Trouble Brewing in Words

Even though the other party sent a question mark expressing confusion, the affinity increase notification ringing in her ear betrayed the sender's true mood, which seemed completely at odds with his tone.

Confused, but secretly pleased?

Fu Liangxia found it amusing and tugged at the corner of her mouth. What was he pretending for?

He asked what she meant by joining the Fan Club, yet in his heart, he was quietly gaining affinity points?

Men—your stubbornness is just your armor.

Fu Liangxia: [Not willing?]

Fu Liangxia: [Then reject it.]

Su Xingshu's brow vein twitched: [No, I'm just a bit surprised. I thought you would have—]

He trailed off, seemingly waiting for Fu Liangxia to take the bait and ask.

Unfortunately, Fu Liangxia wasn't falling for it.

Her fingers tapped on the screen as she slowly typed out a line: [Thought everyone who joined the Fan Club secretly had a crush on you?]

[Young Master Su, you're overthinking.]

Those six words were icy, slapping Su Xingshu's face as coldly as an early autumn evening breeze.

The boy, who had just finished practicing singing in the rooftop garden at the top of his house, paused his hand holding the bass and typed with one hand: [Then why did you join? To scalp tickets?]

Su Xingshu had initially just snapped back out of irritation, but after sending it, the more he thought about it, the more he believed it was something Fu Liangxia would actually do.

Hadn't he just given Fu Liedong two VIP tickets a couple of days ago? Could it be...

Su Xingshu: [The tickets I gave Fu Liedong are front row, directly facing the stage.]

He implied that if she dared to sell them, she'd definitely be caught.

Fu Liangxia: [How could I? I'd definitely appreciate Young Master Su's stage performance.]

In the deep night, the boy walking downstairs with his bass let out a cold snort, as if mocking the person on the other side of the screen, or perhaps laughing at himself.

He'd be damned if he believed her.

A sweet-talking little liar.

...

The next day during class, Fu Liangxia didn't see the two mysterious deskmates in the classroom. It wasn't until after lunch, when she was resting on the small bed in the class lounge, that the girl in the bunk above suddenly walked in from the door and mysteriously called her out.

It was a girl who had been lukewarm toward her since she first enrolled—usually a loner, said to be an art student who spent most of her time in the studio apart from required classes, rarely interacting with classmates.

Yet now, she was excitedly grabbing Fu Liangxia's hand.

Fu Liangxia was slightly startled and whispered, "What's wrong?"

The girl pulled her along, her gaze scanning Fu Liangxia's face with a hint of scrutiny. "Young Master Bai wants you at his studio. Something about a photoshoot."

She lowered her voice. "I was wondering why he suddenly called for you. You are pretty, suitable for photos."

And for that very reason, her subtle hostility toward Fu Liangxia faded.

If Bai Yan only took notice because of her beauty, that was fine. Artists had seen plenty of beauty; they'd just treat it as a tool.

Nothing to worry about.

With her guard down, she kindly gave a warning: "Young Master Bai's studio isn't just him. Xu Qiuying is there too..."

Xu Qiuying—that name sounded familiar.

Bai Kewei had mentioned her, if she remembered correctly.

But it wasn't just that. She seemed to be a heavily featured vicious supporting character in the original novel.

Though what exactly she had done, Fu Liangxia couldn't quite recall.

She said goodbye to the girl, who was reluctant to part and even offered to walk her to the studio. Before she even reached the door, she heard laughter and cheerful voices from inside, mingled with a girl's silvery giggles.

Several different voices overlapped, sounding quite lively.

"Cousin, you didn't even tell me when you came back from Europe this time. I didn't see you yesterday either. I only found out because someone posted on the forum."

The only female voice rang out coquettishly, not sounding like a complaint but more like a playful pout.

"You invited another girl for a photoshoot but didn't call me."

Fu Liangxia paused mid-step. Hearing that voice, she thought it really did have the flavor of a vicious supporting character. She hadn't even entered yet, and she was already being targeted.

But it was that "cousin" that made her finally recall who Xu Qiuying was. As she'd thought, she did have a significant role.

The Xu family wasn't particularly distinguished, but because of their kinship with the Bai family, their standing in the circle wasn't low.

Xu Qiuying, however, had lofty ambitions. Having followed Bai Yan around since childhood and witnessed the splendor of the top tier, she could no longer accept her own life and was determined to hook a wealthy man among Bai Yan's friends. All of F4 were her targets, with Su Xingshu as her primary focus.

Because he seemed more friendly and easier to approach.

In this situation, Fu Liangxia was clearly in her way.

Thinking this, she decided to stop at the door and wait until she finished speaking before pushing it open, to avoid awkwardness.

As if stumped by the question, the air fell silent for a few seconds before a voice laughed and said, "Isn't it because I'm afraid Qiuying is too beautiful and would steal our spotlight?"

It gave Xu Qiuying face while also giving Bai Yan an out.

A high-EQ answer, if not for the fact that the person it was said about—who was 'not pretty enough to steal their spotlight'—was standing right outside listening.

Fu Liangxia curled the corner of her mouth.

That familiar deep voice—who else could it be but the womanizer, Su Xingshu?

