The Only Choice - 14

What does it truly feel like to be a fan of someone?

Zhou Fanfan was well-qualified to answer.

It was like the world pouring a cup of syrup into your mundane life. The syrup melted in your heart, spreading out... Every time you encountered something related to that person, the sweetness would seep into every limb and bone.

You wished for them to do well, for their career to be smooth, for their family to be happy, for them to meet only good people, and most of all, for them to have more and more people who loved them just like you did.

It was a strange, selfless state of mind that required no reciprocation.

As long as they existed, that was enough. Their very existence was a form of healing.

During dinner, Zhou Fanfan was very quiet.

Originally, she had thought that seeing Guan Zhiyi was great, but getting a photo together or a personalized autograph would be even better! Before coming, she had even excitedly boasted to Xu Xiaoqian that she would definitely get one for her too!

But all those thoughts came to an abrupt halt the moment she saw Guan Zhiyi. She suddenly felt that just meeting like this was enough. Not causing a disturbance was the mark of a true fan.

After the meal, everyone left the Guan family estate.

Guan Zhiyi and Qi Chengyan got in their car to return to their own home. Zhou Fanfan had originally planned to drive herself back but ended up being ushered into Guan Yuanbai's car by Cui Mingzhu using various excuses.

Zhou Fanfan's mood still hadn't completely settled. She suspected it wouldn't settle down even by tomorrow.

However, in Guan Yuanbai's car, she forced herself to act normal, commanding herself to wait until she got home to lose her mind.

"I haven't seen Grandma much recently, so I haven't had a chance to tell her about our situation," Guan Yuanbai fastened his seatbelt and explained to Zhou Fanfan.

Seeing Grandma Cui's enthusiasm, Zhou Fanfan had already guessed Guan Yuanbai hadn't had time to tell her. "It's fine. You can tell her next time."

She had already done what she most wanted to do. She had no regrets.

"Oh, and about this gift, please tell Zhiyi thank you so much for me," Zhou Fanfan said.

Guan Yuanbai: "No need. She just brought it back casually."

"No, no, I really must thank her. I love it," Zhou Fanfan was a bit excited and inadvertently added, "And thank you for coming today."

After all, if Guan Yuanbai hadn't come today and had directly told Grandma Cui he didn't want to see or interact with her anymore, tonight's dinner might not have gone so smoothly.

Seeing her cheeks flush slightly as she said this, Guan Yuanbai wondered if she had misunderstood, thinking he came specifically for her. He said stiffly, "I didn't come specifically to see you. My sister was coming and insisted I join."

"Really?"

So tonight was actually facilitated by Yiyi herself!

"Yes, so don't read too much into it." After saying this, Guan Yuanbai's brow furrowed slightly, wondering if his words were again too impersonal, like that day outside the theater.

After all, she just liked him. She hadn't really done anything wrong.

Guan Yuanbai glanced at her. Seeing she was still somewhat tense, he softened a bit and said, "My tone wasn't great that day. I apologize."

Zhou Fanfan's mind wasn't really on Guan Yuanbai. She couldn't resist opening the small WeChat group, formulating how to share her current feelings with the people inside.

"However, what I said at the time was also true. A young woman shouldn't be overly proactive; it can easily lead to hurt."

Zhou Fanfan spared him a glance: "Huh?"

Guan Yuanbai said seriously, "I mean, some things are better left to develop naturally."

"Yeah, yeah, definitely," Zhou Fanfan didn't really grasp what he was saying but smiled and agreed, "Let everything take its natural course."

"As long as you understand." Guan Yuanbai's grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly. He added, "I've never liked being forced into these matchmaking situations. It was my mistake from the beginning to agree to this pretense with you."

"Oh, okay."

"So, I share some responsibility for this situation. I should have stopped you sooner."

"Mhm."

"And also..."

Guan Yuanbai glanced at her, wanting to say more, but only saw her looking down at her phone, lips pressed tightly together.

She looked somewhat dejected.

Guan Yuanbai suddenly found he couldn't continue.

What am I doing...

While Guan Yuanbai was pondering what he actually wanted to express, and what he should express... on the other side, Zhou Fanfan was already typing in the group chat.

Her lowered head seemed calm, even a little gloomy, but her downcast eyes were shining.

She was rapidly typing a long paragraph in the group, punctuated with countless exclamation marks!

[Holy crap!!!!!! Sisters!!! Get out here!!! I can't handle this!!! Quick!!!! Give me CPR!!!]

About ten seconds later, Liu Liu was the first to reply: [What? What's wrong?]

Xiaoqian: [You saw her, didn't you?! You saw Yiyi? Where?]

Liu Liu: [Really? You saw our girl right after her honeymoon? Where?]

Zhou Fanfan: [At her grandmother's house, wuwuwuwu. We had dinner together tonight, and she even brought me a souvenir from her honeymoon! I don't care, I'm going to enshrine it! I'll pass it down for eighteen generations!!!]

Liu Liu: [No way! That's amazing, Fanfan! This blind date was totally worth it!!]

Qi Qi: [Remember your friends when you make it big. I don't ask for much, just mail me a signed photo someday.]

Zhou Fanfan: [Ahhhhhh I didn't dare ask! I could barely speak when I saw her, you know? And I didn't dare reveal I'm a fan. I thought it might bother her.]

