Chapter 26: Someone Became the Sucker

Over the years, Lin Xiwei had occasionally heard fragments of news about Zhang Xian from their mutual friends, and last month she had even talked about Zhang Xian over dinner with her best high school friend, Xu Yuanyuan.

From her, she learned that Zhang Xian was unemployed, had yet to find a suitable job, and there was no word of him dating anyone.

Yet when she met this former lover again, he was about to get married.

Shocked, Lin Xiwei felt an indescribable emotion inside her.

Zhang Xian, meanwhile, activated his Bagua Eye skill with a sly grin, eager to see how many "rivals" he had accumulated since their breakup.

He was stunned to discover that Lin Xiwei's head bore only a single red thread—and that thread was connected to his own.

In other words, Lin Xiwei had not dated anyone since their breakup!

At least not deeply!

This revelation made Zhang Xian's emotions grow complicated; in today's society, if a woman had only ever been intimately involved with you, it was hard not to feel something different.

Possessiveness and protectiveness arose unconsciously.

"Xiwei, get to work—the shooting schedule today is still heavy."

"Since you and Mr. Zhang are old classmates, communication about makeup and styling will be smoother."

"Miss Chu, let's sit over here!"

Tian Dan had also noticed that the relationship between Zhang Xian and Lin Xiwei seemed complicated, but now was not the time for gossip—work came first.

She politely led Chu Yourong to her own makeup station.

Zhang Xian sat down on the opposite side.

"Mr. Zhang… do you have any requirements for today's makeup and styling?"

Lin Xiwei stood behind Zhang Xian, unsure how to address this former lover.

"Just call me by my name, or like in high school—call me Xian Ge."

"I don't understand makeup or styling—do whatever you like."

Zhang Xian looked at Lin Xiwei in the mirror, his lips unconsciously curling upward.

A first love holds a pivotal place in every man's heart; even years later, hearing that name can still bring a quiet smile.

Since their breakup, Zhang Xian and Lin Xiwei had not seen each other; today's unexpected reunion stirred up many cherished memories buried deep within.

"When's the wedding date?"

After adjusting her demeanor, Lin Xiwei asked curiously.

"What, eager to give a gift?"

Zhang Xian teased with a smile.

"You didn't even send me an invitation."

"Alright, I'll definitely send you one once the date's set."

"The date isn't set yet?"

Lin Xiwei was surprised—usually, couples coming in for wedding photos were already engaged, and many had even obtained their marriage certificate; it was rare for the date to still be undecided.

"Yourong's work is busy, and her status is special—she might not even hold a banquet."

Zhang Xian offered a vague excuse.

"I see."

Lin Xiwei nodded and began working.

Since she had to apply makeup and style Zhang Xian's look, physical contact was inevitable; at first, Lin Xiwei felt uneasy, caught in a strange mix of familiarity and distance.

But their bodies were still "familiar"—the sense of distance vanished quickly, and Lin Xiwei focused entirely on her work.

About an hour later, Zhang Xian's makeup and styling were completed first.

Looking at her own "masterpiece" in the mirror, Lin Xiwei couldn't help but feel a pang.

Her first love was getting married—and the bride wasn't her!

She remembered how they had once sworn eternal vows, even promising to marry right after college graduation.

Now, thinking back, it seemed so childish.

"Cool, right?"

Seeing Lin Xiwei staring at him, Zhang Xian smirked and nudged his chin: "Regret breaking up with me now?"

"Pfft~!"

"Still so self-absorbed!"

Lin Xiwei snorted and rolled her eyes at Zhang Xian.

"Dan Jie, I'm done here."

Lin Xiwei called out to Tian Dan, who was focused on her work across the room.

"Then take Mr. Zhang to the rest room—you two old classmates should catch up."

"Alright."

Lin Xiwei agreed and led Zhang Xian to the rest room.

A staff member kindly brought coffee, sweets, and snacks.

"How did you manage to win over Chu Yourong?"

"She's a huge star!"

Since meeting him, Lin Xiwei had wanted to ask this question—she'd heard from Xu Yuanyuan that Zhang Xian didn't even have a proper job, yet he'd somehow landed a celebrity girlfriend like Chu Yourong; it was unbelievable.

"What do you mean 'win over'?"

"It's charm!"

Zhang Xian said seriously.

"After all these years, your skin's gotten thicker!" Lin Xiwei sneered.

"If you didn't have thick skin, you never would've chased me down back then!"

"I was just too young then."

"You're still young now—you're only 22!"

Zhang Xian took a sip of the coffee handed to him by the staff and complained: "Tell your boss to use freshly ground beans—this instant coffee tastes like mouthwash."

"Alright, I'll pass it along."

"How about you? Did you date anyone?"

