Chapter 65
After hearing what Zhong Mengyuan said, Yin Mu was actually a little moved. She asked, "So what are your plans? What do you want me to do?"
Zhong Mengyuan leaned forward, her eyes sparkling. "Isn't our show, which was tragically suspended, going to be back on the air in the next couple of days?"
Yin Mu nodded hesitantly: "Hmm..."
Previously, due to Chen Qinglin’s incident, the program was temporarily suspended for a few episodes in order to avoid the limelight, under the pretext of optimization. Now, it is probably because the situation has calmed down that they are resuming the updates as if nothing had happened.
Zhong Mengyuan continued, "When the last episode is aired, you will officially announce to Chen Qinglin that the ending will be changed and Zhou Jingyu will not be given any chance."
"Ah?" Yin Mu's eyes widened. "Are you crazy?"
"No, I'm serious," Zhong Mengyuan said solemnly. "We've clearly completed our mission, but we're being persecuted by that rotten system for no reason and have to stay here. This is too much."
Yin Mu was speechless: "That's what I said, but what about next? What should I do next?"
Zhong Mengyuan raised her lips and smiled: "Let's join forces with Zhou Jingyu to negotiate with the system."
Yin Mu was stunned, and it took him a while to utter a word: "Ah?"
Zhong Mengyuan said affirmatively: "Yes!"
Yin Mu frowned. "No matter what, this is too fantastical. How could something like the system possibly accept our negotiation?"
"Then we need to work hard."
"But..." Yin Mu still had many concerns. "If we can negotiate, Zhou Jingyu may not cooperate with us. If she insists on completing her mission, how can we convince her?"
"Please, considering Chen Qinglin's current state, who knows how long it will take her." Zhong Mengyuan said, "Can she really make Chen Qinglin fall in love with someone else in such a short time?"
“…”
Seeing her embarrassed expression, Zhong Mengyuan added, "There's something else I haven't told you."
Yin Mu asked anxiously, "What's the matter?"
"It was the day we came back from Qingyan Town. Didn't I come back with Chen Qinglin?"
"Well... then what?"
Zhong Mengyuan seemed a little guilty and touched his nose: "Well, don't think I'm nosy, and don't be angry. I was really worried about our situation at that time."
Yin Mu sighed: "Okay, okay, don't make assumptions. I promise I won't be angry. Just tell me."
"After you fell asleep, Chen Qinglin took advantage of the red light to get his coat from the back seat. I woke up as soon as he stretched out his hand, so I helped him pass the coat over."
Zhong Mengyuan talked a lot, but Yin Mu didn't dare to urge him. He ate his meal and listened silently.
"I woke up and was bored, so I chatted with him. But you know, we don't have much in common. And since you fell asleep again, I asked him who he would choose between you and Zhou Jingyu."
Yin Mu stopped chewing, swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty, and asked: "Is that all you ask?!"
"I'm sorry! You said you weren't mad!"
Yin Mu gritted his teeth: "Go on, what did he say?"
"Of course he chose you without hesitation, but—" Zhong Mengyuan paused, his expression changing slightly, "Under my repeated questioning, he frankly admitted that he wasn't sure how long this relationship would last."
Yin Mu pretended to be calm: "Yeah, it's normal."
"I don't know if it's because we talked about you, but we talked quite a lot. I noticed he wasn't that quiet either." Zhong Mengyuan held his chin with both hands and spoke slowly, "He also talked about some family matters. His parents died early, and he experienced the fickleness of human nature since he was a child. Maybe he's used to being alone, so his need for affection isn't strong, and he doesn't mind living alone for the rest of his life."
Yin Mu remained silent for a long time before he said "hmm".
"I even asked him if he really had never had a girlfriend. He said there was a girl in high school who helped him a lot, so he had a vague crush on her, but it was only gratitude and affection, nothing more."
Yin Mu was in a complicated mood and didn't know what to say for a moment, so he avoided the main point and said, "I was sleeping so soundly that you didn't wake me up at all."
Zhong Mengyuan also knew that she was deliberately avoiding him. He looked at her quietly for a while and said, "Rabbit, let's invite Zhou Jingyu to dinner."
Yin Mu was still hesitant: "Is this the way?"
"No matter what, just listen to me this time." Zhong Mengyuan was afraid that Yin Mu would hesitate again, so she made a decisive decision for them. "Even if we don't confront Zhou Jingyu first, we should at least understand her thoughts first."
Yin Mu lowered his eyelids and said nothing.
Zhong Mengyuan assumed she had acquiesced and picked up her chopsticks: "Okay, okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's eat first. My rice is getting cold."
"……Um."
To Yin Mu's surprise, Zhong Mengyuan simply sent a message to Zhou Jingyu asking her out for dinner. Before he could give the reason, she readily agreed and set the place, as if she only regarded this as a simple invitation.
The next day, Yin Mu and Zhong Mengyuan went to their appointment and met Zhou Jingyu, who had arrived earlier, at the Hunan restaurant. Zhou Jingyu stood up to greet them. She was wearing a slim-fitting red halter dress and delicate, bright makeup. She looked bright and bold, like the white lily in Yin Mu's memory, transformed into a red rose. The impact was astonishing.
