Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Wei Qishui and his wife met in college. When they graduated, Wei Qishui proposed to her, and she accepted. They rushed to get their marriage license, but Wei Zheng never liked this daughter-in-law, feeling she wasn’t from a compatible social class. Even after learning his son was already married, he kept finding ways to send his son on blind dates."

A married man going on blind dates?

The crowd’s gazes toward Wei Qishui gradually filled with growing revulsion.

"Ah, Wei Qishui initially refused, but to be *such* a filial son, huh? If you didn’t want to go, your legs are your own—could your dad really drag you there? Your wife drew the short straw marrying you. He went on a few blind dates, but none satisfied him until one day, fate brought him and Chen Jiao together."

"Chen Jiao was exactly like his dream lover—classy and poised. They talked about anything and everything, watched movies, took walks... got cozy, didn’t they?"

"Wei Qishui was convinced Chen Jiao was his true love. The only reason he married Jiang Leyu was that he hadn’t met Chen Jiao yet. His heart raced for Chen Jiao alone... how disgusting."

Lin Tingyue gagged.

"Please, if you can’t recognize who your true love is, just don’t get married, okay?"

"And this Wei Qishui actually thought Chen Jiao liked him—ha, liked what? He’s ugly and vertically challenged, his only redeeming quality being rich. Of course Chen Jiao likes your money!"

"You think you met your dream lover, but little do you know she was playing you like a fiddle."

Wei Qishui and Wei Zheng’s faces twisted in displeasure, and Wei Qishui’s gaze toward Chen Jiao grew even more complicated.

Chen Jiao smiled and asked, "What’s wrong, Qishui?"

Impossible. If Chen Jiao really liked his money, why would she refuse when he heard about her financial struggles and offered her half a mil?

Chen Jiao couldn’t possibly be after his money!

"Wow, Wei Qishui was even going to give Chen Jiao five million yuan, but she refused."

"Pfft, Wei Qishui is worth way more than pocket change—probably in the hundreds of millions. Why would Chen Jiao give up billions for five million? Any idiot could see the better deal."

Wei Qishui’s vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"What was that noise?"

Lin Tingyue glanced down.

"Wei Qishui must have ice in his veins, huh? Jiang Leyu is about to come barging into the hotel, and he can still sleep?"

What? Jiang Leyu is coming?

Wei Qishui scrambled back up from the ground.

"Wow, a miracle recovery."

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

Lin Yuhuan finally got to experience live drama firsthand. As he went to support Bai Yaxin, he caught a glimpse of his prim-and-proper mother, who had long been struggling to hold back laughter, nearly rupturing from suppressed laughter.

Wei Zheng urged everyone to hurry inside. The hotel was huge—as long as Jiang Leyu couldn’t find them, things wouldn’t get too messy. As for Chen Jiao’s matter, he’d deal with it later.

"Too late."

"Old fart, if you made your married son date others, you should’ve expected this day would come."

A cab pulled up at the hotel entrance, and out stepped a woman in a flowy sundress—this was Jiang Leyu. Quicker than you could say..., Jiang Leyu was already standing before Wei Zheng and Wei Qishui.

"It's happening! My favorite part!"

Jiang Leyu pointed at Chen Jiao beside Wei Qishui and asked, "Wei Qishui, who is she?"

"Leyu," Wei Qishui stammered, "just let me explain."

"Explain what? People told me you were dating around, and I didn’t buy it at first, but now..."

"Leyu, I didn’t—"

"You didn’t what? Didn’t date around, or didn’t cheat?" Jiang Leyu glared at Wei Qishui’s fingers. "If you had nothing to hide, why would you take off your wedding ring?"

"He doesn’t just take it off—he never wears it except when he’s in front of Jiang Leyu."

Wei Qishui instinctively hid his hands behind his back.

Wei Zheng couldn’t stand it anymore and said sternly, "That's enough of this."

He glared at Jiang Leyu with a dark expression. "Leyu, why do you have to be so confrontational and make everyone uncomfortable?"

"Figures. The old geezer's useless except for playing the victim."

"I’m the confrontational one?" Jiang Leyu let out a bitter laugh. "Dad, I get that you didn’t tell me. I came specifically to wish you a happy birthday, only to walk into this... Who’s really being confrontational and crossing the line, Dad? You know it in your heart."

Jiang Leyu was throwing shade, and Wei Zheng’s face darkened. "Jiang Leyu, you say you married Qishui, but did you really? Where's your marriage license? Got any proof?" Wei Zheng glanced disdainfully at the ring on Jiang Leyu’s finger. "Just relying on that ring of yours?"

"Ughhhh, this old man is infuriating! Do I really have to shove the marriage license in your face?"

"But who carries their marriage certificate around these days?"

"I do."

A deep male voice came from behind the crowd.

"Huh?"

"This is getting juicy!"

Lin Tingyue turned around and saw a man who looked like some hotshot CEO striding forward, smacking down the proof in his hand onto Wei Zheng and Wei Qishui’s faces.

Four copies in total—two for each.

"How fair... Wait, why four though?"

