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Chapter 97 – Auto Show

Chen Mengmeng’s Weibo account had over forty thousand followers, indicating a considerable amount of active followers. It was remarkable that she still received numerous replies and likes in the late hours of the night. This was far more impressive than some who had bought hundreds of thousands of followers but still struggled to get double-digit likes or shares on their posts.

Her bio listed her content as “study amount” and “Secret Crush Diary.”

Shen Xingruo casually scrolled through. This account wasn’t particularly old; it had started posting about “study amount” topics roughly two years ago, with the “Secret Crush Diary” entries beginning from her time in university… during military training.

SA (short for study amount) bloggers have become popular in recent years, mostly comprising middle and high school students and university students. Their content revolved around sharing study experiences, study plans, and daily academic life. Typically, they had neat handwriting and took good photos.

Whether their study experiences were substantial or just for show, whether followers were there for the photos or the study methods, remained uncertain.

Shen Xingruo was familiar with SA bloggers because Shiqin, her university roommate, was one of them and seemed to have quite a few followers.

Shiqin and her roommate didn’t get along. Every time she contacted Shiqin, it turned into a full-blown venting session, including criticism of her roommate’s blogging activities. Shen Xingruo unintentionally got educated in the process.

“It’s hilarious! Skipping classes every other day, failing two subjects last semester, and still pretending to share study experiences online!”

“She doesn’t have any study experience worth mentioning. Her notes are either copied from a few of us in the dorm or slightly modified versions of notes from real top students she found online, polished up a bit, and then photographed with a couple of filters.”

“Yet, she’s out there flaunting this positive, upbeat, and cute studious girl image online. It’s unbelievable. And why do people believe everything these days? She says there are even older fans among her followers. Isn’t that unbelievable?!”

While there were indeed some posers among the SA bloggers, there were also genuine academic achievers. Chen Mengmeng’s status as a student at a top university wasn’t particularly impressive here. Plus, she might have reservations because, besides mentioning attending a certain top university, she didn’t specify which one.

As Shen Xingruo scrolled down, she noticed that Chen Mengmeng’s SA Weibo posts were significantly less popular than her Secret Crush Diary posts.

Probably for this reason, her frequency of posting about secret crushes had increased noticeably in recent months compared to her daily study updates.

“Every big class, Da Mengcheng wants to sit in the last row so he can be closer to him, hahaha!”

“Da Mengcheng is attending another student union meeting today, feeling nervous… not sure if he’ll come (the chair never says if he’ll attend). Anyway, if he does, this meeting will be as crucial as a pre-exam review; if not, it’ll be Mao Zedong’s philosophy or Marxist theory!”

“Da Mengcheng hahaha! A girl confessed her love to him publicly downstairs today, and it ended terribly. This gossip lover is thrilled! Dog head”

Every secret crush post of hers was full of genuine emotions, and her self-deprecating humor was also well-played. She appeared as a cute and candid young girl.

—Her online persona was crafted quite well.

But since she was in the same literature college student union as Lu Xingyan and seemed to like him so much, how could she not know he already had a girlfriend?

Moreover, she knew that a girl had confessed her love to Lu Xingyan downstairs in his dormitory building that day, and the outcome was extremely disastrous, but she didn’t mention exactly how disastrous it was.

Aware that the other person had a girlfriend, she played along with such fervent emotions. Occasionally, she would even fabricate a story or two to lead her fans into thinking that there was some sort of ambiguous relationship between them. Calling herself a “gossip lover,” she seemed to have a precise understanding of her positioning.

But Shen Xingruo didn’t have time to dwell on these matters for now. She logged out of Weibo and called Li Chengfan.

Li Chengfan was gaming with his roommates. Upon hearing Shen Xingru’s voice, he instinctively made up an excuse to decline; he didn’t want to get involved in their long-distance relationship mess.

“Sister Ru, if he doesn’t answer my calls, where do you expect me to find him? Besides, I’m not at school right now, I…”

Suddenly, a voice from his roommate interrupted, “One wave, one wave! Crush them, these idiots!”

Li Chengfan paused. “Returning to school isn’t a big deal, but the real issue is finding him… Even if I find Yan Ge, there’s no guarantee he’ll listen to me. He’s a bit too high-spirited when he’s drunk.”

Shen Xingruo replied firmly, “Just tell him he’s not allowed to drink anymore. If he drinks again, it’s over.”

