Hearing the furious voice on the other end of the call, Gu Qixiao could only hang up and head home.
As for Song Xuan, who was still raging nearby, he simply left her for Assistant Li to deal with.
Song Xuan, who initially thought Gu Qixiao was still outside the door, continued throwing things in the hospital room. When there was nothing left to throw, she peered sneakily toward the doorway.
"He's really not here?!"
Realizing Gu Qixiao's figure was nowhere to be seen, Song Xuan plopped down on the bed to rest.
Clutching the phone she hadn't managed to throw, her gaze filled with indignation.
"I've been acting for so long, for what…"
With Gu Qixiao gone, the once-chaotic room grew quiet, letting Assistant Li, who was outside the door, finally relax a bit.
Meanwhile, Gu Qixiao was driving alone back to the Gu Mansion. He rarely came back to the main residence, as a workaholic who spent most of his time at the office or on flights.
Even though there was a marital home, for various reasons, he hadn't lived there prior to the divorce. As for the main mansion, he hadn't crossed paths with Ji Yu there either.
After all, today it was Mr. Gu who summoned him home. Although Song Xuan's confession earlier had left him feeling irritated, he could only endure it.
He disliked bringing personal emotions into family matters.
Because of this, Mr. Gu was unaware of Song Xuan's existence, let alone the reason Gu Qixiao was going out of his way to take care of her.
Evening, the Gu Mansion.
As soon as Gu Qixiao arrived outside the mansion, the butler greeted him, "Young Master, the Old Master has been waiting for you."
Seeing the butler at the door, Gu Qixiao instantly understood that whatever he had been summoned for likely wouldn't be easy.
He reluctantly got out of the car, tossed his keys to a nearby security guard, and entered while massaging his subtly throbbing temple.
Had he known things would become so troublesome, he absolutely wouldn't have returned.
His patience had already been nearly drained dealing with Song Xuan earlier.
"Dad." Upon seeing Mr. Gu sitting at the tea table, Gu Qixiao greeted him while walking over.
But Mr. Gu didn't respond, merely giving him a glance before picking up his teacup to resume drinking.
Gu Qixiao wasn't in a rush either. He sat down and began sipping tea himself. At the moment, relaxing with tea felt quite appropriate for him.
Father and son sat like this, tea cup by tea cup. Only when they finished their tea did Mr. Gu finally speak up with a faint tone.
"I heard you canceled the collaboration with the Feng family?"
"Yes."
"Reason?" Although Mr. Gu heard his son's reply, he didn't rush to blame him.
Even though his ideal daughter-in-law personally came to inform him about this, he decided to understand the situation first.
Gu Qixiao poured himself another cup of tea, waiting for the water to boil before continuing.
"Someone in the Feng family has questionable intentions, and their associations…" He paused, realizing that Mr. Gu still didn't know about his divorce from his wife of three years, Ji Yu. He revised his words.
"And someone's associations have led to an attempt to scheme against the Gu family."
Scheme against the Gu family?
Hearing this, Mr. Gu naturally didn't interfere too much. Since he had already stepped back from the Gu Group, he wouldn't meddle in his son's decisions.
However, considering his daughter-in-law was the one who brought up this matter, he decided to share her contact later and let them discuss it directly.
After this brief talk about work, the father and son moved to the dining table for dinner.
Gu Qixiao initially thought that Mr. Gu's impatient tone over the phone earlier implied something serious. Now, seeing Mr. Gu drop the matter, he relaxed a bit.
He was already irritated enough dealing with Song Xuan at the hospital earlier, and not knowing why Ji Yu had arranged for his father to call him made his mood even more unsettled.
After finishing dinner with Mr. Gu, Gu Qixiao asked casually before resuming work, "Dad, do you know Dr. Ji Yu?"
Upon hearing the name Ji Yu, Mr. Gu was surprised to realize his son was unaware of Ji Yu's profession.
Yet, learning that his son knew so little about his wife of three years made him furious. His tone, once gentle, turned sharp when speaking to Gu Qixiao.
"I don't know! Here's her number. Ask her yourself."
Infuriated by his son's obliviousness to even Ji Yu's name and job, Mr. Gu tossed a piece of paper with a phone number at Gu Qixiao and left abruptly.
This son of his was absolutely hopeless!
A fine young woman like Ji Yu marrying him was a complete waste!
If it came down to it, he'd happily take Ji Yu as his own goddaughter and find her a proper household to marry into.
Looking at the number his father threw at him, Gu Qixiao felt puzzled. However, recalling his father's expression, he reluctantly keyed in the digits, despite his headache.
As he finished dialing, the call connected after a brief wait, and a familiar voice answered, "Hello, may I ask who this is?"
Without Gu Qixiao's number saved in her phone, Ji Yu was just arriving outside the Ji family's residence when she saw an incoming call. Worried that it might be Feng Qinqin calling from another number about something urgent, she answered without hesitation and parked her car by the roadside for safety.
She didn't think much of it.
The moment Gu Qixiao heard the voice on the other end, his expression froze.
It was Ji Yu?
Recalling what he had overheard during his coincidental meeting with Ji Yu and Wu Bei that day, Gu Qixiao wanted to immediately hang up.
However, since it was his father who insisted on this call, there must have been a reason.
"Miss Ji, my father asked me to get in touch with you," said Gu Qixiao curtly.
Recognizing his voice, Ji Yu initially wanted to hang up, remembering how he had stood her up before. But, considering her best friend's current predicament, she suppressed her frustration.
"President Gu, since it's your father who asked you to contact me, I won't take up too much of your time and will get straight to the point."
Ji Yu had no desire to exchange pleasantries. She sat in her car, spotting Ji Yuanzhou stepping out to greet her from a distance.
"I want to ask on behalf of the Feng family, could you please explain why you suddenly canceled the collaboration between the Gu Group and the Feng family?"
Thinking of how the Feng family had several projects affected due to this collaboration issue, Ji Yu felt a headache coming on.
Her best friend, Feng Qinqin, was essentially a spoiled rich girl who rarely involved herself in family affairs.
Now that even Qinqin had become concerned, it was clear the situation was dire for the Feng family.
Remembering the care the Feng family had shown her in the past, Ji Yu naturally couldn't ignore this.
Even though she didn't want too much entanglement with Gu Qixiao, asking a simple question didn't seem unreasonable.
Realizing Ji Yu was calling on behalf of the Feng family, Gu Qixiao quickly understood she was here to demand answers.
Yet, aside from that one night, the two of them had no real connection. Besides, Ji Yu was already married.
With that thought in mind, Gu Qixiao coldly replied and ended the call, "Character issues. No collaboration."
Ji Yu, who had been preparing for a heated exchange with Gu Qixiao, was left fuming when she heard the dial tone following his curt words. She slammed the steering wheel in frustration.
Hearing the car horn, Ji Yuanzhou glanced toward her vehicle, momentarily startled but not overly concerned.
Meanwhile, Gu Qixiao, imagining Ji Yu going all out to help the Feng family, felt an inexplicable surge of anger burning inside him, leaving him agitated and restless.
He picked up his phone and made a call, cutting off the Feng family entirely.
"Inform the Feng family that the Gu Group will permanently cease collaboration with them."