Chapter 34
I like spending money on you.
The day after Song Nanchuan and Pei Ying made up, episode five of their Weibo series went up.
“Pei Ying and Song Nanchuan suspected to have recovered affections! CEO Song saved the beauty from the pool, bursting with boyfriend power!”
It was uncertain how these pervasive paparazzi made their way into Universe’s party, but there were even photographs accompanying the story–Song Nanchuan jumping into the pool to save Pei Ying, and even him taking off his suit jacket to drape over Pei Ying and then carrying her out of the area.
The netizens who’d been following this series exploded.
“Goodness, the beauty falls into the water! 50 cents says that Song Nanchuan couldn’t stop himself!* (doge)”
“CEO Song is so petty! He covered her up so well that we can’t see a thing (picks nose)”
“Princess hug!! Oh my god, Song Nanchuan’s boyfriend power is totally maxed out!”
“From a visual assessment, Song Nanchuan’s suit and watch are extremely expensive. And he just jumped into the water like that (smile) My respects, you are a true man (smile)”
“So they made up again (bye) Quarrels where the purpose isn’t to breakup are just signs of affection (bye)”
“To be honest, the beauty here is just in defiance of the natural order. From the melon-eating crowd.”
“Looks like CEO Song appreciating beauty is a normal thing (laughing to tears)”
Pei Ying’s Weibo was full of fans’ consolations, but she was too busy filming to check it out. After they wrapped that evening, Song Nanchuan headed over to pick her up. Since they’d reconciled, he seriously insisted that she move back into his house.
Pei Ying let her assistant go home and then she got into Song Nanchuan’s car. The driver first headed to Pei Ying’s apartment so they could move her things. Song Nanchuan held up an exquisite looking box of food. “Do you want to eat?”
“Yes!” Pei Ying happily took the box of food from his hands. She opened the box to find some food that’s often cooked at home. “You can tell at a glance that this is from the restaurant. What kind of home-cooked meal looks this fancy?”
She picked up the chopsticks and brought a piece of meat to her mouth. Song Nanchuan watched her eat with such pleasure, so he laughed and asked, “Don’t they feed you on set? I recall the Universe meals as being pretty good.”
Pei Ying responded, “We only get two meal boxes a day. How’s that enough to make you full?”
“Well, aren’t you afraid of gaining weight eating this late? Speaking of, aren’t you always eating meat for your drama?”
Pei Ying choked. “I’m not worried. I have so much work now, and besides, I don’t gain weight easily.” She glanced over at Song Nanchuan. “Since you said that though, are you particularly worried that I’ll gain weight?”
“Not at all. Who knows, a bit of weight might make you feel better in my hands.”
Pei Ying’s lip twitched. If not for the fact that she couldn’t bear wasting food, she’d have smacked the food in her hands onto his face.
When she finished off the rest of the food, the driver had arrived at her apartment compound. Song Nanchuan followed her up and helped pack away her things. He said, “You should have Chen Sheng release your apartment.”
“No.” Pei Ying was crouched on the ground, zippering up her suitcase. She stood up and saw Song Nanchuan’s brows twitch. He looked at her and asked, “Why not? You’re paying the rent for it, aren’t you?”
“Mm, but I feel more at peace having this place. Otherwise, if we ever fight again, I won’t have anywhere to go to.”
“….” Song Nanchuan pursed his lips and said, “We won’t fight anymore.”
Pei Ying responded, incredulous, “What kind of couple doesn’t fight?” She raised her brow. “You may be sticking to me right now, but we could have a falling out in just minutes. I have to leave myself a back door.”
Song Nanchuan, “….”
He was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “Do you really lack a sense of security when you’re with me?” Sure enough, after they fought once, his trust points had dropped!
Pei Ying pulled up her suitcase. She looked at him and said, “When it comes to men, you’re definitely one who gives women a sense of security. But a woman’s sense of security shouldn’t come entirely from a man. For me, I have to have money to feel safe. My own money.”
Song Nanchuan was silent for another moment. He said to Pei Ying, “You’re going go leave an empty apartment here, but still have to pay rent and utilities. It’s not cost-effective. How about this. I’ll buy you a house, with just your name on it. Then you’ll have your own assets.”
“…That’s not the point, okay? I said, money that I earn! When I earn enough money, I’ll buy my own house. I don’t need you to buy it. Hmph.”
