Names mentioned in this chapter :
-苏芮 (sù ruì) – Su Rui, our female protagonist
-顾煜城 (gù yù chéng)- Gu Yu Cheng, the male lead
-顾董(gù dǒng)- Chairman Gu, Gu Yu Cheng
-刘玲(Liú líng)- Liu Ling, Su Rui’s university roommate-白欣雨(bái xīn yù)- Bai Xin Yu, aka Siria Gu Yu Cheng called a while ago to inform Su Rui that the launch of the project in City S had been completed and he would try to come back a day earlier.
When Su Rui heard that, she was a little excited.
However, before Gu Yu Cheng returned, Su Rui came across his news online. Moreover, this time, it was actually from a tabloid entertainment news website
Not only did Su Rui see the news, but Liu Ling had also seen it.
“What the f*ck[1]! Su Rui, your Chairman Gu is on the trending news!” In the dormitory, after coming across Gu Yu Cheng’s gossip news article, Liu Ling’s entire body abruptly bounced up from the bed.
“I know, I’m reading it.” Hearing that, Su Rui said in a deep voice. Her eyes were also very focused on the phone screen.
Su Rui had previously searched for Gu Yu Cheng’s profile on the internet, and had occasionally clicked on and read his articles, so the website would automatically recommend news according to the user’s preferences.That’s why Su Rui didn’t find it strange when she would occasionally come across article titles with the words “Gu Yu Cheng” or “Gu Company”.
However, this time, Su Rui didn’t expect that the moment she refreshed the page, she was almost flooded by Gu Yu Cheng’s latest news.
It is just that, this time, the title consists of another person’s name: Siria.
Siria? Is her name Bai Xin Yu or Bai Yu Xin?
That female celebrity who won the grand prize and will be returning to China soon? And is also Gu Yu Cheng’s childhood friend[2]?
#TalentedMusicianSiria suspected to be secretly in love with Chairman Gu.
#Chairman Gu went to City S to pick Siria up when she had just returned?
#Siria and Gu Yu Cheng were photographed walking out of a hotel together. They are suspected to have spent a sweet night together in City S.
#Solid Evidence[3]! A netizen revealed a photo of Siria and Gu Yu Cheng having lunch together at a hotel!
#HOT! Siria and Chairman Gu have actually known each other for years.
……
The corner of Su Rui’s mouth twitched when she read these very striking headlines.
Without even having to click on the article, just by looking at these headlines Su Rui has basically been able to put together a slightly exaggerated, but a version of the story that has little differences overall.
That and even though the headlines are different, the content of these “generic” articles should be similar.
Su Rui randomly clicked on one and quickly scrolled through the article from the beginning to the end.
The rough content of what it was said in the article was that Gu Yu Cheng specifically went to City S to meet Siria, who had just returned to China. The two of them checked into the same hotel and were photographed having lunch together. After that, they left the hotel one after another.
Many “passersby[4]” boldly speculate that the two of them are most likely secretly in love for many years.
Of course, there is also an “insider source” that said that the two of them have known each other for many years and this time Siria’s return was just to be together with him again.
Sure enough, Su Rui clicked on a few more articles at random and the stories were similar.
“Tsk tsk, they say it as if it is real.” On the side, Liu Ling, who was also scrolling through the gossip news, couldn’t help but clicked her tongue softly and ridiculed them.
As she said that, Liu Ling suddenly looked at Su Rui again with some concern and nervousness.
“Su Rui, I’m telling you, don’t believe this kind of nonsensical gossip news. They are all made up, got it?”
“This kind of thing is common in the entertainment industry. What’s this called again? Publicity stunt! Yes, it is a publicity stunt to increase their internet traffic flow, to become a topic to gather attention!”
“Isn’t this Siria just returning to China to expand her career? The timing is too coincidental. It is obvious that she is deliberately gathering attention to become the center of attention by coming up with this skit.”
It is just that who would have known that this time the victim involved in this staged act[5] is Gu Yu Cheng.
