Chapter 6 I Thought We Would Divorce Soon

Shen Qiang sat with a straight back, making an appearance of rapt attention, "What haven't I seen before? Do you really think I need to mentally prepare myself for whatever you're about to tell me?"

An Chuyu thought to organize her words a bit, to give her some buffer, but then she gave up and said curtly, "I got married."

"Pfft!"

Zhu Cuixi, who was sitting in the front row holding a thermos cup and sipping hot water, was so startled by An Chuyu's words that she took a big gulp and spat it out after being scalded, then fumbled to wipe up the spill.

Shen Qiang, like a statue, stared blankly at An Chuyu, tilting her head slightly, suspecting that she had misheard. She asked again for confirmation, "What did you say?"

"I'm not joking with you, every word I say is the truth," An Chuyu looked at her, emphasizing each word slowly, "I'm already married."

Shen Qiang's head buzzed, "When did it happen?"

"At the end of May this year, not long after I was discharged from the hospital."

"To whom did you get married?"

"Not someone from the industry."

"Who exactly is it?"

"The Crown Prince of Yueting, Xi Zheng."

Shen Qiang's face went through several changes, like a revolving lantern. Her gaze fixed on An Chuyu's face, trying to find a trace of joking, but there was none, no giveaways.

"Is it the Yueting Hotel that I'm aware of?" Shen Qiang's expression was exaggerated, her eyes nearly popping out.

An Chuyu, "Mhm."

"How did you end up getting married to Yueting's Crown Prince?" Shen Qiang held her head with both hands, feeling unreal, "Oh my god, this is too absurd. Did I walk onto a filming set by mistake? Where's the camera?"

An Chuyu smiled.

"You're still laughing!" Shen Qiang glared at her again.

An Chuyu coughed slightly, suppressing her smile, "It's a long story..."

"You better explain it to me in detail!" Shen Qiang was not in a good mood with her, being kept in the dark about such a big issue until now.

What had she done? She had just adamantly told dozens of media outlets that An Chuyu was currently single, and now, she had been proven wrong in an instant.

An Chuyu guessed what she was thinking and sighed, "The only reason I had to tell you the truth is because I was worried about similar interviews coming up again. Qiang Jie, I had my difficulties, so please don't be angry."

Shen Qiang didn't want to forgive her so easily, her face full of resentment, "Why only say it now? What were you doing earlier?"

An Chuyu admitted her fault and did not make any excuses in her presence.

After a long while, Shen Qiang heaved, her chest rising and falling, still struggling to digest the news, looking askance at this audacious artist, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

"I need to declare that I didn't tell you earlier because I wasn't sure how long this marriage would last," An Chuyu admitted frankly, "I thought we'd divorce soon."

Shen Qiang's eyebrows knitted in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

An Chuyu said, "Our marriage was arranged by our families; my father was the one who arranged it."

"Wait, your father?"

Seeing that Shen Qiang was about to lose her temper again, An Chuyu hurriedly said, "My father is An Zhihe, the one from Anxin Real Estate. I don't get along well with him, and he's always been against my entering the entertainment industry."

"No wonder you've gotten involved with Yueting's Crown Prince," Shen Qiang's mind was exploding with bombshell revelations, unsure of what face to make, but she quickly grasped one fact and inhaled deeply, "So you're saying, the actress Du Longqiu is your mother?"

At the peak of her career, Du Longqiu married into the wealthy An family; her husband was An Zhihe, the chairman of Anxin Real Estate. Even in an era when the internet was not as developed, this story caused a huge sensation at the time, becoming widely known news.

Unfortunately, the beauty met an early demise, as Du Longqiu died in an unfortunate accident on a martial arts movie set nine years into her marriage due to untimely rescue efforts.

An era's beauty had vanished like smoke, leaving countless movie fans grieving and sighing.

Shen Qiang studied An Chuyu's features; she had always found her face somewhat familiar and now, looking closely, she indeed bore a slight resemblance to the departed Du Longqiu.

"Since you brought up Du Longqiu, you must know how she died," An Chuyu lowered her head, her eyes fixed on her own clean fingernails, her voice slightly low, "Her death is a shadow in my father's heart. He disapproves of my acting, afraid that I would encounter the same accident. I can understand his thoughts, but I truly love acting, Du Longqiu is not only my mother but has also been my idol from childhood to now."

An Chuyu slightly curved the corners of her lips, remembering her mother, "I take after her in looks, but when it comes to acting talent, I fall short by more than just a little."

Shen Qiang, "You're already quite formidable."

An Chuyu, "My father and I have always argued over my career choice, leading to deeper conflicts, and he became more and more autocratic, unwilling to listen to my explanations."

She had compromised, trying to ease the father-daughter relationship. Her concession was not attending a film academy for college, but instead going to a prestigious science and engineering university, which also delayed the most precious time for an actor's career; otherwise, her achievements would not be where they were now. During that period, the father-daughter relationship indeed seemed to be moving in a positive direction. When she secretly took on a film role and he found out, the argument that erupted was more intense than ever before.

An Chuyu was tired and didn't want to make any more concessions, so she resolutely threw herself into the film industry.

