Chapter 25 (Still following)
Just as Jiang Shiyan hung up the phone, the door next to him was pushed open from the inside, and Zhou Weinian, adjusting his bathrobe, calmly walked out.
He pointed upstairs, his silver ring gleaming at the base of his finger: "She's awake, acting a little strange. I'll go up and check on her."
Jiang Shiyan took the opportunity to say goodbye: "I also have to go back and appease people."
They exchanged a glance, a tacit understanding shared by those of the same kind.
Zhou Weinian twirled the ring and slowly widened his smile: "No need to see me off."
He watched Jiang Shiyan leave, then turned and walked towards the elevator.
Zhou Weinian had an old injury to his left leg, a scar left from a family feud. His knee could only bend to a limited extent, posing little obstacle when walking on flat ground, but he generally avoided stairs. Meng Jiao's house only had three floors, and the elevator was installed specifically for him.
So when doing that kind of thing, he prefers to stand, or he stands by the bed, in a controlling position.
The door to the room on the third floor was ajar. Zhou Weinian had excellent hearing and heard the sound of slippers venting inside. Amused, he pushed the door open and went in.
Meng Jiao was making the bed. She was only wearing a sweater, which was unbuttoned, revealing her bra and flat stomach. The room was warm, and her bare feet on the carpet were not cold at all.
She had just moved the blankets to another spot to change the sheets when she was surprised to find Zhou Weinian still at home. She paused for a moment, then flew into a rage, so angry that she wanted to throw his pillow at him.
But she had also moved the pillow away, so it wasn't within easy reach on the bed. She simply unhooked the shark clip, and her long, smooth hair flowed down, bouncing playfully as she tossed things around.
The shark clip bounced and stopped at Zhou Weinian's feet, almost hitting his left leg. Meng Jiao realized what was happening, and her arrogant attitude instantly shrank.
But she was still angry: "How could you do this? This is my business!"
Zhou Weinian said calmly, "It's mine too."
Those four short words reignited Meng Jiao's anger: "Am I your possession? You're happy that our affair was exposed, but what about me? What will people say about me if they know I'm having an affair with the boss? All my hard work over the years will be misinterpreted. Will people who used to praise me still praise me? Will people who love me feel like they've swallowed a fly? You haven't even considered my feelings, you don't think about these things at all, do you? Zhou Weinian, you were the one who pursued me, not the other way around!"
She vented her frustrations, but Zhou Weinian remained expressionless: "I never said I wanted to go public with our relationship. You're thinking too far ahead."
So you're saying I'm immature?
Zhou Weinian stepped back and closed the door: "Calm down, then we can talk."
Meng Jiao kicked the air. She wasn't exactly angry, but she felt wronged. She just wanted him to give her an attitude that would make her feel safe.
He's too lazy to even coax her anymore, what a jerk.
*
The leaves of the roadside trees turned yellow and fell, and by the end of November, most of them had fallen.
In early winter, sanitation workers are no longer as busy as they were in late autumn, no longer bending over all day to deal with the fallen yellow leaves flying everywhere. Occasionally, you can see them sitting and resting, either alone or in groups. The water in their cups is mostly lukewarm to hot, and they always blow on it before drinking.
The online world may be spinning wildly, but it has no effect on the offline world.
The wind whipped against my face, bringing with it the starvation that brought reality.
Xu Yuewei walked down the street, her coat tucked into her arms, her long hair swept to one side, and wearing a disposable mask she had found in a drawer in the entryway before leaving Jiang Shiyan's house.
At least at first glance, she is different from the image in the video.
Needless to say, she avoided public transportation, and she was so cautious that she didn't even dare to take a taxi. However, after checking the navigation, she found that it was actually ten kilometers away from Lan Yue Ya Ju.
Xu Yuewei sighed, considering each and every one of the issues in her mind:
She kept her appointment with Xu Yaochen a secret from her mother last night, lying that she had gone to help Jin Shu move. Her mother probably assumed that she had slept at Jin Shu's place last night.
There's nothing she can do about things happening online; she can only rely on Jiang Shiyan and Meng Jiao's handling of the situation...
The thick leather soles of her shoes felt like they were made of lead, making her steps heavier and heavier, and she almost tripped over the curb.
On the verge of weightlessness, she clutched her belongings tightly, and the vibration of her phone traveled through her clothes into her mind.
Xu Yuewei then remembered that she had forgotten something very important.
She quickly answered the phone: "Jinshu, I'm fine. I'm sorry to have worried you."
