Chapter 101

When Song Anan and Sister-in-law Zhao Ya came out of the bedroom, it was already two hours later.

Song Linchuan glanced at the time and it was indeed getting late. He said, "Dad, mom, why don't you take my room and I'll sleep on the couch."

Song Zhenhui looked at him in disgust and said, "No need, your palm-sized place is not comfortable for your mom. We already booked a hotel on our way here."

Song Linchuan didn't insist. "Alright then, let me drive you there."

Zhao Ya waved her hand and said, "Don't bother, your dad already arranged it. The driver has been waiting outside for you guys."

The aunt and nephew sent Song Zhenhui and Zhao Ya to the residential complex gate, watching them get in the car before heading back.

The two walked along the residential road without speaking.

Song Anan secretly glanced at him. She actually felt the most guilty towards Song Linchuan about this matter.

Ever since her relationship with Pei Kuang was exposed, Song Anan had been thinking about how to explain it to him, but just now downstairs at Pei Kuang's place, no matter how much she thought about it, she realized any explanation would be inadequate.

Putting herself in Song Linchuan's shoes, she could completely understand why he would be so angry.

But even so, just now in front of her older brother, Song Linchuan still stood up for her like that.

Thinking of this, Song Anan suddenly felt her nose turn sour and inexplicably wanted to cry.

She pursed her lips and lowered her head, murmuring, "Linchuan, I'm sorry."

Song Linchuan sighed silently when he looked at Song Anan.

He had wanted to pretend to be very angry, but seeing his auntie like this, how could he stay angry?

Forget it. He would probably never be able to get angry at his auntie in his life.

Besides, it wasn't his auntie's fault either, it was all because of that damn Pei Kuang!

Song Linchuan ruffled Song Anan's hair and said gently, "Auntie, it's not your fault, I'm not blaming you either, don't apologize."

Song Anan shook her head. Her voice grew thick with emotion, "No, it is my fault. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept it from you. Look how busy you are, yet you rushed back specially because of this. I made you neglect your work..."

The more she spoke, the more she felt she was in the wrong. As she kept apologizing, she began sobbing softly and crying uncontrollably. She eventually squatted on the ground bawling.

Song Linchuan was busy consoling her to no avail.

Song Anan had always been hard to coax once she started crying. She simply couldn't control herself.

Song Linchuan truly regretted pretending to be angry earlier. Look what happened now, he made her cry.

He didn't have any tissues on him, so he could only use his sleeve to wipe Song Anan's tears. "Auntie, don't cry anymore. I'm really not blaming you."

Song Anan continued sobbing between hiccups as she looked at Song Linchuan. "Or you can scold me a few times. I'll feel even more guilty like this."

This really troubled Song Linchuan. Facing Song Anan, he couldn't even get angry, how was he supposed to scold her?

That would be crazy.

Song Linchuan was truly at a loss over what to do. He could only say, "Auntie, don't feel guilty anymore. Actually, I have something I hid from you too."

Song Anan let out a little "ah", apparently having expected things to go in this direction.

"What did you hide from me?" she asked, bewildered.

Song Linchuan lightly coughed, looking a little awkward. "Well, I'm also in a relationship now."

Song Anan was taken aback.

Being in a relationship is just that. What does he mean by "also" in a relationship?

"How long have you been together?" she asked.

Song Linchuan scratched his head. "Not long, just last week."

Song Anan was still a little worried. People always said there were unspoken rules in the entertainment industry. Although she knew Song Linchuan wouldn't do that, she was afraid he had difficulties he couldn't speak of.

Otherwise, why emphasize "also" in a relationship? That sounded off.

"Do you like her?" Song Anan asked again.

Seeing her misunderstanding, Song Linchuan quickly explained, "Auntie, it's not what you think. My situation is a bit complicated. I'll tell you the details when there's a chance in the future, okay?"

"But I can assure you I'm not forcing myself."

Song Anan nodded, seemingly understanding yet not understanding. If he wasn't forcing himself, that meant he liked the girl. That was good then.

