Hearing this, Xi Yu paused for a moment, then quickly wrote out a message and signed Sheng Mingyue’s name at the end.
“Will always be smooth sailing and make money every day—to Sheng Mingyue.”
“Absolutely!” Sheng Mingyue’s eyes lit up. This was far more valuable than simply writing “get rich” for her.
“It’s perfect!”
Sheng Mingyue carefully took the autograph.
Oh my God, this was handwriting personally written for her by a master of metaphysics. She could practically see golden light shining from these words.
She had decided. She was going to invite her friends to play mahjong later, keep the autograph on her person, and absolutely dominate the table!
Sheng Mingyue held the autograph in her hands, gazing at it happily.
Xi Yu capped the pen and handed it back to her. Then, as if casually, he asked, “Are you online often?”
Sheng Mingyue nodded. “Yep. I practically live online.”
“I see.” Xi Yu smiled. “Could I trouble you to walk me to the entrance?”
“Of course!”
Sheng Mingyue carefully put away the autograph and walked out of the main building with Xi Yu.
She was about to call a shuttle car for Xi Yu when he said he wanted to walk instead.
The chance to spend a little more time with her idol made Sheng Mingyue even happier.
Xi Yu and Sheng Mingyue walked side by side. Sheng Mingyue was a little nervous. Every now and then, she glanced at Xi Yu, then giggled foolishly to herself.
Xi Yu thought for a moment before asking, “Since you’re online often, you’ve probably seen a lot of people criticizing Lu Zhixing online, right?”
Sheng Mingyue was halfway through her silly grin when she heard this. Her entire body immediately went into high alert.
What?!
Yu Bao was asking about Lu Zhixing getting criticized?!
Sheng Mingyue’s brain spun rapidly. In the end, she chose a relatively cautious answer.
“I’ve heard a little about it.”
Hearing this, Xi Yu figured she had probably been influenced by what people were saying online and believed that he and Lu Zhixing were on bad terms. He decided to be direct.
“It’s like this. I don’t go online very often, and I only found out today that there’s so much negative news about him online. So I wanted to ask you—under these circumstances, what could I say that might suppress some of those negative comments about him?”
Sheng Mingyue thought she had to be hallucinating.
Yu Bao was actually asking her how to defend Brother Lu?!
This was a trap!
It was definitely a trap.
He wanted to find out whether she was the kind of CP fan who would go online and say random things!
Otherwise, with such a huge commotion online, how could he possibly have only found out today?
Sheng Mingyue wasn’t sure whether Xi Yu was testing her. She gave a few awkward laughs before saying, “Hahahaha, you know Brother Lu and Luo Cheng’an too. Didn’t they tell you?”
Luo Cheng’an was a man who practically lived online just like her!
She was so clever. She had thrown the question right back at him.
Xi Yu had no idea what was going through Sheng Mingyue’s mind. He shook his head.
“I’ve been a little busy lately and haven’t seen Cheng’an much. I have been with Zhixing, though, but he’s always been like this. Even when he’s being treated unfairly, he never says anything. I was originally planning to ask Luo Cheng’an how to deal with it when I got home, but just now you mentioned Suixing Suoyu.”
Xi Yu pursed his lips and smiled slightly.
“I figured asking you might be more useful.”
Luo Cheng’an was also caught in the vortex of public opinion.
Right now, the people being attacked the most were CP fans and Lu Zhixing’s fans.
Perhaps approaching the problem from a fan’s perspective would be more useful.
Hearing Xi Yu say this, Sheng Mingyue froze for a moment.
“When you say… he doesn’t say anything when he’s treated unfairly… you mean my Brother Lu?”
Her Brother Lu was being treated unfairly and didn’t say anything?
Good heavens, who would dare treat Brother Lu unfairly?
Sure enough, Yu Bao and Brother Lu weren’t close.
If they had been even a little close, he couldn’t possibly have said something like that!
Her Brother Lu could silence countless fans with just one look!!!
Xi Yu did not notice the shock in Sheng Mingyue’s words. When he heard her say “my Brother Lu,” he felt reassured.
It seemed Sheng Mingyue wasn’t just a CP fan. She was also a Lu Zhixing fan.
Then she would definitely know the most useful way to defend Lu Zhixing.
He had originally planned to ask Luo Cheng’an, or perhaps simply go online and say that the two of them had a very good relationship.
Now that Sheng Mingyue was here, perhaps she could come up with a better solution.
Xi Yu nodded.
“Zhixing has a gentle personality. He doesn’t care about these malicious speculations and insults, but he is my appren—my person. I can’t tolerate it.”
Those harsh words had already fallen into the little brat’s eyes. It probably wasn’t merely a matter of receiving fewer offerings anymore. He was probably going to be upset.
Zhuyi had always been fragile. Even if he merely said one thing to him, he would cry several times.
Even without his memories now, he might be a little stronger.
But he still didn’t want the little brat to be treated unfairly.
The moment Xi Yu said this, Sheng Mingyue stopped in her tracks.
She looked somewhat dazed and couldn’t help saying, “You… you really don’t need to test me like this. I won’t say anything recklessly.”
………………………
What kind of outrageous thing was Yu Bao saying?!
What did he mean by Brother Lu being “his person”?!
If he kept talking like this, she really wouldn’t be able to control herself. She was going to scream and ship them to death!!!
And Yu Bao was calling Brother Lu “Zhixing.”
Awww, so sweet~
Xi Yu frowned in confusion.
“Why would I test you?”
