"So that's how it is. Haha, it's really a pity. This young man is so handsome and capable. Jun'er has been in poor health since childhood. I was thinking he could help support Jun'er..."
Madam Gu looked amiable, but a shrewd glint flashed across the bottom of her eyes.
Regardless of this Designer Ding's identity, just the fact that he was an employee of Fang Siyan's company meant a connection with Fangyuan Group.
Now this woman was actually Fang Siyan's wife? The relationship was even closer. Would it be smoother to cooperate with Fang Siyan?
"Haha." Ding Ruola could only force out an awkward smile.
In a powerful family like the Gu family, one had to rack their brains just to make a name for themselves or even survive. Gu Tingjun looked so sickly that it was inevitable Madam Gu would pave the way for him and seek support.
Ding Ruola suddenly remembered that Fang Siyan had said Gu Qianxue's biological mother knew Fang Siyan's mother.
However, Gu Qianxue's biological mother was already dead, presumably under mysterious circumstances. It was likely related to the current Madam Gu.
Ding Ruola wasn't unable to understand Madam Gu's hidden meaning. She just pretended not to understand even though she did, not wanting to get involved in this matter.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Yin Han standing beside her. Ding Ruola wondered if this other - worldly man had become one of Madam Gu's forces.
What benefits had Madam Gu given him? What had made him bow down? What had made him participate in this worldly struggle for interests?
Ding Ruola's thoughts drifted.
Just then, the sounds of girls' laughter came from outside the door, occasionally mixed with a deep male voice.
Ding Ruola looked up and saw Gu Qianxue walking in gracefully in a pink lace dress.
There was a girl beside her, wearing a light - blue silk dress. Although she was an Asian girl, she had dyed her hair off - white, with a coquettish look on her face.
The girl kept twirling her hair and accidentally rubbed her soft chest, winking at Yin Han and Gu Tingjun.
Jiang Chen, who noticed this scene, had a complex look in his eyes and rolled his eyes mentally: "..."
He felt like he was about to vomit up the food he ate yesterday!
There was also a foreign man with blond hair, blue eyes, and a full beard. He was wearing a gray woolen windbreaker, which looked very high - quality.
When Gu Qianxue saw Ding Ruola, her smile instantly froze on her face.
Thinking that Ding Ruola had taken Fang Siyan away, Gu Qianxue's heart ached as if being cut by a knife.
But she quickly adjusted her state and looked at Madam Gu in the hall with a beaming smile. "Mom, this is my friend Lucy. And this is also my friend, Mr. Percy."
"Okay." Madam Gu responded, with a faint smile on her lips, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
Just thinking that Gu Qianxue was the illegitimate daughter of the head of the Gu family and his mistress made Madam Gu angry. Naturally, she wouldn't give her a good look.
But due to her status as the mistress of the family, she still had to put on a show. She had thought that after that bitch died, Gu Qianxue would be more obedient.
Unexpectedly, this girl was quite scheming and hard to control. Not only was she disobedient, but she also often opposed her.
She had even made some of her own connections and was gradually growing stronger...
Thinking of this, Madam Gu's eyes turned a bit sinister as she looked at Gu Qianxue.
"Mom, Mr. Percy is one of the several elders of the European Chief Design Association. The other day when we were chatting, we accidentally mentioned that we had invited someone from Brother Siyan's company to design a garden for Grandpa's recovery."
"Mr. Percy also insisted on designing one. He just wanted to do his bit. He said we should choose the better one in the end."
Gu Qianxue was all smiles, but a hint of coldness flashed across her eyes.
Madam Gu's lukewarm attitude towards her had lasted for a long time, so Gu Qianxue wasn't discouraged. It could also be said that she was biding her time, as her strength wasn't strong enough yet.
"Oh, so you're Mr. Percy from the European Design Association. I've long heard of your name. Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Percy." Madam Gu smiled amiably. Percy handed over a garden design draft.
Madam Gu knew about Percy. He had often appeared on the pages of the top European fashion magazines.
Madam Gu looked at the draft Percy handed over and casually placed Ding Ruola's design draft on the table.
The girl beside Gu Qianxue seemed to have found something interesting. She stepped forward and grabbed Ding Ruola's design draft.
Then she made a shocked expression, with undisguised disgust in her eyes. "Oh! What's this? I've never seen such a terrible garden design before."
Lucy widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand, making an incredulous expression as if she had eaten a fly.
Gu Qianxue seemed to be gloating. She quickly ran in front of Lucy, with a smile in her eyes and a sarcastic tone.
"Really? Designer Ding's design should be good. After all, she's from Brother Siyan's company. What did you find?"
The two of them were singing in harmony, looking like they were acting out a play.
Ding Ruola had a complex look in her eyes. She felt uncomfortable as soon as Gu Qianxue walked in. Although she knew that love was fair, she always felt a bit guilty towards Gu Qianxue.
No matter what kind of person Gu Qianxue was, it was obvious that she was sincere about Fang Siyan. But she herself was also sincere about Professor Fang...
"What kind of design is this? It's neither fish nor fowl. Are they trying to use the ³ design theory? They're really showing off their slight knowledge. Do they know who proposed the ³ theory? They just know a little bit and scribble. And these, it's plagiarism!"
"How do you do things? Xiaoxue trusted you so much, and you come up with such a design draft? You know that Xiaoxue's grandpa is going to recuperate in the garden! Are you trying to kill him for money?"
Lucy was full of arrogance, with her eyebrows almost jumping into her hair.
In fact, she hadn't carefully looked at the design draft and didn't know much about it.
But Gu Qianxue had told her to just keep humiliating this design draft.
Anyway, the design master Mr. Percy was right there. The work he presented would surely be better than theirs!
Madam Gu's eyes flickered when she saw this scene.
She had looked at the design draft Percy presented. It was indeed good, but it was not comparable to Ding Ruola's as the styles were different.
She could tell at a glance what those two women were up to. But why did Gu Qianxue treat Ding Ruola like this? Madam Gu's eyes darkened.
Yin Han beside them also had a cold smile on his lips, looking at this farce with a cool and detached expression, as if the two main characters in the middle were clowns.
"Cough, I think Miss Ruola's design is not that bad..." Gu Tingjun looked at the sudden change in front of him, a bit at a loss.
He weakly spoke up, but his voice was so soft that it was drowned out by Gu Qianxue's voice.
"Miss Ruola, is the salary I gave you not enough? Or was the time I gave you too short?"