Chapter 36

On Sunday afternoon, Zhou Ping'an sat on a single sofa with a thick technical journal spread out in front of him. His eyes were focused, and only the occasional subtle sound of turning pages could be heard.

Liu Yifan was curled up at one end of the sofa, with a beautifully bound book on drama theory on his knees. His fingertips gently ran across the pages, his expression calm.

On this Sunday afternoon of quiet coexistence, there is a soothing, almost lazy peace in the air.

However, this tranquility was broken by a sudden ringing of a cell phone.

The ringtone came from the mobile phone that Liu Yifan placed on the coffee table. The screen lit up, showing the name "Yang Wei".

Liu Yifan raised her eyes from the book and frowned slightly. She put down the book, picked up the phone, glanced at Zhou Pingan who seemed unaffected on the other side, and then pressed the answer button.

"Hello, Yang Wei?" Her voice still had a hint of laziness from reading.

Yang Wei's voice, subdued but unable to conceal her nervousness and excitement, came from the other end of the line, speaking rapidly as fast as a machine gun: "My dear Miss! Are you...are you in Rongcheng now? Are you with Mr. Zhou?"

Liu Yifan subconsciously glanced at Zhou Pingan again, then retracted his gaze and said calmly, "Yeah. What's wrong?"

"Oh my god! You really are living at Mr. Zhou's house?!" Yang Wei's voice rose a little, then quickly dropped to a whisper. "Something happened! No, not really...it's just that you two were photographed!"

Liu Yifan's fingers gripping the phone tightened slightly, but his expression remained calm. "Being photographed? When?"

"It was just yesterday! It should have been around noon or afternoon! A paparazzi photographed you two shopping together at the supermarket at the entrance to the residential complex! The photo has already spread widely within a small circle!" Yang Wei reported quickly. "The headline was really exaggerated, saying something like, 'Liu Yifan suspected of living with tech upstart Zhou Ping'an, shopping in an intimate and natural manner at the supermarket!' Even though the photo is a little blurry, it's definitely you and Mr. Zhou!"

Liu Yian listened quietly, her eyes fixed on the bright sunlight outside the window, but her heart remained remarkably calm. She even felt like laughing. Intimate and natural? They had just been in the supermarket, one pushing the cart while the other silently picked out fruit. They had exchanged no more than five sentences in total. How could this be intimate and natural?

"What should we do now?" Yang Wei pressed eagerly, with the usual crisis management mentality of an agent. "Should we issue a denial immediately? Say we were just friends who ran into each other and went shopping together? Or... just ignore it and don't respond for now?"

At this moment, Zhou Ping'an finally seemed to be drawn to the slightly longer call and the slightly different tone. He raised his head and cast a faint, inquiring gaze at Liu Yifan.

Liu Yifan met his gaze and spoke into the microphone, his tone still steady, even more calm than before: "No need to respond. Let them guess if they want."

"No response?" Yang Wei was stunned for a moment, clearly surprised by the decision. "But... this is tantamount to acquiescence! Miss, do you know what this means? The rumors will spread even more fiercely outside! The impact on you and President Zhou..."

"I know." Liu Yifan interrupted her, his tone full of determination, "Let it be. It's not a big deal, don't worry about it."

She briefly explained a few words to Yang Wei, mainly asking her not to panic, and then ended the call.

After putting down the phone, the living room returned to silence.

Zhou Pingan closed the journal in his hand and put it aside. He looked at Liu Yifan and asked in a normal tone, "Do you want me to ask Su Ying to take care of it?"

Liu Yifan looked at his nonchalant attitude, and the urge to laugh surfaced again. She shook her head and looked at him calmly, "No need. Anyway... it's the truth."

She said this lightly, yet with a clear weight. She wasn't admitting a scandal, but stating a more basic reality: she did live here.

Zhou Pingan's gaze lingered on her face for two seconds after hearing this. He didn't ask any further questions, nor did he question her. He simply nodded lightly and uttered a simple syllable:

"Um."

Then he picked up the journal again and looked back at the pages, as if the previous conversation was just an insignificant episode.

However, Liu Yifan was unable to immediately return to his previous reading state.

She sat there, watching the man across from her, immersed in his world of words once again, and a complex feeling welled up in her heart. His calmness, rather than indifference, was more like...complete trust and indulgence.

This almost absolute "letting go" and "non-interference" actually made her feel an invisible respect and support more than any tension or concern.

At the same time, in a corner of the Internet, those blurry photos were like stones thrown into a lake, causing ripples.

