Chapter71

At that time, Cen Zhen didn't know that Meng Fanchuan was the young heir of a wealthy family everyone in the Four-Nine City wanted to be connected to. She didn’t know the vast financial power of the Meng family, nor did she know the prominence of his entire family across both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

But when Meng Fanchuan said those words, "I'll back you up," she inexplicably believed him.

She believed he would accompany her to do anything she wanted to do, whether it was crazy, abnormal, fantastical, or reckless; he would be with her.

This trust was strange—although they had only known each other for a short time, there was an inexplicable sense of compatibility between them when they interacted. It was as if they had known each other in another time and space. They were mentally and emotionally in tune, their souls resonated and connected effortlessly.

After the weekend passed joyfully, Cen Zhen received a phone call on Tuesday. The caller introduced themselves as the director of The Seventh Day and invited her for an audition.

The Seventh Day was the movie Shen Zesheng had previously mentioned, the one he was investing in—a suspense thriller with a huge fan base. There were many people auditioning.

Upon hearing the name again, Cen Zhen felt annoyed, thinking that Shen Zesheng was trying to trick her again by sending some fake director to deceive her. She was about to refuse outright, but the caller said, "I'm Fang Jun. I’ve seen your audition tape and the performance clips you sent. I think you’re perfect for the role of Lin Qing. Of course, if you’re really not interested, I won’t force you. Please take some time to think about it."

As someone studying acting, Cen Zhen was familiar with a few well-known directors in China. Although Fang Jun was young, he was a talented director known for suspense films and had a great creative mind. His previous work had won the Best Film Award at the Tokyo Film Festival.

After the call, Cen Zhen was a bit confused.

She had poured coffee on Shen Zesheng, yet Shen Zesheng still wanted her to audition? This didn’t make sense. But since it was Director Fang who called personally, she couldn’t assume that Fang Jun was involved in the scheme with Shen Zesheng, trying to trick her again.

She sent a message to Meng Fanchuan: "Shen Zesheng’s movie actually asked me to come for an audition again."

Meng Fanchuan wasn’t in Beicheng. He had told Cen Zhen in advance that he was out of town for a few days, but when he received her message, he replied immediately: "Go for the audition."

Cen Zhen, with her imagination running wild, replied: "…What if Shen Zesheng has a hundred cups of coffee ready to pour on me?"

Meng Fanchuan chuckled on the other end: "Don’t worry, this time it’s a legitimate audition."

Meng Fanchuan didn’t need to confirm whether this matter was true or not. After Friday, Shen Zesheng had sent several friends to call and ask for favors on his behalf, but Meng Fanchuan ignored all of them.

Meng Fanchuan didn’t mix in the entertainment industry because for a conglomerate like Yawan, they were more focused on understanding the domestic economic market and its trends. The small, petty happenings in the entertainment industry didn’t interest them.

Yawan’s only entertainment-related company was in Shucheng, working on high-level collaborations with the government and aiming to build a cultural brand. Whether it made money was irrelevant.

But just because they weren’t interested didn’t mean they could be disrespected.

When Shen Zesheng heard the words "girlfriend" from Meng Fanchuan, he knew he had messed up big time.

The reason the Meng family was at the top of Beicheng’s aristocracy was due to the vast connections passed down from previous generations. Although Meng Fanchuan’s father was now a businessman, other distant relatives were still active in all sectors of society.

From the tax bureau to the cultural tourism bureau to the National Radio and Television Administration, anyone from these departments could dig up Shen Zesheng’s dirty secrets, and he would instantly disappear from the entertainment industry.

Shen Zesheng knew he had kicked a hornet’s nest. After his apology attempt to Meng Fanchuan went unanswered, he hastily turned his focus to Cen Zhen.

So when Cen Zhen, half-believing, went to the audition location that Fang Jun had mentioned on Thursday, she really did meet Fang Jun and completed a high-quality performance audition. However, she didn’t expect that after the audition, she would run into Shen Zesheng at the door.

To be cautious, Cen Zhen had specifically asked Qiao Tingting to accompany her, and now, seeing Shen Zesheng, she immediately pulled Qiao Tingting back, staying on high alert.

To her surprise, the usually arrogant Shen Zesheng suddenly changed his attitude, even apologizing to her: "Miss Cen, I was drunk that day and wasn’t thinking clearly. I said some things I shouldn’t have. I hope you don’t take it to heart."

Cen Zhen felt like she had seen a ghost and stared at Shen Zesheng: "?"

Shen Zesheng’s attitude did a complete 180, "I’m apologizing to you here. You’re young and generous, don’t hold it against an old man like me."

Cen Zhen: "…?"

Cen Zhen found the situation so surreal. On her way back to school, she kept replaying what had happened, feeling puzzled. She had clearly offended Shen Zesheng, so why was the outcome like this?

