I'm Rich - 73
Extra 2
Guan Yuanbai had gone a full week without seeing Zhou Fanfan.
In two months, this was the first time he had gone so long without seeing her. She wasn't in the parking lot, she wasn't at Grandma's house, and she wasn't anywhere near the company. To make matters worse, even the most basic WeChat messages had stopped coming.
He wasn't used to it. So unused to it that he'd started wondering whether he'd said too much or been too harsh when he'd driven her home that day.
"Where's Xiao Wu?" Qi Chengyan asked one day after returning from the company to the Guan residence. He and Guan Zhiyi had been staying here these past few days. He'd left that morning to take care of some business and had only just returned.
"Probably still asleep. I haven't seen her come downstairs."
"Oh." Qi Chengyan glanced at his watch. "It's still early. Let her sleep a little longer."
Guan Yuanbai asked casually, "What are you two up to today?"
"She has a fan meeting for her movie this afternoon."
"Oh." Guan Yuanbai paused, then asked, "Isn't coordinating her schedule supposed to be her agent's job? Since when did it become yours?"
"I happen to be free today. I just thought I'd go with her."
"Tsk... You two are disgustingly clingy."
Qi Chengyan smiled. "You're just jealous."
"What do you mean, jealous? I have someone too..." Guan Yuanbai instinctively started to say that he also had someone who was all over him, but then he remembered that person hadn't been clinging to him for days now.
The thought left him inexplicably disappointed.
When Qi Chengyan noticed him trailing off, he asked, "What? You have someone now too? You and that Miss Zhou from the other day?"
"No. Haven't seen her in a long time."
Qi Chengyan raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Looks like she finally gave up after you kept turning her down."
"......"
"Probably for the best. It's not like you liked her anyway."
Guan Yuanbai frowned. "I never said I didn't like her that day. I only told her she didn't need to keep chasing after me like that, always trying to please me. That isn't something a girl should have to do."
Qi Chengyan had only been making conversation. He hadn't expected Guan Yuanbai to suddenly come out with something like that. He paused.
"Wait. Are you saying you like her?"
Guan Yuanbai choked. "Did I say that I did?"
"That's what you're implying. Otherwise, why are you so worked up?"
Guan Yuanbai's expression shifted. "Heh. I'm annoyed because she said we should get to know each other as friends, but she ran off before we'd even had much time together. Doesn't she have any patience? Can't I at least take some time to think about it?"
Qi Chengyan was silent for a moment.
"Yuanbai."
"What?"
"I finally understand why you've been single for so long."
"......"
**
At one in the afternoon, Liu Yun and the rest of the team arrived at the house to do Guan Zhiyi's hair and makeup. Once they were finished, the group headed straight to the venue for the fan meeting.
Guan Yuanbai was still sitting at home, lost in thought, when he suddenly received a call from Guan Zhiyi. Apparently, the jewelry the brand had sent over, which she was required to wear at the fan meeting, had been left at home. The event was about to start, and there wasn't enough time to go back and forth, so she asked him to have someone deliver it.
Guan Yuanbai had nothing else to do, so he picked up the jewelry box himself and headed to the venue.
He arrived half an hour before the fan meeting began and handed the box to a staff member who had been waiting at the entrance.
As the staff member was leaving, they asked, "President Guan, would you like to come inside and sit for a while?"
"No need. Go take care of your work. I'll look around on my own."
"Ah, all right. Here, take this pass. It'll let you come and go as you please."
Guan Yuanbai nodded. "Okay."
The venue was bustling with people coming and going. Fans carried banners and light sticks, and many had the character "Yi" stuck to their faces. Guan Yuanbai had no intention of looking around. He was about to turn and leave when someone from the company called him.
He stopped and stood to one side to answer.
"Ahhh! I saw her just now! Her outfit today is so gorgeous! Seriously, insanely gorgeous! I almost got a nosebleed!"
A voice suddenly rang out behind him, loud and brimming with uncontainable excitement.
Guan Yuanbai paused. Something about it sounded strangely familiar, and he turned to look.
He saw the backs of five or six girls walking past. They were all wearing matching shirts bearing the logo of Guan Zhiyi's fan support group.
"Really? If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone to the bathroom! I missed it, sob!"
"I told you, you have the bladder of a lazy person!"
"Whatever! We'll get to see her soon anyway, hehe. Oh, hey, you bumped your camera just now. Is it okay?"
"It's fine, it's fine! If something really happened and I couldn't take pretty pictures of my baby girl today, I'd tear that person apart!"
...
The group disappeared into the entrance of the fan meeting.
Guan Yuanbai narrowed his eyes. After telling the person on the phone that he'd call them back later, he followed.