Earlier that year, she had injured her meniscus on set and was sent to the hospital by ambulance in the middle of the night, completely infuriating An Zhihe, who then gave her an ultimatum.

At that moment, she only had two choices: either agree to an arranged marriage by her family or leave the entertainment industry.

An Zhihe knew well she loathed having her marriage controlled by someone else and thought she would obediently leave the industry to gain her freedom.

He was wrong. In An Chuyu's heart, between marriage and career, she would definitely choose the latter—she wouldn't be as foolish as her mother.

After being discharged from the hospital, she bypassed An Zhihe and contacted the heir of Yueting that he had chosen for her, notifying An Zhihe only after getting married, saying decisively over the phone, "I have agreed to the arranged marriage as you wished, so I ask you to keep your promise and not interfere with my life or my career anymore."

For half a year since then, they had not spoken a single word to each other.

Shen Qiang listened and sighed endlessly, realizing the inner story of her marriage was so twisted.

"Did you step into marriage just for the freedom to pursue your career? Isn't there any room for discussion with your father? I still think you were too impulsive, maybe..."

"No, Sister Qiang, you don't understand An Zhihe." An Chuyu shifted her gaze back to the car window, where the withered trees were bare, adding a touch of desolate chill, and the winter sun was always not warm enough, "If I chose neither, he would forcibly intervene, making sure I couldn't get any roles in the industry. Don't doubt it, he has such means and ability."

She squinted her eyes and smiled sarcastically, "He has already done it once."

Zhu Cuixi, huddled in the corner of the seat, listened to every word of their conversation and was incredibly shocked—never had she expected drama from television to be playing out beside her.

There was a long silence in the carriage before Shen Qiang suddenly spoke out, "No, I still need to let the PR Team draft a public relations plan in advance, just in case this gets out; I can't even imagine."

Zhu Cuixi nodded emphatically in agreement.

——

The Golden Rooster Awards were held on the evening of November 23 at the Xiamen International Convention and Exhibition Center.

An Chuyu flew to Xiamen early in the morning to walk the red carpet with the cast of "Winter Cicada." She was paired with the male lead, Tong Baicheng, holding onto his arm and slowly walking forward under the ceaseless flashes of camera lights on both sides of the red carpet.

Some fans at the scene were shouting "Yuyu," "wife," which made Tong Baicheng laugh. He turned his head to whisper something in An Chuyu's ear, making her laugh as well.

Without prior coordination, the two coincidentally wore clothes in the same deep blue color palette.

A handsome man and a beautiful woman standing together were very pleasing to the eye.

For men, the dress code is limited, always a suit and shirt combination. Women, on such occasions, try to outshine each other with all kinds of tricks, each with their own beauty, though they suffer a bit on colder evenings.

An Chuyu wore a dark blue velvet gown with an off-shoulder design, revealing her rounded shoulders and slender collarbones. Her makeup was flawless under the camera lights, noble and cold when not smiling, and breathtakingly gorgeous when she did.

Meanwhile, CCTV's Channel 6 was broadcasting the awards ceremony live, and the internet was abuzz with discussion.

The nominations for various awards had already been made public online, with insiders analyzing who had the best chance of winning tonight, eager to place bets. Outsiders joined in the buzz, critiquing every female star's red carpet look.

"Who styled An Chuyu tonight? She can be canonized for her beauty! I was literally breathless on the spot."

"To be honest, An Chuyu's eyes and eyebrows are so spirited, they always remind me of Youki Tainai during the 'Tale of Genji' period! Forget calling her wife, let's call her husband!"

"She obviously looks more like the Hong Kong star Du Longqiu, the spitting image of Du Longqiu when she was young."

"Fun fact: Du Longqiu isn't a Hong Kong star. She's originally from Shandong, just ran some minor roles in TVB for a few years and was promoted by Hong Kong directors. Why do people keep saying she's a Hong Kong star?"

Fans of other celebrities took the chance to disparage An Chuyu: "How dare An Chuyu's fans compare her to Du Longqiu, as if they're moon-crashing. Du Longqiu may have passed away, but her fans are still alive. It's once in a blue moon for a naturally gifted actress like Du Longqiu to appear, comparing An Chuyu to her is simply laughable."

Xi Zheng knew that An Chuyu was nominated for Best Actress, so he turned on the television in advance and tuned it to the right channel. He busied himself with other things when others were walking the red carpet, but he started watching when An Chuyu made her appearance.

An Chuyu and Tong Baicheng stood in front of the signing board for an interview, exchanging glances and courteously deferring to each other.

Xi Zheng found it an eyesore, picked up his phone, and refreshed Weibo. The words that met his eyes were even more irritating.

"Sob sob sob, I want to cry when I see An Chuyu and Tong Baicheng together on screen, they were parted eternally in the movie, can we ask for a sequel in real life? They really match well!"

Xi Zheng snorted in derision, "A sequel my ass."

He turned off the television, out of sight, out of mind.

After being irritated alone for a while, Xi Zheng couldn't help but turn it back on again. An Chuyu and that man were no longer in the frame—they had already moved inside.

He was now certain that An Chuyu was deliberately ignoring his friend request.