The story of a sparrow turning into a phoenix has always been very popular. Bringing to life the imaginations of countless people, it inspired multiple generations of people wanting to be Cinderella. But as to what happens to Cinderella after she became a phoenix, very little is known.
Since a long time ago, various movies and novels all said the same thing: They lived happily ever after. Then the black curtains come down and everything ends, denying forms of prying. You already married the prince, how is it possible that you"re not happy? How could you not be happy? If you"re unhappy, then what about us who dream about it?—For the countless Cinderellas working hard, the moment their dreams are shattered is the moment their lives are shattered.
Similarly, from the perspective of outsiders, Feng Ping has become a brilliant ray of light. In reality, her situation is quite awkward. Their engagement was not welcomed by any of the Tang family members.
Tang Jianan has always been a rebel, acting against the expectations of others. Ever since he turned eighteen, he"s been in scandals nonstop. Suddenly announcing that he"s getting married, how could his family members believe that? Asking him some more, he doesn"t even know about the female party"s background, causing people to believe even more that it"s just a play. They sincerely persuaded him to change his mind, yet who knew that with a turn of his body, he blew the matter up even more. This happened at the speed of lightning.
As such, Feng Ping was pushed as the target of Tang family. Even though they blamed Tang Jianan for not knowing any better and for being infatuated, they were more angry at that fox for being a gold-digger. When a male in the upper society falls in love with a woman whose status is beneath him, she immediately becomes the fox that the male"s side"s family gossips about.
Even though Tang family were deeply unhappy with this matter, they were still able to face the media, their excellent tactics made Feng Ping admire them.
She closed the webpage and went to the living to pour herself a cup of tea.
There was a newspaper on the cup with large words printed on it: Asia"s Golden Bachelor Club Kicked Tang Jianan Out Yesterday. Seeing this she giggled, spilling a little bit of the tea on her hands, yet she didn"t bother to wipe it off and held up the newspaper as she walked upstairs to the bedroom.
Housekeeper Lu coldly observed her, a frivolous look flashing through his eyes.
So vulgar, don"t even know if Jianan shaoye(1) got possessed, how could he get engaged to her? Even if Man Wen and Nian Zhen xiaojie(2) weren"t as pretty as her, there"s still Golden Bull"s award winning actress Xia Yao whose beauty is acknowledged by the whole country. No matter what, it wouldn"t be this woman"s turn, so vulgar!
A servant thought this way, not to mention the heads of Tang family. Feng Ping wants to enter the gates of Tang family, yet she"ll have to go through so many hardships. Thankfully these past few years her temper settled down to become more indifferent and tranquil. To her, everything has a will, if she succeeds then she"ll rejoice, if not then it"s not fated to be.
The only thing she ever tried to obtain was An Yuesheng"s feelings, yet she utterly failed. What happened that year made her lose all hope—she was still young at that time, only eighteen, and hadn"t experienced the hardships of life. Originally she went through fire and water for love, not caring for herself as she fought on, and yet because she was young and didn"t guard herself, she easily hurt herself.
Who knew that after leaving An Yuesheng, she would meet Tang Jianan.
Tang Jianan.
Thinking of this names, her lips automatically curled up.
The newspaper in her hands had his picutre on it. Sharp black eyebrows, a high and straight nose, a pair of intelligent eyes that carried hints of immaturity in them. If he was a teenager, he would be described as energetic and cute, but he was already twenty-five, and harsher people would say that he was a frivolous person. But to Feng Ping, Tang Jianan is just a big child, stubborn, willful, and occasionally mischevious, probably due to his wealthy background. The most important, however, was that he had a straightforward personality(3). She liked this type of personality, the two of them were quite similar in this aspect.
Various newspapers were speculating about her ident.i.ty, including the one she was holding. Who knew where they got the information that she was a model and got to know Tang Jianan during famous fashion designer Yi Eryang"s fashion show where they fell in love at first sight.
Up "til now, this was the only one that contained some traces of the truth.
She did indeed go to Yi Eryang"s fashion show but not as a model, and forget falling in love at first sight, they only spoke a few sentences to each other that night.
The first one was, “Xiaojie, why isn"t there a seat for me in the front row?”
She didn"t even lift her head and curtly replied, “Then go look for it in the back row.”
He became more stern, “I am Tang Jianan.”
She still didn"t spare him a glance and opened the folder in her hands, pulling out the seating list. Only after browsing through did she speak, “Oh, Tang Jianan, Mr. Yi left a special seat for you backstage.”
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, “Why?”
Closing her file folder, she finally lifted her head to look at him, “Because backstage is where the models change their clothes, Mr. Yi said that what you really want to see isn"t the clothes that the models are wearing.”
