TFEDLAM 11

The newly exposed Zhang girl is none other than Yun Duo. This time, it wasn’t just pictures—there was a video too.

Lu Tingchuan chose an upscale and private location. The paparazzi couldn’t capture what happened inside, but they caught clear footage of the two arriving one after the other, and then leaving together. Lu Tingchuan even opened the car door for her, escorted her all the way to the residential parking lot, and they went into the elevator together.

“This counts as a secret late-night meeting? There’s not even a scrap of juicy content. After class reunions, guys often act like gentlemen and send the girls home.”

“Sending a classmate or a friend home means dropping them off at the gate at most—or maybe at the parking lot. Who gets in the elevator together? Was he planning to walk her to her room? A man and a woman alone, who knows what might have happened? Especially since Lu Tingchuan is a married man. Wasn’t he all lovey-dovey with Xia Shi before? Tsk tsk, what a ‘good man,’ what a ‘model husband.’ What a slap in the face.”

“Haters, have some self-respect. So what if he walked her home? You didn’t see them do anything, don’t overthink it. The video didn’t show a hug, a kiss, or even hand-holding. They kept a respectful distance the whole time. Where exactly do you see an affair?”

“Heh, keep making excuses, fans.”

“Yun Duo is pretty, but if I had to choose, I’d still go for Xia Shi. Has the movie king gone mad, ditching the talented and beautiful Xia Shi for Yun Duo?”

“Men, right? Always want the wife at home and the mistress outside. With Lu Tingchuan and Xia Shi living in different countries, it’s not surprising he found someone local.”

…

Online discussions were heating up with both sides sticking to their arguments. Lu Tingchuan’s side was doing relatively well, thanks to a large fan base. Yun Duo wasn’t so lucky—words like “homewrecker” and “vixen” flooded the comments.

“That day I asked her out, I laid everything bare and told her very clearly. She got visibly upset after she heard it and I was worried she might do something impulsive so I took her home.”

Xia Shi rubbed her chin and looked at Lu Tingchuan. “You really have no romantic sense—hurting a young girl like that.”

Lu Tingchuan could only laugh bitterly. If he had been more romantic, he would be in real trouble now.

“Since I knew her feelings, it was better to make things clear as early as possible. A short pain is better than a long one. These things must be handled decisively, no room for ambiguity. Being vague will only confuse her, and if she starts having hopes and then gets nothing in return, that’ll only hurt her more. It’s better to cut it off now while it’s still early. Auntie treats her like her own daughter—I don’t want this to cause any trouble at home.”

Wang Qin had a gentle nature and wasn’t the type to stir trouble. The Lu family were intellectuals, financially comfortable but not extravagantly wealthy. There wasn’t much family fortune to fight over.

Besides, Lu Tingchuan had his own career and didn’t care about the family money. Even if Lu Jingshan left all his property and savings to Wang Qin, he wouldn’t mind—he actually felt that would be fair.

So, legally speaking, the stepmother-stepson relationship had been relatively smooth.

Especially in recent years, as Lu Jingshan aged and dealt with health issues like hypertension and heart disease, it was thanks to Wang Qin’s care that he managed. Lu Tingchuan was grateful to her. For Lu Jingshan’s sake alone, he didn’t want to stir up conflict.

“You’ve got peach blossom eyes and a peach blossom fate. Even rabbits don’t eat the grass by their own burrow, and you can’t even leave your ‘sister’ alone. You’re unbelievable!” Faced with this sharp jab, Lu Tingchuan could only offer a helpless smile.

Seeing he didn’t argue back, Xia Shi lost interest in teasing and turned to the computer screen, sighing at the never-ending stream of hot comments. “Well, we really have become the internet’s ‘headline couple.’”

Truth to be told, ever since Xia Shi came back to China, any little ripple between them had been thrust into the spotlight.

While they were still discussing it, Lu Jingshan called. He didn’t say much and just asked them to come over for dinner tonight. No need to guess why—it was clearly about today’s situation.

After the call, Yu Shuo arrived and plopped down on the couch and got straight to the point.

“I went to Yun Duo’s neighborhood this morning and used some connections to get footage from the property management. From the video, you can see you came down from the elevator three minutes after escorting her up, then drove off right away. That’s our strongest piece of evidence.”

Now that’s efficiency—no wonder he was a gold-medal agent.

Lu Tingchuan nodded. “Release it. And while we’re at it, reveal my relationship with Yun Duo.”

Even if they weren’t biological siblings, they still had that connection. Taking a sister home wasn’t unusual at all.

Yu Shuo looked surprised. “Yun Duo agreed? Wasn’t she against making your relationship public?”

Lu Tingchuan didn’t answer directly. He just said, “Do it. Also, have you figured out who’s behind this?”

“Someone’s behind it?”

Xia Shi was startled, but quickly realized she was overreacting. This whole thing wasn’t even that scandalous. The video only showed him escorting her up the elevator—barely enough to sensationalize. He kept his distance from her the entire time.

Yet the comments were exploding with wild speculation. Rumor after rumor surfaced, all sounding detailed and vivid, as if these people had been in the room watching them. Even screenwriters didn’t have this kind of imagination.

With public opinion being guided like this, it would actually be strange not to suspect someone was manipulating things behind the scenes.

Yu Shuo smiled. “You just told me Yun Duo has feelings for you, and then this incident broke out. When I saw the news, I thought maybe she was behind it.”

Lu Tingchuan shook his head. “We’re not blood-related, but I’ve known her for years. She’s just an ordinary girl and not capable of something like this. What good would it do her to make herself out to be a mistress, make everyone think there’s something between us? A lie doesn’t become the truth just because people repeat it. It would only earn her a bad reputation and drag her into scandal, with no benefit at all.”

