Chapter 253 – Report to the CEO: Madam Has Run Away Again – The Deal is Done, the Mole Reveals Himself (17)
Bai Tang didn’t understand business matters. The only thing he could do was make sure Gu Yan could focus on his work without worry.
And to help Gu Yan do that, the most important thing was for Bai Tang to stay by his side. As long as Bai Tang didn’t run off, Gu Yan’s heart could be at ease.
The CEO’s office had a resting lounge, and although the reporters downstairs were still dutifully keeping watch, Gu Yan wasn’t in a hurry. After all, Tangtang was right in front of him—there was no way he could get away.
He gently picked up Bai Tang, who had fallen asleep on the sofa, and laid the young man down on the bed in the lounge.
“Mm… what time is it?” Bai Tang mumbled, barely cracking his eyes open. He was exhausted.
“Ten-thirty. Go back to sleep.”
Gu Yan spoke softly, soothingly, gently patting the blanket over Bai Tang in a steady rhythm.
Before long, Bai Tang had drifted back into deep sleep.
“Good night.”
Gu Yan pressed a kiss to the young man’s forehead and closed the windows to keep the night breeze from making him sick.
As soon as Gu Yan stepped out of the lounge, his whole demeanor changed—sharp and commanding, so intense that no one dared to meet his gaze.
“Meeting. Now,” he said to the staff in the outer office.
Zhao Lou and the others didn’t dare delay. The matter at hand was serious, and resolving it was now their top priority.
It was already late autumn—hot during the day, cool at night, and the air was dry.
The reporters staking out downstairs didn’t even dare drink water, afraid the sound of twisting a bottle cap would make them miss an interview opportunity.
Their mouths were parched, their stomachs empty, and they were grumbling inwardly about how good Gu Yan was at hiding—so long had passed, and still no sign of him. The reporters guarding the back entrance were starting to give up hope, wondering if he had already slipped out the back and they’d simply missed him.
As time passed and the night grew quieter, those on stakeout became increasingly convinced their guess was right—Gu Yan was long gone. And here they were, looking like fools, freezing in the night wind.
The moon in the sky grew brighter and brighter. No one knew who started it, but one reporter from a news agency finally got up and left. The rest gradually followed, getting into their cars and driving away. Soon, there were only a few people left outside the Gu Corporation building.
“Boss, are we still staying here?”
“Stay for what? Everyone else has already left. They must’ve gotten word that Gu Yan isn’t at Gu Corporation. Let’s just go home and sleep—what a waste of a day.”
The man being called “Boss,” who was carrying a camera, reluctantly decided to call it a night.
The ones who left had completely forgotten that earlier in the day, they were still determined to “see who could outlast whom.”
Down below, the entrance to the Gu Corporation building was nearly deserted, but on the 35th floor, a meeting was taking place—and the atmosphere was extremely serious.
Gu Yan swept his gaze over everyone in the room and dropped a bombshell.
“There’s a mole among us.”
Yes—a mole.
Not long ago, one of their branch offices had been infiltrated, and Gu Yan had personally handled the traitor. He hadn’t expected there to be one so close by this time. It was practically a slap in the face.
But Gu Yan wasn’t concerned with saving face right now. What mattered was the company’s looming financial crisis.
He watched everyone’s reactions. Jiang Hongzhe wore a pensive expression. Sha Yao’s brows were tightly furrowed. Meili and Wu Yi exchanged glances. Zhao Lou looked stunned, and Siyuan was visibly shaken.
On the surface, no one appeared suspicious, but their reactions were worth careful consideration.
To be fair, the most obvious suspects were Jiang Hongzhe and Sha Yao. Both were new to Gu Corporation. Jiang Hongzhe had been brought in to make executive decisions in Gu Yan’s place—if he wanted to act behind everyone’s back, the opportunity was wide open.
Sha Yao had joined the company before she even graduated. She lacked real-world experience and was easily tempted. For a while, she had even clashed openly with Gu Yan. It was clear there was tension between them. If someone claimed she betrayed Gu Yan or the company, it wouldn’t sound entirely unreasonable.