Was it because he was afraid of strong people and bullied the weak?

But she had only thrown a cup of coffee at him; she hadn’t threatened him with a knife. He shouldn’t be this afraid, right?

Cen Zhen kept replaying the scenes from that night, from when she and Meng Fanchuan walked in to when they left, thinking for a long time. Finally, she remembered a detail she had missed.

After she threw the coffee on Shen Zesheng, Meng Fanchuan had gone to help her get some tissue, and when he passed by Shen Zesheng, it seemed like he had said something.

But his voice was too low for her to hear.

Could the key point be something she hadn’t heard?

Cen Zhen was confused, so she messaged Meng Fanchuan: "I went for the audition today. It was really an audition, but Shen Zesheng seems to have turned into a different person and even apologized to me."

Meng Fanchuan wasn’t surprised at all: "He should apologize."

Meng Fanchuan’s calm reaction, as though it were all expected, made Cen Zhen feel that his words back then were the key. She lowered her head and typed: "Did you say something to Shen Zesheng that day in the private room?"

Just as she sent the message, Cen Zhen suddenly lost her balance and tripped.

The two girls had just exited the subway. Cen Zhen was focused on sending the message and didn’t notice that a step at the subway exit was missing. She stepped into thin air and fell.Qiao Tingting quickly went to help her, "Are you okay? Why are you so distracted?"

Cen Zhen could only blame herself for being so absorbed in her thoughts. She tried to stand up, but her calf felt like it was torn, and she couldn’t put any strength on it.

Seeing her in pain, Qiao Tingting quickly stopped a car. Fortunately, there was a hospital near the school, not far from the subway exit. Qiao Tingting helped Cen Zhen to the hospital, where they went straight to the emergency room. The doctor tapped her leg and asked her to get an X-ray to rule out a fracture.

When she was pushed into the X-ray room, Cen Zhen handed her belongings to Qiao Tingting for safekeeping.

It was then that Meng Fanchuan called Cen Zhen. He had received her message fifteen minutes ago but hadn’t gotten a response when he asked a follow-up question, so he called to check on her. However, when he picked up the phone, it was an unfamiliar voice.

Qiao Tingting didn’t know who "M" was in Cen Zhen’s contact list, but when the phone rang, she answered it. "Who’s looking for Zhenzhen?"

Meng Fanchuan had just returned from Shucheng. After landing at the airport, he was heading toward the school, planning to pick up Cen Zhen for dinner. Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, he frowned and asked, "Who are you?"

Qiao Tingting: "I’m her best friend. Zhenzhen is at the hospital getting an X-ray. Please wait, I’ll have her call you back."

Upon hearing the word "hospital," Meng Fanchuan immediately tensed up. "Why is she at the hospital? Which hospital?"

...

When Cen Zhen came out after the X-ray, Qiao Tingting handed her the phone and said, "Someone named M called you just now. I answered it for you."

Cen Zhen quickly took the phone and saw that Meng Fanchuan had replied to her message from fifteen minutes ago: "Why do you ask?"

She then looked up at Qiao Tingting and asked, "What did he say?"

Qiao Tingting, who was rather oblivious, gave a brief summary: "He didn’t say much. I told him you fell, and he just said he knew."

"..."

Qiao Tingting, curious, asked, "Who is he?"

The hospital wasn’t big, and there weren’t many people. Cen Zhen limped back to the observation room. After a while, she slowly muttered two words: "A friend."

Cen Zhen didn’t know why she felt a little disappointed. Perhaps it was because of Qiao Tingting’s casual "he knew"?

She lowered her head and opened WeChat. Her conversation with Meng Fanchuan was still from fifteen minutes ago.

He hadn’t sent any more messages, not even a casual question.

She was hurt, and he just knew about it?

Although there was no reason to expect him to say or do anything, Cen Zhen let out a quiet breath, holding the phone in her hands, still feeling a bit down.

At that moment, the door to the observation room suddenly opened, and she heard Qiao Tingting’s voice, "Why are you here?"

Cen Zhen looked up and saw Song Wang walking in.

She froze, asking the same question, "Why are you here?"

Song Wang looked worried and walked over to check on her injury. "I saw Tingting’s WeChat Moments with the location here."

Qiao Tingting had just posted a picture of Cen Zhen’s injury on her Moments with the location tagged, and Song Wang had seen it and rushed over.

"You weren’t filming on set?" Qiao Tingting asked curiously.

Song Wang had taken several acting jobs this semester and was even too busy to return to school to rehearse for the graduation play. He had asked classmates to stand in for him.

Song Wang replied to Qiao Tingting, "I came back yesterday. I’ll stay for a few days."

Everyone in the department knew that Song Wang liked Cen Zhen. He had pursued her for four years and still hadn’t given up. Cen Zhen had once wavered, thinking that maybe this boy treated her really well, and she considered whether she should give him a chance.

