Chapter 71: Trending on Hot Search

The home of Su Qianran's parents, where she currently lived, was nearly ten kilometers away from the company.

Seeing that clock-in time was approaching, she gritted her teeth and, enduring the flesh-ache, called a premium ride-hailing car.

Stepping into the office area, the gazes cast from all directions were like bearing barbs, undisguisedly written with mockery and the excitement of watching a show.

Her "main wife catching the mistress" farce with Zhang Xiaoyu yesterday had clearly become the most explosive topic of conversation for the whole company after tea and meals.

Su Qianran forced herself to hold her chin high, ignoring these piercing lines of sight. She went straight to find the department manager, her tone eager:

"Manager! I have a very important matter and must report to Chairman Song immediately! Reporting over the phone is fine too!"

The department manager raised his eyelids, his tone as cold as if dismissing a beggar:

"Su Qianran, you don't have this authority. Chairman Song is very busy."

Su Qianran had anticipated this, and immediately showed her bottom card, lowering her voice:

"Tell her, it's about Xu Yunzhou! Very important!"

The manager looked at her suspiciously, but ultimately picked up the internal phone.

Not long after, on Su Qianran's internal communication tool, a brief message from Song Jinxuan popped up:

"?"

Su Qianran immediately sent that "ironclad evidence" video over:

"Chairman Song, please look at this... Xu Yunzhou, he is really going too far, he deceived us!"

Message sent successfully, she hummed smugly a few times in her heart:

"Xu Yunzhou, you were caught red-handed "eating outside" by Song Jinxuan. Can a woman of her status tolerate sand in her eyes? Let's see if she doesn't kick you away! When the time comes, you'll lose both person and money, won't you have to obediently roll back and beg me?"

"Anyway... anyway, we've both had people outside, so we can call it even and go back to the past, right?"

...

In the CEO's office, Song Jinxuan clicked open the video. Looking at the two people with intimate postures in the footage, she also frowned.

After all, being mercilessly rejected by Xu Yunzhou last night was ultimately displeasing.

"Hmph, I can't be the only one displeased."

Carrying a bit of mischievous mentality, her finger tapped lightly, directly forwarding the video to Lin Ruoxuan, with an accompanying message:

"Cousin, look, this is the person you asked me to specially look after. Causing this kind of romantic scandal early in the morning, it's truly ridiculous enough."

...

On the other side, after sending the video, seeing that the other party hadn't replied for a long time, Su Qianran's heart began to feel unsettled again.

She simply forwarded the video to Chen Beichen as well, adding an aggrieved and angry tone:

"Beichen, look! Xu Yunzhou completely didn't intend to properly marry me! He's had someone on the outside long ago! Can this be used as evidence to split away his marital home?"

Chen Beichen's reply was surprisingly fast, but his tone revealed unprecedented shock, even somewhat incoherent:

"What? You're saying this person in the video... is Xu Yunzhou? That bastard... what exactly is going on with him?"

"?"

Su Qianran was startled by this reaction of his.

"Look at the hot search quickly!!"

Chen Beichen almost roared sending this message.

Su Qianran's heart skipped a beat. With trembling fingers, she hurriedly clicked open Weibo.

The explosive headline greeting her eyes impressively read—#SongJiaruSecretlyMeetsMysteriousManByWestLake!SuspectedRomanceExposed!#

She clicked open higher-definition, multi-angle videos and photos secretly taken by other passersby.

Although the face of that man wasn't captured or was mosaiced, that woman with superb temperament beside him... that face with extremely high national recognition, if it wasn't the Queen of Pop Song Jiaru, who else could it be?

Comparing it again to the figure and clothing of the female lead in that blurry video in her own hands... a complete match!

Su Qianran only felt bursts of blackness before her eyes, her ears buzzing, almost unable to hold her phone steady.

Song Jiaru?

The object of Xu Yunzhou's secret meeting was actually Song Jiaru?

That goddess of countless people's dreams standing at the top of the entertainment circle?

She abruptly remembered Song Jiaru suddenly appearing in KTV last night.

