In the early morning, only a few vehicles passed by on the streets. Even though the neon lights were dazzling, the lack of people made it less noisy and more desolate, just like Yu Sheng's mood at that moment.

After she and Gu Ye got into the car, Gu Ye lazily snuggled against her, resting his head on her shoulder, and wrapped one arm around her neck from behind her head.

The intimate posture made Yu Sheng very uncomfortable. She didn't want to push him away directly, and considering that there was a designated driver present, she murmured, "You're making me very uncomfortable..."

Although Gu Ye had drunk quite a bit, he hadn't lost his mind yet.

He wasn't sure if Yu Sheng meant discomfort in her position or discomfort in her mind; he felt it was more the latter. But he just didn't want to let go of her right now, so he pretended to be drunk and said coquettishly, "I've had too much to drink, and I feel a little uncomfortable right now. Let me lean on you for a while..."

As soon as he spoke, his warm breath sprayed onto Yu Sheng's neck, making her even more uncomfortable.

She tilted her head, moving her neck away from her lips.

At that moment, the phone screen in my hand lit up.

Yu Sheng opened the message and saw a text message and a photo sent by Zhou Jiashu.

Zhou Jiashu: [Li Ran photographed you and Gu Ye together, and everyone suspects... that you two have an improper relationship. Do you want to tell everyone the truth about your relationship?]

Yu Sheng frowned and clicked on the photo, only to find that it was a scene of Gu Ye holding her and standing at the entrance of the restaurant.

As she stared at the photo, Gu also said, "Tell them!"

Yu Sheng glanced at Gu Ye and saw him looking at the photos on her phone.

Yu Sheng ignored Gu Ye's reply, turned off the screen, and looked out the window.

Watching the street rushing past under the dim yellow lights, and the blurry city outline in the distance, she felt extremely agitated!

She couldn't help but think: if Gu Ye hadn't come tonight, their cooperation with Shang Yan might have already been finalized, she wouldn't have been photographed by Li Ran in an ambiguous relationship with him, and she wouldn't have been thinking about how to handle this matter!

Although Yu Sheng didn't say a word, Gu Ye, who was both perceptive and shrewd, still guessed what she was thinking from her emotions.

Although she blamed him, he didn't think he was wrong.

He didn't want tonight's events to affect their relationship, so he held her hand and said sweetly, "It's all my fault, don't be angry, okay?"

After he finished speaking, seeing that Yu Sheng ignored him and was only looking out the window, he said again, "Since I was wrong, can't I make amends?"

Yu Sheng looked at him with a grim expression: "How do you plan to make amends?"

"How do you want me to make it up to you?" Gu Ye asked.

Yu Sheng lowered her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "I'm withdrawing from the competition with my brother."

Even though Gu had already guessed before Yu Sheng said those words, he still felt unhappy when she said them herself.

He said earnestly, "Sheng Sheng, I sincerely expressed my desire to cooperate with you to your director at the dinner table, and I demonstrated my sincerity. If I were to withdraw now, wouldn't it make me seem like I'm just playing around with you? If word gets out, how will I be able to maintain my standing in the business world?"

Yu Sheng bit her lip: "Have you ever thought about how I'll establish myself in our orchestra if our director ultimately chooses to work with you?"

"Why can't you establish yourself in your orchestra?" Gu asked, puzzled.

Yu Sheng opened her phone and pointed to the photo Zhou Jiashu had just sent: "People will think that you sponsored us because of our improper relationship."

"That's why I said we should go public with our relationship! Once it's public, no one will say we're having an improper relationship!"

Yu Sheng smiled wryly: "If we make it public, won't they think you only sponsored us because of me?"

"Sheng Sheng, I understand you don't want people to think you're relying on me, but no matter the era, you can't get anything done without connections and resources, do you understand?"

How could Yu Sheng not understand this principle?

She wasn't pretending to be aloof, nor was she stubborn. After her mother married into the Shang family, the two of them—no, the three of them—clinged to the Shang family like dodder vines for a full thirteen years!

The year she graduated from university, her mother wanted Shang Shichang to arrange a job for her, but she refused. She didn't want to depend on Shang anymore; she wanted to support herself with her own hands.

She submitted her resume, went to interviews, and got into the concert hall herself. Her internship salary was only 5,500 yuan. When she received it, she cried tears of joy because it meant she would never have to ask businesses for money again...

From that moment on, she decided not to rely on anyone!

This "not relying on anyone" doesn't mean she doesn't ask for help from anyone. If her team needs her to secure sponsorships, she can go looking for companies, but she doesn't want them to agree to sponsorships just because of her!

Just like now...

She knew that arguing with Gu Ye any further would be pointless, so she suppressed her frustration and said, "Since you don't plan to back out, let's wait for our director to make a decision. There's no point in talking about this now."

Seeing that Yu Sheng was no longer insisting, Gu Ye probed, "Then... how do you plan to handle the misunderstanding about our relationship with your colleague?"

Yu Sheng frowned: "I don't know, let me think about it..."

Gu Ye had always wanted to make his relationship with Yu Sheng public, but Yu Sheng disagreed. If he could take this opportunity to make it public, he would naturally be more than happy to do so.

He subconsciously felt that the more people knew he and Yu Sheng were married, the less likely they would be to divorce!

When Yu Sheng and Gu Ye got home, it was already past 1 a.m.

Yu Sheng got out of the car and glanced at the villa next door. The lights were on inside—clearly, Shang Yan had returned before them.

When Gu paid the chauffeur, Yu Sheng went inside first.

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