Li Chengfan was taken aback. “Huh?”

Damn, has drinking become such a big deal now? He wasn’t paying much attention to it before; having a drink or two at a student union gathering was pretty normal. But Shen Xingruo suddenly elevated the issue to the level of breaking up, and he sobered up instantly.

If something went wrong in the middle and they broke up because of this, wouldn’t Lu Xingyan hold a grudge against him?

He got up in a hurry. “You guys keep playing, I need to find someone. I’ll be back later.”

Five minutes after Shen Xingru’s call with Li Chengfan, Lu Xingyan returned to his dorm.

He was a bit drunk, but his mind was still clear. Seeing missed calls from both Shen Xingruo and Li Chengfan, he called Shen Xingruo back first and affectionately called her “baby.”

Shen Xingruo asked, “Where are you now?”

Lu Xingyan replied, “Just got back to the dorm. Didn’t our Literature College organize that cultural event, the Bookish Cultural Festival? After it ended, we stayed outside to sing and hang out.”

His voice sounded slightly intoxicated, but his words were clear and coherent. He probably wasn’t too drunk.

Shen Xingruo responded with a simple “Hmm” and said, “I’m going to sleep.”

Lu Xingyan felt dizzy and groggy, not thinking much. He bid a “good night” and hung up the phone. Immediately, he called Li Chengfan back, his tone much more casual, “Idiot, why are you calling me? Spit it out.”

Li Chengfan was at his wit’s end. “Damn, Young Master Lu, where have you been? You didn’t answer calls or messages. I just called the student union; they said you guys had disbanded early. Where are you? Your wife called me, asking me to drag you back and forbid you from drinking. If you drink again, she’s breaking up with you!”

“…What?”

“What’s going on? Say it again.”

Lu Xingyan shook his head twice, halfway sobered up by the mention of “breaking up.”

“She said, ‘No more drinking, and if you do, it’s over.’ That’s her exact words.”

Li Chengfan repeated.

Lu Xingyan listened while recalling Shen Xingru’s cold attitude during their phone call…

It wasn’t like she was particularly warm usually, so he hadn’t thought much of it when she abruptly said she was going to sleep. But now, the more he thought about it, the more something seemed off!

He had originally wanted to hang up on Li Chengfan and call Shen Xingru, but then he remembered something. “How did Shen Xingruo know I was out partying and drinking?”

Li Chengfan widened his eyes. “How would I know? I only knew because she knew first.”

Lu Xingyan felt dizzy from being led in circles. He thought to himself that someone who didn’t understand Chinese was uncultured; they couldn’t even speak clearly.

He decided to end the call and went straight to find Shen Xingru.

He called twice, but Shen Xingruo didn’t answer.

He started texting, adopting a humble and apologetic tone first, even though he didn’t know what he had done wrong. Then, he resorted to all sorts of tactics like acting cute, praising, and feigning helplessness—

Shen Xingru’s attitude finally softened.

She didn’t say anything, just sent a screenshot.

Lu Xingyan recognized it—it was a summary of the Bookish Cultural Festival posted by their Literature College’s public account. But Shen Xingruo had captured the comments section below.

Seeing it, even the remaining alcohol in his system seemed to evaporate.

No wonder she was so angry!

Ruo’s little cutie!!!

Ruo Ruo’s little cutie, baby, you misunderstood. The student union has a senior called Ah Yan, and many people call him that too. I’m not very familiar with this girl; we only worked together occasionally and exchanged a few words.

Ruo Ruo’s little cutie, and the girl who confessed her love to me downstairs last time, the one you saw, is this girl’s roommate. Think about it, with the grand gesture you made last time, would she dare to have any improper thoughts about your husband?

Ruo Ruo’s little cutie, Ruobao, I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to inform you before I go out drinking next time, and I won’t let anyone call me so intimately again!

Shen Xingruo neither agreed nor disagreed, just gave a cold “Hmm” before saying “good night.”

She didn’t think Lu Xingyan would cheat, but just like in Chen Mengmeng’s short video, where many fans joked about her directly throwing herself at him, he was out partying all the time without any restraint. What if someone with ulterior motives got him drunk and took advantage of him?

In a more melodramatic scenario, what if she got pregnant after sleeping together and used the child as leverage to marry into the Lu family? It wasn’t impossible.