After getting her phone back, she sent her location to Song Jinshu in the chat box to confirm her location. Then, she suddenly had a bright idea and sent a voice message in front of her aunt, using a mix of threats and sob stories, and finally managed to get her things back and leave the house.
Before leaving, she advised the aunt to find a new employer as soon as possible, lest she go astray one day.
She knew that her aunt would relay these words to Jiang Shiyan, but she didn't care.
He was the one who broke the boundary first, personally erasing the guilt she felt towards him.
The thought of the day she worked as a hand double, and how she cried in front of Meng Jiao in his nanny van…
In a moment of distraction, Jinshu worried on the other end of the line:
"Wei? Wei? What's wrong?"
"No, I'm fine."
Xu Yuewei walked towards the shared bicycles parked by the roadside, picked out a reasonably clean seat, straddled it, and rested for a while.
Song Jinshu was absolutely certain that she was putting on a brave face, so she jogged out of the coffee shop. "Is it inconvenient for you to talk? Then give me a hint. Do you need me to call the police?"
"No, I'm sorry."
"Are you really alright?"
Xu Yuewei cleared her throat and sang a few lines of a cheerful and playful love song, which is often used as background music in short videos.
Her voice is clean and melodious, but it sounds a bit out of place when she sings this kind of lively song that requires her jaw muscles to be raised wildly; the ending notes are always not raised clearly enough.
But she sang in a relaxed manner, and Song Jinshu understood, feeling relieved: "Little sister, you're being a bit naughty."
"Actually, it's not entirely nothing." Xu Yuewei changed the subject.
"ah?"
"I'm starving."
Forty minutes later, the hot pot restaurant was bustling with the aroma of cooking broth.
There was a chain hot pot restaurant across from Song Jinshu's coffee shop. It wasn't crowded at lunchtime on a weekday, so there was no need to wait in line. She waited for Xu Yuewei to arrive by taxi before leaving the shop.
As soon as she got out of the car, Xu Yuewei sneezed.
Song Jinshu had just crossed the street when she ran over and hooked her arm around hers: "Why didn't you wear your coat?"
Xu Yuewei asked casually, "Didn't you go online?"
Song Jinshu was a fast surfer of the internet. In the early days, she especially loved to follow Jiang Shiyan's gossip. She remembers that Jiang Shiyan had quoted some of his comments and shared them with her with glee.
Song Jinshu: Look, so many people want to date your ex-boyfriend!
Xu Yuewei: ……
She was young then and couldn't let go of her ex easily. Seeing those fans' bold declarations of love still bothered her, so she asked Song Jinshu to stop sending them to her.
Song Jinshu, being rather oblivious, sent her a voice message: "I might not be able to catch it again in the future. This time it happened during a live stream, and that guy was deleting comments one by one. It's hilarious, hahaha."
This method of pouring cold water on things is simple yet effective. According to Song Jinshu, Jiang Shiyan's comment section became very quiet afterward.
She was quite disappointed: "Tsk, they really have no sense of humor."
But later, Jiang Shiyan really did have a scandal, and Jin Shu didn't tell her a single word. She only found out about it herself when she saw it online.
Jin Shu, who is both rough and meticulous, sincere and warm-hearted, is someone she truly can't bear to part with.
Xu Yuewei stopped her from looking at her phone: "Let's eat first, it's my treat."
The spicy hot pot was steaming hot, but thankfully the ventilation system was good, so there wasn't much of a pungent smell.
Xu Yuewei was so hungry she couldn't speak. Song Jinshu felt guilty seeing Xiao Han and the others eating takeout while she secretly ate hot pot, so she ate very quickly, her cheeks stuffed with food as she chewed.
Xu Yuewei looked up and saw her looking like a hamster. Amused, she smiled slightly, picked up a piece of tripe with the serving chopsticks, stuck the chopsticks into the bubbling red oil pot, counted to ten, and then placed it in Song Jinshu's dipping sauce.
"You look hungrier than I am."
Song Jinshu didn't stand on ceremony with her, ate it in a few bites, and casually said while resting her chin on her hand, "I was wondering why you were acting so strangely today. Let me guess, is it related to Jiang Shiyan?"
Xu Yuewei paused with her chopsticks, and the beef ball she was holding bounced away and drifted far away.
Do you remember when I told you two years ago that my ex came back to me?
She suddenly shifted the topic to herself, and Xu Yuewei nodded blankly, not understanding why.
Song Jinshu continued, "I didn't tell you what happened after that. We were in a flirtatious relationship for two or three months. We slept together, but we didn't get back together. It was like we were just making up for something..."
She mouthed "breakup sex".
