Chapter 344 - 165: Just Buddies

Chapter 344: Chapter 165: Just Buddies

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

At that moment, Aunt Luo’s phone also rang. She answered it with a light chuckle. "It’s nothing, don’t mention it. Just a small thing. No, not Shanghai, I’m in the Imperial Capital. Mm, okay. Once you get your paycheck, you can treat me to a meal. Hehehe, sounds good. I have a guest right now, so I’ll talk to you later."

Hanging up, Roy was all smiles. Su Ran asked curiously, "What’s got you so happy?"

"I met a young woman yesterday. We hit it off, and her situation is quite pitiful. She wants to find a job without her boyfriend knowing. I helped her find one, so she called to thank me."

"Finding a job behind her boyfriend’s back? Doesn’t he support her?"

"It’s not that, exactly... It’s just... her boyfriend loves her very much and is quite rich, but she’s an orphan..."

"Wait, another orphan?"

"That’s right. There are so many orphans in this world. Her boyfriend buys all her food and clothes, but she doesn’t want to be beholden to him. On top of that, her boyfriend is harsh with her. She wants to be self-reliant to avoid becoming one of those kept women who have no say in the relationship, so she’s looking for a job."

"Then her boyfriend is a real piece of work! His girlfriend is an orphan, so her heart is already fragile, and he’s still harsh with her? He thinks buying her a few things is enough to be a good boyfriend? That’s not how it works. You have to give your real heart."

"Oh? To hear you talk, you must be very good to your girlfriend, then?"

"Of course!" Su Ran said, sipping his wine. The description fit Xie Yiren, who was also an orphan. "My girlfriend is an orphan too. And while I’ve provided for her financially, I’ve never been harsh with her. I’m incredibly patient with her and I love her. I’ve never once made her cry. Not a single time!"

"So you’re one of the good ones, huh."

"Of course."

「Meanwhile, in Shanghai.」

’Come on, Yiren! You can do this! You have to work hard and support yourself. Don’t give Su Ran the chance to keep you. He’s already starting to show his temper. He even got angry enough to make you cry just because your hair was blocking his view while he was gaming. If you don’t try harder now, you’ll really just end up at his beck and call!’

It was noon. Xie Yiren went into a Guizhou rice noodle shop and ordered a medium bowl. *Sigh*. The noodles weren’t authentic. Not Guizhou enough. They didn’t taste good. After more than a month, the young woman was starting to feel a little homesick.

...

In the Imperial Capital, Uncle Qin called to say he’d found the pocket watch—it was in his own pocket. He laughed and told Su Ran how forgetful he was. Su Ran offered a few words of comfort before hanging up. *Sigh*. The old man’s condition was getting worse year by year. Just one New Year had passed, and his illness had progressed significantly. He was forgetting things every other day.

Aunt Luo asked, "Did he find it?"

Su Ran nodded. "Yeah, he found it. It was in his pocket the whole time. He just forgot for a moment and started to panic."

Aunt Luo remarked, "I didn’t realize how much he loved his late wife. There aren’t many men like that in the world anymore. A lot of them, as soon as their wife dies, they’re bringing a new girlfriend home the very next day. Hmph. They’re all the same."

Hearing this, Su Ran retorted, "But aren’t there also plenty of women who remarry the day after their husband dies? And the kids aren’t even the husband’s. There was even that one guy who found out none of his three kids were his. How tragic is that? So, don’t always go on about how men are this or that. It’s six of one, half a dozen of the other. There are all kinds of people in the world. You can’t generalize and always make men take the blame."

"What about you, then? What kind of person are you?"

"Me? I’m the faithful type, just like Uncle Qin. People like us are rare these days."

Aunt Luo chuckled. "Hehehe, have you no shame, Young Master Su?"

Su Ran smiled. "It’s just the truth. I love my girlfriend very much; I’m not just playing around. What about you, Aunt Luo? What kind of person are you?"

"Me?" Aunt Luo sipped her wine. "After my husband passed away, I never looked for anyone else. I’ve been alone for decades. I had a son, but unfortunately, he passed away too. Heh... I guess that’s just fate."

