CH 101

Being Recognized

Today’s Hot Search was dominated by the meteor shower. There were many people who had taken better pictures than her, and when Su Shen was scrolling through the photos taken by others, she noticed that her Weibo was bombarded with comments just as she was about to exit the app.

She hadn’t even clicked on the comments, which had already exceeded 3,000 in just one minute, when her phone suddenly rang—it was a call from Yao Yin.

After answering the call, a voice full of helplessness came from the other end, “Didn’t we agree on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival?”

Leaning against the sofa, Su Shen didn’t know what to say. The bright lights above were dazzling. Her gaze shifted and saw the instigator walking down from upstairs. 

“I… I don’t know either. It’s all because of Xie Yan. But whether it’s a day earlier or a day later doesn’t make much of a difference. Let’s just leave it at that.” Su Shen sat cross-legged, glaring at the man approaching her.

At this point, Yao Yin didn’t have much to say. Fortunately, they had already taken care of notifying various media platforms in the past few days, so they just needed to control the comments now. 

“Alright. You should respond back to Xie Yan later then. Just reply with a heart emoji, so as not to provoke unnecessary discussions. We don’t want to stir up trouble,” Yao Yin said earnestly.

Hearing this, Su Shen just responded with an “okay” before ending the call. When she went to check the comments after the one-minute call, the comments under Xie Yan’s post had already exceeded 20,000, with most of them filled with grief. 

Netizen A: Is this… them going public?

Netizen B: Just now, I made a wish upon the shooting stars, hoping that Xie Yan and Su Shen would be together. So, does this mean my wish came true? [joy]

Netizen C: NO!!! Hubby’s mine! They must be joking!!!

Netizen D: This must be fake!!!

Netizen E: This meteor shower brought upon a nightmare. [joy]

Netizen F: I predict that Weibo will explode tonight. Leaving my mark here first!

Netizen G: I can’t believe it. Is this a victory for the shippers? [joy]

Su Shen was still scrolling through the comments when she received messages from Wang Cheng and some others congratulating her. As the sofa sank beside her, Su Shen turned around and looked at the man who did not reveal any signs at all. She didn’t know what to say. 

“He Hua said we should post a couple photo when going public. I forgot about it,” Xie Yan said, placing his hand behind her back and looking at her in all seriousness. 

Glancing at him, Su Shen didn’t know what to say before suddenly opening her camera and moving closer to him with a smile. “Let’s take a photo then.”

Her smile hinted at mischief, but Xie Yan complied and reached out to pull her closer, resting his head again hers as his nose brushed against her ear, his gaze fixated on her.

Su Shen didn’t like her position, so she adjusted his head to face the camera before capturing two photos. 

She opened BeautyCam* and applied several filters. After photoshopping Xie Yan’s face into charcoal, she was finally satisfied and tapped the save button.

BeautyCam – a smartphone app for retouching selfies

Logging into her main account, Su Shen posted the photo on Weibo. 

Su Shen V: But you’re so ugly. [photo] // @Xie Yan V: Not as beautiful as you [heart] // @Su Shen V: The meteor shower today is so beautiful. [photo]

After posting it, she thought it was hilarious and showed the photo to Xie Yan. “Beautiful?”

Xie Yan remained silent as he saw her edit the photo throughout. Seeing her laughing so happily, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gradually wandered to her waist, pressing her against the sofa. His gaze was fervent. “You’re the most beautiful.”

The ring on her ring finger still felt cool as it sat snugly between her fingers. Su Shen couldn’t help but feel a little shy and turned her head slightly. Xie Yan buried his head in her neck, taking a deep breath and nuzzling against her. Suddenly, he stood up and princess-carried her in his arms.

Su Shen was forced to hold onto his neck, her face blushing deeply. However, she didn’t resist this time and allowed him to carry her all the way upstairs to his room.

As she was placed on the soft bed, a figure immediately pressed against her. There were no words exchanged, and his passion was as eager as ever.

In the darkness, with the moonlight shining through the windows, their figures intertwined inside the room, filling the air with desire.

……

As a ray of warm sunlight seeped through the crack in the curtains the next morning, two fair and slender arms emerged from beneath the soft blanket. As the body moved, the blanket slipped down, revealing a neck adorned with hickeys. The person on the bed slowly opened their eyes and instinctively reached for the phone on the nightstand. 

The AC was on in the room, perhaps feeling a slight chill, she tucked her arms back into the warmth of the blanket with one hand holding her phone. As she opened her phone, numerous missed calls and messages appeared, along with headlines from various apps proclaiming #Xie Yan’s Love for Su Shen#.

Su Shen was shook and massaged her waist in discomfort. She felt that Xie Yan had no sense of moderation at all. Wasn’t he just back from abroad? How could he have so much energy!

Opening Weibo, five out of the top ten trending headlines were occupied by her and Xie Yan, including #Wang Cheng’s Blessings# and #Jiang Liankai & Xie Yan#. Some familiar and unfamiliar had also reposted their posts. There were genuine well-wishes, but there were also those seeking clout. Her feed was filled with news about her and Xie Yan.

Overnight, her response to Xie Yan’s Weibo post had accumulated 150,000 comments!

Netizen A: I’d rather this meteor shower never happened. [sob]

Netizen B: AHAHAHA, Su Su, does Xie laoshi know that you’ve edited him like this?