"Oh, this man is actually Chen Jiao’s husband?"

"Oh, so that’s how it is. After realizing something was wrong, Jiang Leyu went to find Chen Jiao’s husband, and the two deliberately chose today for this."

Lin Tingyue thought with a sigh as she glanced at Wei Zheng, who looked like he was about to faint from rage.

"Gotta say, they picked the perfect moment."

The Lin family trio were loving the show, but drama doesn't fill your stomach. Dinner was off again, so the three had no choice but to find somewhere else to eat.

"Why do we always end up missing out on food?"

Bai Yaxin and Lin Yuhuan exchanged a knowing glance at Lin Tingyue—of course, wherever you are, there's bound to be gossip.

Splat.

A piece of watermelon Lin Tingyue was eating fell onto the table. She looked up, bewildered.

Bai Yaxin laughed heartily and handed her a tissue.

...

Back home, Lin Xiawan had already returned. Seeing Bai Yaxin, she pushed a bouquet of flowers into her arms.

It was a bunch of white Pride roses, blooming beautifully.

Bai Yaxin was clearly touched by the unexpected gift. She asked Lin Xiawan, "What brought this on?"

Lin Xiawan replied, "I just happened to see them on my way back, so I got them."

Lin Tingyue retorted, "Not true! Xiawan-jie had them pre-ordered at the florist early in the morning."

"It was all to surprise Mom!"

Lin Xiawan: "..."

Lin Tingyue, you're putting me on the spot!

Bai Yaxin suppressed a smile, pressing her lips together. She ruffled Lin Xiawan's hair and said, "Mom loves them. I promise to cherish these flowers as much as I cherish you."

Bai Yaxin's palm was warm, the heat spreading through her touch to Lin Xiawan, who nodded in response.

Bai Yaxin asked, "Are you almost done with things at school?"

Lin Xiawan answered, "Almost done."

"What else is there at school?"

"But making money through the variety show fell apart. Should I look for something else to do?"

Lin Chengyan had just stepped into the living room when he heard this. What variety show fell apart?

Seeing Lin Tingyue's crestfallen face, he suddenly understood. He sat on the sofa and said, "Director called me today."

Lin Tingyue's eyes visibly brightened. "Can we start filming?"

Lin Chengyan nodded. "He's already found new people. You should get the notice in a couple of days."

"Judging by Second Brother's expression, there shouldn't be any issues this time!"

"My ten million..."

For a moment, Lin Chengyan thought he saw Lin Tingyue's eyes turn into dollar signs. He couldn't help but chuckle—what a hopeless gold-digger.

"But better ask. The entertainment industry is too cutthroat. What if Director loses control?"

Lin Chengyan: "..."

Lin Tingyue, since when did you sound like such a seasoned veteran?

Lin Tingyue looked at Lin Chengyan and asked, "Second Brother, what's that person's name?"

Lin Chengyan paused, "Hang on, I don't know."

After a moment of thought, Lin Chengyan also felt it necessary to ask. He said, "Wait a sec, I'll check with Director Zhu."

Lin Tingyue nodded obediently.

Director Zhu replied quickly, and Lin Chengyan said, "That person is named Jin Zhao, a new-gen idol... I’ve interacted with him before—great looks and solid reputation."

He was a well-mannered kid who respected others.

But...

Ugh! Lin Tingyue shrieked.

"No, no, absolutely not this guy!!!"

If Lin Tingyue reacted this strongly, there was probably tea about this person.

In the chat between Lin Chengyan and Director Zhu, messages flooded in—he was very confident.

Director Zhu: This time, zero chance this backfires. I’ve investigated thoroughly, checked all his credit records, even his criminal records—clean as a whistle.

"Ahhhh!!! Don’t be fooled by his good-boy image—he pays for sex on the down-low!"

Lin Chengyan stared at Director Zhu’s "clean as a whistle" claim, stewing over this.

He passed along what Lin Tingyue said, and Director Zhu reacted strongly on the other end.

Director Zhu: Impossible, absolutely impossible! He has no criminal record at all!

"Sigh, solicitation only leads to detention, which doesn’t leave a criminal record. As long as no one exposes it, he can keep working in the industry, maintaining the persona his agency crafted to attract fans."

Director Zhu: Oh.

Detention doesn’t leave a record—how had he not thought of that? Director Zhu sent a sobbing face emoji.

Just reading those words, Lin Chengyan could sense Director Zhu’s despair. The entertainment industry was indeed too cutthroat—Director Zhu was clearly out of his depth!

Lin Chengyan cleared his throat and said, "Director Zhu says he needs more time to reconsider. The show’s recording will be delayed a few more days."

Lin Tingyue bolted upright.

"Did Director Zhu find out?"

"Better to rip the bandaid off now. If the show airs and they have to pixelate his face overnight—especially for a live broadcast—it’d be a nightmare to deal with."

Lin Chengyan gave a noncommittal hum.

Bai Yaxin, who had been watching this unfold the whole time, saw Lin Tingyue faceplant onto the couch. She said, "Wanna tag along with your eldest brother to the company tomorrow?"