Chapter 16 – The Simp Is Forcibly Loved by the Overbearing CEO 16
Shuang Yu just smiled calmly and said nothing, continuing to look at the menu. At the restaurant entrance, Yan Qianqian, who was late due to a work commitment, was also being led in by a waiter. Meanwhile, Shuang Yu had already begun to show off his fluent French. After ordering more food, he also used French to ask the waiter to serve the dishes an hour later.
The group watched, dumbfounded. Sheng Xiaojing, in particular, was filled with disbelief, as if she had seen a ghost. She had intended to use this opportunity to humiliate Bai Shuangyu, but instead, he had completely shown her up! Damn it! Fuming, she saw Yan Qianqian and immediately waved excitedly.
“Qianqian, over here.”
When Yan Qianqian saw her, she responded with a radiant smile, but it froze completely when she saw Bai Shuangyu and Wang Yunfei in the same frame as Sheng Xiaoran. Thump, thump, thump, thump— Her heart began to pound violently as her mind raced to come up with a countermeasure.
“Sorry, I’m late. I had a schedule to keep. Director Wang, long time no see.”
Without a trace of guilt on her face, Yan Qianqian calmly greeted everyone. When Wang Yunfei saw her, his eyes looked like they wanted to eat her alive. But in front of everyone, he couldn’t possibly question her, so he just nodded stiffly in response.
“Qianqian, sit next to my brother. I saved this spot especially for you. By the way, I think you should change your assistant. Some people are so shameless, they probably pestered your assistant to find out your schedule just to chase you. And you know, our Young Master Bai is very ambitious. After losing face here last time, he actually went back and studied French hard. I have to say, he speaks it quite well. Haha, I remember you said he didn’t even graduate high school, right? If he had put half the effort into his studies as he did into chasing you, he wouldn’t have failed to get into even a third-rate university!”
Sheng Xiaojing mocked him openly and covertly, jeering at Shuang Yu with a grin.
Shuang Yu was not one to swallow insults. He slammed his water glass down, his face cold. The glass was so forceful that water spilled out. “Enough, Miss Sheng. In your eyes, is it so ridiculous for someone to like a person, to be willing to work hard to become better for them, to want to become someone worthy of them?”
His resounding question silenced everyone at the table.
“I don’t think it’s shameful to work hard for someone I like, and I have no idea what you find so funny or worthy of ridicule! I enjoy my efforts, and I enjoy my change. Even if the final result is not what I hoped for, I won’t hold any resentment. I’ll even be grateful to her, because without her cruelty, there wouldn’t be a better me! You keep mocking me, what’s the point? Did I kill your whole family or humiliate you? What kind of deep-seated hatred is this? In your eyes, is unrequited love so shameful?”
Shuang Yu stared sharply at Sheng Xiaojing, questioning her.
Sheng Xiaojing bit her lower lip, her face pale, and fell silent. She suddenly felt a pang of guilt; she shouldn’t have mocked Bai Shuangyu. After all, she understood the pain of unrequited love better than anyone. But love isn’t something you can achieve just by working hard. The truth is, someone who doesn’t like you won’t even glance your way, no matter how much you change for them…
People are prone to first impressions. Because she felt Yan Qianqian was being harassed, she disliked Bai Shuangyu. But now, she suddenly felt… that Bai Shuangyu wasn’t so annoying after all. After all, he was in the same boat as her.
“I’m sorry… I-I just hate you pestering Qianqian…”
Tears welled in her eyes as she bit her lip and apologized in a hoarse voice.
“That was in the past. It’s important for people to know their own limits. I know Miss Yan has high standards and looks down on a nouveau riche like me, so I decided to give up long ago. I haven’t been stalking or following her. Today was just a coincidence. If you’re still disgusted, then I’ll leave?”
Shuang Yu asked again.
“President Bai, please don’t blame Xiaojing. It’s all my fault…”
Yan Qianqian hurriedly apologized. That stale green tea bitch scent was making Shuang Yu want to vomit.
“It is indeed your fault. I don’t know what you told her to make her despise me so much, but it takes two to tango. If you hadn’t given me some kind of response, would I have chased after you so shamelessly?”
He sneered, metaphorically slapping Yan Qianqian across the face. The others belatedly realized it too. That’s right, it takes two to tango. If Yan Qianqian really detested him, she could have just ignored him completely. If she hadn’t given him some kind of response, why would he have thrown away his dignity and chased after her despite all the public ridicule?
Sheng Xiaoran wore a thoughtful expression, looking at Shuang Yu without saying a word.
“I-I didn’t… I didn’t say anything bad about you…”
Yan Qianqian’s face turned pale as she weakly refuted, tears falling on cue, looking so wronged it was as if Shuang Yu was bullying her. Sheng Xiaojing couldn’t help but stand up for her. She felt Bai Shuangyu was being too aggressive. As a man, why couldn’t he be a little more magnanimous, instead of pushing a girl to this point…
“Tsk, it’s so good to be a woman. Whenever there’s a problem you can’t solve, you just cry and throw a fit, using your face to get by. Hey, Shuang Yu, why don’t you try crying too? I think playing the victim to gain sympathy is a pretty effective move.”
Gao Yiwen chuckled, looking at Shuang Yu teasingly.
“Forget it. I’ve already given her countless firsts while chasing her. I can’t give her every first, can I? That would be too much of a loss for me.”
Shuang Yu quickly shook his head, looking like he wanted nothing to do with it.
“Have you ever cried for a man, then?”
Feng Yan, who had been watching the show, suddenly spoke up.
“Does getting beaten to tears by my dad count? President Feng, don’t be so fixated on my firsts. They’re long gone.”
Shuang Yu rolled his eyes and grumbled.
Not necessarily…
Feng Yan’s lips curved into a smile filled with profound meaning. Once again feeling his hair stand on end, Shuang Yu quickly changed the subject.
“Director Lu, here’s the investment budget and script Director Wang gave me. Please take a look for me.”
“Okay, okay.”
Lu Zihan nodded quickly and took the documents he was handed, starting to read. The more he read, the tighter his brows furrowed. The budget and the script were completely disproportionate. For such a terrible script, they were asking for a two-billion-dollar investment. This was a blatant attempt to scam Bai Shuangyu!
Lu Zihan shook his head. “To be blunt, this script is terrible. I’m sure this is the worst work Director Wang has ever produced. A two-billion investment is daylight robbery. Even with an Oscar-winning actor and actress, a piece of junk like this would still flop. If it were me, I wouldn’t invest a single cent!”
This remark hit a sore spot for Wang Yunfei. His true intentions exposed, he was both angry and annoyed. He knew the script was bad, but his goal wasn’t to make a good film; it was to swindle money from a fool.
“Who the hell do you think you are? How many films have you made? What’s your total box office? How many award-winning works do you have? Do you fucking know anything about movies, you piece of shit? How dare you criticize my work. I’m Wang Yunfei, I have countless award-winning works, you fucking idiot!”
He slammed the table and pointed at Lu Zihan’s head, cursing loudly.