But now, that feeling was completely gone.

When you truly fall for someone, you don’t need to "try" to accept them.

Her heart would naturally want to get closer.

So now, Cen Zhen still replied to Song Wang politely, with some distance: "It’s fine, thank you."

She wasn’t used to having a guy so close to her. "You should go back to what you were doing."

Song Wang slowly straightened up from his concerned bent-over posture, fell into silence for a while, then asked, "Zhenzhen, are you seeing someone?"

Qiao Tingting, who was sipping water, nearly spit it out. "Boyfriend? Since when did she have a boyfriend? I didn’t know about this!"

She immediately perked up her ears—

Song Wang continued: "I came back and heard from people in the department that they saw you walking with a guy on the playground."

Cen Zhen lowered her head, and after a long while, she softly replied, "Even if I am, it’s none of your business."Song Wang: "..."

Song Wang couldn’t believe it, "So you're admitting it?"

Cen Zhen thought to herself, although neither she nor Meng Fanchuan had said anything, they had held hands—does that mean they’re a couple?

Or is it possible for ordinary friends to hold hands?

Would an ordinary friend say something like "I’ll cover for you" for the other?

But then, when she got hurt, he only replied "I know" and didn’t say anything else. What does that mean?

Cen Zhen began to overthink again and didn’t want to answer Song Wang's question. She changed the subject: "Don’t you need to go back to the set?"

She said, "You should still be rehearsing for the graduation play."

"You’re saying it like—" Song Wang paused, still holding on to a bit of hope. "Can I take that as you wanting to see me?"

At the same time Song Wang said that, the door to the observation room, which had been closed, was suddenly pushed open.

A gust of wind blew in, and the eyes of the three people in the room all turned toward the door.

The first to react was Cen Zhen, who almost couldn’t believe what she saw. She thought to herself, wasn’t he supposed to be in Shucheng?

Wasn’t he the one who said "I know"?

Cen Zhen stared at Meng Fanchuan in disbelief.

Qiao Tingting, seeing another man walk in, shifted her gaze between the two men and the one woman in the room. With years of experience watching dramatic situations unfold, she quickly realized she was about to witness a love triangle.

If she guessed correctly, this person must be the "M" who had just called earlier.

And Song Wang wasn’t too bad either.

He wasn’t dumb. The moment Meng Fanchuan walked in, he had already guessed that this was the person Cen Zhen had been walking with on the playground. He could see the same nervousness and concern in Meng Fanchuan’s eyes that he himself had.

This man in front of them liked Cen Zhen.

But who was he? He was clearly not a student.

The reason was simple: his presence was unique, a certain distinguished air about him, a kind of effortless nobility that couldn’t be hidden, even though he was dressed casually.

As the center of attention, Cen Zhen knew immediately that Meng Fanchuan had heard Song Wang’s last question.

He must have misunderstood something, Cen Zhen thought.

The four of them stood there, all with their own thoughts, staring at each other. The room fell into an eerie silence for a few seconds.

Eventually, the doctor who had entered the room broke the awkward silence. "The X-ray shows no fractures, just an ordinary muscle strain. Apply some medication, and rest at home for a few days."

Then the doctor’s gaze shifted to the two men, "Which one is the boyfriend? One of you should take care of her for the next couple of days."

Cen Zhen: "..."

Cen Zhen’s face turned red with embarrassment. She wanted to explain to the doctor that it wasn’t the case, but the doctor had already waved his hand. "You can leave now. Help her walk a bit."

Before Cen Zhen could respond, Song Wang, using his proximity advantage, quickly went to help her with her arm. "Take it slow."

Cen Zhen: "..."

Qiao Tingting quietly observed Meng Fanchuan’s expression: Oh no, this "M" clearly wasn’t happy, his eyes had already turned cold.

Cen Zhen also noticed the strange distance between her and Meng Fanchuan at that moment. After opening the door, he had stayed at a distance and didn’t move forward. Perhaps he hadn’t expected to find another man by her side when he arrived so hurriedly, or maybe he had heard Song Wang’s "Do you want to see me?"

Cen Zhen, feeling awkward, pulled her arm away from Song Wang’s grasp. "No need."

Song Wang: "Your leg is strained, you can’t walk by yourself."

"I can."

"Please, listen to me."

"..."

In the push and pull, the figure suddenly walked right in front of them—

Cen Zhen and Song Wang both froze. The next second, perhaps tired of the male college student dragging things out, Meng Fanchuan directly walked up to Cen Zhen and picked her up in a swift motion. Song Wang was so taken aback that he didn’t even react in time and instinctively stepped back.

By the time he regained his senses, the two had already left the observation room.

Song Wang: "..."

Qiao Tingting: "..."

