Chapter 73: Childhood Sweethearts

In the early morning, while eating breakfast, Mother An announced the news.

"An Zhou, Lingling said she has agreed to go on a blind date."

"Clang—"

The fork in An Zhou's hand instantly dropped onto his plate.

Dumbfounded, he looked up at An Ling sitting across from him.

"Are you serious? You agreed?"

How did this girl give in??

An Ling leaned back in her chair, drinking her soy milk without changing her expression. "Yeah, is there a problem?"

"...Impossible." An Zhou's suspicious gaze swept back and forth between them. "You guys aren't tricking me, are you? I don't believe it."

An Ling shot Mother An a look.

See, she told her that her brother was very cunning.

Mother An put down her spoon and wiped her mouth. "I'm not tricking you. Lingling will go meet her blind date. An Zhou, if you dare to make up another excuse, you are also going on a blind date this weekend."

An Zhou: "..."

An Zhou held his tongue, speechless. He looked again at An Ling opposite him, who was so calm it seemed she had fully accepted it.

It was too fake.

"Then who is An Ling's blind date?"

Mother An replied, "Wen Yuche."

An Zhou knew this person; his mother had mentioned him before.

He didn't expect it to actually be a real blind date.

An Zhou felt like he couldn't eat his breakfast anymore. He leaned back in his chair, looking like he had nothing left to live for, and lifted his chin. "Hey, when are you meeting? Why didn't you hold out a bit longer?"

"We haven't set a specific time yet. I just added him, but it'll probably be this weekend."

An Ling wiped her mouth, giving a fake smile. "Isn't this all for the sake of my brother's major life event?"

She stood up and grabbed her coat and bag from the sofa. "I'm leaving. Since it's raining today, I'll drive myself to the office. There's a company dinner tonight, so I won't be back to eat."

Driving to the company, An Ling had just parked her car when her phone suddenly lit up. Someone had sent a message.

Wen Yuche: [Hello, An Ling.]

She stuffed her car keys back into her bag and typed a reply.

[Hello, hello.]

Wen Yuche: [My mom told me about the blind date. Could we set a time to meet this Saturday? I have work scheduled for Sunday.]

Looking at this message, An Ling muttered softly, "Feels like he was forced into it too."

Having work on the weekend but still having to make time to meet her.

An Ling: [Sure, then I will decide the time and place.]

Wen Yuche: [Okay.]

After chatting, An Ling put her phone back into her bag and pressed the elevator floor button.

Just as she sat down at her cubicle, Brother Nan placed a document on her desk and frowned.

"Things are mostly settled with Shen Fuyuan's side, but there is one problem. Mother Shen requested that during editing, Shen Fuyuan's second brother should also be included, to the point where his screen time would exceed Shen Fuyuan's."

They were filming Shen Fuyuan. If they used too much footage to depict an irrelevant person, it would likely deviate from the show's positioning. Wasn't this just building up Lu Jingshen's reputation?

An Ling took off her coat, removed her scarf, and took the document, looking down to flip through it. "Have you communicated with Shihe Media? Shen Fuyuan is the person they pushed in; we definitely have to prioritize her."

"I did. Their reply was for us to resolve it."

It seemed they didn't want to offend Mother Shen, pushing all the pressure onto them.

An Ling could see what Brother Nan was worried about.

Even Shihe Media didn't want to get involved. As mere low-level employees, they were even more afraid of offending these people, terrified of losing their jobs.

She accepted the document. "Brother Nan, you refuse first. If she has any objections, I will go talk to her."

Ms. Chen had given her this task, so this program had to proceed normally. She didn't care what that old woman wanted to do.

Hearing this, Brother Nan visibly sighed in relief and smiled. "An Ling, it's a good thing we have you this time. Otherwise, it would be really hard for the rest of us to say anything. But will this cause trouble for you?"

An Ling smiled at him. "It's fine, it's no big deal."

They were divorced anyway. In the past, she hadn't wanted to argue with that old woman because she was afraid of causing trouble for Shen Linyan; after all, no matter what, she was Shen Linyan's mother.

But now, she wouldn't cater to that old woman anymore.