Zhang Xian asked knowingly, feigning ignorance.

"I dated someone!"

Lin Xiwei, unwilling to lose face to Zhang Xian in this matter, made up a random lie.

"Really?"

"What does he do?"

"How old is he this year?"

"Where's he from?"

Zhang Xian fired off a string of questions.

"Uh..."

A spontaneous lie couldn't be perfectly crafted on the spot—Lin Xiwei wasn't good at lying, and she froze under the barrage.

"You can't lie to save your life—just admit you haven't dated anyone!"

Zhang Xian shrugged and smiled, then handed his phone to Lin Xiwei: "Add me back on WeChat—maybe we can pick up where we left off!"

"Pfft~!"

"Zhang Xian, do you have any shame?"

"You're about to get married!"

Lin Xiwei hadn't expected Zhang Xian to be so brazen—his fiancée was right next door in the makeup room, yet he dared say such things to her.

"I was just joking—why get so worked up?"

Zhang Xian smiled: "Besides, there's this lyric I remember..."

"Right, parting gracefully is the only way to honor all these years..."

Lin Xiwei frowned, thinking for a moment, then asked puzzled: "What song is that? I've never heard it."

"You'll hear it soon."

"What does that mean?"

"Your comprehension skills have gotten worse since we broke up!" Zhang Xian complained.

"Don't tell me you wrote that song?"

"Congratulations—you got it right!"

"Pfft, just as self-absorbed as in high school!"

Thus, they chatted back and forth like old friends who hadn't seen each other in years—from high school to college, then to life after graduation...

Before long, the door to the lounge suddenly opened, and Chu Yourong entered, accompanied by Tian Dan, her makeup and styling complete.

Zhang Xian instinctively turned his head—and froze.

Dressed in a wedding gown, Chu Yourong was breathtakingly beautiful: the pure white lace traced her flawless curves, her veil hung softly, her eyes and brows like a painted scroll. She walked slowly, the hem of her dress floating gently as if she trod upon clouds, her entire figure bathed in a soft glow.

Lin Xiwei, who had been smiling moments before, suddenly grew solemn—Chu Yourong's arrival dragged her back to reality.

This long-lost first love was about to become someone else's husband!

"How is it?"

"Do I look good?"

Though she'd already read the answer in Zhang Xian's gaze, Chu Yourong deliberately asked anyway—she wanted him to praise her.

"It's fine."

Zhang Xian, snapping back to himself, gave a slight nod.

Seeing his attitude, Chu Yourong pouted and sat down on the nearby sofa.

"Wait a moment—I'll check if the indoor set is ready."

At that moment, Tian Dan spoke, then shot Lin Xiwei a glance and left the lounge with her.

"Is that your classmate?"

After they left, Chu Yourong immediately asked.

"Yeah, high school classmate."

"Just classmates?"

"We dated for a while."

Zhang Xian didn't hide anything—he was just acting with Chu Yourong anyway.

"I knew it—I always thought your two were more than just classmates."

"That's all in the past."

Zhang Xian spread his hands: "I never expected to run into her here."

"Rekindled the old flame?"

"You two seemed to be having a great time—I could hear laughter from the makeup room."

Chu Yourong pouted.

"We were just recalling funny high school stories—they were hilarious!"

Zhang Xian hadn't even realized they'd been laughing loudly.

"Don't forget, you're my boyfriend now."

"Even if it's fake, you can't be flirting with other women!"

Chu Yourong said with a cold little face.

"That's not right!"

Zhang Xian shook his head: "I remember there's a clause in the agreement saying neither of us can interfere with the other's personal romantic life."

"Is there? I don't remember that!"

Chu Yourong pouted: "Then I'm notifying you now—I'm adding this clause!"

"Wait, you can just add clauses whenever you want?" Zhang Xian was speechless.

"Look at the last line of tiny print in the agreement!"

Hearing this, Zhang Xian immediately opened the electronic agreement they'd signed and flipped to the very last line on the final page.

It read: The final interpretation rights of this agreement belong to Party A.

And Chu Yourong was Party A.

"See?"

Chu Yourong proudly pouted.

"Perfect, you've got that capitalist vibe!"

Zhang Xian gave a thumbs-up, but inwardly grumbled: The agreement is dead, people are alive—tomorrow I'm taking Lin Xiwei out to dinner!

The photoshoot went smoothly, since taking photos was part of Chu Yourong's daily work; during the shoot, she barely needed the photographer's guidance and even directed Zhang Xian to cooperate with her.

But since it was a wedding photoshoot, the two inevitably had some intimate poses. Although Chu Yourong had already rejected any poses requiring a kiss, hugging and holding were unavoidable.

