Cub's Dad Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Although the investment in StarTech was a sure thing, before representing the Gu family in investing in StarTech, Gu Yanzhi still had to personally go to District 16, have an initial meeting with StarTech's representatives, and formally invest after evaluating StarTech's commercial value.

Gu Yanzhi glanced at his schedule and set the meeting time with Cheng Xiao for Thursday and Friday.

Cheng Xiao stared at the light brain screen, stunned by this enormous windfall that had fallen from the sky.

With the backing of the Gu family, his company could firmly establish itself in District 16. His status within the Cheng family would also rise accordingly.

Cheng Xiao knew that Mr. Gu was considering investing in StarTech to support his beloved, so he thoughtfully sent over several versions of the contracts used by StarStar Livestream for signing with streamers for Gu Yanzhi's reference.

【Cheng Xiao: Mr. Gu, these are the contracts StarStar Livestream uses when signing with streamers.】

【Cheng Xiao: When you review them... would you prefer to use an existing contract, or would you like to draft one yourself?】 

If Cheng Xiao initially saw Xie Yishu's potential to become a cash cow and wanted to sign him for that reason, his thoughts had now completely changed.

He was willing to make concessions in the contract, even if it meant not sharing profits with Teacher She Yu and only charging a nominal operating fee. As long as it ensured the Gu family's smooth investment, anything was negotiable.

After all, as long as the funds were in place, resources could be secured. While Mr. Gu was supporting his beloved, his platform and the promising streamers on it could also benefit and get a small share of the pie.

Gu Yanzhi appreciated dealing with perceptive people: 【I'll draft it.】

By drafting the contract himself, he could give Xie Yishu the greatest possible freedom, ensuring he wouldn't be constrained by a piece of paper.

【Gu Yanzhi: By the way, don't let him know about the Gu family's investment in StarTech or my involvement.】

【Gu Yanzhi: Just treat him as an ordinary new streamer.】

At first, Cheng Xiao didn't quite understand, but after a moment, he slapped his forehead and got it.

Mr. Gu's beloved didn't want to rely on the family and wanted to achieve something on his own. Mr. Gu couldn't bear to see his beloved suffer, so he had to provide support behind the scenes.

【Cheng Xiao: Understood, Mr. Gu. Rest assured, I will act as if I don't know anything.】 

After that, the two discussed the details of Thursday's meeting.

Once they had talked enough, Gu Yanzhi ended the conversation, put the car repair reference book he had taken out as a pretense back on the shelf, and walked out of the small room.

Xie Yishu was sitting in the living room.

Hearing the noise, Xie Yishu looked up towards the small room but didn't say anything. He just patted the empty spot on the sofa beside him, signaling Gu Yanzhi to come and sit.

Gu Yanzhi's eyelid twitched.

Xie Yishu only did this when there was something very serious and important to discuss with him.

And recently, the matter that required serious attention... words popped into Gu Yanzhi's mind.

—His identity.

Could it be that he had slipped up somewhere, and Xiao Shu had seen through the "debt-ridden car mechanic" persona?

The thought of this possibility made it impossible for him to remain completely calm, but Gu Yanzhi still maintained an outward composure. He walked naturally over to Xie Yishu with his long strides.

As soon as he sat down, Xie Yishu took his hand.

Gu Yanzhi was momentarily stunned, his eyes darkening. He turned his hand to hold Xie Yishu's in return, his voice husky, "What's wrong?"

Xie Yishu thought for a long time and decided that he should tell Gu Yanzhi about the fake children's nutritional supplements he had been buying.

Although it might be a blow to Gu Yanzhi, it was better than letting him remain in the dark and occasionally spend his hard-earned money on fake supplements.

"Gu Yan." Xie Yishu was a bit nervous. He paused, thinking it would be better to first express his feelings. He leaned in and gently kissed Gu Yanzhi on the cheek, then looked directly at this man who had been deceived out of his hard-earned money, his gaze serious, "I love you."

Gu Yanzhi looked at Xie Yishu's serious expression, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. He tightened his grip on Xie Yishu's hand, "I love you too."

Maybe he had been overthinking things just now.

Gu Yanzhi reached out, intending to pull his lover onto his lap. The next second, he saw his lover nod and nervously say, "So I want to ask about Bo Zai's nutritional supplements."

"..." Gu Yanzhi was silent for a moment, "Nutritional supplements?"

"Yes, I want to ask how often Bo Zai drinks the nutritional supplements."

Although he knew that counterfeit factories wouldn't produce anything harmful and that the "nutritional supplements" Gu Yanzhi bought for Bo Zai were probably just vegetable and fruit-flavored drinks with similar colors, they were still fake products from unregulated small workshops. Xie Yishu felt it was better to find out exactly how much Bo Zai had consumed.