The three words “Gu Yu Cheng” are indeed much more influential than those first-tier big celebrities.
It is just that Siria is really brave to do that.
Of all the people they decided to stage it on, they chose to utilise Chairman Gu’s popularity. Did they think that they would succeed with the staged act? It’s so high profile and unoriginal.
Liu Ling snorted, and there was a glint of contempt for Siria in her eyes.
As for the truth behind the trending news.
Pfft, Liu Ling didn’t believe it at all.
Without mentioning the fact that now Gu Yu Cheng has an amazing girlfriend like Su Rui, there is no way he would do something like cheating.
Even if he doesn’t have Su Rui, from Liu Ling’s understanding as a “little fan” of Chairman Gu, he will never have any story with this celebrity, Siria, much less such a dog blood[6] story.
“Hmph, I was reading Siria’s news before, and I was quite fond of her as someone who is not a fan of her[7]. But I didn’t expect that she was actually a ‘site traffic monster’.” Liu Ling roasted.
“Heh heh, this headline is so funny, saying that Gu Yu Cheng and Siria are already together.”
“Pfft, and this headline says that Siria is the reason why Chairman Gu isn’t married.”
“Could it get any more fantastical?”
“And the professionalism in Siria’s management team is so bad. Don’t they look at the IQ of the melon eaters[8]before they pull a publicity stunt? This kind of out of the blue news and draft looks so fake at first glance.”
“What if it is true?” Hearing Liu Ling’s ridicule, Su Rui raised her eyebrows slightly and asked back.
“That is impossible. If that’s true, then…”
As she was saying that, Liu Ling noticed the seriousness and solemn look on Su Rui’s face, Liu Ling’s heart suddenly sank.
“Wait! What do you mean? You are saying that this is true?” Liu Ling widened her eyes as she stared at Su Rui with an incredulous gaze and asked.
“50-50.” Su Rui said and softly sighed.
When Su Rui had been eating melons herself before, she had always felt that there was a particular point that was reasonable.
That is: the gossip circle, the melons, may not all be true, but there is for sure something worth gossiping about.
And the more dog blood and unfathomable it is, the more likely it is to be true.
After all, an average person doesn’t have that good imagination as well as a powerful brain to make up such dog blood, vivid and exciting story.
Although Gu Yu Cheng didn’t necessarily talk that much to Miss Bai, it was true that he had known her in the past.
“What do you mean by 50-50?” Liu Ling was still staring at Su Rui. She asked somewhat puzzledly, “You mean to say that Siria used to really have something with Chairman Gu?”
“What the f*ck!” A bright light suddenly flashed past in her head, Liu Ling uttered the noun, “ex-girlfriend?”
Current girlfriend or rumoured girlfriend doesn’t exist.
Until now, Liu Ling still firmly believed that someone like Gu Yu Cheng would not be a cheating scum[9].
“It’s not really an ex-girlfriend.” As she thought about it, Su Rui added, “At most, it’s a childhood friend playing with mud kind of relationship.”
Since Gu Yu Cheng didn’t say that he had any dating history or first love, then the “story” that was spread in Tang Xiao’s circle: Gu Yu Cheng and Bai Xin Yu are in a XX life and death romantic story, Su Rui also just took it as a story.
“So this means that what they said on the web about rekindling old love and renewing old friendship is a lie?” Liu Ling asked
But then, as she held her phone, Liu Ling’s entire body exploded again.
“Solid evidence are posted? Su Rui, you need to see this!”
As she said that, Liu Ling climbed down the bed and handed the phone to Su Rui.
Noticing the sudden movement, Su Rui’s eyes also looked towards the post that Liu Ling had just scrolled through on called “The Solid Evidence All of You Want Is Here.”
There is not much text in the post, just a few photos.
The first two pictures are the ones that were already revealed, including the photo of Gu Yu Cheng leaving the hotel and a photo of Siria leaving the hotel on the same day.
But the next picture was real. It was a picture of Gu Yu Cheng and Siria sitting together in the hotel.
