When Gu Hanshen and Jiang Rou appeared hand in hand at the entrance of the banquet hall, they instantly attracted everyone's attention. They were like a pair of luminous bodies, born to stand in the spotlight.
Gu Hanshen was wearing a perfectly tailored dark blue suit, which made him look tall and straight, and he looked extraordinary. Time seemed to be especially kind to him. Five years had passed, and he not only did not look old at all, but he had lost the immaturity of his youth and gained the charm of a mature man. His eyes were deep, and his every move exuded the confidence of being in control of everything.
Jiang Rou, who was beside him, was wearing a champagne-colored off-shoulder dress, with tiny diamonds dotted on the hem, sparkling under the crystal lamp. She had delicate makeup, her long hair tied into an elegant bun, and a string of valuable pearls around her neck, which made her skin look like snow and her temperament gentle. She held Gu Hanshen's arm affectionately, with a decent and happy smile on her face, perfectly playing the role of a wealthy hostess.
"Mr. Gu, Mrs. Gu, you are finally here!"
"Jiang Rou, you look so beautiful today!"
Guests came forward to greet each other, and compliments came one after another. Jiang Rou handled them with ease, enjoying the treatment of being the center of attention, but with a hint of imperceptible pride, she glanced at her mother not far away.
Jiang Wan was holding a tray, standing in an inconspicuous corner, watching all this with cold eyes. Her heart was as calm as a pool of stagnant water. Once upon a time, the person who stood beside Gu Hanshen and accepted everyone's blessings was her. She also thought that such happiness would last her whole life.
Now it seems like just a joke.
She handed the champagne on the tray to the guests one by one, with standard and elegant movements, like a well-trained waiter. Her eyes were always downcast, and her long eyelashes and black-framed glasses well concealed all her emotions.
The dinner officially began, and Gu Hanshen, as the host, went on stage to give a speech. His voice was steady and powerful, thanking all the guests for their support for Gu Group's charitable cause. Jiang Wan stood at the back of the crowd, listening quietly. This voice had whispered in her ears countless times, saying the most beautiful love words in the world. And now, every word this voice said seemed to remind her of her stupidity back then.
After the speeches, the banquet entered the free exchange session.
Jiang Wan knew that her chance had come.
She needed an opportunity, an opportunity that would allow her to talk to Gu Hanshen or Jiang Rou without arousing suspicion.
She observed the movements in the venue. Jiang Rou was surrounded by a group of noble ladies, and was discussing the latest jewelry designs with great interest. Gu Hanshen was pulled by several business leaders to discuss an overseas investment project.
Jiang Wan's target was Gu Hanshen. Because she knew that Gu Hanshen was more rational and suspicious than Jiang Rou. It would be enough to plant a seed of doubt in his heart.
She saw Gu Hanshen pick up the wine glass and take a sip of red wine. She quietly walked to a waiter and whispered, "Mr. Gu's glass over there is empty. Go and fill it for him."
The waiter responded and left. Just as the waiter was pouring wine for Gu Hanshen, Jiang Wan calculated the timing and "inadvertently" walked over from the other direction, carrying a tray with several glasses of juice.
"oops!"
Her feet slipped and her body fell forward, causing the juice cup on the tray to fall.
According to her calculations, the glass of orange juice would be accurately splashed onto Gu Hanshen's expensive suit. This was an old-fashioned but very effective way to pick up a girl.
However, just when she was about to "bump" into Gu Hanshen, a strong hand firmly held her arm. At the same time, another hand quickly supported her tilted tray.
All the juice cups remained motionless.
Jiang Wan was startled and looked up.
The person who supported her was Gu Hanshen.
He reacted extremely quickly and resolved the "accident" in a flash.
"Be careful." Gu Hanshen's voice was low, with a hint of aloofness that a superior usually has. His eyes fell on Jiang Wan, but he glanced at her casually before moving away.
He didn't recognize her.
This was within Jiang Wan's expectations. After all, after five years and her deliberate disguise, no one could connect this ordinary waiter in cheap work clothes and black-framed glasses with the radiant eldest daughter of the Jiang family back then.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Gu. I'm so sorry." Jiang Wan immediately lowered her head and said in an apologetic and frightened tone. She deliberately lowered her voice to make it sound a little hoarse.
