Su Jianan got out through the emergency exit. Once again, she was back in the normal world, away from all the strange light and special sound effects. The only thing on Su Jianan’s mind right now was how nice the sunlight felt against her skin.
Good thing the real world would not turn into that kind of horror.
She heaved a sigh of relief. All of a sudden, she noticed the presence of two men in front and to the side. Both men were carrying a black bag pack and a camera. Somehow, they seemed a bit familiar.
She sifted her memories meticulously and realized that she and Lu Boyan had seen the two men last time when they visited the mall; they were reporters.
Su Jianan gave Lu Boyan’s hand a few tugs, “Are they taking pictures of us?”
“They’ve been doing that since this morning. Did you only just notice?” Lu Boyan remarked in a carefree tone.
Su Jianan suddenly felt depressed, “It’s not like we’re some celebrity couple. Why are they so curious about our lives?”
“They’re merely satisfying the public’s curiosity about us.” Lu Boyan said. He twisted the cap of the water bottle and then pa.s.sed the bottle to Su Jianan. “If it bothers you, I can ask them to leave.”
“Never mind. It’s not like we’re conducting shady business or anything. I mean, carrying a camera around during a weekend while watching other people have fun? That can’t be easy for them.” Su Jianan said. When she turned around, it was as if she had forgotten about the reporters. “Let’s go have some fun. After that, we’ll go home.”
They had already checked out the scariest and the most exciting games in the theme park, leaving only the bland and mild ones to be explored next. The queue was exceptionally long since these games were suitable for those shied away from the roller coaster rides. Su Jianan noticed that they were running out of water, so she had asked Lu Boyan to queue up while she went to buy more water for them.
On the way to the convenience store, Su Jianan paid close attention to her surroundings. When she did not see that strange man in the bathroom, she heaved a sigh of relief.
It would be ideal if she never saw the man again.
She took two extra bottles of water from the shelf. After paying for the water, she did not return to Lu Boyan straightaway. Instead, she took a detour and headed towards the two reporters.
The two men were experienced reporters in the show business; they had seen their fair share of celebrities. Nevertheless, they could have sworn that they had never met a single billionaire’s wife who was as amiable as Su Jianan. That was why it did not feel right for them to just accept the water bottles that Su Jianan was offering them, “Mrs. Lu, we’re already grateful that you don’t find our presence bothersome.”
“I just noticed you guys a while ago.” Su Jianan smiled and gestured for the men to take the bottles, “We’re leaving soon. So will you guys call it a day after we leave?”
“Yes.” The experienced reporter blushed despite the endless scores of beautiful female celebrities that he had met throughout his career. “We’ll be leaving once you and Mr. Lu take your leave.”
“Well, thanks for the hard work,” Su Jianan said, giving them a wave before heading back to Lu Boyan.
The reporters stared after Su Jianan’s leaving form. “d.a.m.n. She’s quite different from all the rich princesses we’ve seen so far, isn’t she?” One of them remarked.
“Do you think Lu Boyan would marry her if she isn’t?” Said the other reporter. “In the past, we would have bet our lives that Lu Boyan would never set foot in a place like the Happy World. And now look at him. She had brought a lot of changes to Lu Boyan, that’s for sure. Let’s just wait and see. I’m sure there will be sensational news waiting for us in the future.”
The few activities following that were not physically taxing. When Su Jianan left Happy World, she did not feel tired at all. Rather, she felt completely relaxed and satisfied.
On the way home, the sun was already westbound. Coincidentally, their car was directly facing the sunset as they drove forward. Su Jianan raised her hand as if to play with the sunlight, though she only did it for fun; the light did not hurt her eyes at all. “Lu Boyan, thank you for today,” she said.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Lu Boyan said. “This is what I had promised you 14 years ago.”
“Huh? You mean you’ve always remembered that promise during the past ten years or so?” Su Jianan stared at Lu Boyan with a look of curiosity, “Or were you just reminded of it after you married me? I mean, when I accused you of lying to me.”
Lu Boyan was silent for a moment, “It’s not like I’ve forgotten about it entirely throughout the years. It’d always come to mind whenever I pa.s.sed by a theme park.”
In other words, Lu Boyan had not forgotten about her completely during the past ten years.
A strange feeling of joy sprouted from the bottom of Su Jianan’s heart. Still, she had done an impressive job in concealing her joy and keeping it to herself. “So you’re not entirely heartless after all,” she said.
