Chapter 18: The Awkward “Normal Person”

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Pan Yun could not stop laughing once she started, roaring with laughter.

Not everyone laughed that much. Song Yue and Xu Shujian barely laughed at all, and even Lin Xiaoxian merely followed along with the others.

Xu Shujian wondered whether he had misunderstood. He did feel that this couple was terribly conflicted, but there was too little information, and he could not identify the problem for the moment. Everyone else on the set was saying that Chen Linye was the problem—but was he really?

Xu Shujian noticed the puzzlement on Song Yue’s face as well.

Chen Linye looked helpless. Even he ended up laughing resignedly along with Huang Lingling, Yu Hui, Zhang Qidong, and Pan Yun. “Sigh. I feel like none of you can understand how miserable I am. I’m suffering terribly.”

Yu Hui shot back, “Come on, man, have you started being melodramatic too? Are you suffering because you can’t spend all your money? ‘Oh no, I’m so rich, and my wife won’t spend any of it. I’m suffering so much!’”

The whole room erupted into even louder laughter.

But immediately after saying that, Yu Hui covered his mouth. He glanced at the silent Xu Shujian, promptly shut up, and did not dare laugh anymore.

Chen Linye sighed helplessly with a bitter smile. “I can’t keep this conversation going.”

Xu Shujian noticed how Chen Linye fell silent after his smile faded. Once the laughter had subsided a little, he asked, “Brother Ye, who handles the money in your family?”

Chen Linye deflated and answered quietly, “She does. All my income goes into her account.”

Zhang Qidong immediately cut in. “This isn’t about who handles the money. Pan handles it, which is precisely why she’s so frugal. That’s why I keep saying what Pan needs is emotional affirmation. This guy simply doesn’t know how blessed he is.”

Pan Yun nodded repeatedly.

Xu Shujian looked at Chen Linye. Another helpless smile appeared on Chen Linye’s face, yet he did not argue.

Xu Shujian leaned forward and ignored Zhang Qidong. “Then do you have any money? Do you have to ask Sister Yun whenever you want to spend some?”

Chen Linye nodded. “Yes. She makes most of the decisions about our household expenses...”

Zhang Qidong interrupted again. “See? Pan does such a good job. You should be laughing secretly. With someone so frugal handling the money, all those clothes and shoes of yours were obviously bought because Pan approved them. You really are something.”

As he spoke, Zhang Qidong looked at Yu Hui. “Isn’t that the life of a celestial being?”

Yu Hui immediately covered his mouth, the corner of his eye fixed on Xu Shujian.

Xu Shujian sighed, feeling increasingly stifled inside. Is that all? The guy had practically handed the words straight to Chen Linye’s mouth, and Chen Linye still would not say them?

Compared with Zhang Qidong and Yu Hui, Xu Shujian thought Chen Linye was far more normal. Having finally encountered someone relatively normal, he had kindly tried to help him—but the man had wilted on his own. How frustrating.

How could someone who laughed as loudly as Pan Yun possibly have no problems?

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You handle the money. All the financial power is in your own hands, and yet you still think you do not have enough things? Then buy them. Chen Linye clearly told you to buy whatever you wanted. Love yourself a little more. He is not stingy, and he cannot stand seeing you suffer. All his income is in your account, and yet you still complain that Chen Linye does not buy things for you.

Among ordinary married couples, how many husbands could do what Chen Linye did?

Did she really have to nitpick every little flaw?

Besides, she had admitted herself that Chen Linye was not refusing to buy things for her. He simply could not buy exactly what she wanted.

Xu Shujian sighed. He had originally thought this couple had the fewest problems. But once he put himself in their shoes, it was unbearably suffocating.

Song Yue had been listening the whole time. At first, she had not entirely understood either, and she had wanted to ask a few questions herself. But since Xu Shujian asked them, she no longer needed to.

Then she saw the exasperated, almost despairing expression on Xu Shujian’s face, and suddenly lost interest in probing into the relationship between Chen Linye and Pan Yun.

Watching Old Xu suffer was rather entertaining.

At that thought, Song Yue glanced at Lin Xiaoxian beside her. For a brief moment, she suddenly understood Lin Xiaoxian a little. Perhaps Lin Xiaoxian’s pleasure came from watching Zhang Qidong—the man who had always played the role of a father in front of her—come to grief. That was enough to make her happy.

Chen Linye had indeed given up trying to explain himself. He felt that he was simply too inept in this area: the more he said, the more mistakes he made. If that was the case, he might as well say nothing.

He had no intention of separating from Pan Yun, so did he really need to rack his brains and argue this matter out? Rather than that, he would return to his comfort zone and become a transparent nobody whenever these issues arose.

“Let’s look at the next photograph.” Chen Linye took the initiative to avoid the subject.