"It's okay." Gu Hanshen replied indifferently and prepared to turn around and continue talking to others.
He didn't take this little incident seriously at all.
But how could Jiang Wan let him go away so easily?
"Mr. Gu," she mustered up the courage to speak again, her voice not loud but loud enough for Gu Hanshen to hear, "Your cufflinks are very unique."
Gu Hanshen paused.
He subconsciously glanced at the cufflinks on his wrist. They were a pair of sapphire cufflinks with a simple design. They were a gift from Jiang Wan on his birthday many years ago. Because he liked them so much, he always wore them.
"Do you recognize this type of cufflinks?" Gu Hanshen finally looked at her straight in the eye, with a hint of inquiry in his eyes.
"I don't know him." Jiang Wan shook her head, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly. She raised her head, met his gaze, and said in a voice that was almost whispered, "I just think that the letter 'W' engraved on it is the same as my initials. It's a coincidence."
After saying that, she didn't stay any longer. She bowed slightly to Gu Hanshen, then turned around with the tray and blended into the crowd.
Gu Hanshen stood there in a daze.
『W』.
That's the abbreviation of Wan.
Only he and Jiang Wan knew this secret.
He turned around suddenly and looked for the woman in the crowd. However, there were too many people in the banquet hall, and the figure in black uniform had disappeared long ago.
who is she?
A coincidence? Or...
Gu Hanshen frowned tightly. For the first time in five years, he felt such strong curiosity and suspicion towards a strange woman.
He had a hunch that this woman was not simple.
At the same time, on the other side of the banquet hall, Jiang Rou was chatting and laughing with several ladies. Her eyes inadvertently swept in the direction of Gu Hanshen, and keenly caught the strange expression that flashed across his face.
She followed Gu Hanshen's gaze, but only saw a crowd of people.
"What's wrong with Han Shen?" Jiang Rou muttered to herself. An inexplicable sense of uneasiness quietly crept up her heart like a vine.
She picked up a glass of champagne and walked gracefully towards Gu Hanshen, with a perfect smile on her face again: "Hanshen, what are you looking at? You are so lost in thought."
Gu Hanshen came back to his senses, shook his head, and covered it up: "Nothing. I was just thinking about the company's affairs."
He didn't tell Jiang Rou about what had just happened.
For some reason, he subconsciously chose to hide it.
After the dinner, the guests left with satisfied smiles, and the Gu family's villa gradually returned to its former tranquility. But Gu Hanshen's heart seemed to have been hit by a stone, causing ripples that could not be calmed for a long time.
The temporary waitress named "Lin Wan" lingered in his mind like a ghost.
He repeatedly recalled every word she said, every subtle expression. She said her initials were also "W", and she said that the cufflinks were predestined. Was this really a coincidence?
No, it's not possible.
The cufflinks were designed by Jiang Wan herself, and the "W" on them was engraved with her initials, a unique mark. Apart from him and Jiang Wan, there was no way anyone else could know about this.
That woman must know something. Or, she came for him.
"Hanshen, what are you thinking about?" Jiang Rou finished washing up, wearing a silk nightgown, and walked out of the bathroom. She saw Gu Hanshen standing alone in front of the French window, holding a glass of red wine in his hand, looking solemnly at the night outside the window.
"Nothing, just some company matters." Gu Hanshen responded indifferently without even turning his head.
It was that sentence again. Jiang Rou's fingertips tightened slightly. Ever since that little incident at the dinner party, he had been absent-minded. A woman's intuition told her that the matter was not as simple as "something at the company".
"Are you too tired?" Jiang Rou walked forward, gently wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, and put her cheek against his broad back. Her tone was so gentle that it could squeeze water out of her. "There is no end to business. Don't work too hard. I'll feel bad."
If it were usual, Gu Hanshen might turn around and give her a comforting hug. But tonight, he just stood there stiffly, and she could even feel the resistance coming from his body.
"I still have a video conference, you go to sleep first." He calmly broke away from her arms, put down the wine glass, and walked straight to the study.
