Chapter 16: Day Sixteenth, No Thought

It turns out that as someone who now has nearly a million followers across all platforms, suddenly appearing in public was no longer like that night at the MiniGlitz launch show.

Back then, the entire audience and online viewers were instantly captivated, and the whole platform frantically searched for the woman who stole their hearts on stage, wondering who she was and what her name was.

Immediately, people recognized that the model in the advertisement was Suisui Nian.

Suisui Nian, who looked in the mirror and found her skin dry.

Suisui Nian, who applied face cream and then happily bounced around as if she were flying.

Suisui Nian, who turned back before leaving, smiled contentedly at herself in the mirror.

It was actually a very ordinary advertisement script.

But the moment the model appeared on screen, she was truly eye-catching.

Every glance and every smile made it hard to look away.

Along with recognizing Si Nian, the comments started flooding in:

Oh my god! The model is so beautiful!

For once, I’m glad I didn’t skip the ad.

Y-brand picked the perfect model this time. She fits my aesthetic so well.

For those who don’t know, the model’s name is Suisui Nian. She’s my wife! She took on such a big ad job without even telling me. Seriously… facepalm and helpless laugh.jpg

Isn’t this a national advertisement for Y-brand? That’s amazing

Does this face cream actually make your skin as flawless as it looks in the ad? Just looking at her makes me feel like this product must be really effective. I think I might be tempted to buy it…orz

No wonder they didn’t hire a celebrity spokesperson. With a face like that, any skincare product would look convincing!

I hope I can be like this in my next life.

…

Si Nian dragged the video progress bar back to specifically rewatch the comments about her in the advertisement.

She felt that the shoot had turned out quite well.

Just then, she received a WeChat message from Jiang Yihan.

Image.jpg @Unlimited great content, all at Jinjiang Literature City.

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Ahhhhhhhh!

For the first time, Si Nian saw her finished advertisement poster through Jiang Yihan.

Y-brand’s new face cream was launching.

They had bought ad placements in the pages of Glitz magazine, and the poster had already been sent to the publisher.

Jiang Yihan: I guarantee—this will sell like crazy!

In the poster, the girl’s skin was fair, rosy, and translucent.

A few stray strands of hair fell gently across her forehead.

Every detail, down to the natural flow of her eyebrows and eyelashes, was crystal clear.

She lay there, smiling perfectly at the camera, with the newly launched Y-brand moisturizing cream in front of her.

It was effortless to connect such beauty with the product she was endorsing.

It made people unconsciously wonder if they used the cream from the advertisement, would they become as beautiful as the girl in the poster?

This was the ultimate goal that advertisers in the industry strived for.

Si Nian replied to Jiang Yihan: I’ll take your good wishes.

The next day, she saw her advertisement poster at the mall.

Although Y-brand wasn’t a high-end luxury line, it had counters in almost every major shopping mall, and now all the displays had been updated.

Seeing her offline advertisement for the first time brought her the same joy as seeing it online.

Si Nian stood in front of her own poster, took a picture, and posted it.

Many fans in the comments shared their own photos, telling her that the counters in their cities had also updated with her advertisement.

As she looked at the nationwide posters her fans had sent, the corners of her lips lifted higher and higher.

Her heart pounded excitedly in her chest, especially when she saw customers in the mall pause in front of her ad to take a closer look.

She felt both anticipation and nervousness.

A passing customer looked at the poster and seemed to decide on the spot to buy a bottle.

Si Nian hoped the cream would sell as much as possible.

Even though she was just an advertisement model, not an official brand ambassador, and sales technically had nothing to do with her, the better the product sold, the more successful the ad would be.

And naturally, her own worth would rise along with it.

…

At the same time, at a traffic light.

Lu Shuyan saw Si Nian again on a large digital billboard on the street.

Last time, it was a live runway show.

This time, it was a skincare advertisement.

Lu Shuyan gazed at the newly changed advertisement poster, unable to ignore its visual impact.

It seemed to have a magnetic pull that made people stop and wonder who the girl in the ad was.

Even though she always claimed to dislike working, whenever she actually did it, she seemed to excel.

The driver in the front seat also seemed to notice the model in the ad.

He couldn’t help but steal a few glances, as if he hadn’t expected that the woman who had recently looked increasingly radiant in the backseat of a Rolls-Royce was now appearing on a skincare advertisement on the street.

That day, Lu Shuyan was returning to the Lu family estate.

Years ago, Lu Yuanshan had thought the courtyard house in the city center was too small, so he bought a large plot of land in the suburbs and built a private estate modeled after a famous southern garden.

Now, although he still held the chairman title, he no longer actively managed Rongsheng’s affairs.

Instead, he lived there peacefully with his wife, Xu Ling.

When Lu Shuyan arrived, he saw his father fishing.

He walked over, took the fishing rod from his father, and fished alongside him in silence.

They both focused on the bobbing float, barely speaking.

A servant soon came to call them for dinner.

At the dining table, aside from Lu Yuanshan and Xu Ling, there was only Lu Shuyan.

Lu Shuyan knew why his parents had asked him to come today.

He picked a piece of soft, boneless fish and placed it into Xu Ling’s bowl.

“Mom.”

Lu Yuanshan asked him some questions, and he answered them one by one.

In truth, Lu Yuanshan could see that Lu Shuyan was handling Rongsheng very well after taking over.

He had no reason to intervene, especially since he only had this one son.

Lu Yuanshan understood his son well.

Whether in academics or in business, Lu Shuyan had always been impeccable.

The only thing that had ever surprised them was his previous relationship—his real-life Cinderella story.

But compared to everything else, his choice of girlfriend was the least of their concerns.

Even if she was a “Cinderella,” they had no real objections.

It was just that the relationship had lasted longer than anyone had expected.

Over the years, Lu Yuanshan had heard some rumors.

Like how Lu Shuyan had originally prepared nearly a billion yuan in checks and multiple properties for her, yet in the end, for some unknown reason, he gave her nothing.

He didn’t need to know exactly what had happened.

Men of his age and status could figure it out just by guessing.

Casually, he brought up the topic.

“Your mother and I heard about it.”

“You’re still young. Some experiences are enough just to try once.”

“Going forward, your mother and I still hope you’ll choose someone we know.”

He didn’t say it outright, but the implication was clear—he had tried dating a “Cinderella” once, and that was enough.

Fairy tales didn’t exist.

Even if they did, they likely concealed something ugly within.

The truth was, they simply preferred someone from the same social class.

It wasn’t about strategic marriage alliances.

With Rongsheng’s status, they didn’t need such things.

But someone from the same background would at least prevent situations like this from happening again.

Lu Shuyan furrowed his brows slightly at his father’s words.

Lu Yuanshan didn’t push further and changed the subject.

“I went fishing with Uncle Chen the other day. His daughter is coming back from the U.S. the day after tomorrow. Go pick her up.”

Lu Shuyan replied, “I have a meeting that day. No time.”

Lu Yuanshan: “What meeting? Reschedule it.”

Lu Shuyan didn’t argue.

“I’m not going.”

“Dad, you don’t need to worry about me.”

His father sighed.

“Then suit yourself.”

As the Maybach drove away from the estate, Lu Shuyan closed his eyes, exhausted.

But his mind was filled with his father’s words.

“Just a trial.”

For the first time, he realized—that was what his father thought of his five-year relationship with Si Nian.

A trial.

He told himself not to think about her again.

But all he could see was her face.