Finished speaking, she turned around and walked away, leaving behind a Tang Jianan with black lines all over his face, unsure of whether he should cry or laugh, as he gritted his teeth to find Yi Eryang to make him pay.
The second time they met was on the plane.
Yi Eryang finished his Paris fashion show and was returning to Shenying City. Amongst the five people traveling with him, only she had the luck to sit in business cla.s.s. Sitting in the same row happened to be Tang Jianan. After he greeted Yi Eryang, he turned around and smiled at her, “How should I call this xiaojie?”
Her back was straight and she didn"t have the chance to reply when Yi Eryang beat her to it, “Ah"nan(4), don"t think about hitting on her.”
What bulls.h.i.t is this?
Tang Jianan angrily stared at him, “Eryang, a gentleman never misspeaks.”
Yi Eryang sn.i.g.g.e.red and raised his hand to make introductions, “Feng Ping xiaojie, Feng as in wind, Ping from duckweed(5), Tang Jianan, you should know, right?”
The last sentence was directed at Feng Ping, and although the question was asked in a gentle voice, Tang Jianan felt a little unhappy. Please! How many women didn"t know Tang Jianan? He"s Asia"s most well-known golden bachelor.
Thankfully Feng Ping didn"t disappoint him.
“Of course I know.” She flipped open a magazine and pointed to the person on the page, replying to Yi Eryang, “The picture in this magazine says that he"s movie queen Xia Yao"s boyfriend, no wonder why I found he looked familiar…”
Tang Jianan was speechless. Did he really need to rely on Xia Yao to become famous?
However, he heard her speak again, “I wonder which films Mr. Tang acted in?”
Tang Jianan"s face was completely black. She must be doing this on purpose.
Yi Eryang couldn"t help but use a fist to m.u.f.fle his mouth as he coughed drily. Thankfully he didn"t injure himself internally.
She even added on another sentence in an apologetic tone, “I"m sorry, I"m not very familiar with the mainland"s entertainment circle.”
Bulls.h.i.t! If she doesn"t pay attention to the entertainment world, why would she buy an entertainment magazine?
Tang Jianan decided to fight back. Adjusting his posture, he smiled, “There"s a phrase that says that fashion and entertainment are closely related. As part of the fashion world, if Feng xiaojie doesn"t pay attention to the entertainment world, then what does she pay attention to?”
“I pay attention to protecting the environment and health.”
She dared to say such nonsense without even blinking, how mean! She wasted that pretty face of hers. Tang Jianan coldly laughed in his heart, staring at the magazine in her hands, “I believe that Feng xiaojie hasn"t read this magazine yet?”
“I looked at the pictures, although there"s little information worth knowing.”
Tang Jianan gave a small smile, “The gown that Xia Yao"s wearing was made by Jennifer, it costs over 1.3 million dollars.” This money naturally came from his credit card.
Feng Ping also smiled, “This dress is one of Jennifer"s third-rate works, it"s not something worth knowing.”
With this sentence, Tang Jianan"s expression finally changed.
Yi Eryang who had been taking pleasure in his despair noticed his face and became even happier, looking forward to his retort.
Feng Ping added on another sentence, “However—please excuse my straightforwardness, Xia Yao xiaojie hasn"t dressed herself like a global superstar yet, so this dress matches her perfectly.”
Tang Jianan had nothing else to say.
A third-rate dress perfectly matched Xia Yao, was she trying to say that Xiao Yao was a third-rate person? Thinking about it even deeper, wasn"t she also saying that he, Tang Jianan, was also a third-rate person?
How shameful, it was such a big shame!
When the plane landed and everyone had just stepped out, he spoke first, “Feng xiaojie, if you"re trying to catch my attention, then let me tell you, you"ve succeeded.”
Feng Ping had slept well on the plane and wasn"t quite awake yet, so when she heard these words, she still hadn"t fully reacted. Behind her, Yi Eryang loudly laughed, “Ah"nan, calm down! Calm down! Being too rash is a devil.”
Tang Jianan angrily glared at him and put on his sungla.s.ses, covering up those angry eyes and with big steps, walked away.
(1) shaoye: ‘young master", used by servants to refer to the son of the patriarch.
(2) xiaojie: ‘young miss", used by servants to refer to the daughter of the patriarch; also used as a polite term to refer to an unmarried young woman.
(3) The term in Chinese was 性格使然, which means that a person"s actions determines their personality, which I interpreted to mean straightforward.
(4) Ah"nan: An affectionate nickname for Jianan (example: Christie for Christina)
(5) Because there are many characters that sound the same in Chinese, a common occurrence when introducing oneself is clarifying the characters in one"s name.