The Only Choice - 28

Wearing Guan Yuanbai's clothes in his home, at such a suggestive hour nearing midnight, it wasn't surprising for others to get the wrong idea.

Zhou Fanfan stood frozen on the spot. Under the combined gaze of Cui Mingzhu and Guan Ziyu, she shook her head like a rattle-drum.

"It's not like that, we're not, things aren't what you think!"

Her protests sounded inexplicably weak, especially given the established context of her and Guan Yuanbai's ‘arranged meetings’.

"Why didn't you say you were coming?" Suddenly, a hand on her shoulder gently pulled her back a step. Someone moved to stand in front of her.

Looking up, she saw Guan Yuanbai's shoulder. He had emerged from the kitchen, seemingly caught off guard himself. He was still wearing an apron, his hands were wet, and a single droplet of water clung to the tip of his index finger.

Cui Mingzhu and Guan Ziyu stared, dumbfounded.

"You're... cooking?"

Guan Yuanbai glanced down at himself calmly."Gutting a fish."

"..."

Five minutes later, all four were seated in the living room.

Cui Mingzhu and Guan Ziyu sat on one sofa, Guan Yuanbai and Zhou Fanfan on the other, facing them. The silence stretched until Guan Ziyu finally broke it.

"Fanfan, you two were just about to have dinner, right?"

Zhou Fanfan shook her head. "Not yet... we just started on the fish. Haven't even begun cooking the rice."

Guan Ziyu: "That's not the important part. The important part is that the two of you are at home together, cooking and eating?"

Zhou Fanfan felt this line of questioning was highly misleading, but she couldn't refute it because it was essentially true.

"We are cooking and eating at home, but it's not exactly together..."

"Yuanbai, you tell me. Are the two of you at home together?" Cui Mingzhu, who had been silent since entering, suddenly spoke.

Guan Yuanbai looked at her and nodded.

The next second, a tissue box flew from the opposite sofa and hit him square in the face.

"You scoundrel!"

Zhou Fanfan jumped, instantly sitting ramrod straight, and looked at Cui Mingzhu in horror. Guan Yuanbai picked up the tissue box that had landed on his lap, his expression remaining relatively composed.

"Grandmother, what's with throwing things?"

"You, you, you! Still playing dumb! Guan Yuanbai, I approved of you getting to know Fanfan, and I hoped you two would date! But how could you just bring Fanfan to your home to live together without a word? How am I supposed to explain this to her family? She's a young lady!"

Cui Mingzhu had initially been delighted to see Zhou Fanfan, but the realization that their relationship might have progressed too quickly turned that delight into alarm.

She was quite traditional and felt this was improper. Furthermore, the girl was still quite young. Keeping the relationship from the elders was one thing, but jumping to cohabitation in such a short time? The girl's family would definitely be unhappy!

"Grandmother, it's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding! We are not living together!" Zhou Fanfan hastily stood up to explain. "I just came over to cook, that's all! I don't live here!"

Guan Ziyu, enjoying the spectacle, chimed in, "Fanfan, but you're wearing Yuanbai's clothes."

"No, no! It's just because I got my clothes dirty while handling the fish, so I—"

"Yuanbai, this is where you're wrong. How can you let the girl do all the explaining?" Guan Ziyu instantly shifted the blame to Guan Yuanbai. "What did we teach you when you were little? Respect women. Take things step by step. You really…!"

Guan Yuanbai shot a chilly glance at Guan Ziyu. This guy, really has the nerve to say these things.

"What are you looking at? Why are you looking at your cousin like that? Is anything he said wrong?" Cui Mingzhu was furious. Her eyes scanned the room, and she grabbed a cushion to throw at him.

After throwing it, her expression softened instantly as she turned to Zhou Fanfan. "Fanfan, does your family know you're staying at Yuanbai's place?"

Zhou Fanfan was flabbergasted. "My family doesn't know... I mean, we aren't even..."

"Guan Yuanbai!" Cui Mingzhu stood up immediately. "Look at what you've done!"

Guan Yuanbai rubbed his temples. "Grandmother, haven't you always hoped we'd get to know each other properly? Aren't we doing just that? I'm usually busy outside, so getting to know each other at home is just perfect— Ouch!"

He was cut off by a swift slap to the head.

Cui Mingzhu rushed over to hit him, too angry to catch her breath. "What nonsense is this 'getting to know each other at home'? Are you trying to make me drop dead with anger? A man your age, luring a young girl to your house to... to 'get to know each other'? How exactly are you planning to do that?! Can't you take a normal path? This is irresponsible!"

Watching Guan Yuanbai get repeatedly thumped, Zhou Fanfan broke out in a cold sweat.

How did one sweatshirt lead to a situation that's completely impossible to explain?!

