Quite awkward

Chapter 144 Birthday Crown

"My second... my second brother and I are not biological siblings, so there's no reason for him to selflessly sacrifice for me. I'm very calm right now and don't seek fame and fortune. As long as there are movies to film and money to be made, I can slowly climb up the ladder. I currently have two upcoming productions, which gives me confidence."

More than a year ago, Qi Yu was always a little impetuous and not very practical, but now she is cautious in her words and steady in her actions, making it impossible to refute her ideas.

Zhang Pei felt Qi Yu's unwavering persistence, so he didn't say anything more. Anyway, he was already accustomed to reporting Qi Yu's work progress to Muchenan in private.

"Well, let's talk about everything after your birthday. I've prepared a birthday party for you tomorrow. I'll take photos of the party and ask you to post them on Weibo for your fans to see."

Qi Yu didn't expect that actors would have birthday parties, and the friend she most wanted to invite was now on the plane returning to North City.

“Is anyone there?”

"You can ask some acquaintances and friends to come over. Xiao He and I are the only ones here at the company. I don't know if your second brother is free. I'll ask him later."

Qi Yu looked up at him, wanting to say something but stopping herself, and in the end said nothing.

After all, in Zhang Pei's opinion, Mu Chenan was the noble person who led her into the entertainment industry. Even if she didn't want him to attend her birthday party, she must never show it.

……

It's past midnight.

Qi Yu received many birthday greeting messages. She first replied to a few important people, such as her elder brother and Xiang Wei, as well as Xu Yan and Xiao He. Then she put down her phone, pulled up the quilt and went to sleep comfortably.

When she woke up naturally, she received a courier notification on her phone, saying that there was a same-city express delivery and she had to go downstairs to sign for it in person.

She guessed it was a birthday present or something, so she quickly got up and took the elevator downstairs, where she saw five "couriers" wearing black business suits, looking professional and serious.

She was a little confused, not knowing what kind of birthday gift would cause such a big fuss.

They were both men and women, and they nodded to her respectfully and called her Miss Qi, but did not tell her who the sender was. Then she received a very tightly packed express box, which should be a valuable item.

When she got home, she looked carefully at the outside of the express box, but did not find any express delivery note. She only knew that it was a same-city express delivery, but she had no idea who the sender was.

He used a knife to cut through the layers of yellow tape on the express box, opened the cardboard box, and took out a very heavy blue leather box.

With a strong curiosity, Qi Yu unfastened the silver lock and opened the box, only to find that it was a jeweled crown.

Even an outsider could see that this crown was inlaid with more than 20 carats of natural diamonds, and in the center of the crown was a huge natural baroque pearl. The two were innovatively combined through excellent craftsmanship. To the naked eye, it looked both dazzling and luxurious.

Among the people she knew, only two people had such financial strength.

Eliminate the eldest brother first.

Because she flatly refused his gift the last time they met and only asked for a birthday cake, so the eldest brother would not deliberately go against her wishes.

A clear image of the anonymous sender suddenly emerged in her mind.

Didn’t Muchenan agree to disappear from her life?

But why give her such an expensive gift?

She couldn't bear this kind of feeling at all.

Qi Yu had already blacklisted Muchan's contact information. Even in this situation, she still didn't intend to let him out, so she decided to contact Zhang Pei.

However, after the call was connected, Zhang Pei interrupted and asked with a smile, "Qi Yu, did you receive the crown? This is a birthday gift that your second brother and I personally picked out for you at the counter two months ago. Do you like it? Remember to wear your beautiful crown to the party tonight."

Two months ago, Qi Yu was still filming in Yunnan and Guizhou. At that time, she had already proposed to Muchenan to end their relationship, but she didn't expect that he had already booked a birthday gift for her in advance.

Qi Yu hesitantly said, "Brother Zhang Pei, can you please... return it to my second brother for me? I don't want to accept such an expensive gift. It puts a lot of pressure on me."

Zhang Pei let out a puzzled "ah", feeling a little bewildered and unable to understand what the girl was thinking, but there was definitely nothing wrong in comforting her.

"Qi Yu, don't worry about the pressure. As long as you look good in this crown, that's all that matters. This amount of money is nothing to your second brother, so just accept it."

"I……"

-

In the afternoon, Xiao He came to pick up Qi Yu and take her to the styling studio, where Amy, the same person from last time, did her styling.

