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  Guo Yu's afternoon was indeed at Jinbi Huangguan, but didn't play cards.

  He sat on the sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, with his legs raised, staring at the gloomy sky outside, amidst a cacophony of noise and card games, nobody paying attention to him, nor he to anyone else, just smoking silently.

  When shuffling cards, someone at the table noticed Gu Yusheng sitting on the balcony, who had never spoken a word, and couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Gu, won't you play two rounds?"

  He had just finished speaking, when Lu Bancheng kicked him under the table and made a "shh" gesture. Then he lowered his voice and said: "Obviously, they haven't stopped smoking all afternoon, this clearly shows that their mood has reached an extreme."

  The person who had just taken care of Gu Yu's life couldn't help but feel a little curious when he heard this, and opened his mouth to ask: "Mr. Gu, what's wrong? Didn't you just sign a big deal this morning? Why are you still in such a bad mood?"

  "I don't know." Lu Bancheng's expression turned serious, and after throwing down the sieve, he leaned in close to that person's ear and whispered: "From this morning till now, the atmosphere has been so tense. You weren't present when signing the contract this afternoon. The way they did it wasn't like discussing business at all - it was more like going to cause trouble. They just threw the contract on the table and only said eleven words throughout."

  "What's the eleventh word?"

  Lu Ban Cheng rubbed his card and slightly tilted his head, saying: "Divide 46, I take six, you take four, sign or not."

  "Wow, this is actually going to work..." The man's words had barely fallen when a loud clap of thunder boomed outside, causing everyone in the room to turn their heads and look out the window. A torrential downpour was coming down from the sky, with raindrops hitting the ground in a deafening patter.

  Only Gu Yu Sheng seemed as if he hadn't heard any sound at all, still sitting on the sofa in his initial posture, smoking and exhaling.

  By six o'clock, the rain showed no signs of stopping, but instead grew heavier. The water on the window was like a small waterfall, flowing continuously downwards.

  At six ten, someone left early because of something.

  One table with three people missing one, can't play anymore. Under the encouragement of the other two, Lu Bancheng tried to ask Gu Yusheng: "Brother Sheng, want to play a few rounds?"

  It wasn't until about half a minute later that Gu Yu Sheng slowly shifted his gaze from the heavy rain outside to Lu Ban Cheng's face. He took another drag on his cigarette, sat back down on the sofa for a little while longer, before finally standing up and walking over to the card table.

  There's a dinner gathering at 7:30 tonight, and at 6:30, people started arriving one after another, braving the wind and rain.

  Mr. Zhang of the Beiting Group came with his wife, and Gu Yusheng had met him a few times before, vaguely remembering that his surname was Lu. However, when greeting them, Gu Yusheng just nodded lightly without making a sound.

  Mr. Zhang's wife was slightly surprised when she saw Gu Yu Sheng, then looked around in a circle, as if looking for someone, and finally didn't seem to find anyone, so she asked doubtfully: "Didn't Mrs. Gu come over?"

  Gu Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment, and didn't react immediately. He wondered who "Mrs. Gu" referred to in Lu's words. He continued smoking and playing cards with an expressionless face.