"Fanfan is still young. What will her family think of you, and of our family, if you act like this? Ah, you really make me so angry! I'm calling your grandfather and your father right now, have them come give you a proper beating, then take you to the Zhou family to apologize in person—"

"No, no, no!" Zhou Fanfan felt a headache coming on and stepped forward to stop Cui Mingzhu. "It was yesterday! Just yesterday! We just got together, so we haven't had time to tell anyone yet! It wasn't intentional!"

Cui Mingzhu paused. "Yesterday? Really?"

Zhou Fanfan glanced at the slightly stunned Guan Yuanbai and forced a dry laugh. "So please don't misunderstand. We haven't just... just casually started living together at home... Ah, and of course we haven't formally done anything at home either!! We're just having a meal together! Mr. Guan hasn't done anything to me, and he didn't lure me to stay here. The clothes are just because mine got dirty. We haven't done anything, just cooking..."

Zhou Fanfan's voice grew quieter and quieter. By the end, she wasn't even sure what she was saying!

"So, in summary, you are together," Guan Ziyu concluded with a smile.

Zhou Fanfan shot a look at the seated Guan Yuanbai. Seeing he showed no intention of refuting, she gritted her teeth and said, "Yes!"

Hearing that they had officially confirmed their relationship just yesterday, Cui Mingzhu finally put her phone away. However, she still frowned at Guan Yuanbai. "Since you're together, you need to inform the elders. Fanfan is the Zhou family's treasured daughter. You can't be careless or reckless about this, do you understand?"

Guan Yuanbai was silent for a long moment, then looked deeply at Zhou Fanfan. "I understand. I'll find time to visit her family soon and explain things clearly to them."

Cui Mingzhu: "That's more like it!"

The performance required for ‘We are already together’ was on a completely different level from ‘We are still getting to know each other’.

For the next hour, Zhou Fanfan remained in a state of sustained bewilderment.

Cui Mingzhu took her aside, listing Guan Yuanbai's various flaws and insisting that if he ever treated her poorly in the future, she must tell her.

Not knowing how to respond, Zhou Fanfan could only glance at the thoughtfully silent Guan Yuanbai and nod obediently at Cui Mingzhu.

By the end, Cui Mingzhu's anger had subsided.

After all, she genuinely hoped Zhou Fanfan and her grandson would end up together. Her initial outburst was mainly fear that Guan Yuanbai was being reckless and wouldn't treat Zhou Fanfan well.

"Fanfan, I'll be going now. You take care. Next time, come to the house for a meal with Yuanbai. I'll personally cook one of my signature dishes for you."

Finally, Cui Mingzhu and Guan Ziyu prepared to leave.

Zhou Fanfan nodded gently. "Okay... Thank you, Grandmother."

Cui Mingzhu shot one last warning look at Guan Yuanbai before leaving with Guan Ziyu.

The moment the door closed, Zhou Fanfan let out a huge sigh of relief. She turned and found Guan Yuanbai staring at her. "W-what is it?"

Guan Yuanbai wore a faint, teasing smile. "We're together?"

Zhou Fanfan's face felt warm. "No... I, I just panicked when I saw the situation... You know we could never have explained it clearly. I didn't want you to take the blame either. If I hadn't said that, things would have gotten completely out of hand... Right?"

Guan Yuanbai stood up. His height was suddenly imposing, forcing Zhou Fanfan to take a step back, changing her perspective from looking down to looking up.

"True," Guan Yuanbai said with a light laugh. "Never mind that Grandmother wouldn't believe anything I said. Even if we assumed they'd believe anything, you wearing my clothes could be explained as a temporary change because yours got dirty. But you cooking at my home... I certainly couldn't tell them it's because you initially deceived me to get close to Guan Zhiyi and are now cooking for me to atone for your sins."

"Of course we can't say that! It's better to just let them assume we're together. We were already deceiving them before anyway. Now we're just taking it a step further by saying we're dating. It's not that big of a difference." After saying this, she asked worriedly, "Or... do you have plans to start dating someone for real lately? If having this 'boyfriend' label is inconvenient for you, just tell me. We can break up on the spot!"

Guan Yuanbai's mouth twitched. "Dating, breaking up... it's all so trivial to you, isn't it?"

Zhou Fanfan whispered, "It's not that... but what else can we do?"

Guan Yuanbai felt a flash of irritation, not about the pretense of being together, but about her attitude towards the whole concept.

Just like before, when she said that dating was a really uninteresting thing...

Just what kind of terrible relationships did she have before? To be so jaded at such a young age!

"Mr. Guan? Are you angry?"

Guan Yuanbai's face was impassive. "No."

Zhou Fanfan considered for a moment. "If you think it's inappropriate, then... I can go explain to your grandmother again, that we..."