"Okay, can I ask one more question?"

Song Linchuan gave a slight nod.

Song Anan asked, "Is she still Zhou Wei?"

The word "still" was cleverly used.

It was rare to see Song Linchuan with this kind of embarrassed expression, but his gaze was also unusually serious. "Yes, it has always been her."

Song Anan quietly looked at Song Linchuan for a few seconds before suddenly hugging him.

"Linchuan, you must be happy."

Song Linchuan's body stiffened briefly. "Alright, auntie, we'll both be happy."

-

After the upheaval, the aunt and nephew finally broke the ice between them.

Although Song Linchuan trusted Pei Kuang's character very much, he still couldn't help worrying that Song Anan would be bullied. Thus, he started lecturing her.

"Auntie, if Pei Kuang dares mistreat you or be mean to you, you must tell me right away!"

Just wait till he comes back to beat up that damn guy!

Song Anan shook her head. "That won't happen. He's very good to me."

Hearing Song Anan defend Pei Kuang made Song Linchuan upset. He had a sense of crisis over losing his position.

He righteously declared, "Auntie, it's one thing to date, but my place in your heart cannot be shaken."

Song Anan blinked. "Don't worry, it won't."

"You can't play favorites either in the future!"

"Okay, no playing favorites."

When a hot celebrity's relationship is exposed, many would choose to handle it coldly - neither confirming nor denying it.

There are many considerations behind this, mainly the artist's career.

But there are also other reasons, like not being sure how far the relationship will go, or not taking the relationship seriously and just messing around. Admitting to the relationship means they can't casually break up.

Regardless of the reason, Pei Kuang obviously wasn't in that category. So he planned to announce it from the start.

After the incident brewed for a day, at 9 a.m. the next morning, Pei Kuang's studio officially acknowledged the relationship on Weibo.

@Pei Kuang's Studio: Passing on the boss's original words, the relationship is real. I've never been this serious in my life! (PS from staff: Thank you everyone for your concern. Our boss is doing well.)

【Damn! Hahaha, laughing to death. What's with the staff's quiet gossip?】

【Don't pretend you don't know. I nearly died laughing yesterday. For gossip about the top celebrities, the whole Internet was actually only worried that he would be beaten to death by the other top star. The focus is skewed!】

【Everyone, guess why the relationship exposed yesterday was only responded to today by those involved?】

【Tsk tsk. If it were another celebrity, I'd definitely have guessed they were trying to smooth it over with PR. But this time, I feel it's because Pei Kuang was getting beaten up and had no time!】

【Lol, what the bro above said is too mean but so true】

【Right, Pei Kuang was silent the whole day yesterday and I didn't suspect at all that he wanted to handle the relationship coldly like other celebrities. I was just worried that he might be beaten to death by Song Linchuan.】

【Song Linchuan: The beating has been administered, stop mentioning me!】

【Ahhh, it's public! Congrats congrats! Hope Pei Kuang and Anan will be together forever!】

【Damn, 'the relationship is real' candidly admits it, and 'I've never been this serious' is boldly professing his love. Pei Kuang is too smooth!】

【I declare from today this is the cp I most look favorably upon. Locked!】

【No offense, just very curious. I see other celebrities announce relationships themselves on Weibo. How come Pei Kuang used the studio?】

【Should be because the auntie isn't in the industry】

...

-

Song Anan had to return to school early because something urgent came up.

After getting up, Song Linchuan felt it was too rushed yesterday and many things were left unclear. So he merrily went to Pei Kuang's place again.

After coming in, he plopped down on the sofa like he owned the place and asked, "Got anything to eat at home? I'm starving."

Pei Kuang glanced at him and chuckled. "There's breakfast on the kitchen counter under the cover. Go get it yourself." Song Linchuan grunted, "Help me get it, you'll be worked to death."

Pei Kuang sprawled on the sofa, shrugging helplessly, "I can't help it, you were too rough last night, now my whole body is sore and aching."