After another moment of silence, Qiao Tingting glanced at Song Wang, shook her head, then walked up and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him. "It’s okay, Wang Zi. It’s pretty clear you’re out of the picture."

Cen Zhen was directly carried into the car by Meng Fanchuan.The car door closed, the seatbelt clicked into place, but the atmosphere inside the car didn’t feel as relaxed and natural as it used to.

Cen Zhen wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but it seemed like the low pressure surrounding Meng Fanchuan was particularly intense.

As the car left the hospital, Cen Zhen had no idea where they were headed. Along the way, Meng Fanchuan made a phone call, probably to a doctor friend. He told the person about Cen Zhen’s symptoms and asked what kind of medication she should apply.

Cen Zhen listened, and when he hung up, she cleared her throat and asked, "Aren’t you in Shucheng?"

"I came back after I finished my business." Meng Fanchuan replied calmly.

But that calmness didn’t feel calm at all.

Cen Zhen understood what was bothering him. After a moment of hesitation, she started to explain: "Just now—"

But Meng Fanchuan spoke up at the same time, "Just now—"

Their words collided, and Meng Fanchuan nodded, indicating for her to speak first. "You go ahead."

Cen Zhen took a deep breath. "That guy was my classmate."

Fearing that Meng Fanchuan might not understand her hint, she bluntly added, "We... are just ordinary classmates."

Meng Fanchuan’s expression subtly softened after hearing those words. The discomfort that had been lingering before seemed to ease in an instant.

Cen Zhen’s heart raced a little, but seeing that he didn’t react, she wondered if she had misunderstood. She quickly threw the topic back at him: "I’m done, you go ahead."

Meng Fanchuan: "Nothing more."

"…"

"You’ve already answered what I wanted to ask."

Cen Zhen froze, and suddenly understood what he meant. She quietly lowered her head, biting her lip.

She hadn’t misunderstood—he really was uncomfortable because of Song Wang.

The moment they both spoke at the same time, it turned out they were on the same wavelength.

—

Ten minutes later, the car stopped in the parking lot of the Wanyue Hotel.

Cen Zhen looked around and asked Meng Fanchuan, "Why are we at a hotel?"

Meng Fanchuan replied with reason, "The doctor said you need to rest for a few days. It’s more convenient for me to take care of you here."

Cen Zhen: "…"

If she remembered correctly, the doctor’s exact words were—"The boyfriend should take care of her for the next couple of days."

Was he taking that literally?

Cen Zhen’s face turned red again. As she hesitated, wondering if this was moving too quickly, Meng Fanchuan had already gotten out of the car, walked around to her side, opened the door, and swiftly lifted her into his arms. His movements were fluid and efficient.

Cen Zhen said no with her mouth, but her body was honest—instinctively, her hands wrapped around his neck the moment he lifted her.

Neither of them had practiced this, but it felt as though they had been doing it for years.

Cen Zhen felt a bit awkward, but the warmth and scent from him made her feel inexplicably safe. She chose to keep quiet and let go of her unnecessary pride.

The subtle tension between them became undeniable once they were inside the elevator.

The hot light bathed them both, their bodies pressed closely together, and the intimacy, once hidden, was now exposed in the bright light. It was impossible to pretend not to see it.

Cen Zhen suddenly felt a bit at a loss, her cheeks turning even redder, almost reaching her ears.

She wanted to find something to say to diffuse the awkwardness, but in this atmosphere, she didn’t know what to talk about. Suddenly, she remembered the unfinished conversation from WeChat earlier and immediately thought—

Why not talk about Shen Zesheng?

This topic would definitely help cool down the awkward tension between them.

So, in Meng Fanchuan’s arms, Cen Zhen asked, "Did you say something to Shen Zesheng that day in the box?"

Meng Fanchuan didn’t deny it. "Hmm."

Cen Zhen could see his throat moving when he spoke, but feeling embarrassed to stare, she lowered her gaze. "What did you say?"

Meng Fanchuan carried Cen Zhen to the door of his regular room, holding her with one arm. He swiped his card to open the door and then shut it behind them.

"Want to know?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Yes," Cen Zhen needed Shen Zesheng to break the tension, "Tell me."

Meng Fanchuan gently placed Cen Zhen on the sofa, paused, and then looked at her steadily. "Some things shouldn’t be overheard. If you hear them, you’ll have to take responsibility."

Cen Zhen had already suspected that Meng Fanchuan might have said something threatening to Shen Zesheng. Now, hearing this, she grew even more anxious. "Tell me quickly, whatever it is, I’ll take responsibility with you."

Meng Fanchuan suddenly smiled."I told him—" He placed both hands on either side of Cen Zhen, leaning slightly forward, "My girlfriend has a bad temper, so tell him not to mind."

Cen Zhen: "……?"

"You just said you'd take responsibility, right?"