Zhuang Fanxin Almost Fainted. Part 1

Wasn't it supposed to be sent by SF Express?

This was the only question left in Gu Zhuoyan's mind for a moment. He looked at Xue Manzi, and truly noticed her smile freeze, then thaw, the whole transformation taking less than a second.

His mom was truly a master of handling any scene. He estimated that even if he ran past the doorway naked, Xue Manzi could maintain her elegance and poise. As if afraid he'd run, Xue Manzi spoke first: "You even prepared coffee."

Professor Pei said, "Fanxin, you two, come in."

Since it had come to this, Gu Zhuoyan braced himself and walked in. Xue Manzi's assistant came up to greet them and, while taking the coffee he was carrying, gripped his hand tightly. The expression on her face was incredibly expressive.

'Why are you here!'

'Why is my mom here!'

The two silently expressed their shock. Zhuang Fanxin, still in the dark, cheerfully handed the coffee to the two professors. When he gave it to Professor Pei, he was pulled aside and asked where Pei Zhi had been all day, as he hadn't been seen.

Xue Manzi looked at Zhuang Fanxin. Before she could get a clear look at his face, Gu Zhuoyan stood in the way, blocking her view like a wall. She looked up with a faint smile. What are you doing, can't I take a look?

Gu Zhuoyan picked up a coffee and handed it to her. Look at what, have some coffee.

The mother and son were in a silent tug-of-war. Just then, two men came in. The one in front called out, "CEO Xue." The one behind, dressed in a suit, was handsome and dashing, and looked very familiar, seemingly the male lead of a recent TV drama.

As expected, a celebrity was present. These two were here for Xue Manzi. Gu Zhuoyan had seen this many times before; at some past galas and banquets, the number of celebrities who came to greet his parents was countless.

Xue Manzi lowered her head to drink her coffee, not even giving them a proper glance. The assistant then said, "I'm sorry, CEO Xue is a bit tired from the flight. We'll find another opportunity to chat in the future."

The agent said with genuine sincerity, "CEO Xue, we only accepted the invitation to exhibit because we knew you'd be attending today. It's not easy to see you. I'll be the host tonight and treat you to dinner, would you do me the honor?"

Normally, Xue Manzi wouldn't have said a word, but now, in front of the two professors, she showed a bit more patience. "It's not a good time. I'm mainly here to spend the holiday with my child. Next time."

The other party just took it as an excuse. Her family business wasn't in Rong City, so how could her child be here? That handsome celebrity leaned in to shake her hand, his voice also pleasant: "CEO Xue, I've already booked the restaurant. Don't be so heartless."

His words bordered on coquettishness, and would have probably been more explicit if there weren't other people in the room. Gu Zhuoyan frowned and slapped away the hand that person offered. "Can't you understand what's being said? She's busy."

The handsome celebrity glanced at Gu Zhuoyan's work badge, turned to the exhibition hall manager and said, "What's a volunteer doing in the lounge? How do you people manage things?"

Gu Zhuoyan retorted, "You want to follow the rules? Then what are you doing in someone else's lounge?"

The handsome celebrity was a public figure, after all. He shot a look, and his agent directly tried to shove Gu Zhuoyan out the door. Two bodyguards also came in, and a scuffle broke out.

Gu Zhuoyan's collar was grabbed. "Get your damn hands off me!"

"Security? Where's security!" the agent yelled outwards.

The room descended into chaos. Zhuang Fanxin was originally helping Professor Pei up. He was timid by nature, but at this moment, a surge of courage came from nowhere. Seeing Gu Zhuoyan being grabbed, he rushed forward and knocked the agent away with his head.

Security guards rushed in, and the lounge was suddenly packed with people, a scene livelier than the New Year. The agent staggered two steps and waved his hand. "This one, and this one! Send them both to the police station!"

The handsome celebrity was very slick. He went to the side of the sofa to comfort her, "CEO Xue, I hope you weren't frightened? Kids these days are just willful, daring to cause trouble on any occasion."

Xue Manzi held her coffee demurely. "I really have to spend the holiday with my child, I can't go."

"No rush, you can get back to me after the opening ceremony," the handsome celebrity said, taking a step back to advance. "Or you could bring your child along. What actors or singers does the little darling like? I'll send him an autographed photo later."

Xue Manzi said, "He's right here. You can ask him."

He's right here.

These three words stunned everyone in the room. The handsome celebrity was dazed for a long while, unable to utter a single clever word. Zhuang Fanxin was hugging Gu Zhuoyan's arm, not understanding at all, only thinking that no one could bully his boyfriend.

Just as the atmosphere grew increasingly bizarre, Gu Zhuoyan gritted his back teeth and called out, "Mom."

Zhuang Fanxin shot his head up. "Huh?"