"No need for further explanations. Since you said we're together, then we're together." Guan Yuanbai looked at her, his gaze deep and unreadable. "I have no objections."

—

The next day, Guan Yuanbai visited the Zhou family.

Zhao Dezhen was especially happy about the news of them being together. She held Guan Yuanbai's hand and talked with him for a long time, reluctant to let him leave.

Zhou Fanfan also received particularly good treatment from Zhao Dezhen recently. Zhao Dezhen said that since she was dating, she should buy more clothes and nice things, taking Zhou Fanfan on shopping sprees and transferring a large sum of money to her as allowance.

She almost insisted on replacing Zhou Fanfan's car, saying her current one was a bit too delicate. Zhou Fanfan had to strenuously argue that she loved her little pink car before Zhao Dezhen dropped the idea of buying her a new one.

Later, as New Year's Eve approached, the major platforms' annual galas were also scheduled around this time.

Guan Zhiyi had collaborated most with Tencent this year and had chosen to only attend their gala.

Upon hearing this, her fans began a new round of support preparations. This time, the event was held right in the capital, so there was no way Zhou Fanfan would miss it.

Even Liu Liu and Qi Qi, who were in other provinces, managed to get tickets and planned to fly over to attend. Although Xu Xiaoqian was still under the cloud of her breakup, she without hesitation came over from her hometown to join the support effort.

The four of them reunited. However, Zhou Fanfan didn't mention the matter of her ‘being together’ with Guan Yuanbai.

In her eyes, this current ‘together’ status held the same meaning as the previous ‘getting to know each other’ phase—it was just a different performance for the elders.

When it came down to it, they had no real relationship. It was just a collaboration. So there was no need to publicize it and cause misunderstandings among her friends.

The day before the Tencent gala was reserved for a fan gathering. Zhou Fanfan knew most of the people in the fan club, so she joined them for a meal and to discuss the support plans for the next day.

Zhou Fanfan was already quite well-known within the fandom, and her minor scandal with Guan Yuanbai had made her even more famous.

However, most people present were long-time fans. Regarding those unverifiable rumors unrelated to their idol, they generally chose to ignore them on the surface.

But there were always a few newcomers who were a bit curious.

"Is that Zhou Fanfan?" They had booked a private room. At the dinner table, Zhou Fanfan was discussing the seating arrangements for the next day with the fan club president. A girl who had recently joined the club and hadn't met Zhou Fanfan in person before quietly asked her friend beside her.

"Yes, that's her."

"No wonder, she is pretty."

Her friend said,"Of course. Otherwise, why would people have shipped her with Guan Yuanbai before?"

The girl asked,"So... was it real?"

"Probably not. If it were real, why would she be sitting here with us now?"

The girl strongly agreed."Then, wasn't that thing before just a publicity stunt?"

"Who knows? But it's true her Weibo followers doubled after that incident."

"Ah..."

After the gathering, when Zhou Fanfan returned home, she found her father and grandmother watching TV together. Her father, Zhou Xuyan, had just returned to the country yesterday to celebrate the New Year with them.

"Fanfan, you're back. Come sit," Zhou Xuyan said.

Zhou Fanfan walked over. "Have you eaten yet?"

Zhou Xuyan replied,"We have. What about you?"

"I just ate out with my friends."

Her father had basically lived in France since his divorce from her mother years ago. He usually doted on her, often sending expensive gifts, but because they had little contact, Zhou Fanfan wasn't very close to him. Sitting together, they often didn't know what to talk about.

"Your grandmother told me you're together with Guan Yuanbai."

Guan Yuanbai had visited a few days ago, but Zhou Xuyan hadn't returned yet, so they missed each other.

Zhou Fanfan nodded.

Zhou Xuyan said, "Since I'm home for the New Year period, you can invite Yuanbai over for dinner again."

Zhao Dezhen added, "Yes, yes, yes, your father wasn't here last time. You should ask him when he's free."

Knowing this was unavoidable, Zhou Fanfan didn't refuse.

After going upstairs, she sent Guan Yuanbai a WeChat message, asking when he was free, as her father had invited him for dinner.

Guan Yuanbai replied that he was free recently. [How about tomorrow?] 

Zhou Fanfan immediately responded: [Not tomorrow!]

Guan Yuanbai: [Reason?]

Zhou Fanfan: [I'm going to a gala tomorrow! I already have the tickets! Let's schedule for another time!]

Nothing was more important recently than the Tencent Starry Night Gala.

The following afternoon, after meeting up with the other three, Zhou Fanfan headed to the gala venue.

The gala hadn't started letting people in yet, so fans were waiting nearby.

During such star-studded events, every fan club put in great effort. The street near the venue was lined with posters and banners of various celebrities.