If Bo Zai had consumed a lot of the fake nutritional supplements, even though his kindergarten health check-ups showed that apart from being slightly chubby, all other indicators were normal, Xie Yishu was considering taking the little chubby boy to the hospital for a more comprehensive check-up.

Gu Yanzhi slowly replied, "Once or twice a week."

The nutritional supplements that Bo Zai usually drank were specially formulated by a research team hired by the Gu family based on the doctor's health reports, and they were different from the ones available on the market, so they didn't need to be consumed daily.

Moreover, Aunt Qiu was a certified Atlantis-registered nutritionist, and the family doctor came every six months to give the little chubby boy a check-up. Gu Yanzhi wasn't too worried about Bo Zai's health.

Apart from following the doctor's advice and strictly controlling the little chubby boy's snack intake, the nutritional supplements were given whenever they remembered.

He hadn't given Bo Zai any nutritional supplements in the past few days, and Xiao Shu might have mistakenly thought it was because he had too much debt and couldn't afford to buy them.

Gu Yanzhi thought for a moment and said to Xie Yishu, "I'll buy more nutritional supplements in the future and let Bo Zai drink more." He would have Professor Lin's team formulate a few types that needed to be consumed daily.

Hearing that Bo Zai only drank the supplements once or twice a week, Xie Yishu's tense body relaxed: "I'll buy them from now on."

"I'll handle the purchasing," Gu Yanzhi said. He couldn't tell Xie Yishu that Bo Zai usually drank specially formulated supplements that weren't available on the market. After a brief moment of thought, he came up with an explanation, "I have a friend who sells nutritional supplements. Buying from him will be much cheaper."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Yanzhi noticed that Xie Yishu's expression had changed.

First, he showed an "I see" expression, then he became... somewhat angry?

Xie Yishu's face tightened, "Are you very close with that friend?"

Gu Yanzhi had fabricated the existence of this friend, so he didn't know how to respond for a moment. After a few seconds, he cautiously replied, "I wouldn't say we're very close, just acquaintances, fairly familiar."

"Don't associate with him anymore," Xie Yishu said, feeling both heartbroken and angry at the thought of his Gu Yan working hard every day, repairing cars from dawn to dusk, only to have his hard-earned money swindled by a so-called acquaintance. "Such people... taking advantage of acquaintances is really too much!"

Gu Yanzhi: "…?"

Seeing that Gu Yanzhi still hadn't grasped the situation, Xie Yishu felt even more heartbroken. He pulled Gu Yanzhi into the kitchen, opened the cabinet, and took out the two boxes of children's nutritional supplements from the corner. He pulled out a vial from each box and held them up to the light for Gu Yanzhi to see, "Look, the labels have been peeled off and reapplied."

Gu Yanzhi's eyelashes trembled, knowing he had personally applied those labels.

Xie Yishu didn't notice Gu Yanzhi's unease and pulled out two more vials of nutritional supplements, comparing them for Gu Yanzhi to see, "These two don't look hand-applied; they seem to be machine-applied by a factory."

Gu Yanzhi looked at the ones he had labeled himself, then at the ones Aunt Qiu had labeled, which looked as if they had come off a factory assembly line. Following Xie Yishu's line of thought, he slowly said, "…Mixed with fakes?"

"Yes, mixed with fakes!" Xie Yishu paused for a moment and then gently added, "It’s also possible that they are all fake. The colors of these flavors are different from what I remember."

He looked at the silent Gu Yanzhi and put the nutritional supplements back in the cabinet.

Closing the cabinet door, he turned around and gave the man, who was so silent it was heartbreaking, a big hug. He comforted him with both the embrace and his words, "It's okay. I think they are probably just drinks with similar colors. Bo Zai's kindergarten health check-ups showed that he is very healthy."

Gu Yanzhi took the opportunity to wrap his arms around his lover's waist, burying his face in his shoulder and inhaling the pleasant scent of his beloved. He responded in a low voice, "Mm, I won't buy from that person anymore."

He gave the imaginary friend a fitting end: "I've blocked him."

Xie Yishu nodded in support, "Good, blocking him is the right thing to do."

As Gu Yanzhi held Xie Yishu, he found it increasingly difficult to control his desires.

A few days ago, Bo Zai was around, but today he had already gone to bed and wouldn't disturb them. Gu Yanzhi whispered in Xie Yishu's ear, "Xiao Shu, the manager wants to send me to District 16 for training in car repair. I have to leave on Thursday and won't be back until Saturday..."