With the pass the staff member had given him, he got inside without difficulty.
But once he entered, he found himself facing a sea of people. A great many of them were wearing the same shirts, and he couldn't find the girl who had just walked past him.
After looking around, Guan Yuanbai suddenly felt like he was being ridiculous.
The girl he'd heard speaking only sounded a little like Zhou Fanfan. How could she possibly be Zhou Fanfan?
For one thing, there was no way Zhou Fanfan would wear Guan Zhiyi's fan shirt, carry Guan Zhiyi's light stick, and come to a place like this. And she certainly wouldn't speak that loudly, let alone have every single sentence come out so aggressively.
It was nothing like the gentle, well-behaved, soft-spoken girl she'd always appeared to be in front of him.
The fan meeting began, and Guan Zhiyi took the stage with the rest of the film's main cast and crew. Since he'd already come inside, Guan Yuanbai decided not to leave. He headed toward the staff area and spotted Qi Chengyan standing nearby.
"You didn't leave?" Qi Chengyan asked, looking surprised.
Guan Yuanbai naturally wasn't about to admit that he'd followed someone inside because her voice sounded like Zhou Fanfan's. That would be too embarrassing.
"Just looking around."
"Oh."
An hour later, the fan meeting ended.
The actors returned backstage and left one after another.
The fans, however, didn't immediately disperse. They all made their way toward the entrance to personally see their idol off. Guan Zhiyi's fans were no exception. When Guan Yuanbai and Guan Zhiyi emerged from backstage together, they found two orderly rows of fans waiting outside.
"Keep going, Yiyi!"
"Bye-bye, Zhiyi!"
...
Guan Yuanbai had been walking a few steps behind Guan Zhiyi when a familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Bye-bye, baby girl!"
Among the countless voices around him, he picked out that one immediately. It was the same voice he'd heard while on the phone earlier, the one that sounded so much like Zhou Fanfan.
Guan Yuanbai stopped and turned toward the row of people beside him...
Guan Zhiyi had been about to get into the car, surrounded by staff, when she suddenly remembered something and wanted to say a few words to Guan Yuanbai. But when she turned around, she found that he was no longer behind her. Instead, he was standing in front of a group of fans.
She looked at him in confusion. Naturally, the people beside her followed her gaze.
Zhou Fanfan genuinely hadn't noticed that Guan Yuanbai was here. Whenever she attended Guan Zhiyi's events, she never paid attention to anyone else once her baby girl appeared. So by the time she realized Guan Yuanbai was standing right in front of her, it was already too late to retreat. All she could do was instinctively touch the mask covering her face.
What is going on? Why is he here? Why is he standing right in front of me? I'm wearing a mask!
The group of fans around her also stared blankly at Guan Yuanbai. They were all senior members of the fan support group and die-hard fans, so of course they recognized their idol's older brother.
"Zhou Fanfan." Guan Yuanbai looked at her expressionlessly.
Zhou Fanfan stared at him in shock.
What the hell? He can actually recognize me?
"Come out."
"......"
Zhou Fanfan drew a deep breath. Her first instinct was to play dead, then make a run for it. But Guan Yuanbai had clearly seen right through her intentions. The moment she tried to turn away, he reached out and grabbed her wrist.
Keeping her voice low, Zhou Fanfan said, "Ahem... You, who are you? You've got the wrong person, right?"
The fans around them: "......"
How could a die-hard fan not recognize Guan Yuanbai? No, wait. That wasn't the important part right now. Why was Guan Yuanbai holding the hand of a member of their fan support group?!
Guan Yuanbai let out a cold huff. He didn't bother saying anything else to Zhou Fanfan. He simply pulled her toward the side.
Not far away, Guan Zhiyi, who still hadn't gotten into the car, looked over.
"Why is my brother dragging my fan away?"
Qi Chengyan was puzzled too, but Guan Zhiyi's safety came first. "Get in the car. Call him once you're inside."
"Okay..."
**
An hour later, at the Guan family residence.
The four of them sat in the living room, staring at one another.
"So, you're her fan?" Guan Yuanbai finally spoke after a long silence.
Zhou Fanfan looked nervous. "Uh... Well, isn't it pretty obvious?"
Guan Zhiyi was equally stunned. Who would have thought that her future sister-in-law had been mingling in her own fan circle?
"Wait... Seriously?"
Hearing her idol ask that, the die-hard fan immediately sprang into action to prove her devotion.
"Of course it's serious! I really, really like you! I go to every single one of your events, and whenever I have time, I even go to the airport to welcome you home. Um... You're my ultimate bias!"
