Rule
As their eyes met, Su Shen blinked and said softly, “I… I was just asking casually.”
Xie Yan looked at her in all seriousness. “Some things shouldn’t be asked casually.”
Su Shen looked down and remained silent. She closed her eyes and leaned back. It wasn’t as if she was planning to call off the wedding.
As the car stopped outside the airport, Xiao Zhou immediately got out and went to the trunk to get the luggage. Meanwhile, Su Shen held onto the car handle, preparing to open the door and step out.
“Are you going to leave just like this?” Xie Yan held onto her slender arm.
Turning around, Su Shen saw him gazing at her intently. Helplessly, she leaned in, but when she was about half an inch away from his face, she was suddenly pressed against the seat, surrounded by an overwhelming masculine scent.
“Mhm… Xie…”
Xie Yan was too fierce today. Su Shen pushed him a couple of times but couldn’t push him away. She could only weakly place her hands on his shoulders. People were passing by outside the car, and Xiao Zhou seemed to have seen something. She purposely turned her back to the window to shield them from prying eyes.
The interior of the dimly lit car was instantly filled with a clandestine atmosphere. When his burning and gentle kiss landed on her neck, Su Shen weakly tilted her head back while she held onto his neck as she said blushingly, “My current movie is progressing quickly, and it will wrap up soon.”
At that, Xie Yan simply buried his face in her neck and nibbled it before muttering, “I’ll come pick you up.”
“Ssh…” Su Shen felt a slight pain on her neck and couldn’t help but pat his shoulder. “Move back a little. I have to get off now. Moreover, my mom said that I can’t live with you before we register our marriage.”
Hearing this, Xie Yan looked up and frowned. “Why?”
Su Shen blinked her eyes, her cheeks slightly flushed. “She… she said it’s a rule in our family.”
Xie Yan: “……..”
Looking down, Xie Yan suddenly sat upright and said insipidly as he frowned, “It’s okay. I’ll come to pick you up when the time comes.”
At that, Su Shen looked into his eyes again. She hesitated for a moment as if wanting to say something. However, seeing the bustling crowd outside, she quickly leaned in and planted a quick kiss on his cheek before swiftly pushing open the car door and stepping out.
After putting on a mask, Su Shen adjusted her hair and glanced back at the car before walking toward the airport lobby with Xiao Zhou.
Su Shen understood her mom’s intention from the beginning. She never liked the idea of her cohabitating with someone before marriage. It was just that there was nothing to nitpick Xie Yan about. If it had been someone else, she would’ve been pretty displeased. Nevertheless, she had given her a stern scolding about it over the phone earlier.
As the figure gradually disappeared into the crowd, the person in the car finally turned around and drove back.
Upon returning to set, it was already past 2 am. Filming would start at 7 am tomorrow, leaving Su Shen with only a few hours to sleep. The filming schedule for this movie was quite tight, so the filming schedule was often rushed.
Afterward, Su Shen continued filming on set and didn’t attend any other engagements. By the end of August, they wrapped up filming. After attending the wrap-up party, she hurried back home, ignoring the paparazzi that might be following her.
The major female lead role Su Shen accepted earlier was scheduled to start filming in mid-September, so she had about half a month to rest at home. When she arrived home at 7 pm, her mom had left her some food. During dinner, as expected, her mom began to nag again.
“Look at the recent news, another male celebrity has been caught cheating. Why is this?” Mama Su sat beside her, staring intensely at her. “It’s because people like you guys in the entertainment industry are always busy with work, spending more time apart than together. No matter how good the relationship is, feelings will fade.”
Su Shen nearly choked on her food when she heard her words. The lights above were shining brightly, and she picked up a piece of veggie with her chopsticks and placed it in her bowl before replying nonchalantly, “That male celebrity you mentioned has always had a questionable personal life. He and his wife had a shotgun marriage. With so many temptations around, how can he resist?”
Her mom was referring to the recent infidelity scandal causing an uproar involving an A-list actor who had always portrayed the image of himself as a devoted father. Su Shen had heard that he had a penchant for dating young models and influencers, but he was clever enough not to take photos with them. Moreover, he would often engage in such activities abroad, thus managing to keep it under wraps. However, the scandal emerged when he got into a conflict with another actor over a role, and the latter exposed his infidelity. As the saying goes, there were no secrets that could remain hidden forever.
“So you see how messy the entertainment industry is. Xie Yan said that he won’t continue acting after getting married which was why I agreed to this marriage seeing how sincere he was. You know that both your dad and I don’t like people from the entertainment industry. But you’re no different. You should reduce your workload and focus on starting a family after marriage. Although your in-laws haven’t said a thing, I’m sure they also want a grandchild. After all, they only have one son in their family,” Mama Su said sternly.
Su Shen almost choked on her food again. She was confident that Xie Yan wouldn’t mess around. If he would, he wouldn’t have waited until now. However, when it came to having children, she preferred to let things happen naturally.
