Chapter 33: I, Ling Qiong, Send Money! (33)

Lu Wenci’s direct response quickly led to a split among his fans, causing a huge stir. Meanwhile, Ling Qiong was propelled into the spotlight and became the talk of the town. Naturally, this resulted in Lu Wenci’s fans directing their anger at Ling Qiong.

Later, Lu Wenci posted a lengthy message on Weibo.

[Lu Wenci V: Thank you all for your support and love for me and my work during this time. Maybe what I’ve presented isn’t perfect, but I believe I’ll bring you even better works in the future.

Here, I hope everyone can focus more on the work itself. If I’ve disappointed you, I’m truly sorry; I haven’t done well enough.

But, while I am an artist, I am also an independent person, an adult—I have my own emotional needs.

And my love life is a private matter. I hope you won’t worry too much about it and can give me some personal space.

I really like her, so please don’t disturb her. If you’re angry, take it out on me.

That’s all.]

Lu Wenci posted this message without telling Chen Fangchuan. The content began with gratitude and apology, delivered with extreme sincerity, but his stance in defending the girl was also rather firm.

[There’s no law that says celebrities can’t date. Why are you all getting so worked up?]

[He’s so sweet—I want to date him myself.]

[Honestly, I’m so jealous.]

[Wow! Just for that attitude, I’m supporting them!]

[Does he have any siblings? I’m not picky, I’ll take anyone!]

Perhaps because Lu Wenci defended her so resolutely, it struck a chord with some fans and attracted plenty of onlookers. Gradually, the comments began to include blessings. All in all, Lu Wenci was not greatly affected.

Ling Qiong, on the other hand, hadn’t expected Lu Wenci to do this. She was actually considering whether to do as Shanshan suggested—throw some money at the problem and suppress the uproar. After all, he was someone she cared for; how could she let people bully him like that? But before she could decide, Lu Wenci acted first.

“If you’re being so fierce, aren’t you afraid it’ll backfire?” Ling Qiong asked as she scrolled through the comments.

“Why worry about things that haven’t happened yet?”

“Seize the day,” Ling Qiong nodded. “I get it.”

Lu Wenci took the phone from her hand. “Stop looking at those, they’re not useful.”

He just meant to take the phone, but as he turned away, Ling Qiong grabbed him.

The young woman lounged on the sofa, long legs crossed, her skirt pooling in soft layers over her knees. She tilted her head back, her eyes sparkling, lips curved in a subtle smile. Her voice was soft as she said, “Seize the day, darling.”

That one word, “darling,” softened Lu Wenci’s heart completely—he wanted to give her everything.

As evening fell, the room was wrapped in an ambiguous, intimate atmosphere.

...

Lu Wenci, dressed in pajamas, fished his phone out of a water glass. He tried it, but it wouldn’t turn on. Someone had kept calling earlier, and Ling Qiong had simply thrown his phone into the glass of water.

Lu Wenci went back to the bedroom to look for Ling Qiong’s phone, but couldn’t find it. He had to ask the person still asleep in bed.

“Where’s your phone?”

“Didn’t you take it yesterday?” Ling Qiong’s voice was still soft and sleepy, her eyes closed. “Don’t bother me.”

She rolled over, hugging her blanket, and went back to sleep.

“...”

Maybe she was right.

Lu Wenci bent down to kiss her before leaving the bedroom. He found Ling Qiong’s phone in the pants he’d left on the living room floor.

After finishing his work, Lu Wenci went downstairs to buy some groceries. He made breakfast, then went to wake her up.

The girl was already sitting up, hair tumbling over her shoulders, head bowed as she hugged her blanket, nodding off.

Lu Wenci ruffled her hair. “You’re up?”

“You’re so mean,” she grumbled.

“...” How was he mean? His tone had been perfectly fine.

Lu Wenci didn’t know what he’d done wrong and didn’t dare say more, afraid of stepping on a landmine. He could only tentatively ask, “Want breakfast?”

Ling Qiong touched her stomach, feeling very hungry, and nodded. “Yes!”

She directed him to get her clothes.

“The blue one.”

Lu Wenci stood before the closet, hesitating. The wardrobe was full of little dresses, arranged by color and perfectly neat.

The trouble was… there were several blue ones.

“Which one?”

“The lake-blue one.”

“...Which one is lake-blue?” They all looked pretty similar to him.

“...” Was he colorblind?

Under Ling Qiong’s direction, Lu Wenci finally found the right dress.

“Won’t you be cold in this?” The dress was so thin...

“There’s heating at the office, I won’t be cold.”

“...”

Sorry for asking.

Lu Wenci handed her the dress. Ling Qiong propped her chin in her hand and smiled, “Help me change, darling.”

“...” Lu Wenci’s throat tightened. “Don’t call me that.”

Ling Qiong tilted her head. “Don’t you like it?”

“...”

...

The result of her calling him that was that, before breakfast, they ended up doing a couples’ morning workout.

Maybe it was too much for Ling Qiong, because she became pickier with her food. She nearly said she didn’t want any porridge or vegetables in her vegetable porridge.

“You used to eat this,” he said.

“Oh, that was before.” Ling Qiong was unapologetic and stood her ground. “Now I don’t want it.”

“...”

So her picky eating wasn’t just a phase when money was tight—it also depended on her mood?

Lu Wenci foresaw a bumpy road ahead.

...

Now that Ling Qiong and Lu Wenci had gone public, candid shots of them together appeared more and more often. They made it onto the trending topics every few days.

Even Shen Qinchuan, who never followed the entertainment world, would run across their news from time to time.

One day, seeing their story again, he irritably tossed aside his tablet and rubbed his brow.

He really couldn’t understand how a little star could have bewitched her like that.

Was that woman blind?

Compared to that little celebrity, what did he lack?

As Shen Qinchuan realized where his thoughts were going, he abruptly stopped himself.

He didn’t even like that woman—why was he thinking about this? She could do whatever she wanted; what did it matter to him...

“President Shen, the meeting is about to start,” his assistant said, knocking and coming in.

Shen Qinchuan grunted in reply, got up, and walked to the door. Left behind on the desk, the tablet still displayed a photo of Lu Wenci and Ling Qiong smiling at each other.

Many years later, Shen Qinchuan would have a wife who treated him with respect and a well-behaved, obedient son. Looking back on that time, he still couldn’t say what exactly he’d felt.

That’s right—Bai Yewei never ended up with Shen Qinchuan.

It was said that on the day Shen Qinchuan got married, Bai Yewei cried like a fool.

She’d invested so much time, and in the end didn’t even get a scrap—how could she not cry?

But all that was another story.

...

Father Su was adamant in his opposition to the “little celebrity” Lu Wenci becoming his son-in-law.

But he couldn’t control Ling Qiong. Aside from blustering and glaring, there was nothing else he could do; all he could do was threaten to wash his hands of the matter, barely saving face.

Lu Wenci visited several times, hoping to change Father Su’s attitude.

Each time, though, he was shown the door before he even got a chance.

When Ling Qiong found out, she stopped him from going. An NPC’s favorability didn’t matter much to her anyway.

Still, Lu Wenci persisted in visiting on the sly. After two years of effort, Father Su finally began to soften.

He no longer looked at Lu Wenci with total disapproval.

But as for getting along with a smile and warmth—that would still take some time.

*

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