Chapter 173: Tricky Gossip

Nowadays, many businesses grew into several areas; those that only focused on one field was extremely rare. This might be due to the need to expand the market, the desire to increase product chain, or just increased investment.

Noah Corporation, for example, initially started with real estate, but after it grew bigger, it expanded to include hotels, retail stores, luxury brands, and even tourism and gaming. Therefore, the headquarters’ decision to build a relationship with the An family, which was in electronics, was understandable. The latter not only had their own line of electronics but also investments in some retail stores and supermarkets.

The trading of marketing channel and the possibility of future cooperation was good for both parties. This was similar to the marriage between the Chen and An families, the difference in main market did not mean that they could not work together to try to expand into another field.

After Fang Mo returned with another glass of wine, he still sat down beside Ye Shuang to vent. Initially, he wanted to get an update on his friend’s current situation, but who would have thought something like this would happen?

Now he had lost all the mood to gossip about others. Resolving his own family issue had taken up most of his time and effort. “Marriage between business families is something common. After all, the circle is small. I’m not saying this is completely bad because at least their sense of money would be similar since they grew up in the same environment. But it’s not completely perfect either. At the very least, I always believed Fang Fei would end up with a man who had enough money to purchase a home for them, but I did not expect there was a choice like An Zixuan.”

From his perspective, An Zixuan was a horrible choice not because of his personality but also because the man did not even like women. How could the marriage be a happy one‽

Ye Shuang also shook her head. “Sorry, but I don’t think I can help you with this. Maybe think about it this way: many marriages are only on the surface. Just in San Lin City alone, do you know how many extra-marital cases I’ve accepted? However, for other couples, it was the husband who had mistresses on the side, whereas in the future, your brother-in-law would have male ones. Since you already knew about that, ignoring An Zixuan’s sexuality, the risk of marrying him is similar to marrying any other men.”

Who could guarantee Fang Fei that would have a stable marriage after she married a straight man‽ If the husband really did have an affair, be it male or female, it was still an affair. It was something for people to talk about, just one of them had a lower level of acceptance among the public.

“I suppose you have a point.” Fang Mo thought about it and said bitterly, “But the issue here is attitude. At least now everyone can see Xiao Fei is the least respected party in this whole transaction.”

“That’s just a psychological thing.” Ye Shuang sighed. “Either you resolve this with the headquarters so that your sister can have the freedom to love whoever she wants, or you communicate with Mr. An.

“After having the child, both of them can have their own lives. After all, for most arranged marriages, it’s only a surface thing, for example An Zining and Chen He… At least a homosexual won’t suddenly come home with a baby.”

Fang Mo choked and felt weirdly convinced by the last sentence Ye Shuang. “You… really have no filter.”

Ye Shuang could not help but laugh; why must she have a filter? This was not really a taboo topic and nothing to be ashamed of. That was the truth. Everything had its pros and cons, and Fang Mo was really concerned about how his family would be perceived by the public.

They continued chatting, and the topic changed. Fang Mo just wanted to find someone to share his trouble with, and he happened to find Ye Shuang. But at the end of the day, this was his family business, and Ye Shuang could not help even if she wanted to. Therefore, they just talked about it for a while.

However, Ye Shuang felt they were going in circles. The solution had to come from himself. He had to list out the pros and cons and decide whether to accept this or not. If not, what ways he could use to evade this arranged marriage?

The party was mainly about eating and drinking. Since this was a company party, the main purpose was to increase the workers’ loyalty toward the company and to increase the relationship among the workers. The party offered a buffet, and people would chat among themselves. Halfway through the party, there would be an awards event to select the year’s best worker and a luck draw to give away prizes.

Ye Shuang glanced at the prizes. The company sure had a big budget. The reward for the most hardworking employee was a small car. For Fang Mo, it would mean nothing, but for a white collar worker, it was a big surprise. The prizes had a level to them. The lowest was a cash coupon for a high-end supermarket; the highest was a powerful computer. Other prizes included other smaller electronics, hampers, and the like. Basically, everyone would win something as long as they participated in the lucky draw.

