Chapter68

Cen Zhen only then realized that the audition materials she had in her bag were now in the man's hands.

It had her name, phone number, and school address on it. Cen Zhen didn't know when he had taken it or how much he had seen.

But what confused her even more was why a man she didn't know and had never seen in the private room tonight would rent her a room to sleep in.

With so much news about scandals recently, a terrible thought suddenly crossed Cen Zhen's mind. Was she targeted while drunk? Was she going to be trafficked to the Golden Triangle for fraud?

However, when Cen Zhen took another look at the man in front of her, she felt that he didn’t look like those vicious criminals. If he were, why would he wait for her to wake up here? He could have just dumped her in a car and shipped her off at night.

In the span of a minute, Cen Zhen’s mind ran through hundreds of scenarios. She finally concluded—this man, Meng Fanchuan, probably didn’t have any ill intentions for now.

"Why are you here?" Cen Zhen took back her materials from him and calmly asked.

All the vigilance, suspicion, and the subsequent relaxation she had shown in the last few minutes were clear to Meng Fanchuan. She was indeed a good actress, with all her emotions culminating in a calm, composed facade at the end.

Her demeanor was a bit different from her cold appearance—she seemed to have a rather cute personality.

Meng Fanchuan chuckled lightly. "My room. If I'm not here, where would I be?"

Cen Zhen froze, realizing that she had lost all logic from being drunk. She rephrased, "What I mean is, why am I here…"

Meng Fanchuan didn’t keep her in suspense and answered directly, "I had someone bring you up."

"…"

Luckily, Cen Zhen wasn’t so drunk that she forgot everything. She paused for a few seconds, then took another look at the man in front of her, finally realizing, "You were the one who gave me the tissue at the sink earlier?"

"That’s right." Meng Fanchuan nodded. "You haven't forgotten the sink."

Cen Zhen felt a bit awkward. The person she had been guarding against was actually the one who helped her earlier. She instinctively said, "…Sorry."

But after a pause, she still didn’t fully understand, "Why did you help me?"

Good question.

Why had he helped her? Meng Fanchuan had asked himself the same thing during the two hours he had been waiting.

Not only had he helped her, but he had waited here for her.

What was he waiting for?

When those four words crossed his mind, Meng Fanchuan couldn’t quite believe them. He considered himself a very rational and clear-headed person and didn’t believe in "love at first sight." He thought all such things were driven by physical attraction.

But Meng Fanchuan wasn’t unfamiliar with beautiful women. During his years studying abroad, he had seen many cute, gentle, sexy, and elegant women. Yet, no one had made him feel like he did tonight when he locked eyes with this girl.

He couldn’t even explain the sensation—no reason, just a strange, inexplicable feeling. It was like his body responded to a presence in the crowd, a figure that caught his attention. When she turned back and smiled faintly, his body had an immediate reaction.

It was as if a voice was saying: It’s her.

But Meng Fanchuan couldn’t tell Cen Zhen that. It was too far-fetched and might scare her away.

"Normal people would never ignore a drunken girl," he explained very gentlemanly, rationalizing his actions.

This eased Cen Zhen’s vigilance towards him. She sincerely said, "Thank you."

The room was very quiet that night, quiet enough that after saying her thanks, Cen Zhen felt awkward in the one-on-one situation.

She placed the audition materials back into her bag, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I should leave now."

"Now?" Meng Fanchuan glanced at his watch. "It’s not even 4 AM yet. Has your school opened?"

Cen Zhen knew it was too early to get into school, and she didn’t want to disturb her classmates living off-campus. She planned to get a room for herself outside. But Meng Fanchuan seemed to have guessed her intention. He slightly raised his chin and said, "Stay here."

"No need," Cen Zhen waved her hand. "I’ve already disturbed you."

"I have other places to rest," Meng Fanchuan said. He understood Cen Zhen’s wariness, and he also understood it. No girl would want to share a room with a stranger. Since he knew her name and contact information, there was no need for him to stay and make her uncomfortable.

So, Meng Fanchuan took his coat and headed out. But just before he reached the door, he stopped, seemed to remember something, and turned back to ask Cen Zhen, "Who was the one who made you drink earlier?"

