Chapter 25: It turns out that he had a deep bias against Gu Zhaoping.(part 1)

Shen Yifeng’s parents were excited.

The more they imagined it, the more detailed their plans became.

They even started thinking about what dishes to serve when they invited Gu Zhaoping over.

They had recently hired a top chef who specialized in Huaiyang cuisine, and it seemed like Gu Zhaoping enjoyed that flavor.

Yet, they didn’t notice that Shen Yifeng hadn’t responded at all.

It wasn’t until they realized his unusual silence that Shen’s father paused in his enthusiastic speech and looked at him in surprise.

Noticing his expression, Shen’s father was momentarily stunned.

Then, as if something clicked in his mind, he hesitantly asked:

“…Did you and Zhaoping have a fight?”

He had heard some rumors about the tension between them.

Shen Yifeng’s expression finally changed.

It was not a good change.

His gaze shifted slightly to the side a habit familiar to those who knew him well, a sign that he was avoiding answering the question.

Shen’s father was surprised.

He knew that Shen Yifeng rarely avoided answering questions.

After all, his son had the ability to resolve most problems.

“If you had a fight with her, then isn’t this the perfect opportunity to make amends?”

As an elder, Shen’s father was naturally willing to offer him an easy way out.

“Zhaoping may seem unreliable sometimes, but she’s still young, isn’t she?

She’s even two years younger than you.

At 26, a person has only lived through a quarter of their life.

It’s like being at 8 or 9 in the morning it’s still early.

She’s just a fledgling.

Even if she made mistakes, it’s understandable.

Yifeng, you shouldn’t be too harsh on her.”

Shen’s father spoke with patience and sincerity.

Shen Yifeng’s brow twitched involuntarily, barely suppressing his frustration.

Was that the issue?

If Gu Zhaoping were still the same as before if she were still unreliable then he wouldn’t have reacted like this at all.

He would have known exactly how to handle the situation.

The problem was that she had suddenly become…

Too reliable.

The image of her calm and composed expression replayed in his mind.

The way she had spoken so logically and rationally

That was not the unhinged reaction he had expected from her.

The Gu Zhaoping he had imagined would have been completely different.

The Gu Zhaoping he had known the one who would get flustered in front of him, who would secretly try to please him, who would always be hesitant and unsure

That Gu Zhaoping seemed to have vanished.

Shen Yifeng lowered his head, intertwining his fingers and resting them between his knees.

Then, slowly, he lifted his head and finally spoke to his parents.

“The engagement has been called off.”

Shen’s father, who had been speaking non-stop, froze.

His words were caught in his throat.

The gesture of concern he was about to make paused awkwardly in mid-air.

Shen’s mother also stood up abruptly, completely caught off guard.

“What? What happened?

How could this be?

Did you and Zhaoping have a huge fight?”

Shen’s mother stepped forward, grabbing his shoulders.

“Is this because of everything that happened recently?

Do you really mind what Zhaoping did?

Are you the one asking for the breakup?”

“Yifeng, this is not a trivial matter!

Even though you’re an adult now, you can’t just call off an engagement without considering the opinions of your parents and elders!

You and Zhaoping have known each other for so many years, studied abroad together, and our two families still have important business ties…”

“You’re usually such a rational person.

How can you make such a rash decision?”

Shen’s mother shook his shoulders slightly not too forcefully, just enough to make him sway a little.

He didn’t resist or pull away.

He simply allowed her to shake him.

Yet, his emotions grew increasingly complicated, so much so that they finally showed on his face.

That’s right.

Why did everyone assume that he was the one who wanted to break off the engagement?

No one even considered the possibility that Gu Zhaoping had been the one to bring it up.

To everyone, Gu Zhaoping’s attachment to the engagement had always been stronger than his.

Everyone believed that.

Shen Yifeng lowered his head.

“…You shouldn’t give yourself so much importance.”

“…Most people aren’t that valuable.”

Gu Zhaoping’s words echoed in his mind, again and again.

Now that his anger had faded, all that remained was an overwhelming sense of confusion.

“Mom,” Shen Yifeng said blankly, “Zhaoping was the one who wanted to break it off.”

The entire Shen household fell silent.

…

Even as he was being dragged by his parents to the Gu family’s house, Shen Yifeng was still replaying those words in his head.

No one had ever spoken to him that way before.

The attack was too specific.

And for the first time, Shen Yifeng couldn’t help but wonder

What exactly had he done wrong?

For the most part, he considered himself a rational person.

He believed that people’s opinions of him had reasons.

If someone thought highly of him, it could be because of his merit.

If they criticized him, it could be due to personal bias or because he genuinely did something wrong.

If it was the latter, he would correct himself.

If it was the former, he would simply ignore it.

After all, people who blindly acted on their prejudices weren’t worth his time.

But then…

Wait.

Could his own opinion of Gu Zhaoping have been biased all along?

…

He had followed his parents here without argument, knowing that they wouldn’t let this go unless he personally showed up.

But now that he was here, he suddenly felt an unexpected hesitation.

