After reading the post, Zeng Ling and Zhang Hao both fell into a long silence.

There was clearly no need to try any more emergency public relations efforts, but the truth behind it made people instantly lose the ability to comfort others.

Lu Yu turned off her phone, burying all her emotions in her eyes. She raised her head and said, "There shouldn't be any need for me to clarify this publicly. Coach, don't worry, I won't let this interfere with my training."

Zeng Ling paused for a moment, as if thinking of something, and asked, "Was the anti-black post arranged by Jiao Yuyin's side? Do we need to cooperate in issuing a statement?"

Lu Yu understood and said, "I'm not quite sure, Coach. Let me call and ask."

Zhang Hao watched Lu Yu turn around and make a phone call, then gestured to Zeng Ling.

After the office door closed, Zhang Hao whispered, "She's already in enough trouble, why are you bothering her? Didn't Jiao Yuyin leave you his business card? Why don't you call and ask him yourself?"

“She’s just overthinking things by staying quiet like this. What’s wrong with reminding her to contact Jiao Yuyin? It’s better than us staring at each other like this,” Zeng Ling said helplessly, spreading his hands.

Lu Yu, who lives just one door away, paced back and forth in the empty corridor.

The phone rang three times.

finally--

Jiao Yuyin's voice came through the phone's receiver.

"Taking a break? Was training tiring today?"

The other party's words that everything was normal did not reassure Lu Yu.

"Not too tired... I saw what happened online." Lu Yu said, "Did you arrange the anti-black posts? The team is considering whether to cooperate in making a public statement."

“That…it wasn’t me. Little Fish, don’t be afraid.” Jiao Yuyin’s voice revealed a hint of panic. “This matter is rather complicated, and I can’t explain it to you in detail right now. At least one thing is certain: the other party’s purpose in doing this is definitely not just to incite a war between fans and haters. Give me some time; I’m investigating right now.”

“I…I’m not afraid, but I’m currently at the training base and can’t go to the old house to hear their thoughts, so I don’t know what they’re thinking. You should be careful too,” Lu Yu said, expressing her concern.

"Don't worry, Little Fish. We don't know who started this yet. The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light, so I won't act rashly." Jiao Yuyin's slightly relaxed voice came through. "You focus on training, okay? Don't worry about or look at anything else. I'll be going home a little late tonight."

"Okay—I understand. I'll hang up now."

There was a clear beeping sound from the other person's phone on the other end, indicating that others were also contacting Jiao Yuyin. Lu Yu knew that he must be extremely busy right now. She hesitated for a moment, then simply answered and hung up.

But—I still feel a little inexplicably disappointed.

It was something that directly concerned her, yet she seemed to be left to wait for others to make a decision, and she didn't even have a chance to ask if the person in the video was her biological mother...

Lu Yu knocked on the door and entered the head coach's office again.

"Coach, team leader." Lu Yu stood in front of the coffee table, not seeming to be planning to sit down and chat. He simply explained the situation briefly: "The anti-black post was not arranged by Jiao Yuyin. He is still investigating. We should not respond for the time being."

"Okay." Zeng Ling uttered only one word.

"Lu Yu, sit down and let's talk?" Team leader Zhang Hao glanced at Lu Yu's expression and said, "Do you seem to have any other thoughts on this approach?"

Lu Yu was surprised by Zhang Hao's thoughtfulness, but didn't know how to calm her inexplicable emotions, so she sat back down on the sofa.

Zhang Hao said with a smile, "Actually... you can completely trust Jiao Yuyin. Putting everything else aside, at least in terms of how to protect you from harm, I think he has always been very careful and thorough."

"Huh?" Lu Yu blinked, her eyes full of confusion.

“That’s correct.” Zeng Ling seemed to understand as well, glanced at Zhang Hao, and continued, “Actually, I had discussed national team sponsorship with Jiao Yuyin before. As you know, the women’s basketball team has received a lot of attention this year, and Tengyue is fully capable of being included in the sponsorship list, but—”

"But in the end, your boss Jiao didn't agree," Zhang Hao interjected, his tone a bit disappointed. "It's for your sake. He was afraid you'd be attacked by haters, so he just wanted to keep a low profile as much as possible and didn't want Tengyue to have any connection with the national team."

Memories of the past flooded my mind.

Jiao Yuyin's occasional outbursts of regret left a deep impression on Lu Yu.

In the depths of his emotions, he seemed to murmur in the darkness that he shouldn't have made such a big show of it to everyone in the first place for the sake of a fake marriage.

Lu Yu knew that he felt guilty for not being able to protect her during the media storm, and Jiao Yuyin's guilt made him even more cautious.

...

Tengyue Sports Office.

After receiving the call from Detective Dong, Jiao Yuyin fell into deep thought.

The evidence in the anti-blacklisting post was indeed sent by an anonymous user to Lu Yu's fans, and the sending terminal address of this anonymous user turned out to be the internal server of Yuhua Group.

Was this a charade orchestrated by the old man, or was it sabotage by Jiao Yushen and Jiao Yuchen behind the scenes...?

What is the purpose?

If the person behind it is Jiao Yushen or Jiao Yuchen, then there is still a chance for a comeback.

But if it really is the old man, then we really need to find a way to get away as soon as possible, at least... to protect the little fish.