Meili and Wu Yi were close to Sha Yao. They didn’t want to suspect her, but it was hard to ignore the fact that her circumstances made her the most likely suspect. Jiang Hongzhe, on the other hand, had been personally invited back by Gu Yan. The two already knew each other, and his character seemed trustworthy. But Sha Yao…
Gu Yan didn’t see it that way. He trusted Jiang Hongzhe. As for Sha Yao, she had only stood up to him for Bai Tang’s sake. If someone argued that she betrayed the company for revenge, that might’ve been believable. But now, Bai Tang was involved—and knowing how deeply Sha Yao cared for him, Gu Yan was sure she would never do anything that could hurt Bai Tang.
“The reporters downstairs have already left. Everyone’s tired, so go home and get a good rest. Come back in the afternoon,” Gu Yan dismissed the meeting and strode back to his office with long, purposeful steps.
In the lounge, the young man had kicked off his blanket and was now cuddling a squirrel plushie that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
Gu Yan picked up the blanket, which was half hanging off the bed, gave it a shake, and laid it back over Bai Tang.
Perhaps Bai Tang was feeling hot and didn’t want the blanket. As soon as it touched him, his delicate brows furrowed.
Gu Yan’s gaze fell on the orange squirrel plushie in Bai Tang’s arms. He gently picked it up, examining the chubby, adorable toy. There was a faint sense of familiarity—as if he’d seen it somewhere before.
He remembered that when Bai Tang came, he only brought a lunchbox and nothing else. This plushie wasn’t something that belonged in his office either. So where had it come from?
“It’s not a little kitten… it’s a little squirrel…”
That soft, sleepy voice echoed in his ears, and suddenly, a ridiculous idea popped into Gu Yan’s head.
He looked at the young man, who had started pouting now that his “hug pillow” was gone, and placed the plushie back into Bai Tang’s arms.
Bai Tang nuzzled the toy with his cheek, his furrowed brows relaxing. A faint smile appeared on his lips, and two dimples peeked out adorably.
They say that if you ask a sleeping person questions, they’ll answer truthfully.
Gu Yan leaned in close to Bai Tang’s ear. “Tang Tang, can I ask you a few questions?”
The rumor proved true. Bai Tang softly responded, “Mm.”
“Tang Tang, where did the squirrel plushie come from?”
“I took it from the little pouch space.”
“What’s the little pouch space?”
“The little pouch space is just the little pouch space.”
Gu Yan frowned slightly in thought. “Why is it a little squirrel and not a little kitten?”
“…”
There was no answer from the young man on the bed. But instead, two pointed squirrel ears peeked out from his dark hair—an answer all on their own.
Gu Yan was stunned. He reached out and gently pinched the ears. Soft, warm, covered in fine, smooth fur—the texture was unexpectedly pleasant.
They hadn’t been there a moment ago, but had appeared right after the questions were asked.
Gu Yan knew exactly what that meant.
His shock only lasted a few seconds. After confirming that the ears were indeed real squirrel ears, Gu Yan was suddenly struck by a feeling of inevitability—of course this was the case.
His Tang Tang… was indeed a little squirrel.
He loved eating nuts, could evade reporters and sneak into Gu Corporation undetected, and now there was a mysteriously appearing squirrel plushie.
The family driver was already waiting downstairs. As Gu Yan lifted the blanket, a large, fluffy tail suddenly sprang out from underneath.
He touched it a couple of times—it felt amazing—but the next feeling that hit him was worry.
How was he supposed to hide Tang Tang’s tail?
Gu Yan had no problem accepting that Bai Tang wasn’t entirely human, but that didn’t mean others would take it so easily. First, he didn’t want Bai Tang to get hurt. Second, he didn’t want to scare anyone else.
Left with no choice, Gu Yan gently woke him up.
“Tang Tang, wake up.”
