Compared to Ren Bai, Lin Shuang was also very confused.
Weren’t Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu already together before they moved? After they moved into Yufeng Scenic Garden, their relationship had always been good she had seen it with her own eyes.
After a while, she remembered that Yu Shiqing had never actually told her about it personally. But these two had never tried to hide anything from her, so why were they suddenly being so serious about it today?
Thinking of this, she hesitated and asked, “Do you have some kind of special plan?”
Ren Bai immediately looked at Yu Shiqing. “A special plan? Like what?”
Lin Shuang thought he was asking her, so she guessed uncertainly, “Like an engagement?”
If it really was an engagement, she hoped the date wouldn’t be too rushed so she could have enough time to prepare.
Hearing the word “engagement,” Ren Bai’s eyes went wide. “Engagement?!”
Could it be that Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu had already reached that stage behind his back?!
“We don’t have such plans for now.”
Under Ren Bai’s resentful gaze, Yu Shiqing finally cleared up the misunderstanding.
Ren Bai slowly calmed down from the shock.
Lin Shuang listened to their conversation, still showing a bit of doubt on her face that she tried to hide, but she didn’t ask further. “That’s fine. There’s no rush with that.”
Ren Bai added, “It really shouldn’t be rushed. It’s better if you two stay low-key for now.”
Lin Shuang smiled and said, “When it comes to relationships, there’s no such thing as high-key or low-key. When the time is right, it will happen naturally.”
After saying that, she tucked her hair behind her ear, picked up the plate on the table, and walked toward the kitchen. “You two don’t just stand there go sit down and rest for a while.”
Yu Shiqing noticed her expression. Seeing how she accepted him being with another alpha so naturally, without hesitation, he couldn’t help but look at Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu noticed his gaze, turned to meet his eyes, and calmly said, “Maybe Auntie watched the ‘Let’s Go Now’ livestream.”
That could be possible.
When Ren Bai heard the word “livestream,” he immediately thought of the flood of on-screen comments and then remembered what they said. His trust in that explanation went up right away.
He curled his lips.
Right anyone who saw that livestream with those comments would probably suspect something about their relationship.
As Ren Bai was thinking this, he saw that Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu had already helped Lin Shuang clean the dishes and wipe the table, then washed their hands and returned to the living room with them.
Later, when the cake was ready, Lin Shuang and Gao Yuan brought it out together and placed it in front of Yu Shiqing. They asked him to cut the first slice before cutting the rest.
While eating the cake, Ren Bai opened his phone again.
To avoid being disturbed, he turned on airplane mode, uninstalled WeChat, and used a secondary account to browse Weibo.
The internet was still full of people cursing Du Han and Huaze, and now that official media had stepped in, things were getting even more out of control.
Ren Bai was enjoying it when suddenly a message popped up on his phone.
It was from a Penguin account he rarely used and kept absolutely private.
He clicked on the message. When he saw the contact’s name, his face showed both surprise and disgust.
He glanced at Yu Shiqing, who was chatting with Jiang Yu, and turned slightly away, not wanting to bother Yu Shiqing with something this stupid. After reading the message, he directly closed the page.
Then he logged out and uninstalled the app.
On the other end of the internet.
A man was pacing back and forth behind a computer. Every second felt like a year.
Several minutes passed. He asked in a harsh voice, “Any reply?”
Du Han was staring at the screen. His eyes were so red it looked like they were about to bleed, but he didn’t even blink. “No reply.”
The pacing man suddenly stopped.
With no more footsteps, the room became completely silent.
Du Han pulled the keyboard closer and typed several more lines quickly.
Still, several minutes passed.
Still no reply.
The man behind him asked coldly again, “Do you have any other way to contact them? I’m warning you think about your breach of contract fine.”
Du Han looked like his soul had left his body. He just shook his head woodenly.
He heard footsteps walking away behind him, and then a loud, furious slam of the door shook the entire room.
He trembled slightly and slowly came back to his senses.
The glow of the computer screen lit up his face, revealing the pale, lifeless look full of despair.
The room was completely quiet.
He still looked messy from last night’s hangover reeking of alcohol, clothes wrinkled and disheveled, and full of overwhelming regret.
Du Han opened the trending page with trembling hands and forced himself to read the comments from netizens.
“Du Han always pretends to be so polite and refined, calling himself a gentle nobleman. Bah! He threw Yu Shiqing into a pit just to advance his own career. He’s nothing but garbage in human skin!”
“Huaze is disgusting enough, but Du Han is a hundred times worse! According to the exposé, he and Yu Shiqing were actually close friends who shared a dorm room, and it was Yu Shiqing who recommended him for debut! Not only was he ungrateful, he even betrayed his friend and made his life miserable and he still had the nerve to insult Yu Shiqing?! Does trash like him even deserve to live? He’s polluting the air!”
“Stop posting those stupid statements trying to clear your name. When will Du Han finally understand? You’ll never be better than Yu Shiqing. Even if you used dirty tricks to bury him for four years, you’re still not his equal!”
Seeing that last comment, Du Han suddenly stood up from the table.
The chair scraped harshly across the floor, making a sharp screeching noise—
But even that sound couldn’t compare to the piercing pain of those words.
His cheeks twitched. He grabbed his laptop and smashed it to the floor!
Broken fragments were scattered all around him. In the dim night, the place looked like a dump full of filth and shame.
Standing in the mess, Du Han suddenly let out a laugh.
His shoulders shook, and his voice was hoarse and dry.
He laughed louder and louder until all that was left on his face was helpless despair.
After a long while, he dropped to his knees.
He stared at the spiderweb-like cracks on the computer screen, his eyes blank.
The bright future he once had.
After today, it would be completely gone with the wind.
It was over.
All over.
At the same time—
Ren Bai, still surfing online, got another push notification.
“Huaze Media’s slave contracts exposed? Are there shady deals behind artists’ contracts? Police announce launch of special investigation!”
With excitement all over his face, Ren Bai clicked to read the details and handed the phone to Yu Shiqing.
“Look at this!”
It was a police report. The message was short and clear. It said they had received a real-name report, and because the issue had caused serious public concern and had a wide negative impact, the police would temporarily form a special task force to investigate.
After reading it, Yu Shiqing said, “No wonder.”
Ren Bai asked, “No wonder what?”
Jiang Yu glanced at Yu Shiqing and replied,
“No wonder Kou Rong was in such a hurry to settle things peacefully. Huaze probably got the news earlier than everyone else.”
Yu Shiqing nodded. That must be why Kou Rong had thrown away his pride and begged over and over again.
Ren Bai suddenly understood.
No wonder Du Han had just messaged him, saying that Huaze wanted to meet. His tone had completely changed from before gone was the arrogance, replaced by a pleading humility.
But Ren Bai had already decided not to bother Yu Shiqing with it, so he swallowed his words and only said:
“Well, this is great. There’s no way a company like Huaze can handle an investigation like this. Starting today, I’m looking forward to seeing which scapegoat they’ll throw under the bus. I really hope it’s that bastard Liu Mingguang!”
Yu Shiqing didn’t respond.
The way things were unfolding was far beyond his expectations.
But maybe this result really did mark the final chapter of those four long years.
After reading the news, Ren Bai finally put his phone down and stopped focusing on this already-settled issue.
He turned and asked, “Are you guys staying the night or heading back?”
Jiang Yu looked at Yu Shiqing.
Yu Shiqing replied, “We’re heading back.”
