Chapter 339: Teddy Sisters Group Version of

In Beijing, a certain club

Hu Siyan organized the final pre-Spring Festival gathering of the Teddy Sisters Group in Beijing.

As the Teddy Sisters Group grew larger, many sisters achieved career success or started families, making gatherings less frequent and harder to assemble everyone.

According to Hu Siyan’s statistics, in all of 2008, the entire Teddy Sisters Group gathered fully only once, and gatherings of seven or more occurred four times.

Yet, reassuringly, though numbers were incomplete, their hearts remained united.

Though they missed big gatherings, whenever they had time, the sisters showed up—no one was permanently absent or skipped multiple gatherings outside work hours.

Beyond offline meetups, their online Weibo interactions remained intimate; even Qin Lan, who kept a low profile due to her blog scandal, occasionally appeared in the Teddy Sisters Group’s comment section.

“Big sister’s here.”

Zhao Ke called out; Hu Siyan and Li Xiao had already left the private room to greet Ma Yili, who arrived with a small bag. Hu Siyan looked slightly disappointed.

“Why didn’t you bring Ama?”

Ama was the daughter born to Wen Zhang and Ma Yili last year—Ama was her nickname, its meaning obvious, and it had drawn much teasing from the sisters for Wen Zhang’s sappiness.

“The baby’s too young and fussy—I left her with my mom at home.”

Ma Yili looked in good spirits; last year she married Wen Zhang and gave birth to a daughter, and the couple remained affectionate.

After “Struggle,” Wen Zhang’s career also advanced significantly—he starred as the male lead in several dramas last year, gaining momentum, which allowed her to stay home and care for the child with peace of mind.

“Big sister, aren’t you going home for the New Year this year?”

Li Xiao asked; Ma was from Shanghai, Wen Zhang from Xi’an—both were outsiders, and traditionally they returned to their hometowns for the New Year.

Unlike her and Hu Siyan, who were both native to Beijing, they had the energy to organize gatherings before the holiday.

“It’s our first year married—going to either family’s home isn’t suitable, and with the baby, we just stayed in Beijing. My mom and his parents are here too.”

Hu Siyan approved: “Good, now we have somewhere to pay New Year visits.”

Ma Yili turned to Zhao Ke: “Little Seven, why aren’t you going back home?”

After Ying Caier and Gan Wei joined the Teddy Sisters Group, they became the eighth and ninth sisters; originally the youngest, Zhao Ke became the seventh.

Zhao Ke looked gentle and quiet, like a woman from the southern water towns, but she was actually from Henan Province, and usually returned home for the New Year.

“There are two Spring Festival events on Beijing TV I have to attend—I’ll go back on the third day of the New Year.”

Zhao Ke explained; though her career lagged behind the others in the Teddy Sisters Group, she’d played supporting roles alongside the sisters and rode their popularity to gain minor fame.

For actors like her, stuck in the third or fourth tier, participating in such TV station events was a decent gig—never turn one down if you can help it.

As they chatted, new arrivals came—Qin Lan led, followed by… Yang Mi.

Hu Siyan instinctively glanced at Li Xiao, who said nothing; the group stepped forward to greet Qin Lan.

“Why did you come together?”

“I was meeting Yi’an and Yu Zheng to discuss a script today, and Mi Mi was there—I invited her along.”

Yang Mi had grown close to the Teddy Sisters Group—more accurately, she was very close to Qin Lan.

Whenever Qin Lan was present, Yang Mi would definitely attend gatherings; otherwise, it depended on luck—this caused some Teddy Sisters to resent Yang Mi.

Whether Yang Mi truly counted as a Teddy Sister remained ambiguous.

As for Yang Mi herself, she didn’t care—and even preferred to keep things vague.

Her goal was to cling to Qin Lan’s coattails; pleasing Qin Lan was enough. To her, the Teddy Sisters Group merely needed to appear close—no need to be real sisters.

