Chapter 56 Mr. Xu's Midlife Crisis

Xu Weisheng has recently been experiencing severe age anxiety. Jian Zhen noticed this trend in his exercise frequency and daily routine—he went to the gym more often, started taking melatonin following the trend, and gradually went to bed and woke up earlier, claiming that he wanted to regain his youth and cure his sub-health.

Jianzhen compared him to Touxue's colleagues and comforted him, saying, "If you're considered to be in a sub-healthy state, then they should all be hospitalized tomorrow."

Xu Weisheng remained silent on the matter.

Actually, it's a good thing for men to have some age anxiety, so that some men don't still think they're young and beautiful even when they're over forty, which can easily lead to them becoming jaded. However, Xu Weisheng's symptoms—starting to secretly apply Jian Zhen's eye cream to his eyelids—made Jian Zhen realize that this problem was not to be underestimated.

She decided to take some time to have a proper talk with the other party.

Unfortunately, Director Chien is currently in the prime of his career and is busy with many things every day. So he waited until early August when the movie "Billiard Boys" was officially announced to join the summer blockbuster season and was officially scheduled to be released on the day of the Autumn Equinox, with preview screenings starting a week in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

The first preview screening was scheduled at the Shanghai Peace Cinema. Jian Zhen originally planned to go on a promotional tour with Lao Le, Yang Damei and other main creators, but she changed her mind at the last minute when it came time to book tickets, saying only that "something came up at home and I probably can't go."

Even Laure, a business partner who usually had no interest in other people's private affairs, couldn't help but inquire: "What's wrong? Why aren't you going to the premiere?"

“Uh…” Jian Zhen was multitasking, trying hard to recall the shopping list that Xu Weisheng had given her on the phone that afternoon. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind and she remembered that the missing item was Puning bean paste. She quickly wrote it down on a sticky note, then looked up at Lao Le on the table and smiled, saying, “I have to coax him.”

Laule rolled his eyes dismissively and left.

After get off work, Jian Zhen first drove to the supermarket and bought all the ingredients Xu Weisheng wanted. Then she bought a bouquet of flowers from the flower shop across the street and took them home together.

When she opened the door, Xu Weisheng was already cooking. She rushed over and took the shopping bag from her hand, and was startled by the flowers in her arms: "Who sent these?"

"It's a gift for you."

"Oh." Xu Weisheng breathed a sigh of relief, and then remembered to be happy. But it seemed too late to act emotional at this point. Romance also requires timing. Jian Zhen told him to find a vase and get a pair of scissors. Then she tied up her hair and went into the kitchen briskly.

The two stood by the kitchen counter, one chopping vegetables and the other pruning branches, while soft music played from the speakers in the middle, creating a quiet and harmonious scene.

Xu Weisheng was focused on removing the shreds from the celery when he suddenly heard Jian Zhen say, "I've canceled all my roadshow events next week."

The celery in her hand snapped in two with a snap, revealing its freshness and crispness. Xu Weisheng held one stalk in each hand, turned to look at her, and asked, "Why?"

Jian Zhen placed the trimmed roses into the vase, turned to meet his gaze, and quietly said, "I'm not comfortable leaving someone undergoing psychotherapy at home."

After a moment of surprise, Xu Weisheng laughed and forced a smile, asking, "How did you find out?"

“The dashcam.” Jian Zhen continued tending to the remaining branches, her tone calm. “Did it work? I see you went there several times.”

"No," Xu Weisheng said in despair, "I still feel very anxious. Sometimes I wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, thinking that I will be thirty years old soon."

Jian Zhen looked up at him in surprise: "So what if you're thirty?"

Hsu Wei-sheng was a little embarrassed to say that during his most immature years, he once vowed that living to the age of thirty would be enough. After thirty, his creativity would decline, and his friends would all start families, leaving him alone to draw his sword and look around, but he couldn't find any opponents. Such a life was hard to imagine.

Fortunately, he caught up with Jian Zhen before he turned thirty, and as a result, he suddenly became interested in replanning his life after thirty. However, Jian Zhen's rapid growth in recent years has brought him new anxieties.

He worried that this unreal happiness would be taken away by fate. After all, Jian Zhen hadn't married him yet, and even if they did, they might get divorced. No one could guarantee that Jian Zhen would love him forever.

Xu Weisheng overcame enormous psychological barriers before telling these things to the counselor, who then said, "You received too little family love in your childhood. It's normal for a poor person to feel anxious and insecure when they suddenly become rich."