When he heard that they were moving on to the next photograph, Zhang Qidong began rubbing his hands together. The corner of his eye lingered on Xu Shujian as he chuckled inwardly. Finally, it was your turn.

A photograph of Xu Shujian and Song Yue appeared on the screen.

Beneath a blue sky and white clouds, a skeletal house frame stood on the beach. It was not small—larger than the house outline on Zhang Qidong and the others’ seesaw, and at least five meters wide.

Inside it stood life-sized outline models of a family of three. In the photograph, however, Xu Shujian and Song Yue stood on either side instead of within the outline.

Yu Hui laughed. “Say what you will, it has quite a romantic atmosphere. I’ve realized that my Brother Xu is genuinely handsome.”

Huang Lingling picked up the thread. “What, is Sister Yue not beautiful?”

Yu Hui shook his head. “A handsome man and a beautiful woman—a match made in heaven.”

Chen Linye turned to look at him, his face full of astonishment. Brother Hui, you weren’t saying things like that about me just now!

Zhang Qidong studied the photograph carefully. “Interesting. Do you two have children?”

Xu Shujian and Song Yue both shook their heads.

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Zhang Qidong said, “Then my guess is that your problem lies with the matter of children. Not having children after ten years of marriage is a serious problem in itself.”

Yu Hui interrupted him. “Lingling and I have been married for seven years and still don’t have children. I think that’s perfectly normal. Besides, Brother Xu and Boss Song aren’t old. It’s not a problem.”

Zhang Qidong stared blankly for a moment. In his eyes, Yu Hui was unquestionably the king of comebacks among them. Even Zhang Qidong himself occasionally got a sharp retort from him. Yet the difference in how he treated Xu Shujian was enormous. You don’t even bother pretending?

Had Xu Shujian beaten him into submission? Or did he have some other motive?

What was this? Was one song not enough? Did he want Xu Shujian to write him several more?

The more Zhang Qidong thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. The songs one received by escalating a conflict with Xu Shujian and the songs one received by making peace with him were indeed rather different in effect.

Zhang Qidong suddenly understood why Yu Hui had remained lukewarm in the music industry. Even Chen Linye had a hit single, yet Yu Hui had apparently devoted all his energy to this sort of thing. No wonder he could not write anything worthwhile.

Zhang Qidong sneered inwardly. Someone with the surname Yu would probably never get much farther in show business.

What era was this, anyway? If simply relying on connections and maneuvering were enough to make someone hugely popular, Zhang Qidong would never have come here with Lin Xiaoxian.

And even taking the most charitable view, supposing Yu Hui really did build a good relationship with Xu Shujian, could Xu Shujian still write him any truly brilliant songs?

Zhang Qidong did not believe that Xu Shujian had written that song merely to stand up for his fan, Huang Lingling. It was obvious: he had simply used the occasion to display his own talent.

Zhang Qidong even suspected that before coming here, the production team had shown Xu Shujian information about Huang Lingling and Yu Hui. That song had almost certainly been written before the program began.

Even Zhang Qidong himself had discussed countless details with the production team beforehand. They placed great importance on him and Lin Xiaoxian, and Xu Shujian, who had once been hugely popular, must likewise have received considerable attention from them.

If Xu Shujian really was so brilliant, and if Zhang Qidong had taken such a forceful stance while Lin Xiaoxian played such a thoroughly submissive role, why had Xu Shujian not written a song about him and Lin Xiaoxian?

Zhang Qidong felt that using himself and Lin Xiaoxian to generate buzz would obviously attract far more attention than using Yu Hui and Huang Lingling.

So why had Xu Shujian not done it?

That proved his talent was limited.

He had kept it bottled up for ten years. If his talent were truly extraordinary, he would never have spared anyone else. No matter how mature someone in his early thirties might be, once he entered the battlefield, would he really hold back?

Yu Hui continued along the lines of his own argument. “I think Boss Song and Brother Xu are both capable people, and they’re exceptionally strong in their respective fields. There’s no need to explain Boss Song—her résumé is easy enough to find online. The same goes for Brother Xu. He’s someone who has stood at the summit before. To be honest, I was a little prejudiced against him at first. I thought his former success had been entirely due to the various schemes and resources of capital. But now I realize it was far more than that. Brother Xu is an exceptionally talented creator.”

“I think their problem is that they’re both too strong. When it comes to deciding who handles the household and who deals with the outside world, neither of them is willing to make an absolute compromise. Whoever takes charge of the household can only convince themselves of that arrangement for a short time. And capable people tend to have strong pride. Even if they are broad-minded enough to endure some grievances, they won’t keep enduring them forever. So look at them: they’re both standing rather far apart. That’s another advantage of capable people—they tend to handle conflicts with considerable tact!”

At this point, Yu Hui even patted his own thigh before turning immediately to Huang Lingling. “Well? Wasn’t my interpretation brilliant?”

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