HYAT - 35

Unfortunately, plans can’t keep up with changes.

Three days later, Shen Qianzhan received a call from her mother: “Dengdeng, your dad and I are in Beijing.”

Shen Qianzhan, caught off guard by her parents’ unannounced arrival, was immediately dumbfounded.

At that moment, Shen Qianzhan was in a small conference room deploying work plans. After a brief moment of speechlessness, she clarified the situation, learned that the old couple had already arrived in Beijing, and immediately adjourned the meeting to pick them up at the airport.

Su Zan was overjoyed. With a mentality of enjoying the show and not minding making things bigger, he volunteered: “Sister Zhan, should I come along?”

Shen Qianzhan put on her coat, casting a sidelong glance at him: “Why are you always meddling?”

Su Zan picked up her bag for her: “What meddling? I still owe Uncle a meal.”

The year before last, during Chinese New Year, Qiandeng had a youth sports project scheduled for TV broadcast that was behind schedule. The entire crew, from producers and directors down to set managers and lighting technicians, were all working overtime, and Su Zan was no exception.

That year, by coincidence, the filming location was in Jiangsu, not far from Shen Qianzhan’s hometown. Her parents drove to the set to make dumplings for all the staff. Su Zan was half a production assistant at the time, mainly responsible for the crew’s three meals. This is how he became acquainted with Uncle Shen, cooking together, forging a brief but profound week-long friendship.

Thinking of this, Shen Qianzhan no longer objected, silently agreeing to Su Zan accompanying her.

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An hour later, Shen Qianzhan arrived at the airport and met her parents at the domestic arrivals exit.

Her parents had initially been a bit uneasy, but seeing that while Shen Qianzhan’s expression was stern, her tone was gentle, only complaining about their unannounced arrival and not disliking their sudden visit, they finally relaxed.

“Didn’t I see that you’ve been calling less lately, thinking you were busy? When I asked if you were coming home for New Year, you didn’t give a definite answer,” her mother said. “Before, when your dad and I wanted to visit you during holidays, you’d complain about the hassle of booking tickets or say you didn’t have time. Wasn’t I just afraid you wouldn’t want me to come?”

Shen Qianzhan was left speechless.

She had been adrift in Beijing for too long, completely focused on her career. In the first few years of being a “Beijing drifter,” she would often miss home, but later, after overcoming a low point and becoming so busy that even regular meals became a luxury, her contact with home dwindled, often only remembering to check in once every half month.

She was indeed in the wrong.

Su Zan glanced at Shen Qianzhan, who looked crestfallen in the back seat, secretly amused but maintaining a serious facade: “Auntie, don’t blame Sister Zhan. In our line of work, project cycles are long, and there are many uncertainties. She’s also the backbone of the entire project; everything needs her attention. She really is busy. If you and Uncle don’t understand her, she’ll probably die of injustice.”

After speaking, he subtly changed the subject: “Auntie, did you come here specifically to spend Chinese New Year with Sister Zhan?”

“Sort of,” her mother smiled. “Dengdeng has a maternal grandfather who came to Beijing for treatment at the end of last year. I thought the timing was right, so your dad and I came along.”

Su Zan remembered this. He interjected, “Sister Zhan, when you went on that business trip last year, you asked me to find a hospital and arrange a bed. Was that for your maternal grandfather?”

Shen Qianzhan had almost forgotten about it. That happened at the end of November last year, before her business trip for inspection. Her maternal grandfather wasn’t particularly close; he was a generation apart, a distant relative.

At the time, her mother asked if she could help contact a hospital in Beijing. After she handed the matter over to Su Zan and learned it was settled, she put it out of her mind and went on her business trip. Now, with the old topic brought up again, she finally felt a pang of conscience and guilt, and proactively offered, “Once you and Dad are settled, I’ll go with you.”

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Su Zan led them to a private Beijing cuisine restaurant near Shen Qianzhan’s residential area.

They often frequented this place for private gatherings. The ambiance was quiet, the food authentic, and more rarely, you could enjoy both lamb spine hotpot and Peking duck slices in one go.

Su Zan had a remarkable talent for charming elders, delighting her father, who was almost patting Su Zan’s shoulder and calling him a brother.

The latter also didn’t act like an outsider. After agreeing with her father to take him fishing and visit a museum tomorrow, he finally left contentedly.

After returning home, Shen Qianzhan, standing in the elevator ready to open the door, gave her mother a heads-up: “Madam Shen, when we get inside, no matter what you see, you must remain calm and maintain your composure, understood?”

Her mother looked a little flustered: “Did you take in a man?”

Shen Qianzhan was silent for a few seconds, then swiftly opened the door, showing her mother the “living standard that’s worse than a street performer’s blanket” that Su Zan often taunted her with.

Three seconds later, her mother, utterly shocked by what she saw, let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Su Zan, receiving the video system’s push notification, burst into pig-like laughter upon seeing the details of her mother’s scream.

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Shen Qianzhan’s 200-square-meter suite cost nearly a million to decorate, but its value plummeted to nothing within three months of her moving in.

Piles of unordered packages; scattered clutter and clothes; haphazardly placed items—the entire room, save for the meticulously dressed Shen Qianzhan herself, resembled a graveyard of luxury goods.

Initially, Shen Qianzhan would hire hourly workers to clean and organize, but after several instances of not being able to find things, she simply gave up and let it remain messy.

At a gathering one year, the still naive Xiang Qianqian suggested having a party at Shen Qianzhan’s place, but was strongly and uniformly rejected by Su Zan and Qiao Xin. Even back then, when Shen Qianzhan decided to install a security camera at the elevator entrance, Su Zan jokingly remarked, “With your house’s layout, a thief would probably get lost inside, right?”

