Yan Yan - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Bai Xingfan

In a five-star hotel in Dongfu, in the presidential suite on the top floor, a handsome young man wearing a black sweater and jeans stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the rising sun, and calling his good buddy. “Old Zhao, have you woken up yet? I have some good news to share with you!”

 “Hey… What’s your problem man? Why are you calling this early? Are you sick?” The young man called Lao Zhao was very angry because of the phone call early in the morning.

 Bai Xinglan: “If I tell you, don’t be jealous of me!”

 Lao Zhao: “You fart; just tell me.”

 After a few seconds of silence, Bai Xinglang’s voice came through the phone. “You know, my brother bought me a limited edition of Bearbrick’s Kaws2 model.”

 Bearbrick was a toy company that was very popular among global fashion trendsetters recently, and the Kaws2 model was a model designed by the famous artist Kaws in 2002. It was a limited-edition building block bear. However, due to the scarcity of issuance, it was difficult to find Kawas2s on the market today.

 Lao Zhao, also a fan of the same Bearbrick limited edition, felt jealous of Bai Xinglan after hearing the news, and he immediately woke up from his sleep and asked, “Well, how many did your brother buy?”

 “Oh, what do you think?” Bai Xinglan: “I’m his only brother, and I’m unique in his eyes. Definitely, he must have only bought one.”

  Lao Zhao: Damn it! “From where did your brother buy it, and how much did it cost?” he asked, surpassing his temper.

 Bai Xinglan said truthfully, “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about the money he paid for the seller he contacted.”

 Lao Zhao: “Damn, I also want to have such a good brother!”

 The young man, Zhao, was boiling with anger and jealousy towards Bai Xinglan at the same time, so in the end, he could not control his feelings and hung up the phone and threw the phone away.

“Hello? Hello? Why are you still hanging up the phone? It’s really… hey.” Looking at the bustling city below, the boy who just turned 20 suddenly felt lonely. Sometimes, dreams came true too quickly, which was not a good thing, and life was quite dull.

 Bai Xinglan was the second son of the Bai family. After looking at the sky for a while, he called the front desk of the hotel and ordered two sets of breakfast. He played with his phone and started watching short videos while he waited for breakfast. The number one item on Douyin’s hot list, “A groom in Dongfu escaped the marriage with an ex-girlfriend,” caught his attention even though he was looking for the kaws06 Nanqingshan limited edition.

Bai Xinglan was also excited, like many others, and clicked on the post to eat melon excitedly. However, after watching the wedding video, he was completely dumbfounded: the groom turned out to be Xie Yu.

 Both of them were upper-class people, so he and Xie Yu often met at parties or dinners, and they had mutual friends. Although they were not very familiar, at least they were regarded as acquaintances—the kind who could take the initiative to say hello when they met on the street.

 But what shocked him the most was not that the groom was Xie Yu, but that he also knew the bride—‘ Wasn’t this the beautiful sister who lived next to my brother when he was in the ancient town a few months ago? She seems to be called Su Yan. Yes, it is Su Yan; the young lady reminded me that it is Su from Suzhou, the colour of Yan! Was there such a coincidence in the world? She actually married Xie Yu? Xie Yu ran away from marriage. It was posted on the Internet, and it became number one on the hot list. Now the whole world knew that she was abandoned by the groom on the wedding day…’ Bai Xinglan felt pity for her. ‘How pitiful she is? In front of relatives and friends, she was abandoned. Xie Yu is really nothing! Bah, scum!’

Bai Xinglan was very curious, so he went to the comment area. When he saw that everyone was scolding Xie Yu, he felt relieved. ‘Hmph, this kind of scum deserves to be scolded!’

 There were different types of comments there, and some of them caught Bai Xinglan’s attention.

 “I don’t know the truth; don’t speak rashly; what if the groom has difficulties?” 

 “Love is inherently selfish; a slap can’t be slapped; the bride must be at fault for running away from the bridegroom; maybe she used improper means to force the marriage?”