Gu Zhuoyan said to Zhuang Fanxin alone, "That's... my mom."

Zhuang Fanxin almost fainted.

Others might not understand Xue Manzi, but Gu Zhuoyan knew her very well. She didn't want to agree to the handsome celebrity's attempt to curry favor, and her assistant could have dismissed him with a single sentence. She had deliberately created this chaos just to force him to call her "Mom."

In public or private, it seemed like he hadn't called her that in almost half a year.

The lounge, which had been so chaotic moments ago, was now deathly quiet, leaving only the mother and son, and a terrified and apprehensive Zhuang Fanxin. Zhuang Fanxin had wanted to escape with the crowd, but Xue Manzi called him to stay, just like Tom calling Jerry. Then, he found himself sitting on the sofa.

"Hello, Auntie," he said.

"Hello." Xue Manzi looked at him. "What's your name?"

Zhuang Fanxin replied, "My name is Zhuang Fanxin."

Xue Manzi said, "Your surname is Zhuang. I remember you're neighbors with Zhuoyan's maternal grandfather?"

"Yes." Zhuang Fanxin nodded, unsure if he should mention that he and Gu Zhuoyan were also classmates. But Xue Manzi seemed to already know, skipping over that to ask directly, "I see there's a requirement for volunteers. Did you help Zhuoyan apply?"

Zhuang Fanxin suddenly stood up. "I'm sorry, Auntie. It's because of me... I shouldn't have brought him here."

Gu Zhuoyan said, "I wanted to come myself."

"Sit down quickly, Auntie didn't mean anything else." Xue Manzi said with concern, "It was so chaotic just now. You rushed over and bumped into that agent, were you hurt?"

"No, no." Zhuang Fanxin waved his hands.

Xue Manzi said, "Xiao Zhuang, you usually take good care of him, right?"

Zhuang Fanxin stood up again. "No... I'm not very good at taking care of people." He felt guilty, extremely guilty, so guilty he could barely breathe. "I just, just wanted to play with his dog."

"..." Gu Zhuoyan felt so uncomfortable he crossed his legs. This was living torture.

It was time for the opening ceremony. Xue Manzi looked at the schedule on the table and said, "Zhuoyan, I have to make an appearance later. Then shall we go home?"

Gu Zhuoyan said, "I have something to do."

Xue Manzi asked, "What is it?"

Zhuang Fanxin stood up for the third time. "He's free... Auntie, today is my birthday. I was going to treat everyone, but I remembered that the volunteers have a dinner party tonight, so... so he's free now."

Xue Manzi smiled. "Today is your birthday?"

With that, she opened her bag.

Zhuang Fanxin swallowed nervously. He had the illusion that Xue Manzi was taking out a check, about to give him a breakup fee. However, Xue Manzi took out a box and said, "This was originally a Christmas gift I prepared for him. It's suitable for any boy. Thank you for protecting him just now. Happy birthday."

Zhuang Fanxin quickly said, "Thank you, Auntie, but I can't accept it, I can't."

Xue Manzi was especially gentle. "This is our first time meeting, and you're already rejecting me?"

Those words were deadly. Zhuang Fanxin was at a complete loss. Time was up. Xue Manzi got up to make her appearance. After she left, only the two of them remained in the lounge.

The moment the door closed, Zhuang Fanxin collapsed onto the sofa and let out a long sigh of relief. Gu Zhuoyan came over and hugged him. "Don't just play with my dog. Play with me too."

Zhuang Fanxin's eyes were glazed over, but his speech was astonishingly fast: "Thank goodness we weren't exposed, your mom probably didn't see anything although I was scared to death, you should go to the exhibition hall and wait for your mom take off your work badge, I'm going back to work don't say hi when you leave and don't contact me tonight, I'll go back after the dinner with everyone or maybe I won't go back I'll go find Pei Zhi oh dear I don't know where Pei Zhi went either..."

Gu Zhuoyan grabbed Zhuang Fanxin's shoulders. "Did the scare make you sick?"

"Duh! I met my mother-in-law out of the blue!" Zhuang Fanxin's face was full of terror. "This is my first time meeting someone like your mom, so revered that even celebrities come to suck up to her, and she's in the same lounge as a CEO and my idol Professor Pei, what was that group GSG is that your family's company what does that mean..."

Mwah. Gu Zhuoyan kissed Zhuang Fanxin, finally stopping his rambling.

In the end, Xue Manzi took a photo with the two professors. When she returned, only Gu Zhuoyan was in the lounge. On the way, Gu Zhuoyan leaned against the car door without a word, while Xue Manzi was on a work call for a full half hour.

At a small intersection, Gu Baoyan was holding Bond and looking around, looking very much like a left-behind child in a public service announcement.