Chapter 48 – Serene hamlet

Once she was done replying, she left the page and habitually opened her comments. Then, she happened upon a message that Tu Jinglan had tagged her in.

[Tu Jinglanv: It’s been awhile since filming is over. I haven’t seen Yi-jie for some time now. But when I did see her I was so delighted I could barely hold my glass steady … also~ Yi-jie is as beautiful as ever. @Su Yi {photo attached}]

The photo she chose was the one they had taken a long time ago at the charity night.

Su Yi didn’t even want to look at the comments below. She had no intention to comment, repost, or even like the post. She was about to close her Weibo when Wu Xue called; knowing well the caller’s intention, she walked to the balcony before picking up.

“How long has it been since I have left that you stir up trouble?” Wu Xue roared on the other end of the line.

Su Yi decided to go the emotional route. “Little Xue Xue, you really didn’t see what they said to me, it’s too much.”

“They said you’re sleeping with Wu Ke,” Wu Xue snorted. “I saw that piece of news long ago.”

Su Yi was confused. “Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“Isn’t it because I’m afraid Director Chu would mistake you?” Wu Xue was in a noisy area. “It wasn’t even a big deal, you could have settled it with a few sentences but you just had to make it complicated and use rude words when replying … Is it that you think you have too few haters?”

“’It’s none of my business’ is considered rude?” Su Yi was flabbergasted.

“What else?!” Wu Xue tsked. “How do you intend to settle it?”

Su Yi leant against the railings. “Is there a way?”

“Yes!” Wu Xue said with bad cheer. “One, you go and delete your reply; two, I go and delete your reply!”

“Three?” Su Yi gingerly asked.

“Three, leave it alone, let the haters hate, we just don’t bother to clarify.”

“I choose three!” Su Yi didn’t even bother considering it. “Besides, what do I have to clarify? I have no business with this whole thing anyway.”

“There’s a bunch of people in the comments section trying to make it your problem; if you don’t clarify, it would be troublesome. Besides, a big celebrity and a small assistant – how could it be this romantic … if it weren’t that I saw it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it either. Right now, the comments section is generally leaning towards believing An Xuan went in to help you take something.”

“What’s so romantic about it? Have you forgotten that the media not only got An Xuan in the photo but also Tu Jinglan?”

The other side was silent for a few seconds. “Don’t mention Tu Jinglan. Right, she tagged you in Weibo, did you see it?”

“Yes.”

“Ignore her, let her go do her thing and see if she’s awkward … it’d keep her from continuing to try to find you. All right, I’m hanging up, I’ll discuss with the company about how to deal with this.” Wu Xue sounded exasperated.

The call ended at that. Su Yi was a little surprised. Usually, Wu Xue would try to talk her into at least liking Tu Jinglan’s post or something no matter what. But this time around, neither had she nagged nor dressed her down about it.

“Done?”

When she turned around, she saw Chu Ying wearing a simple grey T-shirt. She had no idea how long he’d been there for.

“Yeah.” Su Yi took a towel from the rack on the balcony. “I’ll go shower too.”

When she passed by, she reached out and pinched his abs a few times mischievously. Then, picking up her clothes, she entered the bathroom.

Ka!

The clear sound of the door locking was particularly loud in the silence.

She was a little tired today and having had the taste of teasing him previously, where she was made to cling on him in the bathroom for a good half hour, she was in no mood for a replay. She wrapped up quickly and went out. Chu Ying was sitting on the sofa looking at his phone. When he saw her come out he tossed the phone on the table.

“We’ll soon go to bed, why wash your hair?”

“It smells of medicine … If I don’t wash, I’m afraid you’d find it too uncomfortable.” Su Yi sat down beside him, rubbing her hair on and off with the towel.

Chu Ying’s eyebrows raised a little, and he sighed gently. He got up and went into the washroom only to come out with a hairdryer in hand. This hair dryer had come with the house, but Su Yi basically had never used it before. It was only used when the hairdresser came over.

She was really hard-working in most areas other than this – because it’s heavy and holding it for too long made her hand hurt, she would always ditch the dryer in favour of a towel. It was another story, that she always, somehow, managed to blow her hair in an afro style.

Chu Ying plugged it in and said, “Come here.”

The guy’s hand was huge, and when it moved over her hair it brought with it a strangely comfortable feeling. She hugged her knees, looking at the TV on the wall.

“Are you going to work tomorrow?”

“It’s a rest day, so no.” Chu Ying paused, then continued. “But I have something on.”

The sound of the hairdryer was loud but she could still hear him clearly. She knew what it was – Yang Ruolin’s grandfather’s birthday celebration. She immediately lost interest, her whole person wilting. She really wanted to play dirty and force him not to go.