Meng Fanchuan seemed familiar with the name but couldn’t recall it.

Although Cen Zhen didn’t know why Meng Fanchuan asked this, she paused and awkwardly answered, "Shen Zesheng, an investor. My friend said he has many resources, so…"

"Oh, Shen Zesheng." Meng Fanchuan remembered the name. He had met him once at a friend's gathering. Shen Zesheng had been extremely wild, surrounded by women.

Meng Fanchuan had an idea of what Cen Zhen had experienced in the private room next door. Though he wasn’t part of the entertainment industry, he knew that all circles were pretty much the same. Many powerful men loved to play games of power and sex. They wanted beautiful women like Cen Zhen to submit to them, to become pets that would smile for them when prompted.Meng Fanchuan suddenly felt lucky that he had answered the phone call that night. If he hadn’t gone out and hadn’t met Cen Zhen, where would she have ended up lying tonight?

He didn’t know and didn’t want to imagine those unpleasant scenarios. In the end, nothing happened, and she was safe.

Meng Fanchuan didn’t say anything else, just reminded her to get some sleep before leaving.

The young man disappeared into the hotel suite, and as the door closed, Cen Zhen was left standing alone on the carpet.

She stood there for a while, her heart conflicted. After some hesitation, she decided to stay.

It was already 4 AM, and soon it would be dawn. There was no real need for her to leave right now.

Cen Zhen silently and helplessly returned to the bed, and when she looked outside, she realized the room was very luxurious, probably a presidential suite.

Suddenly remembering what Meng Fanchuan had said about this being his room, Cen Zhen got up and opened the wardrobe—

Sure enough, there was a row of men’s shirts and jackets hanging inside.

The scent of a man suddenly hit her, strange yet strong, coming from the clothes. Cen Zhen’s face flushed slightly as she lowered her head and shut the door.

She took a deep breath, still finding it hard to believe.

It was the first time she had stayed in a man’s room, and oddly enough, they had never met before that night.

Everything that happened that night could almost be described as "heart-pounding, full of twists and turns." She had walked into a dangerous situation, never expecting that someone would swoop down from the sky to save her.

And it was a very handsome young man.

Cen Zhen admitted that Meng Fanchuan had a very good-looking face—one that was entirely in line with her own aesthetic. Despite being such a cautious person, she was still taken in by "love at first sight," overlooking the possible dangers and daring to stay in his room.

The next morning at 8 AM, Cen Zhen returned to school. Her classmate, Guo Rui, who had taken her to the drinking party the previous night, called and asked, "How did you leave? I tried calling, but you didn’t answer."

"I can’t drink," Cen Zhen said, "That Mr. Shen kept forcing me to drink. If I hadn’t left, I might not have been able to leave at all."

Guo Rui had started taking roles in films in her sophomore year. Although she wasn't yet famous, she already had an air of maturity and worldliness that didn’t match her age. She even felt that Cen Zhen had missed a good opportunity and scolded her: "I want to drink with Mr. Shen but can’t. He took the initiative to approach you, and you should’ve just had a few drinks with him. After that, resources would have kept coming. Do you know how many movies he invests in each year?"

Guo Rui sighed, "Sweetheart, in this industry, you can't be too principled. I was also very principled at the start, thinking those disgusting men were shameless. But later, I realized that being principled is the least valuable thing. It’s better to lower your stance and play along with the game. Making money is our real goal."

Cen Zhen understood Guo Rui’s point, but—

Everyone has their own ambitions and views. Although she wanted to act, it certainly wasn’t going to be in this way.

After hanging up on Guo Rui, Cen Zhen lay back on her bed, intending to catch up on sleep, but when she closed her eyes, she couldn’t fall asleep.

Her mind kept replaying the image of that man. Over and over again, it was his gaze from across the sofa, his slight smile as he said, "Now we know each other."

No wonder Cen Zhen couldn’t forget.

That night they shared felt like something out of a Shakespearean play—romantic and dramatic. It was a brief encounter, yet it felt like a whisky-flavored dream: intense and unforgettable.

