After Appearing on a Dating Show with a Top-Star Omega - Chapter 6

Days passed one by one, and three days disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The bloody storm online did not bring any real changes to Jiang Yuan’s life. She still went to class, took exams, and rested according to schedule.

It was as if everything were normal.

But the public opinion online had never stopped. All kinds of guesses about the rumored girlfriend filled the internet.

[Thanks for asking. My sister is an actress, okay? If she’s dating, then she’s dating. Pay less attention to her private life. [grin][grin]]

[Wow, this is like an atmospheric blockbuster. This paparazzo has skills.]

[Wuwuwuwu, who is it exactly!!! Let me see who it is!!!]

[With this height, she must be around 175 cm, right? There actually aren’t many people like that in the entertainment industry. Director Liang?]

[Probably someone outside the industry. I feel like the back view doesn’t match anyone.]

……

But no matter how people guessed, they would never guess Jiang Yuan. Ever since the scandal broke out, she had never worn that outfit again.

Qi Meng’an and Liang You also did not ask her much more. They only devoted themselves to charging into battle online for Jiang Yuan and Senior Yu.

“Huh? What’s this?” Qi Meng’an looked at the newly refreshed trending topic in confusion.

As soon as the topic appeared, its popularity continued to soar, shooting straight to HOT.

After reacting, she immediately held it in front of Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan was writing an essay for an elective course. When a phone suddenly appeared in front of her screen, she was still a little dazed.

She turned over, her face full of question marks. “Ah?”

Qi Meng’an pointed at the phone. “Look, Xiao Yuan. Look at this.”

Jiang Yuan looked carefully. The moment her gaze caught the words “Yu Qingshi,” her body unconsciously leaned forward.

On the screen, it was still a paparazzi report. The headline was written in bright red, eye-catching characters: Yu Qingshi’s Girlfriend Is Actually Her, an Insider…

Jiang Yuan scrolled down. There were several accompanying photos, documenting the process of the two people entering and leaving a restaurant.

Yu Qingshi was dressed casually and simply. A white mask covered most of her face, but her temperament was unique and graceful. At least Jiang Yuan could recognize her at a glance.

The woman beside her was wearing a shirt. Her long hair was tucked behind her ears, and her face was clear, fully captured by the camera.

In the picture, the woman was specially marked. She was Qin Yiting, a well-known producer in the entertainment industry.

The comment section below had exploded.

[Qin Yiting, huh. That’s a pretty good match. The Qin family and the Yu family are also evenly matched in strength, and the two of them seem to be childhood friends?]

[Qin Yiting is an A-rank Alpha, right? She’s still a little lacking for Yu Qingshi.]

[The person above, how many S-rank Alphas do you think you can find in the entertainment industry? Do you think you’re picking radishes?]

[Not bad, not bad. This paparazzo knows how to find radishes. Steamed clam—!]

[?]

[Stay away from my sister’s private life, okay? [smile]]

Jiang Yuan was completely confused. Her gaze subconsciously landed on Yu Qingshi.

Inside the restaurant, Yu Qingshi had taken off her mask. There was light makeup on her face. Her earlobes were fair, adorned with pearl earrings, and a faint smile rested on her face. She seemed to be in good spirits.

Jiang Yuan’s thoughts drifted away.

Senior’s illness should already be under control.

“Jiang Yuan? Jiang Yuan??” Qi Meng’an poked her with a finger.

Jiang Yuan abruptly came back to herself. “What is it?”

Qi Meng’an said, “This news is really strange. No one is suppressing it at all. It just shot straight up.”

“Mm?” Jiang Yuan did not spend much time on the internet and did not understand these things very well. “So?”

“Oh, you don’t know about this.” Qi Meng’an slid the screen to the topic page and patiently explained, “During this period, news about Senior Yu would always be suppressed a little, controlled at around… somewhere in the middle-to-lower range. I feel like Sister Yu’s team was suppressing it.”

“But this!” Qi Meng’an pointed directly at the red HOT on the screen. “This isn’t normal. It feels more like someone deliberately pushed it up.”

“Regarding public opinion, Senior Yu didn’t tell you anything in advance?”

“……”

Jiang Yuan fell silent.

It was not convenient to reveal the matter of the agreement. Even now, she had still not told the two of them that she and Senior Yu were fake.

Qi Meng’an and Liang You naturally assumed that the two of them were a couple.

Jiang Yuan found it hard to explain and could only answer vaguely, “Mm. She told me.”

“Oh, oh.” Qi Meng’an very naturally took it as something the two of them had arranged. “As long as you know. Qin Yiting’s outfit is a little similar to what you wore that day. The comments section has already taken her for you.”