Song Nanchuan smiled at her. “Whether you need it or not is your business. Whether I buy it or not is mine. I want to buy you a house.”
Pei Ying, “….”
She felt that there were two words written on Song Nanchuan’s face right now. On his left cheek, rich, and on his right, stubborn.
She stopped arguing with him about it, and then the two of them pulled her luggage out. The driver helped them load it into the car, and then they headed to Song Nanchuan’s villa.
After they got out of the car, and before they arrived to the house, Pei Ying’s stray cats came out, meowing and circling her. Pei Ying crouched down to pet their heads. “Blackie, Flower, while I was away, did he feed you guys well?”
“Meow~” Blackie looked up at her.
Song Nanchuan stood behind her, glaring at the cats at her feet. “I treated them like they were my ancestors (with respect, honor, etc.).”
Pei Ying laughed, got up, and then headed into the house with the cats trailing behind her.
“Did you feed them today?” Pei Ying asked Song Nanchuan as she brought her luggage in the living room. Song Nanchuan said, “I prepared cat food and water for them before I left this morning.” As he spoke, he glanced over to the food dish. It was already empty. “They finished it up cleanly.”
“Are you guys hungry?” Pei Ying looked down and the cats cried out.
She fetched some more cat food to feed them. When she crouched down to watch them, she suddenly seemed to recall something. She turned to Song Nanchuan and asked, “Oh yeah, do you know the two suits?”
“Suits?” Song Nanchuan didn’t give much reaction. Pei Ying nodded and continued, “When I was moving, these two guys in suits suddenly showed up to help me move. Then when I was surrounded by fans at my fan signing event, they suddenly appeared to help again.”
After her explanation, Song Nanchuan understood what she meant by “suits.” They were the bodyguards that he’d hired for her. It wasn’t anything to hide from her, so he just said, “They’re the bodyguards I had Xiao Zhang find.”
“Bodyguards?”
“Mm. You had a run-in with a stalker before, right? I was afraid something might happen again, so I had them follow you.”
“Oh, so they were your guys.” Pei Ying thought for a moment, and then said, “But things are already fine now. You can let them go.”
“It’s probably better to keep them. They won’t bother you. If there’s any physical labor you need taken care of, let them do it.”
“…You say that, but bodyguards aren’t cheap.”
Song Nanchuan shot her another smile, as before. “I like spending money on you.”
Mm, okay then.
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That evening, after Pei Ying took a shower, she started reading her scripts. Song Nanchuan came to pester her about making love. Pei Ying pushed him aside and gave him a warning look. “I have to read and memorize my lines. Just go to sleep.”
Boss Song wasn’t happy. “Why? Is a drama script better looking than me?”
Pei Ying, “….”
He had a point, and she couldn’t make a comeback.
Seeing her lost in thought, Song Nanchuan pounced. He reached into her collar. Pei Ying turned her head and dodged his kiss. With a somewhat disgusted and irritated tone, she said, “We already did it yesterday. Let go.”
After she moved her head, Song Nanchuan just kissed her collar. Refusing to let go, he asked, “Who said that if we did it yesterday that we can’t do it for a few days?”
“I said it! Twice a week, that’s it!”
Song Nanchuan pursed his lips. “Twice? Isn’t that too little?”
“No, it’s not. That’s a very normal frequency.”
Song Nanchuan looked at her. “Then, how about once a day?”
Pei Ying, “….”
She pushed away Song Nanchuan and then picked up her script. “I have to memorize my lines. Stop bothering me.”
Song Nanchuan saw how determined she was to read her script, so he went to sleep, huffing with rage. He even turned to the side so that his back was facing her. Pei Ying looked over her script for about half an hour and then turned off the lights to sleep.
Just as she laid down, she felt Song Nanchuan move closer to her and then pull her into his arms.
Pei Ying chuckled. She looked over in his direction in the darkness. “You’re still awake?”
Song Nanchuan nudged her twice with his head. Rather lethargic, he responded, “I can’t sleep if you’re not in my arms.”
“Oh, please. Then how have you been sleeping for the past twenty plus years?”
“I feel like I’ve been living in vain for the past twenty seven years,” he said as his hand slipped up Pei Ying’s leg. “Are you sure you don’t want to do it once?”
“…I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.”
Song Nanchuan saw her close her eyes and ignore him. He awkwardly pulled back his hand. “Alright, let’s treat today as interest (in a loan) for tomorrow.”