 Bai Xinglan had a good impression of Su Yan, so he decisively replied to the comment: “Ex-girlfriend, please go to the tuba and talk; don’t smear the victim with conspiracy theories!” After posting, he still blamed Xie Yu and his ex-girlfriend in his heart. What a couple!

 ‘Xie Yu was also blind. Sister Yanyan was so good that he didn’t know how to cherish her. Even his brother’s non-feminine ice sculpture monk had learned to laugh in front of Sister Yanyan. Xie Yu, you are really—wait, his brother?’

 His thoughts suddenly went back to half a year ago. At that time, his brother suddenly wanted to live in a remote ancient town that had just been developed and live a secluded life. He escaped from the world for two full months, during which he only went back to Dongfu once because of his grandpa’s birthday, but even so, he didn’t stay in Dongfu much, and he returned to the ancient town the next morning after the birthday banquet. It seemed that the ancient town was his power source to recharge his power, as he went there when he was tired.

 It was a summer vacation. In order to find out what his brother was busy with in the ancient town, Bai Xinglan cruelly gave up the comfortable life in Dongfu and took his suitcase to join his brother. After arriving, he didn’t find anything unusual. His brother’s life was as boring as ever: sleeping, eating, exercising, working, drinking tea, reading… Even though his brother was only 27 years old, he felt like a 62-year-old man.

 Every time he saw his brother worrying about the group and being so tired that he could only catch up on sleep on the plane, he was grateful to his parents from the bottom of his heart for not making him a big brother; otherwise, the pressure of the family would fall on his shoulders. Since childhood, the family had treated his brother and him with completely different attitudes. They treated his brother almost harshly but never forced him to do what he didn’t want to do—they treated him as a son but treated the eldest brother as an heir.

 The son was held in the palm of the hand and loved, while the heir had to be constantly whipped and reminded; otherwise, how could he shoulder the glory and mission of the family?

 He had also imagined that if he were his elder brother, living an involuntary life every day, he would collapse to the point of committing suicide within a week.

 Bai Xinglan sometimes thought that if he were a woman, he would never marry a man like his brother, Bai Xingfan. Although his brother was very handsome and rich, he devoted his life to work and had no time for love. But this was not the most unacceptable point for him. The most unacceptable point was that his brother was not interested in women, and he thought that women would only delay his time like water off a duck’s back.

 Bai Xinglan didn’t know what other people’s brothers were, but his brother had never taken him to meet any beautiful ladies, and he didn’t even look at the most popular traffic flowers in the entertainment industry today.

 He had lived with his brother in that ancient town for less than a week and couldn’t hold on anymore. The ancient town was newly developed, and there were not many entertainment facilities. Apart from walking and enjoying the ancient atmosphere of the town, the tourists could go on a boat ride. So our 21st-century man, Bai Xinglan, was frustrated because he couldn’t enjoy the peaceful beauty of this small town, and luckily there was Wi-Fi in the town; otherwise, he would have gone crazy. 

 One day at noon, the entire ancient town lost electricity due to the sudden heavy rain. When the Wi-Fi suddenly died, Bai Xinglan completely collapsed. The other worst thing that happened was that they could not go out for dinner or order takeout. Neither he nor his brother could cook, so Bai Xinglan was prepared to die of hunger. 

 Just when he was about to starve to death, a tempting smell of food broke through the rain and floated over from the blue brick wall, making his mouth water. Bai Xinglan knew that there was a beautiful older sister in the yard next door who also lived alone. ‘The pretty sister looks kindhearted, so will I be able to have a meal there? ”Thinking like that, he picked up the umbrella and said to his brother, “I’m going to beg for food next door. Do you want to come with me?” 

 In fact, he was just asking politely because, according to what he knew about his brother, this person who loved faces would definitely not do such a thing as “beg for food,” and the end result would definitely be him alone. And it was actually good to go alone; otherwise, the two strange men would suddenly come to the door, and the young lady would definitely be scared, not to mention that his brother had always been impatient with women, and one look could make people run away.

 Who knew his brother stood up without hesitation from the mahogany sofa that day, as if his head had been hit somewhere and he had lost his mind? “Together.”

