The moment Xu Yini posted her status, it went trended immediately.
[YiniDreamAN: Aaaah! My wife is here with an explanation! My wife is still mine!]
[UPUPRIGHT: It’s just a meal with her family and she ran into a friend! Stop imagining things, people! Please pay attention to her work and not the scandals!]
[ZiDon’tTalk: Yini is the most beautiful girl! Where are those haters who spoke crap about her now? Isn’t this the biggest slap in their faces? There will be no peace between us, haters! Never!]
Xu Yini’s status swiftly gathered her fans to her defense.
Mei Li was shocked when she saw the status. She bolted up from the couch and said loudly, “Yini! Why did you post the status!? Didn’t we agree to clarify things later at night?!”
Annoyed, Xu Yini said, “We are going to clarify it sooner or later, so it’s better now than never.”
“You—” Mei Li frowned.
It was a huge opportunity for some exposure, yet she had thrown it out of the window just like that. If it was another celebrity under her management, she would have blasted them without a doubt.
Xu Yini was different though. The girl came from an unusual family, and even though she was the best manager in the industry, she had to be courteous in front of Xu Yini and care for her like she was a princess.
Since Xu Yini had already posted the status, nothing she said would be useful now.
“Fine. I’ll tell the management to share the status and push it up to the first place in the trending topics.”
…
At the Lu family mansion, Lu Huaiyu kept his phone away, but he was still slightly vexed.
He was playing chess with his grandfather when he received a call from the PR department.
Someone in the PR department of the Lu Corporation was in charge of the family’s public image. The moment Lu Huaiyu’s picture went on the internet, they quickly responded.
Even though Lu Huaiyu was not a celebrity, he was still considered a public figure, and the curious netizens had already started to do background checks on him.
The people from the PR department knew about the relationship between the Lu family and the Xu family, and they were unsure whether the second master was in a relationship with Xu Yini, hence the phone call.
Lu Huaiyu only found out about the picture from the call.
Running into Xu Yini was purely a coincidence. As a matter of fact, only a handful of people knew that he was back in the capital, and Xu Yini was not one of them.
Back then, Xu Yini’s parents had also been there and he greeted them out of respect. The meeting had lasted no longer than three minutes, so he did not expect his photo to be taken so quickly.
He had a look at the time.
6:58 p.m.
There were two more minutes until the self-learning class ended, but it remained quiet on Ning Li’s side.
The scandal had erupted online when she had her self-learning class, so he wondered if she saw the news.
Therefore, he made a call.
…
Ning Li got out of the taxi in front of a particular neighborhood where Wei Songze was already waiting for her.
He quickly came over when he saw Ning Li. “Sister Lili, don’t you have class tonight?”
Second High had night classes, and he knew that Ning Li had joined the competitive Physics class lately, so he was shocked when he received her call during this hour.
“Mmm, I didn’t go to class. Where’s the key?”
Wei Songze then passed her the key. “This is it.”
Ning Li took it and softly rubbed it. “Thank you.”
Feeling strange, he asked, “Sister Lili, why do you insist on getting a unit here? This is an old neighborhood and there are all kinds of people here. Even the neighborhood on the other street is better than this.”
Ning Li smiled. “It’s okay. I like it here.”
Wei Songze decided to keep quiet since she insisted. Then, he said, “Okay, as long as you are happy. Do you want to go inside for a look?”
Ning Li nodded. “Sure.”
The two of them went inside.
It was then that her phone rang. She saw the caller ID, and it was Lu Huaiyu.
A slight hesitation later, she answered the phone, “Hello. Second Brother?”
Out of the blue, a car drove by and honked loudly.
Lu Huaiyu frowned. “Aren’t you in class?”
“Nope. There’s no class tonight, so I left early. Is there anything?” she replied.
Her question left Lu Huaiyu speechless. He was at a loss for words.
Suddenly, Ning Li felt a sudden chill above her forehead. She reached out to her forehead and found her fingertips wet.
Wei Songze turned around and said loudly, “It’s raining!”
Lu Huaiyu frowned on the other end. The voice sounded familiar. “Are you out with your friend?”
“Yeah, it’s Wei Songze. You met him the other day.”
As Ning Li strode inside, a bad feeling rose in Lu Huaiyu’s heart. He knew about Wei Songze. He had met the boy at the police station, after all, so it was quite difficult to forget him.
“Aren’t you going home yet?”
He assumed that Ning Li went back to the Ye residence after class.
Ning Li paused. “Not yet. I’ll go back later.”
The rain started to pour heavier. She raised her hand above her head to try to block the rain out.
“Second Brother, if there’s nothing important, I have to go now.”
Lu Huaiyu grunted as an agreement. “Find some shelter first. Call me when you get back.”
“Okay.”
…
Ning Li followed Wei Songze to a unit in the building.
There were only two units on a single floor, and the unit they were heading to was on the 9th floor.
Wei Songze pointed at the one on the right. “This is it.”
Ning Li went to the door and slid the key into the keyhole.
“The landlord said that the last tenant left two months ago. When I rented the unit, he already had the place cleaned up, but that was a few days ago. You might have to clean it again.”
He always carried out the tasks Ning Li gave him perfectly. Even though he disagreed with her renting the place, he did his part flawlessly.
Click!
The door was opened.
A musty smell wafted out from inside. It seemed like the place had been left idle for a long time.
Ning Li went in.
The place had three rooms, a living area, and a bathroom. It was also furnished with simple furniture.
“It’s good.” Ning Li put her bag down. “You can go now. I’ll clean up the place myself.”
“Huh? No, no, no! It’s not appropriate for me to leave you like this. Sister Lili, I’ll help.”
Ning Li turned around to shoot a glance at the boy. “I think you’ve misunderstood me. I’m not telling you to go back and slack. Go back and gather all the draft paintings and the parcels I delivered to you earlier. Bring them here tomorrow.”
Wei Songze was speechless. “Okay…”
Ning Li unzipped her bag, seeming to look for something. She then looked at Wei Songze. “Why are you still here?”
He felt disgust emanating from her gaze. He headed to the exit, and after he took the first step out of the door, he turned around with a concerned look. “Sister Lili, be careful. Go home early.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Ning Li simply answered without looking at him.
Wei Songze finally left reluctantly.
…
The place had been tidied up before this, and there were only several pieces of furniture, so it was not a hassle for Ning Li to tidy up the place.
She sat on the only chair there and took out a pencil and some paper.
After a few strokes, she suddenly thought of the picture she had seen earlier. Curious, she took her phone out and tapped on Weibo.
The first trending phrase was ‘Xu Yini denies being in a relationship.’
That was quick.
Ning Li tapped on it and saw the status Xu Yini posted. The way she typed her status seemed subtle, but the meaning behind it was obvious.
Even her management team shared the status, and the comments under the status were all her fans’ confessions.
Ning Li scrolled down and saw a comment.
[NewtonIsNotNew: Speaking of the picture, did anyone save it? The account that posted the picture earlier was deleted. Even though Yini is not in a relationship, the guy is really handsome. If anyone has it, please send it to me! Pretty please!”
Ning Li was stunned. She searched for the account that first posted the picture but could not find it anymore. It had been deleted without a trace.