Originally, there was a company dinner planned for the evening, intended for everyone to share a meal before filming started.

Seeing that they had been too tired these past few days, Ms. Chen considerately said, "Let's save the dinner for next time. Tomorrow is the weekend, so everyone go home and get some rest."

The other colleagues instantly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Compared to dining out, it was still more comfortable at home.

Seeing that it was still early, An Ling planned to go to Jiang Mai's cafe. Just as she arrived at the parking garage, she received a message from An Zhou.

[Did you set a time for your blind date?]

With this attitude, he was probably still suspecting that she and their mom were tricking him together.

Even though she was indeed tricking him.

An Ling sent him a screenshot of the chat.

[You should believe me now, right?]

An Zhou: [...Damn, weren't you on a united front with me?]

An Ling: [Sorry, never was. Have you set a time for your blind date? I'm going to tattle to Mom later.]

An Zhou: [...]

In the bar club, An Zhou leaned against the sofa, speechless.

He opened another chat window, which still only showed the greeting message he had sent out during the day.

"How am I supposed to set this up? I send a message and the other party doesn't reply at all."

A friend next to him heard him talking and turned to look. "There's actually someone who doesn't reply to our President An's messages? Who is it?"

An Zhou locked his phone screen, picked up his wine glass, and casually replied, "My blind date."

That daughter of the Qin family. He heard she was naturally introverted and didn't like to talk. He didn't even know what to say when they met.

Hearing this, his friend teased, "Oho, An Zhou, you've reached the age of going on blind dates too? No wonder you asked us out for drinks today."

"...Get lost." An Zhou took a sip of his drink in annoyance.

Another friend spoke up, "Your sister got divorced a while ago, so is that why your mom just started rushing you to get married?"

Speaking of that girl made it even more annoying.

The private room was too stuffy. An Zhou put down his glass. "I'm going out to use the restroom and grab a smoke."

He stood up, pushed open the door of the private room, and walked out. Passing a corner, his footsteps instantly halted when he saw the person walking toward him.

The other party also stopped, curved his lips, and spoke in a gentle voice: "President An, what a coincidence."

An Zhou's face gradually grew cold. He looked expressionlessly at the noble-looking man in front of him.

"Not a coincidence at all. I couldn't tell that Chairman Shen would also come to a bar."

Regarding his cold attitude, Shen Linyan chuckled a few times. His tone remained as usual, and his demeanor was absolutely flawless. "President An must be joking. Socializing doesn't discriminate by location. I still have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."

As the man brushed past him, An Zhou suddenly spoke up.

"Shen Linyan."

He didn't turn his head. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, placed it by his lips, and said indifferently, "I know my sister took you to the hospital a while ago."

The footsteps behind him instantly stopped.

The hallway lights outlined the man's sharp silhouette, his suit further highlighting his superior bodily proportions. He slightly turned his head, a polite smile still resting on his lips, yet there wasn't a trace of emotion in the depths of his eyes. His tone, however, remained gentle. "Is that so?"

An Zhou lit his cigarette and turned his head to meet those dark, heavy eyes.

He took a drag, blew out a smoke ring, and sneered, "I don't know what you're trying to do by approaching An Ling like this. Since you're divorced, then make a clean break. Our An family doesn't want to get close to your Shen family anymore either."

The corridor fell silent for a moment, followed by the man's nonchalant, low chuckle.

With his hands stuffed in his pockets, Shen Linyan spoke at a leisurely pace, "President An seems to be overstepping a bit. How I get along with An Ling doesn't seem to be any of President An's business."

Tch.

So he was finally dropping the act, huh.

An Zhou poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue and let out a smirk. "Oh? None of my business? My sister is going on a blind date soon. She is about to embark on a new romance, so as her older brother, I naturally have to help her clear away any irrelevant nuisances."

Shen Linyan let out a laugh. Just as he was about to speak, An Zhou's voice rang out again.

"Besides, her blind date is a childhood sweetheart she grew up playing with. That is definitely much better than some arranged marriage."

In an instant, the smile on the man's lips vanished, a dark storm surging in the depths of his pitch-black eyes.

...Childhood sweetheart?