Accidental Love

When Zheng Shuyi received the signature and photo, she was so excited that she almost forgot that Shi Yan was still waiting in the car.

She and Bi Ruoshan stayed in the crowd until Song Lelan and her staff got onto the van.

"So beautiful, even more beautiful than on TV."

Bi Ruoshan watched the van drive away and was still immersed in the celebrity aura that Song Lelan had brought, "I think she's almost 50? Almost as old as my mom, but why does she look so much younger? It sure is nice to be a celebrity: have all the money you want to take care of the body and give yourself an extra ten years of youth."

"It's not just her face that is young," Zheng Shuyi said as she brought the signature to her chest and looked at the tail lights of the car with gleaming eyes, "I watched her concert last year and she sang for over two hours without stopping. What incredible physical stamina, I'm only in my twenties and I feel ashamed when compared to her. Divas nowadays are indeed impressive."

"But why do you think she's still not married yet?" asked Bi Ruoshan, "I've known her since I was little, and it's been so many years already. A lot of celebrities like her have all stopped their career, only she is still going. Every year's concert… oh wait, did you know? Back in college, I saw some rumors in a magazine that she actually secretly got married a long time ago, and even had two sons."

"Nah it's just all BS, some sketchy magazine you were looking at, does it even have a version number?" Zheng Shuyi's attitude towards rumors has always been just mockery, "Those media shouldn't even be called media. Grab a pen and start writing whatever is on their mind. What secret marriage? And even two sons? Just look at how much she had to travel in the last decade and how popular her concerts are, she basically never disappeared from the eyes of the public. Do you still think she has time to raise children?"

After finishing all those, she turned and left.

Bi Ruoshan quickly followed up to her and continued the argument, "Although they didn't have a version number, they still have evidence. Didn't people capture a picture of a ring on Song Lelan's ring finger a few years ago?"

Zheng Shuyi sneered and said with disdain, "A ring means she's married? She's so rich, what's wrong with buying a ring just for the beauty of it? And didn't she explain later too? That's a ring that one of her sponsors lent her."

"Oh… I see," Bi Ruoshan was almost convinced. Although she couldn't remember where she saw the rumors, she still wanted to continue, "But her song, "Precious Gift", that's obviously a song she sang for children, you know that right?"

That song was almost as old as Zheng Shuyi and Bi Ruoshan's age, but even today, it's a popular song that mothers sing to their children.

The song didn't mention any words like "child", "baby, nor "mom", but it still delivered a strong sense of love.

Because of this, many doubted that this song was written for Song Lelan's illegitimate child; however, she claimed that to be just rumors. 

"Come on, you were a student in the news department. How can you believe those kinds of rumors that were written just for views?" Zheng Shuyi didn't agree with Bi Ruoshan, and in fact, felt like she was just saying without verification, "A song is just like a creation of art, who said it must be personal experiences? Otherwise, how terrible must those people who sing bitter love songs' life be? In addition, she didn't even write the lyrics, she's just a tool to bring it to the public. If everything is like you said, then does that mean I have anything to do with the millions of billions of dollars involved in financial projects going on right now?"

Bi Ruoshan: "…"

Wow, she’s so right.

Finally, Zheng Shuyi concluded her analysis on rumors for today, "Therefore, don't listen to those rumors, she's living a great life by herself. If she actually had a secret marriage and gave birth to a child, I'll shave my head for you on the spot."

Bi Ruoshan giggled at her determined tone. She carefully folded the signature, put it into her bag, and then pulled Zheng Shuyi towards the taxi waiting area.

"Was that necessary? Shaving your head on the spot? Haha, I wouldn't want you to."

"But I would," said Zheng Shuyi.

She pulled Zheng Shuyi towards the parking lot in the opposite direction, "Here, come with me."

Bi Ruoshan said worriedly, "What are you doing?!"

Zheng Shuyi didn't reply and dragged Bi Ruoshan all the way to the parking lot. Then, she pointed towards a car in the distance and lifted her chin at her, "Do you know who's in the car?"

Bi Ruoshan blinked, "How the fuck will I know who's in there? Not as if I can see through things…"

Zheng Shuyi leaned to Bi Ruoshan's ear and said while patting her on the shoulder, "It's my boyfriend."

Bi Ruoshan: "…?"

Zheng Shuyi: "Are you going to invite me to eat Steamed Head with Chopped Chili?"

