Chapter 546 That Is Big
“Daddy!” Erbao exclaimed as she dashed up to him. “Who do you want to ignore? Who got on your nerves again?” Nan Chen asked with a smile.
“Ignore the baddies who ridicule Mommy on the internet,” Erbao repeated angrily.
“What did they say this time?”
“It’s from the past. They rarely do so recently,” Erbao elaborated.
At that moment, Ning Ran picked up on Erbao’s strange expression. What does she mean by that?
“Since Mommy is a public figure, she would always be attracting attention. Some will like her, but there will also be others that don’t. This is entirely normal. Also, as a child, you’re not supposed to read such news, as you may end up being exposed to something inappropriate,” Nan Chen reassured her.
However, Erbao didn’t respond because she disagreed with Nan Chen.
To her, surfing news about Ning Ran online was an important task. Hence, she didn’t see why she wasn’t allowed to do it.
Obviously, Erbao didn’t read most of the news herself. Instead, Dabao was the one who told her about it after reading them.
A short while after Nan Chen came back, their dinner arrived.
It was prepared by the Nan family’s chef and was still piping hot.
The moment Erbao saw the delicious food, her mood improved.
“Next time, can you get them to stop sending food over?” Ning Ran suggested.
“What’s wrong? Do you think the food isn’t worthy of you?”
“That’s not what I meant. It just makes me feel bad.”
“There’s nothing to feel bad about. All that matters is that you enjoy the food.”
Once dinner was finished, Nan Chen went to his study.
Ning Ran made a cup of coffee and brought it to him.
After taking a sip, he furrowed his brows and complained that it wasn’t good enough.
How dare you nitpick? You should be glad that I bothered to make it for you.
Despite his complaint, Nan Chen finished the coffee and asked for another cup.
As a result, Ning Ran has no choice but to make one more for him.
Usually, it was a bad idea to drink coffee at night, as it would interfere with one’s sleep.
In spite of that, Nan Chen was an exception, for he would often drink coffee at night. Nevertheless, no one knew if it affected his sleep, but the chances of that happening were low.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to drink at the rate he was doing so.
After serving the second cup of coffee, Ning Ran stood by the side.
Nan Chen looked up at her. “Is there anything else?”
“Well… Is the coffee all right?” Ning Ran asked.
“It’s okay. Definitely better than water,” Nan Chen plainly replied.
Ning Ran scoffed at his response. “That’s good. If it was worse than tap water, that would indicate that the coffee beans are fake!”
Meanwhile, Nan Chen lowered his gaze to drink coffee in order to hide the smile on his face.
“By the way, the director and main screenwriter came to see me about the script today. They said that they wanted to get my opinion.”
The whole point of her making him two cups of coffee was to discuss that particular topic.
“Sure,” Nan Chen simply grunted.
“I couldn’t give them an opinion because I don’t know what to change,” Ning Ran explained.
“Don’t give them one then,” Nan Chen replied.
Wow, this is like talking to a wall.
After falling into a brief silence, Ning Ran wanted to leave, as she didn’t know what else to say.
But if I leave now, what am I going to tell the director and screenwriter tomorrow? Am I really going to say that I don’t have an opinion? That would only lower my stature in their eyes. On the other hand, regardless of how good my suggestion is, it still has to go through Nan Chen, for he holds a veto on the final decision.
“I think it’s necessary to increase the interaction between the male and female leads in order to further develop their characters. Nevertheless, it doesn’t have to be only romance since this isn’t a romantic movie anyway.”
In the end, Ning Ran steeled herself and voiced her opinion.
“Sure,” Nan Chen surprisingly agreed.
Consequently, Ning Ran heaved a sigh of relief when she realized that her thoughts were not in conflict with Nan Chen.
“In that case, how do you think we should change it?” Ning Ran asked.
“Don’t ask me. You’re the one who brought it up,” Nan Chen retorted.
This is not getting any easier.
“After giving it some thought, I have an idea. However, I’m not sure if you will agree to it.”
Nan Chen remained silent, indicating for her to continue.
“I think we should have two angles to Huang Zichao. He can be the female lead’s useless ex-boyfriend in the real world who disappears after getting her pregnant. Subsequently, the female lead will bear the children alone and raise them—”
Suddenly, Nan Chen put down the document in his hands and shot a piercing gaze at Ning Ran. “Are you admonishing me?”
Ning Ran was stunned. Since when am I doing that? I’m obviously discussing the screenplay with you.
The very next second, she grasped what was going on. The way she spoke sounded as if she was talking about herself, and by extension, Nan Chen was the useless boyfriend.
No wonder he’s pissed. He’s feeling self-conscious about it.
Unable to control herself, Ning Ran burst into laughter.
“What are you being so smug about? Aren’t you just trying to censure me on the pretext of discussing the screenplay? How can you blame me when I wasn’t aware of the fact that you were pregnant? If I had known about the children, I would definitely have taken responsibility and not allowed them to wander around for so many years.”
Given how agitated Nan Chen was, it was evident that he took that matter to heart.
“I’m not blaming you. Back when I was pregnant with Dabao and Erbao, Ning Ziqiang wanted me to abort them. Left without a choice, I was forced to flee. Therefore, it wasn’t your fault because you weren’t aware of it all,” Ning Ran explained in resignation.
“In that case, why are you trying to insinuate that it was?”
“That wasn’t my intention. You’re just being sensitive.”
“Fine. Continue then.” Nan Chen finally calmed down.
Nonetheless, Ning Ran was still amused by how self-conscious Nan Chen was.
“Are you telling me or not?”
He became upset when he saw that Ning Ran was still laughing.
“All right, I’ll continue.”
Ning Ran regained her composure. “By doing so, there essentially won’t be a male lead, and by extension, romantic scenes won’t be needed.”
Even though Nan Chen didn’t say a word, it was obvious that he approved of the idea.
The reason was simple. He was relieved that Huang Zichao would not have any intimate scenes with Ning Ran.
“However, Huang Zichao’s part would end up being insignificant, which wouldn’t be acceptable. Therefore, we should get him to act as the children’s father in the parallel world. That way, he would have the opportunity to interact with the female lead. But since he looks like the female lead’s ex from the real world, she would never fall in love with him. After all, the main reason she entered the parallel world was to steal his children.”
She continued to explain, “Consequently, both of them would have a lot of interaction but none of them romantic. Nevertheless, the audience will definitely wonder if both of them will end up together in the end. With their anticipation, we can further enhance the plot by ending it in an open-ended manner, where we remain ambiguous and keep them guessing. So, what do you think?”
When Ning Ran finished her proposal, she looked at Nan Chen, who remained silent for a long while.
At that moment, he was astounded by Ning Ran’s suggestion. Not only did it allow Huang Zichao sufficient screen time, but it also shifted the theme away from romance. As a result, it negated any need for intimacy between Huang Zichao and Ning Ran.
It was such a comprehensive idea that even Nan Chen didn’t think of it.
Nonetheless, he didn’t reveal his approval even though he was extremely satisfied.