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As the CEO, Fang Mo naturally took the stage to host the event. He apologized to Ye Shuang and walked to the stage. Naturally, Ye Shuang did not follow him. She was a guest, so she sat at the sidelines to enjoy the atmosphere. Probably because An Zixuan and Fang Mo had been sitting beside her all night, the other invited guests did not have the chance to come over. Now that the seat beside Ye Shuang was empty, a young man came over with a smile. “Ye Shuang is it? I’ve seen your commercial.”

“Nice to meet you.” Ye Shuang stood up and greeted back with politeness. “Mr. Xu from the chain market, yes? I’ve heard so many good things about you.”

Mr. Xu’s expression softened with sincerity. He was there to make good relationships, so to be able to be recognized meant that the man valued him; of course, he was glad. After exchanging some pleasantries with Ye Shuang, Mr. Xu waved at someone from the other corner. Minutes later, the group that he had been talking to earlier also came over. Ye Shuang had to greet all of them politely. Thankfully, Yao Zhixing’s group would normally talk about people in their circles, and Ye Shuang had come to know quite a few important names through Han Chu. Basically, after she matched the details to her memory, she could get everyone’s name.

Mr. Xu’s group was glad that Ye Shuang was so understanding. The distance between them closed before the conversation even began. “I hear you’re friends with Fang Mo? Why didn’t you come to his previous parties? We could have gotten to know each other sooner.”

Ye Shuang smiled. “It’s still not too late now. I’ve not been in San Lin City for a while, and it’s slightly inconvenient for me to leave the house. I’m sure you understand.”

Combined with the sincerity in his eyes and the awkwardness on his face, Brother Shuang managed to garner everyone’s understanding with his acting. Mr. Xu laughed. “Xiao Ye sure is popular among women—that’s something all of us guys hope for.”

“Being liked by one person is lucky. Two is charming. More than that…” Ye Shuang purposely sighed and then smiled. “Honestly, when I go out now, I wear as many layers as I can, afraid that people might yank them off me.”

There was an incident in the past where a celebrity was recognized by his fans on the street. It was unknown whether someone was trying to frame him, or the fans were overly exciting. They demanded more than his signature. They all wanted a piece of him, so they reached out to tear the celebrity’s clothes apart. Taking this opportunity to sneak in a hug or a kiss was something small. With the increase in numbers came the increase in competition; the fans were too excited, and the celebrity was injured in the commotion.

The others had heard of this as well, and they could not help but sigh. “Yes, I agree it’s better to be careful, and you’re of a higher risk than most. By the way, you seem close to Fang Mo and his sister, right? Miss Fang Fei has mentioned you by name several times before, is she also your fan?”

Fan was a more reserved way of putting it. They mainly wanted to know if Fang Fei had a crush on Ye Shuang. However, they did not ask this openly because it would ruin people’s face. After all, they were talking about someone inside their circle; openly gossiping about them was a bit crude, so they used this round-about way to ask.

From Mr. Xu’s perspective, there had to be more than just matching personalities for Fang Mo to have befriended Brother Shuang, perhaps the man had considered Brother Shuang as a possible candidate for brother-in-law.

Ye Shuang heard the key point that they were curious about. It was a hard question to answer. If she said yes, then it would sound like Fang Fei did have a crush on her, but if she said no, then it might sound like she was trying to avoid suspicion. In a circle like this, if you actively said you’re not close to someone, it was a face-disrupting act. At the very least, one had to give some praise and say something bureaucratic.

Ye Shuang arranged the thoughts in her mind and was about to say something when An Zixuan’s pointed voice came from behind her. “Fang Fei‽ Mr. Ye has so many fans, and he’s not going to enter the entertainment field, so why should he care about whether people admire him or not?”

Instantly, the atmosphere turned sour.

Mr. Xu’s group looked at one another, and they turned to look at An Zixuan, who stood behind them with a glass of wine in his hand. No one knew how long he had been standing there… and what did he mean‽ He was not satisfied with Fang Fei or Ye Shuang?

Mr. Xu frowned and thought about it. If he just left, it would be too damaging to his face, so he smiled politely. “Since Mr. An is here, why don’t you join us? We did not have time to greet you earlier. I’m surprised you’re interested in this kind of gossip.”

An Zixuan looked at Ye Shuang before turning back to flash a fake smile at Mr. Xu. “I’m already preparing for the engagement with the Fang family. I heard you mention Fang Fei, so I decided to chime in.”

What the f*ck!

Everyone—included Fang Mo, who was walking over—was stunned.