Coco also dropped a like on Liu Man’s post and commented: “This table of barbecue food looks so delicious! Where is it? I want to go next time.”
Liu Man privately messaged Coco and sent her the location.
Coco replied with a “xoxo” emoji.
Li Xiaoru and Wang Nina also liked her post.
Li Xiaoru commented: “I knew my Man Man is unique and has a high taste. Having a barbecue on New Year’s Eve!”
Wang Nina asked her, “Are you still in Shanghai? Why are you staying there for so long? What are you even doing there?”
Before, Liu Man sent a photo of herself in Shanghai in WeChat. Li Xiaoru and Wang Nina both knew she was in Shanghai, but at first, they thought she was only there as a tourist and an AJ collector. Because the past Liu Man traveled to Shanghai twice just for her AJs, which both Li Xiaoru and Wang Nina knew.
The problem was, why did it take two weeks to buy her AJs? Why wasn’t she spending her New Year’s Eve back at home?
Wang Nina was starting to suspect Liu Man.
Liu man replied, “I’m on a part-time job here, and I’ll be back in the capital next week.”
Wang Nina continued to ask, “What kind of part-time?”
Li Xiaoru: “Nana, you’re so annoying with all your questions. Can’t you give her a little privacy?”
Wang Nina: “I think there should be no secrets between good friends.”
Li Xiaoru: “Your personality just makes me speechless.”
Seeing how suspecting Wang Nina was, Liu Man steadied her decision of not telling her about the part-time acting job.
Liu Man didn’t block her mother in her moments, so Zhang Pei also saw her post.
Zhang Pei directly called her. As the phone rang, Liu Man told Yu Zhan, “It’s from my mother.”
Yu Zhan nodded, stood up, and walked away a few steps to leave her some space and privacy.
Liu Man picked it up, and Zhang Pei’s anxious voice came, “Man Man, where are you at right now? Why aren’t you back at your hotel at such a late time?”
“I’m having a barbecue at a restaurant behind the hotel, and I’ll be back soon.”
“Who are you eating with? Your colleagues from the cast?”
“Yes, there are many people, so don’t worry. It’s also in the center of Shanghai, so it’s very safe.”
Liu Man lied out of a good intention to assure Zhang Pei.
TL’s Note: For those who don’t know much about WeChat, Zhang Pei doesn’t have Qiu Jing as a contact, so Zhang Pei couldn’t see Qiu Jing’s comments nor Liu Man’s reply to her. This is why Zhang Pei doesn’t know about Liu Man being with Yu Zhan.
“Are you still at grandparents’?”
“Yes, your grandpa, grandma, uncle’s family, and aunt’s family are all with me. We’re having a good time; can’t you hear the noise?”
TL’s Note: By aunt, Zhang Pei meant her sister. So this aunt isn’t the uncle’s wife or anything.
Liu Man heard noisy sounds, slapstick noises from children, and chats from adults.
“Since you are with your colleagues, I won’t bother you anymore. Let’s talk about other things when you return to the capital,” Zhang Pei said.
“Okay,” Liu Man said after half a second of pause, “Happy New Year, Mother.”
Zhang Pei was startled, and the corners of her eyes were a little sour for some reason.
“You have a happy new year too, my baby.”
After Liu Man hung up the call, Yu Zhan walked over. He didn’t ask Liu Man why her family would let her come to Shanghai alone.
Neither did he ask her why she only looked solemn and respectful when she talked to her mother, and there were no emotions of a daughter to her mother.
He understood that everyone had something they were struggling with and would want to keep to themselves.
Liu Man and Yu Zhan finished the barbecue as the clock stroke the New Year.
As they came out of the barbecue shop, the whole street was quiet and empty. There was no pedestrian and no noise. It took a long time for just a car to pass by. Yu Zhan tried to stop a taxi so Liu Man could go back to her hotel. After waiting for a long time beside the roads, they still couldn’t get a car. Yu Zhan used his mobile phone to find an online taxi, and the number of people in line reached 100+.
He gave up and told Liu Man, “You should stay at the Quan Jing hotel tonight.”
He Lushen had already pre-arranged a suite for Yu Zhan at the Quan Jing hotel.
So Liu Man and Yu Zhan walked back to Quan Jing.
Yu Zhan went to the front desk in hopes of getting another room, but the receptionist said, “Sorry, sir. The rooms are all taken.”
On New Year’s Eve, many guests who had dinner at the Quan Jing Hotel, including some from the crew, booked a room to rest here in advance. After all, everyone drank, and it was not easy to take a taxi. Besides, during the New Year, the listings were already very tight.
Yu Zhan looked back at Liu Man, and Liu Man also looked at him blankly. Her eyes were so innocent. Yu Zhan sighed and asked her,
“Do you mind living in my room? The room my friend booked for me is a suite, with one bedroom and one living room. There is a sofa in the living room. You can sleep in the bedroom, and I will sleep on the sofa. If you are afraid, close the bedroom door and lock it.”
Liu Man was naive but not stupid. If Yu Zhan was replaced by another man, even Tang Tu, she would not agree. Only Yu Zhan was different from her, so she didn’t have to worry about him plotting wrong with herself. She agreed to Yu Zhan’s proposal without any hesitation.
Yu Zhan’s room was on the top floor.
Liu Man did imagine a room with one bedroom and one living room, and she thought it would be relatively small and crowded.
But when Yu Zhan opened the door, she realized that she still hadn’t seen much of the world. Yu Zhan was being too humble.
As soon as he opened the door, what appeared in front of Liu Man was a 100-square-meter living room. The spacious space had two floors, floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides, and exquisite and luxurious decoration. The huge sofa in the middle was even more luxurious than the sofa in her fan, “Quick, call me bro!”’s house.
How was this a living room? This was a hall. Liu Man even felt that the emperor’s bedroom wouldn’t be as luxurious as this place.
The bedroom was on the other side of the living room, behind a sold wooden door.
Now Liu Man didn’t have to worry anymore. It seemed that they lived in the same room, but the two people were at least 10 meters apart. There was no sense of being cramped at all. Some co-tenants were living “closer” than the two of them. Yu Zhan would not be wronged if he sleeps on the sofa. This sofa looked even more comfortable than beds in mediocre houses.
There was small luggage beside the sofa that wasn’t yet opened, and it should be Yu Zhan’s. Yu Zhan checked his watch to see it was almost one o’clock in the morning and said, “It’s getting very late; you should go and rest. You can use the bathroom in the bedroom, and I’ll use the one here in the living room.”
Mhm, there were two bathrooms in this suite.
The rich people’s world was, as expected, different.
The bedroom in the bathroom was equally flaunty. The faucets were all gilded, and the bathtub stood next to the window, overlooking the Huangpu River. Liu Man knew lying in this place and taking a bath would be a pleasure.
But she was not in the mood to take a bath at the moment. She opened the shower to rinse her body, dried herself up and changed into a bathrobe.
She opened the bedroom door. Yu Zhan was sitting on the sofa and was looking at his phone. Hearing the movement, he turned his head and saw Liu Man was wearing a white, ankle-length bathrobe. She did not wash her hair and put up her long hair, so it was high on top of her head. Her face looked extremely small and delicate, with a light pink shadow around her eyes, like a natural rouge. The steam in the bathroom was still in her eyes, which seemed like a natural decoration. She seemed like hibiscus that blossomed out from the water.
Credits: Sydney
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