Chapter 351: Adult Friendship

After the glass art exhibition, the five of them had lunch together. As they left the steakhouse, Sang Yuan asked Ni Bingyan expectantly:

“I have to go discuss business with Mr. Martin this afternoon. When I’m done with work, would you mind coming to pick me up for dinner?”

Having French friends who had settled in Belgium, Sang Yuan’s French was also quite fluent.

The moment he said this, Martin nodded with a serious, approving expression, while Simone and Alan’s jaws nearly dropped!

Martin was famously henpecked, and the “tigress” at home was formidable. Alan and Simone had heard rumors about it, but today was the first time they’d formally met.

It was one thing for him to think nothing of it, but why would Sang Yuan, who looked every bit the domineering CEO, act like this too?

Ni Bingyan seemed so gentle. It just didn’t make sense!

The two of them couldn’t help but glance at Martin.

Based on their earlier interactions, Sang Yuan was clearly the dominant one in their partnership. Martin always spoke to him with deference. Sang Yuan wouldn’t be saying this just to curry favor with Martin, would he?

Weren’t Chinese men supposed to be very proud?

This subservient act…

Leaving his girlfriend to go talk business was understandable; after all, it was a scheduled appointment, and canceling abruptly would be poor form. But asking his girlfriend to come pick him up—how could he say that so naturally?

But Ni Bingyan didn’t see anything wrong with it.

She made a “call me” gesture near her ear and instructed Sang Yuan, “No problem. Call me when you’re finished.”

‘The fact that he’s prioritizing work, instead of constantly wanting to skip it and follow me around like he does back home… Never mind picking him up for dinner; I’d even crawl out of bed in the middle of the night to buy him a late-night snack.’

‘It’s not that I’m being subservient or trying to please him.’

‘It’s mainly because Sang Yuan was a workaholic who took his job very seriously before we got together. If he turned into a slacker after being with me, never mind letting down the thousands of employees at his company, what would his parents think?’

‘Putting myself in their shoes, if I had a son who started dating and then spent all his time chasing after a girl, putting his career on the back burner, I’d definitely have a poor impression of her, regardless of whether it was her fault.’

‘Whether for our future or based on my own principles, I have to encourage Sang Yuan to work hard.’

Sang Yuan understood her thought process perfectly. Seeing her agree without a moment’s hesitation, he immediately broke into a gentle smile.

“Don’t worry, I’ll work hard today, too.”

Little Chen lowered his head, pretending not to see his boss channeling his inner award-winning actor.

‘He’s acting so reluctant, as if he isn’t the same person who camps out at the office when Miss Ni is on a business trip, just to make it easier to work overtime.’

As the boss’s most capable assistant, no one knew better than Little Chen how much effort their young boss had put in to support such a large company.

Sang Yuan agreed, and just before getting into the car, he turned his back to the others and gave Ni Bingyan a wink. In French, he said, “See you tonight, my dear. I love you too.” His deep voice was so seductive that Ni Bingyan’s face instantly turned red.

“Just go already! You’re always so full of tricks!”

Seeing her embarrassment, Sang Yuan laughed and shut the car door.

Young people are always like this. Once they fall in love, it’s like they’re bubbling over with pink hearts.

Alan couldn’t help but chuckle, but he pretended not to have seen anything.

As Ni Bingyan walked over, he said to Simone:

“There’s a pop-up antique market this afternoon that Ni and I are going to check out. Do you have time? Want to come with us? You’re much more knowledgeable about art appraisal than I am. With you there, we’ll definitely have an easier time finding some interesting treasures.”

Ni Bingyan was pleasantly surprised; she hadn’t expected this to be Alan’s plan for the afternoon!

When she had been researching travel guides, she’d seen many people mention these highly transient markets. They were filled with all sorts of peculiar items, and whether you could find something you truly loved depended entirely on your eye and your luck.

The only problem was that they were hard for outsiders to find. Now she had a chance to visit one—and a market that a local strongly recommended as being well worth a visit, at that. It was an opportunity not to be missed!

Simone didn’t actually know Ni Bingyan. She had agreed to appear on camera and introduce her work, firstly, to increase her own publicity, and secondly, as a favor to Alan.