Seeing her just know how to eat, Mama Su said earnestly, “I’m sharing worldly wisdom with you. You youngsters don’t understand anything. You’re not as astute as your sister. Once you marry into someone else’s family, you can’t always act according to your own desires. Family should always come first. Look at how many days you spend at home throughout the year. If you continue like this after marriage, do you think your mother-in-law will be pleased?”
Not understanding how the conversation shifted to the topic of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but it was definitely one of importance. After taking a sip of water from the glass at her side, Su Shen said in all earnesty, “After marriage, I definitely won’t take on too many projects. At most, two a year.”
Hearing this, Mama Su couldn’t help but sigh before slowly saying, “Actually, the most important thing is our family’s company. Although your dad is still quite healthy, he will eventually have to retire. Your sister needs to take care of her kid and also manage her own company. Who knows if she is able to handle everything? Moreover, you don’t know how to manage a company either. This is something you both need to discuss and figure out.”
Upon hearing this, Su Shen became serious. It was indeed a problem. If it were in another family, everyone would be vying for it fiercely. However, their family didn’t have such concerns. Their company was not very large, but the annual profits were a pretty good amount. However, her dad was conservative and had been hesitant to expand the business. While it would be manageable for her sister, considering her brother-in-law’s busy schedule and the fact that she also had to take care of their child, Su Shen wondered if her sister would be able to handle it all.
“When your sister got married, your dad had given her 10% of the shares of the company. Now that you’re getting married, you will also receive the same 10% of the shares. I know you earn millions from a single movie now, but it’s important for a girl to have her own money and a stronger backbone. Don’t let people say that you’re after someone else’s wealth in the future,” Mama Su said, looking at her earnestly.
Glancing at her mom, Su Shen couldn’t help but feel her eyes welling up with tears. She didn’t want to cry, but her nose inexplicably felt a tingling sensation. She knew that her parents must be reluctant to see her get married, as it would mean that it would be just the two of them left in the family. But she had been so focused on her acting career, constantly busy with filming throughout the year, that she hadn’t had much time to spend with them. They must’ve been hesitant to disturb her during filming and didn’t call her often.
“I will talk to sis about this, don’t worry. I’ll go wash the dishes now.” Afraid that she might not be able to hold back her tears, Su Shen immediately took the dishes and went into the kitchen.
After washing the dishes, Su Shen returned to her room and took a shower. She decided that for the next half of the month, she wouldn’t go anywhere, just spending quality time with her parents at home.
Lying in bed, she scrolled through her phone and noticed that the scandal involving that male celebrity’s infidelity was escalating, becoming a major controversy that implicated many other artists. Surprisingly, it even dragged Ding Yan into the mix, with rumors suggesting that the influencer involved was Ding Yan’s BFF and that birds of a feather flock together.
Su Shen would never join in on the bandwagon of attacking Ding Yan during such times. However, Xue Zhixin was known for her straightforward nature. Perhaps she must’ve hated Ding Yan as when she was asked about the scandal in a recent interview, she seemingly defended Ding Yan on the surface but her words held hidden daggers.
Now, Ding Yan’s public image was deteriorating even further. However, her studio responded directly, stating that Ding Yan and Xue Zhixin were not close and only have a professional working relationship.
With this, their fans began to tear each other apart and there were more and more people dragged into the controversy. Su Shen definitely wouldn’t get herself involved in this. After scrolling through the heated discussions online, she decided it was time to go to bed. However, just as she turned off her phone, it suddenly started ringing.
Seeing that it was a call from Xie Yan, Su Shen answered it while snuggling under the covers. A familiar voice immediately came through from the other end, “At home?”
Rolling over under the covers, Su Shen softly murmured, “En.”
Thinking about how they hadn’t seen each other for so long, Su Shen found herself missing Xie Yan a little bit.
“The Civil Affairs Bureau is closed on the National Day holiday. How about September 28th?”
Hearing his voice from the other end of the call, Su Shen pondered for a moment as her heart couldn’t help but beat a little faster. “It should… be fine?”
After saying that, she tucked herself completely under the covers. It was probably the date her mom had mentioned before. But just the thought that she would officially become husband and wife with Xie Yan at the end of this month, she felt like everything was moving so fast. She could still vividly remember their first encounter, and now they were about to get married.
Listening to her soft and gentle voice, the person on the other end paused for a moment before suddenly saying, “I’ve just been having takeout lately, and it tastes terrible.”
Feeling a sudden pang of concern, it was hard to imagine that Xie Yan had been eating takeout for so long. Considering his picky eating habits and aversion to meat, he must’ve been malnourished. After a moment of silence, but still determined to adhere to her mom’s “rule,” Su Shen tentatively asked, “I… I can’t come over. How about you hire someone?”
