On the plane, Tang Moshu swapped seats with a male staff member sitting next to Su Yan. Su Yan took the window seat, just glanced at her, then faced towards the window and pretended to sleep. "Su Yan?" After calling his name once and getting no response, Tang Moshu didn’t bother him further, she leaned towards him and closed her eyes too. It takes roughly two hours for a flight from the United Kingdom to France to land. By the time they got into the car sent to pick them up, it was already ten in the morning. Su Yan’s first thought was to call Yin Xiaojing. "Xiao Yan, you’ve arrived?" "If you’re looking for An’an, why didn’t you call her phone?" joked Yin Xiaojing before she stopped teasing, "An’an is being good, not crying or fussing, and hasn’t been asking for you. She just doesn’t seem too happy." Su Yan was silent for a moment, "Pass the phone to her, please." After a while, he could hear Su Zhen’s voice faintly coming from the other end of the phone, "I don’t want to talk to him." Her voice carried a hint of grievance. "Don’t you miss Uncle Xiao Yan? Uncle Xiao Yan is calling you." "I don’t want to listen!" Su Yan’s eyes drooped faintly, and on the other end Yin Xiaojing seemed to give up explaining, "She’s probably mad at you. You left without saying a word to her, and when she opened her eyes this morning, the first thing she did was ask for you. After I said you left, she hasn’t spoken since." Su Yan fell silent for two seconds, somewhat helplessly replying, "Alright, just leave it then." "You’re this attached? It’s only been a few hours since you’ve seen each other and you’re already calling?" As soon as Su Yan put down the phone, Tang Moshu next to him made a sour comment. Su Yan just put away his phone without responding to her, or rather, deliberately ignored her altogether. Without Su Zhen by his side, he felt disinterested in everything around him. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NoveI★Fire.net "Dingdong", a message notification came through WeChat, and Su Yan slowly pulled out his phone, only to see a video from Yin Xiaojing. It was of Su Zhen, sitting on steps at the set, holding a cup of milk tea, looking somewhat melancholic, sucking on the straw in low spirits. Only when he saw Su Zhen did a faint smile emerge on Su Yan’s face. Tang Moshu was curious about what was in the phone that made him smile. As she craned her neck to peek, he had already put the phone away. On the other side, Su Zhen, like Su Yan, couldn’t get interested in anything, even Yin Xiaojing’s invitation to a fancy dinner seemed lackluster. "An’an, still upset?" Su Zhen didn’t try to hide it, "I’m missing Uncle Xiao Yan." Yin Xiaojing laughed, "Then call him." She rejected outright, "I don’t want to." "If you miss him but don’t tell him, how would he know?" thought Yin Xiaojing, guessing that Su Yan was probably waiting for this little girl to call him. Pouting out of spite, Su Zhen muttered, "I definitely don’t want him to know!" Understanding a child’s temperament, Yin Xiaojing thought about it; she, as the intermediary, had to do some good. Su Yan was also a pitiable child, she had to think of a way to cheer him up. "An’an, do you know what day it is tomorrow?" Su Zhen thought about it, then suddenly realized, "It’s Uncle Xiao Yan’s birthday!" Yin Xiaojing smiled meaningfully, then took three plane tickets out of her bag, "We’re leaving tonight, going with Uncle Zheng." Su Zhen’s eyes widened in disbelief, "Are we going to see Uncle Xiao Yan?!
" "Yeah, eat quickly, and then we can go." Upon hearing this, Su Zhen’s spirits soared, and her appetite for dinner improved. As she stuffed her mouth quickly, she asked, "And Uncle Zheng?" "He’s coming to pick us up soon." Uncle Zheng was Yin Xiaojing’s boyfriend, a public relations man at the company, and they were considered a golden duo at work. With a 5:30 pm flight, they would arrive in Paris a little after seven. Su Zhen went to a cake shop and picked out a cake for Su Yan, clearly in a much better mood. "Auntie Xiaojing, we need to give Uncle Xiao Yan a surprise!" After calling and finding out that Su Yan was still on set, Yin Xiaojing directly took a cab there. Su Yan was filming a children’s body wash advertisement, having doffed his upper garments to reveal well-defined abs. During the shoot, his immersion was evident; his allure different as he stood there, making Tang Moshu, who watched from the sideline, like him more and more. His mixed heritage, sought-after at home and abroad, had quickly surpassed the value of many top domestic stars within just a few years. In the middle of the shoot, Su Yan’s gaze suddenly shifted to one side as the director instructed in English "Carey, look at the camera." Su Yan turned his head, his expression much softer than before, then faced the camera and recited the advertisement lines fluently in English. Su Zhen, along with Yin Xiaojing and Uncle Zheng, stood outside the circle, waving at Su Yan. When Tang Moshu saw Su Zhen’s arrival, she was stunned for a moment and cursed inwardly, but went over with a smile and greeted warmly, "An’an, how come you’re here, too?" Yin Xiaojing saw Tang Moshu and introduced her to An’an, "Call her Sister Xiao Shi; do you remember filming together with her last time?" Su Zhen nodded and sweetly called out, "Sister Xiao Shi." Tang Moshu then fished a chocolate out of the small bag slung over her shoulder, "Here you go." Su Zhen glanced at it, turned around to pass the cake she was holding to Yin