When the topic of restricted content came up, Xu Yuewei felt a lump in her throat, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
“I think you take things too seriously sometimes. If he shows signs of wanting to get back together, and you’re not completely against it, just do what makes you happy. It’s not a moral issue.”
The hot pot was making everyone feel warm and steamy. Xu Yuewei sipped her iced drink, listened to her words, and spaced out for a moment:
"Wait, what did you mean by your last sentence?"
From her perspective, Jiang Shiyan and Meng Jiao are still a couple, right?
Song Jinshu grinned: "I peeked at Weibo when I placed the order, and it turns out they're not really a couple. So why are you looking so gloomy?"
Xu Yuewei put down her chopsticks and picked up her phone. She doesn't use Weibo much, and it took her a while to finally click on the clarification post.
It wasn't Jiang Shiyan himself who posted it; it was his studio's official Weibo account.
@NeonStudio_Official: We are grateful for everyone's continued support. However, last night, we noticed that a passerby unintentionally encountered Mr. Jiang Shiyan, which sparked widespread controversy and involved Ms. Meng Jiao. Therefore, we are issuing this statement.
I. Ms. Meng Jiao and Mr. Jiang Shiyan have known each other for seventeen years because of their fathers' friendship. They are like-minded in their careers and have a solid friendship that has lasted for many years. There is no other connection between them.
Second, Mr. Jiang Shiyan, upholding his passion and dedication, has always focused on creating pure and beautiful music, connecting with everyone through music. This original intention has never changed, and he hopes everyone will pay more attention to his works. He feels very sorry for taking up public resources.
Thirdly, thank you Ms. Meng Jiao for the afternoon tea. The studio's cat really likes you, and you're welcome to visit often! ^^
The accompanying picture showed a table covered with cakes and coffee. Song Jinshu was probably too busy looking at it to scroll down, but Xu Yuewei recognized it at a glance. It was Jiang Shiyan who bought it himself when he came to the store that day, not Meng Jiao.
As for the kitten, she scrolled through the comments, followed the prompts to Meng Jiao's Weibo, and saw that her latest original post was a set of nine selfies in a homey style, exuding a pure yet charming vibe, with the caption:
The kitten meows, so it's called Mimi; the puppy barks, so what should it be called?
The top comment in the comment section teased her:
[Is this a response to this post? *smirks*]
The picture shows a calico kitten with slightly dirty fur, looking like it was just picked up.
A minor incident that was recently used as a sweet moment by CP fans has been resolved with today's statement.
A story of pure friendship is constructed in just a few words; what a masterful use of subtle language!
However, although the statement did not mention her, it was impossible for the public not to pay attention, and they flocked to Jiang Shiyan's private Weibo to ask questions.
Xu Yuewei took a moment to mentally prepare herself before opening his Weibo homepage.
The page is very simple, without any member-exclusive decorations; the profile picture is a guitar hanging on the wall.
A long time ago, his profile picture was a cotton glove on his left hand, and he didn't use his real name as his ID. When he opened his Weibo account, several years had passed since the variety show aired, and he basically started from scratch to accumulate a few hundred followers.
Back then, Hsu Yueh-wei used her other right-hand glove as her profile picture, quietly remaining a one percent follower. The romance behind the profile picture was something only they both knew.
He wasn't very famous back then, so even if the left glove looked like a matching pair, no one bothered to bother with the other one.
Now, even a simple Weibo post about naming a cat can spark people's imaginations and lead them to Meng Jiao.
Just thinking about it makes me feel bitter.
She is now very, very far away from him.
The sound of chopsticks poking at a porcelain plate brought her back to her senses.
Song Jinshu excitedly called out to her to look at her phone: "My God, who is he pursuing?... Wait, isn't that you? What's going on? I don't understand!"
Song Jinshu sat down directly and showed her her screen.
Under the Weibo post announcing the studio's statement, there was a comment that tagged him:
[@Jiang Shiyan, can you give a direct answer regarding your relationship with the person in that video? If you're really boyfriend and girlfriend, then disregard my question. But if not, isn't that harassment? (Mainly because the girl's body language seems to suggest the latter...)]
Jiang Shiyan replied to him below:
She was drunk, so I took her home.
Another person asked: "[Boss, so is she really my sister-in-law? I can't see her face clearly, but she looks like a beautiful older sister!]"
He replied to and forwarded this message.
@Jiang Shiyan: [It used to be, and I'm still following it.]
-----------------------
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait [doge head with rose in hand]
Finally, we've reached this plot point! This announcement took me ages to write; it should be accurate by now. [droopy-eared bunny head emoji]
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