1174 I Want to Make You Stay 52 (1/2)

Fang Erlan got inside the nanny van listlessly.

She then received a text from Yan Ge, who asked to meet her for dinner.

Fang Erlan agreed. She gave Xiao Yue some money and instructed her to have dinner with the chauffeur. She then alighted from the car.

She told Xiao Chenyang that she would be back soon and thus instructed him not to assign any bodyguards to her.

When she was dragging her feet to Yan Ge's nanny van, she discovered that there were people snapping photos of her getting inside the van. However, she could no longer be bothered since they no longer had to hide their relationship now that it had already been exposed.

She sat beside Yan Ge, who held her hand tightly, allowing the warmth of his hand to spread to her skin. He said, ”You seem to be really out of sorts lately. Don't let those netizens affect you. They're not important to you at all. What would you like to eat?”

”I don't have much of an appetite.”

”Decide after you've seen the menu, then.” He then said to the chauffeur, ”Start driving.”

The car moved off slowly and began weaving in and out of traffic. Fang Erlan looked out of the window to see that the sky had already turned dark and that there were lots of pedestrians along the streets.

”Why aren't you saying anything?”

Fang Erlan rested her head on his shoulder and said, ”I suddenly realized that I'm actually not as strong as I thought when it comes to taking stress and criticism.”

”That's what being an artiste is like. We're forever living in the eye of the public who never fails to scrutinize us and compare us against overly idealistic standards. Every slightest flaw and mistake of ours will be magnified and made a big fuss of. You'll have to get used to it slowly and learn to turn a deaf ear to those voices on the internet.”

”That's what I said to myself. I tried to comfort and reassure myself again and again, but I'm still very bothered by it.”

”You'll be fine once we tide over this.”

”Perhaps,” she said monotonously.

Soon, they arrived at a restaurant.

It was near the hotel that they were staying in.

The two of them alighted from the car one after another. Clad in a surgical mask, Yan Ge held her hand and led her into the restaurant.

It was the restaurant's peak hour, with the highest number of patrons.

They asked for a private dining room.

His assistant and bodyguard waited outside the door.

There was a subtle fragrance in the room. After placing their orders, Fang Erlan rested her chin in her hands and said, ”This place looks really nice.”

”I've never been here before. Today's my first time here. We'll know if it's really good after we try the food.” Yan Ge picked up the teapot and poured her a cup of tea. ”Have some warm water first.”

Fang Erlan nodded and took a few sips out of her teacup.

When the first dish was served, the waitress claimed to be a fan of Yan Ge's and asked for an autograph. Yan Ge agreed immediately.

To their surprise, a different waitress served the second dish and she, too, asked for Yan Ge's photograph.

They had ordered a total of five dishes, each served by a different waitress.

Fang Erlan and Yan Ge were both understanding toward the fans and, hence, he agreed to sign all the autographs that they had asked for.

However, after serving the last soup dish, the waitress stayed inside the room instead of leaving.

Yan Ge said coldly, ”You're not needed here anymore. Please go outside.”

”It's alright, you guys go ahead and enjoy the meal. I'll just stand here quietly. I definitely won't disturb you.”