other symptoms, did he realise something was wrong. After going to the hospital, he found out that he had acute gastroenteritis. Still, he did not suspect that exquisite wine bottle, but had thought that it was a problem with the takeaway he had for tea, or that his digestive system had issues with his recent overtime.

As he thought more about it, he also started to suspect that bottle of wine. Unfortunately, the “proof” and the “suspect” were not at the crime scene anymore, and it was hard for him to convict it.

Thinking about how Renzi had drank more than him, he even tentatively sent Renzi a text. “Are you ok? I’m not feeling very well. Sorry, I was impolite.”

He did not receive a response.

He did not think that Renzi did not respond because of gastric issues. In his opinion, it was more likely that his reaction was too rude, causing an indescribable awkwardness, and Renzi chose to avoid him.

Having this sort of situation happen, it was really quite humiliating — for both parties.

Gu Xiaoshan also felt that it was a good idea for the both of them to not see each other for a couple of days. Other than getting over this awkward embarrassment, it could also provide them with time to cool off and consider their situation. As Gu Xiaoshan recovered, he continued looking through his work emails, but his attention was still on Renzi a little more.

Renzi had confessed to him directly, the shock no less than seeing a fireworks display for the first time by the sea. The surging waters, the bursting colours, just like an explosive assault, but also an out of the ordinary beauty — this breathtaking, ear-splitting situation made his mother’s twittering by the beach fade away.

“Renzi…” Gu Xiaoshan suddenly sighed. He could not help but pick his phone out, and realised that Renzi, who had sent “Are you there?” every day, had stopped this behaviour.

As expected, this matter had hurt his pride?

Although Yu Yunren’s pride was hurt, but the thing stopping him from sending a text was mostly a physical hurt. He was groggy the entire time, only waking up a little on the next afternoon, then was scolded by his old father to his face.

He suspected that if he had not been hospitalised, that dragon-topped cane would have re-emerged from its retirement.

Next to him, Yu Yuntao tried persuading his father, asking him not waste his effort. This was not the first time Renzi was so foolish anyway, at least he did not “take his life for love”, and could not be considered to have been that silly.

“Take his life for love? What’s that about?” Renzi was alarmed.

Yu Yuntao explained, “Weren’t you upset because Gu Xiaoshan rejected you?”

Hearing that, Renzi then remembered something like that did happened, and wailed out loud, “Right! I remember it now! Ahhhh — I don’t want to live anymore —”