For the past few days, bad luck had followed one after another.
Bai Yuan suggested going on a trip to the suburbs. He sent a message in the group chat: “Everyone has been having such a hard time with Mercury retrograde lately. Shi Liang had a breakup, Shen Bingchen has been getting cyber-bullied, and as for my and Shi Liang’s careers, sigh! Let’s not even talk about it. Why don’t a few of us go for a walk in the suburbs? We can grill some barbecue and have fun.”
Shi Liang: “Good.”
Shen Bingchen: “I was just thinking the same thing!”
Bai Yuan: “Those who have girlfriends, bring your girlfriends!” Afterward, he added another sentence: “If you have a boyfriend, bring your boyfriend.”
Shen Bingchen was blunt: “If you want to bring your girlfriend, just say so!”
Shi Liang: “Exactly, what’s the difference between that last sentence and not adding it at all? Who would even be dating a boyfriend? Isn’t it just me? I just broke up, where am I supposed to pull a boyfriend out of to bring along? Do you think finding a partner is like buying cabbages at the vegetable market, where you just pick one up if the price is right?”
Bai Yuan: “Then why didn’t you agree when Bingchen introduced you to that young male idol last time?”
Shi Liang: “Didn’t I just break up? Who has the mood to date right now? Anyway, let’s just make it this Saturday.”
Bai Yuan: “No problem. This Saturday happens to be when my girlfriend has an opening.”
Shen Bingchen: “I happen to have time this Saturday too.”
Bai Yuan sneered: “You’re so unpopular, when do you not have time?”
Shen Bingchen immediately sent a middle-finger sticker.
On Saturday, Shen Yuanke ended up trending on Weibo.
The sequence of events unfolded like this: Shen Yuanke was surfing Weibo on her alt account when a beauty influencer posted a gorgeous makeup look and mentioned she was going out shopping with her best friend.
A man left a comment underneath: Saying you’re putting on pretty makeup to go shopping with your best friend, dressing up like this is just to catch men’s eyes and seduce them, right? As a man, I want to tell you girls, women like you won’t be cherished even if you get boyfriends in the future. The crucial thing is, when you put on such heavy makeup and go to a hotel room with your boyfriend, once you take off the makeup, the guy might think he walked into the wrong hotel room.
Looking at her own carefully applied makeup, Shen Yuanke furiously lashed out: Then are you so ugly just to take revenge on society? Knowing full well how ugly you are, you don’t even know how to tidy yourself up when you go out, isn’t that just to retaliate against society? As a woman, I want to tell a mentally distorted, ugly man like you, for someone like you, even if you get a girlfriend in the future, you won’t be cherished. No, wait, you probably won’t even have a girlfriend. Which woman could possibly look at you?
Yet simply tearing into someone like this wasn’t the real issue; the actual problem was that her roasting was somehow discovered to be from Shen Yuanke’s alt account.
It instantly sparked heated discussions among netizens. In the comment section, female users universally cheered, though some dissenting voices were quickly drowned out. One stone stirred up a thousand ripples, and as the incident fermented, it surged onto the trending searches.
Seeing that the trending topic had no negative impact on the artist, Shen Yuanke’s studio adopted a cold-treatment approach, taking no action and simply waiting for the trend to blow over.
After all, entertainment industry drama comes in waves, and everyone would forget soon enough.
Before heading out, he asked Bai Yuan if he had packed everything and if there was anything special he needed that he hadn’t brought yet so he could buy it on the way. Bai Yuan replied that he had everything.
However, he did mention that Qi Wei’s side had rejected him and had no intention of ceding that plot of land to them.
When Shi Liang and the others arrived at the wild campsite, they happened to see Shen Yuanke and Bai Yuan arguing.
Bai Yuan earnestly persuaded: “Why did you have to say those things? Now the internet is in an absolute uproar. Even though things turned out okay this time and it didn’t negatively impact you, your personality is just too abrasive. In an industry full of cunning snobs like entertainment, acting like this makes it very easy for you to get the short end of the stick.”
Shen Yuanke scoffed dismissively: “What did I do wrong? It was that guy’s fault, okay? Who could possibly tolerate him saying such insulting things?”
Bai Yuan: “You aren’t the only woman surfing the web. Everyone else saw it and didn’t comment, only you did.”
Shen Yuanke: “So what?”
