In Lake Heart Villa, An Yufei's and Leng Yuchen's gazes lit up with a shared yet wordless message. Their scrutinizing gazes were making An Qi uncomfortable.
"What are the both of you looking at?" An Qi asked.
"Mom, don't you think that Wu Linzhi's ideal type is…Well... You?" An Yufei asked quietly.
Black, straight, long hair... Long legs... Single, with a daughter. His description describes me exactly! As An Qi recalled these exact details, she immediately felt a little guilty.
Although she had just met Wu Linzhi not long before this, she was about to start collaborating with Wu Linzhi through Leng Jin. However, she couldn't imagine that could be the reason for everyone's suspicion of her all of a sudden.
An Qi instinctively wanted to turn and run away, but just as she was about to, she realized that, unbeknownst to her, Leng Yuchen had already wrapped her in his arms, rendering her unable to move.
"Honey, do you think that I can possibly let you go back to the Leng Group like this tomorrow?" After Leng Yuchen finished asking her this question, he gave An Yufei a look.
Upon meeting his gaze, Little Yufei nodded obediently, then immediately left to go upstairs, followed by all of the servants. An Qi wanted to cry, but she had no tears left. All she could think was... What a bunch of unfaithful people!
"Yuchen, we're just old classmates, who reunited at a dinner party the other day. There's really nothing between us." When faced with Leng Yuchen, who was edging closer to her, An Qi explained in a hurry.
Even she did not know why she felt the need to explain this to him, but when she looked at Leng Yuchen, she had simply blurted it out.
"A Dinner party? It looks like you're hiding many things from me, An Qi." Leng Yuchen's implication of An Qi's guilt rendered her speechless.
It was true. She had indeed not told him everything about Leng Jin.
Firstly, this was because Leng Yuchen had not specifically asked. This was also due to that fact that Leng Jin and An Qi were fated when they were young. This was something that she did not quite know how to explain to Leng Yuchen.
After all, until now, the Leng Group was still forming factions and debating who was going to be the future heir. One option was her husband, while the other was her lifesaver.
An Qi didn't want to get involved in the fight between the two brothers if she could help it. As Leng Yuchen saw that she was keeping quiet, he thought... It looks like she is going to fight me to the end!
"An Qi, you're playing with fire by doing this!" Leng Yuchen warned her, his tone very serious.
An Qi's whole body suddenly cooled, and before she could utter the surprised word "Ah," her emotions turned, and her surprise was replaced by a doubtful, low moan, "Ah..."
At the same time, the sound of someone reading aloud came from An Yufei's room...
"When Biyu lost her maidenhood, she was madly in love. She was thankful for her lovers' feelings and was not ashamed, so she turned to him and embraced him."
The voice that was reading aloud continued, "With a weak roll of her wrist, she arched her tender body. Sweat beaded up, then dripped down her skin, while her hair became disheveled."
The voice paused, then continued, "As I opened the window gently, the moonlight poured in. Then, I extinguished the candles, undressed, and slept. The bed was filled with laughter, and my body emitted a refreshing fragrance."
The reader was An Yufei. Her voice was soft, and the fact that she was a child reading these passages posed quite a contrast with the hidden meaning of the poems.
But, to the servants, An Yufei's childish voice sounded just like the voice of an angel. They secretly thought… Who could have imagined that a child with such an innocent voice would have prematurely matured so much that she could satirize her parents, who were heating things up downstairs?
As An Yufei looked up and saw the clock on the wall, she jumped up from her desk and went to lay down in the bed. As her ink black hair spread out on her pillow, she thought... Forget it, I'll just leave it to the adults to solve their own problems!
Downstairs...
Under Leng Yuchen's rhythmic motions, An Qi had not yet reached the stage of extinguishing the candles and undressing completely, but her clothes had definitely been so ravaged that they'd lost their usual impeccable and crisp form. They were now quite rumpled from rolling about with her beau.
Leng Yuchen held An Qi tightly as he whispered in her ear, "An Qi, why can't you tell me everything? I'm your husband... And Yufei's father."
His voice was so soft that it made An Qi weak in the knees. She tried desperately to escape the quicksand-filled pit of desire that he'd had created within her heart, but he kept pulling her back into it.
Perhaps he felt that he could not carry on with her in the hall in such a way, so Leng Yuchen had picked up An Qi and taken her directly into the bedroom…
After the live broadcast, Wu Linzhi's agent rushed directly onto the stage, his pale face completely panic-stricken as he said, "Are you going to drag our whole company down with you? This criteria that you've given publicly for your girlfriend selection is not casting your net widely, but rather is specifically for a particularly small group of people! This is surely going to lose you numerous fans, and as all of the company's resources have already been spent on you, how can I possibly explain this to the company?"
"Can't you just tell the company the truth and put all of the blame on me?" In stark contrast to his agent's panic, Wu Linzhi seemed calm and indifferent in his casual reply.
"You say that so easily, but you are the star of the company, and as long as you still have fans, in the end, you can still rise from the dead. But... I am just a small agent, and I was still expecting you to bring me to new heights!" the agent said.
He then shook his head and added, "But... Who would've expected that I would be utterly slammed to the ground by your bad publicity? In the end, I will be utterly crushed, never to be able to rise again in this lifetime!"
"Hey now, is it really as dire as you've just made it seem?" Wu Linzhi rolled his eyes and turned a deaf ear to his agent's words, clearly believing that he was exaggerating and being overly dramatic.
His agent swallowed hard and had tears in his eyes, while inwardly accusing him of being a full man, who was ignorant of a hungry man's hunger!
Wu Linzhi suddenly put his hand on his agent's shoulder, and said lightly, "Don't worry! I'm here. Things won't get that bad!"
"Really?" the agent asked, his tone quite dubious.
"Other than choosing to believe in me, do you have any other ideas?" Wu Linzhi asked somewhat sarcastically.
"No, I don't," the agent replied softly.
"Well… It's all settled then. Listen to me... Go home and take a nice, hot bath. When you open your eyes again, you'll be delightfully surprised." With a curl of his lips, Wu Linzhi flashed him a smile that would be enough to conquer all women.
The agent was dazzled by that smile. He hadn't expected a straight man to have such feelings towards the male artist working for him! The agent wondered…
But… Is it like that? Or… Does he really just have the ability to entice all creatures, male and female alike? Maybe he is just reacting to all of the stress that he has been under lately?
Alright, maybe I should just do as he said and go back and rest. Maybe then, when I've woken up, someone will tell me that this was all just a dream!
As Wu Linzhi watched the agent stagger away, he turned and walked over to the host. Then, frowning tightly, he asked, "Please tell me the truth... Will I lose a lot of fans because of what I said just now on the air?"
The host was shocked, and he replied in all earnestness, "Linzhi, I don't mean to lecture you, but you have such a bright future ahead of you, why would you choose to sabotage your career like this?"
"Well, I actually have my own private difficulties that you know nothing about. In my mind, I had no alternative." Wu Linzhi's eyes dimmed, and his expression was one of utter loneliness.
The host's heart constricted upon seeing him in such a state. Despite his earlier harsh words, he now felt a deep sense of pity for the celebrity before him.
The host gathered then said, "If you really have such difficulties in your personal life, I'd be very willing to help you bring these things out into the light. I honestly believe that the people who like you would support you then..."
Wu Linzhi raised his head when he heard these encouraging words, and a glimmer of hope glowed in his eyes in that moment. Then, that hope was replaced by an expression of complete gratitude, as he was overwhelmed by being offered such an unexpected favor...