He was so angry he almost stormed off the table. Childhood issues—didn't he know he had problems with his childhood? The problem now is that he can't go back to his childhood, nor can he stop himself from worrying about the future day and night.

Xu Weisheng hesitated in the kitchen, "Will you... think I'm too old?"

Jian Zhen corrected him: "Thirty years old is still very young."

"What about forty?" Xu Weisheng asked subconsciously.

“I was thirty-six then.” Jian Zhen looked at him amusedly: “What, you think I won’t get old?”

“I’m sorry,” Xu Weisheng explained. “I’ve never experienced such a long-term intimate relationship in my life. Every morning when I wake up and see you still by my side, I feel like I’ve had another day of good fortune.”

Hearing him say that, Jian Zhen couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She put down the branches and scissors in her hand, turned around to wash her hands, and joked as she washed them, "With surveillance so advanced these days, where could I possibly run off to?"

Xu Weisheng was pulled over by her, and the two squeezed under a tap to wash their hands. As they washed, their fingers intertwined. Holding Jian Zhen's hand, he jokingly said, "Next to Lin Sheng?"

“But there’s only one Lin Sheng in the world.” Jian Zhen finished speaking, then realized something was wrong. She pulled her hand out of his, shook off the water droplets, and asked, puzzled, “Do you still think that the person I like is just an eighteen or nineteen-year-old bestselling comic book author? A popular idol from over ten years ago? What do you think I’m playing with you for? Private fan meetings?”

Xu Weisheng didn't understand the concept of fans contacting each other privately, but that's exactly what he thought—without Lin Sheng as an alias, Jian Zhen wouldn't accept his pursuit.

He wrote his answer in his eyes. Jian Zhen laughed, leaned against the edge of the table, crossed her arms, raised her chin, and asked, "Do you know that a person's cells can be renewed every seven years? Even if you have a relationship with a nineteen-year-old superstar, it's a negligible, weak relationship. I chose you not because you're wearing Lin Sheng's old disguise, but because—"

Why? Xu Weisheng longed for what she would mention next to be something that would never be lost with the passage of time, and he eagerly pricked up his ears.

Jian Zhen swallowed the words "good drawing skills," "good looks," and "good conditions" back into her mind. These weren't the main reasons, and she couldn't think of one for the moment. So she pointed to the celery on the cutting board and said, "Because you made a really good stir-fried celery with lily bulbs!"

Upon hearing this, both of them burst into laughter. Xu Weisheng said proudly, "My water spinach is also quite good."

Jian Zhen smiled and agreed: "Yes, actually you see, I am closer to the real you than you imagine. I love you for who you are, not a slice of you from a certain year or month. You are three-dimensional, you are imperfect, but you are still loved."

After she finished speaking, her ears turned red and her heart pounded. There was no way around it; both of them were rare reserved personalities among creators, and they rarely expressed their love openly. Especially Jian Zhen, when she spoke so frankly, she almost instinctively wanted to cry.

Xu Weisheng looked up at the ceiling, blinked to hold back her tears, and said, laughing and crying at the same time, "Even if I'm sick, it's the same?"

The counselor suggested he see a psychiatrist, but he was worried about getting a diagnosis of something wrong and kept putting it off. Now that the matter has come to Jian Zhen's attention, Jian Zhen can probably guess that he's sick.

“Everyone in the world is sick.” Jian Zhen stepped forward and hugged him.

For Xu Weisheng, it felt like an antidote had fallen into his arms. He hugged Jian Zhen tightly to confirm, "So as a partner, I won't expire, right?"

Jian Zhen answered honestly, "You can renew it even if it expires."

This answer was more reassuring than the word "forever." Xu Weisheng was now much more at ease, jokingly saying, "I must have been overthinking things because I've been a mascot for too long and I'm becoming less and less like you."

Jian Zhen laughed and said, "The side of you that's flying around in a suit cutting ribbons isn't exactly smart."

He just said he was loved, and Xu Weisheng looked annoyed.

"Why don't you quit? Retire and come to Touxue. Anyway, I can support you now."

"Are you serious?" Xu Weisheng had long since stopped participating in the basic work of snow removal. Now, resigning to go to snow removal was no different from a new mother returning to the workplace. He wasn't afraid that Jian Zhen would kick him out, but he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to adapt to the change in identity from behind the scenes to the front of the stage.

"Sure." Jian Zhen hugged him and shook him gently, then asked softly, "How about we start by doing promotional tours together?"

I'm a bit stuck on a chapter, writing the ending now. It'll be finished tomorrow!