Don’t forget, Dong Xuan and Hu Siyan didn’t get along; if Yang Mi grew too close to the rest of the Teddy Sisters, it would harm her relationship with Dong Xuan.

Yang Mi’s dual allegiance was accepted by Qin Lan and Dong Xuan, who maintained mutual understanding and saw her loyalty as genuine.

But some Teddy Sisters looked down on her—Hu Siyan was the representative.

Of course, this was just something to hear, not take as fact—Li Xiao also maintained ties with Dong Xuan’s side, and no other Teddy Sisters had completely severed ties with Dong Xuan or Fan Xiaopang.

Hu Siyan’s resentment toward Yang Mi stemmed not from Yang Mi herself, but from Qin Lan’s obvious favoritism toward her, which stirred Hu’s sense of threat.

Among the Teddy Sisters, Qin Lan trusted two most: Hu Siyan and Liu Yun.

The latter held a slight edge, but Liu Yun had a short temper and poor judgment; Hu Siyan firmly kept her under control, wary but not fearful.

Yang Mi was different—she walked two paths and was heavily promoted by Yi’an, proving her capability; Hu Siyan naturally had to stay alert, fearing Yang Mi would steal her position as Qin Lan’s top confidante.

But so far, Yang Mi’s strength and weakness both came from her dual allegiance—she may be close to Qin and Dong, but she’s unlikely to become their most trusted core.

“Big sister Li, Big sister Yan, Big sister Xiao, Big sister Ke.”

Yang Mi greeted each one; no matter what she thought inside, she always played the obedient little sister at Teddy Sisters gatherings.

Li Xiao slipped Qin Lan a quick note: “Sis, Little Nine can’t make it today—we’re only six.”

Last year, two Teddy Sisters married: the eldest, Ma Yili, and the ninth, Gan Wei.

Notably, neither held a wedding.

Wen and Ma married because of pregnancy—the woman wasn’t in good shape, so they skipped the ceremony and later treated friends and family to a meal.

As for Gan, it was unclear—some in the group even suspected she was bragging and hadn’t married at all.

Whether married or not, life with a billionaire wasn’t easy; ordinary days were fine, but during peak holiday periods like now, schedules became inflexible.

Gan Wei didn’t come; the fifth, Liu Yun, and the eighth, Ying Caier, returned home for the New Year; the sixth, Xiong Naijin, was filming elsewhere—so everyone present was accounted for.

“Come on, last year was full of joy—two sisters married, the eldest gave birth to a daughter, the Teddy Sisters Group has a future—let’s raise a glass to Big Sister.”

Once everyone gathered, Hu Siyan immediately livened the mood, finding an excuse to start drinking.

They clinked glasses, and conversation flowed—Ma Yili, as eldest and new mother, began pushing marriage and pregnancy.

Yang Mi and Zhao Ke were fine—they were younger—but Qin Lan and the others couldn’t escape.

Ma Yili knew better than to mention marriage to Qin Lan, but children were fair game.

“Next year you’ll be thirty, Yan Li’s getting close too—what are you waiting for?”

Qin Lan took a sip of wine, offering her usual evasion: “Soon, soon.”

Ma Yili couldn’t press her, so she turned to Hu Siyan: “Little Three, you’ve known that boyfriend for ages—when are you bringing him to meet us?”

Since Hu Siyan’s secret affair was exposed, she’d invented a boyfriend to simplify things—but never brought him before the sisters.

“Don’t mention it—he says I ignore him, we’re in a cold war.”

Hu Siyan’s words rang hollow; in truth, Yan Li was too busy to pay attention to her, so she just fantasized a little.

Others didn’t know, but Li Xiao understood perfectly—she couldn’t help smirking.

Yang Mi and Li Xiao had a decent relationship within the Teddy Sisters Group—Li Xiao was popular, got along okay with Dong Xuan, and they were both from Beijing with shared topics, so Yang Mi asked curiously.

“Big sister Xiao, what are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, just remembered a joke.”

