Chapter 172: Uninvited Guest
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
An Zixuan was now like a hot potato in San Lin City. Even though Mr. Fang had hired Anthony to help save the An family’s company and he had been doing a marvelous job, at the end of the day, the An family’s business had to be given back to an An. As impressive as Anthony was, they would not let him manage the company forever. This was the point of contention for the An family’s elders. Their daughter was very nice, but if she refused to reconcile with the Chen family, then they would not be cooperating with the Chen family’s company. If they did reconcile, the baby in their daughter’s stomach definitely would not have the surname An.
Their son was not bad, but the fatal point was that he liked men. The two elders had compromised already—he could have his true love if only he married someone for the sake of his public image. If he produced a grandchild for the An family, he could do whatever he wanted, but he refused to do even that.
The An family could not just let their lineage end.
Therefore, the two elders were caught in this difficulty; they looked at their daughter and believed perhaps they could convince her to get back together with Chen He and produce another progeny with the An surname. Then they looked at their son, thinking perhaps they could still convince him to just treat childbirth as a mission. They were caught in a difficulty and so was everyone else—the An family’s young master had not really lost his hope yet, so should they befriend him or not‽
When people threw parties, those who were friends with the An family would find themselves with this conundrum. Not inviting An Zixuan meant isolating him; if he really regained his footing in the future, it would be unhealthy for business. However, if he was invited, it would be awkward for everyone. Before this, even if people knew about his sexuality, they could pretend not to know anything, but now that the cat was out of the bag and An Zixuan was all sharp due to the trauma, inviting him would ruin the party completely!
It was an impossible choice to make, so some simply wrote in the invitation that was sent to the two elders, “We invite the younger generation to attend.”
Whether you’re sending the daughter or son is your decision. Whomever it is, we’ll be welcoming.
Therefore, the conundrum was tossed back to the An family elders.
Then again, they did not want to send their son out to offend other people either!
“Wait, so it wasn’t you who invited An Zixuan?” After Fang Mo greeted An Zixuan, the latter glanced at Fang Mo and Ye Shuang before heading for the bar to grab some alcohol. Ye Shuang led Fang Mo to a quiet place to talk. After listening to what Fang Mo had to say, Ye Shuang said, “I saw him come from your special parking spot. Without the card prepared by your assistant, he wouldn’t have been able to park there. Are you sure you don’t want to call your people to ask about this‽”
Fang Mo frowned, and his eyes darkened. “You said that he came from the special parking lot‽ Right, both of you rode the VIP elevator together… Excuse me a moment.” Then, Fang Mo took several steps away to pull out his phone and make a call.
Naturally, Ye Shuang did not follow; this was not her business to care about. Furthermore, even standing where she was, she could hear the phone conversation clearly. Therefore, she chewed on a small cookie, and while she looked to be spacing out, she was actually eavesdropping on Fang Mo’s conversation. According to the summary from Fang Mo’s assistant, An Zixuan was indeed an invited guest. Even though Fang Mo himself did not send the invitation, the invitation was given by the Beijing headquarters.
Then some privacy issue was involved. Fang Mo stuck his ear close to the phone and turned to smile apologetically at Ye Shuang before walking out of the party with a dark expression. He was probably going to contact the headquarters. Ye Shuang arranged her thoughts. Why would the main company intervene into the branch at San Lin City? Why did they invite An Zixuan? Do they plan to extend an olive branch while he is down‽ If this is just a social event, why did Fang Mo’s face look so dark earlier? Is there something else I’m unaware of‽
While her CPU was fully running, the couch next to her moved. Ye Shuang stopped her thought and turned to look. An Zixuan had moved over with a glass of wine in his hand. He also turned to look at her. “Are you the face for Noah Real Estate?”
Ye Shuang examined An Zixuan’s expression closely—forced calmness that could not hide his nervousness. He seemed to be watching his attitude closely, which made him appear unnatural. It should be the unconscious self-defense mechanism… Looks like the man has suffered a lot lately, so he’s sensitive to other people’s reaction. Such a suspicious type that can be triggered easily.
“Not really.” Ye Shuang thought about it and smiled. “Getting to know Fang Mo was just an accident. At the time, his company planned to shoot a commercial, and I need a job and money, so I accepted his offer. They probably have someone else prepared to be their spokesperson. I don’t plan to be in the entertainment business, so they’ll probably have someone else in their commercial in the future.”
