clarify

Zhao Qinfeng remained unmoved, saying, "I really don't have anything to post lately. I've been too busy and don't know what to post. Work-related things have to be posted according to the scheduled time, which isn't something I can decide."

Lin Ting said "Oh," and then manipulated the character in the game to jump around, without continuing the conversation.

After a while, Zhao Qinfeng put down the game controller. "I'm going to cook."

Lin Ting turned and glanced at him. "Go ahead. Do you need my help?"

Zhao Qinfeng reached out and brushed Lin Ting's hair aside. "No need. Just put the dishes in the dishwasher after you're done eating."

This game isn't fun without one person. Lin Ting played for a while and got bored, so he closed the game and put the controller away.

He ran into the kitchen and asked, "How's the writing of your album's title track coming along?"

Zhao Qinfeng was chopping vegetables and didn't look up. He replied, "I have a rough idea, but I haven't started writing it yet. You can do something else first."

Lin Ting said, "I'm not rushing you... but I'm really looking forward to it. Take your time and write carefully."

Lin Ting watched Zhao Qinfeng chop vegetables for a while and felt that the kitchen really didn't need his help, so he ran back to the guest room and sat in front of the computer.

He suddenly thought of Chen Taining's matter again, so he searched Weibo to see the current trending topics.

The network loading was a bit slow, so Lin Ting tapped the desktop rhythmically with his fingers, waiting for the interface to load.

He scrolled down, and one trending topic after another swept past him, all uninteresting and devoid of anything new.

Until two names he thought would never be together appeared together.

[#LintingJinghu[Hot]]

The sounds of the kitchen range hood, the faint rustling of the wind outside the window, and the spinning of the computer cooling fan all seemed to be slowly fading away. Lin Ting felt as if the space around her was gradually being vacuumed, isolating her from all sounds.

"Lin Ting, your phone is ringing." Zhao Qinfeng's voice suddenly cut into his consciousness.

Lin Ting immediately dropped the computer and walked outside.

His phone was on the coffee table, ringing loudly and making a sickening buzzing sound as it vibrated against the table.

Zhao Qinfeng, standing to the side, immediately noticed Lin Ting's absent-minded state and looked at him with some concern.

The caller was Chang Zhiyuan. Lin Ting answered the phone directly and put it on speakerphone.

Chang Zhiyuan sounded a little anxious: "Have you seen the trending topics? Some people are saying that Lin Ting and Jing Hu are the same person, and they even publicly released the audio that we used for internal communication among the registered contestants."

Lin Ting said, "I just saw the trending topic, but I haven't looked at the specific content yet."

Zhao Qinfeng pointed to himself and mouthed to Lin Ting whether he could speak.

Lin Ting nodded. Zhao Qinfeng immediately spoke up: "Hello, I'm Zhao Qinfeng. If nothing unexpected happens, this matter will likely be connected to Chen Taining later. As the only judge who overlapped between the two competitions Chen Taining participated in, this connection will definitely be noticed immediately."

Chang Zhiyuan was momentarily bewildered, but quickly realized that Zhao Qinfeng and he had the same information. So he immediately got into work mode: "Well, so we can clarify that Chen Taining's registration process was entirely compliant, and that during our selection process, the judges did not know in advance who the contestant for each entry was."

Zhao Qinfeng: "That's right, the sooner the better. Ideally, we should be on par with them in the next trending topics so that netizens can see the true nature of this matter. When will your competition announce the final results?"

Chang Zhiyuan: "This Saturday, there are still two days left."

Zhao Qinfeng: "I will contact my friends to help clarify the situation. I'm counting on you to handle the clarification from the competition organizers."

Chang Zhiyuan: "Okay, let's keep in touch."

Lin Ting: "Then I'll trouble you. I'll keep the phone and messages open. If you need me to post on Weibo, repost, or do a live stream, just contact me directly."

After hanging up the phone, Chang Zhiyuan belatedly wondered: Was the relationship between Lin Ting and Zhao Qinfeng unusual?

Lin Ting let out a long breath, finally feeling alive again.

To be honest, this matter was within his consideration. However, after talking with Chang Zhiyuan and Hu Ming, he realized that the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. In addition, he had become accustomed to this situation over the years, so in the end he simply told Zhao Qinfeng and did not plan to announce it to the world in a big way.

In the end, this matter was brought up again and used as a topic of discussion.

Lin Ting was hugged by Zhao Qinfeng. Lin Ting buried her head in Zhao Qinfeng's shoulder and smelled the distinct smell of cooking oil, which was a bit pungent but made her feel warm.

"I'm fine..." Lin Ting said in a muffled voice.

Zhao Qinfeng said, "Okay, I have something to do. This matter was originally your secret, and I was one of the lucky ones who knew it. But suddenly this secret is going to be known by everyone, and I feel unbalanced. I need your comfort."

