Chapter 6: The Tool for Making Money

I have no right to be jealous.
Moreover, it’s jealousy over a woman who never once loved me.
I certainly wouldn’t lose my temper.
That would only make me seem more pitiful.
It’s just a matter of a month—I can endure that.

After making breakfast, the two of them still treated me as invisible, chatting and laughing as if I weren’t there.
I was like a mere prop, more like dust in the corner.
Even I felt like an eyesore.
I had hoped that after breakfast, I could escape this suffocating swamp.
“Today we’re going out.”
“You’re driving.”

Unexpectedly, she issued a new order.
Yesterday I was the chef, today I was the driver.
How ridiculous!

Zhu Yin pulled Ning Yuanzhou into the back seat, urging me to start the car, then began chatting with him.
They always had endless things to talk about when together.
Not like with me.
Our conversations were plain and few, mostly about work.
When the topic shifted, it was met with perfunctory replies and impatience.
This only confirmed an old saying: those who don’t love you won’t even spare another word.

They rambled on about childhood memories.
I couldn’t get a word in, nor was I given the chance.
As if I were truly just a driver.

Not even a family-hired chauffeur, but a random taxi driver hailed from the street—a passing stranger.
Once this ride ended, who knew when we’d ever meet again.
Naturally, they had nothing to say to me.

“Oh, sorry, Mr. Gu, we got carried away talking about our childhood.”
“It’s not that we’re ignoring you, it’s just… there are so many things you don’t know.”
“Yin, let’s talk about something else.”
“It’s not right to neglect your husband like this.”

Ning Yuanzhou asserted his claim, offering me some grace.
But I really didn’t care.
Their past was none of my business.
Their future, I would not interfere with.

“Talk all you want.”
“Don’t worry about me.”

Through the rearview mirror, Zhu Yin glanced at me curiously.
A flicker of confusion and strangeness crossed her eyes.
Yet she ignored it, pulling Ning Yuanzhou back into their reminiscing.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and drove to their destination for the day.
It was the company’s project site—an abandoned elementary school.
Only then did I understand why Zhu Yin wanted to buy it.
Because…
It was the elementary school she and Ning Yuanzhou once attended.
A place filled with their precious memories.

“Zhou, I’ve bought this place.”
“Later, I’ll build a record company here and give it to you!”

This project had been decided long ago.
And it was Zhu Yin herself who made the final call.
From a business standpoint, building an office building here was a losing proposition.
I had objected, suggesting it be developed into a residential-commercial complex.
But she rejected it.
“This must be an office building! For the record company!”

Even when the company was short on funds,
I worked myself to the bone trying to save it.
Several times I pitched projects so hard I ended up hospitalized for stomach washing.
Yet she remained indifferent,
Only repeatedly asking when this land would be officially acquired.

Watching her proudly introduce the site to Ning Yuanzhou,
My heart ached quietly.

Zhu Yin, do you realize how much I sacrificed to save the Liu Group?
Zhu Yin, do you know the extent of what I endured to raise money for you?
But now, in your eyes, there is only Ning Yuanzhou.
I am nothing more than an expendable tool for making money.

Yet…
Now I have obediently learned to keep silent, no longer caring to argue.