“I thought you and Senior Yu had gotten into a fight, and that she was planning to officially announce things with Qin Yiting instead. It scared me to death.”

Jiang Yuan’s body stiffened. She wanted to look at the screen again, but Qi Meng’an had already returned to her bed.

She hurriedly picked up her own phone and downloaded Weibo from the app store.

On Weibo, that topic had already been pushed to number one. The moment she tapped into the search page, she could see it.

In the picture, Qin Yiting’s figure was similar to hers, and the cut of the white shirt was more or less the same. On top of that, the scandal photo of her and Senior had been taken at night under a streetlamp. It had been blurry to begin with, so it really did make them look somewhat similar.

This piece of news was difficult to determine as true or false, and it was convincing. Most people in the comments section already believed it.

Jiang Yuan felt helpless.

She did not know if this was Senior Yu’s arrangement.

She tapped into WeChat. The chat box with the moon cat was empty, still stopping at their last WeChat call.

“……”

Could it be… that this was really Senior Yu’s backup plan? Was she afraid Jiang Yuan would ultimately refuse?

Jiang Yuan pressed her lips down, her mood strange and complicated.

“Ding-dong.”

The WeChat notification sounded. A message had arrived.

Jiang Yuan raised her eyes and looked. The message came from the chat page in front of her.

[Yu Qingshi: Jiang Yuan, do you have time to come out and meet?]

[Yu Qingshi: little cat rubbing face.jpg]

＊

On the other side.

Yu Qingshi took a car to the area near A University. As night approached, the black car melted into the darkness and was not easily noticed.

While waiting, she raised her hand and dialed a contact.

“Hello, the number you have dialed…”

The operator’s voice was sweet, playing the unchanging Chinese and English response.

The person on the other side did not pick up.

She called again. Still no answer.

Yu Qingshi switched to WeChat, typed, and sent a message.

She did not explain anything and simply sent two words:

[Phone.]

Yu Qingshi placed her phone on the tray.

Sure enough, in less than two seconds, the other side called back. She ignored it and deliberately let it ring for a while before tapping to answer.

“Hello?” Qin Yiting’s voice twisted through eighteen turns, as if it had been forced out of her throat, carrying flattery.

“Explain.” Yu Qingshi’s voice was icy, without even a hint of polite small talk.

She leaned back in her seat, lips pressed straight, her face cold as frost.

Qin Yiting sounded innocent. “Explain? Explain what?”

Yu Qingshi did not speak again.

Silence fell between the two of them, leaving only the faint sizzling sound of electricity.

Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, the car window was knocked on.

Yu Qingshi’s lashes lifted slightly. When she saw the person outside, she quickly straightened and opened the car door.

Jiang Yuan got into the car and sat across from Yu Qingshi. She put down her bag and took out the agreement.

“Senior, this…”

“Shh—” Yu Qingshi raised her hand and covered Jiang Yuan’s mouth, pointing to the phone with her other hand.

The fingertips against Jiang Yuan’s lips were slightly cool. The sudden closeness drew the two of them nearer.

Jiang Yuan lowered her brows and eyes. From this angle, she could look right into those lake-like clear eyes. Their breaths intertwined, and she seemed to smell the cold magnolia fragrance again. Her throat inexplicably grew itchy.

She did not make a sound and nodded, indicating that she understood.

The feeling beneath her hand was warm and soft. Yu Qingshi’s lashes blinked rapidly a few times. After realizing what she had done, she slowly lowered her hand and pulled some distance between them.

The two of them tacitly stopped speaking and quietly listened to the voice coming from the phone.

In the end, Qin Yiting was guilty. “I was wrong…”

“Keep talking.” Yu Qingshi glanced at Jiang Yuan, and her voice unconsciously softened a lot, gaining some warmth.

Qin Yiting felt a little creeped out. “You… don’t talk like that.”

“……” Yu Qingshi endured it and repeated, “Keep talking.”

The voice from the phone sounded gloomy and did not dare say anything else. “I shouldn’t have deliberately dressed like that and brought you onto the trending search. I just wanted to test who your girlfriend was.”

Jiang Yuan’s eyes widened slightly. She suddenly realized something. Her gaze moved over, and sure enough, she saw the three characters Qin Yiting on the phone screen.

Senior was… explaining?

It was as if her heart had been soaked in warm water, making the tip of it go soft.

Yu Qingshi’s attitude did not soften at all. She asked in return, “Is that so?”

On the other side, Qin Yiting nodded like a chick pecking rice. “Yes, yes.”

Yu Qingshi coldly exposed her. “It wasn’t because you wanted to fake a trending topic with me, then after I clarify it, let netizens guess that we’re going on your new dating variety show, was it? Producer Qin.”

