Chapter 55.1

While Meng Zhengrong was busy guessing whether Xu Yuan was a fan of Song Chaowen, the atmosphere between Shen Li and her husband was not very harmonious.

Shen Li was sitting at her dressing table, carefully applying her makeup. Song Chaowen sat nearby, sneering, “If I remember correctly, the illustrious and mighty Mr. Meng is already married. Both he and his wife will be coming today.”

“So what?” Shen Li shot a glance at Song Chaowen as she held her lip brush. “I’m just here to meet my idol from when I was younger. Don’t act like I’m about to cheat, alright?”

Indeed, Xu Yuan was a fan of Song Chaowen, and Shen Li was a fan of Meng Zhengrong.

Meng Zhengrong wasn’t a celebrity, so logically speaking, Shen Li had no business getting involved with him. Why would she have such an obsession?

Since childhood, Shen Li had admired her cousin, who was an academic overachiever. Her cousin earned a scholarship to study abroad through her own efforts. During a meal together, her cousin mentioned Meng Zhengrong; they were classmates and had a good relationship. Her ever-confident cousin had praised Meng Zhengrong multiple times. According to her cousin, Meng Zhengrong came from a good family, yet he was humble and polite, with none of the arrogance typical of wealthy kids. During their studies, he had managed to secure significant projects and was a standout among the international students.

Back then, Shen Li was just a teenager and naïvely asked her cousin if she liked Meng Zhengrong and whether they would get married.

Her cousin replied, and Shen Li remembered it vividly: “Do you know what an idol is? What a role model is? You admire him, you appreciate him, but you should never expect to stand beside someone like that.”

Now her cousin was married, with a child who was about to start kindergarten. Occasionally, when they gathered, her cousin would still bring up Meng Zhengrong, noting that aside from his family background, his personal achievements made him a standout among the international students at that time.

Until then, Shen Li’s impression of Meng Zhengrong was merely that he was impressive. She had been in the industry for quite some time, but she didn’t really have any notable works to show for it.

Once, while having dinner with a director and several investors, she wasn’t good at drinking but had to do so for work. After running to the restroom to vomit and returning barely able to stand, she felt like she couldn’t endure it any longer. A man handed her a tissue, and before she could say thank you, he had already left.

A tissue wasn’t much, but it provided her with comfort during one of the toughest times in her life. Later, when she encountered him again in a different setting and heard others refer to him as Mr. Meng, she realized he was Meng Zhengrong.

Shen Li had always been exceptionally beautiful, but her parents were strict with her because of her looks. She lived up to expectations by landing advertisements at a young age and even appeared in a TV drama, effectively becoming a child star. Because of her prominent childhood, Shen Li never heard any fairy tales.

Everyone thought she had a high starting point and that her path would be smooth sailing. But that wasn’t the case. Although she was pretty as a child and still attractive as an adult, many were disappointed, believing she should be even more beautiful and dazzling.

Having been exposed to the entertainment industry at an early age, she didn’t believe in fairy tales. She had never entertained the idea of a Cinderella story with a prince.

Yet, deep down, she couldn’t help but think her cousin was right; Mr. Meng was indeed a really great person.

She paid attention to the development of Meng Corporation and marveled at Meng Zhengrong’s achievements at such a young age. Most importantly, even at his level, he had handed her a tissue during a difficult time.

Such a gesture might seem insignificant to others, but for someone like Meng Zhengrong—or even a passerby—how many people would think to offer a tissue at that moment?

Very few, indeed. That left a profound impression on her.

These were all fantasies of her ideal type from her teenage years. Now, she regrets sharing those youthful thoughts with Song Chaowen during their relationship.

Now… it truly felt like she had lifted a rock only to smash her own foot.

She vaguely recalled how, after she had shared those thoughts, Song Chaowen had generously and calmly said, “From what you say, he really is a good person.”

His attitude had been quite magnanimous back then.

However, now he was showing a completely different side—how ridiculous!

Song Chaowen pulled Shen Li back to reality. “If I catch you looking at him more than five times later, you know the consequences will be serious.”

Shen Li helplessly looked up at the sky. Who said this guy was mature and steady? He was just blind!

Where was he mature? Where was he steady? He was just an extremely petty, immature, and jealous man!

“If we’re eating together and talking, not looking at others would be rude. Didn’t you say that?”

At the beginning of Shen Li and Song Chaowen’s relationship, she was so shy that she couldn’t even look him in the eye because she would blush. After their first official date, Song Chaowen sent her a text message that night.

“Everything went well today. It would be even better if you could look at me more.” Song Chaowen stood up and walked behind Shen Li. Seeing the pink shade on her lips, he picked up a makeup remover wipe from the side and wiped off her lipstick.

“Hey, what are you doing?!” Shen Li exclaimed.

Song Chaowen used his long, fair fingers to rummage through her lipstick collection. Finally, he picked up one and said, “Use this one today.”

Shen Li recognized the color and frowned, “Didn’t you say this color looks terrible, like I’m poisoned?”

“Yeah, but use it today.”

Song Chaowen thought to himself that with this shade on her lips, even he, who usually finds beauty in everything, thought it looked awful. He believed that it would look even worse to other men.

Shen Li actually liked the color; it was just a bit too mature for her taste. In front of her idol, she wanted to appear more like a sweet, innocent girl.

However, Song Chaowen rarely commented on her makeup. Since he was letting her wear this lipstick today, she decided to go along with it to make him happy.

“Do I look good?” Shen Li asked after finishing her makeup.

Song Chaowen calmly nodded, “You look good.”