When the Heartthrob Meets the Cold-Hearted Ex - Chapter 18

After finishing lunch together, Su Yang showed no intention of getting up.

Tang Yeran, having just mooched a meal off her, felt it would be impolite to leave immediately.

She raised her camera with a smile. “President Su, how about I take a few photos of you?”

Even though there was no one else around at the moment, she was still on a business trip and had to maintain a professional tone in her address.

Su Yang lifted her eyelids and glanced at the silver-gray camera. “What photos have you taken? Let me see.”

Naturally, Tang Yeran had no reason to refuse. She switched the camera to browsing mode and handed it to Su Yang.

Su Yang took the camera and examined it carefully.

From the park entrance to this riverside, they had passed five attractions, all of which she had captured.

Solo shots, group collaborations she had perfectly captured the relaxed and united atmosphere among the employees.

Though Tang Yeran wasn’t professionally trained in photography, her years at the magazine had honed her aesthetic sense.

Initially, asking her to take photos had just been a random excuse, but now it seemed she was indeed the right person for the job.

Noticing Su Yang’s expression, Tang Yeran felt a little smug.

“So, how’s my skill? Don’t you think now, President Su, that entrusting the Qianhe feature to me was a very wise decision?”

“Very wise,” Su Yang didn’t hold back her praise this time and returned the camera to Tang Yeran.

“Taking photos here is too monotonous. Why don’t we go find an entertainment activity?”

Tang Yeran: Huh? The two of us?

Su Yang pulled out the park tickets from her pocket. “These tickets include five optional activities. They’re usually hard to get, but it’s the off-season now.”

Tang Yeran knew this, the tickets weren’t cheap, and the opportunity was rare. Since they were already here, it would be a shame not to experience it.

But with Su Yang tagging along?

Well, it was all for work.

Tang Yeran unfolded her ticket and frowned at the list of activities.

“Rope crossing, roller coasters, high-altitude disco.”

So many thrilling options. While shooting from a distance would be fine, capturing Su Yang’s panicked expressions up close wouldn’t exactly be great for promotional material.

Su Yang knew that once someone fell into the trap of indecision, it wouldn’t be resolved quickly.

She pointed ahead. “There’s a small arcade over there.”

Having someone else make the decision was exactly what Tang Yeran wanted.

An arcade was perfect, she was a pro at arcade games.

Well, no mainly because it was a great place to shoot material up close.

The two entered the arcade and exchanged for a hundred tokens.

Clearly, most visitors to the park preferred outdoor activities.

In the thousand-square-meter arcade, aside from staff, it was hard to spot another living soul.

Tang Yeran handed the tokens to Su Yang and pointed at the racing simulator nearby.

“You go play that. I’ll take photos.”

Su Yang had originally intended for Tang Yeran to relax at the arcade, never expecting she’d now have to perform herself.

Glancing at the camera in Tang Yeran’s hands, she obediently complied.

The racing simulator involved sitting inside a mock car and controlling an on-screen vehicle to race against others.

Though Su Yang had a driver’s license, she usually only drove automatic cars.

This racing setup was far more complicated than her usual sedan, not to mention the various obstacles on the track.

Her car bumped and crashed everywhere, turning the race into a demolition derby.

To make matters worse, the simulated vibration system in the car was incredibly realistic. Sitting inside, Su Yang felt like she was being jolted numb.

So, why on earth had she decided to play this blasted racing game?

Su Yang lifted her head in frustration and caught sight of Tang Yeran standing nearby, engrossed in taking photos. An inexplicable competitive urge surged within her.

It was just a racing game, what was the big deal?

Tang Yeran snapped a few pictures from the side, deliberately avoiding the screen to spare Su Yang some dignity.

Watching Su Yang struggle so hard yet achieve so little, Tang Yeran fought hard to suppress her laughter.

After all these years, she was still hopeless at games.

No one would believe it if they were told, the lead producer of Qianhe Games, the biggest dark horse in the gaming industry, was herself a complete noob when it came to playing games.

Su Yang excelled in every other aspect of life, but when it came to gaming, she was a walking disaster.

Back when they first got together, Tang Yeran had loved dragging Su Yang along to play games.

After all, showing off was human nature, and she wanted to impress the person she loved.

But Su Yang’s performance was so abysmal that it eventually turned into a one-woman show for Tang Yeran.

She still remembered the seventh time Su Yang scored an own goal in a soccer match Tang Yeran had laughed until tears streamed down her face.

“Alright, Yangyang, just give up. You’re better suited for Tetris.”

Though meant as a joke, the words had stung Su Yang, who immediately made a bold declaration.

“This game is designed all wrong. One day, I’ll develop the most popular game in China, one that’s easy for everyone to pick up.”

At the time, Tang Yeran had dismissed it as Su Yang being stubborn and hadn’t taken her seriously.

“Yeah, yeah, our Yangyang is the best. You’ll make a game one day that even you can play easily, pfft!”

