My Wife is a Big Star

Chapter 9 - I Can't Lie

Chen Ran was dazed.

Zhang Fanzhi?

She’s looking for me?

He rubbed his eyes; he hadn’t seen wrong!

Her nickname really left Chen Ran at a loss for words.

Every time he saw it, he would think of the "Xiuer" from his previous life.

"What is she looking for me for?"

Chen Ran thought about it; it seemed there shouldn't be any intersection.

When he first added her, Chen Ran had thought about using a few "Are you there?" messages to brush it off.

Later, Zhang Fanzhi made things clear, so that trick wasn’t used.

He hadn’t expected that it would be Zhang Fanzhi asking him.

Chen Ran dried his hair, pressing his phone with one hand: "I was just showering. Is there something you need, Sister Zhizhi?"

At this moment.

Zhang Fanzhi was curled up on the bed with her legs tucked in. Seeing the phone message arrive, she couldn’t help but purse her lips.

She pressed a few times, typed a paragraph, then deleted it. After thinking for a while, she typed away click-clack again.

"I’d like to ask you for a favor."

Chen Ran was slightly dazed seeing the message. Zhang Fanzhi asking him for help?

She’s a big star; what help could he possibly provide?

Ran: "Sister Zhizhi, did you run into some kind of problem?"

A Lone Branch Standing Out: "More or less."

Ran: "Then tell me about it. I'm just an ordinary person; I can't guarantee I can help."

There was no more movement from the other side.

Chen Ran didn't wait around; he put down his phone to blow-dry his hair.

Ding-dong.

Chen Ran picked up the phone to unlock it.

A Lone Branch Standing Out: "Be my boyfriend."

Eh?

Chen Ran looked at it, feeling like he had seen it wrong.

Zhang Fanzhi was asking him to be her boyfriend?

Was his vision playing tricks on him?

But the words on the phone were real and solid.

Ran: "Sister Zhizhi, did you find the wrong person? I'm Chen Ran!"

Chen Ran's first reaction was that she had messaged the wrong person.

During the blind date that day, she had stated bluntly that she had no such interest and wouldn’t consider marriage before thirty.

They hadn't chatted once since adding each other on WeChat, yet her first words were asking him to be her boyfriend—who could believe this?

The other side fell silent.

"I knew she found the wrong person." Chen Ran felt that Zhang Fanzhi was likely incredibly embarrassed right now.

He was about to put down his phone when suddenly another message came.

A Lone Branch Standing Out: "I didn't."

Now Chen Ran was truly dazed.

What kind of development is this?

He said tentatively: "Is this Uncle Zhang? Are you playing with Sister Zhizhi's phone?"

A Lone Branch Standing Out: "..."

Chen Ran frowned; it seemed not.

Then what does this mean?

A Lone Branch Standing Out: "What's your number? Let's talk over the phone.”

Chen Ran hesitated for a moment; just now he was a bit dazed by Zhang Fanzhi's sentence, but now that he had come to his senses, it seemed he had somewhat grasped Zhang Fanzhi's thoughts.

Could she be a bit afraid after being pushed to go on blind dates, so she wanted to find him to be a shield?

Today Uncle Zhang even said that after going back, he would arrange for her to go on a blind date with his friend's son—the one who just came back from abroad, whom Uncle Zhang also went against his conscience to say was more handsome than him.

After thinking slightly, Chen Ran sent his number over.

He actually wanted to see what Zhang Fanzhi wanted to do.

Before long, the phone rang; it was an unfamiliar number.

Chen Ran answered the phone and said in a low voice: “Sister Zhizhi?”

After a good while, a cold voice came from that side: “Mm.”

Chen Ran: “What’s the situation on your end?”

Zhang Fanzhi: “Exactly what I just said.”

Chen Ran: “Ah?”

Zhang Fanzhi: “Faking it, to deal with my parents.”

Chen Ran: “……”

He really had guessed correctly.

Of course, it wasn't hard to guess.

“Sister Zhizhi, for this kind of thing, I feel you can discuss it with Uncle Zhang and Auntie Yun; deceiving them isn't good.”

Zhang Fanzhi said: “If I could discuss it, I wouldn't be troubling you.”