Pei Ying, “….”
Huh, he really wasn’t willing to lose a bit at all.
The drama filming continued on schedule without any trouble. Chen Sheng came to visit the set one day, and he also told Pei Ying that the host for her previous signing event was Xie Han’s friend.
Whether or not her sudden request for Pei Ying to sing was made under Xie Han’s suggestion, he didn’t know. In any case, her official statement was that the atmosphere was so enthusiastic that she got caught up in it all, which is why she asked Pei Ying to sing.
“Do you still remember the article about Song Nanchuan and Xie Han’s scandal?” Chen Sheng asked. “Turns out, Xie Han has a decent relationship with the reporter who put out the article. Afterwards, she ended up implicated in it, so she must be feeling pretty bad.”
“So it was that.” Pei Ying thought for a moment, and then she said to Chen Sheng, “Well, let her do what she wants. We don’t have any evidence that she told the host to do anything, and in the end, it didn’t negatively affect me.”
“You say that now, but who knows where else she will try to hinder you? It’s best if you keep your guard up about her from now on.”
“Mm, I will.”
“Alright, then I won’t disturb your rest. Do a good job on set.” Then Chen Sheng left.
Pei Ying took advantage of her break to check out Weibo. After she logged on, she realized that her fan count had broken a million. All her fans were crying for to give out a reward.
Pei Ying was really vexed about this subject. She looked through her comments, and the most liked comment was asking for a nude photo (literally translated as a “fruit photo”).
…Oh, so they wanted a nude photo. Well, okay, she can give them one.
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When she got home, she pulled out her photo album and found a picture of herself at a few months old. She snapped a photo of it on her phone and then posted it to Weibo.
After she posted it, she hung around on Weibo, waiting for the reactions.
“…I give this fruit photo negative points (laughing to tears)”
“When Pei Pei was younger, her legs were long too!”
“I have the same yellow duck that’s in her bathtub (doge)”
“This doesn’t count! (damn) (damn) (damn)”
“Didn’t see anything (*/w＼*)”
After Song Nanchuan showered, he came out to see her giggling at her phone. Curiously, he walked over to take a look. “What are you looking at that’s got you so happy?”
Pei Ying turned to look at him. “Oh, today, my fan count on Weibo passed a million, so everyone asked for a reward.”
Song Nanchuan glanced at her phone screen and saw her nude photo. “This is from when you were a baby? Cute.”
Then his gaze fell onto the photo album at Pei Ying’s side. He picked it up and started looking through it. “Why do you have so few photos from when you were younger?”
“Oh… My parents didn’t like photographing me. My younger brother had a lot of photos though.” When she was younger, things weren’t like they are now. You couldn’t lift up your phone and take a photo just like that. Back then, you had to take your film to the studio to get it developed.
Hearing this, Song Nanchuan frowned. “How can there be people who don’t like daughters? When my mother found out I was another son, she was extremely upset.”
Pei Ying couldn’t help laughing out. She remembered that he’d told her before, his mother had really wanted a daughter, but she gave birth to three sons. It must have been annoying, hahaha.
Song Nanchuan pulled her into his arms and gently spoke above her head, “When we have a kid, I’m going to like it no matter its gender.”
Pei Ying blushed a bit. “Who wants to have a kid with you.”
“You do.”
Pei Ying, “….”
He was at it again.
Song Nanchuan put down the photo album and pulled Pei Ying onto his legs. “Why don’t we make one now?”
“…Mr Song, we’re not even married yet.”
Song Nanchuan blinked his eyes at her. “What are you hinting at?”
Pei Ying pursed her lips and picked up the album that he’d put down. She stuffed it into his hands and said, “Why don’t you keep looking at photos.”
Song Nanchuan wrapped his arms around her waist, trapping her in his arms, and started flipping through the album. “Mm… Is this your younger brother?”
“Mm,” Pei Ying responded, looking down at the photo.
“Your brother’s nowhere near as cute as you.”
Pei Ying laughed. “Even as a kid, girls have always really liked my brother.”
“Those girls had poor vision.” Song Nanchuan shook his head as he continued, “We have to be sure to teach our future daughter not to just fall for any boy.”
“…You’re thinking way too far into the future.”
Song Nanchuan turned his head to look at her, his lips curving up. “If giving birth to a child is too far-off, then we should enjoy the experience of just making a child for now.”
…After all that talk, they still ended up back at that!