Bai Tang rubbed his sleep-blurred eyes, utterly drowsy. “What’s wrong?”
“Your ears and tail are showing.”
Bai Tang: ???
He turned around—and sure enough, his big squirrel tail was sticking right out!
With a jolt, Bai Tang was wide awake.
“Um, I can explain…”
This wasn’t the first time Bai Tang had accidentally revealed part of his true form in front of the male lead. He trusted Gu Yan’s feelings for him, so he wasn’t too panicked.
“Well… it’s like… I had this dream…”
Bai Tang wasn’t good at lying. He stammered out a half-baked excuse that even he knew sounded ridiculous: he dreamed about an immortal who said he looked like a squirrel and then gave him a squirrel’s body.
He locked eyes with Gu Yan, who looked back with starry eyes that clearly seemed to say, “Do you really think I believe that?”
“You believe me…”
“I believe you. Of course I do. My Tang Tang is amazing—he even got blessed by an immortal.”
Bai Tang blinked in surprise. Even he didn’t believe what he had just said, so how did Gu Yan accept it so easily?
“But,” Gu Yan added, “most people nowadays believe in science. This kind of thing is too unbelievable. Tang Tang, you shouldn’t show your ears or tail in front of others.”
“Mm-hmm~” Bai Tang obediently tucked his tail back in, completely unaware that everything had already been captured by a hidden pinhole camera secretly installed by someone with ill intentions.
Even Ciao A, who routinely ran system updates late at night, had failed to detect it.
Siyuan sat in front of his home computer, eyes wide as he stared at the footage transmitted by the camera.
Wait—Bai Tang… isn’t human?!
He double-checked, again and again. That tail had definitely appeared out of nowhere. He hadn’t imagined it, and the footage hadn’t glitched.
Gu Yan had always treated his employees well. Gu Corporation offered great salaries and benefits. Sure, the work was demanding and there was plenty of overtime, but the compensation was fair.
But Siyuan had recently used his savings to buy a home and was still paying off the mortgage. Then, not long ago, his father was diagnosed with severe kidney failure. The treatment costs were far beyond what Siyuan could afford. That was when Gu Corporation’s rival, Liu Group, caught wind of his situation and made an offer: if he handed over Gu Corporation’s internal data, they would not only cover his father’s astronomical medical bills but also help find a suitable kidney donor. After all, donor matches were rare. He could search on his own, but could his father on that hospital bed afford to wait?
Siyuan was torn. On one hand, betraying company secrets weighed heavily on his conscience. On the other hand, his father was on the brink of death.
In the end, staring at his mother’s haggard face and his father’s ashen complexion, he took the lifeline Liu Group had thrown him. And so began the crisis that Gu Corporation was now facing.
Thinking about how his father would undergo surgery the next day, Siyuan clenched his teeth and sent the footage of Bai Tang—tail and all—to Mr. Niu, his contact at Liu Group.
The internet never lacks gossip-hungry users—only gossip that’s not juicy enough.
The video of Bai Tang with squirrel ears and a tail spread like wildfire online. Even though most people believed it had to be fake—after all, such a thing seemed impossible—it was entertaining. And it involved Gu Corporation’s current head, who was already at the center of public attention. Some even dug up Bai Tang’s background and his history with Gu Yan, framing Bai Tang as a modern-day tragic sweetheart, while painting Gu Yan as the ultimate heartless scumbag.
People are naturally curious. The more you try to hide something, the more they want to see it.
Gu Corporation’s PR team quickly removed the video from the internet, but many netizens had already seen it—and some had even saved it.
Then, a so-called master of video editing came forward, claiming, “This video is real. It’s definitely not edited or CGI.” That only made the already-skeptical viewers even more intrigued.
Author’s Note:
Bai Tang: Ah Yan, what do we do?
Gu Yan: Don’t worry. The video is real, but the tail… that can be fake. (whispers in Bai Tang’s ear)
Bai Tang, blushing: Then… okay~