Xiaojing, then reached out to take the chocolate from her hand, "Thank you." "Whose birthday is it?" Yin Xiaojing answered for Su Zhen, "Xiao Yan, he just turned seventeen." "Su Yan? Can I join the celebration later?" Yin Xiaojing didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just a friend of the same age, and since everyone was in the entertainment industry, it was good to make more connections. Besides, this girl had a connection with Director Wang, so Yin Xiaojing nodded, "Sure, let’s go together later." "Auntie Xiaojing, I want to go to the bathroom." Tang Moshu immediately took the initiative to hold An’an’s hand, "Let’s go, An’an, I’ll take you." Tang Moshu, holding An’an’s hand, was like a friendly big sister as she asked, "An’an, weren’t you in the United Kingdom? How come you also made your way over here?" "Auntie Xiaojing brought me here to celebrate Xiao...," realizing she shouldn’t mention Su Yan was her uncle in front of others, she paused and immediately changed her wording, "...Yan’s birthday." "Then... what’s your relationship with Su Yan? How come you live together?" Su Zhen’s mind spun, and she casually said, "He... he’s my brother!" "Oh, your brother..." Tang Moshu murmured. One surnamed Shen and the other Su, Shen Yian’s mother also has the surname Su, perhaps some relatives on her mother’s side, or perhaps they have no blood relation and ’brother’ is just a title? Otherwise, how could Su Yan like her? Su Yan finished shooting and, while drying himself off with a towel, asked, "Where’s An’an?" "She’s gone to the bathroom with Xiao Shi," said Yin Xiaojing cheerfully as she shook the cake in her hand, "Your An’an picked it out for you herself! Surprised?" Inside, Su Yan felt a pleasant surprise but he put on a bothered expression, "Why bring her over in the middle of the night?" Yin Xiaojing glanced at him, "If I didn’t bring her, certain people might not be able to sleep tonight! An’an is young, and you have to tell her these things. She wanted to celebrate your birthday but you never told her when it was. Plus, you spoil her so much she’s heedless—how would she remember these things?" Feeling a little ashamed, Su Yan looked away and started walking towards the changing room as he spoke, "Go and check on An’an, and don’t let her get too close to Tang Moshu in the future." "You’re jealous of a girl? You can’t spoil An’an to the point of not letting her make friends, right? She’s a girl; she should have a couple of good girlfriends. You expect her to hang out with a grown man all the time?" Yin Xiaojing complained, but still did as Su Yan asked, handing the cake to Old Zheng behind her and went to check on An’an in the restroom. Su Yan didn’t explain anything and strode towards the changing room. After changing into a well-fitting suit and blow-drying his hair, he came out to find An’an holding a big cake, smiling broadly at him, her previous unhappiness seemingly forgotten. "Let’s go, the restaurant’s all booked." Su Yan walked over to take Su Zhen’s hand, but Tang Moshu suddenly squeezed between them, placing her hand on Su Zhen’s back, "Let’s go, An’an." Su Yan frowned but simply walked around to the other side and took the seemingly heavy cake from An’an’s hands. Tang Moshu and Su Yan exchanged glances, while Su Zhen, oblivious to the tension, turned and asked Tang Moshu with interest, "Sister Xiao Shi, what happened next? What happened to the little bear?" Tang Moshu continued to tell her the story as she led the way. Watching from behind, Su Yan thought, indeed, An’an was growing up too. She couldn’t just stay with him, a grown man, all the time; it was necessary to interact with other girls too. But a girl like Tang Moshu, with dubious intentions, it would be better for An’an to stay away from her. Yet things seemed to be moving in a direction he hadn’t hoped for; all evening, An’an had gotten along quite well with her. Su Yan had thought he would be spending this birthday alone again, but to his surprise, Su Zhen had come. So even though it was just a simple meal with a few people and a cake he didn’t particularly enjoy, as long as she was there, it was enough. After the meal, Tang Moshu left with her agent. Old Zheng took the two kids back to the hotel and then went to enjoy a romantic Parisian evening with Yin Xiaojing. Humming a tune, Su Zhen followed Su Yan into the house. "Are you that happy?" Su Zhen looked at him, paused, then went up to hug him, "Uncle, aren’t you happy? I came all this way to see you." Su Yan patted her head, "Why didn’t you answer my call this morning?" Mentioning this, Su Zhen pouted and asked, "Then why didn’t you tell me when you left this morning?" "...It won’t happen again," he thought she wouldn’t care about such things. "Uncle... I don’t want to be apart from you anymore." Su Yan fell silent, not answering. He wouldn’t easily promise something he couldn’t deliver. Perhaps this was just the beginning; there might be many more times in the future. She couldn’t be inseparable from him like conjoined twins. She had to slowly adapt. Not getting an answer, Su Zhen gently pushed him away, looked up, and called, "Uncle?" Su Yan looked down and advised her, "Play less with Tang Moshu in the future." Su Zhen was momentarily stunned, "Why? Sister Xiao Shi’s stories are so interesting, and she even gave you chocolate." Su Yan, leading her towards the bedroom, said, "Just listen to me." Somewhat confused but still obedient, Su Zhen followed him, simply responding with an "Okay."