From a practical standpoint, Yun Duo really had nothing to gain from this. All loss, no upside.

Yu Shuo agreed. He straightened up, growing serious. “I looked into it. Honestly, I found it surprising, but I can’t deny that Yin Ru is involved. This incident might seem unrelated to her, but the online storm during the Golden Wheat Awards red carpet—she was behind that. The ones making the most noise this time are the same batch from before. The first few gossip accounts to break the news are all under Huahai Media, originally nurtured by Ye Ping.”

Lu Tingchuan’s eyes sharpened. On the day of the Golden Wheat Awards, he had sensed something strange in the way Yin Ru looked at Xia Shi. Even though she tried to hide it, the calm and familiarity she displayed when talking to Xia Shi had been forced and awkward.

“If that’s the case, I think the one Yin Ru is targeting… is Xia Xia.”

Xia Shi was baffled. “Me? I’ve got no grudge against her. Why would she target me?”

Lu Tingchuan chuckled. “Did you forget? You stole her spot as the final act on the red carpet last time. After she found out you were TIME, she tried multiple times to contact you—but you ignored her. Even bringing up your shared past in that talent competition didn’t move you.”

Xia Shi rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Just for that? Plenty of people have tried to get me to collaborate since I revealed I’m TIME. What, am I supposed to appease all of them? And if she really wanted to go after me, why not come at me directly? Why go through you? That’s just too roundabout.”

Lu Tingchuan shook his head. “There are always people out there who don’t think logically. Their minds work differently from ours.”

Xia Shi was speechless, staring up at the ceiling.

Yu Shuo asked, “So what now?”

Lu Tingchuan calmly sipped his tea. “Didn’t our company just co-produce a big-budget drama with Huahai? Two hundred million invested, right? I heard they cast Yin Ru as the second female lead?”

These days, it was common for singers to cross into acting and vice versa. Yin Ru’s voice had been off lately for some reason. With her popularity still holding, it made sense to pivot and look for new opportunities.

Yu Shuo’s heart skipped a beat. “You’re planning to—?”

“Have a word with the higher-ups. Swap her out.”

The decision came out as casually as a breeze. After all, Lu Tingchuan still held 11% of Qintang’s shares. It wasn’t that Huahai couldn’t cast someone—they’d just have to pick someone else.

Yu Shuo clicked his tongue. “Yin Ru hasn’t released an album in over a year and has been riding on her past success. Recently, two mishaps occurred during her commercial performances. Rumor is her voice is damaged. Now she’s finally found a way out. ‘Fengshen’ is a massive IP, and with its current investment and production team, even before filming starts, three major satellite TV networks have already secured broadcasting rights. It’s almost guaranteed to be a hit.”

He continued, “This kind of costume drama doesn’t demand much acting skill—just a good enough performance that doesn’t break immersion. It’s all about the face. Even if her voice is gone, her looks are still good. This role could be her big comeback. Cutting someone off from a paycheck is one thing, but cutting them off from a career-defining opportunity? That’s like destroying their future.”

Lu Tingchuan had only mentioned that one show, but Yu Shuo knew him well enough to understand the implication: as long as it was within their power, they’d block all of Yin Ru’s projects.

Yu Shuo turned to glance at Xia Shi. Xia Shi was stunned, then said in surprise, “You think I’d object? Do I look like some saint?”

Yu Shuo froze, then chuckled. “Alright, alright. You two are birds of a feather. Fine, I’ll go take care of it now!”

Lu Tingchuan got up to see Yu Shuo out. Yu Shuo’s jaw practically dropped—this man, who never wanted to leave Xia Shi’s side, was actually walking someone out? Something was definitely up.

Sure enough, once they were outside, Lu Tingchuan said, “Dig deeper into Yin Ru. I find her actions toward Xia Xia… strange.”

Yu Shuo blinked. “Didn’t you say some people are just nuts?”

Lu Tingchuan looked at him wordlessly. Yu Shuo laughed softly—yep, that line had been meant to placate Xia Shi.

“Yin Ru and Xia Xia were both contestants on The Most Beautiful Voice. They later joined Shengshi Entertainment. During Guo Zihua’s trial back then, Yin Ru was also listed as a victim. But I remember Guo Zihua said she approached him willingly. He harmed a lot of people, used all kinds of means to force them to submit, but Yin Ru wasn’t one of them. Among the victims, except for Xia Xia, the rest were minor celebs who’d already quit the industry. Yin Ru was the only big name. She didn’t want the incident exposed and ruining her career. The courts also tried to protect her from secondary harm. Because there were doubts about her case and the other evidence was enough to convict Guo Zihua, they kept her situation under wraps. Very few people know about this—even among those involved back then.”

Yu Shuo’s heart trembled. “So…”

“Back then, I only wanted to deal with Guo Zihua and Liang Mengmeng. I didn’t care whether the others were victims or just trying to cozy up to powerful men. But now, Yin Ru… do you really think she’s acting this way just because Xia Xia stole one red carpet finale? Shen Hui stole that spot from her multiple times too! And Xia Xia, with her standing in the music world—never mind Yin Ru, even Shen Hui’s beneath her!”

Yu Shuo felt his breath catch. “You think she’s tied to what happened seven years ago? Isn’t that… a bit far-fetched?”

Lu Tingchuan shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s connected. Maybe it’s something else entirely. Or maybe it’s nothing. But… just in case. If it involves Xia Xia, and she’s someone from back then, I can’t sit easy.”

Yu Shuo took a deep breath. “Got it. I’ll keep an eye on her.”