Qi Qi: [Then just say someone else wanted a signed photo and ask if she could sign one? You're about to become Yiyi's sister-in-law! What are you afraid of!]

Zhou Fanfan paused, glanced at Guan Yuanbai, and continued typing: [I told you I can't become the sister-in-law... In fact, this was probably my last time visiting the Guan family.]

Liu Liu: [How come?]

Zhou Fanfan: [Our 'son' simply doesn't like me. And last time, he quite sternly refused me sending him gifts. He really dislikes me doing that. I must have been bothering him.]

Qi Qi: [Is that so? That's too sad...]

Zhou Fanfan mourned internally for five seconds,then immediately sent a "This lady doesn't need a man" meme: [It's fine! Who wants to be a sister-in-law anyway? I aim to be my darling daughter's mom!] 

The group chat was still chattering away, asking for details about the dinner. Sitting in Guan Yuanbai's car, Zhou Fanfan couldn't keep up with the replies. She left a message saying, "I'll tell you all about it properly once I get home," and put her phone down for now.

Then she lifted her head and looked out the window, feeling the world was infinitely beautiful.

Out of the corner of his eye, Guan Yuanbai saw her finally look up, but she kept gazing out the window, seeming subdued and not very happy.

"Want to listen to some music?"

The car interior was too quiet. Guan Yuanbai asked.

Zhou Fanfan turned back: "Sure..."

Guan Yuanbai made an affirmative sound and turned on random music.

By now, Zhou Fanfan's emotions had somewhat calmed down. She looked at Guan Yuanbai, remembering what she had said in the group about this likely being her last visit to the Guan family, and felt a faint sense of loss.

"What is it?" Guan Yuanbai noticed her looking at him and asked.

Zhou Fanfan: "It's nothing. Oh, by the way, Mr. Guan, about those gifts I gave you before... did you... keep them?"

Guan Yuanbai frowned. What did she mean? Did she think he was so heartless that he would casually discard gifts people gave him?

"Yes, I did. Why?"

Zhou Fanfan asked further, "Then... what about the ones for your sister?"

"I'll give them to her next time."

"Okay."

Hearing this, Zhou Fanfan's slight feeling of loss vanished completely.

She pressed her lips together to prevent herself from laughing out loud. But afraid her expression would look too strange, she simply turned to look out the window again, avoiding looking at him.

—

After Guan Zhiyi returned to the country, the fan groups and supertopic were exceptionally lively.

Within a couple of days, the studio's official account posted Guan Zhiyi's upcoming schedule. The nearest event was a fan meeting for her soon-to-be-released movie, The Storm.

This would be her first public appearance in months, so her fans were paying extra close attention.

The event organizers would allocate some tickets to the fan club. The club would use some for lucky draws to distribute to fans and directly give another portion to members with specific skills.

Although Zhou Fanfan wasn't often on the front lines, she was a long-standing club member, and her skills in photography, photo editing, and video editing were well-recognized. So, the club president directly gave her a ticket.

After all the tickets were distributed, a group chat was created to discuss the various support activities for Guan Zhiyi on the day of the event.

For those couple of days, Zhou Fanfan was very busy.

As for the matter with Guan Yuanbai... she had almost completely put it out of her mind.

Guan Yuanbai hadn't seen Zhou Fanfan for a week either.

This was the first time in nearly two months that she had been absent for so long.

Now, sitting in his office, He Zhi no longer brought in a light pink bag.

Guan Yuanbai felt inexplicably unaccustomed to it, so much so that he began to reflect on whether his words to her before had been too harsh.

Otherwise, why would she disappear so completely? Even though he was the one who said she shouldn't send things, why hadn't she even sent him a single message since?

"What are you doing? We called you here to drink, and you're sitting here by yourself? What's that supposed to mean?"

Today, Guan Yuanbai was casually hanging out with Song Li and others at a private club. Song Li, seeing him sitting alone on the sofa and not saying much, came over to check on him.

Guan Yuanbai took the glass Song Li handed him, clinked it with his, and took a perfunctory sip.

Song Li: "What, feeling down?"

"No." Guan Yuanbai paused, then said, "Just thinking about company matters."

"Tsk, calling you a workaholic isn't wrong. Stop thinking about work when you're out," Song Li rolled his eyes. "Think about something interesting, won't you?"

Guan Yuanbai glanced at him, clearly asking what counted as interesting.

Song Li slung an arm over his shoulder. "Hey, speaking of which, you and that young lady from the Zhou family, it's over, right?"

Guan Yuanbai knew he would bring this up and ignored him.

Song Li didn't mind and continued on his own, "Yeah, figures. Someone as ruthless as you, letting her become a laughingstock... it's normal for there to be no follow-up."

Guan Yuanbai's gaze sharpened, and he looked at him strangely. "What do you mean, a laughingstock?"

"You kept up the pretense of the blind date to deceive your family, but she genuinely liked you and kept sending you all those things... She was so attentive for so long, only to still be rejected by you. Of course people would laugh at her," Song Li said meaningfully. "Yuanbai, you used her and then tossed her aside."

Guan Yuanbai slowly sat up straight on the sofa, a mix of disbelief and faint anger in his eyes. "Who told you that?"

---

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