Zhou Fanfan and her friends quickly found their fan club's base. The president and a few senior members were under a makeshift canopy, distributing support items and this event's commemorative gifts.

Zhou Fanfan, Xu Xiaoqian, and the others also went to collect their things. With time to kill, they decided to go to a milk tea shop near the venue to get a drink.

The milk tea shop was located near the venue's parking lot entrance. This particular entrance was for entry only. Today, everyone driving in was there for the gala, some were staff, others were VIP guests.

As for the invited celebrities and actors, they had a separate, more private entrance to prevent fans from crowding them.

By the time Zhou Fanfan and her friends arrived at the milk tea shop, it was already packed inside and out with people buying drinks to quench their thirst or warm up.

While waiting in line, Zhou Fanfan noticed A-Chou and two fellow fans from last night's dinner ahead of her. They were the new members. Although they had eaten together last night, they hadn't spoken, so Zhou Fanfan wasn't familiar with them.

"Hey! A-Chou, what a coincidence!" Zhou Fanfan stepped forward and patted the shoulder of the person she knew.

A-Chou turned around and was happy to see her. "I was looking for you when I arrived earlier, but I missed the dinner last night."

"Catching up today is just fine," Zhou Fanfan said, then turned to introduce Liu Liu and Qi Qi. "And this is Xiaoqian, no need for introductions, you've met before."

A-Chou said, "Yes, yes, yes. Hey, since it's such a coincidence, let me treat you all to milk tea."

Zhou Fanfan smiled. "You're so generous."

"Not at all, just for new friends," A-Chou said, pointing to the two girls beside her. "You've met them; they're my juniors from university. You had dinner together last night."

Zhou Fanfan greeted them. "Yes, I remember. Hello."

These two girls were the ones who had quietly gossiped about Zhou Fanfan at the dinner table last night. Frankly, they suspected Zhou Fanfan might have used the connection with Guan Yuanbai for publicity.

But they hadn't realized she was also this close with A-Chou, so they didn't say anything and just smiled back in greeting.

A-Chou bought milk tea for everyone. Once they got their drinks, they stood outside the shop, chatting and drinking.

It was at this moment that Guan Yuanbai spotted Zhou Fanfan.

Before running into Qi Chengyan today, Guan Yuanbai hadn't planned on going out. During the holiday break, aside from meeting friends, he had mostly stayed home.

He was watering the plants on his balcony when he saw Qi Chengyan, dressed impeccably, clearly about to go out. He asked casually and found out Qi Chengyan was heading to the Tencent Starry Night Gala because Guan Zhiyi would be there.

Guan Yuanbai immediately connected this to what Zhou Fanfan had said yesterday—that she was going to a gala tonight, which was why she refused his visit to her home today.

Guan Yuanbai didn't quite know what came over him then. Maybe it was because he was too idle, or maybe he recalled someone's eager, excited expression... In any case, before he could fully process his thoughts, he had already changed clothes and was sitting in Qi Chengyan's car.

"Pull over up ahead," Guan Yuanbai said.

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror. "Yes, sir."

Qi Chengyan, who hadn't noticed anyone yet, looked at him sideways. "What's up?"

Guan Yuanbai's eyes narrowed slightly. "Saw an acquaintance."

Only then did Qi Chengyan follow his gaze out the window. The car was gradually coming to a stop. Through the glass, Qi Chengyan saw a group of girls drinking milk tea.

And one of them, wearing a beige coat, was indeed a familiar face.

Qi Chengyan said, "Oh, it's my wife's number one fan."

Guan Yuanbai shot him a sidelong glance, slightly displeased.

Qi Chengyan chuckled and added, "Of course, now she's also my wife's future sister-in-law."

Zhou Fanfan and A-Chou were huddled together, discussing the best camera angles for photographing Guan Zhiyi today. They were in the middle of an enthusiastic conversation when she noticed a car stopping in front of them.

It was a luxury car, drawing sidelong glances from people nearby.

Zhou Fanfan glanced at it too, but it was just a cursory look before she turned back to continue talking with A-Chou. Unexpectedly, the car didn't drive off. Instead, the rear window rolled down.

Two men were visible in the back seat.

The one on the far side was hard to see clearly, but the one by the window had distinct features.

His face was handsome, his features outstanding. His gaze as he looked out was gentle yet cool, with a hint of something that might have been impatience.

The crowd's attention was instantly captured. The Guan Zhiyi fans standing closer immediately recognized him, exchanging surprised and somewhat confused looks.

Guan Yuanbai is here too?! He must be here to support his sister, their idol, Guan Zhiyi... But why did his car stop here?

Just as everyone was wondering, the person in the car fixed his gaze on a specific spot and called out a name in a calm tone:

"Zhou Fanfan.”

---

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