Chapter 4: The Way You Say That Sounds Like You’re Married…
Guan Shanyan didn’t often attend these social events. Today he came to this gathering because he was preparing for his own fashion brand and had to get out and mingle a bit.
He didn’t expect to run into Chen Qing here.
Guan Shanyan looked in Chen Qing’s direction and responded casually, “Hmm, just like you said—dressed all fancy, but you can tell by his face he’s not a good person.”
Gu Fei blinked a few times, then turned his head and asked him, “Since when do you understand face reading?”
Guan Shanyan replied, “Just now.”
“…” Okay. Gu Fei could now be certain that Guan Shanyan was truly Shen Youwei’s hardcore fan.
It was quite shocking to him that such an icy-faced guy like Guan Shanyan would be a fan.
“He’s probably here with Mrs. Chen. Mrs. Chen is quite active in the fashion circle and knows a lot of people. You should try to get to know her, it might help with your brand launch,” Gu Fei said, knowing Guan Shanyan disliked pointless socializing, but had dragged him here today for the brand preparations. “Since you’re here, you can’t just stand around drinking.”
Guan Shanyan raised his glass and took a small sip, then said to Gu Fei beside him, “Looks like we don’t need to go over. They’re coming this way.”
Gu Fei turned his head and indeed saw Mrs. Chen walking toward them, her smile more kindly than his grandmother’s. “You must be Mr. Guan. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Guan Shanyan extended his hand politely and shook hers, “Hello, Mrs. Chen.”
Mrs. Chen’s smile grew even brighter. “I couldn’t attend the recent big fashion show because of work, which I regretted for a long time. Seeing you here today is like fulfilling a wish of mine.”
Gu Fei, standing nearby waiting to greet Mrs. Chen, felt like he’d become invisible. He curled the corner of his mouth and took a sip of his drink.
Well, with Guan the great designer’s reputation now, he didn’t have to work hard to make connections—others were practically rushing to connect with him.
“May I take a photo with you?” Mrs. Chen took out her phone, looking at Guan Shanyan expectantly.
“…” Since the last big show, Guan Shanyan had become more and more skilled at the photo business. He nodded slightly and said to Mrs. Chen, “Sure.”
Mrs. Chen was clearly delighted. She glanced at Chen Qing, then handed her phone to him. “Don’t just stand there, help us take the picture.”
“…” Chen Qing was speechless. He knew who Guan Shanyan was. He had caused quite a stir at the recent show. Many celebrities who attended posted photos with him on Weibo. But he didn’t expect his own mother to be this into it.
To be honest, Chen Qing thought Guan’s designs weren’t that special, his popularity was mostly because of his looks.
“Got the photo,” Chen Qing said, still obliging to please his mother. Guan Shanyan finally shifted his gaze to him and asked, “And this is?”
Mentioning Chen Qing, Mrs. Chen’s mood wasn’t as good as before. “Oh, that’s my eldest son, Chen Qing.”
The Chen family was large and thriving. Chen Qing was Mrs. Chen’s eldest son and ranked third in the whole Chen family.
After her introduction, Guan Shanyan nodded understandingly. “I heard Mrs. Chen’s youngest son just entered university, has won many awards, and even appeared on TV. I suppose the eldest son must be even more outstanding.”
Gu Fei, acting as the background support, thought, “…The great designer Guan is starting to show off.”
Mrs. Chen’s smile indeed stiffened a bit. She was now glad that Guan Shanyan had just returned to the country and hadn’t heard about Chen Qing’s mess yet. “Heh heh, you flatter me. If anyone’s outstanding, it’s Mr. Guan. I saw your collection online and really liked it.”
“Thank you.” Guan Shanyan held his wine glass and smiled slightly. “Is Mr. Chen interested in fashion design too, coming to this gathering?”
“Oh, him…” Mrs. Chen glanced at Chen Qing. He had no interest in fashion at all—he was just following her around asking for money.
Chen Qing had somehow developed a gambling addiction and owed quite a bit of money. Until he fully kicked that habit, the family wouldn’t give him any more money.
“You’d better go back quickly and stop embarrassing yourself here,” Mrs. Chen whispered, scolding Chen Qing.
Chen Qing didn’t dare to get angry now but frowned and glanced at Guan Shanyan. Was it just his imagination? Mr. Guan hadn’t said much, but it felt like every sentence was aimed at him.
Had he offended him somehow?
“Mr. Guan, I heard you’re preparing to launch your own fashion brand?” Mrs. Chen, seeing she couldn’t get rid of Chen Qing, smiled and started chatting with Guan Shanyan again. After exchanging contact info, she went off to meet other friends.
Gu Fei watched them walk away and said to Guan Shanyan, “I thought only young girls liked you, but it turns out Mrs. Chen’s age group is also your audience.”
Guan Shanyan caught the teasing tone but remained expressionless. “Looks are a gift from my parents—can’t be jealous of that.”
Gu Fei: “…”
Pfft, who’s jealous of you!
He finished his drink in one gulp, finally feeling a bit relieved. “There’s a boss throwing a dinner party tonight. Want to come?”
Without thinking, Guan Shanyan refused, “No thanks, I’m eating at home tonight.”
Gu Fei stared at him strangely. “The way you say that sounds like you’re a married man.”
Guan Shanyan: “…”
“At home, you can always eat. Tonight’s dinner will let you meet a lot of people.”
That was clearly not attractive to Guan Shanyan. “My problem right now is too many people want to get to know me.”
Gu Fei: “…”
Wishing I could one day speak as confidently as him. 🙂
Lately, Guan Shanyan had been working overtime and coming home late. Today he arrived just before dinner. Guan Su came out of the kitchen holding freshly made garlic vermicelli shrimp and was a bit surprised to see him. “You’re home this early today?”
