19 Toured

They went out in the chilly weather. Wang Zibo was definitely not going alone, so he dragged Mo Yifan as well. It was to build a rapport between two of them. Zibo had not accepted her still, but he had to obey his dad's order.

The Forbidden Palace was still about an hour away from them. Thankfully, they had an early lunch today and so they would be able to see some parts of the palace if not everything before it closed for the day.

There was an awkward silence in the car now that the mood maker Auntie Zhou or Mr. Fan were not here.

"What all languages have you studied Chen Waan?" Wang Zibo, who was driving the car, started the conversation first. The girl, who was marveling at the cityscapes of Beijing, adjusted her posture and decided to cooperate.

She was not in the habit of being rough for no reason. If these guys behaved with her properly, she would too. She was the one who believed in eye for an eye.

"My native language is Thai and I am proficient in English, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean. I know a bit of Malay as well. I am going to learn more South Asian languages for it will be beneficial for both of our careers. From European languages, I know Spanish and Italian, and have basic understanding of French…"

"Are you showing off?" Mo Yifan sneered at her. Even her voice was irritating to him for some reason. He was sitting at the back of the car and had made Chen Waan sit in the front with Wang Zibo. She was his secondary manager, so she did not need to sit behind, right?

In his heart, he had already labeled her as a gold digger. Now she was trying to win brownie points with them by exaggerating her abilities. Who could learn these many languages? She was just eighteen at that!

He glared at her from behind. This was some despicable behavior. If gazes could kill, Chen Waan would have died a thousand times by now. But again, did it matter to Chen Waan? Not really. She could always take a test right here to prove that she indeed knew all of them.

"But he asked the question, I was just replying to it," she mumbled in a low voice. She could have shouted too, but what was the use? She was just happy that she was going sightseeing, so she did not need to ruin her own mood because of a certain someone.

Wang Zibo also clicked his tongue. Mo Yifan was being unnecessarily aggressive. He should give her a chance, at least as a manager if not as a partner in the duo.

"That is so many languages. Being a polyglot, you should be famous!" Wang Zibo genuinely praised her, smiling curtly. He had no idea why his dad had hired such a talented girl. But again, their company did not need talent in this field, unless his dad was thinking of expanding into this area. He had not heard of it though. And he did say he was going to debut this girl.

"Hehe, I just did not have means to share my talents with the world," she scratched her head in embarrassment.

She understood what Wang Zibo was saying. If she knew so much, she could just film herself speaking many languages, conversing with natives and upload them somewhere. If she had attracted some niche audience with her talent or opened a language teaching channel or something, she could have earned much more and would have been famous for her brain.

But she was barely surviving on her scholarship. She had a secondhand laptop with only essential applications to use for school and her freelance gig. She was already living free at her friend's place, but they also had lost most of the savings in Li Fa Ying's dad's treatment too.

So, everyone was just scraping by. She did not have capital to invest in a side hustle like this.

She looked at the window after answering, in the distance, silently, like she was reflecting back on those days.

This turn of events for her was nothing less than a Cinderella story that everyone loved. But this was definitely not going to be her happily ever after. She had bigger ambitions than just being the wife of the prince, in this case, just the partner of Mo Yifan.

And she was yet to encounter the evil stepsisters from the story. Who knew how much suffering was written in her fate? Her first adversity was this stupid arrogant idol that she had to overcome.

The car went silent all over again. Wang Zibo had not seen her background file but he realized that he had probably touched some sensitive topic for her. They only knew that she was an orphan. He must have been more considerate of her situation before asking that question.

Mo Yifan also did not speak. Being the composer, he at least knew what she could be feeling right now. He kept glancing at the girl, who had gotten lost in her own world. There was a somberness on her face and her eyes contained a hint of sadness. Her side profile, which had suddenly drowned in gloom, made him want to write a new song.

"Alright, we are here." They finally reached the destination. After visiting the castle, they went around a few more places. It was all decorated in the spirit of holidays and New Year. There were a few places where Mo Yifan was recognized and they had to run.

All in all, it was a fun day, not only for Chen Waan but also for the workaholics named Mo Yifan and Wang Zibo.

--------------

"Master, are you sure about the decision?" Mr. Fan had returned to the office having his goal accomplished.

"I have already given it much thought. That child is perfect for this task," Wang Zenghao was looking out in the city through his window. He took a puff from his cigar and went on trip down the memory lane. This child had same eyes and energy as Tan Anong, his beloved girlfriend of the past.

But he had been unable to find any connection between the two. When he had seen her the first time, he was so stunned that his knees had buckled. She was basically a carbon copy of the actress. Having the same origin too, it was quite suspicious. That was why he had promised her to find her parents.

More than that, her acting skills were impeccable. Perhaps, the lass herself did not realize it. And even if she did not look like Anong, her talent was alone enough to have caught his eyes.

The way she had acted as Mo Yifan's girlfriend there, if Wang Zenghao did not know better, he himself would have believed that she was his girlfriend.

"She will be a monster in the acting world," he took another puff and gave a joyful smile. Mr. Fan knew what that smile and twinkle in his eyes meant. He had really found a gem this time.