Chapter 1696: Barbecue

At seventeen or eighteen, it was exactly the age of overflowing righteousness and chuunibyou.

In Xiuyan and her companions' eyes, this Chinese man was clearly the kind of villain who, relying on his wealth and power, forced Song Qian to do things she didn't want to do.

"Song Qian, come here!"

Xiuyan shouted loudly to Song Qian: "Don't worry, we have many people here, we'll definitely protect you."

Zhao Fusheng smiled, looking at the group of young trainees, and couldn't help but laugh.

Song Qian was even more at a loss whether to laugh or cry, her face full of helplessness.

"Chairman..." Wu Sijie whispered in Zhao Fusheng's ear: "Should I have Old Chen and the others drive them away?"

After all, this was a public place; they couldn't keep stalemating here. People had already noticed the situation, and if security came over, it would be even more awkward.

"I'm sorry."

Song Qian looked at Zhao Fusheng, her face full of apology. After all, it was because of her senior that this situation had arisen, so she naturally had to apologize.

Zhao Fusheng laughed and shook his head: "No need, it has nothing to do with you."

With that, he looked at Xiuyan and her companions: "I understand you mean well, but she and I are compatriots, both from China. And look, this is my little sister. I wouldn't bring my little sister along to do bad things, would I?"

The group only then noticed Fan Beibei, who had been by Zhao Fusheng's side all along.

"Well..."

The atmosphere instantly became awkward.

None of them were stupid. As Zhao Fusheng said, even if he were a bad person, he wouldn't bring such a young child out with him. And judging by how tightly Fan Beibei clung to Zhao Fusheng's arm, it was certain they were together.

"Are you really compatriots?" Xiuyan looked suspiciously at Zhao Fusheng and Song Qian.

Song Qian could no longer hold back and quickly ran over to her warm-hearted senior, quietly explaining the whole story.

Of course, she only said that she needed money but didn't have any, so she had to take part-time jobs as a translator and tour guide outside. Then she was chosen by this fellow countryman from China to be his translator and tour guide for his few days in Korea. The pay was high, and she had already asked for leave from her supervisor, who knew about it.

Hearing this, Xiuyan was instantly embarrassed.

It was like desperately wanting to be the knight who saves the princess, wanting to defeat the hateful demon king.

Only to find out that the princess had willingly married the demon king.

"Mm, we're both Chinese."

Song Qian nodded and said to Xiuyan: "Senior Xiuyan, I'm really grateful, but Mr. Zhao really isn't a bad person."

"Ahem..."

A dry cough. Xiuyan felt her face heating up—how embarrassing!

Zhao Fusheng watched them communicate without saying much. He left Wu Sijie behind and walked away with Fan Beibei, followed by Chen Zhen and the others.

"Well, I'll go now, senior." Song Qian bowed to Xiuyan and the others, then quickly chased after Zhao Fusheng.

Watching her back, the few trainees were dumbfounded.

"Well..." Taeyeon hesitated, then whispered: "Should we really not go and check?"

"Forget it, since they said so."

Xiuyan shook her head: "Let's go."

She had taken the opportunity before her debut to meet up with some friends who were also Korean-Americans, never expecting to encounter such a thing. It was really frustrating.

"But judging by Song Qian's expression, she really seems happy." Muttering to herself, Xiuyan casually forgot about the matter.

She wasn't the type to pay much attention to such things anyway.

It wasn't until many years later, when she happened to see that figure on TV, that she realized who she had been talking to back then.

...

...

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Zhao."

Catching up to Zhao Fusheng, Song Qian bowed to him and apologized sincerely.

She truly felt sorry. After all, he was a big shot, and he had to explain himself to a few trainees—essentially lowering his status.

"It's not that exaggerated."

Zhao Fusheng smiled nonchalantly and waved his hand: "Don't take it to heart. Really, I'm fine."

He wasn't the kind of narrow-minded person. In Zhao Fusheng's view, this kind of thing was actually normal.

If he were in Xiuyan's shoes, he would have made the same choice.

The only problem was that he really wasn't a bad person.

"Thank you."

Song Qian bowed again.

Zhao Fusheng sighed and couldn't be bothered to say anything more.

This girl had probably been taught a harsh lesson in Korea and was now used to bowing to everyone she met.

But this had its advantages, too; at least no one would be wary of her when they saw her. This image of a simple, silly girl might even benefit her trainee career.

"Come on, let's go to Hongdae for some grilled meat, how about that?" Zhao Fusheng then said to Fan Beibei.

The little girl had no idea what Hongdae was, but she liked the sound of grilled meat. She nodded eagerly: "Sure, sure, let's have grilled meat! I love meat the most!"