Although they hadn't seen each other for a while, Yin Mu and Zhong Mengyuan could never have imagined that a person could have changed so much. They were both stunned and were speechless after sitting down.
After ordering the dishes based on the waiter's recommendation, the atmosphere fell into a long silence again. Everyone drank their tea without saying a word.
Yin Mu was shocked by the brand new Zhou Jingyu, and felt a little afraid in his heart, so he had nothing to say. He could only secretly pinch Zhong Mengyuan's thigh under the table. Zhong Mengyuan chose to pinch back without showing any weakness.
Just as they were secretly competing under the table, Zhou Jingyu spoke first to break the situation, saying with a smile: "It's great to see you. I was still following our variety show last night, and I didn't expect to receive a message from Zhong Mengyuan before the show was over. I'm really flattered."
The corners of Yin Mu's mouth twitched uncontrollably, and he blurted out the truth: "You surprised us too."
Zhou Jingyu smiled. "Then it seems we should get together more often, otherwise we'll become strangers. ——Speaking of which, why don't you invite Zheng Wei? Wouldn't your relationship be better?"
Zhong Mengyuan adjusted her mood and explained, "It's mainly because I want to talk to you about something serious. It has nothing to do with Zheng Wei."
"Oh?" Zhou Jingyu raised her eyebrows and asked with a half-smile, "What serious business can we discuss?"
"Yes." Zhong Mengyuan also smiled, then restrained her smile, sat up straight, and was about to ask a question when the waiter came to serve the dishes, so she had to swallow her words temporarily.
Zhou Jingyu was probably really hungry, so she didn't care about Zhong Mengyuan's seriousness and said, "Don't be so serious. Let's eat and talk at the same time."
Zhong Mengyuan shook his head helplessly: "Okay."
The dishes were served one after another, and the three of them chatted while enjoying the delicious dishes. They only asked some trivial questions, such as how they were doing recently.
Seeing Zhou Jingyu's nonchalant look, Zhong Mengyuan decided to go all out and asked directly, "You're still pursuing Chen Qinglin, right?"
Zhou Jingyu paused as she put the food into her mouth, looked up at her, then at Yin Mu, who was pretending to be relaxed but could hardly hide his nervousness, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes: "This doesn't seem to be any of your business, is it? Are you trying to persuade me to give up?"
Yin Mu quickly said, "That's not what we meant. Please don't misunderstand."
"What do you mean?" Zhou Jingyu's tone turned cold. "Relationships are inherently fragile and can't withstand manipulation or testing. It was you who didn't want Chen Qinglin, and now you're trying to meddle in other people's affairs. I beg you to stop being so willful, okay?"
Yin Mu's face flushed and he was speechless.
Zhong Mengyuan patted the back of her hand soothingly and said to Zhou Jingyu, "Don't get excited yet. We have something to talk about slowly."
Zhou Jingyu didn't listen at all and sneered, "Oh, is this the serious matter you're talking about? It's really hard for you to charge forward for your good sister's happiness."
"What are you talking about!" Zhong Mengyuan couldn't stand it any longer and raised his voice unhappily, "Can you please let me finish what I'm saying first?"
Zhou Jingyu rolled her eyes, slammed her chopsticks on the table, leaned back, and crossed her arms: "Okay, I'll give you some time, go ahead."
Zhong Mengyuan took a deep breath and didn't bother to talk nonsense anymore: "I know you don't like Chen Qinglin. The reason you are racking your brains to pursue him is actually for other reasons, right?"
Zhou Jingyu became alert after hearing this: "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Don't give me that. You understand, you understand perfectly well." Zhong Mengyuan leaned forward, staring at her without blinking, and lowered his voice, "I'll be frank. We are the same."
Zhou Jingyu felt guilty under her gaze, her eyes flickering, but she remained stubborn, "Of course we are the same. We are both human beings, both girls. Isn't that obvious?"
"Yes." Zhong Mengyuan pressed on. "We are all forced to do things we don't want to do. It's a matter of life and death."
Zhou Jingyu couldn't pretend anymore. She swallowed hard, her voice hoarse as she asked in a series of questions: "Who are you guys? What do you know? What do you want to do?"
Yin Mu and Zhong Mengyuan looked at each other and saw hope in each other's eyes. They also thought of the same thing at the same time: judging from Zhou Jingyu's reaction, she didn't know their "existence" and there was an information gap between them.
Zhong Mengyuan continued, "You want to know the answer? Then we should be honest with each other. No one should lie or be perfunctory. Do you agree?"
Zhou Jingyu was obviously not happy about it, but she had no choice but to grit her teeth and nod: "Okay, you too. If you want to play tricks on me, don't blame me for being rude."
Yin Mu immediately assured sincerely: "Trust us, we want to solve this matter more than you do."
Zhou Jingyu raised her chin and said reluctantly, "Tell me about it first."
Zhong Mengyuan looked at Yin Mu and said, "Let me tell you."
Yin Mu nodded: "Okay."
Zhong Mengyuan organized his words and decided to start from the beginning: "This is what happened..."
Before he finished speaking, Yin Mu suddenly raised his hand and covered his chest with a look of pain. His face turned pale in an instant, and he uttered two words with difficulty: "Dream, come true."
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