Bi Ruoshan: "…"

Zheng Shuyi: "Or maybe  Braised Pork Ball in Brown Sauce?"1The first dish is a fish, but I'm not really sure why she's bringing up these dish names right now either? Maybe it has something to do with shaving one's head bold

Bi Ruoshan: "…"

——

In the car, Shi Yan played around with the abandoned bouquet of roses and felt that he was a little pitiful.

He went out to pick flowers for his girlfriend during his busy day and didn't even get to rest for a second before having to come to pick her up. Yet the result was being neglected in the parking lot for half an hour.

And the initiator of evil was just standing there in the distance blabbering something to her bestie.

Seeing the two finally start to walk again, Shi Yan placed the flower back onto the passenger seat and popped open the trunk.

Once they got closer, he got out of the car, walked towards Bi Ruoshan, and reached out his hand for her.

Knowing that Shi Yan's motion was to help her with her luggage, Bi Ruoshan quickly shook her head and held tight to the handle, "No, no it's okay, Mr. Shi, I can do it."

The last time they met, Bi Ruoshan was still kindly chatting and joking around with him, but this time, just by seeing his face made her remember all the effort she put in to come up with all that advice for Zheng Shuyi.

She felt thankful that she could still be here talking, how could she make him help her with her suitcase?

Of course, Shi Yan knew what caused Bi Ruoshan to react like this. All the guilty conscience was written clearly on her face, and she looked like an elementary schooler standing in front of the teacher after making a mistake. Although he found this a little funny, he wasn't sure how to reply.

So, he glanced at Zheng Shuyi.

Zheng Shuyi understood what he meant and said to Bi Ruoshan, "Just let him help you, otherwise, he's afraid that I'll go find a more gentleman-like boyfriend."

Shi Yan: "…"

Bi Ruoshan came for a short trip and only brought a small suitcase. Seeing Shi Yan taking it and putting it in the trunk, Bi Ruoshan thanked him over and over again. Then, she saw Shi Yan standing by the car and looking at Zheng Shuyi, and she sensibly went into the back seats of the car.

In front of the car.

Just as Zheng Shuyi was about to sit in the passenger seat, Shi Yan suddenly grabbed onto her.

On an evening like this, the temperature cooled down and the cool wind was blowing. From time to time, it would raise Zheng Shuyi's hair.

Shi Yan wasn't in a hurry to get into the car. He wasn't using much strength as he grabbed onto her wrist, but his posture looked like he was inquiring about her crime.

"You like Song Lelan that much?"

"You didn't know?" Just thinking about the photo taken together with Song Lelan made Zheng Shuyi excited, "When I first went to your house, I told you, I like her a lot. Those were honest words, not just to flirt with you."

Seeing that she didn't hear the dissatisfaction from his tone, Shi Yan almost laughed again.

"You ditched me here for her?" He let go of his hand and ran his hand across the hair that was sticking to her face because of sweat, "Didn't you say you like me the most?"

“……”

Zheng Shuyi felt a little itch on her face and tilted her head to rub her cheek against his palm.

As she did so, she showed a trace of disgust, "You're jealous because of another woman? Maybe you could sell all your jealousy for money. And, don't you like her a lot too? You have a lot of her albums in your house."

After speaking, Zheng Shuyi suddenly started to giggle and purposefully teased him.

“Don't tell me it's because you were too embarrassed to go get her signature and now you're jealous?"

“……”

Shi Yan sneered lightly and turned to get in the car.

Zheng Shuyi also opened the door and sat in. She held the flowers from Shi Yan in her hand as she fastened her seatbelt, and said, "My boyfriend, I can see him every day. But Song Lelan, I can probably only interact with her like this once in my entire lifetime. Do you understand now?"

She didn't really think that Shi Yan was jealous, she knew that he was just a little unhappy that she ditched him here, so she started to explain.

"Not really," replied Shi Yan.

As a person who has been looking at Song Lelan face-to-face for over twenty years, he couldn't really understand why these fans were so frantic about her.

Zheng Shuyi put the flowers in front of her and muttered, "You're such an illogical person."

Hearing this, Shi Yan smiled. He said as he turned the wheel, "Did you just find out that I'm illogical?"

His tone was very normal and seemed like he just casually replied to Zheng Shuyi, but she suddenly squeezed the flower stems and felt like her heart was shocked.

She turned her head, looked at the side of Shi Yan's face, and opened her mouth. But she didn't know what to say.

She wasn't very sure if Shi Yan had some other meaning behind his words.

