Perhaps it was the unintentional display of affection between Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan that caught Yu Si’s attention. Next, it was his turn to the question. He paused for three or four seconds before beginning to ponder the answer.
He clearly remembered seeing it somewhere, but he couldn’t recall the full name all of a sudden, so he could only watch helplessly as the countdown ended in fifteen seconds. Three, two, one.
“Ah! We won! Ruo Ruo won! Did you all see that?! My son! My daughter-in-law!!”
Pei Yue’s sudden prairie dog-like shriek startled the hearts of her sisters, and they instinctively covered their chests, glancing at Pei Yue and then at the television screen, where her daughter-in-law was bowing under a shower of golden confetti — she was indeed her daughter-in-law.
She was quite beautiful.
And had such grace.
And so intelligent.
Don’t even mention it, it’s a bit enviable and hateful.
Today, Pei Yue came to her old friend’s house to pick up the white peacock she had been fostering. The two of them chatted enthusiastically, and even after dinner, her old friend insisted she stay, saying… since you’re already here, why not play some mahjong?
Pei Yue was also a queen in the mahjong world. With tiles to play, she naturally nodded eagerly like a chick pecking at rice.
She even called a friend, but that friend said she was out shopping with Mrs. Zhang. If you’re missing two players, then I’ll just bring Mrs. Zhang along.
Since they offered, Pei Yue couldn’t refuse, so she could only roll her eyes and smile, saying, “Sure, sure! Mrs. Zhang is the most skillful at cards!”
Skillful my foot! All talk and no action!
She couldn’t stand Mrs. Zhang’s affected and pretentious demeanor!
In her forties and still clueless, she dressed up in pink and tender blossoms every day, flaunting a lace floral Lolita umbrella rain or shine, irritating everyone’s eyes!
And her mouth was especially venomous! Last time, she just didn’t have time to tidy up… mainly because she was afraid of the cold, so she secretly wore a down vest under her fur coat. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Zhang saw it by chance. Mrs. Zhang widened her eyes 360 degrees and ridiculed her, saying that wearing that down vest inside made her look old enough to be her mother!
When she returned home, Mrs. Zhang spread the word, embarrassing Pei Yue so much that she didn’t dare to go out for half a month!
After a long time apart, they met again at the mahjong table.
Mrs. Zhang came over, looking particularly embarrassed, and apologized to Pei Yue, saying that she only mentioned it to XX, but didn’t expect XX to tell XXX. Anyway, it was all someone else’s fault, and she was just a pure and innocent white lotus.
Pei Yue also put on a plastic smile, saying “It’s nothing, I don’t mind,” but secretly vowed to reclaim her dignity at the mahjong table today.
However, her luck wasn’t so good today. She kept giving Mrs. Zhang opportunities to win.
Mrs. Zhang smirked and mocked, saying she was getting old and her brain was following suit.
Pei Yue was almost furious on the spot.
Fortunately, at a critical moment, Pei Yue suddenly remembered something Lu Xingyan mentioned, that Shen Xingruo participated in some kind of competition, and today happened to be the finals, broadcasted on TV.
Taking the opportunity of someone going to the restroom, she casually brought up Shen Xingruo in conversation and then turned on the TV.
Coincidentally, when the TV turned on, it was Star City Channel, and they had just entered the final round of the competition.
A few of them sat on the sofa, watching TV and chatting.
When only Shen Xingruo was left on the field, Mrs. Zhang began to casually belittle her, her chatter couldn’t stop.
Pei Yue was speechless with anger, but as the number of players on the field continued to decrease and Shen Xingruo remained unaffected, Mrs. Zhang’s chatter gradually faded away.
Until the end, when the host announced that the first place in this “Race Against Time” tour of prestigious schools was Shen Xingruo, Pei Yue couldn’t sit still anymore, stood up, and shouted excitedly, almost incoherent.
Afterward, everyone returned to the mahjong table, naturally discussing matters related to Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan.
Pei Yue was radiant, speaking particularly enthusiastically. When she felt good, her luck was good too. “Hey, Mrs. Zhang, hold on, I’m declaring a win, I just drew a pair!” Hahaha, sorry about that.”
That night, Mrs. Zhang looked stiff-faced, while Pei Yue was glowing with joy, taking the white peacock back home, feeling extremely delighted.
Because Pei Yue won back some face thanks to Shen Xingruo, a certain online community also stirred up a storm due to the live broadcast of this quiz competition.