He wasn't exaggerating, he didn't feel anything wrong yesterday, but when he got up this morning, things were bad.

After cursing 'Serve you right', Song Linchuan turned and took out a sandwich from the kitchen counter.

He took a bite and found the taste quite nice, "How come there's so little, just a few bites and it's gone."

Pei Kuang retorted irritably, "Be glad there's anything at all. You think I made it specially for you? If Anan hadn't left some unfinished this morning, you wouldn't have gotten even this much."

Song Linchuan gave a cold snort, "No wonder my auntie wouldn't let me drive her this morning, turns out she came to see you instead."

Pei Kuang wisely kept his mouth shut, not wanting to stir things up further.

After all, he'd known about Song Linchuan's infuriating personality for more than just one day.

Song Linchuan asked again, "Did you drive my auntie this morning?"

Pei Kuang glanced at him, "What do you think?"

Song Linchuan wolfed down the sandwich in three or four bites, taking care of breakfast. "That's more like it."

But as if recalling something, he suddenly became spirited and looked at Pei Kuang gloatingly.

"Since you saw my auntie this morning, you must know my parents left early today right."

Of course Pei Kuang knew, and he understood why Song Linchuan had suddenly brought this up.

Song Linchuan said slyly, "My dad said not to give you a chance to come calling. We're just dating, still far from meeting the parents."

Pei Kuang glanced at him and said leisurely, "Don't worry, I'll keep working hard to get through your front door as soon as possible."

Song Linchuan: "..."

After chatting for a while, Pei Kuang took a phone call out on the balcony.

Song Linchuan felt a little thirsty and got up to grab a drink from the fridge.

But when he got to the fridge, he suddenly noticed a strange straw on the shelf next to it. One end had two straws while the other end only had one.

He picked it up curiously and studied it for a long time. Opening the fridge, he took out a can of Coke and a bottle of Sprite, then went back to the living room.

He stuck the double straw end into the Sprite and Coke, and the single straw end was just right for drinking from.

Song Linchuan had never seen a straw like this before, much less drank beverages this way. He found it very novel.

Just yesterday, Zhou Wei had been constantly pestering him to post something, anything, on Weibo, saying fans were going crazy @ing him, asking for some response.

Of course he knew what the fans were all saying, scoffing that he had personally delivered his auntie to Pei Kuang.

But Song Linchuan also knew better than anyone that he really had no rebuttal, so he had just kept putting it off, not wanting to post anything.

But now he suddenly had a different idea - why not post about this interesting new straw?

A lighthearted share of daily life like this would definitely turn things around.

Song Linchuan immediately picked up his phone and found the perfect angle to take a photo of the straw inserted into two drinks on the coffee table.

He was getting ready to write a post and publish it on Weibo.

When Pei Kuang came back in from the balcony and saw the drinks and straw on the table, he couldn't help but pause in surprise.

Wasn't this the couple's straw that Anan had bought online?

Hmm...so it could be used like this too. But wasn't the correct way to use it to stick the single straw end in the drink, and then each person in the couple uses one of the double straws to share a drink?

Pei Kuang pointed uncertainly at the straw and drinks on the table and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Can't you tell? Drinking, what does it look like?" Song Linchuan replied matter-of-factly, with an expression that said 'Are you alright?'

Pei Kuang hesitated for a moment, gave him a meaningful look and said, "...It's fine as long as you're happy."

Song Linchuan glanced up at him, finding it completely baffling.

What's with the "as long as you're happy" and the weird way of talking?

Too lazy to bother with him, Song Linchuan's hands kept moving as he quickly edited what he felt was a perfect Weibo post.

Then he uploaded the photo he just took and clicked Send.

"Done!" he said, tossing his phone on the coffee table with an air of accomplishment.

Pei Kuang glanced at the phone on the table and suddenly had a bad feeling. "What did you just do?" Song Linchuan casually replied, "Posted on Weibo, what else?"

Then he lowered his head to sip from the straw again, saying, "Creative design, can drink two flavors at once, not bad at all."

Pei Kuang: "..."!