They had just reunited not long ago, and now they had to be apart for three days again.

Xie Yishu's thoughts were completely different from Gu Yanzhi's.

"District 16?" Xie Yishu remembered that Gu Yanzhi's parents lived in District 16. "I'll buy some gift boxes suitable for the elderly tomorrow, and you can take them with you the day after."

Gu Yanzhi, who had completely forgotten that he once used the excuse "my parents are in District 16 and told me to save money by not buying a plane ticket" when he couldn't go home during university holidays: "…Buy gift boxes?"

"Yes, aren't your parents in District 16? This is a perfect opportunity to visit them."

Xie Yishu released his embrace around Gu Yanzhi, thought for a moment, and suggested, "You work six days and have one day off at the car repair shop, right? Which day do you have off? See if you can leave a day earlier or come back a day later to spend some time with them."

"My parents are no longer in District 16. They've moved to the main star..."

Gu Yanzhi paused, realizing that saying this might make his lover want to visit them, so he slowly added, "But we don't keep in touch often now."

He couldn't let Xiao Shu meet his mother.

Xiao Shu had seen his mother's movies, and if they met, there was a high chance he would recognize her.

Gu Yanzhi thought for a moment and provided a reasonable explanation: "They told me not to visit them until I've paid off my loans."

When Xie Yishu heard "we don't keep in touch often now," he didn't immediately react. But when he heard Gu Yanzhi casually say "they told me not to visit them until I've paid off my loans," he suddenly realized what had happened between Gu Yanzhi and his parents during the five years he was away.

Gu Yanzhi had been kicked out by his parents.

Because he insisted on taking out loans to raise Bo Zai and buy the house in Lin Jia Li.

Because of him.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt, Xie Yishu hugged the man in front of him again and promised, "I will help you pay off the loans."

His livestreaming career was starting to show promise, and he had also submitted a preliminary patent application for the bubble bath bombs.

To simplify matters, he had submitted the patent application as a partner of "Mr. Gu." If the patent transfer was successful, he would only receive one-fifth of the transfer fee. "Mr. Gu's" portion would be directly donated to a charitable foundation.

Although this would slow down the loan repayment process a bit, the money would be earned honestly.

Xie Yishu gently stroked Gu Yanzhi's hair, "Once we've paid off the loans, I'll go with you to visit them."

Gu Yanzhi nodded.

He wanted to steer the conversation back to their upcoming three-day separation, his voice husky, "Xiao Shu, we will be apart for three days..."

This time, Xie Yishu understood Gu Yanzhi's hint.

After all, they were both young and full of vigor, and they had been together for many years. It wasn't just Gu Yanzhi; Xie Yishu had thought about it too, but it hadn't been convenient with the little chubby boy around. But today, the little chubby boy was already asleep...

A faint blush crept up Xie Yishu's ears as he softly said, "Let's take a bath first..."

The sound of a door opening interrupted him.

Both adults looked towards the bedroom door. The little chubby boy, eyes closed and barefoot, walked out and stopped at a spot. Suddenly, he pulled down his little pants!

Both adults: "!"

Gu Yanzhi reacted quickly, darting forward and scooping up the little chubby boy. He carried him to the bathroom, letting him stand on a small stool in front of the toilet to relieve himself in the proper place.

Xie Yishu was a bit slower to react but followed closely behind Gu Yanzhi. Watching the little chubby boy come out in the middle of the night to relieve himself, he softly asked Gu Yanzhi, "Is Bo Zai... sleepwalking?"

"He's not sleepwalking," Gu Yanzhi replied helplessly. "In the place where we used to live, this was the path from the bed to the bathroom. He developed the habit and hasn't completely adjusted yet."

Xie Yishu nodded in understanding.

He looked at the little chubby boy, then at Gu Yanzhi. With the interruption from Bo Zai, all his previous thoughts had dissipated.

"I'll take him back to bed," Xie Yishu said, picking up the little chubby boy and letting him rest his head on his shoulder to continue sleeping.

He looked at Gu Yanzhi, whose thin lips were tightly pressed together, and quickly kissed the corner of his lips. Covering the little chubby boy's ears, he whispered very softly to Gu Yanzhi, "I'll earn more money. When I get paid, we'll go somewhere else."

Home was out of the question.

Once they had enough money, he would take Gu Yanzhi to a hotel with a big bed for 899 a night.

Xie Yishu carried Bo Zai back to the bedroom, leaving Gu Yanzhi alone in the bathroom.

Gu Yanzhi stood there for a while, raising his hand to touch the spot where Xiao Shu had just kissed him.

His mind was filled with thoughts of how to quickly get money into Xiao Shu's hands.

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