She never did get over Lu Boyan’s broken promise that year, not just due to the disappointment she had felt back then, but also because that was the first time in her life she had experienced being lied to by someone else. Before she turned 15, her mother and brother had done a fine job in protecting her from everything.
Afterwards, as she grew older, she learned that his father’s love for her mother had been a fluke. The world was filled to the brim with countless lies. Compared to all the lies out there in the rest of the world, Lu Boyan’s broken promise was merely a white lie, one that had been made out of kindness.
Then again, she was pretty sure that Lu Boyan would not lie to her from now on; she would not be that easy to fool as well.
The next day, the headline “Lu Boyan brings his wife to Happy World” made its way onto the first page of the entertainment section. The netizens had dug up pretty much everything about their trip: the way their outfits had complemented each other, and even the type of drinks they had enjoyed. With today being a Sunday, the Happy World experienced a sudden influx of customers. The authorities were forced to limit the number of tourists in the area; tickets were no longer sold after 12:00.
It was obvious that the reporters had carefully selected the photos to be used in the article; Su Jianan was smiling in all of them, whereas Lu Boyan was staring back at her tenderly. There was also a photo which showed the way Su Jianan had leaned against Lu Boyan’s body brazenly, which had no doubt dealt over 10,000 critical damage points to any person out there who was still single and unattached.
The final photo had been taken when Su Jianan and Lu Boyan were on the ferris wheel. The reporter’s tele lens had caught them kissing each other inside the gondola. Beneath the photo, the caption contained a description about the legend surrounding the ferris wheel.
Su Jianan, who was sitting cross-legged on the couch, quickly closed the web page the moment she saw the caption.
“I can’t let Lu Boyan see this no matter what!” She thought.
“So that’s the reason, then.” Lu Boyan amused voice sounded from behind her, “You shouted when we first got onto the ferris wheel. It’s because you were thinking about that legend, isn’t it?”
Su Jianan turned her head around stiffly, “How long have you been standing behind me?”
“Since you began reading the article,” Lu Boyan said.
d.a.m.n. He had indeed seen it.
Su Jianan was in full-blown panic mode at this point. Well, she could only blame herself for being too absorbed in the article.
“Don’t think too much!” She lowered her face, which was now sporting a deep blush. “I… I just… I heard about it from Xiaoxi a long time ago. After that, I felt an impulse to…” Kiss you. She completed her sentence in her head.
Su Jianan looked as if she could start bleeding through the pores of her face at this point, so Lu Boyan decided not to tease her anymore. Reaching out, he took her tablet and reopened the web page from the browser history. Then, he read the article from the start till the end. “The pictures don’t look bad at all. However… why do I feel like his camera was constantly focusing on you?”
The corner of Su Jianan’s lips tugged upwards, “It was a male reporter, so of course he’d focus on me. If they sent a female reporter to do the job, I bet she’ll only take pictures of you.”
Lu Boyan’s eyes narrowed into slits.
He had not minded it at first. Then, it occurred to him that there would always be reporters staring at Su Jianan whenever they were out together. He decided right then and there that he would not allow any reporter to follow them from now on.
Su Jianan was his wife. What right did other people have to peep at her through their G.o.dd.a.m.n tele lens?
It merely took today’s news, plus every news about them in the past, to propel them into the limelight. Now, Lu Boyan and Su Jianan had officially become a celebrity couple. In fact, the news had brought about topics and discussions whose popularity trumps that of other celebrity couples in the entertainment business.
At the same time, Su Jianan had piqued the public’s curiosity. Although her personal details had once been exposed on the Internet, she had never made an appearance among City A’s celebrity circle, so there was not much information to find about her. On the flip side, the number of followers on her tweet had been rising nonstop. In fact, her latest tweet already had over 200,000 views.
Su Jianan’s feelings about everything were rather bland. She just felt a little strange, and that was all. But upon realizing that her sudden popularity had been due to her status as Lu Boyan’s wife, a teeny bit of sweetness crept into her heart.
Luo Xiaoxi was very p.i.s.sed at Su Jianan offhand att.i.tude towards her newfound popularity.
Luo Xiaoxi had been working her a.s.s off recently. Every day, she had to undergo intense training until she was practically half-dead just so she could gain that kind of popularity. She wanted the three words, “Luo Xiaoxi” to be known by the entire world. Now, Su Jianan had literally achieved the kind of popularity that Luo Xiaoxi had been yearning for without even breaking a sweat. And yet the woman had acted as if it were the most inexplicable and baffling thing in the world!
f.u.c.k! It was so true what they said about those with full tummies knowing absolutely nothing about the suffering of those who were starving.