"Alright, alright, let’s not talk about such unhappy things. We’re not here to see who has it worse. Let’s drink."

The two of them drank half a bottle of Feitian liquor over lunch. It wasn’t much, but it left them a little dizzy. Su Ran had already booked a room at the Shangri-La Grand Hotel when he arrived early in the Imperial Capital. Aunt Luo walked him to the gate of the courtyard house. "I’ll have Ah Wei drive you back to the hotel to rest. For the event tonight, you can just go straight down to the banquet hall." Aunt Luo patted Su Ran’s shoulder, chuckling. It had been a long time since she’d had such a happy and carefree chat.

"No need for a ride. The Shangri-La is just a short walk away. I can get there on my own."

"Alright, then. Be careful. Go on, I see someone I know."

Just as she spoke, a young matron in a cheongsam, one of her neighbors, got out of an Audi A8L with a young man in tow. Aunt Luo walked over with a smile to greet them. "Huiru, is this Mengjie’s boyfriend? Hehe, did you really go to the zoo to ’inspect the communication lines’ and catch him for her?"

"Xiaolin, hurry up and greet Aunt Luo."

This Xiaolin was quite the sweet-talker, calling out to "Sister Hua" one moment and "Aunt Luo" the next.

The three of them started chatting at the entrance of a courtyard house. Su Ran gave the young man a slight smile, then turned and walked out of the small alley.

Pleasantly buzzed from the alcohol, he ambled toward the Shangri-La, taking in the prosperity of the Imperial Capital along the way. He took lots of photos of old Beijing but didn’t sample any of the local cuisine. Not that there seemed to be much, besides the "authentic local flavor." Before long, he arrived at the Shangri-La Grand Hotel. Su Ran had booked the presidential suite. He was clearly not short on cash. Nothing wrong with liking to stay in the presidential suite, right? He had originally picked a room with a floor-to-ceiling window that directly faced the Forbidden City, but he was a step too late—a young man with the surname Wang had booked it first. So, he had to settle for another one.

After he checked in at the front desk, a private butler came up to assist him—the standard service for the presidential suite. Su Ran had the butler brew a pot of tea to help him sober up. The Feitian liquor had a strong kick, and Su Ran didn’t like the feeling of being completely intoxicated. Soaking in the bathtub and sipping his sobering tea, he got a call from Reba. She said she had just finished her event and asked where he was so she could come find him.

"I’m in my hotel room. I drank a bit too much and I’m feeling all hot. You still want to come over, Sister Reba?"

"Whoa... In that case, you should just go to bed hugging a block of ice. Bye."

’Things can easily get complicated after drinking; I’d rather not take that risk.’ She thought her current "buddy" relationship with Su Ran was just fine. If something were to happen between them, their relationship wouldn’t be so simple anymore. And if he got tired of her, they couldn’t even be friends. It was better to stay "buddies." At least they could remain on friendly terms forever. And taking a step back, as his buddy, she could always receive Su Ran’s support and get a lot of resources in the entertainment industry. If they... you know... men always get tired of women eventually. Once he got tired of her, the resources would dry up. He was the Sponsor, and she could be his "sponsor bro." Wasn’t that a great deal?

Girls always tend to overthink things.

In truth, she didn’t really know Su Ran that well. Su Ran didn’t sleep around. He hadn’t even finished "reaping" the girls already around him, so why would he look elsewhere? Besides, his ’Vibrant Colors and Fragrance’ was so precious, he couldn’t just go "injecting" it randomly.

Unless this particular starlet’s Red Dust Line appeared on Su Ran’s finger, then he might consider it.

But clearly, it hadn’t. They were purely buddies.

’There’s no such thing as a purely platonic friendship between a man and a woman,’ he thought. ’But whatever, as long as we don’t cross the line.’

「At that moment.」

Su Ran, still soaking in the tub, scrolled through his WeChat Moments. Robot Su Ran went online to methodically like and comment on every post. These were the daily chores that had to be done. Only after finishing his likes could he go to bed. It’s tough being a man, but a little suffering is no big deal.