This showed that beneath Shen Qianzhan’s glamorous exterior, there indeed lay a soul that could not bear close scrutiny.

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After a night of tidying, Shen Qianzhan’s mother barely managed to settle in.

Exhausted, she fell into a deep sleep, too tired to even ask about the relationship matters she cared about most.

The next day, Su Zan took a day off.

Shen Qianzhan, knowing that Su Zan had gone fishing with her father, turned a blind eye and continued the meeting that hadn’t finished the day before.

As Chinese New Year approached, employee enthusiasm for work significantly dwindled.

Shen Qianzhan didn’t assign them any extra work. After finalizing the work plan for after the holiday, she took over the tasks of Qiao Xin, who had left early, and confirmed with Ming Jue when Ji Qinghe would resume work after the New Year.

While waiting for Ming Jue’s feedback, Shen Qianzhan sent a project non-disclosure agreement to Lin Qiao.

For the sake of script progress, Shen Qianzhan deliberated and decided to sign Lin Qiao to co-create the script with Jiang Juanshan. However, whether this could be implemented depended on Jiang Juanshan’s agreement.

Shen Qianzhan was too lazy to mediate between both parties, so she simply had Lin Qiao sign the non-disclosure agreement, planning to discuss it directly during the first script meeting once the time was set.

Before leaving work in the afternoon, Ming Jue replied to her: “Mr. Ji said he can accommodate your time.”

Shen Qianzhan, fearing she might misunderstand, cautiously asked again: “Any time at all?”

Ming Jue took a moment to reply: “Once Producer Shen confirms the time, please inform me in advance, and I will arrange it for Mr. Ji.”

The impersonal, work-obsessed Producer Shen immediately coordinated the schedules of all three parties and set the first script meeting for the third day of the Lunar New Year.

Su Zan, who had gone fishing with his senior friend, missed the right to object immediately and was utterly disheartened.

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On the last weekend before the Chinese New Year, Shen Qianzhan accompanied her parents to the hospital to visit her maternal grandfather.

Before leaving, Su Zan sent her a WeChat message: “Sister Zhan, I found a friend to help Grandpa connect with a heart bypass specialist. Remember to treat my friend well.”

Shen Qianzhan had heard from her father that Su Zan helped introduce a cardiothoracic authority, so she didn’t doubt it: “Thanks a lot.”

Normally, Su Zan, with his “give him an inch and he’ll take a mile” personality, would have immediately taken advantage. But today, he was unusually quiet as a chicken, appearing quite composed.

So, on the way to the ward, Shen Qianzhan tentatively asked her father: “Do you know who the doctor Su Zan introduced for Grandpa is?”

“His surname is Fei,” her father recalled, “I don’t think he’s from Beijing.”

Shen Qianzhan frowned, confirmed she had no impression of him, then asked, “How did Su Zan think of introducing a doctor for Grandpa?”

Her father, fearing she might misunderstand that he was being talkative, explained: “That day fishing wasn’t very satisfying, so Little Su asked me to come again this weekend. I told him I was going to the hospital to see Grandpa this weekend. Little Su had helped you contact the hospital and arrange a room, so he knew Grandpa’s heart wasn’t well and asked me about the specific situation. I just told him that Grandpa’s family was waiting to have heart bypass surgery after the New Year, and the next day he said he had a friend whose elder also had this surgery and it was quite successful, so he introduced him to me.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Qianzhan’s heart settled by half.

Her father wasn’t someone who didn’t know how to act appropriately or liked to trouble friends. It seemed Su Zan was genuinely enthusiastic.

Just as Shen Qianzhan felt a pang of shame for having misunderstood Su Zan, she looked up and saw Ji Qinghe standing at the end of the hallway, conversing with a middle-aged man.

His features were indifferent, illuminated by the light, his profile soft. He was currently slightly bowed, listening intently to the other person.

Shen Qianzhan’s steps faltered. She vaguely felt... that Su Zan had, once again, put her in his debt.

This suspicion was thoroughly confirmed the moment Ji Qinghe and the middle-aged man appeared in her maternal grandfather’s hospital room.

Shen Qianzhan felt like killing Su Zan and burying his body in a mass grave. She greeted Ji Qinghe, who was standing at the door, with a forced smile: “Mr. Ji, what brings you here?”

In front of elders, Ji Qinghe was much more restrained.

He made a shushing gesture, indicating that she should listen to what the doctor had to say first.

Her maternal grandfather’s attending physician and Dr. Fei were discussing the condition. In front of the patient, the two doctors didn’t delve too deeply, simply aligning their perspectives.

After the family and doctors left the ward, Shen Qianzhan greeted her father and saw Ji Qinghe out.

The hospital’s inpatient department was a little quieter than the outpatient clinic. Shen Qianzhan walked beside Ji Qinghe until they descended the stairs and exited the lobby, then carefully began: “I’ve troubled you again. I didn’t know Su Zan...”

Ji Qinghe interrupted her: “No trouble.”

The sunlight was somewhat cool, and Beijing’s wind was as cutting as ever.

“The elder had heart bypass surgery a few years ago and recovered quite well,” Ji Qinghe glanced at her, his tone casual with a hint of nonchalance: “Dr. Fei is a cardiothoracic expert; you can rest assured with him performing the surgery.”

Shen Qianzhan felt a bit embarrassed. Even with her sharp mind, she didn’t know what to say at this moment.

She had just rejected him, distancing herself clearly and cleanly. Yet, now she was troubling him again. Although it wasn’t her intention, she truly owed him a favor, and it looked utterly manipulative, like she was playing both sides.