Monday, a day enjoyed only by a few, arrived once again. The entire city reverted to its fast-paced rhythm. When Su Jianan arrived at work as usual, she noticed the strange looks that her colleagues were giving her.
“They must’ve seen the news article yesterday,” Su Jianan thought, realizing what was going on.
Xiao Ying approached her for no other reason than to engage her with idle gossip. “Jianan, was it you who kissed your Boss Lu yesterday? Or was it the other way round?”
To that, Su Jianan responded by affecting an air of mystery while remaining tight-lipped; a real lady would never kiss and tell. But the truth was that she was too embarra.s.sed to talk about it. The smile on her colleagues’ faces became even more suggestive when they saw her reaction. According to them, the mood had been perfect, so Su Jianan must have gone with the flow. In other words, they thought it had not been just a simple kiss, but a hot make out session instead.
Two days later, Su Yicheng finally returned from j.a.pan.
Luo Xiaoxi had been awaiting Su Yicheng’s return; she wanted to clear up the misunderstanding between them. When she found out about his return, she did not jump around in excitement. Instead, she began to silently plan her next move.
She had no idea if he was still mad at her, so she knew she would be screwed if she ran straight to him. She decided to wait until tonight where she would try to find out about Su Yicheng’s mood from Ada.
Su Yicheng went to the company immediately after he had touched down.
His absence during the past few days meant that a lot of company business still awaited him. On his orders, Ada reported everything to him in the order of descending importance. When Ada finished her report, she paused to think for a moment. In the end, she decided to just tell him. “Boss Su, Ms. Luo came to look for you the afternoon you left for j.a.pan.”
“What did she want?” Su Yicheng asked in an impersonal tone.
Ada instantly noticed that something was amiss, so she got straight to the point. “She didn’t say. I told her that you had made plans the night before you left and that you had deliberately pushed back your trip to j.a.pan by one day. Also, she looked very shocked when I told her about the reservation you had made at Monjelli.”
“Understood,” Su Yicheng said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You can go now.”
“Yes, sir,” Ada said, closing the door and left.
Su Yicheng flipped open a folder, though his mind could not register a single word written on the doc.u.ment.
He suddenly remembered that he had kept his phone turned off throughout his stay in j.a.pan. Pulling out his phone and switching it back on, he was surprised to see a couple of missed calls from Luo Xiaoxi.
He recalled the day he had run into Qin Wei in j.a.pan.
“What a coincidence,” Qin Wei had greeted him. Although Qin Wei’s face still looked swollen after he took that punch from Su Yicheng, his comportment remained confident and self-a.s.sured. “What perfect timing. I have something to tell you.” “Uncle Luo and my father have been discussing the marriage between me and Xiaoxi. It’ll be best if you forget about Xiaoxi. You won’t be able to give her happiness.”
“Qin Wei, she only sees you as a friend,” Su Yicheng said. “She’ll never agree to marry you.” He did not deny that he was mocking Qin Wei, not even to himself.
“Uncle Luo will figure out a way,” Qin Wei said. “I don’t care whether she likes me. I’ll do anything as long as I can make her my wife. I’ll be honest with you. I was the one who had deleted her call history the night you called her. You and Xiaoxi, your personalities are entirely incompatible. You need to step away.”
To that, Su Yicheng only spat out three cold words, “In your dreams.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just let Uncle Luo handle everything, then.” Qin Wei smiled smugly, “Uncle Luo will find a way to make Xiaoxi listen to him.”
All of a sudden, Su Yicheng snapped out of his recollection as if he had just woken up from a dream. He pressed a b.u.t.ton to access the line to his secretary, “Put in a call to Chairman Luo’s office.”
When Father Luo found out that Su Yicheng was calling him in person, he answered the phone. Su Yicheng said, “Uncle Luo, it’s me, Yicheng.”
“Oh, Yicheng.” Father Luo chuckled, “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?”
“May I ask if you have any plans for tonight?” Su Yicheng said, “If you don’t, I’d like to treat you to dinner.”
“Sure. I happen to have a few things that I’d like to discuss with you. How about 7:00 pm at King’s restaurant on Hua Nan street?”
“I’ll be there on time.”
Su Yicheng hung up the phone and ordered Ada to clear out his schedule for the night. After that, he called King’s restaurant to reserve its best private booth.
Su Yicheng already had an inkling of what it was that Luo Xiaoxi’s father wanted to tell him.