Cen Zhen couldn’t sleep. Her thoughts wandered aimlessly, but in the end, all she could think of was—

Would she ever see that man again?

When she left in the morning, she had intended to ask the front desk for his contact information, but in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Now, looking back, she regretted it a bit.

Perhaps she should have asked.

Two days after returning to school, Cen Zhen made a more detailed version of her audition materials. She wasn’t the type of naive girl who only studied and didn’t care about the world. Guo Rui’s words made sense, and Cen Zhen understood them well.

But she also believed that there would always be people who truly loved this career, people who shared her ideals.

Under the recommendation of her mentor, Cen Zhen sent her audition materials to several other film crews. The events at Wan Yue Club that night had quietly passed, and that man had disappeared without a trace.

But Cen Zhen also wondered: What kind of news would she expect from him?

After all, he had just helped her in passing when she was in a bad situation. Was she really expecting something more?

Time passed quickly, and Friday came. The music competition that her friend, Qiao Tingting, was participating in had reached the intense stage. Tonight, the competition would narrow down from 23 to 17, directly eliminating six people. Tingting had given Cen Zhen a ticket to cheer her on. Cen Zhen set off in the afternoon for the North City TV station building. The competition recording started at 3 PM and would last six or seven hours. Cen Zhen stayed for the entire recording, taking photos and cheering for her best friend.

What she didn’t expect was that, just like usual, she would become distracted by a sudden phone call.

At 5:30 PM, during a break in the recording, Cen Zhen received a call from an unknown number. Recently, she had sent out many audition materials, so she thought it was a call from one of the film crews. She found a quiet place to answer, "Hello?"

But when she heard the voice on the other end, she froze—

"It's Meng Fanchuan." The young man got straight to the point, "I was passing by your school. Do you have time? I’d like to invite you to dinner."

Cen Zhen’s expression froze. She hadn’t expected to hear that name again. She didn’t respond for several seconds, until his pleasant voice rose slightly as he called her name: "Cen Zhen?"Cen Zhen's thoughts were snapped back, "… I’ve already eaten."

During the break earlier, the program team had sent milk and cake, which she hastily had a couple of bites of, considering it her dinner.

There was a brief pause on the other end, as if he chuckled, "What a coincidence."

Realizing that the invitation might end because of her bad timing, Cen Zhen felt unexpectedly regretful. She opened her lips, wanting to say something, but before she could speak, the man asked again, "What about late-night snacks?"

Cen Zhen’s eyelids twitched.

People occasionally passed by in the crowded hallway of the studio, and in the chaos, Cen Zhen forgot how to respond.

But after saying it, she felt impulsive. "… Let’s just do it another time."

She looked at the bustling crowd in the studio and said to Meng Fanchuan, "I’m here at the North City TV station with a friend recording a show, and I don’t know when it will end. It might be late tonight—"

"It’s fine." Meng Fanchuan naturally took over her words and paused for a moment. "I can wait."

Those four words floated lightly in the air, causing ripples in Cen Zhen’s heart.

Subtle, yet intense.

Some things seemed to happen without explanation.

For example, many people had invited Cen Zhen out to eat. There were enough from the front to the back door of the Film Academy. She often declined their invitations with various excuses, yet at this moment, she didn’t feel any resistance to Meng Fanchuan’s "wait."

She didn’t understand what was happening to her, but she said to him, "I’ll contact you when I’m done."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Cen Zhen realized that her heart was racing without her realizing it.

When she returned to the studio and sat down, she couldn’t tell if it was the heat from the stage lights or the noise of the crowd, but she felt a sudden warmth sweeping through her body.

It was an unfamiliar, unknown, but exciting feeling of anticipation.

It felt as though her heart had been longing to see him again, even though she knew nothing about who he really was. Yet, there was a mysterious pull at work, urging her to move closer to him.

The rest of the recording became a blur, and she cheered for her best friend purely out of instinct, her mind and body doing their own things. She repeatedly checked the time on her phone.

Finally, the recording ended at 10:30 PM.

