After My Flash Marriage with the Movie Queen - Chapter 101

Zhao Xunyin’s PR team actually handled things pretty efficiently. By the time Shi Nanbei got off the plane and arrived at her grandmother’s house, the buzz online had already died down by half—though plenty of people still knew what had happened.

Zhao Xunyin was the kind of celebrity with near-universal name recognition, so gossip about her spread fast. And this time, it wasn’t just any gossip—it was the kind of story the masses loved. So, by the time Shi Nanbei landed, took a taxi, and finally made it to her grandmother’s home after two or three months abroad, everyone who should’ve known—or shouldn’t have known—had basically heard about it.

Even her grandmother knew.

Everyone knew except Shi Nanbei.

When she opened the door, her grandmother was in the middle of cooking.

The moment the door opened, Shi Nanbei caught the familiar smell of home-cooked food. She set her luggage by the entrance, lifted her arms, and in a soft, syrupy voice called out, “Grandma, Grandma, Grandmaaa—your adorable eldest granddaughter is home.”

Her grandma, still stirring the wok, didn’t even turn her head. “You’re home, not returning in triumph. Do you need me to run outside and set off fireworks for you?”

Shi Nanbei: “…”

Actually, that would be fine too!

Seeing that her grandmother wasn’t paying her any attention, Shi Nanbei shamelessly squeezed herself into the kitchen. They hadn’t seen each other for two or three months, and as a model granddaughter, she truly had missed her. It seemed her grandmother had enjoyed the trip abroad a bit too much—she looked a little chubbier and in better spirits.

But as she leaned in, Shi Nanbei suddenly caught a faint scent of hospital disinfectant on her grandma.

“Huh? Grandma, didn’t you just get back a couple days ago? Did you go to the hospital or something? Why do you smell like disinfectant?”

Her grandmother rolled her eyes dramatically. Still cooking, she snapped, “I really don’t know what kind of dreams you spend your days chasing. Are you a dog sniffing onions? Or am I supposed to be crazy? Why would I be running to the hospital the moment you get home?”

Shi Nanbei: “…”

Ugh, fine, if you didn’t go, you didn’t go. But did she have to be so fierce? Shouldn’t this be the part where the grandma throws her arms around her, crying about how much she missed her after so long?

Softly, Shi Nanbei muttered, “Grandma, you didn’t miss me at all after all this time?”

Her grandmother turned, glanced at her, and asked, “You came home alone? Where’s your wife?”

“She’s in Suzhou. Didn’t I tell you? She’s learning opera.” Shi Nanbei rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Speaking of which, I forgot to make her sing for me before I left. I kind of wanted to hear her sing The Young Widow Visits the Grave.”

Grandma: “…”

If Shi Nanbei wasn’t a child she personally raised, that sentence alone might’ve earned her a smack on the head with the spatula.

“Did your parents give you a mouth just so you can spout nonsense all day? A young widow visiting a grave—whose grave are you talking about? Yours?”

Shi Nanbei shrank her neck. “It was just a random comment. No need to take it seriously.”

“Get out.” Her grandmother waved her away in disgust. “Get out of my sight. I want to live two more years, not be angered to death by you right now.”

Shi Nanbei: “…”

Hmph.

She retreated to her room, grabbed a change of clothes, and headed for the bathroom. Years of medical training had ingrained a habit in her—after traveling and using public transportation, she had to shower and change into clean clothes. Her grandmother had complained countless times: “I really don’t know why you have to wash yourself so many times a day—aren’t you afraid you’ll scrub off a layer of skin?”

But maybe because of the long-awaited reunion, her grandmother didn’t complain this time. By the time Shi Nanbei finished her shower, dinner was ready, and the two sat down to eat together.

Shi Nanbei treated food with deep reverence—her grandmother knew that well. Normally, they didn’t talk much during meals. But after Zhao Xunyin visited a few times, this habit had gradually disappeared.

“This trip to Suzhou—did you cause any trouble for your wife?” her grandmother asked. She hadn’t planned on meddling in their business, but that afternoon, her students and colleagues had been messaging her on WeChat, asking whether her granddaughter and granddaughter-in-law had actually been together much earlier.

Her grandmother had been completely baffled. She had always told people that Shi Nanbei and Zhao Xunyin met through introductions. After receiving a screenshot of Zhao Xunyin’s Weibo post, she logged on and scrolled through everything before finally piecing together what happened.

What could she even say?

She’d lived this long and this was the first time she’d ever felt soured by young people’s love.

And the whole thing completely overturned her understanding of their relationship. Her grandmother honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

All this time, she had always assumed it was Shi Nanbei taking advantage of Zhao Xunyin. She knew her own granddaughter well—Shi Nanbei was slow, clueless, and stubborn. Even if someone liked her, she probably wouldn’t notice.

People like her honestly had a very real chance of growing old alone.

Older people tended to worry more, and after watching her granddaughter go from adolescence to adulthood—nearly ten years without a single potential romantic prospect—how could she not be anxious?