 Bai Xinglan: “…”

 After a moment of silence, he asked first: “Then what? You and others have known each other?”

 Bai Xingfan: “No.”

 Bai Xinglan was heartbroken. “You have lived here for almost a month, and you haven’t said hello to anyone! According to my observation, it seems that only you two live on this street; why don’t you take the initiative to say hello to her?”

 Bai Xingfan’s face was slightly blue as if he had been poked at some unspeakable pain point. He was quite embarrassed, and he finally squeezed out three words from his teeth. “I don’t know.”

 ‘Really, he has no flirting skills! What a man… I’m worried that you will lose your children and grandchildren! ‘ Bai Xinglan could not stop such thoughts. 

 “You didn’t say hello before, but now that you go to beg for food empty-handed, aren’t you embarrassed?” Bai Xinglan asked.

 His brother corrected him. “It is you who are going to beg for food.”

 “…”

 After saying that, Bai Xingfan took the umbrella and walked calmly into the rain. “Knock on the door first, and the meal will be paid for separately.”

 Bai Xinglan froze for a moment, then chased after his brother with the umbrella up, saying, “What if she doesn’t want money? Why are you… Thinking about using money to solve everything…”

 “Then give me two extra meals.”

 “What do you mean?”

 “I’ll go tomorrow also.”

 At that time, he still thought that his brother was so smart that he came up with such a good solution to solve the two of their food and clothing problems in the ancient town—no need to eat takeout or wait for the driver to deliver it; they could eat it next door, which was really convenient. ‘Great, I no longer have to worry about being starved to death!’

 However, when they came to the door next door, his brother didn’t knock but gave him a look, signaling him to knock.

 He didn’t think much about it at the time and immediately stretched out his hand and patted the courtyard door vigorously: “Is there anyone here? Emergency rescue!” 

 Not long after, the wooden door was opened, and a beautiful woman in a blue dress appeared. Her eyes had the look of a sacred deer, and she seemed to be holding a kitchen knife. Bai Xinglan thought that was pretty normal, because who wouldn’t be scared if two strange men knocked on the door on a rainy night?

“Hello, sister, don’t be afraid. I’m Bai Xinglan, and this is my elder brother, Bai Xingfan. We are from next door. We are not bad people; we just want to beg for some food.” Bai Xinglan didn’t want to scare her more, so he quickly stepped forward.

The pretty girl subconsciously raised her eyes to look at his brother standing behind him, and so he added. “Don’t worry, my brother looks like a playboy, but he’s not interested in women; it’s very safe!”

After finishing speaking, Bai Xinglan deliberately turned his head to look at his brother, wanting to be praised, but who knew that his brother looked at him as if he were looking at a stupid donkey?

Only now did Baj Xinglan realise that he was really a stupid ass. So many things were overlooked! ‘Why did Bai Xingfan choose to live in that ancient town? Why did he want to live next to that sister? Why did he change his unfeminine monk style and take the initiative to go there to eat? ‘ Bai Xinglan’s mind was a mess thinking of these things.

‘So, why did Xie Yu run away from marriage? Is it really because of his ex-girlfriend? Or did my brother…’ Bai Xinglan thought as he remembered what had happened in that ancient town at that time.

After thinking about it, Bai Xinglan raised his head and shifted his eyes from the phone screen to the closed door of the study. His eyes gradually became suspicious.

Suddenly, the door was opened, and Bai Xingfan came out of the study, wearing a neat suit and with tired eyes and brows.

Bai Xinglan was taken aback and subconsciously blurted out, “Did you do it?”

“What?” Bai Xingfan walked towards the sofa, sat down, picked up a cigarette and lighter from the coffee table, and lit it.

Bai Xinglan noticed his brother’s panda eyes. “You haven’t slept all night?”

“Yes.” Bai Xingfan took a long smoke puff.

“Why?” Bai Xinglan asked curiously.

“A meeting.” It was another concise answer, too tired to say another word.

Because their organisation has a branch in the United States, there were meetings in the dead of night due to the time difference between the two countries.