Little did she know those words would come true.

Now, Shining Candy might not yet be the most popular game in China, but it was undoubtedly the most beloved among female players and it was easy for anyone to pick up.

Su Yang had already achieved more than half of her original goal. As for the rest, Tang Yeran was certain it was only a matter of time.

The race ended. Tang Yeran glanced at the screen nine cars in total, and Su Yang had placed ninth.

Still as disastrous as ever.

Turning her head, Tang Yeran saw Su Yang sitting there, silent as a mouse, her lips pressed tightly together. She could tell Su Yang was drowning in emo right now.

To keep her cooperative for more photo ops, Tang Yeran summoned her silver-tongued charm.

“Tsk, this racing game really is poorly designed too many buttons, and the track’s way too twisty. It’s practically impossible.

“How about we try something else? That fishing game looks nice just cast the rod and reel it in. Easy and relaxing.”

Su Yang shot her a sidelong glance but said nothing, though her body obediently followed Tang Yeran to the fishing game.

There were three fishing machines in the arcade, one of which already had two people in front of it.

Just as Su Yang was about to walk past, she heard someone call out, “Boss Su? Sugar?”

Xue Ling hadn’t expected to run into her big boss at an arcade, and her tone carried a hint of disbelief.

But Xu You beside her reacted faster. “Lao Su, never thought you’d be into this. Since you’re here, how about a round?”

Su Yang pressed her lips together without making a sound, while Tang Yeran beside her brightened at the suggestion.

“A competition sounds great! The more people, the livelier it gets. That means more material for my photos.”

All you care about is your material.

Su Yang shot Tang Yeran a sidelong glance before turning to ask, “If it’s a competition, what’s the prize?”

“The prize.” Xu You rested her chin on her hand, thinking for a few seconds. “How about this? We’ll do a 2v2 team match based on our current groups. The losing pair has to perform for everyone tonight.”

The proposal was fairly mild after all, the whole point of gathering was to have fun. Tang Yeran naturally agreed.

Xue Ling had always been supportive of Xu You’s ideas, leaving Su Yang with no room to object.

“Fine, it’s settled then.”

First round: Su Yang vs. Xu You.

Each fishing game console had two rods. Su Yang and Xu You each took one, casting their lines forward the moment the game began.

Su Yang, with her martial arts background, had more strength and flung her line far out in one go.

Generally, the farther the cast, the rarer the fish that appeared, and the higher the points for catching them.

Xu You didn’t compete with her on distance, instead choosing the widest spot to cast her line steadily.

Both fish bit almost simultaneously. Su Yang got lucky her first catch was a divine fish, while Xu You hooked an ordinary grass carp.

Grass carp were something anyone could reel in.

But divine fish were different exceptionally cunning. Pull too hard, and the line would snap; too gently, and the fish would slip away.

Su Yang gripped the rod with one hand and the reel with the other, turning clockwise twice, then counterclockwise once, exhausting every martial arts trick she knew.

In the end, the fish lived up to expectations by escaping.

While Su Yang was locked in a battle of wits with the divine fish, Xu You had already reeled in two grass carp.

But grass carp were low-scoring, one divine fish was worth seven grass carp.

Undeterred by her initial failure, Su Yang doubled down, putting all her strength into casting her line nearly to the opposite bank of the pond.

Admittedly, Lady Luck favored her her second cast landed another divine fish, a rare occurrence in the game.

This time, Su Yang learned from her earlier mistake, spinning the reel so fast her hand nearly cramped. She managed to outlast the fish for twice as long as before though the result was the same.

With half the time already gone and desperate to avoid a shutout, she finally played it safe, casting toward the center of the pond.

This time, it was a grass carp. In reality, this type of fish only required a single pause in reeling before being pulled up directly.

But after two encounters with divine fish, Su Yang, out of sheer habit, had to complicate even the simplest catch.

After countless reels and releases, the grass carp which had a 90% catch rate in the game got away.

By now, Xu You had bagged three grass carp and two carp, making the contrast painfully stark. Even the two spectators couldn’t bear to watch.

Poor Su Yang, usually icy and composed, was sweating from the effort yet hadn’t landed a single fish.

She probably wasn’t used to suffering such humiliation.

Tang Yeran couldn’t understand, how could someone this bad at fishing dare to propose a prize in the first place?

The agonizing three minutes finally ended. First-round score: 500 to 4800.

The pressure now shifted to Tang Yeran.

Tang Yeran took the fishing rod from Su Yang’s hand and gave a thumbs-up with his other hand, praising him.

“Thanks for the amazing performance just now, Boss Su. Plenty of great material. Maybe you should start thinking about what act we’ll put on tonight.”

Su Yang looked at her, his gaze as resolute as someone taking a Party oath. “No need. I believe in you.”

Tang Yeran: “…”

No need to have that much faith in me.

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