Time flies, and half a year passed in a blink.
Su Qianqian's life seemed to have been put on fast-forward, so busy she was almost constantly on her feet.
The movie she filmed at the beginning of the year was finally released. Although her role wasn't extensive, those few breathtaking moments on screen were enough to leave a deep impression on everyone who walked into the cinema.
[Beauty that can withstand the big screen, truly living up to the reputation.]
[Every time the camera swept over Su Qianqian's face, I couldn't look away.]
[Full of spirit, a promising future.]
Praise like this emerged endlessly, allowing her to gain a preliminary foothold in the film industry.
Coupled with the previously aired "Chaos of Beacon Fires," which earned her a significant Best Supporting Actress award, her acting career was advancing triumphantly, enjoying unparalleled popularity.
Moreover, her feelings towards Zhou Yu'an were no longer as averse as before.
Firstly, because he maintained excellent boundaries. After realizing her perfunctory attitude, he consistently retreated to the position of a cooperative partner.
Secondly, Zhou's Hospital's research on sound therapy for insomniacs had made a breakthrough. Su Qianqian also received her share of the project's profits and many anonymous thank-you letters from patients. This gave her a small sense of achievement and led her to recognize and support Zhou Yu'an's research.
Besides, Gu Chengyu also took meticulous care of her, making her gradually lower her guard and no longer intentionally act cold.
She had almost completely forgotten the past.
...
This day was Su Qianqian's nineteenth birthday.
Her birthday banquet was held in the banquet hall of the most luxurious lakeside hotel under Gu Chengyu's name.
Crystal chandeliers glittered, the air filled with the scent of perfume and the sight of elegant attire, and glasses clinked in toasts.
The attendees were all celebrities, superstars, and business magnates. The grand scale fully demonstrated Gu Chengyu's regard for her.
Su Qianqian wore a starry sky gown, specially commissioned for her by Gu Chengyu from the most famous French designer. The skirt was adorned with fine, crushed diamonds, shimmering with light as she moved, setting off her snow-white skin and peerless beauty.
She held onto Gu Chengyu's arm, accepting everyone's blessings with a gentle, sweet smile.
Gu Chengyu looked at the lovely figure smiling brightly beside him, his heart swelling with satisfaction and possessiveness.
He lowered his head and placed a kiss on her smooth forehead, eliciting a wave of good-natured teasing from those around.
Lately, he increasingly felt that he was truly smitten by this little thing.
Sometimes he could clearly sense her absent-mindedness, but whenever he thought of cooling his expression to ask, or giving her a bit of a hard time, the moment he saw her watery eyes gazing at him, all his displeasure and doubts would vanish.
Harsh words at the tip of his tongue always turned into helpless indulgence.
He even began making excuses for himself: she's still young, immature, she can be taught slowly.
Anyway, she's by his side, and her heart will be his sooner or later.
He liked her more and more, so much that it was almost to the point of having no bottom line.
Just as the banquet atmosphere was at its peak, a waiter quietly approached Su Qianqian and whispered that Miss Qin was waiting for her outside and had a surprise to show her.
Su Qianqian frowned slightly. She glanced at Gu Chengyu, who was conversing with someone, hesitated for a moment, but still lifted her skirt and followed the waiter out through a side door, arriving at a relatively quiet open-air balcony.
On the balcony, Lin Shu was waiting.
She had clearly dressed up meticulously, trying to recapture her past glamour, but the resentment in her eyes was hard to conceal.
Seeing Su Qianqian approach in her magnificent attire, radiant and glowing, the jealousy in Lin Shu's eyes was almost impossible to hide.
"Shu-jie?" Su Qianqian stopped, somewhat surprised but more wary.
"What are you doing here?" Gu Chengyu had clearly said he wouldn't let Lin Shu appear before her again.
"Why can't I be here?" Lin Shu sneered, stepping closer step by step.
"Gu Chengyu really protects you tightly, Su Qianqian."
"Such a grand celebration for a birthday, you must be very pleased with yourself, right?"
Su Qianqian didn't want to engage with her and turned to leave. "If there's nothing important, I'll go back first."
