Chen Lan returned in the afternoon, but she didn’t notice that Fang Jingzhou had changed into new clothes. Luo Bei noticed that she had been deliberately ignoring her son.
In the past, Luo Bei had tried to talk to her about it, but Chen Lan was very resistant, so Luo Bei had to give up. Perhaps for Chen Lan, there was also an unhappy past.
“Thank you so much,” Chen Lan said in a good mood. She bought freshly baked egg tarts and gave Luo Bei two boxes. “Actually, if it were up to me, I would have let this kid freeze outside for a night, and he would have learned his lesson. Luo Bei, do you think my shoes look good?”
She started showing off her new shoes to Luo Bei.
Luo Bei honestly nodded, “They’re pretty good-looking, but aren’t you cold wearing high heels in this cold weather?”
She felt cold even at home and had already taken out the cotton shoes her grandmother had made for her and started wearing them.
“Beauty comes at a price,” Chen Lan simply sat down and talked at length about her experience as a woman. “You’re still young. Dress yourself up every day. The day before yesterday, I saw you wearing snow boots. Do you still think you’re a student? No, even students aren’t as unfashionable as you. Don’t waste your face, Luo Bei. You have good conditions unlike me, who is dragging an oil bottle1 and unable to find a good man. You have to hurry up and find a rich man while you’re still young.”
“Where can I find one? I should focus on doing my job well for now.” Luo Bei was very self-aware. With her conditions, if she could just rely on her looks to marry a rich man, the rich man shouldn’t be in his right mind…
Chen Lan sighed, “Look, I’m pretty good-looking too. Honestly, if I didn’t have a child, I could easily marry myself off and have a good life.”
Luo Bei thought that this kind of talk was probably something that Fang Jingzhou had heard many times, but she didn’t want to have this conversation in front of the child, so she gave the tablet to Fang Jingzhou and let him play in the bedroom.
“Hasn’t anyone been willing to accept Xiao Jingzhou?” Luo Bei curiously asked.
Of course, from her perspective, unless the man who marries Chen Lan is a very kind-hearted person, otherwise, in a family where no one cares about the child, Jingzhou might live a worse life.
Chen Lan took a bite of the egg tart and then said slowly, “The men who are willing to accept a stepson, what kind of conditions do they have? I don’t even bother with them. Anyone who has a bit of money, who is willing to accept him? Now I regret it. I shouldn’t have given birth to him in the first place.”
Luo Bei didn’t know what to say, so she could only silently eat her egg tart.
“I regret it even more now. When he was born, there were people in our hometown who wanted to adopt him. Ugh, talking about the past just gives me a headache. I have some good news, though,” Chen Lan said with a happy expression, “I recently met a man and I quite like him. He likes me too…”
Curious, Luo Bei asked, “Is it the man you talked to when I called yesterday?”
“No, not him,” Chen Lan sneered, “He’s married and afraid of his wife, who cares about him. The man I know is neither married nor in a relationship. He runs a small company and although he’s not exactly wealthy, he has a house here and can support a family. I’ve been in contact with him lately.”
“So what about last night…”
Chen Lan chuckled, “You really thought I went with that married man? No, we were just fooling around. Last night I was at the house of this man I’m seeing.”
“Does he know you have a son?” Luo Bei hesitated to ask.
“He doesn’t know, but it’s not important. I’ve already thought about it. If we really get to the point of getting married, I’ll send the child to my hometown and have my mom take care of him. I’ll just send money back every month.”
Luo Bei instinctively said, “But if he really wants to marry you and one day finds out you lied to him, it’s not good.”
Chen Lan glared at her, “Why would anyone find out? We don’t go back to my hometown, and I won’t let my mom bring the child over either. There won’t be any problems. Don’t jinx me.”
Alright, she’s his birth mother, she has the final say.
Before the Chinese New Year, Jiang Sihan made two decisions.
First, he decided not to go back home for the New Year, mainly because he hadn’t achieved much yet, but more importantly, he couldn’t get a train ticket and couldn’t afford a plane ticket.
Second, he decided to sign with Brother Liu’s studio and put his music dream on hold for now, venturing into the film and television industry that he wasn’t familiar with.
Brother Liu knew Jiang Sihan was struggling financially, so after he signed the contract, Brother Liu advanced him six months’ salary to help him rent a better apartment and take care of himself.
When Jiang Sihan received his salary, he invited Luo Bei and others to a seafood buffet restaurant to eat a big meal.
Unfortunately, Grandma Luo didn’t want to go out in the winter, and it was inconvenient for Zhao Pianpian to bring her child, so only Luo Bei went.
Jiang Sihan had long wanted to go to the buffet restaurant, but his budget was limited, so he chose the restaurant with the highest cost-effectiveness and popularity. For Jiang Sihan, the price here was really not cheap, 188 yuan per person for lunch and 218 yuan per person for dinner, which was considered a very extravagant meal.