Initially, the photos circulated only within a few social media groups focused on breaking gossip from the entertainment and financial circles. The photos were low-resolution, clearly candid shots with a long lens, but the figures' outlines and features were faintly discernible. One showed Zhou Ping'an pushing a shopping cart, his profile stern and dressed in simple gray casual clothes, a stark contrast to his suit-and-tie image in financial news.

Another photo shows Liu Yifan leaning over a pile of oranges, carefully selecting them. Her long hair falls, partially obscuring her face, but her demeanor and figure are instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with her. Yet another shows the two of them walking side by side toward the supermarket exit. Although they aren't speaking, their parallel movements convey an indescribable sense of everydayness.

"Holy crap! Are they really Liu Yifan and Zhou Pingan?"

"This background... is just an ordinary neighborhood supermarket! Do they live together?"

"They look so ordinary, not like big stars or billionaires at all, just like an ordinary couple."

"Is cohabitation confirmed? They even buy groceries together!"

"Ping An's net worth has increased again this week, right? Anping Battery has been on a tear lately!"

"Is Liu Yifan going to marry into a wealthy family? But they look quite a good match standing together."

Speculations, exclamations, envy, and even sour comments circulated within a small circle. Due to the angle of the photo, it did create an illusion of intimacy and naturalness, even though the people involved were likely only half a meter apart and had zero communication throughout.

The news quickly spread through various channels and reached Xiangbei Cinema.

During a break on set, Lin Na took the tablet from her assistant and saw the photos and the eye-catching headline. She was stunned for a moment, then the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up, eventually turning into a low laugh of understanding and approval.

"That's fine, Liu Yifan..." she muttered to herself, handing the tablet back to her assistant. "This 'experiencing life' experience is quite thorough. It's great. This state will make the acting more realistic."

Chen Feng's reaction to the news was more pragmatic. He scratched his head and said to Lin Na, "That's good! The whole crew knows our heroine's house was raided at a supermarket. But that's good too. It saves everyone from constant speculation."

And in Haicheng, in a high-end apartment.

Dai Xiaoyi swiped her phone screen, looking at the blurry photos with a complex expression. Zhou Ping'an, looking at home in the photos, with a sense of relaxation she had never seen before, felt like a gentle prick in her heart. She turned off the phone, walked to the window, looked at the bustling night scene outside, and took a deep breath.

The man she once knew, the man who operated like a precision instrument, had been invaded and changed by another. This realization made her feel an inexplicable sense of loss and... relief? She shook her head, not wanting to think about it anymore.

For the next period of time, Liu Yifan and Zhou Ping'an's life rhythm remained the same, and Liu Yifan would fly over and stay for three days every week.

They still ate at their regular times, quietly doing their own things in the common area, and their conversations were brief and practical. No one mentioned the candid photo shoot or the subsequent incident again.

For example, when Zhou Ping'an comes home from get off work, if he sees Liu Yifan in the living room, he will more naturally say hello "I'm back" instead of just nodding.

For example, when Liu Yifan prepared fruit, he would subconsciously wash an extra portion and put it on the coffee table, and Zhou Ping'an would naturally pick it up and eat it.

For example, one weekend morning, the two of them went to the supermarket together, just like an ordinary couple, instead of Liu Yifan rushing back and forth alone. Although their communication was still limited, their side-by-side presence further solidified their relationship in the eyes of their neighbors.

In the days that followed, a storm of public opinion quickly brewed and spread within certain circles. For a female star of Liu Yifan's stature, her choice of partner is never just a personal emotional destination; it's also a "report card" carefully scrutinized and repeatedly weighed by various forces.

Zhou Ping'an undoubtedly gave an answer sheet that was almost perfect.

He is young, unmarried, and has built a multi-billion-dollar fortune from scratch, focusing on cutting-edge technology that represents the future. His wealth is clean, explosive, and even carries the aura of a "national strategy."

Compared with those traditional wealthy families with complicated backgrounds who have to tread carefully, or those so-called "rich second generations" who are only in name but weak inside, Zhou Pingan's hard-core strength and relatively simple background as a "first generation entrepreneur" are considered to be top-notch and hard to come by in the eyes of people in the circle.

He's also not bad looking, and has a reassuring calmness that doesn't quite fit in with the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. This combination is enough to make countless actresses and their teams jealous.

After her initial shock and subsequent confirmation, agent Yang Wei quickly shifted from crisis PR mode to a frenzied marketing campaign. She keenly realized that this wasn't a crisis, but rather a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She quietly yet efficiently mobilized her media resources to guide public opinion.