Bai Yuan: “It’s not a matter of so what or what not. You had absolutely no need to go out of your way to offend people. As long as a matter doesn’t involve your own interests, treat it as none of your business and keep your mouth shut, play dumb and pretend you know nothing when asked. Why on earth do you have to be the first bird to stick its neck out? You put in the effort, got nothing good out of it, ended up furious with a bellyful of anger, and caught all the backlash for nothing. Why bother?”
Shen Yuanke was so angry her eyes turned red: “Anyway, in your eyes, no matter what I do, it’s always wrong. Since everything I do leaves you dissatisfied, why don’t you just go find someone who does satisfy you?”
Bai Yuan: “What is that supposed to mean? Saying something like that is a bit hurtful, don’t you think? Aren’t I just doing this for your own good?”
Shi Liang walked over and pulled the two of them apart. Shen Yuanke turned on her heel and walked away without another word. Deep down, she actually knew Bai Yuan meant well, but every time she acted, Bai Yuan always had a counter-argument ready, making her feel as though whatever she did was wrong, stripping away her dignity.
Last time, she had wanted Bai Yuan to join her on a variety show, but Bai Yuan refused. He claimed he hated participating in such variety shows, yet he turned right around and joined a completely different one.
Bai Yuan didn’t dislike participating in variety shows at all; he just didn’t want to do a variety show with her. He looked down on her for not being mature enough and acting too impulsively, which he felt made him lose face.
Today’s incident only made her feel even more unsettled.
Hurriedly pulling the two apart, Shi Liang instructed Shen Bingchen to drag Bai Yuan away while he stayed behind to comfort Shen Yuanke.
“Stop being upset. Let’s see if there’s anything you love to eat in here, today’s barbecue will start with roasting your favorite things first. Once you’re fully fed and watered, we can throw all our worries to the back of our minds.”
Shen Yuanke softened slightly.
“Bai Yuan really does love you. Last time, just to buy you that limited-edition bag you wanted, he pulled strings with several different people before finally connecting with a seller, paying nearly ten times the retail price to get it brand new. He didn’t let any of us tell you about that.”
Shen Yuanke sighed: “I know he treats me very well, and I like him a lot too. But I’ve noticed he doesn’t really appreciate me. He’s always finding fault with how I handle things and conduct myself. So even though he treats me well most of the time, I still feel constantly insecure, and I honestly have no idea whether he truly loves me or not.”
Shi Liang sighed: “You’re overthinking things. Bai Yuan definitely likes you, we’ve all seen it. In our circle of friends, nobody dares to say a single bad word about you, because if anyone did, Bai Yuan would definitely beat them black and blue.”
Shen Yuanke looked surprised and delighted: “Really?”
Shi Liang: “Of course! Would I lie about that? So relax, he loves you the most! The argument earlier was also just because he wanted the best for you.”
Her mood lifting, Shen Yuanke began helping out with the barbecue.
Right beside the spot where they were grilling meat lay a lake. On the opposite bank, someone was sitting and fishing. Even though it was quite a distance away, that cursed walking posture instantly made Shi Liang think of Qi Wei.
Uncertain whether it really was him, Shi Liang took a couple of extra glances in that direction, only to see the figure actually walking toward them.
As the person drew closer, he realized it genuinely was Qi Wei.
He glanced at Shen Bingchen, who was deep in conversation with Bai Yuan about something and looked utterly absorbed.
Qi Wei walked up and greeted Shi Liang: “Brother Liang, you guys came out here to enjoy the scenery too!”
Shi Liang maintained as much poise as possible: “That’s right. You guys too?”
“Indeed. We were trying to figure out where to hold a company team-building event, and when a colleague mentioned the scenery here was nice, we decided to have a picnic here.”
Shi Liang nodded.
Qi Wei continued: “What has Brother Liang been busy with lately?”
Shi Liang: “Just keeping busy with random things.”
Qi Wei: “A while ago, our company put in a bid for a piece of land, and I heard Brother Liang’s side was also interested. If Brother Liang wants it, we can definitely talk terms.” Qi Wei glanced around. “Why don’t we find a place tomorrow to chat about it in detail?”
Shi Liang: “Didn’t you already reject the request to cede that land to us? What’s this about now?”
Qi Wei lowered his gaze and smiled, looking somewhat awkward: “I did indeed reject Bai Yuan and didn’t want to give him that land. But we can develop and utilize the land together. Weren’t you guys also planning to build entertainment facilities? We have the same intention. So, we still have a chance to talk it over, don’t we?”
Shi Liang hesitated for a long moment: “Alright, I agree.”