"Sure, sure. You take care of your own business first. We're available anytime."
After she finished speaking, she paused for a moment, then carefully chose her words and said, "By the way, you don't have a girlfriend yet, right?"
Xu Chun paused for a moment, then said, "Of Course, why bring this up all of a sudden?"
Mrs. Xu quickly said, "It's nothing. Um, I'll hang up now. You go ahead with your work."
Xie Jianyuan came out of the study, taking Nen with him.
"What's wrong? Who called?"
Xu Chun replied, "My mom said I need to go back home. I plan to go back the day after tomorrow."
Xie Jianyuan hummed in agreement and casually asked, "Did they say why?"
"No, she didn't. She just said she missed me." Xu Chun frowned slightly. "But she also asked if I had a girlfriend."
After he finished speaking, he shrugged his shoulders somewhat helplessly. This gesture usually sounds a bit nonchalant when others do it, but when he does it, it appears carefree and casual.
Xie Jianyuan's expression darkened upon hearing his words, then he smiled faintly and said casually, "Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've seen Auntie."
Xu Chun hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Do you want to come back with me?"
Xie Jianyuan lowered his eyelashes slightly. "Is this alright?"
"Why not? My mom likes you a lot. She might be even happier to see you than to see me."
Xie Jianyuan seemed relieved at this moment, and pursed his lips slightly. "That's good."
The next day, after Xu Chun went to the company and had a meeting with Su Li and the team, it was already past 11 p. m. The company was still brightly lit, and people could be seen working overtime everywhere in the corridors.
As soon as Xu Chun stepped out of the elevator, a familiar figure appeared in front of her. Shen Zhu was walking towards her.
"A Chun, I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on winning the award yet." He first gave Xu Chun a kind smile.
Xu Chun's attitude wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't cold either. He nodded and said, "Thank you."
He felt something was off about the last awards ceremony, and he suspected someone was deliberately targeting him. You can't blame him for being suspicious; as it turns out, only those who are cautious can go far in this industry.
His suspect was Shen Zhu. After much thought, he realized that Shen Zhu was the only one with a motive to harm him. However, he couldn't rule out the possibility that Shen Zhu's recent rise to fame had led him to fall into the trap of other young male celebrities, who might be secretly plotting against him.
If it were Shen Zhu, he wouldn't believe he had the ability to control such a large awards ceremony with his own hands. It could only mean that he manipulated a certain aspect of the process, which led to this "work error."
Unexpectedly, Shen Zhu suddenly sighed, her tone tinged with sadness, "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I always feel that you've become much more distant from me since I returned to China."
Xu Chun was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "You're overthinking it. It's just that I've been very busy with work lately. There's no question of us growing apart."
After saying that, he patted him on the shoulder and then walked away.
Shen Zhu stood there watching his back, not moving for a long time. The moment Xu Chun turned away, his expression instantly darkened.
"Did she go abroad?"
After an unknown amount of time, he slowly uttered a few words.
His assistant quickly whispered, "Yes, he'll leave the country as soon as he gets the money, and he promises to keep it a secret."
This assistant is his distant cousin, a relationship that even his manager, Su Li, was unaware of. It's common for artists in this industry to promote trusted relatives as their personal assistants.
Shen Zhu smiled and said, "That's good."
He paused for a moment, then, as if remembering something, asked, "Did you get a call from President Jiang?"
The assistant hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No."
Shen Zhu's face darkened for a moment, but she still forced herself to say, "Remember to tell me immediately if you call."
"OK."
Meanwhile, Xu Chun had just left the company but wasn't in a hurry to go back. Instead, she walked to a commercial plaza. Although it was still night, the place was bustling with activity, with many elderly people taking a stroll and children playing around.
Under the streetlights, some young people were skateboarding. Because it was dark and Xu Chun was wearing a hat and mask with his head down, no one recognized him as he walked in the crowd.
The evening breeze was a bit cool, and Xu Chun was too lazy to settle down and enjoy this leisurely time alone.
He walked up to the vending machine and saw a boy in a black hoodie squatting down, angrily pounding on the machine. It seemed that his drink was stuck in the dispenser.
Xu Chun walked over and squatted down as well. She glanced at where the drink was stuck and said gently, "Don't move it. The more you rush, the harder it will be to get it out."
The boy paused, then turned his head to look at him.
Xu Chun's eyes met his for a moment, and what came into view was a delicate and beautiful face.
The boy's features were so perfect they seemed sculpted, except for his sickly pale complexion, slightly upturned peach blossom eyes, and bright red lips, which gave him a somewhat bewitching beauty.
Xu Chun stretched out her arm and easily retrieved the drink that was stuck in his throat, then handed it to him, her eyebrows curving into a smile as she said kindly, "Here you go."
The boy stared into his eyes for a long time, and Xu Chun couldn't understand what was so interesting about his eyes that made him make such an expression.
After a long while, he slowly reached out and took it. Only then did Xu Chun notice that his arms were extremely thin and his figure looked extremely weak, as if he were suffering from an illness.
"Don't worry about it."
His voice was somewhere between that of a teenager and an adult, possessing both the naivety of a teenager and the deep huskiness of an adult, the two strangely blended together.
Xu Chun initially thought he was talking to her, and was stunned for a while before she realized what he meant. Then she looked up and saw several bodyguards in black standing nearby, presumably to protect the boy. Perhaps the moment she walked into the boy's arms, she had already entered their surveillance range.