Lin Ting laughed so hard that her whole body trembled, and the vibrations in her chest were transmitted to Zhao Qinfeng, who was pressed tightly against her.

A moment later, the two separated. Lin Ting leaned over and kissed Zhao Qinfeng, saying, "Thank you."

Zhao Qinfeng paused for a moment, then said, "You'll probably have to cook the dishes in the kitchen. I'll go contact some friends who can help."

Lin Ting gave an "OK" sign, "Leave it to me."

While Zhao Qinfeng and Chang Zhiyuan helped him with the chores, Lin Ting, who was truly at the center of the incident, calmly prepared three dishes and a soup at home.

Zhao Qinfeng came over and took a picture of the dishes on the table.

Lin Ting didn't notice that he took two bowls of rice from the rice cooker, along with some utensils, and brought them to the table.

The two were eating when Zhao Qinfeng kept receiving phone calls, all of which were about Lin Ting.

Finally, the meal was over, and the two related terms joined hands to become the trending topics on the entertainment list.

Zhao Qinfeng and Lin Ting flipped through the entries together.

Actually, Lin Ting and her team's clarification didn't start as early as their fabrication, so the doubts about Chen Taining's involvement in the audition for the competition organized by Hu Ming's studio took some time to circulate. Some of the online trolls emphasized Lin Ting's apparent interest in Chen Taining during a previous talent show, and her continued efforts to pave the way for Chen Taining even after changing her identity, making it sound very convincing, as if the next step was to fabricate a story about a deeply moving bond between the two.

As Zhao Qinfeng scrolled through the posts, he came across a few Weibo posts that stood out as refreshingly innocent amidst the rumors, featuring couples shipping their favorite characters.

He showed these Weibo posts to Lin Ting. Lin Ting didn't understand them at first, but it took her a long time to realize what they meant.

"Oh, they think Chen Taining and I are a couple, and it's like a teacher-student relationship, two engineering students appreciating each other in the music industry..." Lin Ting summarized, then looked up and found Zhao Qinfeng's facial expression to be quite interesting.

Lin Ting said, "You can't be jealous of me about this. There are tons of people shipping you with other people, what I'm doing is just a drizzle, but it's a downpour for you..."

Zhao Qinfeng took the phone back and put it aside, then stepped forward and shut Lin Ting up, who was talking animatedly.

However, the clarification was released in a timely manner, and Wang Qiong also spoke up for Chen Taining and Lin Ting, and even forwarded the competition, saying that the music industry needs fresh blood.

The next day, the matter continued to escalate, but it had long since turned into mockery of those who had spread the rumors. Lin Ting's accounts on various platforms received a variety of comments, some friendly and some sharp, but most people still felt that he had encountered an undeserved misfortune, and some people who really liked his lyrics also came to express their love for him.

Zhao Qinfeng's short rest was over, and he hugged Lin Ting tightly before leaving.

Lin Ting patted his hair. "It's okay, everything's fine here. You can go back to work and focus on writing and recording songs. I want to hear your new album."

Zhao Qinfeng said bitterly, "Why are you still urging me to work when we're saying goodbye like this...?"

However, he still agreed, saying he would do it as soon as possible.

On the third day, the final results of the competition were to be announced at 8 p.m., and Chang Zhiyuan called Lin Ting in the morning to inquire about the situation.

Chang Zhiyuan's tone was clearly concerned, "How are things going on your end?"

Lin Ting said, "It's great. Thanks to you all, everything went smoothly. And I found that a lot of people came to confess their love to me, saying they especially like my lyrics. There were also people who originally thought I was a girl and then came to apologize to me."

Chang Zhiyuan slammed his fist on the table and burst into laughter, "I knew I wasn't the only one who thought that! Miss Jinghu, your lyrics are really good, hahahahahahahaha..."

Lin Ting said helplessly, "I really didn't expect this."

Chang Zhiyuan forced a laugh and said, "Actually, I called to ask if you wanted to do a live stream tonight and let everyone watch our match results together? You can also take this opportunity to explain your situation to your friends who are following you."

Lin Ting said, "This is a good idea. I'll prepare it in a bit."

Lin Ting first fiddled with his Weibo account, verifying his identity as a lyricist. Then he found a webcam, connected it to his computer, and adjusted the live streaming equipment.

Around 6 PM, he checked Weibo and found that his account had been verified. So he started a live stream on the video platform and shared the live stream link on Weibo.

The live stream was titled "Lyricist Jinghu & Music Critic Linting Take You Through the Announcement of the Competition Results".

Lin Ting turned on the camera and asked the first group of viewers who entered the live stream: "Good evening, everyone. Can you hear the sound and see the picture normally? If so, type 1."

The chat was flooded with "1"s in an instant. Lin Ting subconsciously glanced at the number of viewers in the live stream and found that it was much higher than when he first started streaming.