Chapter 24: The Truth

Yu Liang drove the car directly up to Gu Lingyi, stepped out, and offered a polite greeting: "We meet again, Miss Gu."

Qin Xiao clicked his tongue from the side: "What are you putting on an act for!"

He had only informed Yu Liang that he was requisitioning his track to teach someone how to drive; he hadn't expected him to show up in person.

Yu Liang paid no mind to Qin Xiao's teasing; his smile remained gentle. "One must introduce oneself properly, after all."

"Miss Gu, my name is Yu Liang."

Gu Lingyi was bewildered by this sudden display of formality, but she responded nonetheless: "Hello, I am Gu Lingyi."

"..."

Qin Xiao rubbed his nose, suddenly feeling like a third wheel. He slung an arm over Yu Liang's shoulder. "Alright! That’s enough! She’s here to learn how to drive, not for you to set up a blind date!"

Hearing this, Gu Lingyi shot him a sideways glare: "If you have nothing intelligent to say, you could try not saying anything at all."

She was a woman with a fiancé; what kind of blind date would this even be!

Qin Xiao choked on his words, cleared his throat, and said, "Ahem, let's begin!" He raised an eyebrow at Gu Lingyi. "First, call me Master!"

Gu Lingyi sneered, "Are you dreaming in broad daylight?"

Qin Xiao: "..."

Fine, don't call me that then! He walked over to Gu Lingyi in a few strides and opened the driver's side door for her. "Get in! I'll guide you from the passenger seat."

On a dusty track, using a Bugatti for driving lessons was a complete waste of a luxury vehicle, yet no one seemed to care.

As Gu Lingyi sat in the driver's seat, Yu Liang reached out to intercept her hand as she reached for the seatbelt. His fingers were long and articulated, the faint veins on the back of his hand lending it a sense of power.

It was too close.

Less than ten centimeters from her chest.

Like a kitten whose territory had been invaded, Gu Lingyi looked up, guarded.

Before she could ask, Qin Xiao, who was about to get into the passenger seat, bristled: "Yu Liang! What are you doing?"

From his sudden appearance at the racetrack to his ridiculous introduction, and now this overstepping of boundaries—this was a version of Yu Liang that lay outside his understanding.

Qin Xiao slammed the passenger door shut with force, the heavy thud muffling his unsteady footsteps.

Once assured that Yu Liang would not make any further moves, Gu Lingyi relaxed. She leaned back against the seat, chin tilted slightly, watching the two men with calm amusement.

Qin Xiao walked around to the driver's side, blocking Yu Liang's reaching hand. "What is your problem!"

His raised tone made it clear that his patience was nearly exhausted.

Yu Liang’s eyes flickered as he looked down at the flustered man before him. It was precisely because they were "brothers" that they understood each other too well.

He knew that this man would hurt an innocent woman based on nothing more than Gu Yanyue’s unverifiable words. He also knew he was capable of falling for a woman on a fleeting whim.

He was not surprised.

However, he did not believe that anyone who had hurt this woman still deserved the right to fall for her.

Yu Liang stepped past Qin Xiao, pulled the driver's door open, and spoke without hesitation: "Miss Gu."

He looked at her earnestly. "If you need to learn to drive, I can teach you as well."

"Damn it!" Qin Xiao shoved Yu Liang aside, swearing profusely: "Are you out of your mind!"

Yu Liang lowered his gaze, his tone indifferent, a trace of mockery appearing in his eyes as he looked at Qin Xiao. "Qin Xiao."

Gu Lingyi, showing little interest, rested her arms on the car door and surveyed the desolate landscape around them.

Yu Liang’s detached voice continued: "I investigated what happened a week ago."

"?" Qin Xiao was confused, having no idea what Yu Liang was talking about.

Yu Liang: "Do you remember what Gu Yanyue said at the time?"

"Yueyue?"

Qin Xiao was surprised that Yu Liang had referred to Gu Yanyue by her full name. Although he wasn't as close to her as he was to Huo Qi, she was still the little sister he had grown up with.

Yu Liang continued.

"She claimed that Gu Lingyi invited her to a dinner party, and later, when she met with an accident, you happened to see it."

"It was you who notified Brother Qi, which allowed her to escape danger."

"..."

Qin Xiao caught a glimpse of the distracted Gu Lingyi; she didn't seem to have heard their conversation. Or perhaps she was pretending not to.

In any case, this was not the time for such talk. Qin Xiao stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked a short distance away.

Once he estimated that Gu Lingyi couldn't hear them, he signaled to Yu Liang: "Say whatever you want to say here."

"Heh." Yu Liang gave a light scoff, but obliged him: "You and Brother Qi concluded it was Gu Lingyi’s doing, so you invited her to the hotel under Brother Qi’s name and specifically installed cameras to teach her 'a little' lesson."

Hearing Yu Liang’s calm narration, Qin Xiao squinted, suddenly feeling a resistance to hearing the events retold by someone else.

He frowned: "Why are you bringing this up now!"

"What?" Yu Liang curled his lips, his eyes devoid of warmth. "Don't have the courage to listen?"

"Tch..." Qin Xiao lifted his chin, acting unbothered. "I didn't do anything wrong."

He turned his head away and happened to see Gu Lingyi in the distance. She had stepped out of the car and was leaning against the hood, playing with her phone.

He didn't know what she was looking at, but the smile on her face was both charming and unrestrained.

Qin Xiao felt an inexplicable restlessness. "What exactly are you trying to say!"

"Gu Lingyi is innocent."

Hearing Yu Liang’s firm tone, Qin Xiao instinctively retorted: "How is that possible!"

As the words left his lips, he realized he had spoken out of turn. He cast a guilty glance toward the distance.

Realizing that it was impossible for Gu Lingyi to hear them from this far away, he let out a sigh of relief and lowered his voice: "Didn't Yueyue say what happened at the time? Besides, I actually saw it myself."

Qin Xiao had been thick-headed for as long as anyone could remember. Yu Liang closed his eyes deeply, exhausting the last of his patience. "What did you see?"

"Tch." Qin Xiao was impatient, his speech quickening. "I saw Gu Lingyi sneaking out of the private room! And pouring wine for Yueyue with ill intent!"

He raised an eyebrow: "Isn't that enough?"

"Sneaking around, ill intent—you really do have a way with words." Yu Liang’s cold voice carried a chill. "Gu Lingyi was on her period that day. The 'sneaking around' you saw was her being shy, and the 'ill intent'..." Yu Liang scoffed: "It was Gu Yanyue who asked her to pour the wine, and she was just clumsy because she was in physical discomfort."

"..."

Replacing his own perspective with Yu Liang’s words, Gu Lingyi’s actions were indeed a much better fit for the reality of the situation.

But at the time, Yueyue had said...

'Yiyi invited me to eat with her, but... that producer Zhang, he...'

'Don't blame Yiyi, it has nothing to do with her...'

'Yiyi must not have known...'

'I've occupied Yiyi’s identity for so many years, it’s only right that she hates me...'

Every word seemed to defend Gu Lingyi, yet every word was an accusation.

Qin Xiao froze. If Gu Lingyi was innocent...

He couldn't even bear to think about it.

He was momentarily speechless. After a while, he regained his composure, a flicker of hope appearing in his peach-blossom eyes. "You... how do you know this so clearly?"

"Could there be some mistake?"

Seeing him still deceiving himself, Yu Liang looked away, his cold indifference bleeding into his words: "Qin Xiao, you know exactly what the Yu family does, don't you?"

Growing up in the same circle and being brothers who shared everything, Qin Xiao certainly knew what the Yu family did for a living.