“Blame me for being weak,” Xue Yu surrendered.
“You’re strong now. I won’t get in your way,” He Wei replied coldly.
“You broke me. I don’t want to fall in love anymore,” Xue Yu looked dead inside.
“Then stay single for life,” He Wei ignored him and kept on chatting with Yun Zhibin.
When Yun Zhibin knew Yun Xiangxiang’s agent was a guy, he was worried. He saw He Wei once in Hong Kong, but didn’t delve deeper with He Wei. When he sat down to talk with He Wei, his worries flew out the window when he saw how He Wei treated his actors.
He Wei cared more for Yun Xiangxiang, just like how he would to a daughter. His tongue was sharp against Xue Yu, but he radiated a sense of sibling closeness.
“These are some good sausages, sister-in-law,” Xue Yu tasted a lot of sausages from the world. This was his favorite. They were the right size.
“Right? It’s my mom’s best,” Yun Xiangxiang smiled as she too took a piece.
Sausages relied heavily on the fat to meat ratio. Su Xiuling opted for a three to seven ratio. It wouldn’t be too greasy or too hard that way.
The next deciding factor would be the spices. Su Xiuling used her homemade five spices. The last one was the ventilation where the sausages were pickled. They were particular about the light and humidity of the air.
That was how delicious Chinese sausages were made. Su Xiuling made a lot every time Chinese New Year came by. Even if she gave some away, they would still have a year’s supply of it.
“I am glad you like it. I brought a lot. Bring some when you’re going back later, you two,” Su Xiuling took the opportunity to make the offer.
“I won’t hold back then,” Xue Yu accepted it happily.
Yun Xiangxiang and her father sent them off after dinner. Before he left, He Wei said, “Go on the red carpet with your senior in tomorrow’s award ceremony. Deng Yang said your gown would arrive tonight. I’ll bring it over tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Yun Xiangxiang replied. “Take care on your way home, Brother Wei.”
Yun Xiangxiang went for a walk around the estate with her father before returning home. When they stopped at Yun Xiangxiang’s story, Yun Zhibin called out to her, “Wait a minute, I remember the elevator going upstairs after you two came out yesterday.”
Yun Zhibin might have overlooked some details in his fury last night, but he remembered the elevator going up and stopped at the story above them after they came out
Every story only had one resident. The elevator would only stop at the story above if someone pressed the button when they were inside, or they did it outside before that.
Since Yun Xiangxiang owned both units, if Yun Xiangxiang and Song Mian were in the elevator, nobody would be going up.
The elevator stopped at this story because he pushed the down button to fetch his daughter. Does that mean they were going up last night?
Yun Xiangxiang’s heart trembled. She must not admit it no matter what, “You must have been seeing things, dad.”
“Did I?” Yun Zhibin was unsure himself. He was overwhelmed with anger last night. He looked at Yun Xiangxiang with doubt.
Yun Xiangxiang nodded in earnest, “Yep, you must be seeing things.”
After looking quizzically at his daughter for a while, Yun Zhibin released the document he was using to keep the door open, “I’ll trust you for once.”
After Yun Zhibin was done, the elevator’s door closed and it continued going up. Yun Xiangxiang heaved a sigh of relief.
You can’t do anything wrong after all. If I was caught, I can forget about getting away.
She went to bed after finishing practice. When she took her phone out, she noticed there were unread messages.
In the Four Seasons group, Fang Nanyuan announced he would attend the film festival tomorrow as award presenter. He made Wei Shanshan and Yi Yan, who were filming, jealous.
In her dorm room’s group, Tao Manni asked Yun Xiangxiang when she would arrive tomorrow, to which the latter replied: at night.
She was planning on taking her parents shopping in the morning and to have a make over in the afternoon. She asked Li Xiangling and Song Meng to take her parents on a tour around Qingdao the day before.
There was also an unfamiliar account requesting to become friends with her. Their profile pic was a bullet with the Weibo username, “Lin.”
But since their friend request’s verification came with a crown, Yun Xiangxiang accepted it.
[Are you Han Zhaolin, Ah Mian’s childhood friend?] Yun Xiangxiang sent a message.
The person didn’t reply even after she had gone through all the messages. That made her sure of her guess. She turned off her phone and went to sleep.
Song Mian had two childhood friends. One was Qi Jun. The other was Han Zhaolin. Song Mian told her after she knew about Qi Jun.
Qi Jun came from an ancient family which was extraordinarily rich. His parents were artists.
Han Zhaolin came from a family of soldiers. He himself went into the army when he was a child.
Song Mian only gave simple introductions. Yun Xiangxiang didn’t continue asking him, since she wasn’t curious about her boyfriend’s childhood friends.
When she woke up the next day, Han Zhaolin gave her an affirmative reply.
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t reply to him. Instead she sent one to Song Mian. [You didn’t introduce me to your childhood friend, did you?]
“I didn’t,” Song Mian said from beside her soon after that.
“You’re here early!” Yun Xiangxiang who was going for her morning workout was shocked. “And coming in just like that. Aren’t you scared of my parents?”
“Aren’t they supposed to be living upstairs?” Song Mian pointed at the ceiling.
“Oh, so you were aiming for this all this time,” Yun Xiangxiang snorted.
“I’m here for the morning workout with you. And to go shopping with your parents,” Song Mian immediately explained.
“I forgive you, because you are so earnest,” Yun Xiangxiang raised her chin in a prideful princess manner before running out.
She came back after two laps of jogging and two sets of Tai Chi fists. Wang Ying was already making breakfast.
After she washed up and changed, her parents had come down too. Yun Zhibin frowned when he saw Song Mian, “Aren’t you being too free?”
“Don’t worry, uncle. Even if I take a little break now and then, I can still support the family,” Song Mian kept smiling.
“Hmph,” Yun Zhibin snorted. I love my daughter, so I’ll let you off the hook this time.
After breakfast, Song Mian drove them around the city. He drove an MPV. Yun Zhibin sat in the co-driver seat, while Su Xiuling sat behind them with their kids.
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t instruct Song Mian on where to go. He knew more places with better privacy and secrecy than she did.
But items in these places were overpriced. Su Xiuling agonized over it. She couldn’t buy anything after going through a few shops. The cheapest item asked for a few thousand yuan. The average price floated around the tens of thousands.
“Mom, don’t try to save for me. I can support you guys now. If you don’t spend, then I would have no motivation to make money,” Yun Xiangxiang complained in resignation.
“My wallet won’t feel anything if you’re buying it. It’s a different story if I am buying it,” Su Xiuling shook her head.
“Okay, I’ll buy it for you then,” Yun Xiangxiang took the opportunity and grabbed her mother before diving into a shop.