The girl group on stage was still crying, and the eliminated members were left behind, while the fans hadn’t left yet. But Cen Zhen couldn’t be bothered to watch any of it anymore. She quickly lowered her head and walked out of the studio, sending a message to Qiao Tingting:

"I’ve got something, so I’m going back to school."

After leaving the broadcast building, she called Meng Fanchuan back while hailing a taxi. He picked up after only two rings. "Hello?"

"Are you still there?" Cen Zhen asked.

"Yes."

"Then wait for me for 20 minutes. I’ll get a taxi and be at school soon." Cen Zhen looked eagerly at the right side of the street, hoping a taxi would pass by.

But the voice on the other end of the phone laughed lightly, "Look behind you."

Cen Zhen froze. Her body reacted before her mind did, and she turned around as instructed by Meng Fanchuan.

There, she saw him casually leaning against a car, waiting. She didn’t know when he had arrived or how long he had been there.

He wasn’t wearing a formal suit today. The streetlight reflected off his open black coat. Half of his face was hidden in the light, his superior eyebrows and eyes were carefree and bold.

Cen Zhen suddenly stood still.

It turned out that when he said he was "here," he meant he was already at the TV station, not at the school.

Despite having prepared herself all night, Cen Zhen still couldn’t control the rapid beating of her heart.

"What's the matter, you don’t recognize me?" The voice came from him, with a hint of laughter.

From a not-too-distant distance, Cen Zhen could clearly see how he spoke.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heartbeat, and walked towards him, stopping right in front of him.

It was so strange. They had only met once, but when they met again, there was no sense of unfamiliarity. It felt like they had known each other for a long time, so much so that her first words were so natural: "Have you been waiting long?"

"Just a while." Meng Fanchuan casually dismissed the past few hours.

He had waited for this phone call for several days. He didn’t know Cen Zhen’s senior year schedule and wanted to give himself enough time to calm down. But even after a few days, his curiosity about her hadn’t faded at all.

The number in his phone was one he had pulled up dozens of times a day, and finally, the weekend arrived. He made the call. Although the timing was off and she wasn’t at school, he thought—

Timing could be created.

"Let’s get in the car." Meng Fanchuan turned and opened the car door, asking Cen Zhen, "What do you want to eat?"

Suddenly, a burst of screaming came from outside the building. Both of them looked over, and it seemed like a popular contestant was coming out. Fans who had waited all night for her cheered as she made her way to the entrance.Cen Zhen withdrew her gaze and replied, "I’m fine with anything, how about you?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the man in front of her suddenly grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her forward.

At almost the same time, a fan carrying a camera ran past from behind. If Meng Fanchuan hadn’t quickly moved out of the way, that large camera lens might have hit the back of Cen Zhen’s head.

His hand quickly loosened, but the warmth from his touch lingered on her wrist.

It was faint, as if it could penetrate the fabric, burning her skin.

"Thank you." Her heartbeat was loud in her ears.

The popular contestant left, and the street returned to silence. But the distance between the two of them had narrowed due to that brief pull. They were almost standing face-to-face, and an indescribable atmosphere quietly spread, making Cen Zhen feel dry in the mouth.

After a light clearing of her throat, she paused for a moment, then, as if possessed, asked Meng Fanchuan, "…Why did you come find me?"

Neither of them had brought up this topic before.

It felt as if they were old friends, casually arranging a late-night snack, asking each other what they wanted to eat—nothing unusual.

But it also felt like they had forgotten—

They were, in fact, strangers who had only met once.

Why did he suddenly come find her? Cen Zhen had been thinking about this question during the hours she sat in the studio.

But now that the question had left her lips, Cen Zhen felt it was unnecessary. Maybe he really had just passed by and, on a whim, decided to invite her for a meal. Asking about it would only make things awkward.

"Shall we go back to school to eat or somewhere nearby—" She quickly changed the subject.

But she was interrupted by Meng Fanchuan’s words.

"Because I wanted to see you again."

He answered her question directly and clearly.

Cen Zhen froze, meeting his gaze.

"No," Meng Fanchuan quickly denied, then lowered his head and smiled, looking back into her eyes, "I think... it’s more than just one meeting."