Amy gave Qi Yu a princess bun and applied a pure and beautiful makeup, making full use of her three-dimensional and beautiful facial features to bring out their advantages to the fullest.

Among a row of dresses, she chose a beautiful white strapless chiffon dress and put on silver stiletto heels, making her look tall and slender.

She stood in front of the mirror. Xiao He came over to look at her, unable to take her eyes away. She praised from the bottom of her heart: "It's like the goddess of white moonlight has descended!"

Amy raised her eyebrows. "I don't think there's a need for ostentatious beauty when celebrating a birthday. A restrained beauty is more relatable."

Qi Yu smiled and looked in the mirror carefully. She inexplicably felt that she had a gentle and elegant temperament.

She thanked Amy, then left the styling studio with Xiaohe and headed to the birthday party venue.

Xiao He stopped the car and turned to remind Qi Yu in the back seat to remember to wear the crown before getting out of the car, because there were fans outside taking pictures and she could take pictures for her.

The box containing the crown was placed beside Qi Yu's leg. She opened the box, took out the crown and held it in her hand. After hesitating for a moment, she had to ask Xiao He to help her put on the crown.

After getting off the car, fans gathered in a circle and held up their mobile phones to record videos or take photos, and enthusiastically sent birthday wishes to Qi Yu.

She smiled sweetly and greeted her fans warmly to express her gratitude. Then Xiaohe escorted her into a high-end club.

-

From childhood to adulthood, Qi Yu had never held a grand birthday party. In previous years, only her eldest brother accompanied her. After going to college, Xiang Wei was the only one who came to accompany her.

She doesn't like noisy scenes and just wants to have a quiet birthday, chatting with friends and partners.

So today, she didn't invite anyone else, only Xu Yan and Yan Shen.

In fact, Ji Xian was also invited, but she was on a business trip and thoughtfully sent Qi Yu birthday wishes and gifts.

Qi Yu knew that this birthday party was part of her job.

Ostensibly it was to celebrate her birthday, but in reality it was a business for fans and netizens, increasing her commercial value through photos and videos of the party.

Zhang Pei walked into the box and found that Qi Yu had only invited a male high school classmate and a male colleague.

He smiled and greeted Xu Yan and Yan Shen, then asked her, "Don't you think it would be lonely to celebrate your birthday like this?"

"No, I'm very happy because this is my first birthday party." Qi Yu answered with a generous smile.

……

The box next door.

Mu Chenan leaned on the black leather sofa with his long legs crossed, a cigarette between the fingers of one hand, and a mobile phone in the other hand, sliding his thumb as he carefully admired a set of freshly baked photos.

This is a Weibo post by Qi Yuguang.

She shared a nine-grid photo of her birthday party. She was the only one in the photo, but you could vaguely see a few clapping hands, an exquisite three-layer birthday cake, and a pile of unopened gifts in the corner.

The diamond crown on Qi Yu's head perfectly matches her look today. The white color is pure and clean, and she is as beautiful as a fairy.

Mu Chenan specially ordered this crown two months ago and had originally planned to give it to her personally today. He even fantasized about putting it on her personally.

But unfortunately, reality did not allow him to get what he wanted.

There was no music playing in the box he was in, and the surroundings were silent, allowing him to clearly hear the laughter coming from the birthday party in the box next door.

At this moment, Zhang Pei pushed open the door of the box and walked in. He didn't understand why Mu Chenan didn't attend Qi Yu's birthday party, but instead opened another box and smoked here alone.

He sat next to Mu Chenan, treating this place as a smoking room. He lit a cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and turned to ask, "Qi Yu is cutting the cake. Can I get a piece for you to try?"

Mu Chenan reminded again: "I told her not to let her know I'm here."

"Did you have a fight with her?" Zhang Pei followed up by asking.

He smiled bitterly and said, "Don't worry about it."

Zhang Pei suppressed his curiosity and didn't ask any further questions. While smoking a cigarette, he talked about Qi Yu's birthday party.

"I really didn't expect Qi Yu to be so popular with the opposite sex. The friends she invited here today are all men. One is her high school classmate whose family owns a hotel, and the other is a male co-star with Qi Yu who has filmed two scenes with her. They have a strong sense of chemistry. They both seem quite good together."

