On this day, Su An had nothing to do, so he stayed home to design new sketches.
Refining the details was the part that gave him the biggest headache; he had to modify them repeatedly. He might think a design looked beautiful now, only to look at it again after a meal and question how his standards could be so poor as to design something like that.
Since Zhang Zhiming had learned of Su An’s identity, he no longer forced him to come to the office. He only told him earnestly:
“Go wherever you have inspiration. Don’t worry, Fanjing has me!”
Every word was powerful and resonant, spoken from the bottom of his heart. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought Zhang Zhiming was about to take a solemn oath of office in the next second.
When Su An had finished designing a new version of a sketch, his phone chimed with a notification.
Su Ju: 【Brother Su, the brooch you designed is being cast in the mold. When can you come by to see which gemstones we should use?】
Before Su An could reply, another message came from Su Ju: 【By the way, Brother Su, Fanjing gave our design department a few tickets for the international jewelry exhibition this Wednesday. Do you want one? I just grabbed one; if you want it, I’ll give you mine.】
A jewelry exhibition?
Su An had never been to a jewelry exhibition, neither in his past life nor this one. Just because he hadn’t had the opportunity didn’t mean he didn’t want to go; he could feel a deep yearning for it in his heart.
He pursed his lips and typed: 【Thank you, Little Orange. I’ll go to select the stones tomorrow.】
Su Ju: 【No problem, Brother Su! I’ll bring the ticket over to you later.】
Su An sat on the sofa. After seeing this message, he sent: 【Don’t trouble yourself, Little Orange. I’ll just pick it up when I go to Fanjing.】
Su Ju: 【Brother Su, why are you being so polite with me? I’ll be passing by your way after work. Wait for me!】
Su Ju: 【Brothers-patting-shoulder.gif】
Su An: …Big-socks, do you even know where I live to be “passing by”?
Seeing that there was truly no way to stop Su Ju’s enthusiasm, Su An finally gave her the address.
After sending the message, Su An prepared to turn off his phone to continue perfecting the draft. At that moment, his phone began transmitting notifications frantically.
Su Ju: 【!!!】
Su Ju: 【Brother Su, I thought you were following the path of the “abandoned family scion.” You never told me you were this rich!】
Su Ju: 【This humble girl is willing to alternate between meat and vegetarian meals for the rest of her life just to have a house here.】
Su An curled his lip, not knowing how to reply to her long string of messages—or rather, Su Ju’s words were so dense that for a moment, he didn’t know which sentence to reply to first.
Su An: 【Little Orange, they don’t let people in here randomly. Message me when you arrive, and I’ll come out to find you.】
Su Ju: 【Sob.】
Night gradually descended, and a moon as bright as a mirror climbed into the sky.
Just as Su An was about to send a message to ask Su Ju where she was, her call came through.
Su Ju: “Hello, Brother Su, I’m at the entrance of the residential area.”
While changing his clothes, Su An said into the phone, “Little Orange, wait for me for a few minutes. I’m coming right now.”
On the other end of the line, Su Ju seemed to want Su An not to worry, consoling him: “It’s okay, Brother Su. Let me breathe a few more gulps of this ‘rich person air’.”
Su An: “…”
Silence was his final protective coloring.
However, he didn’t keep Su Ju waiting for long. Su An jogged all the way to the entrance of the area. Although this level of exercise was a bit excessive for a sickly person like him, it could be considered a workout.
Chu Yi had driven Su Ju there. After seeing Su An, he rolled down the window and shouted loudly toward the entrance, “Brother Su! Over here!”
The volume was so high that it instantly attracted the attention of pedestrians at the gate. Su An half-covered his face with his hand as he ran to the side of the car.
Of course, Chu Yi hadn’t noticed how much attention he had drawn. He foolishly handed the ticket to Su An. “Brother Su, take the ticket.”
Seeing Su An cover his face while taking the ticket, Chu Yi looked bewildered.
“Brother Su, are you being pursued by assassins?” After saying this, his expression changed, and he lowered his voice, covering his mouth with his hand. “No way—did the Su family send people to kidnap you?”