Netizen C: AHHHHH, they actually got together!

Netizen D: So this is my Su Su’s sugar daddy. Can I have such a handsome sugar daddy too? [joy]

Netizen E: Su Shen must’ve saved the Milky Way. No wonder she has abundant resources and opportunities. It turns out she has a boyfriend to protect and support her. [joy]

Netizen F: A meteor shower that caused so many girls to lose their hubby. [joy]

Netizen G: Can those who said my Su Su accompanied old men come forward? Is my Yan ge an old man?

Netizen H: Yan ge: “Yes, yes, yes, you’re the most beautiful! [dog head emoji]”

Netizen I: Her resources and opportunities came from relying on a man in the end. It’s just a matter of whether it’s done openly or behind the scenes. [smiley face]

After scrolling through the comments for a while, there were some antis that said she was not worthy of being with Xie Yan, as well as some of Xie Yan’s fans boycotting her. However, perhaps because their on-screen chemistry was already established in the drama, these negative comments didn’t hold much weight, and they were quickly countered by other fans. Additionally, with the help of the company’s moderation, Weibo’s homepage was mostly filled with blessings and envy.

Originally, their popularity was already quite high recently. But now that they went public, it had only intensified. It was definitely going to continue for a few days, but with He Hua overseeing everything, there shouldn’t be any major issues.

Getting out of bed, Su Shen washed up before heading downstairs, and she just so happened to see Xie Yan coming out of the gym on the second floor, with a towel draped around his neck, his body glistening with sweat, and his arm muscles well-defined. As he wiped the sweat off with the towel, he walked toward her.

Seeing him, Su Shen immediately went downstairs.

Seeing this, Xie Yan couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked at the person dashing downstairs. “Why are you in such a hurry?”

Su Shen quickly arrived downstairs. Upon hearing his words, she looked up at the person upstairs and glared at him angrily. “What do you think?!”

Leaning against the railing with one hand, he watched as she quickly fled into the kitchen. He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle before turning around and entering the bathroom in his room.

Despite being dissatisfied with him, Su Shen still prepared some Shredded Pork & Vegetable Noodles with a hint of resentment. After she finished making them, the person upstairs also came down after taking a shower.

From a distance, Xie Yan caught a whiff of a fragrant aroma and saw that petite figure coming out of the kitchen with two fried eggs. The busy figure instantly made a certain part of his heart fill. Xie Yan felt that the happiest thing in the world was being able to have breakfast made by her every morning.

“I suspect that you initially pursued me because I can cook, didn’t you?” Su Shen sat at the table, picking up the noodles in her bowl while glancing at the man over there.

The man took a few big steps and sat down next to her, picked up the chopsticks, leaned in, and stared at her fervently. “With so many chefs out there, why would I pursue you?”

Hearing this, Su Shen couldn’t help but cough. Taking a kleenex to wipe her mouth, she looked at him and said shamelessly, “Because I’m the most beautiful, of course.”

Seeing her pretending to be calm, Xie Yan chuckled before picking up some noodles with his chopsticks from the bowl with a smile. “Yes, you’re the most beautiful.”

Su Shen said nothing further because no matter how much she improved, her skin couldn’t be as thick as that of Xie Yan.

Tomorrow was the Dragon Boat Festival, but the online buzz about her and Xie Yan was still ongoing. Even some interactions from the shows they attended together have been dug out as if those people have become addicted to exposing everything. The kiss scene from their first movie had also been dug out.

However, at the same time, there were also more antis who said that she relied on Xie Yan to climb up in the industry, claiming that without Xie Yan, she wouldn’t have such good opportunities. But Su Shen ignored these comments. After all, the agency would continue to handle PR for her.

The next day was the Dragon Boat Festival. Even if Yao Yin didn’t mention it, Su Shen also knew that there would be paparazzi waiting outside for them, and not just one. But there was no choice, they had to go out for dinner. Although the paparazzi couldn’t enter, as soon as their car left the residential area, several vans immediately followed after them at a steady pace.

It wouldn’t matter much even if they were photographed now. The main concern was how the media would write about it.

The place they went to for dinner wasn’t a five-star luxury hotel but a unique and retro-style restaurant with a tranquil ambiance. After parking the car, as they entered the restaurant, Su Shen glanced at the name of the private room on her phone that her dad sent.

“Do you have a reservation, Miss?” A smiling female server immediately greeted them.

Su Shen didn’t wear a mask and sunglasses today and had some light makeup on. Upon hearing the server’s words, she smiled. “Yes, the Bamboo Room.”

The woman before her had exquisite brows and eyes, and her figure was perfectly showcased in a blue-waisted dress. Looking at this rare beauty, the server felt a sense of familiarity, as if she had seen her every day but couldn’t put a name to her face. 

There were people coming and going in the lobby, yet it remained tranquil. Just at this moment, a man wearing a black cap walked in from outside. As soon as Su Shen saw him, she immediately pointed toward the inside of the lobby and said, “Hurry, we’re already late.”

As soon as the man appeared, several nearby servers immediately froze in their tracks, staring toward the entrance in disbelief.

The female server closest to Su Shen seemed to have suddenly remembered something, but she continued to maintain her expression while stealing glances at the man from time to time.

Approaching her, Xie Yan held her hand in passing and placed his black cap on her head, and said in a low voice, “It’s not like we’re getting married. Why are you in such a hurry?”