Soon, in some seemingly "objective" entertainment reviews and gossip analyses, such arguments began to appear frequently:

"This is a true powerhouse, right? Liu Yifan's stunning beauty and star power, Zhou Ping'an's exceptional intelligence and wealth—it's a real-life king-bomb combination."

"I used to think that female celebrities marrying into wealthy families were just trying to climb the social ladder, but when Liu Yifan and Zhou Ping'an stand together, it feels like a perfect match, each one complementing the other."

"Seeing them in the supermarket, they are so down-to-earth and everyday. There's no sense of them deliberately showing off their affection. Instead, it seems more real and precious."

Yang Wei's strategy was clear: to downplay the gossip surrounding their "cohabitation" relationship and instead highlight the positive image of "good match" and "win-win"—elevating Liu Yifan from a "female celebrity" to an "independent woman standing shoulder to shoulder with billionaire tech tycoons." This not only significantly boosted Liu Yifan's public image and commercial value, but also served as a kind of invisible "boost" for her.

At the same time, Liu Yifan's glamorous yet undercurrent-filled "circle of girlfriends" and "rivals" were in an uproar.

At a private dinner party hosted by a high-end luxury brand, several actresses who had similar experience to Liu Yifan and who usually interacted actively on social media gathered together, and the topic inevitably turned to this matter.

An actress known for marrying into a wealthy family shook her champagne glass, her tone carrying a barely concealed hint of sourness: "Yifan really did something big this time. She actually managed to win over someone like Zhou Ping'an without making any noise. It's true that when luck strikes, it's unstoppable."

Another young actress nearby, who had always been in competition with Liu Yifan for resources, chuckled softly, saying something suggestive, "Luck? That's what we call a unique vision. I heard that Mr. Zhou is very low-key and doesn't even mingle in our circle. For Yifan to be able to connect with him, he must have some extraordinary qualities that we're not aware of."

What’s more, in a small WeChat group visible only to insiders, the message quickly flooded the screen:

"Liu Xian is truly in a safe place this time! Zhou Ping'an's company is about to go public, and his wealth will increase several times over by then!"

"Tsk, I'm afraid I'll have to move her forward when arranging seating for fashion events in the future..."

"I heard that several high-end luxury brands she endorses are considering upgrading her title. After all, the identity of 'Mrs. Zhou' is different."

However, beyond the noise, there is another mainstream atmosphere among Liu Yifan's fan group - sincere blessings.

On her official fan club Weibo and various fan communities, cheers and blessings almost flooded the screen:

"As long as my sister is happy! Mr. Zhou seems reliable and a good match for my sister!"

"Finally, someone can take good care of our Liu Liu! Seeing her so relaxed in the photo makes me so happy!"

"Isn't this what it means to have a successful career and a happy love life? My sister is awesome, and the man she found is awesome too! We career fans are so happy!"

"Who dares to call our sister a pretty face anymore? Her boyfriend is a billionaire in the high-tech industry! That kind of vision and vision is a real plus!"

The fans' logic was simple and direct: their idol had found a partner who was good enough and seemed capable of making her happy, which was in itself a cause for celebration. Furthermore, this relationship had clearly elevated Liu Yifan's status, making her niche in the entertainment industry more stable and transcendent, which made the fans even more proud.

The feedback from business partners was even quicker and more enthusiastic.

The heads of several top luxury and technology brands contacted Yang Wei immediately, their tone more enthusiastic than before, even with a hint of urgency, suggesting that the terms of cooperation could be "more attractive", and urgently asked whether Liu Yifan had any plans for a joint appearance or exclusive interview in the near future, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity as soon as possible.

Faced with all this, although Liu Yifan remained calm on the surface, his heart was not without ripples.

As she scrolled through the overwhelming news and comments like "top-notch" and "envious" on her phone, a complex emotion spread in her heart.

The beginning of all this was as absurd as if written by fate: a "project collaboration" that began with a cold deal and extreme ambition. However, the resulting wave of public opinion that rippled through the entire world of fame and fortune, and the subsequent tangible boost in reputation and commercial dividends, were too real to deny.

She was not being pushed passively. She was actively and consciously utilizing this tremendous force, heading towards a turbulent future that she herself had not yet fully understood.

She was both a participant and a spectator in this drama, and this sense of disconnection allowed her to maintain a sense of cool clarity amidst the clamor of praise and envy, while also experiencing an indescribable sense of dizziness.