Hearing the sound of the study door closing, the gentleness on Jiang Rou's face instantly faded, replaced by a sinister and uneasy look. She walked to where Gu Hanshen had just stood and picked up the glass of red wine he had left. The cold liquid reflected her twisted jealousy.
It must be that waitress!
Gu Hanshen would never be so abnormal because of an ordinary waiter. There must be something wrong with that woman!
Meanwhile, in the study, Gu Hanshen did not hold any video conference. He called his assistant and said in a cold and decisive voice, "Go check the information of all the temporary staff for tonight's charity dinner, and focus on a woman named 'Lin Wan'. I want all her information, the sooner the better."
After hanging up the phone, he leaned back in his chair, his slender fingers unconsciously stroking the sapphire cufflink on his wrist. In his mind, the woman's eyes and Jiang Wan's eyes gradually overlapped.
The same calmness, the same aloofness, the same... as if seeing through all the mockery.
Could it be that...
A crazy idea popped up in his mind, but he quickly denied it. It was impossible. Jiang Wan had died five years ago in that accident. This was a fact known to everyone.
This "Lin Wan" is at most just a woman who looks a bit like Lin Wan, or knows some secrets and wants to blackmail him.
On the other hand, Jiang Wan, who had successfully planted the first seed of doubt in Gu Hanshen's heart, had already left the Gu family villa. She did not return to the cheap hotel, but according to the work agreement, she was taken to a distribution point in the city center by bus with other temporary workers.
After collecting her salary for today, she quickly left the crowd and turned into a dim alley nearby. She quickly took off her work uniform and glasses, took out a cap from her backpack and put it on, and instantly changed from an inconspicuous waiter to a passerby blending into the night.
She did not leave in a hurry, but leaned against the wall and waited quietly.
Sure enough, within ten minutes, a black car stopped at the alley entrance, and two men in suits got out of the car. They were Gu Hanshen's bodyguards. They looked around at the gathering point, as if they were looking for something.
Jiang Wan pulled the brim of her hat even lower, a sneer appearing on the corner of her mouth.
Gu Hanshen, your reaction is faster than I thought.
It seems that you haven't been living a very peaceful and contented life in the past five years.
In order to deepen his suspicion, Jiang Wan decided to add fuel to the fire. She changed a new phone card and sent a message to the public relations manager of Gu Group under the pseudonym "Lin Wan".
"Manager Chen, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to work today. I accidentally disturbed Mr. Gu at the dinner, and I felt very upset. To express my apology, I took a beautiful landscape photo on the winding mountain road in the suburbs a few days ago. I think it fits well with the "Back to Nature" series that Gu's is promoting. I sent it to you, maybe it can provide some inspiration for your promotion. I wish you good luck in your work."
She attached a photo she had taken near the accident site, the angle of the photo carefully chosen to capture the iconic curve of the road.
After doing all this, she broke the phone card, threw it into the sewer, and then disappeared into the night.
The next morning, Gu Hanshen's assistant placed an investigation report on his desk.
"Boss Gu, we have found the information about Lin Wan. This is her resume. Her resume is very clean. She has worked in several public relations companies before and received good reviews. But..." The assistant's tone was a little hesitant. "Our people went to the address written on the resume and found that there was no such person. Her identity information is likely forged."
Gu Hanshen picked up the resume. The woman in the photo was the waitress from last night. She looked ordinary, but there was something strange about her.
At this moment, Manager Chen from the Public Relations Department knocked on the door and handed him a document: "Mr. Gu, this was sent to me by the temporary worker named Lin Wan last night. He said it was a little suggestion. I think this shooting angle is good. Would you like to take a look?"
Gu Hanshen took the printed photo.
The moment he saw the content of the photo clearly, his pupils suddenly shrank.
This place...
It was the winding mountain road where Jiang Wan had the accident five years ago!
Fake identities, mysterious appearances, suggestive words, and this photo from the accident scene...
All the clues pointed to a possibility that made him shudder.
Who is this woman? What is her relationship with Jiang Wan five years ago?
Gu Hanshen felt a chill running down his spine. For the first time, he realized that things seemed to be out of his control. A tiny crack seemed to appear in his impregnable world.