Everyday Romance After Becoming a Billionaire

With a grave expression, Su Ran uttered two words, "Not necessarily." He looked up at the gloomy, oppressive sky, let out a breath, and turned back to Shan Weizi. Her beautiful eyes, filled with the joy of victory, seemed to be saying, ’Su Ran, we’re finally going to win! Don’t look so glum. Smile for me! Smile! I command you to smile! Why aren’t you smiling? (Sob, sob, sob.)’

’Smile?’ Su Ran just wanted to run for it. How could he possibly smile?

Su Ran looked at Shan Weizi’s expectant eyes. She desperately wanted her comrade-in-arms to fight by her side.

But...

’Sister Piaopiao has a trump card.’

’The battle is already lost. No need to stick around and fight a losing war.’

Su Ran put on a look of weary detachment and tried to persuade her, "Shan Weizi, you’re a good girl. Why don’t you just... let it go? Don’t fight your mom head-on. It’s better for both of us."

At his words, the look of expectation in Shan Weizi’s eyes turned into one of betrayal.

Her face fell. "So, you’re going to sell me out for one of my grandfather’s paintings? Trading the granddaughter for a painting, is that it? Su Ran, you’re so cruel~"

"No, that’s not what I was thinking. We just don’t have the resources to keep fighting your mom anymore..."

"Alright, I get it..." Shan Weizi held up a hand to stop him. "You’ve already turned traitor, so don’t try to sway me. I’ll handle this alone!"

With that, she strode forward into the evening breeze. Her pale cyan Hanfu fluttered, putting the gentle beauty of a Jiangnan woman on full display.

She strode forward, took her stance, and came face-to-face with Liu Piaopiao.

The girl in the Hanfu versus the mature woman in the qipao.

Cute versus sexy.

Cute had already lost.

Su Ran facepalmed, speechless. In his eyes, she was marching to her doom. ’Isn’t it good to be alive?’

Shan Weizi declared resolutely, "Ms. Liu Piaopiao, what proof do you ha—" *SPFFT!*

The word "proof" hadn’t even left her lips before she recoiled in shock and flashed behind Su Ran. "What the hell was that?"

"What’s wrong, Ms. Shan Weizi? Come on, come and see if your ’The Peacock Flies Southeast’ has spread its wings and taken flight. What do you have to say about this?"

Liu Piaopiao delivered the finishing blow. She pulled out the *Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix* from behind her back and, with a WHISH, unfurled it before everyone. Originally, the Phoenix in the painting was perched on a branch, gazing longingly towards the southeast. But now, after Su Ran’s "touch-up," the Phoenix had spread its wings and was flying away to the southeast.

The sight scared Shan Weizi so badly she stumbled back repeatedly, as if she’d just seen a Buddhist Curse from a Lin Zhengying film.

Su Ran turned his head and glanced at Shan Weizi, who was now clutching his arm tightly.

"Sigh... I told you not to resist, not to overestimate yourself, but you just wouldn’t listen. Now, it’s not just you who’s done for—it’s both of us. There’s no explaining our way out of this. I, for one, am not going to try."

"Are you even a man? You always drop the ball when it counts."

"Whatever."

"Still ’whatever’? On what grounds are we even having this ’discussion’?"

"Yeah, on what grounds?"

The two of them continued bickering as they tried to sneak away.

Liu Piaopiao watched them and scoffed. "What a perfect match. Such great chemistry. Hey, hey, hey! Stop putting on a show like Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai. Get back here, both of you!"

Su Ran: "Sigh... Your acting sucks~"

Shan Weizi: "My acting sucks? You’re clearly the one who’s being fake, and you’re blaming me?"

Su Ran: "Fine, fine, fine, my acting is terrible."

Shan Weizi: "It *is* your acting that’s terrible."

Su Ran: "Okay, okay, okay, what do we do now?"

Shan Weizi: "You’re the man here, and you’re asking me what to do at a time like this?"

Su Ran: "I thought we had gender equality now?"

Shan Weizi: "Oh-ho~"

The two of them came back, bickering and chirping at each other the whole way.

Liu Piaopiao watched them, a wide grin on her face. They looked just like a pair of bickering lovers.

...

’This painting?’

Elder Shan and Shan Zhentian scrutinized the painting. They looked at it, deeply puzzled, then rubbed their eyes to double-check. Elder Shan nodded, then shook his head. "This is Weizi’s painting, but... did it really grow wings and fly off? Weizi! Ai, you two can argue later; I’ll give you plenty of time. For now, come here and tell me if this painting is yours."

Seeing the two of them shuffle over slowly, still taking jabs at each other, Elder Shan shook his head with a smile. He walked over and pulled his granddaughter in front of the painting.

"See? Is this the one you painted?"

Shan Weizi shook her head. "It’s not mine. It’s a fake, a total fake! I never painted this. Dad was there, he knows the one I painted didn’t have its wings spread. This one’s wings are spread, so it’s not mine!"

Shan Zhentian nodded. "Weizi didn’t paint this. I can guarantee it. Because at the time, I was watching her paint from this exact spot, which is precisely 1314.520 away from Southeast Jiangning."

Shan Weizi was speechless. "Teacher Shan, was it really necessary to state the kilometers so precisely?"

Shan Zhentian held back a laugh. "I thought that was the important part."

’Argh! This family is driving me crazy!’

"Hah! Ms. Liu Piaopiao, did you hear that? I didn’t paint this; someone else did. I don’t know where you found an artist to imitate my style and create such a convincing fake *Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix*—no, wait... the name isn’t even right. You could at least try a little harder..."

Shan Weizi pointed to the semi-cursive script in the upper right corner, her tone triumphant. "The name of this piece is *The Peacock Flies Southeast*! Heh heh, how interesting. A fake is a fake. You really went to great lengths just to frame me, didn’t you? Well, the truth is out now. What do you have to say for yourself, Ms. Liu Piaopiao?"

Shan Zhentian looked at his wife. "Piaopiao, you’ve gone a bit too far this time. Our daughter is an adult; it’s only natural for her to have her own secrets, to long for love, and to dream of her Prince Charming. But she’s just thinking about it! And you go and hire an artist to imitate her style and paint *The Peacock Flies Southeast*? Weizi is only eighteen. Are you that eager to marry her off 1314.520 kilometers away?"

Shan Weizi: ’Was it really necessary to mention the kilometers again???’