Qiao Yun spoke up and glared at the reporters in anger. "Please stay away from our private lives."
The reporters were unhappy with this statement. "You are enjoying the benefits of public attention and fame, yet you want us to stay away from your private lives? Miss Qiao, your girlfriend is a public figure. When public figures earn millions of dollars in fees and endorsements, they no longer have a private life."
"We just hope that you don't excessively consume our relationship," Shen Xinrou furrowed her delicate eyebrows and her fans' favorite phoenix eyes were filled with pleading. With a pitiful expression, she made people uncontrollably fall for her charm.
But despite her charm, the reporters were after a headline. They were momentarily stunned by Shen Xinrou's gentle trap, but quickly regained their composure.
"But if I recall correctly, Miss Shen mentioned her relationship with Mr. Qiao publicly five times this month alone. And it's only the beginning of the month today."
"Is that so? Maybe you remembered it wrong."
"Or does Miss Shen think that your relationship with Mr. Qiao is only suitable to be mentioned in promotional materials?"
Shen Xinrou was about to explode from the reporters' relentless questioning. What was wrong with them today? Why were they so confrontational?
If she hadn't always portrayed herself as a gentle fairy, she would have snapped back long ago.
She took a few more glances at the reporters and memorized their faces.
With a delicate expression, she said, "Maybe Yun and I didn't express ourselves clearly, which caused misunderstandings. Yes, I am a public figure, so there is no such thing as a private life. But Yun is not, and I hope everyone can understand. Let's stop here for today, and we can talk about other things another day." With that, she took Yun's arm and left, showing a protective attitude towards him.
The reporters wanted to follow, but they were stopped by the staff.
...
At times like this, it's important to have a friend who understands lip reading.
Qin Zhenzhen repeated what she could understand to Xingkong, who listened with a light smile and seemed to be deep in thought.
"Xingkong, what bad idea are you coming up with now?" Huo Mingzhu asked, waving her hand in front of Xingkong's face and staring at her with wide eyes.
Xingkong smiled at her again, making her shudder. "Don't smile at me like that!"
Xingkong shook her head helplessly. "I'm just wondering who invited these reporters."
"Isn't it you?"
"Do you think I have that kind of power now?"
"No."
"So, who could it be?"
"Couldn't it be the reporters themselves wanting a headline?"
"You don't understand." Xingkong tapped her arm with her fingers, "With Shen Xinrou's personality, how could she possibly have a falling out with reporters? In this kind of situation, she would have already talked to the reporters beforehand and made sure the questions would highlight her strengths, not hurt her."
After pausing for a moment, she continued, "These reporters are divided into two groups. One group is on Shen Xinrou's side, trying to force Qiao Yunxing to marry her. The other group... it's hard to say whose side they're on, but their goal is definitely to embarrass her."
"Forcing marriage?" Qin Zhenzhen was surprised. "Doesn't Qiao want to marry her? It's impossible. He promised to give her 150 billion yuan. How could he not want to marry her?"
"He does want to marry her, but the Qiao family doesn't allow it." As the sixth miss of the top-tier wealthy family, the Huo family, Huo Mingzhu was well-versed in the gossip of the wealthy families.
"Why?"
Huo Mingzhu sighed. "Why else? Because she's a foster daughter of the Shen family. The Qiao family only recognizes one daughter-in-law, and that's the granddaughter of General Manager Liang."
"So, whoever is General Manager Liang's granddaughter, Qiao must marry her?"
"Exactly. That's why the person he wants to marry is Shen Xinai."
Qin Zhenzhen said, "...then he has a reason for not wanting to marry her."
The difference between the gentle, generous, beautiful Shen Xinrou and the capricious, bullying Shen Xinai was too great.
Xingkong smirked on the side. "So, who has the ability to hire reporters and wants to see Shen Xinrou embarrassed?"
"Love rival." Huo Mingzhu thought for a moment and said lightly.
"Someone wants to compete with Shen Xinrou for Qiao Yunxing?"
"It's possible." Qin Zhenzhen and Huo Mingzhu leaned in together, gossiping about which socialite or female star wanted to snatch Qiao Yunxing away from Shen Xinrou.
And only Xingkong suddenly became clear.
... Could it be Huo Siye?
Because he knew that the person engaged to Qiao Yunxing was her, so he...?
He didn't want to embarrass Shen Xinrou.
He wanted to embarrass Qiao Yunxing.
What could be more embarrassing than letting everyone know that as a man, he could spend a lot of money on his beloved woman but couldn't marry her?
As for Shen Xinrou...
Xingkong suddenly remembered what Huo Siye had just said to her.
"I like to implicate others."
So, Shen Xinrou was implicated by Qiao Yunxing.
Thinking of this possibility, although Xingkong felt that he was too petty and grudged, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise.
He was defending his sovereignty over her.
Men's possessiveness, sometimes it was really scary, but also quite childish.
"Rou, you finally came back." He Yajing saw that Shen Xinrou and Qiao Yunxing had finally escaped from the reporters' encirclement, and immediately greeted them anxiously, "Xinrou, please help me, something's happened."
Shen Xinrou was still angry about the reporters' questioning just now. When she saw He Yajing coming over, the suppressed anger surged up again, and she looked impatient and bored, "What's wrong now?"
"My ring is missing."
"If it's missing, go find it." What's wrong with He Yajing? Was she deliberately making trouble for her tonight?
"I was going to find you, but when I saw you and Young Master Qiao surrounded by reporters, I thought they must be asking you and Young Master Qiao about something, so I didn't dare to disturb you. I looked for it myself for a long time, and I've searched all the places I've been to, but I still haven't found it."
As soon as she heard that she wanted to go but didn't come, Shen Xinrou became even more angry.
How could she be so short-sighted?
"Don't worry, take your time to look for it. The venue is so big, you'll find it eventually." Despite her dissatisfaction, Shen Xinrou still had a comforting expression on her face as she tried to calm down He Yajing.
"This set of jewelry was sponsored by the Song Jewelry Company. What if it's lost? I've searched everywhere I can think of... Wait, there's still one place I haven't checked!"
"Hmm?"
"I just went to Shen Xingkong's area. I didn't check with her. But she's your sister, even if it's with her, she should return it, right?"
In that instant, Shen Xinrou's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had understood something.
"Since it's a sponsored item, it can't have any defects. Let's go over and check. Maybe it fell under the table and she didn't notice it."