After arriving home, Nian Suian handed the cake to Nanny Zhang, asking her to cut it so everyone could share. She then gave all the clothes to Gu Junxing, including those previously delivered.
"Don't you want to try on these clothes?" she asked.
"As long as they fit, it's fine. No need to try them on," he replied. The clothes were bought according to size measurements, so they shouldn't be ill-fitting. Usually, his clothes were simply washed and put in his wardrobe; he never bothered to try them on.
"Who buys clothes without trying them on?" she exclaimed.
Gu Junxing looked at the pile of shopping bags on the floor and felt a headache coming on. It would take forever to try everything on.
"We'll deal with it later. I have a video conference to attend soon," Gu Junxing found an excuse. Although his presence at the meeting wasn't strictly necessary, at that moment, he felt it was quite important to attend.
Nian Suian felt a bit disappointed upon hearing this. She had been looking forward to seeing how Gu Junxing looked in the new clothes.
However, her disappointment didn't last long.
After Gu Junxing went upstairs, Butler Su brought him some cake and tea. Meanwhile, Nian Suian sat in the dining room with Nanny Zhang, casually chatting while eating cake.
When Nian Suian mentioned their encounter with a foul-mouthed man in the neighborhood on their way home, Nanny Zhang quickly leaned in to ask what had happened.
"I don't know the man, but Gu Junxing said his name was Xu Feng. He seemed to really dislike him, which is understandable given how unpleasant his words were," Nian Suian frowned. Xu Feng wasn't just verbally offensive; although Gu Junxing had quickly stepped in front of her, she had still caught a glimpse of Xu Feng's gaze. The way he looked at her was as if he was appraising an object, making no attempt to hide his lecherous thoughts.
"Oh my! How did you run into him? That man is truly no good," Nanny Zhang exclaimed after hearing Nian Suian's account, her tone a mix of concern and indignation.
Hearing Nanny Zhang's reaction, Nian Suian quickly asked, "Do you know him?"
Nanny Zhang pursed her lips, "Everyone in this neighborhood knows him. You've only been here a short while and don't like to pry into others' affairs, so you wouldn't know."
"What do you mean?" Judging by the expression, Nian Suian guessed this man probably had quite a history. Gu Junxing hadn't told her anything, and she hadn't thought much of it, but now hearing Nanny Zhang bring it up, she was curious to learn more.
Nanny Zhang paused for a moment, as if considering where to begin: "I've heard that this Xu Feng was a child born to older parents. His father wasn't a good man either, with who knows how many women on the side. His mother didn't care about her husband's affairs, as long as she remained Mrs. Xu. She couldn't have children for over a decade after marrying into the family, and she even said that if her husband had a child with another woman, she'd be willing to raise it in the Xu household. But strangely enough, after all those years, not a single child was born, neither to her nor to any of his mistresses."
Hearing this, Nian Suian concluded confidently, "Then it must have been Xu Feng's father who had the problem."
"Exactly!" At this point, Nanny Zhang's tone suddenly changed, carrying a hint of barely noticeable pride, "Unlike our boss, who had a child at twenty, he..."
Nian Suian quickly interrupted. The conversation had gone off track, and she had no interest in hearing about Gu Junxing's feat of fatherhood at twenty. It wasn't something to be particularly proud of, in her opinion.
"Nanny Zhang, let's get back to talking about Xu Feng," she redirected.
"Oh, right, right. We were talking about how his father couldn't have children. Well, somehow, when the couple was in their forties, Madam Xu suddenly got pregnant and gave birth to Xu Feng."
Nian Suian could guess the subsequent developments without being told. After years of infertility, having a child in their later years meant the boy would likely be spoiled beyond measure.
Sure enough, Nanny Zhang continued, "The whole family was overjoyed and spoiled Xu Feng rotten. I heard that he was mischievous and unruly from a young age, and his family did nothing to discipline him. When he was little, he tormented the household staff, and once he was old enough for school, he started bullying his classmates."