But Zheng Shuyi knew that ever since she met him, his actions have indeed been pretty illogical.

All the mysterious worries in her heart were pulled out by his sentence.

She has experienced the warmness and love Shi Yan gave her, which was not something that anyone could imagine him to do. But even after learning all the deceit and lies, he still chose to be with her with the same tolerance as before. Knowing that she didn't deserve the position she was in right now, she couldn't help but feel a little sense of insecurity while with him.

As the side who made the mistake, she received more than just forgiveness at no cost. He made Zheng Shuyi feel like she was sitting in a fluffy cloud, comfortable and warm. But she was also afraid that one day, Shi Yan would realize his mistake, and the cloud under her would disappear, making her fall from the sky.

After that, Zheng Shuyi just held onto her roses and stopped talking.

——

Shi Yan originally just took time out of his busy day to be a driver for Zheng Shuyi. He didn't have the time to sit around and eat with them.

And Bi Ruoshan was supposed to be having dinner with Situ Yi tonight. Now that Zheng Shuyi would be left alone, the two naturally went together. Therefore, right after Shi Yan brought them to the restaurant, he left for his company without stopping.

It was a western-style restaurant. After they arrived, Bi Ruoshan and Zheng Shuyi waited for over an hour before Situ Yi finally arrived late.

After all, she was a vlogger with millions of fans. Even the way she was dressed was different from ordinary people, and as she walked into a restaurant, she brought a sense of superiority with her.

"Sorry for the long wait, I was supposed to post a vlog today and I have been keeping an eye on my video editor. I just got off work, it's on me tonight."

Situ Yi said as she walked over. They seemed to be really good friends, nothing like classmates who haven't seen each other for years.

She put down her bag, noticed Zheng Shuyi, and was stunned for a few seconds, "Wait, Zheng Shuyi?"

After all, Zheng Shuyi has been used to waiting for a long time already, so she wasn't as fret as Bi Ruoshan. "Long time no see," she said with a smile.

"You didn't seem to have changed much," Situ Yi seemed to have suddenly seen something interesting and forgot that she came here today to talk to Bi Ruoshan about the partnership, "Where are you working right now?"

"Still the old business," Zheng Shuyi poured her a glass of water, "A journalist at ‘Finance Weekly'."

"You still haven't changed your career yet?" Situ Yi felt that this was quite incredible. She smiled and joked, "Maybe you should come to make self-media with me. Money comes a lot quicker than being a journalist."

"Sure," replied Zheng Shuyi causally, "If I do, you can teach me how to get started."

After a few sentences of casual chat, Situ Yi returned to the topic and started to talk about the partnership with Bi Ruoshan.

Bi Ruoshan worked in a makeup company and was responsible for product marketing. Recently, she has been looking for Internet celebrities to help promote their product. Situ Yi didn't even drink much water as she asked a lot of questions about all sorts of information about products, making it hard to catch up for Bi Ruoshan.

It wasn't until the dish was served and Zheng Shuyi reminded the two to eat something first did they finally take a break.

It was also at this time that Situ Yi noticed the roses next to Zheng Shuyi's seat.

"Wow, you and Yue Xingzhou must be going along very well right now." Situyi bit the straw in the cocktail and put up a somewhat strange smile, "I remember back in college he often brought flowers to you. He still kept this habit even after so long?"

Bi Ruoshan suddenly lowered her head and coughed once.

But Zheng Shuyi just shook her head calmly, "It's not from him, we broke up already."

"Broke up?" Situ Yi's tone was naturally surprised, but Zheng Shuyi saw some other emotions from her face.

Zheng Shuyi nodded slightly, "Yeah, we broke up last year."

Situ Yi played around with the straw, thinking about something with a strange smile.

After a long time, she propped up her hand under her chin, stared at Zheng Shuyi, and said, "Since you two broke up already and I don't know you two that well, I'll just tell you something"

Women at these moments would come with a gossip radar. As soon as Situ Yi said that, Zheng Shuyi could sense some ominous smell.

"Go ahead."

"It's back in college." The corners of her mouth formed a small curve as she fidgeted with the straw in her hand, "Didn't Yue Xingzhou pursue you for a long time? If I remember correctly, I think it was three years?"

As she started talking about the past, her smile grew more and more strange, "To be honest, he and I have always been unclear, you should know this right?"

The knife and fork in Zheng Shuyi's hands suddenly hit each other, and she even stopped blinking.