Seems his time wasn't wasted; he could spout nonsense at the drop of a hat.

But flattering other girls was one thing—dragging others down was uncalled for.

What if the person in question overheard? Wouldn't that be awkward?

His words immediately drew an even more delighted laugh from Xu Qiuying, clearly pleased by the compliment. Who doesn't love sweet words, especially when the speaker sounds so sincere?

Leaning back against the display wall—the exact spot Fu Liangxia had stood yesterday—she tilted her head, her eyes full of longing as she looked at Su Xingshu from across the room: "Young Master Su really knows how to joke. What if the person in question overhears?"

Fu Liangxia: "..."

No worries, she'd already heard it.

But Su Xingshu's words could only be half believed, after all, when Bai Yan had someone call Fu Liangxia earlier, Su Xingshu wasn't there, so he didn't know who had been summoned or what she looked like.

Yet his willingness to say that was proof he recognized her beauty.

Thinking this, Xu Qiuying's smile grew even wider, her crescent-moon eyes nearly brimming with water.

However, she was destined to be casting pearls before swine.

Cheng Xingzhou was sitting at the conference table playing chess with Bai Xin. Fu Haoyao hadn't arrived yet. The only ones who could see her—Su Xingshu and Bai Yan—were both preoccupied with other thoughts.

Su Xingshu was wondering why Fu Liangxia had joined his Fan Club in the first place. Did she really not like him, as she'd claimed? Then wasn't it purely for some benefit that she hadn't joined Cheng Xingzhou's, the one she had 'once liked'?

He'd tossed and turned all night and only fallen asleep past two in the morning, leaving faint dark circles under his eyes now.

Like someone who'd overindulged.

Bai Yan, on the other hand, was even more distracted.

He stared at the girl standing in the same spot, yet completely failing to achieve the effect Fu Liangxia had, and once again silently affirmed his own judgment.

Yesterday, Fu Liangxia had stood there in an ordinary uniform, simply at ease, like a delicate lily that ordinary people couldn't bear to pluck, making even the display wall behind her shine.

But now Xu Qiuying stood there—pretty, sure, but with a certain flightiness in her brows and an unsteady gaze, making the display wall behind her seem vulgar and dull.

He thought, so not everyone could pull off that effect.

Meanwhile, Su Xingshu leaned sideways against the workbench, glancing casually at Xu Qiuying without registering her pitiful look. His mouth moved on autopilot: "Even if she heard, so what?"

If he didn't help Bai Yan soothe her now, who knew how his cousin would make a scene later.

"You said that yourself." Cheng Xingzhou, who had been focused on his chess at the nearby table, somehow caught that, pushed up his thin-rimmed glasses, and looked over, his dark eyes unfathomable. "If it really gets heard by Bai Yan's model and she doesn't want to shoot anymore, will you be the one to coax her?"

No one expected Cheng Xingzhou to suddenly cut in. Su Xingshu instinctively felt something was off.

He never meddled in such trivial matters, let alone been close to anyone outside their group. The only exception was that one person.

But that person had only transferred here a few days ago, and Bai Yan had just returned from abroad yesterday—how could they have met so conveniently?

As for whether Fu Liangxia's face could catch Bai Yan's eye, he had no doubt. Unlike the popular beauty of the moment, Fu Liangxia wasn't just pretty in her features—she also had the kind of aura artists loved most—

a magnetic pull.

Hard to describe, but the moment you saw her, your gaze was drawn to her as if pulled by a force. Even a single glance was unforgettable.

But could it really be that coincidental?

Su Xingshu didn't believe it. He'd been on bad terms with Cheng Xingzhou since that unpleasant drinking session a couple of days ago, and seeing him reminded him of Fu Liangxia's words about 'once liking.'

Every time they met, he couldn't help sizing up Cheng Xingzhou, wondering what had attracted her to him back then. If it were about looks, that was manageable—he could go for a slick intellectual look too. But being as cold and mechanical as Cheng Xingzhou? No way.

So when Cheng Xingzhou came at him now, Su Xingshu found it expected. Their relationship had been strangely tense these past two days anyway, probably not about some model—more likely just him being annoyed with the guy.

He raised an eyebrow, half-joking: "If she's that fragile, then let her go. Needing to be coaxed is too much. No one's indispensable in this world. If she doesn't want the job, there are plenty begging for it."

"I was dragged through the mud online for looking like a fox spirit and never broke down crying."

It sounded reasonable, even bringing up his own dark history, but everyone except Xu Qiuying wore strange expressions.

Bai Xin let out a sigh, not understanding how the two had ended up at each other's throats. He said slowly, "Forget it. Don't talk about others behind their backs."

Especially about things that hadn't even happened.

From what he knew of that girl, she didn't seem like the kind to quit over a few words.

Of course, no matter what, discussing a girl's looks behind her back was extremely rude.

Bai Xin thought, Su Xingshu had been far too reckless these past two years, regressing more and more.

Cheng Xingzhou ignored Bai Xin, just staring at Su Xingshu and saying, "You'd better hope so."

Su Xingshu frowned and was about to jab back when he suddenly heard Fu Haoyao's voice from outside the door: "Fu Liangxia, what are you standing there in a daze for?"