Bai Xinglan felt sorry for his brother, so he didn’t have the nerve to ask him whether Bai Xingfan had done something to break off the wedding.

Bai Xingfan took another two puffs of cigarettes, looked at Bai Xinglan, and suddenly asked, “What did you ask earlier?”

Bai Xinglan: “Ah, that… let’s forget it.”

Bai Xingfan frowned at Bai Xinglan slightly and kept looking at him with a deep look.

Bai Xinglan’s back suddenly felt cold. He especially couldn’t stand his brother’s eyes like this; the oppressive feeling was so strong that it was breathless. “I, I, I, I just want to ask you if you know about Xie Yu’s escape from marriage; alas, you must be so busy that you don’t know!”

He didn’t dare to question his brother in a suspicious tone this time because he suddenly realised that he couldn’t doubt his own brother casually!

“I did it.”

“…”

“Is there any problem?”

“…”

‘How in hell can you be so honest after doing such a thing that lacks virtue?’

“You… you are very ruthless! Why? Even if you like Sister Yanyan, you should not do such a cruel thing. At that time in the ancient city, she didn’t have a boyfriend, so why didn’t you chase her at that time? How can you ruin her wedding because… She has become a laughing shock… Do you know that? Brother…” Bai Xinglan could not understand his brother doing such a cruel thing.

Of course, Bai Xingfan knew how sad Xu Yan was, but he didn’t have another way to make her stop thinking about Xie Yu completely. How could she forget such humiliation? She would definitely hate Xie Yu after this.

Back in the ancient city, Bai Xingfan got to know that Su Yan was in love with a man, even though he was not her boyfriend. Even if Bai Xingfan chased her at that time and if Su Yan agreed with him, she would not completely forget Xie Yu.

Bai Xingfan could not let the woman he loved have other men in her heart, so he had to let her completely give up on that man.

The higher you stand, the harder you fall, and since the wedding was the highest point of happiness, only falling from the highest point could make her heartbroken and feel disheartened towards Xie Yu.

But Bai Xinglan became more and more aggrieved: “You forced Xie Yu away; what about the girl’s reputation? Do you know that the video of Xie Yu’s escape from marriage was posted on the Internet? There are so many rumours; you let sister Yanyan fall to the ground. There is also the circle of friends; I just checked the circle of friends and saw someone making fun of Sister Yanyan.”

Bai Xingfan snuffed out the cigarette in his hand with a cold expression: “I will shut up those people, and I will also make them regret it.”

Bai Xinglan: “You are bad! If Sister Yanyan knows the truth, she will definitely not forgive you!”

Bai Xingfan said calmly, “She can’t know.”

“You are really, really, conceited!” Bai Xinglan couldn’t take it anymore, stood up from the sofa, and walked angrily towards the door, saying, “What my mother said is right; you have abnormal control desires and possessiveness! I want to stay away from you!” But when he was about to walk to the door, he suddenly thought of something, so he slammed on the brakes, turned, and looked at the living room, and his attitude changed 180 degrees in an instant. “That, my bear, my kaws02…”

Bai Xingfan sighed softly, pinched the centre of his brows tiredly, and said in a hoarse voice, It’s been mailed home.”

“Oh…” Bai Xinglan suddenly realised his conscience, feeling that he shouldn’t treat Bai Xingfan like this; after all, his brother had been good to him, so he walked back to the living room and said, “Well, do you want breakfast? I just ordered two.”

“No.” Bai Xingfan stood up from the sofa and said, “I’ll go home to eat.”

Bai Xinglan was stunned: “Don’t you live here every day? Why do you want to go home suddenly?” This five-star hotel was close to the company, so Bai Xingfan reserved the top-floor presidential suite for many years, saying, “You had a meeting all night; why don’t you rest for a while?”

He still feels sorry for his brother.

But Bai Xingfan remained unmoved: “Don’t rest; let’s go back now.”

To prevent someone from getting angry because he didn’t accompany her for dinner, he had to go back home.

End of Chapter 10