Although Luo Bei looks thin, her combat power is quite impressive. Jiang Sihan eats a lot in the first place, so even if they don’t break even, it won’t be too much of a loss.
The buffet here is similar to the one-person-one-pot type. Since Luo Bei and Jiang Sihan are two people, they ordered a small hotpot and a baking tray. They ate grilled meat and hotpot together, which was very enjoyable.
Luo Bei likes to eat prawns, but because they are difficult to peel and can easily hurt her hands, she didn’t eat much.
Jiang Sihan was very considerate and quickly peeled several prawns for her, and even peeled a crab for her, putting the tempting crab meat in her plate. “Eat more, otherwise it’s not worth it.”
“We shouldn’t talk.” Jiang Sihan seemed excited and told Luo Bei before they started eating, “Try not to talk, focus on eating.”
Luo Bei laughed at his comment, “Okay.”
But after the meal, the two of them really didn’t say much. When the waiter came to collect the plates, they were surprised and thought another big eater had come to the restaurant.
They had eaten at least fifteen plates of lamb alone, not to mention the seafood and other Chinese dishes.
Due to being too full, the two decided to walk home, to help with digestion.
At first, when she met Jiang Sihan, she thought he was very aloof and didn’t like to talk. But now that they’ve become more familiar with each other, she finds that he’s not that different from other people.
Luo Bei and Jiang Sihan walked on the road, and the big trees on both sides of the street were hung with beautiful light strings, adding a touch of romance to this winter night.
She was dressed very warmly, wearing a white down jacket and a long skirt inside, which was both warm and beautiful, but not very practical.
Jiang Sihan was wearing a smoke-gray coat, which had some pilling on it if you looked closely. He wore a black sweater inside and simple casual pants and shoes on the bottom.
Just from their appearance, they really looked like a couple, matching and eye-catching.
“I signed with a studio. It was started by a retired celebrity, and now there are also some new artists in the studio. I was assigned to Brother Liu’s team, and he’s a nice guy who has advanced me half a year’s salary,” Jiang Sihan turned his head and smiled at her. “He wants me to find a better house, but I don’t really want to move. Luo Bei, if it weren’t for you and Grandma Luo, I don’t know if I could have made it this far.”
“You’re exaggerating. We haven’t done anything for you,” Luo Bei has always restrained herself from interfering in other people’s lives, so she thinks she hasn’t really helped him. If making him dinner and bringing him things is helpful, isn’t his daily cleaning of the hallway trash also a kind of help? In a way, they owe each other nothing.
Jiang Sihan shook his head, “You don’t understand. Actually, many times I couldn’t keep going. I don’t know where the meaning of my perseverance lies. A meal, a dumpling, might not mean much to others, but for me, it was a lifesaver.”
Luo Bei has never experienced poverty. Even if her family is in debt, her grandmother always takes good care of her, making sure she is well-fed and well-clothed. Therefore, she cannot empathize with Jiang Sihan’s experience.
But now, the future superstar and actor is saying these words to her. Even if they may not have any intersection in the future, it’s still something she can boast about when looking back on her memories, right?
“I haven’t given up on my music dream. I just suddenly realized that if this path can’t fulfill my dream, then why not choose another path? Even though I don’t think I’ll become famous, maybe I won’t even get to play a single role until the day I leave the entertainment industry…” Jiang Sihan rubbed his hands and breathed out hot air. “But it doesn’t matter. I’ve already worked hard for my dream.”
Luo Bei nodded and smiled. According to the plot development, Jiang Sihan would become popular next year. Not to the extent of being super famous, but he still managed to make a strong impact and entered the public eye.
While they were still talking about dreams and reality, Jiang Sihan suddenly took a step forward and bent down. In front of Luo Bei’s puzzled eyes, he turned around with a ten-yuan bill in his hand, smiling brightly, revealing a set of white teeth. “I found ten yuan.”
In the end, Jiang Sihan bought two scratch cards with the ten yuan.
One was given to Luo Bei, and the other one for himself.
Their luck had already been used up just now, so they didn’t win anything this time.
Jiang Sihan put the losing scratch card into his wallet. He didn’t know why, but he urged Luo Bei to do the same.
Luo Bei asked, “What’s the meaning of this?”
Jiang Sihan pretended to be profound, “Maybe it can bless you with wealth.”
Luo Bei : “….”
- meaning Chen Lan has Fang Jingzhou who is dependent on her and she sees him as a burden, likened to an oil bottle. ↩︎
Wait, why are you making me ship him so hard with Luo Bei??? I won’t be able to handle the heartbreak of accepting him as a second male lead. 😭