After Jin Chonglin completed his cool down exercises, he headed for the showers.
Lin Dong went to the kitchen for something to eat. As a celebrity, Jin Chonglin was very weight conscious and strict of his own diet so all the food in his kitchen were "healthy". Lin Dong sighed looking at the unappetizing (for him) choices. In the end, he settled for some dried squid before heading to the living room to watch TV.
Finally, Jin Chonglin appeared. His hair was still damp. He went to his kitchen and started cooking.
"Want some eggs?" he hollered to his manager.
"Yeah!" Lin Dong immediately abandoned the dried squid and returned to the kitchen.
Within a few minutes, Jin Chonglin cooked egg omelettes. He gave two to his manager and made one for himself. Lin Dong started eating immediately, while Jin Chonglin prepared a ripe avocado to go with his own omelette.
They were interrupted by the sound of Jin Chonglin's ringing phone.
He glanced at the caller. He frowned, deciding not to answer it.
Lin Dong could already guess who it was just based on Jin Chonglin's expression.
The phone stopped ringing but two seconds later, it rang again. Jin Chonglin sighed deeply before answering the phone. His unwillingness was clear on his face.
"Big Brother Lin, what took you so long to answer my call? Where are you? Who are you with?" Fan Luo's voice could be heard even when the call wasn't on speakerphone. Even Lin Dong could hear her.
Jin Chonglin scowled, feeling irritated. She didn't even greet him properly, bombarding him instead with her suspicious questions. "Why did you call, Xiao Luo?"
"Oh Big Brother Lin, you're so cold to me now!" She began making crying noises.
He fought the urge to roll his eyes. He gave his manager a helpless look. "Tell me why you called."
"I'm your fiancée! Do I need a reason every time I want to call you?! We never spend time together anymore. I miss you so much, Big Brother Lin! Can I come over to your house today?"
"No," he immediately said. "Sorry, but I'm busy right now. I'm planning to write my next music so I don't want to be disturbed."
"Busy! You're always busy every time I want to spend time with you! You don't love me anymore!"
Jin Chonglin sighed, looking up at the ceiling. He wished for more patience. He never loved Fan Luo. He only cared about her as a childhood friend and almost like a sister. Then he became attracted to her body as a lover. Recently, however, Fan Luo was getting on his nerves more frequently that he could feel his heart turning cold towards her.
"Xiao Luo, if that's all you have to say, I'm hanging up."
"Alright. What do you want to talk about?"
"Big Brother, when are we going to marry? We've been engaged for almost two years now, but you still won't allow me to start planning our wedding. Everyone is getting impatient. Our parents want to have grandchildren soon."
He frowned. "It's not the right time yet."
"You always say that! When will be the right time for you? If I continue to wait, I'll be an old maid by then."
"I told you I'm busy right now. I have a lot of work commitments that I just can't abandon."
"Big Brother, you're Jin Chonglin! You're already a big star! It won't hurt you even if you take an entire year off or more."
"Xiao Luo! You don't know how brutal it is working in showbiz. Don't talk like you know what it's like! Becoming a big star doesn't give anyone immunity in this industry!"
"Why are you yelling at me?" she whined. "You've become so harsh to me!"
Jin Chonglin closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he calmed down a little, he said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I just don't like that you make it sound as if showbiz is easy when it isn't."
"Mmn." He made a noise, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"So can we marry soon?"
He scowled.
"I think that we should marry soon and prove to everyone that our families are still close as ever! You don't know how my family is suffering right now!" She began sobbing. "Oh Big Brother Lin, everyone is mocking us because Jin Corporation doesn't want to work with our company anymore. They're saying that our families have become estranged and that our wedding is cancelled! My entire Fan family feels so humiliated! My mother and I are both suffering from depression! My dad, brothers and uncles barely have any face left in the business industry. Why is Elder Brother Liwei suddenly acting so cruel to us?!"
"I'm sure my brother has a reason. Don't think too much about it," he told her.
"But Big Brother Lin! We can't take the mockery and humiliation any longer! Elder Brother Liwei refuses to give us an explanation. Even when Auntie spoke to him on our behalf, he's still continuing to be cruel to us!"
Jin Chonglin didn't like how she was accusing his older brother. He might not be very close to his older brother especially in recent years but Jin Liwei was still his brother. He felt defensive hearing other people badmouthing his family.
"It's not my brother's fault. He's not the one mocking or humiliating your family. All he did was to reject your company's business proposals. My brother is an excellent businessman. All of us Jins trust in his leadership. I'm sure that he has a logical reason for his decision to reject your company's proposals. Perhaps there's something wrong with the proposals you presented."
"What logical reason? He just clearly hates us! And our proposals are perfect!" Fan Luo was beyond reason now.
Then he hung up the phone without waiting for her reply.