The viewership of “Race Against Time” tonight couldn’t be considered explosive, and the buzz wasn’t enough to trend. Apart from occasional gossip forum threads floating on the homepage, there was nothing extraordinary. But in a certain circle, this competition caused a huge sensation!!!
As the program neared its end, Shen Xingruo sought help from Lu Xingyan on stage, and the camera focused on Lu Xingyan for nearly thirty seconds.
A young girl saw this boy and immediately thought of her beloved SA blogger, Big Orange’s, secret crush.
She scrolled back through Big Orange’s Weibo and her heart raced as she saw his silhouette, his clothes identical, and even that… that watch! That ring! It’s him!
The young girl was dumbfounded, leaving a comment on the welfare Weibo to express her confusion.
Upon refreshing, she found a dozen or so replies under the post, all from people who, like her, had noticed something amiss while watching the program!
Big Orange’s secret crush already had a girlfriend?! It was clear as day!
Shen Xingruo had confirmed it herself, he was her boyfriend! And that pair of rings, they were a couple of rings!
Upon another refresh, the young girl realized that Big Orange’s post had been deleted.
At that moment, sitting in front of her computer, Chen Mengmeng was also dumbfounded.
She was also watching the live broadcast of “Race Against Time.” When Shen Xingruo sought help from Lu Xingyan on stage and showed affection, claiming he was her boyfriend, she only felt a twinge of sourness. But when she finished watching the program and refreshed her Weibo, finding a dozen new comments, she broke out in a cold sweat.
A watch? A ring?!
How did these people not become detectives, noticing such details?!
In her panic, the first thing she did was delete her post.
But she didn’t know that from the moment Lu Xingyan appeared on camera, it was already too late.
Almost as soon as Lu Xingyan finished answering the question, someone in the SA super-topic posted questioning the situation.
Initially, Chen Mengmeng’s fans defended her vigorously, dismissing the claims without even looking. But upon closer examination, everyone realized it was indeed the same person, and this person had a girlfriend.
Even so, the fans still defended her, with the prevailing argument being “Big Orange doesn’t know he already has a girlfriend.”
Someone even put forward a far-fetched idea, suggesting Shen Xingruo was Big Orange.
But that idea was too ridiculous. Besides having completely different personalities, Shen Xingruo was older, so why would she fabricate being in a prestigious university in the south on Weibo, moreover, if they were already boyfriend and girlfriend, wouldn’t writing secret love diaries on Weibo be an even more serious deception?
For a moment, the homepage of the SA super-topic was filled with posts about this incident. There were also many bloggers in the SA community who had long disapproved of Chen Mengmeng’s fan base built on the premise of secret love jokes. When trouble arose, it became quite lively behind the scenes.
Moreover, those who were following “Race Against Time” had already deduced that Lu Xingyan was a student of Star University, naturally speculating that Chen Mengmeng was also a student there.
Chen Mengmeng usually did a decent job of keeping her personal information private, so it wasn’t possible for everyone to suddenly pinpoint her among the many students at Star University. However, with just a little inquiry, those with a keen interest could easily learn about Lu Xingyan’s various activities at Star University.
Especially the incident where a girl confessed to him in front of the dormitory building, only to encounter his official girlfriend — it corresponded perfectly with the schadenfreude-filled Weibo post-Chen Mengmeng had made!
So her fans couldn’t wash their hands of the fact that she didn’t know the other person had a girlfriend!
Chen Mengmeng was in a state of panic and chaos. Seeing the uncontrollable developments in the super topic, she didn’t care about the fans she had painstakingly accumulated or the benefits she could easily reap. She gritted her teeth and tremblingly manipulated the mouse to delete her Weibo account.
She had only one thought in her mind — she absolutely couldn’t be exposed in real life!
But before she could finish all this, her phone rang.
It was Bai Lu calling.
She tried to regulate her breathing, not wanting to show any signs of abnormality.
However, as soon as she answered the phone, Bai Lu immediately began to berate her, hurling all sorts of nasty names like “cheap woman” and “homewrecker.”
Chen Mengmeng’s face turned pale, realizing it was bad.
Bai Lu hadn’t come home this week. She was lying in bed browsing a shopping app, looking for a birthday gift for Chen Mengmeng. Somehow, Li Ting suddenly rushed over.
Before she could say anything, Li Ting claimed to have discovered something interesting, related to both Chen Mengmeng and herself. Though suspicious, Bai Lu was also curious, so she let Li Ting in, only to witness Chen Mengmeng’s two-faced behavior online!
Especially the post-Chen Mengmeng made previously about a girl confessing to him in front of the dormitory building today, ending in a very miserable manner — this “homewrecker” was extremely delighted!
