Getting Outsmarted By The CEO

Even though Gu Jue didn’t drink that much, he still woke up with a hangover the next morning.
His alarm went off, and his first instinct was to throw his phone again.

But any more damage to the screen would warrant a trip to the repair shop, and that wouldn’t be fitting of his frugal pretenses.
He fought the compulsion and begrudgingly sat up to sort through his messages.

Most of them were work-related.
His classes were in the afternoon today, so he was bound for the company in the morning.

The secretary spammed him the most.
Gu Jue almost returned to sleep while scrolling through all the messages.
He only became alert when he saw a message from his fellow teammate, Chen Song.

It was a share link with a clickbait title.
He immediately followed the link.

[Topic] # REPORT!!! A certain famous couple made out for half an hour in front of the graduate dorms last night!!! #1F[OP]: It was around 8 or 9 pm when I got these pictures from a friend who lives in the grad dorms. They’re a little blurry, but there’s no way that’s not a couple kissing! My friend is only on the second floor too! Look at the person facing the camera! There’s no doubt that face is Gu God’s!!! Ok, I admit, it wasn’t half an hour. I just wanted to make the title clickbait-y. PS: Ruan An’an’s PJs are too cute! I love that fluffy rabbit-eared fairy look! My friend’s messages (copied from WeChat): – AAAAAHHHH Love, that exchange student couple that you mentioned last time, I think I see them in front of the graduate dorms??? – I mean, the guy is hotter than in the photos! Damn!!! – I think they’re talking… omg they’re hugging! They’re hugging! – AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH what is that angle? Is he biting her ear??? – SJDSKJHFSOIH OMGOMG THEY’RE KISSING!!! If there’s no tongue in that I’m eating my head! – Holy c̲r̲a̲p̲! They’re still going at it! – AAAHHHH the girl went weak in the knees and the guy scooped her up! What an alpha move!!! – The girl came back to the dorms. She’s blushing! Holy, she’s a real beauty too! – I’m in, I’m in!!!!! My new OTP!!!! So… that’s that (/shrug) I witnessed the entire process of her becoming one of us, even though she was against it last time. Seems like no one can resist a beautiful love story (/twirl) [photo][photo][photo] 2F: AHHHHHHH HEAVENLY LOVE I PRAISE THEE! 3F: Another day of screaming for Gu God! How the hell did I think he was cold and aloof?! He can be this wild in love?! (please be even wilder!!!) 4F: Upstairs, wake up, no matter how wild he is, it’s only reserved for Ruan An’an. Also, go RuanGu go!!! … 23F: Ok, let’s analyze. First, this time is definitely too late to be sending her back after dinner. Next, Ruan An’an is wearing pajamas, so we can conclude that she rushed downstairs after Gu Jue showed up for her. From that series of actions, as a seasoned witness to many couples, I can assure you he was most likely drunk. Analysis over. I think there’s enough material for our fanfic writer to expand into another work. 24F: ??? Fanfic??? Upstairs, where’s the fanfic? Is the writer someone from our school??? 25F: Yea, but they’re all short one-shots. The writer said she can whip out a chapter real quick, like 3k words per hour! (apparently she’s a god in the Literature Department) This girl is using our couple as pre-established characters. She imagined their history with each other. There are three versions so far: “Love at First Sight”, “A Long-Awaited Reunion”, and “Mending the Past”. (my fav is the last one, it’s so sad but so good qwq) (that bite on the ear has to give our writer some inspiration!! Something like going to her dorms after drinking fits into “Mending the Past” so well!!!) …

The link was sent by Chen Song early in the morning, along with the message “Gu God, tsk tsk.”

The first few posts were fairly normal, but 25F made Gu Jue raise a brow.

He knew about the forum, and that Ruan An’an constantly browsed it.
He was never interested in these, so he rarely checked.

Gu Jue was somewhat intrigued by the fanfics, but he was pressed for time.
He got himself prepped and left for work.
After he arrived, his personal assistant excitedly informed Gu Qizhong, “Young Master came in at 8 today, please rest assured”.

It was only after working through several documents that he finally had time to resume his browsing.
He found a link to the fanfics and saw the “Love at First Sight” version first.

This version was very close to how it happened in real life; it was basically the story from Ruan An’an’s point of view.

“Mending the Past” was all drama, with jealous b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲e̲s̲ and all.
Gu Jue basically skipped through it.

The last was “A Long-Awaited Reunion”.

In this version, Gu Jue was a school boss during high school, while Ruan An’an was an obedient straight-A student and a school goddess.

The school boss secretly liked the goddess and worked hard to match her grades.
The goddess liked the school boss but was also too shy to confess.
She couldn’t understand why he never confessed.

This was the “long wait”.

The double unrequited love lasted until university and was able to blossom into a love story of the century.

That was the “reunion”.

Gu Jue: …

He was shocked.

Did the writer get all that from peeking inside his brain?

Even though some parts were a bit off, it was the ideal situation that he had dreamed of last night – that he was Ruan An’an’s crush instead.

What the f̲u̲c̲k̲ is this?

A forum where dreams come true???

“Mending the Past” was the most popular and had the most published content.
Gu Jue continued reading.
He found the fanfic to have a life of its own and had already reached the part where they moved out of their dorms to live together.

Coincidentally, when he was drinking last night, Xue Zhao suggested moving in with her, so he wouldn’t be so insecure.
After all, cohabitation was a natural stage in the progression of relationships.

It wasn’t that Gu Jue didn’t want to.