No one knew why, but since she was little, she had always loved meat and hated vegetables. Fan Baobao always forced her to eat vegetables, but Zhao Fusheng didn't really bother with it. Now that she was out, she was like a wild horse let loose—no matter what, she refused to eat vegetables and only wanted meat.

"Let's go."

Zhao Fusheng gently tousled the little girl's hair: "I'm telling you, if you keep eating like this, you'll easily turn into a chubby girl."

"What's wrong with being chubby?"

Fan Beibei said smugly: "Being a little chubby means I'm healthy."

Well...

Zhao Fusheng suddenly felt she had a point, and he couldn't argue with her. After all, he couldn't talk to a child about beauty or whether handsome guys would like her.

Besides, even if Fan Beibei eventually weighed a hundred and eighty pounds, someone would probably still like her, given her good family background.

Beautiful women have no trouble getting married, and ugly women don't either, as long as they have money.

The group soon arrived at Hongdae. Under Song Qian's guidance, they went to the 678 Grilled Meat Restaurant.

"This fatty..."

Zhao Fusheng glanced at it and then laughed: "I remember I've been to this grilled meat place before, I think."

"Really?"

They all looked at each other in surprise, and Song Qian was also taken aback.

"Brother, who did you come with?"

It was Fan Beibei who spoke up; she didn't overthink things and just asked whatever came to mind.

"I came to Korea on business then, with your Uncle Jiang Wen."

Zhao Fusheng said, patting Fan Beibei's head.

"Jiang Wen?"

The others didn't react much, but Song Qian looked astonished.

She was Chinese, so she naturally knew who Jiang Wen was. This mysterious Mr. Zhao was even familiar with Jiang Wen—he must be quite an important figure.

Could he be the boss of some entertainment company back in China?

Thinking this, Song Qian's eyes brightened slightly, and she secretly made a decision in her heart.

Of course, she never thought about actively trying to seduce Zhao Fusheng. He didn't seem like someone easily swayed, and besides, if he was an entertainment company boss, he definitely wouldn't lack beautiful women. She was self-aware enough to know she was just passable in looks and had no special talents otherwise.

So she felt the best she could do was leave a good impression on him. That way, if things didn't go well for her in Korea, she'd at least have a fallback option.

Zhao Fusheng had no idea what she was thinking, and even if he did, he wouldn't have cared.

After all, a girl just over twenty who dared to come to Korea from China on her own was hardly an ordinary girl.

Many times, people who seem fragile aren't necessarily that fragile.

At least in Zhao Fusheng's eyes, Song Qian was just very good at pretending.

To be precise, she wasn't pretending; she just knew very well what she needed.

"Hello, please bring us ten servings of beef."

When the server came in, Song Qian, after consulting Zhao Fusheng, placed the order.

Not that this was enough; she just ordered this first. They couldn't pile up a mountain of meat plates on the table.

Zhao Fusheng naturally had no objections.

They took a large private room with two tables. Zhao Fusheng, Fan Beibei, Song Qian, and Wu Sijie sat at one table; Chen Zhen and the other four sat at the other.

The remaining three stayed outside in the car on guard duty.

That was Zhang Qian's order: no matter when, someone from Zhao Fusheng's convoy had to be on duty in the car.

Zhao Fusheng had originally opposed this, thinking it was unnecessary. He wasn't surrounded by enemies, and it wasn't like someone would use a bomb against him.

But Zhang Qian simply ignored Zhao Fusheng's opinion. Even after Zhao Fusheng had said it several times, Zhang Qian still insisted on his own idea.

And the bodyguards around Zhao Fusheng all agreed with Zhang Qian.

To them, Zhao Fusheng's safety was more important than anything. They would even take a bullet for him, let alone stay alert at all times—it was what a soldier should do.

So that was how it was: no matter where Zhao Fusheng's bodyguards went, someone always stayed in the car on duty.

As for eating, that was a minor issue; they could take turns.

Soon, the ten servings of grilled meat were all devoured by the group. Zhao Fusheng then had Song Qian order another ten servings.

"Korean grilled meat really has small portions," Wu Sijie said to Zhao Fusheng as he ate.

In China, grilled meat wasn't sold by servings; it was by the catty.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and shook his head: "You don't understand. Korea has little land and many people. Beef is a scarce commodity here. If they ate it the way we do in our country, how much beef do you think would be enough?"

Wu Sijie was taken aback, then laughed. What Zhao Fusheng said was true. If they ate the way the Chinese did, Korea's beef would probably be wiped out in a few years.

The skill of the great foodie nation was no ordinary thing.