“Need money‽” An Zixuan was surprised; he did not expect Ye Shuang’s reason to be so… mundane.
However, after giving it some thought, he realized that the answer felt the most realistic. Everyone wanted to move up in life, but some had smaller goals and others bigger goals. Some would be satisfied with just enough while other would never be satisfied even if they had the world.
Probably due to the honesty in Ye Shuang’s answer, An Zixuan’s tense muscles slowly relaxed, and his expression looked more natural. “You’re right, everyone needs money.”
Then, he seemed to remember something and chuckled. “But most would not be so honest to admit that; they act a certain way but present themselves another way, real bitches acting like saint.”
Huh, is he talking about his ‘true love’‽ Ye Shuang smiled but did not answer. Then again, how could she answer? Saying that she was a saint sound fake. Saying she was a bitch… Who would admit something like that‽
An Zixuan realized that something was off after those words left his lips. He looked at the awkward expression on Ye Shuang’s face and panicked. He flustered like a child who was caught making a mistake. “I… I’m not talking about you.”
Ye Shuang nodded and smiled understandingly. “I know, you must have remembered someone else.”
An Zixuan was stunned. After several seconds of silence, when he wanted to say something, Fang Mo’s voice came from behind the sofa. “Do you mind if I join the both of you?”
Ye Shuang had already heard Fang Mo’s footsteps before he arrived, so she was not surprised. However, An Zixuan’s expression shifted immediately. His relaxed expression became tense, and the guard went up immediately as he turned to look at Fang Mo. There was a trace of mockery in his voice. “Of course, CEO Fang is welcome to join us, but the thing is, I’m just about to leave. I’m sorry.”
An Zixuan stood up from the sofa. Before Fang Mo could say anything, he had already left.
“This Mr. An sure is…” Fang Mo laughed bitterly.
“Is there some kind of misunderstanding between the both of you?” Ye Shuang was confused. The way An Zixuan acted looked like he actively disliked Fang Mo. It was not like he was acting this way because of the rumors. After all, at least An Zixuan conversed with her out of social courtesy, but he refused to even stay in the same conversation with Fang Mo, the host of the party he was attending!
Fang Mo sighed and walked around the sofa to sit beside Ye Shuang. He looked tired. “I don’t even know what to say anymore. The headquarters’ intention is to match Xiao Fei with An Zixuan, so they invited him… Thankfully, since I’ve invited you today, I’ve barred Xiao Fei from coming, or else I cannot imagine how awkward this would be.”
Fang Mo understood the main company’s intention. Noah Real Estate was something like a family business, but its familial influence was much less obvious than actual family businesses. The employees at Noah Real Estate would be assigned to a small company to gain experience, and in a way, that was the estate that was assigned by the family. His father was not very impressive among his age group and was not a direct descendent of the previous chairperson. Therefore, when it was Fang Mo’s turn, he got a branch at a second-rate city like San Lin City.
The children of powerful families usually had arranged marriages. Of course, there were examples of free love, but at least they had to prove that they were capable enough to escape from the fate of arranged marriage.
Fang Mo was fine, but Fang Fei was a different story. It was already an open secret that An Zixuan would face difficulty finding a wife in San Lin City. A good family would avoid him like the plague, and a bad family would not be approved by the An family. Therefore, after some looking around, the headquarters probably thought this was a good time to marry Fang Fei off to An Zixuan to get some good points from the An Family.
The An family’s elders were satisfied; Fang Fei came from a respectable family, and her big brother was a shining star. Having her enter the family would not make them lose face and would resolve the biggest problem they were facing. The main company was also satisfied—a girl in exchange for the affection of the family that had a monopoly on the electronics business in San Lin City. This was good for cooperation in the future.
It was just the couple themselves and the girl’s family who was not satisfied.
Fang Mo was surprised by this decision. He was not informed of anything beforehand. If he did not marry his sister, then it would be hard for him to answer for his family, but if he married his sister, what kind of future would Fang Fei have with a homosexual‽
An Zixuan did not approve of Fang Fei, either. She was not only a woman but a pretty useless one at that. If he was forced to marry someone, at least he should find someone who could be his gal pal, right‽ But this lady was arrogant and hard to please!