Two years later.
"We don't have to go home and bury Yizuan in China, Zhan," Zanjin said. Tried to hide his irritation." You can cremate her body here."
Zhan shook his head along with the snoring. Ziyuan died in her sleep yesterday, two years after she was diagnosed with cancer. Zhan was tired and weary, he hadn't slept since yesterday. He looked out at the window, watching the rain beating against the window of his Manhattan apartment.
"Zhan," insisted Zanjin. "I've been your business manager since we took Ziyuan to the hospital. I want to protect your interests, just like she did. Your career was her life. She did everything she could to get you where you are now. And she entrusted you to me. So, listen-"
"I'm taking her body back home," Zhan said calmly. But under his voice, there was determination.
"I'm sorry for my lack of sentiment," Zanjin said, while shaking his head. "But I believe the dead are dead. There was even that bible text that says, let the dead bury the dead-or something like that," he grunted slightly.
"So you see, my dear," Zanjin continued, "we have to be realistic. Ziyuan was a hard-nosed lady. I'm sure she doesn't want you to make a drama out of her death. And it is not like her death was sudden. We know it's going to happen, don't we?"
Zhan made a hearty nod. Znajin was right. Since the doctor told them about her mother's condition, he had been preparing for her death. And for the last two years, his mother went in and out of the hospital. And also over the past two years, Zhan had been working like a dog. The cost of his mother's treatment is no joke.
However, despite the restless work, he could not deny the satisfaction he felt.
In the past two years, for the first time, Zhan been freed from his mother's complete manipulation. Though he felt guilty about it. The reason for his freedom was the sickness of his mother, Ziyuan was weak enough to join all his shows.
That night, two years ago, Zhan thought the scandal would ruin his career, everything his mother had worked for. But since that night, the press has been in turmoil. They had such a field day where Zhan was concerned. His face covers all the newspapers and magazines.
Xiao Zhan, The Temptress, with a cool innocent eye which were at odds with his shockingly sensual siren's mouth, was a sinner or a saint? Is his mother's illness causing him to be wild?
The day after that incident, his pictures together with Jeffrey Moore is the contents of all the newspapers and tabloids. Zhan couldn't stop smiling blandly as he looked at the picture.
It wasn't what Zhan had expected. It looked like a scene in one of Jeffrey Moore's television series. There had been nothing indecent about it. But the article with the picture included it made it Zhan the bad one. The same as Meng Ziyi who appeared to be the aggrieved party.
They had interviewed Meng Ziyi. She hadn't exaggerated her statement. She narrates how she got into the room and saw her fiance and Zhan lying on the bed. Her engagement with Jeffrey Moore ended that night. One of the pictures Zhan saw Meng Ziyi crying while being hugged by a tall man. Zhan can't go wrong. That was the same man he had met on the stairs.
Wang Yibo-that's his name that Zhan read in the newspaper. A playboy jetsetter. The grandson of a Chinese food magnate and Meng Ziyi is his cousin.
Zhan couldn't forget the looks he gave him that night. Despite the scandal, his blue eyes occasionally penetrate Zhan's memory. If his blue eyes were releasing sharpened knife when they met on the stairs, the media would not have had the opportunity to talk to Zhan. He would have been dead on the spot.
