Chapter 9 — Too Slow

Aside from her grandfather, parents, and brother, Su Yanyi’s family also included that seemingly virtuous sister-in-law of hers. In Su Yanyi’s past life, she never paid attention to her sister-in-law because that woman wasn’t close nor intimate with Su Yanyi’s older brother.

It seemed that when he married Wang Zhirou, he had been thinking along the same lines as Su Yanyi—it was about time, and there was that odd family rule to consider. Therefore, he’d simply found himself a docile wife with a suitable family background.

After the marriage, the husband-and-wife pair didn’t interact much. They later moved out of the manor, further reducing Su Yanyi’s chances of seeing that woman.

Only, who would’ve expected that woman to be another one of the Wang family’s chess pieces? The Wang family wanted to infiltrate and then consume the Su family—how wishful!

Wang Zhirou, Wang Zhilin, and the entire Wang family… Su Yanyi kept this debt firmly in her heart.

In the evening, most of the Su family members returned. Grandpa Su, Father Su, and Mother Su filed in. Nothing could be done about Brother Su since he was busy abroad. As for Wang Zhirou, her whereabouts were a mystery.

However, Su Yanyi wasn’t worried as she peacefully ate dinner with her grandpa and parents.

Grandpa Su was a very lively elder, and he was also the fondest of Su Yanyi. While they were eating, he couldn’t help but ask, “Lil’ Yi, where’s Jiran? He didn’t come back with you?”

“We’ll come together next time.” Today, she came back on impulse, so she forgot to bring Qin Jiran along.

Her response surprised Grandpa Su. Every other time he asked a question like this, he would either receive a rejection or just plain silence. Su Yanyi’s response this time made Grandpa Su’s eyes shine.

Cheerfully, he said, “Then I’ll wait for the two of you to come back and see Grandpa. Jiran is a pretty good child.”

No one in the Su family was stupid. They were aware of how the relationship was between Su Yanyi and Qin Jiran. Despite their traditional family rules, the Su family was actually a very open-minded family.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have allowed Su Yanyi to marry Qin Jiran, who had been a newcomer at the time of their marriage. Not to mention, he was an orphan.

Father Su and Mother Su were both listening from the sidelines, and their eyes also began to shine with anticipation.

Mother Su said, “That’s right, bring Lil’ Ran here and have him sign a few autographs for me. The little rascals in my company adore him. Oh, yes, and I heard that he professed to you today on his official webpage? Hehe, if you ask me, I’d say that it’s time for the two of you to disclose your relationship already. That way, people will stop coming to me asking if you’re married yet. They all want to introduce you to a boyfriend.”

Father Su chimed in, “Yeah, when do you plan on disclosing it and letting our friends celebrate a bit?”

Very few people knew about the marriage between Su Yanyi and Qin Jiran. Wang Zhirou was the only reason why the Wang family knew about it.

“Not now. I’m a bit busy right now,” Su Yanyi responded with uncertainty. She disliked formalization. She and Qin Jiran were married, so they were husband-and-wife. To her, it was as simple as that. There was no need to make a great show out of it.

As for whether or not their relationship should be publicized, Su Yanyi had never thought of it before. However, she switched over to focus instead on the other piece of “news” she’d heard from her mother just then.

Su Yanyi’s reaction was a bit slow as she asked, “Jiran professed to me? When?”

Some people were just so slow that it gave others headaches. Su Yanyi clearly knew about the matter, and yet she’d still somehow failed to make the connection. Her EQ level was most likely in the negative range.

But then, she thought about how she had felt when she first saw Qin Jiran’s post. Could it be that he wrote the message for her? Was it really as her mother said?

Except… wasn’t this confession a bit too strange? It wasn’t formal at all. He didn’t even mention a name, so how was anyone supposed to know who he was professing to? Su Yanyi felt a bit miffed by that train of thought.

She said, “Mom, you’re probably misunderstanding. This is just a way to gain publicity, it’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Publicity? Does it seem like the Film Emperor needs to gain more publicity?” Mother Su suddenly felt like rolling her eyes. Was it her misunderstanding, or was it her daughter being too slow?

“Mhm!” Su Yanyi nodded seriously and then lowered her head to focus on eating, indicating that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. The seniors all looked at her helplessly as they stifled their laughs.

…..

The next day, the news of Film Emperor Qin Jiran’s public confession dominated the headlines of every major media outlet. The blur of fervent discussion and guesses that ensued were capable of sending just about anyone’s mind reeling.

When Su Yanyi arrived at the company, she heard the heated debates between her employees.

“Who do you think Qin Jiran’s real love is? Could it be that little actress, Zhang Feifei? I think they’re pretty suitable for each other. Recently, weren’t they involved in some rumors together?” One of the company’s female artists said.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about Zhang Feifei. The rumors were only started to give publicity for the film they were starring in. Zhang Feifei is so much older than Qin Jiran, so why would he like her? And remember, Qin Jiran is the Film Emperor now,” another artist retorted.

“That’s not necessarily true. In the recent years, dating someone who is older or younger than you is really popular. Age isn’t a problem.”

“Even if age isn’t a problem, Emperor Qin still wouldn’t like her. I’m in the same unit as her, so I know what the truth is like. Emperor Qin never paid her any attention on set …”

The rest, Su Yanyi didn’t hear because she walked straight into the elevator and rode it up to her office.

“From now, pay attention to the rumors about Qin Jiran. Don’t let them spread, even if they’re just for publicity.” She instructed Kang Zhong, cold-faced as she did.

“Okay, I understand.” Kang Zhong wrote her instructions down on a notepad and added a star to emphasize its importance. Then, he asked hesitantly, “What about the rumors going on right now?”

Qin Jiran’s official webpage confession couldn’t really be considered a rumor or a publicity act, and so far, the man in question wasn’t doing anything about it. As Qin Jiran’s newly-appointed agent, Kang Zhong couldn’t help but feel worried.

“Do what Qin Jiran said. If you encounter a problem that you can’t resolve, come find me.” Su Yanyi wasn’t very clear about Qin Jiran’s intentions, but that didn’t sway her decision to support him. She believed that the man was very capable and would be fine without her interference.

“I understand,” Zang Zhong added another star for importance to the image of Qin Jiran in his mind, boosting Qin Jiran to the same importance rank as a family member.

Meanwhile, Qin Jiran had just arrived at the office. He’d spent the entire night before going over the two scripts, and he liked both of them a lot.

The thought that they were personally selected for him by Su Yanyi made him even happier, and he was eager to go and see her.