Zhou Dang's mother was half Russian, a well-known international dual-threat actress, talented in both singing and dancing, beautiful, and highly accomplished in her career.
Very outstanding.
It seemed that Zhou Dang's parents divorced because they had differing views on work and family, and they parted amicably.
For Zhou Dang's sake, his mother chose to leave him with the Zhou family.
But even so, Zhou Dang was actually closer to his mother.
His mother had a busy work schedule—various performances, events, award ceremonies—flying all over the world.
She rarely had time to come to Jingbei.
So Xuan Yang had no reason to refuse the meeting in two days.
She said to Zhou Dang: "Set a specific time, and I'll fully cooperate."
As for the "schedule report" Zhou Dang mentioned, she didn't quite understand and simply ignored it.
But Zhou Dang took it seriously. He held up his phone and pushed open the door to a private room, aiming the camera at a group of young rich kids inside: "There's a social gathering tonight. Chen Xingyue asked me to come and show face. Just letting you know."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xuan Yang saw Chen Xingyue's face in the camera.
In the large, luxurious private room, there were quite a few familiar faces.
Led by Chen Xingyue, a bunch of second- and third-generation rich kids were gathered around playing games and drinking, noisy and boisterous.
Xuan Yang glanced briefly, thinking she should tell Zhou Dang that he didn't need to inform her about such things.
But then she saw Chen Xingyue in the camera lift his head and shout at Zhou Dang: "Dang Ge, what are you doing? Come play games! Don't tell me you're trying to avoid drinking!"
Seeing Zhou Dang wandering around with his phone, Chen Xingyue clicked his tongue, got up from the crowd, and sidled up to him to see what was going on: "What are you doing? Are you here to party or just play with your phone? What's so important on that phone?"
With that, Chen Xingyue's hand grabbing Zhou Dang's arm froze as he caught a glimpse of Xuan Yang in the video.
His expression of complaint and impatience instantly turned into shock and surprise: "Holy crap!"
Chen Xingyue instinctively dodged, then, confirming that Zhou Dang's camera was pointing forward, he leaned back in and gestured wildly—
Isn't that who I think it is?!
Chen Xingyue shot Zhou Dang a questioning look: What are you doing?
Zhou Dang raised an eyebrow and chuckled, his voice magnetic: "Being dragged out to drink by you in the middle of the night, I have to report to my wife, don't I?"
Chen Xingyue: "?"
Zhou Dang: "It's basic protocol for a married man. Don't you get it?"
Chen Xingyue: "..."
He seriously suspected Zhou Dang was taking this too seriously.
Wasn't this marriage supposed to be a way out for him? Yet Zhou Dang was acting like a different person.
"Wait... Dang Ge," Chen Xingyue lowered his voice, "are you for real?"
Chen Xingyue had thought this was just a temporary solution for Zhou Dang—to get him out of trouble first, then bail out himself.
After all, for Zhou Dang, getting rid of Xuan Yang should have been a piece of cake.
Zhou Dang shot him a glance: "Who would joke about their own marriage?"
Chen Xingyue: "..."
Zhou Dang ignored his frustration and confusion, took his phone, and walked back out the door, away from the noise of the private room, to continue talking to Xuan Yang on the video: "Is work going smoothly? Are the Xuans still giving you a hard time? What date do you want to set for the wedding?"
Three questions in a row, leaping so fast that Xuan Yang couldn't keep up.
She was stunned for a few seconds before answering one by one: "Work is going well. The Xuans aren't giving me trouble."
As for the wedding date...
Xuan Yang hadn't thought about it: "As for the wedding... I don't have any experience, so I probably can't help much."
Zhou Dang chuckled softly. He was already standing in the corner of the hallway, one hand in his pocket, leaning against the wall: "If you're going to say that, this is my first marriage too. I don't have any experience either."
"..." Xuan Yang didn't know what to say. She stared at the man's face in the camera, hesitating to speak.
Zhou Dang looked at her too. His thumb brushed against Xuan Yang's face through the screen, his smile deepening: "Forget it. You go ahead and eat. I'll go drink with them."
Xuan Yang breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: "Okay."
Zhou Dang raised an eyebrow, a bit disgruntled: "Won't you give me a couple of words of advice, Mrs. Zhou?"
Xuan Yang was baffled: "What?"
Zhou Dang: "Like, drink less, come home early, keep your distance from the opposite sex."
Xuan Yang: "..."
She couldn't help but question Zhou Dang's nature.
Was he really that fond of being controlled?