It was the first time Chu Ying was using a hairdryer in his life. There was no such thing in the army and he just couldn’t get used to it even after he quit. Plus, a guy didn’t have that much hair to start with – once he’s done washing it took hardly any time for it to dry – so he hadn’t even touched the hairdryer in the bathroom at home. 

Needless to say, his actions were clumsy and, afraid of burning her, he kept the dryer very far away while his hand gently ruffled her hair … Very thin, very soft.

Nearly twenty minutes later her hair was finally completely dry. Chu Ying was about to say something when he saw that the person’s head had tipped to the side, leaning on him. The hair on either side moved along with her, covering most of her face.

She’s asleep.

Chu Ying put down the hairdryer, set her head straight, went around the sofa, and carried her.

The person who’s constantly talking about losing weight weighed almost nothing in his arms.

One metre and seventy-something centimetres, how could she be so thin? Chu Ying frowned but still moved very slowly.

He placed her gently on the bed, closed all the lights, then gently pulled her in. The woman in his embrace seemed to have felt something … Letting out a sound of content before turning around, searching for a comfortable spot on his chest, she dipped into deep sleep again.

Chu Ying kissed the crown of her head with deep emotions. Before, in his heart, there was only his family, army buddies, and country. If not for that incident, he might still be lying in ambush in some savage corner, holed up and living his days amidst a rain of bullets … never knowing that there was a serene hamlet like her in the world.

[*T/L: a woman who is gentle, seductive, considerate is, to the guy, the ‘serene hamlet’ – it’s a suggestive saying (wink~)]

    ** 

Su Yi slept really well this time, all the way till eleven in the morning. When she woke up, the other side of the bed was already empty.

She groggily rubbed her eyes, picked up the phone and realised that it was filled with WeChat notification. Most of them were from friends in the industry … the sort she would greet when she saw and chat with when they’re filming, but never contact otherwise.

Although she found it confusing, one by one, she still replied. When she was done, she opened the chat with Wu Xue.

[Goddess Su Yi: [picture] what is this, when I woke up I thought my account was hijacked!]

[Wu Xue: You didn’t post that Weibo?]

[Goddess Su Yi: What Weibo?]

[Wu Xue: … Take a look at Chu Ying’s Weibo.]

Su Yi was now completely awake, she hurriedly opened Weibo.

Chu Ying’s Weibo had a post last night. Looking at the time it was when she was showering.

[Chu Yingv: Taking away @Su Yi: None of my business, taking away my Yi, not going out with you.]

Su Yi let out a hearty laugh. She looked at it a few times and liked it before going back to WeChat.

[Goddess Su Yi: So, what does this Weibo have to do with my chat page bursting?]

[Wu Xue: Before in the livestream you were the one to kiss Chu Ying. Giving a woman a bag is something plenty of other rich kids do, so of course most people were just observing. This repost basically made sure that you have a name now, everyone thinks that you’re half Mrs. Chu, so of course, if they could get closer to you, they would try first.]

Of that whole passage, Su Yi only saw the ‘Mrs. Chu’. She wanted to call Chu Ying at first, but was afraid he would be busy. So after a brief moment of hesitation, she sent him a message first.

The other called quickly.

“Awake?”

Some vague clinking sounded in his background and faint sounds of conversations.

“Yeah, where are you?”

“Discussing a partnership.”

Su Yi paused. “And you still call? I didn’t disturb you, did I?”

“No, we’re almost done.” The guy didn’t appear to want to hang up. “Have you eaten breakfast?”

There was some laughter from that side. She heard someone remind Chu Ying that it was almost noon now.

Her face reddened. “Don’t say anymore, others will hear.”

The guy laughed lightly. “Yeah, so did you eat or not?”

“Little Xue Xue is bringing me food.” When Su Yi was done speaking, she hurriedly added. “Then you go discuss your partnership, I’m hanging up.”

“Okay.”

A Su Yi rubbing her abdomen with a facial mask was what greeted Wu Xue when she came over. Caught off guard by the sight, she tightly closed the door and finally dared ask, “Are you pregnant?”

“… I’m just hungry.”

After lunch, something popped up in Su Yi’s mind. “How is that thing with An Xuan going to be dealt with?”

“There’s a Weibo to clarify it. You didn’t see it when you last logged in?”

“No.” She had only been bothered about checking Chu Ying’s main page.

“There was a clarification, talking about An Xuan leaving her work. That media group finally released the time of recording that video too, and it was the time you were livestreaming your birthday celebration, so it’s completely clarified,” Wu Xue said. “Originally, the company wanted to release an official statement of clarification, but one has been put out not too long ago … Using it one too many times, I’m afraid, might affect your image. Besides, this isn’t a tough thing to settle, so this is how we’re going to deal with it for the time being.”

Just when they had finished speaking, Su Yi’s phone rang. It was An Xuan. She hesitated but answered in the end.