After months of tossing and turning, Grandma had reluctantly concluded that with Shi Nanbei’s personality and emotional intelligence, free-range romance was impossible. Someone—namely her—had to intervene.

But finding the right match wasn’t easy. She went through her social circle several times and, in the end, only Zhao Xunyin fit the bill. Only Zhao Xunyin was suitable—someone who also treated Shi Nanbei differently than others did.

Fortunately, Zhao Xunyin had been willing to help, agreeing to meet Shi Nanbei out of respect for Grandma. If her own condition hadn’t worsened—if the surgery hadn’t been so risky, if she hadn’t feared leaving Shi Nanbei with no one to rely on—then considering Zhao Xunyin’s staunch anti-marriage stance, she might never have agreed to marry.

So, when she learned that the two had actually gotten their marriage certificate, Grandma’s guilt toward Zhao Xunyin had grown immeasurably heavy.

Thankfully, the young couple looked like they got along. But she hadn’t expected that “looked like” was just that—only the surface.

When Shi Nanbei’s brain switched into “zero-IQ mode,” even her own grandmother wanted to smack her with a shoe. Never mind newlywed Zhao Xunyin—anyone would lose their patience. Just look at the nonsense this girl had posted on Weibo. Her grandmother honestly felt her precious granddaughter must be blind: she married such a stunning, beautiful wife, and instead of cherishing her, she somehow found the nerve to complain about her wife being “too old”?

And then she even worried about whether Zhao Xunyin would, well have no stamina later on?

What was with young people these days—why were their minds always full of this kind of useless nonsense?

It was no exaggeration to say her grandmother was furious out of sheer disappointment.

“I? Stir up trouble?” Shi Nanbei asked, utterly baffled. “Grandma, look at your well-behaved granddaughter. Do I look like someone who picks fights?”

Her grandmother said with a blank face, “You didn’t cause enough trouble growing up? Calling your parents to school three times a month—who could compete with you?”

Shi Nanbei: “…”

Those were years ago! Could they please stop digging up ancient history?

She tried to argue, “I was just immature back then. But now I’m married—very mature! So, you don’t need to worry anymore.”

“Is that so?” Grandma gave her a look full of unspoken accusations. She really didn’t think she should meddle in newlyweds’ affairs, but she was truly worried that with how slow Shi Nanbei’s brain worked, she might run off and crack some careless joke in front of Zhao Xunyin. That would be disastrous.

So, in the end, her grandmother couldn’t help but say,

“Xunyin did handle some things poorly this time. But the root cause still lies with you. How many times have I told you? Communication is important in both dating and marriage. Don’t stay buried in your own little world all day. Make time to check on Xunyin, keep her company. That girl worked her way up all alone for so many years—shouldn’t you, as her wife, feel sorry for her? Treasure her a little?”

A giant question mark slowly appeared on Shi Nanbei’s face: “？”

She honestly didn’t understand why Grandma suddenly launched into a lecture about this. But what she did latch onto was:

“When did I ever stay ‘buried in my own world all day’? And she’s the only girl now? Am I not a girl too? I need love and care too!”

Her grandmother barked, “Shut that mouth. After dinner, call Xunyin and coax your wife properly.”

Shi Nanbei was about to ask why, when her grandmother cut her off coldly:

“I think you’ve been feeling too bold lately. Just because those legs are attached to your body, you think I can’t break them?”

Shi Nanbei: “…”

Right. Got it. I’ll call. Immediately.

But after dinner, she couldn’t reach Zhao Xunyin. The call went unanswered twice, and even her WeChat messages got no reply. That wasn’t unusual—Xunyin was probably training again. She figured Xunyin would respond once she checked her phone.

So, Shi Nanbei opened Weibo to kill some time.

The moment the app loaded, her homepage was filled with marketing accounts promoting the hashtag #AKindofLoveCalledZhaoXunyinAndShiNanbei at the top of every post.

“This damn beautiful love, I’m seriously crying.”

“Shi Nanbei, what virtue did you accumulate in your past life to marry such a tsundere beauty like Zhao Xunyin?”

“Zhao Xunyin replied on Weibo with a [sneaky smile] saying love is dazzling [dog head]. I don’t know if love is dazzling, but this dog food today was extremely filling.”

Shi Nanbei stared at her screen: “？？？？？？？”

What, what the hell was all this?

Scrolling down, she saw another trending tag: #ZhaoXunyinDaresToDoButNotDareToAdmit, and it was also full of people gushing over their so-called “beautiful love.”

Shi Nanbei: “…”

What beautiful love? Since when did she and Zhao Xunyin have a love so beautiful it could make the entire internet burst into rainbow-colored praise?

Twenty whole minutes later, after reading everything, she finally pieced together the situation.

Then she stared at Zhao Xunyin’s Weibo with the exact same expression as that meme of the old man looking at his phone on the subway.

This woman could actually be this childish?