He was just waiting.

Just like with his confession, he felt that it wouldn’t feel serious if he moved too fast, like he was just fooling around.
Even now.

However…

Gu Jue phoned Zhou Chenchu.

He didn’t know if he had been unblocked on WeChat yet, so he chose to call his friend’s personal number.

The recipient wasn’t pleased when he picked up, “What is it, young Mr.
Gu? I know you’re in a relationship, so what?”

“Don’t, I have something serious this time.” Gu Jue said, “Somewhere around University C… Are there any apartment buildings and stuff? I haven’t been in the city in a while, so I’m not too familiar with the housing situation…”

The Zhou family was big in real estate.
As the only heir of the Zhou family, Zhou Chenchu had to be familiar with every inch of Qing Cheng’s land.

“You want to purchase a home? A condo?” Zhou Chenchu paused, sardonicism seeping through his next words, “There aren’t many high-end condos around University C, nothing Your Highness would approve of.”

“… Tsk, what tone was that? You’re too grudgeful.” Gu Jue was not dissatisfied, “My girlfriend thinks that I’m a frugal university student, and tl;dr, I need to rent a place, can you give me some recommendations?”

“There are plenty of options.
Let’s start with how big you want.”

“About…” Gu Jue did some calculations, “100 square meters?”

That should be frugal enough, right?

Due to today’s classes being in the afternoon, Ruan An’an spent the night exploring the starter area and slept in until noon.
After eating with Yin Yuan, she merrily went to class.

Gu Jue arrived before her again.

Ruan An’an found him different today.

Usually, he was either half-asleep or plain expressionless.
But now, he was looking at his phone, with a smile that only grew after noticing her.

Ruan An’an was curious, “What’s got you happy?”

Gu Jue thought to himself, because I found a good place for us.

But this wasn’t the time to tell her yet.

He smirked and said, “Shouldn’t you know why I’m happy?”

What am I supposed to know???

Ruan An’an blinked a few times.
“….
Huh?”

He suddenly grabbed her hand and moved close to her, whispering, “You remember how I kissed you last night?”

“…”

Ruan An’an sucked in a breath.

The memories from last night still felt fresh in her mind, rushing out at the mention.

“I was thinking…” He smiled, the corner of his eyes forming a lovely arc, “can’t I always use tongue from now on?

“…”

“!!!” Ruan An’an gritted through her teeth, “No you can’t.”

She didn’t want to feel like she ran a marathon every time they kissed.
Last night was an accident! An accident!!

Gu Jue squeezed her hand, clear in his subtle message.

“Then… we’ll see if you can guard it.”

What she was guarding was clear without saying.

To say something like that in the classroom!

Blood rushed to Ruan An’an face.
Luckily, Gu Jue didn’t provoke her any further.
Not long after that conversation, the Qiu Yan trio also arrived.

During the lesson, Gu Jue stole glances at the girl beside him often.

Ruan An’an seemed to be able to feel his gaze.
She never turned to look, but it was apparent from how her ears became red whenever he stared for too long.

Gu Jue grew more amused the more he looked.
The gloom from her words yesterday was gone.

Not to mention, he was already looking for a home for them.
He would go for viewings after classes ended.
There was a bright future ahead.

How could there be a word as wonderful and as meaningful as cohabitation?

Gu Jue didn’t need to pay attention to the lesson, so he merrily opened his internet browser.
Just to be sure, he visited the women’s advice forum again.

After all, he was quite satisfied with it when he wanted some reference on how to confess.

Gu Jue made an account and swiftly drafted a new post following the style he had observed from a few random posts.

[Seeking Advice] # Sisters, help~ I’ve known my boyfriend for 2 months and we’ve been dating for 20 days. Yesterday he asked me to move out of the dorms together. Is it too early??? HELP QAQ

Gu Jue checked left and right and was very satisfied with his post.
He thought it blended right in with the rest of the forum and pressed submit.

There was a lot of traffic, and the first reply came within seconds.

[Anon1]: Living together after 20 days?? Are you insecure? It’s normal. I get insecure too~

Gu Jue paused his fingers: ? Why insecure?

[OP]: I’m not insecure. He’s been really great to me! I just wanna know if you think it’s too early? qwq (/slouch)[Anon2]: I think it’s a bit fast… I moved in with my boyfriend after half a year. My bestie was a year~ take that as reference, OP! [Anon3]: I think the OP is too naïve. It’s not about how good he is to you. It’s only been 20 days! Ofc he’s good to you! If he can’t even be good to you for 20 days, why would you be dating in the first place?! [Anon4]: OP, can I ask you something? In the 20 days of dating, have you two done it?

Gu Jue immediately understood what “it” was.

He eyed his girlfriend who was still chatting with Qiu Yan, and replied.

[OP]: No… not yet (/blush)[Anon5]: Hah, I knew it. Your BF probably wants to do it with you. It’s a lot easier after you move out. [Anon6]: Can’t say much else, but I wouldn’t be ok with only 20 days… This guy sounds too impatient. Are you two both locals? Are you moving to a place you own?

Gu Jue paused.

According to the story he made up for Ruan An’an, it wouldn’t make sense to own a home in Qing Cheng.

[OP]: I think it’s rented qwq (/shy) [Anon7]: ??? Poor AND impatient, unbelievable.

Gu Jue: …?

TL/N:
I hope that reading some very British fanfics had not rubbed off on my vocabulary XD
Childish Gu vs the Girls’ Forum, who would win?