“It’s because of that loud voice of yours! People who didn’t know better would think the three of us were conducting some underground transaction.” Sitting in the passenger seat, Su Ju slapped the back of Chu Yi’s head. “Sometimes I really want to call the police.”
Chu Yi cried out in pain. “Don’t hit my head! You’ll knock all the inspiration out of it.”
Su Ju countered, “You were already stupid. Don’t pin the blame on me; I’m not taking it.”
Watching the interaction between the two, the corners of Su An’s mouth curved. Truly, every person has their match.
After chatting with the two for a few moments, Su An didn’t stay long. After thanking them again, he bid them farewell.
Returning home, Su An looked at the jewelry exhibition ticket in his hand. His heart trembled slightly; he seemed to be one step closer to what he was pursuing.
Time soon reached Wednesday.
Su An woke up early after Yu Feng had left for the company. After tidying himself up, he took a car to the jewelry exhibition.
To Su An’s surprise, even though he arrived very early, there was already a long line at the entrance of the pavilion.
He glanced at the sign by the entrance listing the figures attending this exhibition; there were several titans of the luxury jewelry world.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he joined the flow of the crowd in line.
Just as Su An moved his gaze away from his phone screen, he saw Su Kefan walking over, leaning on the arm of a clean-looking young man.
Su An’s first reaction upon seeing that young man was: The protagonist of the book—Feng Ling. This was the first time he had seen him since arriving in this world.
Previously, although Feng Ling had called him to ask after his well-being just to fish for information, Feng Ling hadn’t contacted him again as more things began to happen. Gradually, Su An had almost forgotten such a person existed.
Feng Ling had a delicate face and a somewhat frail appearance, the kind that easily aroused a protective instinct. No wonder Xia Lianqi was so head-over-heels for him.
“Brother.” Su Kefan greeted Su An with a practiced smile. Feng Ling, beside him, also looked pleasantly surprised.
“An An, long time no see. Why would you come to a jewelry exhibition?”
Looking at the two hypocrites in front of him, Su An raised a graceful smile. “I was interested, so I came. Ling Ling, why are you here?”
Feng Ling pursed his lips and said warmly, “It’s Xia Lianqi’s mother’s birthday in two weeks. I want to prepare a surprise for Auntie, but I don’t really understand these things, so I asked Fan Fan to accompany me.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Su An nodded slightly. He remembered that there was indeed such a plot point in the book; it seemed Xia Lianqi formally announced his relationship with Feng Ling at his mother’s birthday banquet.
“Why didn’t President Yu accompany you?” Su Kefan looked around, asking with feigned curiosity.
Upon hearing this, the curve of Su An’s mouth gradually flattened, and a cold light flickered in his eyes.
Feng Ling looked surprised for a moment. “An An, I forgot to ask you. I heard from Lianqi last time—are you and Brother Yu Feng together now?”
Su An didn’t answer them; a subtle atmosphere permeated the air.
“An An, you…” Feng Ling wanted to continue asking.
Su An interrupted him directly. “We are together. Does it have anything to do with you?”
Feng Ling was stunned. He hadn’t expected Su An to speak to him in such a tone. Immediately, tears began to well up in his eyes, making him look as if he had been severely bullied.
He opened his mouth to explain, “I didn’t mean…”
Su An sneered. “Who was it that encouraged me to go and curse at Yu Feng back then? Feng Ling, you haven’t forgotten, have you?”
“Su An, you’re going too far!” Su Kefan couldn’t stand by any longer and spoke out in a reprimand.
“Sigh. Life is dull; the toad critiques the human,” Su An said leisurely. He turned his head and stopped looking at them, fearing that even one more glance would dirty his eyes.
Su An put on his headphones, turned on his music, and increased the volume. He paid no attention to the infuriated Su Kefan, who was frantically spewing profanities, nor to the tearful Feng Ling nearby, who was still busy “comforting” people.
They were both vintage 1982 Longjing Green Teas did they really need to compare who was the bigger “tea b*tch” (manipulator)?
Tearing off the mask was only a matter of time. He was tired of acting out this drama of friendship and family; it was time for the performance to end and for him to exit the stage.