"But don't worry, it's just unclear, nothing more." From Situ Yi's tone, she has already completely taken this as a joke, "At that time, I was just a spare tire. Every time he failed to succeed on your side, he would come to me and chat until midnight. For many holidays he didn't get to take you out with him, so he spent them with me. I was a fool too and willingly went along, he's handsome after all. We didn't ever talk about our feelings towards each other, but I feel like I have a different position from others in his heart."

After a brief shock, Zheng Shuyi suddenly felt some nausea.

She frowned, but before she was able to talk, Bi Ruoshan was already angry.

"Why didn't you say it back then?!" 

"Why would I do that?" Situ Yi found Bi Ruoshan's words to be very funny, "I don't know Zheng Shuyi that well, and what was I like back then? What if you guys come and call a green2The color green could symbolize cheating. There's a phrase in China that when someone cheats on someone else, he/she would be giving that someone else a "green hat" tea bitch and cause trouble for me?"

After she finished, everyone turned silent.

In fact, while in college, Situ Yi was a very ordinary person. The kind that if one threw her in a crowd, she would disappear.

The reason she became so popular now was only because of her make-up technique, which she came up with after graduation.

So, back then when she had feelings for Yue Xingzhou, it was also very normal.

Situ Yi looked at Zheng Shuyi's expression, gave a "tsk", and continued, "Anyway, it's been so long already, I don't mind you laughing at me now. At the time I was thinking very highly of myself and thought that maybe I could compete with you. But right after you changed your attitude towards him, he immediately stopped contacting me, and only then did I realize I was just a fucking spare tire."

After speaking, Situ Yi felt a little better, glanced at Zheng Shuyi, and said again, "I don't have much of a reason for bringing it up, it's just that if he comes looking for you again later, you should consider it. I can tell that he actually likes you, and I don't believe that he wouldn't come back."

Situ Yi now started to find herself funny and nodded to herself, "Yes, out of all the alternatives, he liked you the most." In his heart, he may have felt so affectionate that he could be a saint of love. After all, there were many girls who liked him, but just a nod from Zheng Shuyi could make him ditch all of them. How moving was that.

After hearing all this, it wasn't possible for Zheng Shuyi to stay without any mood swings.

Back then, she thought that she found a great lover. But the shelf-life was too short, their relationship ended before it got any further.

In the end, she finally realized that she has been dating a piece of trash the whole time.

"All right, we're going off-topic again, let's stop talking about this," Situ Yi turned to Bi Ruoshan, "Let's get back to business. Tell me more about your marketing plan, don't tell me it's implementing it to my show?"

Bi Ruoshan turned her head to check on Zheng Shuyi first, who was waving her hand at her, "You two keep going, I'm fine."

Although that was what she said, by the time the meal ended, she had already finished her huge bottle of cocktail and along with Bi Ruoshan's too without even knowing.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Bi Ruoshan tried to stop her, "Just bear it a little, drink less."

Zheng Shuyi took away the glass and smiled, "What do you mean? I'm not depressed or anything."

She just thought that it was a little funny.

And――

This cocktail tasted pretty good.

After Bi Ruoshan went to pay the bill, she came back and saw Zheng Shuyi lying on the table.

"What happened? You drank too much didn't you?" Bi Ruoshan patted her on the back and asked Situ Yi, "Two cocktails and she ended like this?"

"This is alcohol, not soda… But she might have really drunk it like soda."

Situ Yi got up, looked around, and asked, "Should we take her home together? The after-effects of this drink are strong, she'll feel uncomfortable later."

"No, it's okay."

Bi Ruoshan checked the time, "She said that her boyfriend would come to get her."

——

In fact, Zheng Shuyi wasn't completely drunk. She just felt dizzy and weak.

So when Shi Yan came, she stood up like a carefree person, held the flowers tightly, and followed him out.

"Why is your face so red?"

After getting in the car, Shi Yan noticed Zheng Shuyi's abnormality, "Drank too much?"

Zheng Shuyi used her thumb and index finger to form a fingernail-sized gap, "Just a little, my tolerance for alcohol is very high."

"Is that true?" Shi Yan drove as he reached out one hand to touch her face.

"You drank a little and turned into this, and you claim to have a high alcohol tolerance?"

Zheng Shuyi rubbed against his hand and whispered, "That's because I'm wearing too much. Open the window, let me get some fresh air."

Because he didn't smell much alcohol coming from her, Shi Yan thought that she really didn't drink that much and opened the window halfway.

The wind blew on her until she got home, and the result was that when she got out of the car, she barely managed to stand up.