After all, art imitates life.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t bother asking Li Chengfan to go fetch him.

She didn’t bother with Lu Xingyan anymore, logged back into Weibo, left a comment under Chen Mengmeng’s new post, then put on her eye mask and went to sleep, preparing for the car exhibition tomorrow.

Shen Xingruo slept peacefully, but someone else in the starry sky couldn’t sleep all night.

Chen Mengmeng has been managing this Weibo for over two years. Before, when she posted about SA content, the response was quite flat, with just a few thousand followers after entering university. But since she started writing the Secret Crush Diary, her follower count skyrocketed.

Because of their active followers, many small businesses wanted to advertise with her.

She wasn’t foolish and wasn’t in a hurry to monetize. She diligently maintained her persona.

To avoid being recognized as a star student, she would blur out key information every time. Selfies and the covert photos of Lu Xingyan were only partial profiles or backviews.

Last night’s short video was a preview for her fifty-thousand-follower milestone. The lighting in the KTV was dim, and people couldn’t see very clearly. Originally, she was planning to delete it after twenty-four hours.

But when she checked the comments later, she suddenly saw one: “Don’t you know he already has a girlfriend?”

She made a snap decision and deleted the comment, then nervously removed the entire Weibo post. Yet, even after deleting it, she felt unsettled, with various speculations flashing through her mind.

She spent the whole night awake, constantly monitoring the comments section.

Meanwhile, Lu Xingyan also had a sleepless night. With a slight buzz from the alcohol he had drunk and Shen Xingruo’s unpredictable attitude, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He eventually resorted to checking ticketing apps.

With one swipe, he managed to find a ticket to Beijing for the following morning. He hesitated for a moment; he had a full schedule of classes every Monday this semester, and tomorrow’s round trip to Beijing would consume eighty percent of his time.

But he hadn’t seen Shen Xingruo in almost two months. And she was angry.

He had to go.

What could be more important than seeing his girlfriend?

What difficulties couldn’t he overcome to see her?

If he lacked this courage, what right did he have to call himself a descendant of the Chinese nation?!

With a rush of determination, by the time he regained his senses, the airline had already issued the ticket.

At half past twelve the next day, Lu Xingyan arrived at the female dormitory building of Da Wen University.

He tried calling Shen Xingruo, but there was no answer.

Just as he was about to call He Siyue, Shen Xingruo’s roommate returned to the dormitory after finishing her meal, and happened to notice him. She tentatively greeted him, “Hello? Are you… Xingruo’s boyfriend?”

This was like a dream come true. Lu Xingyan nodded politely, greeted her, and then asked, “Could you please ask her to come down?”

The roommate hesitated, “But Xingruo isn’t in the dormitory today. She’s gone to the car exhibition with a girl from our dormitory.”

“…Car exhibition?”

The roommate wasn’t sure if she had misspoken, but since she had already said it, she reluctantly nodded.

Lu Xingyan rushed to the convention center where the Spring Car Exhibition was held, arriving at three in the afternoon.

The exhibition was massive, with different areas designated according to brand positioning. Lu Xingyan grabbed a brochure and headed straight for the Aston Martin section.

Aston Martin was located in the innermost luxury car showroom, which was quite crowded. However, compared to the lower-end car exhibition area at the front, the entire venue was unusually quiet.

None of the brands had energetic music or dancing, and the sales staff’s attitude was rather cold. People wandered back and forth, mostly just looking without buying.

With just one glance, Lu Xingyan found the Aston Martin section. Aston Martin had only brought five cars this time, one of which was a concept model. Nevertheless, each car was accompanied by a female model standing nearby, showcasing the vehicles.

Lu Xingyan quickly locked his gaze on Shen Xingruo, who was wearing a champagne-colored off-the-shoulder fishtail gown. She exuded a subtle sense of detachment, not standing particularly seductively. With one hand resting on her waist, her demeanor seemed indifferent to the luxury cars, which somehow complemented them.

Seeing him continuously staring at their car model with a gaze that bordered on obsession, the salesperson unconsciously stepped in front of him, putting on a flawless yet subtly disdainful smile. “Sir, would you like to know more about any of our models?”

Perhaps still under the influence of alcohol, Lu Xingyan was a bit bold. Without blinking, he said, “Step aside and let her explain. I want to buy the one she’s showcasing.”

Accessories related to my wife must be acquired!

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