The corners of Qi Chengyan's mouth lifted, but when he saw how terribly sour Guan Yuanbai's expression had become, he forced himself to hold back his laughter.
"Judging by all that equipment, she's definitely telling the truth."
Guan Yuanbai looked her over again. The camera, the fan shirt, the sticker on her face, the light stick in her hand...
He drew a deep breath, remembering the scene he'd witnessed at the fan meeting. Her energy, her enthusiasm, her sheer excitement. She'd seemed like an entirely different person.
No. Perhaps that was the real Zhou Fanfan. Perhaps the obedient, shy, introverted girl who had always appeared in front of him had been nothing but an act!
"Did you deliberately arrange that blind date?" Guan Yuanbai asked.
Zhou Fanfan immediately shook her head. "No, no, no! Of course not! Our family doesn't have that kind of influence. Grandma likes me and said she wanted to arrange it. At first, I didn't know it was you, and I wasn't planning to go. But then I found out it was you, and I... I must've lost my mind. I thought maybe I'd get a chance to see my baby girl... Ah, no, I mean, see Zhiyi! So I went. But I had no idea she'd be away on her honeymoon for so long afterward..."
The corner of Guan Yuanbai's mouth twitched.
"So, when you get right down to it, you've spent these past two months waiting for her to come back so you could see her once?"
"Uh... And to give her some gifts, too."
Right. She'd been sending him gifts every few days, always in pairs, claiming that one of them was for his sister.
Guan Yuanbai glared at her. "Do you think I'm a delivery service?"
Zhou Fanfan gave an awkward little smile. "No... I mean, I gave you gifts too."
"I bet I was just an afterthought."
Zhou Fanfan cleared her throat. "That's not really fair. Actually, I..."
Like you.
But before she could finish, Guan Yuanbai let out a cold laugh.
"Why isn't it fair? All right, Zhou Fanfan. So you put on that sweet, innocent act and managed to fool me. Looks like you got what you wanted after seeing her last time, and now you've gone a whole week without contacting me."
Zhou Fanfan froze. "But... you said you didn't like me. You told me to stop sending you things and stop chasing after you."
"I... That's not what I..." Guan Yuanbai suddenly had no idea how to explain himself. Wasn't that exactly what had happened?
"So I figured I'd already fulfilled my wish, and since you didn't like me, I shouldn't bother you anymore." Zhou Fanfan stood up and bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let myself get carried away and lied to you during the blind date. And I definitely shouldn't have kept hiding the truth from you afterward. Um... I promise I won't bother you again!"
After finishing, Zhou Fanfan gave Guan Zhiyi and Qi Chengyan a smaller bow, then immediately ran for the door.
"Hey..." Guan Yuanbai called after her.
Qi Chengyan rubbed his chin. "Looks like you scared her. That little troublemaker really is still a little troublemaker."
Guan Zhiyi smacked him lightly. "What do you mean, little troublemaker? She's my fan!"
Qi Chengyan grinned. "Already defending your fans?"
"Obviously..." Guan Zhiyi shot Guan Yuanbai a glance. She really wanted to laugh, but it seemed inappropriate under the circumstances. Her expression twisted between amusement and restraint before she finally said, "Ge, don't blame her. She just likes me so much that she couldn't help finding a way to get close to you."
"......?" Guan Yuanbai turned toward her with a look so cold it could have frozen the room.
Guan Zhiyi immediately made a zipping motion across her lips.
"I definitely won't tell anyone. Chengyan-gege, you can't tell anyone either. Otherwise, my brother will lose all his dignity."
Qi Chengyan nodded obligingly. "Understood."
Guan Yuanbai: "...... I'm leaving!"
After Guan Yuanbai left, Guan Zhiyi sighed.
"Ah, I finally thought I was getting a sister-in-law, and now she's gone again."
"Not necessarily."
"Why not? Neither of them likes the other..."
"I don't know whether Miss Zhou likes your brother, but I'm not so sure about your brother."
Guan Zhiyi looked surprised. "What do you mean? He looked pretty angry just now."
"Isn't that the point? If he didn't care, why would he be angry?" Qi Chengyan chuckled. "Besides, knowing your brother's personality, do you really think he's the type to let himself take a loss?"
"Hmm... So what do you think he'll do?"
"My guess? He's definitely going to... find some roundabout way to force her to apologize to him."
Guan Zhiyi figured that Guan Yuanbai was her actual brother, so surely she understood him better than Qi Chengyan did.
But much later, one day when she happened to see Zhou Fanfan cooking for her brother at the Xinghe Bay villa, looking pitiful as she told her that this was her fifth apology meal and that she still had ninety-five more to make...
That was when she finally understood.
When it came to men, men really did understand each other better.
---
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