"What's the hurry?" Lin Shu blocked her, her voice shrill. "Afraid your sugar daddy is waiting? Don't worry, he's happily chatting with someone right now, no time to look for you."
She looked Su Qianqian up and down. "Wearing the haute couture he gave you, adorned with priceless jewelry, being fawned over by everyone, do you feel like you've flown onto a high branch and become a phoenix?"
Su Qianqian pressed her lips together, unwilling to respond to the provocation.
But Lin Shu seemed to have found an outlet for her venom and continued maliciously, "Do you think you're so special? Huh?"
"Su Qianqian, you're just one of his many women! Just temporarily fresher than the others!"
"Do you know how he used to play with me? Much more passionate than with you!"
A twisted smugness appeared on Lin Shu's face. "What positions he likes, what excites him the most, what brand of cigar he likes to smoke afterwards... I knew all that much better than you do now!"
Su Qianqian's face paled slightly, her fingers tightening on her skirt.
Seeing her reaction, Lin Shu felt a surge of satisfaction.
These words were subtly suggested to her by Zhou Yu'an, who said that girls like Su Qianqian, seemingly delicate but actually proud at heart, couldn't stand this the most.
"What? Don't like hearing it?"
Lin Shu scoffed. "Can't take it already? Let me tell you, Su Qianqian, everything you're enjoying now, everything you have, is what I left behind!"
"You're just picking up the man I didn't want! What do you have to be proud of, using a man I grew tired of long ago?"
Su Qianqian felt her breath catch.
She admitted it hurt. Over this past year, it wasn't that she didn't like Gu Chengyu at all, it was just that there had always been a knot in her heart.
And now, someone was brutally tearing open this veil.
She thought she probably couldn't continue being with him anymore.
Seeing her drastically changed expression, Lin Shu knew she had hit the mark. Her satisfaction grew, and she wanted to say more.
"What are you doing here?"
Gu Chengyu's icy voice suddenly came from the balcony entrance.
He had clearly noticed Su Qianqian was missing and came looking, his expression displeased.
Seeing him, Lin Shu was startled, instinctively stepping back, a flash of panic crossing her face.
Su Qianqian snapped back to her senses, not wanting to cause a scene at her own birthday party.
She lowered her eyelids, hiding all the emotions in her eyes, walked to Gu Chengyu's side, and gently tugged his sleeve. "A-Yu, let's go back. It's a bit cold here."
Gu Chengyu immediately sensed something was off with her mood. Looking at Lin Shu's guilty expression, he understood most of it in an instant.
His eyes turned cold as he looked at Lin Shu. "What nonsense have you been telling her?"
Lin Shu felt chilled to the bone under his gaze, stammering, not daring to speak.
Gu Chengyu couldn't be bothered with her anymore. He wrapped his arm around Su Qianqian's waist, holding her tightly against him. Feeling her unhappiness, his heart ached with both pain and anger.
He roughly guessed that her reluctance to fully open her heart stemmed from her issues with his past.
He had been striving desperately to be good to her, yet someone just had to jump out and cause trouble, repeatedly reminding her of his reckless past.
Right now, he felt like killing Lin Shu.
Gu Chengyu suppressed his anger, lowered his head, and said softly to the girl in his arms, "Let's go back."
He walked away with Su Qianqian in his embrace, never once looking back at Lin Shu.
Lin Shu watched their retreating figures, saw the undisguised tenderness in Gu Chengyu's protective stance, and was driven nearly mad with jealousy, yet utterly powerless to change anything.
Meanwhile, in a shadowy corner on the second floor of the banquet hall, Zhou Yu'an held a wine glass, quietly observing everything that had transpired on the balcony below—including Su Qianqian's final, pallid complexion and wounded gaze.
He gently adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.
Though young, Su Qianqian had formidable defenses and had always been coldly indifferent towards him, which had genuinely sparked a certain desire to conquer in him.
Since she remained utterly impervious to all approaches, he would simply have to employ some minor tactics.
After all, it had been over half a year, and his patience had finally run out.