What could she do? She had said it countless times, but her parents still brought people over one after another.

She wanted to rest for half a month recently, but as a result, she was either on a blind date or on the way to one.

She was a star; if word got out that she was on blind dates all day long, what would that look like?

Chen Ran thought about it, and it seemed so; just in these few days, how many had there been including him?

If reasoning with them worked, they wouldn't be this anxious.

Zhang Fanzhi was only twenty-four years old……

“Sister Zhizhi, why don't you look for someone else?” Chen Ran asked curiously.

Zhang Fanzhi: “My parents are more fond of you.”

They are fond of me, I know that too, but they are good to me, yet I would go and deceive them; my conscience would hurt.

Chen Ran said: “I'm sorry, Sister Zhizhi, I probably can't help with this favor; I don't want to deceive Uncle Zhang.”

Zhang Fanzhi: “……”

She didn't speak; presumably, she was quite speechless.

After pausing for a moment, she said: “This counts as a white lie; you pretend to be my boyfriend to put them at ease.”

Chen Ran said: “No matter how well-intentioned, it's still a lie.”

In any case, this matter was a hassle, and Chen Ran didn't want to agree.

Uncle Zhang was very good to Chen Ran; the man effectively had the merit of promoting him, so he couldn't do such a thing.

If he truly hit it off with Zhang Fanzhi and became Uncle Zhang's son-in-law, that would be one thing, but there was no need for fakery.

It was clear Uncle Zhang really wanted him as a son-in-law; if they faked it now and made the two elders happy, when they “broke up” later, wouldn't it hurt their feelings?

This kind of trouble, Chen Ran was determined not to touch.

He had a good relationship with Uncle Zhang, but he had only met Zhang Fanzhi once.

There was no need to wade into this trouble.

Zhang Fanzhi: “Just consider it helping me; I'll owe you a favor.”

Chen Ran couldn't see her expression, but he guessed she was a bit angry, yet he still refused; what use would Zhang Fanzhi's favor be to him?

Hearing Chen Ran refuse again, Zhang Fanzhi was presumably exasperated; she said nothing and directly cut the call.

Chen Ran shook his head, not caring.

He was unwilling to wade into these muddy waters; if things went wrong, it would be a heap of trouble and would even affect his relationship with Uncle Zhang.

How great things are now!

……

The matter of Zhang Fanzhi calling over was left as it was; Chen Ran didn't take it to heart.

The next day, as soon as Chen Ran arrived at the TV station, he threw himself into work.

For a news program, what needs to be prepared is much less than for Beautiful Zhaonan; it's busy now, but after this phase passes, it will be about news gathering and editing.

Of course, for now, Chen Ran had to stay with the production crew the whole time.

Since he wrote the proposal, he was needed from time to time.

The production crew members were quite satisfied with Chen Ran's work attitude.

In fact, everyone's opinion of him was even better than before the program was changed.

It wasn't just because he was the chief planner, but more importantly because of his work ability.

After spinning around through a day's work, Chen Ran was also quite tired.

Physically he was fine, but he was mainly mentally exhausted.

When he first got home, he looked through his phone and saw the message Zhang Fanzhi had sent last night, and he suddenly thought that this person was probably on a blind date with that returnee, right?

At that moment, the phone suddenly vibrated, giving Chen Ran a start.

It was actually a message sent by Zhang Fanzhi.

A Lone Branch Standing Out: “Are you going to agree or not? Give me a response.”

Chen Ran scratched his head, not understanding what she meant; hadn't things been made clear last night?

He could only reply: “Sorry, Sister Zhizhi, I can't lie.”

After that, there was no more news from that side.

“She should give up now, right?” Chen Ran tossed his phone aside and fell asleep lying on his back on the bed.

The next day.

Chen Ran found that he had a bit of a cold.

He had fallen asleep on the bed last night and only crawled up in the middle of the night to pull the quilt over him.

“This really is...” Chen Ran felt a bit unlucky.

Dragging his groggy head to the TV station, he saw Director Zhang's deeply furrowed brow.

“Chen Ran, you're quite something!”

Ah?

Chen Ran sniffed, looking up at Director Zhang, not understanding what he meant.