Nanny Zhang paused to take a sip of water before continuing.
"I heard that when he was in primary school, he was caught peeking at girls in the bathroom. When the girls' parents came to complain, Xu Feng's mother turned the tables and accused the little girls of seducing her son. How could such young children know anything about seduction? It was clearly her son who was born rotten!"
"What happened next?" Nian Suian asked.
"Back then, the Xu family was much more influential than they are now. Their business was thriving, and Xu Feng's mother's family had government connections. What could be done? Even families with some money could only accept their bad luck and move on."
"By the time he was seventeen or eighteen, things got even worse. The boss didn't tell you about this because he didn't want to sully your ears or frighten you. But the gist of it is that when Xu Feng went out, if he saw a pretty girl, he would pursue her. And by 'pursue,' I mean intimidate. As it happened, one girl he targeted had no mother and a gambling addict for a father. The father was eager for his daughter to marry into money, so he secretly colluded with Xu Feng, taking money and disregarding his daughter's wellbeing. Xu Feng then used underhanded means to..." Nanny Zhang trailed off, not saying the word, but Nian Suian understood.
"Isn't that illegal?" Nian Suian put down her fork, the once delicious cake now tasting unpleasant in her mouth.
"It is illegal, but for a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl, especially more than a decade ago, with no one to stand up for her, she probably didn't dare report it to the police. And Xu Feng didn't stop there. He took the girl to a karaoke bar and made her... Later, the girl jumped from a building."
"If she jumped, surely the police would investigate?" Nian Suian asked.
"They did investigate. The girl's father also caused a fuss for a while, but after accepting money from the Xu family, he changed his story. He insisted to the police that his daughter had taken her own life due to relationship problems and that it had nothing to do with Xu Feng. There was no evidence, and although the police did their due diligence, interviewing many people and conducting an autopsy, they couldn't find anything conclusive. Xu Feng's friends all corroborated his story. What could be done? In the end, it was ruled a suicide. During the investigation, the incident caused quite a stir, and many people knew about it. Afterwards, probably to avoid the scandal, the Xu family sent Xu Feng abroad for a few years."
Nian Suian felt terrible after hearing this. The victim would forever rest in peace, while the perpetrator could continue living a life of debauchery, enjoying a privileged existence. Going abroad to lay low... it was essentially just letting him enjoy himself in a different place.
"So why did he come back?" she asked.
"Well, his parents are getting old, and they're planning to hand over the company to Xu Feng."
"How can he run a business if he's always partying and womanizing?"
"Hah, his CEO title is just for show. Someone else is actually doing the real work. But in recent years, the Xu Family hasn't been doing so well. Their company has been outperformed by our boss's company in every aspect, which is why he acted that way when he saw you today. Even now, he's involved in plenty of dirty business. Just last year, there was a woman holding a banner at the entrance of our community, cursing Xu Feng. She said she got pregnant because of him, had an abortion, and ended up damaging her health. The residents here look down on him and wish he'd move out!"
"I can't believe such scum exists."
"Indeed. Our boss, on the other hand, is a true gentleman of the highest order. He despises people like that," Nanny Zhang said, and then began to praise Gu Junxing. "The boss is very strict with the young master, fearing he might go astray. Once, when the boss went to a parent-teacher meeting at school, he happened to catch the young master whistling at a female classmate. That night, when they got home, he beat the young master's mouth with a bamboo stick and made him stand in the courtyard whistling all night long. After being beaten and whistling all night, the young master's mouth was swollen. He didn't leave his room for three days. When he returned to school, he apologized to his classmates, and only then was the matter considered settled."
Nian Suian hadn't known about this incident; Zhijing had never mentioned it. However, she agreed with Gu Junxing's method of educating Gu Zhijing. Whistling at female classmates was frivolous and disrespectful, and it definitely warranted correction.
...
"These clothes don't seem to suit me very well." Gu Junxing had appeared at the dining room entrance at some point, wearing the clothes Nian Suian had bought in the morning.