Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins
Years of Heartflutter · Page 180 of 214
"Very well." Miss Xu was helpless. Since Shu Ya had said so, there was nothing else she could do. Say anything more, and it would look as though she were targeting Yang Ce. After so many years as a manager, Miss Xu understood well that any company capable of staging a concert in a given locality must have real strength behind it—if not a local power, then close enough. And the rich young men who could attach themselves to such companies inevitably came from families of power and privilege, not to be casually offended.
Yang Ce said coolly, "Miss Xu, if you're uneasy about it, then let's forget the whole thing. I have to help my girlfriend fix up our new place later—I don't have much time to spare."
With that one sentence, Yang Ce laid bare Miss Xu's intention plainly, and told her plainly as well: I already have a girlfriend, and we are very close—I have no designs whatsoever on your star.
Hearing this, Miss Xu felt somewhat embarrassed. She gave a dry laugh and said, "Mr. Yang jests. How could I be uneasy? I was only afraid of being pestered by those reporters. Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Yang."
Beside them, Shu Ya visibly started, and lowered her head, a little dazed. He has a girlfriend? Is it true? For a moment it was as though something had struck her heart a heavy blow; her earlier joy vanished in an instant, and she was at a loss.
The man she had thought of day and night—she had finally seen him. But he already loved another. This was the sort of plot from a movie, and Shu Ya had never imagined it would one day happen to her.
True, Shu Ya had not been at all certain before that Yang Ce would wait for her, but everyone nurses a secret hope; even for a chance of one in ten thousand, before receiving a definite answer, one clings to a fantasy. Shu Ya was no exception. She had looked forward so much to the scene of meeting Yan again.
Aboard the Alice, when Yang Ce had appeared again like a god descending from the heavens, the flame of love long hidden in the depths of Shu Ya's heart had been thoroughly kindled. But in that moment just now, her heart had suddenly clenched tight.
Yet Shu Ya was no longer the green girl she once had been. Having witnessed countless grand occasions, she quickly composed herself. Her face betraying nothing, she said, "Then let's be on our way."
"After you, Miss Shu." Yang Ce made a gesture of invitation, then pulled open the front passenger door of the BMW.
The other staff members got into the stretched Audi Q7 with Miss Xu, while Shu Ya's bodyguards boarded a Golden Dragon coach behind them together with the rest of the Mingyang Company security men.
In that brief moment, Shu Ya had reasoned things through and returned to normal. Why had she so firmly made Songjiang the first stop of her concert tour? Was it not because of Yang Ce?
Besides, she had already prepared for the worst. Even if Yang Ce had a girlfriend, so what? Had she not once had one herself? That did not mean she had no grounds to compete.
Besides, Shu Ya had already made up her mind beyond any doubt. She loved Yang Ce, and she had loved him for all these years without change—which meant it could never change now. So no matter what happened, Shu Ya would not give up.
After all, she was a star whom millions adored. She refused to believe that she would lose.
"So your name is Yang Ce." Once in the car, Shu Ya smiled with perfect composure. In that brief moment, she had already worked out her plan.
"Miss Shu, have we met before?" Yang Cen asked the question lightly, but in truth it carried far too much meaning—a hint to Shu Ya that they had never met, that he had never been aboard the Alice, and that she had seen nothing at all.
Shu Ya thought to herself, what do you mean, never met? We used to see each other every day. But she understood Yang Juehuan's meaning well enough, so she said, "I don't believe we have. I simply found your face familiar, Mr. Yang."