An Xuan’s voice was wreathed in sobs. “Yi-jie, can you help me.”

“Help you with what?”

“I don’t know, there are some fans roasting me, sending me tons of messages to harass me, and there are people waiting at my door―”

“You should go find the police, or Wu Ke for this sort of thing. I can’t help you,” Su Yi said calmly.

“Then … can you tell the media that that was because you sent me to take a script―”

“No, if you don’t dare call the police you can give me your address and I’ll call them for you. Other than that I will not do anything else. That’s it, goodbye.”

She had put the phone on loudspeaker before she had answered the call. Once she had hung up, Wu Xue tsked. “How romantic, even now she wants you to help Wu Ke keep his reputation.”

Su Yi smiled ambivalently and seemed to be waiting for something. After not receiving any messages from An Xuan for a long while, she moved her fingers and blacklisted that number.

At four in the afternoon, Su Yi changed into her evening gown, put on her make-up and left for the evening awards ceremony. It was already autumn and the weather’s getting colder. There were plenty of people already wearing coats. But female celebrities all had this skill, which was to walk the red carpet in a dress even in the coldest of winters.

Su Yi wore a white, knee-length dress with thick straps. A pair of white heels adorned her feet,  her hair completely tied up in an elegant updo. It was a very pure look but for the bright red lips that appeared fuller and her really beautiful smile.

This ceremony didn’t have an interview section at the red carpet, so anyone who arrived first could walk first. If a few came at the same time they’d go off together.

Su Yi had arrived a little late, so there were no other celebrities at the start of the red carpet. She casually arranged the dress and was about to start walking when there was a sudden weight on her shoulders.

A black suit jacket was now covering her.

“You want to get sick again?” The guy’s voice revealed a trace of annoyance.

Su Yi’s eyes widened to the limit. Looking up at the guy beside her she could only manage a sound after a long while.

“… Why are you here? Weren’t you attending a birthday celebration?”

“Who said I was going?” Chu Ying raised his hand, adjusted the jacket on her shoulder, then put his arms around her waist and said, “Let’s go.”

***

In a hotel somewhere.

Today was the Yang family’s grandfather’s big birthday. The family had specially gone on to book a hall for the celebration. At the moment, lights were flickering in the hall, the scent of alcohol wafted through the air.

On the main table, right in the front, only the Chu family was invited. An uninterested Chu Xi sat at the big table  sipping her drink. The seat beside her, originally meant for her brother, was empty.

“Thank you for gracing us with your presence.” Elder Yang smiled with much spirit, clinking the glass of alcohol in his hand with Father Chu’s. 

Father Chu said, “What are you saying, you watched me grow up, I will naturally attend your birthday celebration.”

Elder Yang’s smile widened. He glanced at the only empty seat on the table and said, almost off-handedly, “Recently the Chu Corporation is expanding, Little Ying is quite busy, isn’t he?”

Mother Chu smiled. “He is quite busy, even we barely see him.”

Elder Yang looked to his side and said to the young lady beside him, “See, as Little Ying isn’t here, my grand-daughter is quite sad.”

Yang Ruolin’s cheeks reddened as she said, “Grandpa!”

“Haha, you know, Ruolin liked playing with Little Ying even when she was young.”

Both, Father Chu and Mother Chu smiled, not saying much.

“My grand-daughter is shy and daren’t say much. But I am old, and it’s okay if my skin is thicker.” Elder Yang put on a serious expression and said slowly, “You should know, Lin Lin has liked Little Ying since she was young, and Little Ying should still be single now? Our families have always been close, why not take this chance to make us closer, see if we have the opportunity to be in laws? Although our Yang family is no longer as glorious as it used to be, we still have some resources in our hands. I know that the Chu Corporation has been looking for land recently, and it just so happens I have a few good pieces of land in hand … I could just put it in Lin Lin’s dowry.”

Chu Xi felt her heart skip a beat at those words. What sort of blind date is this, this is basically a marriage of convenience!

She was about to send a message to let Su Yi know when she heard some relative of the Yang family letting out a gasp. 

“Isn’t this Chu Ying?!”

The crowd looked his way, and this relative turned the tablet around.

On the tablet was some app’s livestream of the evening awards ceremony that had just progressed to the red carpet walk. A female celebrity in a white dress, her eyes seductive and lips red, looked beautiful and stunning despite being covered in a very out of place suit jacket. Beside her was a guy wearing a dress shirt, his hand on the woman’s waist, expression cold.

The guy was handsome … the girl pretty, making for a perfect match.

Right now, the topic of discussion was the guy – Chu Ying.

A long silence descended upon the table, the faces of the Yangs darkening with each passing moment.

Father Chu lightly coughed twice and smiled, accepting. “― That’s what it is.”

translated by the lovely larkspur 😀 also happy (early?) thanksgiving!