Bai Lu was on the verge of going mad after seeing all this!!! This homewrecker! So she also likes Lu Xingyan! If it weren’t for her instigation back then! She wouldn’t have made such a big fool of herself! She’s so despicable! How dare she put her on blast like a joke on Weibo! Who knows what else she’s done behind the scenes!!!
Bai Lu completely disregarded Li Ting’s amusement beside her, grabbed her phone, and scolded Chen Mengmeng.
She wasn’t the type to accept “misfortune is a blessing” or “sisterhood transcends grievances.” Besides, she and Chen Mengmeng were more plastic than sisters on regular days. A mere scolding wouldn’t suffice to vent her anger.
After drinking a glass of water to calm down, Bai Lu immediately wrote a reasoned and logical post on her Moments, announcing to the world. She also shouted at Chen Mengmeng in the class group chat, portraying herself as the innocent little flower instigated by her, while she was a seemingly cute but scheming girl who tried to sabotage her roommate and dig her boyfriend!
With Bai Lu’s dissemination, the black material of Chen Mengmeng’s online and real-life naturally spread in school like wildfire.
As one of the parties involved, Shen Xingruo naturally received the news quite early.
She remained calm.
After all, this was expected.
Shen Xingruo didn’t want to dwell on everything. She had given Chen Mengmeng a chance. Her comments when she first discovered it were a kind of warning and reminder. If Chen Mengmeng had stopped then, she could have pretended she never knew about her using her boyfriend as a stepping stone for fame and profit or even trying to sabotage her.
But Chen Mengmeng didn’t heed her warning, and instead, intensified her actions, both online and in reality, happily prancing around. It seemed like she wanted to rely on Lu Xingyan’s storytelling to get rich, live in a seaside mansion, and reach the pinnacle of her life, while also trying to lure Lu Xingyan back to her side.
If there was anything that surprised Shen Xingruo about the whole thing, it was probably the fact that she had done a favor by passing the matter on to Li Ting, who wasn’t on good terms with Chen Mengmeng. But Li Ting had taken it further and told Bai Lu about it.
One had to admit, Li Ting was quite clever now. By doing this, she didn’t have to personally deal with the mess, which saved her from trouble; secondly, she disgusted Bai Lu to the maximum extent possible; thirdly, with Bai Lu coming to confront her, there would be even more dirt on Chen Mengmeng, after all, they were best friends.
Seeing Shen Xingruo engrossed in WeChat, Lu Xingyan asked, “What are you looking at, so serious, have you found a new dog behind my back?”
“Nothing.”
She put away her phone and looked up at Lu Xingyan. Several girls were causing a commotion for him, but he still had a silly and sweet expression, still immersed in the handsome, mysterious demeanor he had just displayed during the quiz.
The early winter night breeze was already chilly. The dinner party organized by the program crew was over, and the two of them were heading towards the parking lot.
Pei Yue had just called, and Lu Xingyan calmly lied again, saying that Shen Xingruo wanted to celebrate and would be singing karaoke all night, when in fact, he had already booked a hotel during the dinner break.
After showering at the hotel, they continued to discuss tonight’s competition. Shen Xingruo knelt behind Lu Xingyan to blow-dry his hair. Suddenly, Lu Xingyan, as if his conscience had awakened, said something fair, “Actually, I think Yusi’s answering ability is quite strong, much better than several others from their school.”
“Is that so?”
Lu Xingyan continued, “Yeah, I’m serious. I felt quite embarrassed watching you all answer questions. There were so many things I hadn’t even heard of.”
“And I realized, knowing more things does make a difference. Being regarded as a top student is quite satisfying.”
Shen Xingruo didn’t say anything. Her slender, fair fingers slipped through his hair. After drying the last damp strands of hair, she turned off the hairdryer.
Lu Xingyan suddenly turned around, grasped her wrist, and made a vow, “I will work hard and secure a spot for the exchange program next year.”
Shen Xingruo placed the hairdryer on the bedside table and turned back, placing her hands on his shoulders, “It’s good that you think like that.”
“I’m serious.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t serious.”
Shen Xingruo tilted her head slightly, her hands moving upwards to cup his face.
Lu Xingyan looked at her pretty face so close to his, suddenly feeling a bit flustered. His initially serious thoughts became less so, and when he spoke again, his voice involuntarily became deeper, “Then, let me collect some interest first. You promised that if I go abroad, you’ll do whatever I want.”
Shen Xingruo paused. “…”
What kind of investment could yield such high interest?