Chapter 56: I've Come to Invite You to Dinner

"Su Chen, you’re not being honest, little brother! Didn’t you just break up at Fu Yu’s concert? It’s been less than a month, and now you already have a new girlfriend! Come on, tell your big sister everything!"

Yan Mi’s eyes burned with gossip, making Su Chen uneasy.

Sure enough, whether they’re celebrities or ordinary people, they all have an unquenchable passion for juicy stories!

Yan Mi didn’t give Su Chen a chance to speak and continued, "Be honest, did you get back together with that ex from Starshine? Let me tell you, it’s never wise to eat the grass behind you! If you want someone, you can pick anyone from Jiaxing!"

"Someone like Reba or Xudan, gorgeous, great figure, and sweet as kittens—they’re all single right now! How about it? Want me to call them tonight so you can choose one? Hehehe..."

Su Chen: "......"

Fueled by alcohol, Yan Mi rambled on, leaving Su Chen blushing furiously.

When a woman cracks lewd jokes, men really have nothing on them.

Yan Mi genuinely considered introducing her girlfriends to Su Chen. If one of them worked out, wouldn’t that make them even closer?

It’d make asking favors so much easier in the future!

Su Chen silently cried out that he couldn’t handle this and hurried to explain, "Sis, we’re just ordinary friends!"

"I don’t believe it. Ordinary friends, yet you care so much, shamelessly asking me for my autograph." Yan Mi shot Su Chen a sly glance, her eyes full of mischief.

"Ahem... just... a slightly better ordinary friend..."

Faced with Yan Mi’s gaze, even Su Chen didn’t understand why his voice grew softer.

Seeing Su Chen’s reaction, Yan Mi knew well enough and stopped teasing him.

A pity, though—such a good man, Reba and the others never stood a chance.

Yan Mi sighed inwardly, then said to Su Chen, "Alright, go on home now. You have to record the show tomorrow!"

"Ah... okay, bye, Sister Mi!"

With that, Su Chen darted out of the private room.

Yan Mi watched his retreating figure, her lips curling upward.

"So mature in other matters, but when it comes to these things, he’s just like a little boy. How amusing, hahaha~"

Back at the hotel, Su Chen took out the crumpled autograph from his pocket and smiled softly.

He wanted to give it to Han Jiangxue and complete her request.

But as he lifted his foot, he remembered what Han Jiangxue had said about the Breadman that afternoon.

Would going to her directly really get him carried away by the Breadman?

In the end, Su Chen decided to follow his heart and placed the autograph on the table.

He had the autograph, after all, so he’d hand it to her during the day!

That way, he could give Han Jiangxue a big surprise!

Having been busy all day, Su Chen finally collapsed onto his bed. Ever since Wang Sicong had dragged him out of bed, he hadn’t properly rested.

He’d stayed up all night!

Tomorrow was a free day, so he resolved to stay in the hotel and rest well!

Who said filming a show meant running around? Isn’t lounging on a hotel bed just as nice?

Just as Su Chen thought he was finally free, his phone suddenly rang.

Suppressing his fatigue, he picked up the phone without expression, seeing a strange number from Taiwan.

Great! Either a telemarketer or a scammer!

This time, Su Chen didn’t plan to hang up right away; he wanted to give the caller a piece of his mind!

It was already midnight—was the scam industry really this competitive?

Impatiently, Su Chen answered, "Hello?"

Instead of the expected formulaic voice, silence greeted him.

"Hello? Say something!" Su Chen was puzzled. Why would a scammer call without speaking?

Damn, could it be a ploy to scam phone charges?

Thinking this, Su Chen hurried to end the call.

Just as he was about to do so, a sweet and fragile female voice drifted through the line.

"Sorry... for calling so late. Am I... am I disturbing you?" Wang Bingling’s timid voice came.

The moment Su Chen heard that distinctive voice, rivaling Yan Mi’s, he immediately knew it was Wang Bingling!

"...Bingling? Sister Bingling?"

Realizing his tone had been a bit forceful, Su Chen quickly apologized, "Sorry, Sister Bingling. I saw an unfamiliar number and thought it was a scam... How did you get my number?"

On the other end, Wang Bingling replied, "No, no, I should be the one apologizing. It’s inconsiderate of me to call this late, I didn’t think about your rest."

"And your number—I got it from Fu Yu..."

Listening to Wang Bingling’s soft voice, Su Chen couldn’t muster any annoyance. He laughed and asked, "Is there something urgent you need, Sister Bingling?"

"Oh, yes! You wrote ‘The First Person I Loved’ for me, and it’s scheduled to launch on all major music platforms next month!"

"Then, the company listened and thought it would do well, so they invested a lot of resources to promote it, releasing some snippets of the chorus. The fans’ feedback was amazing!"

Even through the phone, Su Chen could hear the joy in Wang Bingling’s voice, and couldn’t help but smile.

"You know what? They stopped criticizing me completely! I even used a burner account to sneak into the fan group, and everyone was saying how much they were looking forward to the song! I... I’m really so happy!"

"Su Chen, thank you... thank you!"

Su Chen thought he heard Wang Bingling sobbing—she was so happy, she cried.

It made sense. The Sweetheart Princess was, after all, just a girl in her twenties, yet she had to face fans’ doubts, strangers’ ridicule, and the company’s opposition...

She wanted to change her image, and the pressure she endured was unimaginable to most!

Su Chen smiled and said, "That’s wonderful! I wish your new song great success, Sister Bingling!"

"Mm, mm! It’s all thanks to you!"

Su Chen chuckled, picturing Wang Bingling nodding enthusiastically on the other end, but then she continued, "So I asked Fu Yu, and she said you’re in Shashi. I’ve booked a flight for ten o’clock tomorrow morning, to invite you out for lunch!"

Su Chen’s smile froze.

"...Lunch? That’s not really necessary..."

"It is! Absolutely necessary! I owe my success to your song. If I don’t treat you to a meal, I’ll feel guilty and lose sleep every night."

Hearing this, Su Chen didn’t know how to refuse and could only agree.

"Alright, I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning."

"Mm, mm! Great!"

After they finished speaking, Su Chen hung up and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Alas, wanting to rest well—why is it so difficult...?