Yesterday, because Shen Youwei was coming over, Guan Shanyan’s mom had called him back early in the morning. Today, Guan Su thought he’d be working late and had just told Shen Youwei not to wait for him for dinner.
Guan Shanyan responded with a nod but didn’t explain anything. He washed his hands and sat down at the dining table.
Shen Youwei saw him come over but didn’t greet him. Xie Mingqiu’s eyes flicked between the two of them, then she smiled and pointed at the garlic vermicelli shrimp just served. “These shrimp were prepared ahead today, so you don’t have to peel them yourselves.”
Neither of them spoke, just quietly picked up their chopsticks and began eating.
Xie Mingqiu took some vegetables onto her plate and said to them, “The peach blossoms are in full bloom lately. Lize Park looks beautiful. Tomorrow’s Saturday—why don’t you go see the flowers in the park?”
Shen Youwei said, “Whether it’s Saturday or not doesn’t matter much for someone like me who does self-media. Also, I have to shoot a video in a couple of days, so I need to prepare tomorrow.”
Guan Shanyan said, “I’m working overtime tomorrow.”
“Work is never-ending. How much time will it take to go see the peach blossoms?” Xie Mingqiu continued persuading. “Besides, tomorrow there’s the 244Peach Blossom Festival organized by the property management and community—there will be lots of activities!”
Guan Shanyan remained unmoved. “Those kinds of events are for kids.”
Xie Mingqiu smiled, “Isn’t that just perfect for the two of you?”
Shen Youwei: “…”
That didn’t sound like a compliment.
She picked a shrimp for Xie Mingqiu and smiled at her. “godmom, I’m a celebrity. People would recognize me.”
Guan Shanyan beside her let out a very low chuckle.
Shen Youwei’s smile faded as she turned to look at him. “What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing.” Guan Shanyan said it was nothing, but his expression clearly showed he was still smiling. “You have quite a high opinion of yourself.”
“So what?” Shen Youwei sneered back at him. “What’s it to you, Guan?”
“Exactly. Stay out of the celebrity’s business,” Xie Mingqiu defended Shen Youwei and then urged her again, “Tomorrow’s Peach Blossom Festival won’t just have performances, there’ll be lots of food too—cotton candy, egg cakes, spicy hotpot skewers, popcorn, sugar-coated fried dough twists, sweet noodles—all free.”
“Really?” Shen Youwei’s eyes lit up, clearly tempted.
“Of course, and your favorite sugar paintings too. When you were little, you’d never want to leave the park whenever you saw the sugar painters.”
Shen Youwei laughed a little embarrassed, “Since there’s so much food, I guess I’ll go take a look.”
Xie Mingqiu pressed on, “Shanyan, you should go with her to protect the celebrity.”
Guan Shanyan: “…”
Shen Youwei glanced at Guan Shanyan and said, “No need, I’ll just wear a mask.”
Xie Mingqiu shook her head, “You don’t know—the event counts people for the food. If you go alone, you’ll get to eat only half as much.”
“…Uh, then how about you and goddad go too? That way, with four of us, we can try everything.”
Xie Mingqiu still shook her head. “These events are all for kids. Your goddad and I won’t go join the fun.”
Shen Youwei: “…”
That really wasn’t a compliment.
In the end, Guan Shanyan didn’t say whether he would go tomorrow or not. Shen Youwei didn’t bother with him and picked out the clothes she planned to wear. After putting the outfit together, she sat in front of the computer and logged into the forum to take a look.
The original poster who was spreading rumors about her hadn’t deleted the post and was still arrogantly replying under her lawyer’s letter, claiming she had the right to steal other people’s boyfriends.
Shen Youwei couldn’t hold back and went straight on the mic to confront him: “Who stole whose boyfriend? I wouldn’t even want a trash guy like that!”
The poster seemed to be intensively spying on the forum and immediately replied to her: “Give me a break, you’re just ¹sour grapes because you can’t get him, and now you’re sending lawyer letters? Who are you trying to scare?”
Shen Youwei typed quickly: “Then I wish you rotten grapes for life! We’re already at the stage of suing the platform to get your real identity. Spreading rumors may feel good for a moment, but you’ll be crying your heart out in court. 【smile】”
Guan Shanyan went back to his room to change clothes and was about to take a shower when he got a call from Gu Fei: “What’s up?”
Gu Fei was shouting anxiously on the other end, “Hurry to the forum, live stream—your goddess is fighting with someone!”
Guan Shanyan raised his brow slightly. “My goddess? Who?”
“Of course, Shen Youwei, who else!”
Guan Shanyan was silent for a moment, then hung up and opened the forum.
At this time, the forum’s online users hit a new high—all there to watch Shen Youwei arguing with someone. Shen Youwei had been quite emotional earlier, but after her lawyer told her not to reply anymore, she had calmed down a lot.
When Guan Shanyan entered, only the rumor-mongering poster was still raging. After everyone watched for a while and was about to leave, someone claiming to be Xu Kaicai posted a new thread on the forum.
Her post was very brief — she simply said that she and Chen Qing were doing well, that Shen Youwei had not stolen her boyfriend, and that the things the original poster said were completely fabricated. But at the end, she added a line: “Please stop slandering Mr. Chen Qing, Shen Youwei.”
Guan Shanyan read through all of Shen Youwei’s posts and replied to Xu Kaicai’s thread: “It’s not slander. Her evaluation of Mr. Chen is pretty fair.”
—
¹“sour grapes” comes from one of Aesop’s fables and means: Pretending not to care about something you actually wanted but couldn’t have — by saying it wasn’t good anyway.