And so, it wasn’t going to end well this time.
Yes, it wouldn’t affect her much in her way to stardom, but her reputation was without doubt damaged. The more Yan Huan was presented positively, the worst her reputation would get.
“Here. All of these were bought for Little Lei,” said Lu Yi, setting down the things from his hands onto the table.
“Did Huanhuan buy them?” asked Yi Ling. She passed Little Lei to Lu Yi so she could go through the things brought by him. Most of the items were local specialties, and there were also clothing like handmade tiger caps and shoes.
Handmade products are usually comfortable to wear and harmless to a child’s tender skin.
“Yes. She asked me to bring them over,” said Lu Yi. He gave Little Lei’s cheeks a little squeeze. Little Lei was looking stronger and kinder by the day. He was much better looking than his Dad, but one could tell by the look of his limbs that he would grow up to be tall. Plus, most of the members from the Lei Family weren’t short. Mr. Lei was 185cm, and Lei Qingyi, even taller, at 190cm. There was simply no way for Little Lei to be shorter than 180cm, unless some sort of genetic mutation occurred. Still, the possibility of that was close to none. Kids from the Lei Family usually shared their father’s height, and hopefully Little Lei doesn’t overgrow and shoot up to 2 meters.
“Speaking of, have you heard anything about the leaked dance footage?” asked Yi Ling. Even though she wasn’t Yan Huan’s manager anymore, she caught up with every single update about her ever since she was feeling strong enough to use the computer.
Just because she didn’t interfere didn’t mean that she wasn’t concerned.
“It was your work, wasn’t it?” asked Lei Qingyi, snatching his son back from Lu Yi’s cradling. Nowadays he didn’t trust anyone enough to let them hold his son.
“It was,” admitted Lu Yi, sitting down. He was looking as icy as ever.
“You did it?” asked Yi Ling, pointing at Lu Yi. So it was him after all? “Was the raw footage from Huanhuan?”
“No,” replied Lu Yi.
“Then how did you get it?” pressed Yi Ling. Yan Huan having the footage was the only possibility Yi Ling could think of. Otherwise, how could it have leaked?
Lei Qingyi chuckled. “Do you think that Prosecutor Lu doesn’t have any tricks up his sleeves when dealing with cases? Everyone needs some tricks of their own since certain things have to be done the dirty way.”
“Isn’t that right, Little Lei?” asked Lei Qingyi, giving his son’s tiny finger a little squeeze. He was a doting father. Every time he thought about this soft little fella being his son, he would giggle stupidly in his dreams.
“The dirty way?” Yi Ling didn’t quite get it. “Like what?”
Lei Qingyi, cradling his son carefully, gave Lu Yi a kick on the leg.
“This guy’s a genius in mathematics and an expert in computers. Had the Procuratorate not scouted him, he would probably be working in the IT segment. In fact, he’s actually a hacker.”
Lu Yi denied nothing. He was a hacker. He just didn’t infiltrate the privacy of others for sport. He was only after the useful information stored in their computers.
“My goodness!” Yi Ling rubbed her eyes. “I can’t believe that the great Prosecutor Lu is actually a hacker.”
“What’s there to not believe?” asked Lei Qingyi as he gently held his son. “He’s really skilled, so taking out something from another’s computer is a walk in the park to him.”
Yi Ling nodded profusely. She had always looked up to hackers. To her, they were mysterious. Mysterious and scary.
To think that the great Prosecutor Lu was a hacker himself.
Simply unbelievable.
Little Lei, nestled in Lei Qingyi’s arms, suddenly began wailing loudly. According to Mdm. Lei, Little Lei was as loud as Lei Qingyi when he was little. Lucky for them, the area they lived in was fairly unpopulated, or they would’ve been receiving mountains of complaints with Little Lei shrilling and squalling all day long.
“Stop crying, sweetie. Do you want a song from Daddy?”
Lei Qingyi cleared his throat and poised to sing.
Yi Ling rolled her eyes, doubting that his lullabies would be any good.
Opening his mouth wide, Lei Qingyi began to sing,
“As the great river flows East, the stars gaze at the Big Dipper! (Theme song from Water Margin)”
Yi Ling: “…”
Little Lei primmed up his mouth to show that he didn’t enjoy the song.
“Let’s try another one then.”
“Ah, ah, ah, ah, oh! Ah, ah, ah, ah, oh eh! Ah de di, ah de dao, ah de da di ti de dao! Ah de di, ah de ti da dao…”
Yi Ling gave him a swift kick and took Little Lei back into her arms.
Gaping, Little Lei suddenly clenched his fists and began wailing like crazy.
Lei Qingyi’s eyes twitched. He thought he had sung quite well.
“Idiot!” said Lu Yi, standing up while putting a hand in his pocket. He was going to visit his parents next to bring them some souvenirs from Yan Huan. She kept sending those to him these days. According to her, she would buy whatever that seemed interesting to her, even dough figurines.
Dough figurines were one of the quintessences of Chinese culture, but it was also a dying art that’d likely cease to exist in a few dozen years. Gone from this world, entirely.
Many other things in the Chinese culture are disappearing, and once gone, could never be found again.
To that, Lu Yi could only sigh.
That was the price for rapidly advancing technology. Was it worth it? No one knows.
Lu Yi brought two crateful of souvenirs to his parents. When Qin Xiaoyue saw his car, she knew at once that Lu Yi had come bearing gifts.
“Always giving and giving. That’s not how you spend money,” she complained bitterly.
In truth, how they spent their money had nothing to do with her. She was only the fox that called the grapes sour.
Well then, she thought, let’s just wait and see who’s going to get the last laugh when my Lu Qin marries the loaded Lady Su.
Lu Jin was at home for once, and Ye Shuyun as well. Initially, she was going to do facial treatment with her friends, but that was before Lu Yi told her about Yan Huan’s souvenirs. The couple had stayed at home just to wait for her presents to arrive.
There was always something special about the things Yan Huan sent them. It was usually interesting baubles for Ye Shuyun, and less-known antiques and painting scrolls—acquired through the knowledge from her previous life—for Lu Jin. Sometimes that came in large quantities, sometimes little, and at times none at all.