Li Xiao fell silent under Hu Siyan’s warning glance, but Qin Lan and Ma Yili weren’t letting it go.

Unable to pry from Hu Siyan, they turned to Li Xiao: “How’s it going with Han Geng?”

“Han Geng? Who’s that?”

Zhao Ke leaned over, curious; Qin Lan smiled: “You’re younger than us and don’t even know Han Geng? He’s a Korean boy band member—super popular.”

Yang Mi reminded: “He was in ‘Welcome to Beijing.’”

Zhao Ke suddenly recalled: “Now that you mention it, I remember him—but isn’t he still in Korea?”

“Looks like he’s returning to China—someone leaked photos of you, Fourth Sister, having dinner with him—they trended on Weibo. Your internet speed is way too slow.”

Ma Yili teased; Zhao Ke protested: “I’ve got plenty of work—I can’t stare at trending lists all day.”

Then she turned to Li Xiao: “Fourth Sister, you’re so unfair—dating someone and not telling the sisters.”

“Who said I’m dating? We just had dinner.”

Li Xiao scoffed: “Check the trending lists—he’s been late-night chatting with Huang Yi and singing karaoke with Niu Mengmeng—he’s busier than our brother-in-law.”

“Cough, cough.”

Qin Lan cleared her throat: “Let’s talk, but don’t bring up nonsense.”

Li Xiao was fourth; she called only three men “brother-in-law”: Hu Siyan’s unseen boyfriend, Wen Zhang—whom she’d never called brother-in-law—and her own clean private life.

So, who this “brother-in-law” referred to was obvious.

In truth, though Wen Zhang was the Teddy Sisters Group’s official brother-in-law, his fame was low and he was young—he couldn’t command respect.

The term “brother-in-law” mostly referred to Qin Lan’s Yan Li; Zhao Ke, Gan Wei, and others younger or lower-ranked occasionally called him “Big Brother-in-law” or “Brother Wen,” but Hu Siyan and Li Xiao usually just used his name.

No wonder Wen Zhang sometimes resented the Teddy Sisters Group.

Some sisters subtly mocked and looked down on him as Ma Yili’s “little husband,” which hurt his pride.

“We didn’t even say anything—you’re so quick to defend him. Yan Li’s so arrogant because you spoiled him.”

During private gatherings, Ma Yili added a remark; Qin Lan ignored her and turned back to Li Xiao and Han Geng.

“Nothing much—just a friend introduced us for dinner, but he turned out to be just… average.”

Li Xiao had always made clear her relationship with Yan Li was purely casual; that day, the friend arranged it, she had no expectations—just wanted to meet him.

To be fair, she’d always liked trends, and the trendy aura of boy bands added appeal for her.

But after meeting him, Li Xiao was deeply disappointed.

How to put it? Though her time with Yan Li was short and infrequent, she’d inevitably been influenced—her standards and tastes had risen sharply.

So when faced with such situations, Li Xiao automatically compared him to Yan Li.

That was pure bullying!

Han Geng wasn’t doing badly—he had looks, height, and was a top Korean idol.

But compared to Yan Li, an 80s self-made business legend, he was in a completely different league—his status, aura, wealth, and overall charm were utterly crushed.

As Li Xiao privately told Hu Siyan, Han Geng was extremely childish—compared to Yan Li, he was like an ungrown child.

Later, the whole thing fizzled out; then Han Geng was exposed for other affairs with female stars, and Li Xiao looked down on him even more.

Yan Li may be a playboy, but who the hell are you to pull the same stunt?

"No man is any good."

Li Xiao obscured the contrast with Yan Li, saying only that she hadn’t been interested, and happily escaped a playboy by citing Han Geng’s scandal. Zhao Ke defended Fourth Sister, launching a broadside.

"Ah, our Wen Zhang isn’t like that."

Ma Yi immediately defended her husband; after marrying and having a daughter, Wen Zhang had indeed been an excellent husband and father, so she naturally had to stand by him.