Seeing her unsteady steps, Shi Yan couldn't just sit there anymore and picked her up.

"You call this high alcohol tolerance?"

Zheng Shuyi also felt a little embarrassed so she didn't reply this time.

She wrapped her arm around her neck and sank into his arms.

She peacefully closed her eyes as the alcohol aroused all her mood and gushed them out.

In her living room, Shi Yan put her down on the sofa before leaning his upper body and asking, "What happened today?"

It turned out that he felt it all.

Zheng Shuyi kicked off her shoes and curled up. She said with a hoarse voice, "Nothing, my former classmate came today and told me some things about Yue Xingzhou."

Shi Yan: "…"

"Still thinking about him?"

"No no no," Zheng Shuyi rubbed her eyes and quickly denied, "I just think… that I'm quite fortunate. If he wasn't such a scum, how would I meet you?"

“……”

Although she was pretty angry about it, it was the fact. 

"And you got yourself drunk because of that?"

Zheng Shuyi slowly sat upright while holding onto Shi Yan's finger. She said quietly, "No, right now I'm fortunate, but I'm also a little afraid."

Shi Yan's hand flipped over to hold hers, "Afraid of what? Afraid that you met another scum?"

Zheng Shuyi looked at him and didn't know how to reply.

After staring for a while, she said dryly, “No, not really, I know you aren't that type of person. If you were… then you would have taken the revenge script, swindled for my body, and then mercilessly ditch me."

Shi Yan: "…"

"Do you think the script you have right now is good?" asked Zheng Shuyi.

"Pretty good."

Shi Yan's face sank and she couldn't see his emotions on his face.

But because of his reply, Zheng Shuyi grew nervous.

She took the initiative to stir up the issue between the two of them that they have avoided for a long time. That was quite stupid.

But without a clear solution, she would never be able to feel at ease.

She looked at Shi Yan like a criminal waiting for her punishment.

But all that she received was a kiss on the forehead.

Shi Yan sighed, "I do want to swindle you for your body."

Zheng Shuyi's body trembled.

Her breathing tightened and she felt like she was falling into an abyss.

After a long time, she spoke.

"I just wanted to say, can you not do that to me? The feeling of being lied to is really bad."

She stopped and then lowered her head, "… I think that seems a bit like a double standard."

She was a liar herself.

"Zheng Shuyi." Shi Yan put his hands around her. His eyes looked down at her, and the only thing in his pupil was her reflection.

After looking at her for a while, he said, "Do you think you're the only one with a double standard?"

People usually process information slower when drunk.

It took Zheng Shuyi several seconds to understand what Shi Yan meant.

She didn't know what to say.

Nor did she know how to express what she was thinking.

She could only――

She raised her head, wrapped her hand around Shi Yan's neck, and kissed him.

At first, Shi Yan tried to calm her uneasy mood down, and his voice was gentle and affectionate.

But his self-control was crumbling as the tip of her tongue touched him.

In the end, Zheng Shuyi was pressed on the sofa and was breathless.

She was already drunk, and now that he was on her and making it hard for her to breathe, she felt that the ceiling was spinning.

So, with her last bit of strength, she pushed Shi Yan.

"I can't take it anymore……”

"You can't take it after just a kiss?" Shi Yan's kiss passed her lips and reached her ear. He whispered, "Then what about later?"

Zheng Shuyi felt like she was dirty and sweaty after going out today and was a little embarrassed to carry out such close contact.

Her hands pushed around restlessly, "I'm so hot, I want to go take a shower."

Unfortunately, she didn't know that the more she struggled, the more it would arouse a man's sense of possessiveness.

Shi Yan grabbed her hand and pressed it beside her head, showing no intention of letting her go.

The more intimate they got, the more she felt like she was dirty.

It can't be like that. I must be a fragrant angel in front of my boyfriend.

She tried to struggle again, but it was useless.

Shi Yan whispered in her ear, "Be good, endure a little longer."

"What endure?" I'm a female journalist, not a female ninja!3Ninja in Chinese is 忍者，which translates directly into "One who endures (hardships).”

“……”

• 1The first dish is a fish, but I'm not really sure why she's bringing up these dish names right now either? Maybe it has something to do with shaving one's head bold
• 2The color green could symbolize cheating. There's a phrase in China that when someone cheats on someone else, he/she would be giving that someone else a "green hat"
• 3Ninja in Chinese is 忍者，which translates directly into "One who endures (hardships).”