Qin Yiting: “……”

“Even the trending topic title—I’ve already thought of it for you. Yu Qingshi and Producer Qin Dine Together, Actually for the Sake of Bringing Her Girlfriend onto a Dating Variety Show. How is it? Do you like it?”

“……” Listening to the title that was more or less exactly right, Qin Yiting silently switched to WeChat in the background and sent a message to her team.

Yu Qingshi stopped at that. “I will not possibly bring her onto a dating variety show. You’d better give up that idea.”

Qin Yiting persuaded her, “Won’t you really consider it?? There have been precedents of ordinary people appearing on dating shows too. I’m the producer. I’ll review everything one by one. There absolutely won’t be any malicious editing.”

“What kind of relationship do we have? Childhood friends! I won’t trick you. Think about it again? Discuss it with your girlfriend?”

“Impossi—” Before Yu Qingshi could finish speaking, she suddenly felt an itch on the back of her hand. She lowered her head and saw Jiang Yuan poking her again and again.

Seeing Yu Qingshi’s gaze fall on her, Jiang Yuan pointed to her own mouth and silently mouthed, “What dating show?”

Yu Qingshi lowered her eyes and looked over.

The lips before her were pink and moist, opening and closing as they shaped the words. Jiang Yuan had even deliberately slowed down, which only made her red lips and tongue even more obvious.

Yu Qingshi froze and did not understand a single word.

Jiang Yuan’s face was full of confusion. She tilted her head and mouthed the words again.

The phone beside them was still noisily shouting, “Where are you? Yu Qingshi? Yu Qingshi???”

Yu Qingshi abruptly came back to herself. Her words no longer carried an unquestionable refusal.

“For this matter, I need to ask my…” She paused and raised her head to look at Jiang Yuan. “…girlfriend.”

Jiang Yuan listened from the side, and with a whoosh, her face turned red.

Qin Yiting’s voice was teasing. “No way. Are you henpecked???”

Yu Qingshi’s eyes curved. She met Jiang Yuan’s gaze, her eyes full of laughter, and stared at the person before her until Jiang Yuan turned into a completely red little tomato.

Jiang Yuan unconsciously tightened her grip on the agreement in her hand. She sat in her seat very properly, red from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears, as if steam were rising from the top of her head.

Yu Qingshi opened her mouth. “Is that not allowed?”

Qin Yiting: “……”

Qin Yiting: “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell your sister?”

Yu Qingshi’s older sister—Yu Qingyi, the current CEO of Yu Group, and a well-known sister complex.

If she found out Yu Qingshi was henpecked, she would definitely investigate Jiang Yuan.

Yu Qingshi said lightly, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell my sister you have a crush on her?”

Qin Yiting panicked. “Sister, I’m begging you. Sister, you’re my sister. You absolutely can’t say that.”

Yu Qingshi silently hung up the phone. The noisy voice stopped abruptly, and the entire car fell into silence.

Jiang Yuan calmed down and moved first. She handed over the thing in her hand. “Senior, I’ve already signed the agreement.”

She had already signed it the day she returned to the dormitory. The trending searches online had not affected Jiang Yuan’s thoughts.

No matter what, her desire to help Senior had never changed.

The agreement she handed over was uneven, pinched until it was wrinkled and creased, with the folds clearly visible. It had already changed shape.

Realizing this, Jiang Yuan felt embarrassed and withdrew her hand. “I’ll print another copy.”

“This is fine.” Yu Qingshi took the agreement and smoothed the wrinkles again and again.

It also smoothed Jiang Yuan’s heart.

Jiang Yuan stared at Yu Qingshi’s side profile, and a thought suddenly surfaced in her dazed mind.

Today’s Senior Yu seemed different from before.

More… more…

For a moment, Jiang Yuan could not find the right words.

She thought of Yu Qingshi coldly exposing someone while angry. She thought of Yu Qingshi deliberately teasing her until her face turned red. Then she looked at the Yu Qingshi in front of her, eyes lowered as she smoothed out every corner and edge of the agreement.

A word surfaced in her heart.

More vivid.

And she… liked her even more.

Sorry, everyone. New Year’s Day was very busy, so I didn’t update. [I’m begging you]

Look at the new cover, hehe! Wow, it’s so beautiful. [shy]

Next chapter: holding hands. [milk tea][milk tea]

Thoughts on this chapter:

Jiang Yuan toward others: vaguely trying very hard to lie.

Jiang Yuan toward her wife: after struggling for a long time, she blurts out the truth. [milk tea]
— referring to the earring incident in Chapter 4.

Yu Qingshi toward others: [Phone.]

Yu Qingshi toward her wife: [little cat rubbing face.jpg]

You little couple. [pitiful]