She had originally planned to just make an appearance in the morning and then leave, but she hadn’t expected to meet Mr. Martin through Ni Bingyan’s boyfriend.

She was indeed quite famous, but renowned artists in Paris were a dime a dozen. Successful businessmen like Mr. Martin, who were well-connected in many countries, were not so common.

Since she had made a connection with Mr. Martin through Ni Bingyan today, she naturally wanted to deepen her ties with Ni Bingyan.

Alan had already said that with her around, it would be easier to spot good items at the market. If she could help Ni Bingyan and find her some interesting trinkets, their relationship would surely grow stronger.

Adult friendships are often not so simple.

A relationship built on mutual benefit is the most stable kind.

So, Simone readily agreed to join them.

Ni Bingyan understood the dynamic at a glance, but she didn’t feel hurt by it.

‘Because, much of the time, I’m the same way.’

‘Every year, during the holidays, I send gifts to producers, directors, and actors I’ve worked with. For important people, I even use a special palm-sized notebook to record their birthdays.’

‘Many of the older, influential figures prefer to celebrate their birthdays according to the lunar calendar, so I even make special notes for that.’

‘It’s a lot more sincere than those who just look up their public solar calendar birthday on Wikipedia and send wishes then.’

‘From the moment I accepted Sang Yuan’s pursuit, became his girlfriend, and promised to be serious about our relationship with the goal of marriage, I had anticipated this.’

‘For the rest of my life, people will constantly approach me, not for my own sake, but to get a connection to Sang Yuan and the Sang Family through me.’

‘It’s just like how many people try to get to know me through my own friends and family.’

‘As long as it doesn’t cross a line, it isn’t really that annoying.’

‘Someone like Simone, who just used their connection to have a meal with Mr. Martin and didn’t do anything out of line, doesn’t bother me.’

The afternoon market was indeed very interesting.

The three of them strolled leisurely until five-thirty in the afternoon. Alan and Simone each found a few little trinkets they liked, and with Simone’s help, Ni Bingyan also found a fan.

It was a fan made entirely of mother-of-pearl, very shimmery, and carved with a scene of a family’s daily life.

An old patriarch sat in a rocking chair in the courtyard, a contented smile on his face, as if telling a story. Two chubby children were draped over his knees, listening intently, looking completely engrossed. Under the eaves, two women sat across from each other, one sewing a shoe sole and the other mending clothes, their smiling faces suggesting a pleasant chat. A man carrying a bundle of pastries was just walking through the main gate, also looking cheerful, as if something wonderful had happened that day. In a corner of the yard stood a large pomegranate tree, its branches heavy with large, lovely pomegranates.

At a single glance, you could feel the happiness of the people in the scene.

But a closer look sparked endless imagination.

Beyond the detailed depiction, it left enough empty space, making it a truly rare and excellent piece of art.

Especially since it was carved onto a fan.

At first, Ni Bingyan just thought it was pretty and didn’t think much of it. It was only after Simone’s explanation that she learned it was an export fan from the Qing Dynasty Thirteen Lines.

Chinese scholars generally didn’t care for items made of mother-of-pearl, but people in the Western World loved them because they were so flashy.

“You can’t see a single seam where the shells were joined. Both the carving and the imagery are top-notch. These kinds of fans were once luxury items sought after by aristocrats. A fusion of Chinese and Western styles—very interesting.”

The French love art. It’s not unheard of for an ordinary farmer’s family to own an antique silver pot left by their great-great-grandfather. An antique fan over a hundred years old wasn’t shocking to these two French people just because of its long history.

If they had been accompanied by Americans, it might have been a different story.

Seeing Ni Bingyan pull out her money to buy it, the two of them just offered a sincere compliment on its beauty and didn’t say much more.

The main reason was that the scene on the fan wasn’t to their taste.

Art is like that: one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

Ni Bingyan didn’t mind that they weren’t fond of it. That evening, when she met up with Sang Yuan and showed him the fan, his eyes immediately lit up. Ni Bingyan was instantly gratified, and even the three-hour French dinner didn’t feel slow anymore.