He had just confronted Gu Zhaoping earlier.

And now he was about to see her again?

She definitely wouldn’t give him a warm welcome.

Her words echoed again in his mind.

If you think it’s fun to have a devoted fiancée following you around like a timid puppy, why not just hire an actress?

You can pay her to play along in your male-lead fantasy.

…Was that how it was?

It was true.

In this engagement, she had always been the one who cared more.

Festivals, anniversaries, birthdays she had been the one putting in effort.

Even that subtle annoyance he had once felt toward her presence

Wasn’t that simply because… they were actually engaged?

Gu Zhaoping had been taking their engagement seriously.

He hadn’t.

When an action, a habit, persists for too long, people begin to assume it’s simply the natural state of things.

Shen Yifeng had always assumed that Gu Zhaoping would just continue following him around, forever.

He finally admitted it to himself.

An engagement was a two-way street.

And he had never put any effort into maintaining it.

He had only ever seen it as a vague, distant burden.

Emotionally, they were never equal.

So how could he blame her for being more invested?

After all

He had never given her any reason to expect a return on her efforts.

At that thought, Shen Yifeng suddenly froze.

An image surfaced in his mind

A young man playfully tugging his cap down, grinning as he stepped back.

And along with it

Memories of the young male models that Gu Zhaoping used to surround herself with.

They were always around twenty years old, sweet talkers, skilled at pleasing her.

People’s preferences are consistent.

Gu Zhaoping liked those with talent, those who could sing and dance, those who provided emotional support.

She liked people who were nothing like him.

Shen Yifeng stopped in his tracks.

A realization hit him.

He might not necessarily be Gu Zhaoping’s type either.

This realization made him lift his head, his pupils slightly contracting.

Could it be that all these years, her actions were simply about fulfilling her duty in this engagement?

As the car came to a stop, Shen Yifeng found himself in an unprecedented state of unease.

Why, when it came to this engagement, had he disregarded his upbringing and failed to fulfill his responsibilities?

The responsibilities he had assumed he owed to Gu Zhaoping perhaps she never needed them in the first place.

Even if she made mistakes, she had the entire Gu family behind her.

She had her parents and grandfather to support her.

Their families had arranged this engagement in hopes of forming an alliance, supporting each other as equals not so that Gu Zhaoping could have a guardian.

For the past ten years, they had been engaged.

And for the first time, Shen Yifeng felt a chill run down his spine.

Their timing was unfortunate.

As soon as the Shen family’s car stopped, they noticed that quite a few people were already gathered at the Gu family’s old residence.

Shen’s parents hesitated for a moment before realizing that these people were executives from one of the Gu family’s companies.

It seemed they were here for business discussions.

But that wasn’t their concern.

After notifying the Gu family of their arrival, they were invited inside.

“Oh my, Yifeng! What brings you all here?”

Mrs. Hua looked at them in surprise.

“It’s rare for all three of you to visit together what’s the occasion?”

The Shen family felt a bit awkward.

Mrs. Hua was a simple-minded person, and her words carried no hint of mockery.

However, given the situation with Gu Zhaoping wanting to break off the engagement, her comment felt particularly piercing, making the atmosphere even more uncomfortable.

The truth was, they rarely reached out.

If they had, they might have noticed Gu Zhaoping’s change in attitude sooner.

“Pingfan, we’re here for something important.

I hope we’re not interrupting anything?”

Mrs. Hua glanced back at the high-ranking executives from Yuanqi Technology, who were waiting anxiously.

Thinking about the reason she had called them over today, she decided it wasn’t a big deal and simply smiled.

“Not at all!

Our families are so close what’s a little visit?

You’re welcome anytime.

Oh, by the way, Zhaoping isn’t home today.

That’s unfortunate.

If she were here, she and Yifeng could have had dinner together.”

The Shen parents’ expressions grew even more awkward.

They could hardly lift their heads.

It seemed that the Gu family still didn’t know about the engagement being called off.

This made it even harder to bring up.

Shen’s mother hesitated before saying, “Pingfan, go ahead and handle your business first.

We’re not in a rush.

We can talk later.”

Mrs. Hua looked at them curiously.

If they had come all this way so formally but weren’t in a rush, then what exactly could their visit be about?

Nevertheless, she nodded and said somewhat apologetically,

“We’re all family, so I won’t keep this from you.

Recently, Zhaoping has been acting differently.

Her changes are too drastic, and I’m worried something might have happened to her.

I heard she did something at the company, so I called the executives from Yuanqi Technology to find out what’s going on.”

Shen Yifeng’s eyelashes twitched slightly.

He had heard bits and pieces about this about how Gu Zhaoping had even driven Gu Zhaoye to return to the company.

He glanced at the executives from Yuanqi Technology, who looked tense.

Feeling the weight of everyone’s stares, one of them spoke hesitantly.

“Mrs. Hua, well…

Miss Zhaoping raised a financial issue the other day…”

It had caused such an uproar that Gu Zhaoye had been furious.