In the picture, Siria was just like the photo that Su Rui had seen on the internet before. A woman who looked innocent and quite likeable. She appears to be 26 or 27 years old, that should be Bai Xin Yu undoubtedly. Bai Xin Yu in the photo was looking at the person opposite of her and appeared somewhat excited.
And, as for the person sitting opposite Bai Xin Yu, who else could it be other than Gu Yu Cheng?
Because of the angle of the photo, only half of Gu Yu Cheng’s side profile can be seen in the picture.
But with Su Rui’s current familiarity with Gu Yu Cheng, she could be sure that this person was Gu Yu Cheng with just a glance.
Moreover, in the photo, one can still faintly see the red string that Gu Yu Cheng is wearing on his left hand.
Looking at this photo, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, Su Rui felt really frustrated at this moment!
“So, it is true that Gu Yu Cheng and Siria had lunch together?!” Liu Ling said with a look of #I’m still not quite willing to believe, but I’m confused by the concrete evidence.
Upon hearing that, Su Rui faintly glanced at Liu Ling.
“Have you ever seen a person eating lunch in a lobby booth on the first floor of a hotel?” Su Rui asked grimly.
While it is true that she felt frustrated, she is not blind, and her ability to judge normally is still present.
Normally, the hotel lobby on the first floor is used to let guests rest for a short while, waiting for people, waiting for their car to arrive. It would be good If one were to have a cup of tea, sit and chat casually, but do you also expect people to eat lunch there?
“Ah, that’s true.” Liu Ling also reacted when she heard Su Rui’s words.
This evidence is probably just hollow evidence, right?
“Then, what are they talking about?” Liu Ling stared at the photo. She frowned and continued, “Have a look, this Siria looks so excited. Just shine some lights on her and apply eye drops, and she can go act already…”
Su Rui: Heh heh, she wants to know too.
[1] WOC- In a pinyin-based input method, typing “woc” will lead to suggestions for 臥槽(wòcáo) which means “What the f*ck”
[2] 青梅(qīngméi)- Childhood friends/green plums. The literal translation would be green plums. It is part of the phrase ‘青梅竹马(qīngméizhúmǎ)’ which means childhood sweethearts or a couple who grew up as childhood friends. This is where 青梅 would refer to the female and 竹马(which means hobby-horse) would usually refer to the male in that pair.
[3] 实锤(shíchuí)- Solid evidence/concrete proof/irrefutable evidence. It is an internet slang that refers to when there is certain evidence such as photographs, videos, recordings, documents etc.
[4] 路人群众(lùrén qúnzhòng)-Passersby may refer to 吃瓜群众(chīguāqúnzhòng), which refer to a peanut gallery/onlookers who are interested in the spectacle but don’t comment on them.
[5] 碰瓷(pèngcí)-Staged act/to scam somebody by setting up an “accident” in which one appears to have sustained damage or injury caused by the scam victim, then demanding compensation. The variation of these incidents include putting “expensive” porcelain in place where it is likely to be knocked over by passers-by, and stepping into the path of a slow-moving car. Thus, it sort of relates to its literal translation of the words ‘touching or bumping(碰) porcelain(瓷)’.
[6] 狗血[gǒuxiě]- dog blood/unbelievable/exaggerated/Melodramatic. Firstly, it could be describing trite and highly predictable movie or Tv drama scenes. Secondly, it could be relating to ludicrously unrealistic movie or TV drama scenes. Thirdly, it could relate to or characterised by schmaltz, dramatised sentimentalism, as in TV shows and movies. Lastly, it may be relating to life events that are ridiculous or infuriating.
[7] 路人好感(lùrén hǎogǎn)- Someone who is not a fan of a celebrity but has favourable impression of him/her. The literal translation would mean ‘passer-by’s favourable impression’.
[8] 吃瓜群众(chīguāqúnzhòng)- peanut gallery/onlookers who are interested in the spectacle but don’t comment on them.
[9] 渣男(zhānán) – scumbag. An internet slang term that usually refers to men who are disloyal in love.