After a full day of shooting, Zhang Xian had become very familiar with Chu Yourong's body—even during a princess carry, he accidentally brushed against her breasts. It wasn't intentional; it was mainly because Chu Yourong was too "abundant," and he couldn't help but bump into her.

After finishing the day's shoot, Zhang Xian was too tired to say another word.

He'd always wondered why celebrities complained about how hard their jobs were—it's just taking photos and acting, how tiring could it be?

Now he was starting to understand—taking photos was tiring too.

Of course, the kind of tiredness he empathized with was that of low-income minor artists; if some mega-celebrity who earned tens or even hundreds of millions a year complained, Zhang Xian would still curse right back!

Tiredness is relative to earnings—if you make tens or hundreds of thousands per day shooting photos, what's there to be tired about?

Night.

Chu Yourong updated her Weibo with nine wedding photos.

Although the groom's face was blurred, the moment these wedding photos were posted, they caused a sensation!

The topic #ChuYourongMarried# immediately shot to number one on Weibo's trending list.

"Oh my god, she got married so fast!"

"Is this a flash marriage? Too sudden!"

"Could she be pregnant? Why else would she marry so quickly!"

"No doubt—she's definitely pregnant! The shame of stealing a wife is unforgivable!"

"What? Nai Rong's become a married woman? I love her even more now!!"

"Another day of envying Nai Rong's husband—what a life!"

The time between Chu Yourong's announcement of her relationship and her "marriage" was so short that it sparked speculation that she was pregnant.

Soon, the topic #ChuYourongPregnant# also surged onto the trending list.

As the topic spread, some self-media outlets even claimed to have found "evidence": one, Chu Yourong hadn't appeared at any public events for a long time; two, a photo taken by a passerby not long ago showed her with a "slightly protruding belly."

The fact that she wasn't working and the photo of her slightly protruding belly became "proof" of her pregnancy!

When Chu Yourong saw the trending topic about her pregnancy, she was utterly stunned.

She had deliberately leaked the marriage news to maximize attention, but she never imagined it would spawn #ChuYourongPregnant#, which quickly climbed to second place on the trending list.

Zhang Family.

Tired from the day, Zhang Xian lay in bed playing games. Just as he was engrossed, his father Zhang Dongshan burst into his room with a delighted expression.

"Xiaoxian, is it true?"

"Am I going to be a grandfather??"

Zhang Dongshan asked, excited.

"Huh?"

"Grandfather of what?"

Zhang Xian looked suspicious.

"Online everyone says little Chu is pregnant!"

"Isn't the baby yours?"

Zhang Dongshan's eyes widened, then he slapped his thigh in anguish: "I knew it! How could a popular female star like little Chu possibly like you?"

"She must've wanted you to be the sucker!"

"Uh..."

Zhang Xian was dumbfounded—his dad's imagination was too rich.

"Xiaoxian, even though little Chu has great conditions, we can't raise someone else's child, right?"

"Break up with her fast!"

"Let whoever wants to be the sucker take it!"

Zhang Dongshan added angrily.

"Dad, the online rumors are fake."

"Chu Yourong isn't pregnant!"

Zhang Xian was utterly confident, because during today's wedding photoshoot, Chu Yourong had said she couldn't drink anything cold, and she even suffered from menstrual cramps midway through, needing a long rest before continuing.

How could she possibly be pregnant!

So Zhang Xian didn't need to check—he knew it was definitely fake news.

The Liu family next door.

After seeing the news that "Chu Yourong is pregnant," Liu Dongxu became excited and immediately told his parents, who were watching TV: "Dad, Mom, I know why Zhang Xian got a celebrity girlfriend!"

"Turns out she's already pregnant—he's just a sucker who took over!"

"At that last dinner, Chu Yourong herself admitted they'd only been together a short time—so this child can't possibly be Zhang Xian's."

Hearing Liu Dongxu's words, Liu Fusheng and his wife exchanged a glance, both faces lighting up with sudden understanding.

"So that's it! I always said such a huge fortune couldn't possibly land on Zhang Family's sixth son!"

"Dongxu, don't go spreading this around—it's their mutual choice. That little Chu probably paid him a lot; otherwise, how could the Zhangs afford a 450,000-yuan car?"

"Yes, that's definitely it!"

Liu Dongxu nodded with a broad smile. Lately, he'd been suffocating under Zhang Xian's shadow—his girlfriend couldn't compete, his car couldn't compete, and even the job he thought he had an edge in was still a stalemate.

Now, finally, he could breathe again. His "good buddy" had traded his dignity for this life.

Indeed, everything had always been priced in the shadows!

Liu Dongxu returned to his room excitedly and immediately sent WeChat message to Wang Jiajia: Jiajia, did you hear? Someone became a sucker!