Chapter Eight: Rumors Rise Again

Bai Chenxi had barely walked a few steps when Lin Yue’s call came through. “Hey! Are you busy? If not, I’m hanging up.”

“Tsk tsk tsk! Who’s managed to get our dear Miss Bai so riled up?”

Impatiently, Bai Chenxi replied, “I’m in a terrible mood right now. You’d better have something important to say.”

But on the other end, Lin Yue was already fuming. “Bai Chenxi, did you even bother to check the message I sent you on WeChat?”

He was practically jumping with frustration, while Bai Chenxi remained calm. “Oh, I didn’t check it.”

Lin Yue simply gave up. “I’m back in town today. Come pick me up. I’ll treat you to dinner.”

No reason to refuse a free meal. “Send me the address. I’ll be there soon.”

In the private room at the hotpot restaurant, Lin Yue shook his head as he watched someone devouring the food even before he arrived. “If you keep eating like that, you’ll get so fat no one will recognize you.”

Bai Chenxi shot him a look. “It’s not like you have to look at me. Why do you care?”

Lin Yue tossed his jacket over the chair, leaned back against Bai Chenxi’s seat, and said lazily, “You can’t put it like that. I’m thinking of the general public here. If people turn on the TV and see your giant face taking up the whole screen, that’d be a real appetite killer.”

With that, he swiftly retreated to the other side of the table, clearly wary. Bai Chenxi glanced up at him coolly, then lowered her head and kept eating.

Lin Yue looked around at the nonexistent sky above them, muttering to himself: How odd. The sun didn’t rise in the west today, so why is Bai Chenxi so out of character? In the past, she would’ve jumped up and smacked him already.

“Hey! Bai Chenxi, don’t tell me you’re heartbroken or something!” His tone was sincere, but there was an undeniable note of schadenfreude.

“Speak for yourself! No one could possibly—” Bai Chenxi’s retort faltered, getting stuck in her throat.

Lin Yue’s eyes lit up at her reaction. “No one could possibly what? Who have you fallen for? Out with it!”

Bai Chenxi frowned at him. “Don’t let your imagination run wild. I have no interest in anyone. I’m set on becoming a strong, independent woman, thank you very much.”

“Pfft!” Lin Yue immediately lost interest. “Here I was hoping for some juicy gossip.”

Out of sight, Bai Chenxi let out a secret sigh of relief. She’d been angry with Chu Muyun all along, and Lin Yue’s words had nearly provoked her into retorting: Who would fall for that cold, unreasonable brute? Luckily, she stopped herself in time.

After that little episode, Bai Chenxi’s temper had mostly dissipated—so long as she didn’t think about a certain someone. She glanced at her companion, who was now enthusiastically eating across from her.

“And you’re one to talk. You look like you haven’t eaten in several lifetimes.”

Lin Yue shook his head as though recalling a tragedy. “Don’t mention it. While filming this time, the director wanted to show my inner turmoil and exhaustion. He had me eating nothing but boiled cabbage every single day.”

Bai Chenxi couldn’t help but laugh. “Serves you right!”

Lin Yue didn’t mind. He absentmindedly spun his phone in his hand. “I’ve been off social media for ages now. Since it’s such a rare occasion that we get to meet up, don’t you think we should snap a photo with this feast for my fans to see?”

“Please, Brother Lin, my apologies! You’ve worked so hard—eat as much as you want. Let’s not trouble you with silly things like photos. Let’s just eat.”

Lin Yue chuckled but let it go. Bai Chenxi absentmindedly bit her chopsticks, thinking: If he really posted a photo of their dinner, and Sister Wang saw her eating hotpot, she’d be in real trouble.

The next morning, Bai Chenxi was jolted awake by a barrage of calls from Sister Wang.

“Hello?” Bai Chenxi’s groggy tone immediately gave her away.

“I’m here panicking, and you’re still sleeping?” Sister Wang’s tone made Bai Chenxi snap awake.

Cautiously, she asked, “Sis, is something wrong?” Praying silently: Please let it have nothing to do with me.

“Didn’t Lin Yue come back yesterday?”

“Huh? How did you know that, Sister Wang?”

That was all Sister Wang needed to confirm her suspicions. “How do I know? It’s not just me—anyone online knows by now.”

A sense of dread crept over Bai Chenxi. “Sister Wang, we just had dinner together yesterday. We weren’t photographed, were we?”

“Congratulations, you guessed right.” There was not a hint of joy in Sister Wang’s voice.

Bai Chenxi ventured, “Should I clarify things on Weibo?”

“And say what? That you’re just friends, just a casual meal?”

“Yes! Exactly!” Bai Chenxi nodded vigorously.

“So Lin Yue left the set just to have dinner with an ordinary friend, then flew back first thing the next morning? Do you believe that, even if you say it?”

Bai Chenxi pouted. “Believe it or not, I do.”

Sister Wang couldn’t be bothered to argue further, worried she’d give herself high blood pressure if she did. “Alright. It’s not that big of a deal. The netizens are just looking for drama—give it a few days and no one will care anymore. You just stay off Weibo for now and don’t say anything stupid.”

As soon as she hung up, Bai Chenxi called Lin Yue.

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable...”

Listening to the automated voice, Bai Chenxi gritted her teeth. Lin Yue started all this trouble, and now he was hiding back on set! Just wait until she got her hands on him.

The atmosphere in the studio that day was tense. Xiao Wen thought to herself, I’d better not move a muscle.

Last night, she’d been so excited she couldn’t sleep. Her idol was apparently dating her boss—what a dream pairing! The news was so explosive she’d even forgotten to ask for an autograph. But now that her idol and the boss were together, there would be plenty of chances in the future.

With that in mind, Xiao Wen did a little snooping online, searching for any clues about her idol and the boss being together, but came up with nothing.

Finally, when she arrived at work the next day, ready to dig for gossip, she saw the headlines about her idol and Lin Yue. Only then did she remember her idol had always had a “rumored boyfriend” so well established that even insiders like herself thought it might be true.

Though reluctant, Xiao Wen respected her idol’s choices. But after yesterday, it was obvious that wasn’t the case. Armed with this new knowledge, she felt invincible, battling CP shippers online with abandon.

It wasn’t until she stood at the company gates that it hit her: with rumors about her idol and Lin Yue everywhere, how could the boss—her idol’s real boyfriend—possibly be in a good mood?

Is it too late to call in sick? Forget gossiping—she wouldn’t dare show her face in front of the boss today if she had ten times the courage.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Wen pushed open the studio door. The atmosphere was just as heavy as she imagined. What now? Mom, I really want to go home!