Could it be... could it be she went to find Xu Yunzhou at the time? Just that she got intercepted halfway by Song Jinxuan who popped out of nowhere?

What exactly is going on?

Isn't Xu Yunzhou just an ordinary, even somewhat cowardly programmer?

How come... how come first it was Song Jinxuan, and now it's Song Jiaru?

These two women, either one of them is an existence that she, Su Qianran, and even Chen Beichen need to look up to!

He, Xu Yunzhou, on what basis?

...

Inside the top-floor private room of Mingyue Tower, the tea aroma still curled upward.

Looking at her phone, the corners of Lin Ruoxuan's lips suddenly hooked up into an arc that was a smile yet not a smile, and she turned the screen toward Song Jiaru:

"Teacher Song, you made it the hot search just now."

Behind the tag #SongJiaruSecretlyMeetsMysteriousManByWestLake#, the word "Hot" had already been attached.

Song Jiaru only glanced at it, then completely uncaringly picked up her teacup, her tone relaxed:

"Doesn't matter, just use this opportunity to retire from the circle. At tomorrow night's concert, I'll announce it directly on stage! From now on, I'll peacefully accompany Big Brother, properly making up for the days I was absent during this time."

Hearing this, Lin Ruoxuan's eyes rippled, looking at her with a bit of teasing:

"Oh? I almost forgot, weren't you actively wanting to introduce that... newly rising little flower to Yunzhou just now? Why did you change your tune in the blink of an eye?"

Song Jiaru's cheeks flushed slightly red, but she forced herself to be calm, muttering softly:

"That... that also depends on who Big Brother ultimately chooses..."

Her gaze, however, unconsciously drifted toward Xu Yunzhou, carrying a trace of undetectable nervousness and expectation.

Right at this moment, Xu Yunzhou, who had been looking down at his phone all along, suddenly raised his head and spoke unexpectedly:

"Where is Shen Mingyue right now? I want to see her."

"???"

These words were like thunder on flat ground, making Lin Ruoxuan and Song Jiaru freeze simultaneously, the air in the private room seemingly solidifying for an instant.

Song Jiaru was the first to react. Her heart abruptly turned sour, her voice even taking on a trace of undetectable grievance and loss:

"She... she should still be running schedules in Jingzhou, I... I can contact her immediately. Big Brother, do you... do you like her type? Right, her age is a better match for you, and she's lively..."

The more she spoke, the smaller her voice became, feeling that those careful thoughts and her mustered-up-courage confession just now seemed like an unrequited joke at this moment.

"Ah?"

Holding his phone, looking at the instantly changing expressions of the two women, Xu Yunzhou immediately realized they misunderstood.

He fell silent for a moment, seeming to weigh something, then waved his hand,

"It's not about that, let's not mention her for now."

He abruptly changed the subject, his gaze looking sharply at Lin Ruoxuan:

"President Lin, you came driving a red Ferrari today, right?"

Lin Ruoxuan blanked slightly and subconsciously nodded:

"Mhm."

She was surprised in her heart. Her car was parked in a hidden place outside, it was absolutely impossible for Xu Yunzhou to see it.

As expected, the Tyrant is still that Tyrant, always able to gain insight into things she didn't know.

Xu Yunzhou's face became solemn, his tone carrying a sense of urgency:

"The bodyguard team you brought should be on standby nearby, right? Immediately have someone you trust, bring professional tools, and thoroughly inspect your car from the chassis to the control system!"

He couldn't figure out the background and purpose of this abruptly appearing "Shen Mingyue" for a moment, but since it concerned life and death safety, it's better to believe it exists than to not believe it!

(TL: "Better to believe it exists..." is a common Chinese saying regarding superstitions or warnings.)

Hearing this, Lin Ruoxuan's face changed slightly. Without asking more, she immediately picked up her phone and gave a few instructions in a low voice.

More than ten minutes later, three knocks—ordered in weight and extremely respectful—came from outside the private room door.

After receiving permission, a young woman wearing a sharp business suit, looking like an ordinary senior assistant, walked in quickly.

She glanced at Xu Yunzhou and Song Jiaru, hesitating to speak.