Sheng Mingyue said cautiously, “Aren’t you doing this because you know I’m a CP fan and you’re worried that I’ll go online and say all sorts of things?”
“No.” Xi Yu blinked. “I’m genuinely asking you for advice.”
Sheng Mingyue clutched her chest, struck by another critical hit from Xi Yu’s beauty.
What was she supposed to do?
Yu Bao looked so sincere when he said he wasn’t testing her.
Could it really be…
Had she actually shipped a real couple?!
Whatever, Sheng Mingyue thought.
She closed her eyes, looking like a warrior preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice, and said, “The only way to resolve the public backlash is if the two of you are actually dating!”
Right now, all those variety-show clips being used to attack Brother Lu were saying that he had acted out of jealousy and deliberately played tricks.
Even as a Lu Zhixing fan, she had no way to explain his behavior.
A lot of passersby had now been influenced and started boycotting Brother Lu. The only way to resolve this situation was to officially announce their relationship.
Then all those clips from the variety show would make sense.
It was perfectly normal for a couple to get jealous while dating.
After Sheng Mingyue finished speaking, she opened her eyes and looked at Xi Yu expectantly.
Xi Yu had just said that Brother Lu was his person.
Could it be… could it really be…
Sheng Mingyue didn’t even dare imagine it. She felt like she was getting far too carried away.
Xi Yu’s expression was obviously awkward and shocked.
He really was awkward. Even his tone changed.
“Da… dating?”
He and his own disciple dating?
Was that appropriate?
It was practically against all proper moral and social boundaries!
Just thinking about it made Xi Yu feel that it was absolutely impossible.
Even if it were fake, it still wouldn’t be appropriate. If news spread that he and his own disciple were involved romantically, would he have any dignity left?!
Even if the little brat had no memories now, he would eventually make sure the little brat regained them. By then…
Xi Yu didn’t even dare think about it.
He was just about to ask whether there were any other solutions when Sheng Mingyue spoke again.
“Right now, everyone online is attacking Brother Lu, saying he’s desperately throwing himself at you and acting like a fake innocent. He’s already been criticized for so long. Even if you came out now and said that the two of you had a very good relationship, at most the public opinion would shift to saying that he used his influence and pressured you into speaking for him.”
“If you want to resolve this, the only way is for you two to actually be dating. Otherwise, people will still cling to those clips from the variety show.”
The more Sheng Mingyue spoke, the more depressed she became.
“But I know you two aren’t a couple. Brother Lu is destined to keep getting criticized. But it’s okay. He’s already left the entertainment industry anyway. The antis will probably make a fuss for a while and then it’ll be over. It’s just a shame that he still gets criticized even after leaving the industry. He had accumulated so many fans over all these years, and now he’s lost almost half of them.”
Sheng Mingyue still had some sense of reason. Yu Bao obviously wasn’t dating Brother Lu. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so shocked when she mentioned it.
However, she could at least confirm that the two of them were very good friends.
That was enough.
As long as they weren’t enemies, CP fans shipping them privately wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Sheng Mingyue lowered her head, feeling sorry for her Brother Lu.
Although their Star fans joked that Brother Lu treated them like special forces recruits, that he never knew how to cater to his fans and barely went online, giving off the unmistakable air of an old-school government official—
they were still very satisfied with Lu Zhixing as an idol.
After the earthquake, as a top-tier celebrity, he had personally gone to the disaster area to deliver supplies. He had donated tens of millions of yuan. He had even established a separate organization to help the parents of abducted children search for their children. On top of that, through the law firm under the Lu Group, he had provided free legal assistance to women suffering domestic violence.
As a public figure, Brother Lu had always brought positive influence to his fans.
He had done so much, and done so much good.
Yet now that he had left the entertainment industry, he still had to endure all this criticism.
All because of the baseless speculation of antis, which had resulted in so much negative commentary.
It was as though everything good he had done before had been completely erased because of this one incident.
Sheng Mingyue was feeling down, heartbroken for her Brother Lu. She failed to notice that the look in Xi Yu’s eyes had changed—from shock, to complexity, to struggle, and finally to determination.
“Who said we’re not a couple?” Xi Yu said. “We absolutely are!”
Sheng Mingyue was already feeling miserable when she suddenly looked up.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“What… what did you say?”
Sheng Mingyue was so dazed that she even slipped into her local dialect.
Xi Yu cleared his throat. Behind his back, he conjured a piece of paper and a pen, then wrote down the words Sheng Mingyue had said at the very beginning.
Suixing Suoyu is real — Xi Yu.
Xi Yu handed the paper to Sheng Mingyue. His expression was somewhat unnatural, but he still said, “That’s right. We really are.”
After saying this, Xi Yu took advantage of Sheng Mingyue’s stunned state and fled the sanatorium as fast as he could.
The moment he stepped outside, he heard an excited scream behind him, so loud it seemed capable of piercing through the clouds.
Xi Yu stumbled in shock.
By the time he finally returned home, the tips of his ears were still red.
“Brother, your ears are cooked.”
Inside the room, Luo Cheng’an looked curiously at the tips of Xi Yu’s ears and even reached out to flick them a few times.
They were hot.
Only after being flicked did Xi Yu notice that Luo Cheng’an had arrived. He expressionlessly slapped away Luo Cheng’an’s offending hand.
“What are you doing?!”
“Ow!” Luo Cheng’an cried out when the back of his hand was smacked. “Wasn’t it you who said we’d wait for you to come back and watch the fireworks?!”