Muchenan felt a slight bitterness in his heart.

Other men can happily attend her birthday party, but he can only hide here and smoke.

Against the backdrop of the joyful atmosphere next door, a layer of melancholy covered his eyes. No matter how powerless he felt, he could not change the status quo.

He put out his cigarette and poured himself a glass of wine.

-

After Qi Yu finished eating the cake with everyone, she took off the crown on her head and put it back into its original box.

Xu Yan and Yan Shen teamed up to play mobile games. Xiao He came back from the bathroom, and Qi Yu pulled her over and asked, "Where's Mr. Zhang?"

Xiao He replied, "I just saw Mr. Zhang go into the next room. He might be looking for a place to smoke."

Qi Yu nodded, stood up, took the box and went out. When he reached the door of the next box, he saw that the door was ajar and a faint smell of smoke wafted out from inside.

She turned sideways to glance inside the box and saw two men sitting on the sofa drinking.

Catching a glimpse of Mu Chenan's familiar profile, she was slightly stunned and was hesitating whether to go in and return the crown to him directly.

Then, the two men started chatting in a casual and leisurely manner.

Zhang Pei had just heard the entire conversation between Muchenan and his mother, and immediately asked in surprise, "Your mother actually asked you to go on a blind date! Don't you have a girlfriend? Are you breaking up?"

"It's not a breakup, it's just that she doesn't want me anymore."

"How could you still be unwanted? Who was your ex? Do I know him?"

Mu Chenan lowered his head and adjusted his cuffs, his expression lonely, and there was an indescribable heaviness in his voice.

"If you didn't know her, I wouldn't have had the chance to know her again. In the end, it was so ugly that there was no turning back."

Zhang Pei poked his arm with his fist, feeling a little disappointed.

"Oh, if I had known you were in love, I, a love strategist, could have given you some advice. You finally have a relationship, it would be a shame to break up."

After hearing this, Mu Chenan forced out a helpless smile.

The relationship between him and Qi Yu was too complicated, and he could not find a breakthrough no matter what he did. He felt increasingly exhausted and could only let go and fulfill her wish.

The reason why she can smile today may be that he no longer bothers her.

Thinking of this, he poured himself another half glass of wine, tilted his head back and drank it in one gulp.

"Are you really going on a blind date?" Zhang Pei asked.

"Go, of course I should go. My mom said that girl is as beautiful as a fairy. I want to go and see how beautiful she is." He said in a ruffian tone.

Zhang Pei curled his lips and smiled evilly: "Are you trying to forget your ex? Let the new person live in your heart?"

"I can't forget it, but I still have to live my life and listen to my mother."

Ever since her eldest son Mu Yanqing got divorced, Shen Shuang has shifted her focus to her youngest son Mu Chenan, hoping that he can get married before he turns 30, so she has recently put blind dates on her agenda.

If it were before, Mu Chenan would never agree to go on a blind date, but Shen Shuang once cried to him on the phone, saying that at her age, not only was she forced to live apart from her two sons for the family business, she did not enjoy any family happiness, and she only felt that her life was sad and painful.

So Mu Chenan found it really difficult to refuse this blind date, so he compromised in front of his mother.

He thought to himself that he only needed to have a simple meal with the girl, and then find an inappropriate excuse to put off the elders.

Neither of the two men knew that Qi Yu, leaning against the wall at the door of the box, could clearly hear their conversation.

She hugged the box tightly, and her originally calm mood suddenly became extremely complicated.

Muchenan actually agreed to go on a blind date.

Is she the sister of the girl from last time?

There was a subtle emotion churning in her heart, and even she herself didn't understand why.

She had clearly encouraged Mu Chenan to try a blind date before, but when he actually went on the blind date, she inexplicably felt that it was a little unreasonable, because she felt that he was not the kind of person who would be manipulated by others.

Suddenly, I thought of what he just said.

Is he simply admiring the beauty of his blind date?

Qi Yu snorted speechlessly.

Forget it, don’t think about him.

She was not mentally prepared to meet Muchenan, so she turned around and returned to her own box with the box.

When I went in, the three men were playing Landlord with playing cards.

Yan Shen waved to her to join.

She shook her head and sat on the sofa. She inadvertently saw an untouched cocktail on the coffee table in front of her. Affected by her fluctuating emotions, she simply picked up the glass and drank it.