CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: CRACKING SUNFLOWER SEEDS WHILE WATCHING THE SCANDAL

[What’s the issue?]

[Zhao Yu: Did my Su Yan get a little too close to a female guest on the show?]

[The actress playing his mother?]

[Zhao Yu: No, no, we have no problem with those kinds of acting interactions, okay?]

[Zhao Yu: Other people, female guests, think again.]

Mu Qiu recalled everything Su Yan and Lin Banyan did off-camera, thinking that nobody seemed to catch anything from the show’s live broadcast yesterday and today, so the cameras likely didn’t capture them kissing. But if a fan this obsessed is asking, could it be that the runway princess’ past of retreating for love got exposed?

She sat up, pondered a moment, and replied, [I don’t think so, am I supposed to just keep staring at him all the time?]

[Zhao Yu: Didn’t you? Look at your gaze in the second picture; it’s almost burning the three men by the pool.]

[......]

[So did you all discover his scandal from that, or do you simply want Su Yan to stay away from women?]

[Zhao Yu: Scandal.]

[Zhao Yu: Although a scandal pops up every month, this time it seems too real.]

[Zhao Yu: He was caught with the woman at the place arranged by the program organizers.]

Mu Qiu’s heart skipped a little.

[?? Who?]

While waiting for a response, she thought about a lot. If the issue between Lin Banyan and Su Yan really came out, how should she prepare her explanation, making clear it truly had nothing to do with her getting exposed?

After all, she was just accidentally caught up with two people on the same route back... or wait, wasn’t it three people?

So could it be a love triangle exposed?

After a while, Zhao Yu edited and finally sent a concise name.

[Zhao Yu: Shu Ran!]

Mu Qiu: ???

Three people’s drama, and Lin Banyan didn’t even get a name?

[I really don’t know about this. What does the scandal say?]

[Zhao Yu: You just want to gather material, huh?]

[Zhao Yu: The paparazzi caught my brother with her alone in the little garden. She was looking at my brother lovingly.]

[Zhao Yu: You really didn’t know anything?]

[No, all I see are their faces and bodies, I can’t see anything else.]

[Zhao Yu: Goodbye. Don’t thank me for the two retouched pictures I sent you.]

Mu Qiu rolled her eyes slightly, closed WeChat, quietly stared at her wallpaper for two minutes, then put down her phone and lay back down to continue inducing sleep.

Online, the rumors about Su Yan had already gone viral.

Earlier, Cheng Zhirang was forcibly linked with various female guests, and following that it was Su Yan’s turn, rumored with the national fresh face Shu Ran.

The marketing accounts directly presented a grid of nine photos, and in the dark pictures, Shu Ran and Su Yan were standing face to face, Shu Ran looking up at Su Yan, though Su Yan seemed to be looking slightly above Shu Ran’s face.

But even a slight elevation turned into evidence that drove many fans crazy since photos were provided.

Most of Su Yan’s fans, unsurprisingly, firmly denied the rumor, some even angrily attacking Shu Ran on her Weibo. In contrast, some of Shu Ran’s fans, the Shufu Jia, were already self-ecstatic, transforming into fans of the couple.

Getting Su Yan, wouldn’t that be an amazing feat?

They even quickly gave the two a couple name, "ss," since both their surnames start with an "s."

Su Yan’s fans were enraged, furiously clashing in the middle of the night with parts of the Shufu Jia and some ss couple fans.

In stark contrast, the Cheng Zhi fans, still online at night, watched the three-way battle like cockfighting with snacks.

[It looks intense; if I got cursed like that, I’d probably cry]

[I had another bucket meal tonight; Brother Cheng, can we get a weight loss endorsement?]

[This fanbase is fierce, too ruthless]

[Looks like Su Yan is better off without a relationship for the next few years]

[Unlike in our camp, I wish Brother Cheng would hurry and find a partner; it’d be a shame not to pass on those good genes soon]

[But he’s at the peak of his career, coming from a singing and dancing background; most fans wouldn’t accept a relationship this early]

[It’s tough, tough]

[Has Brother Cheng been reading books all afternoon again? Without Sister Chen around, no one’s getting him to rest properly?]

[Ah, Brother Cheng’s home lacks a woman. If it were me, I’d just take his books away and coax him to sleep]

[Is the sister above offering antibiotics? Drink the heady & fretful, free delivery]

[My brother’s almost thirty now, and he’s never had a serious relationship? How would he know if he got duped into marriage later on?]

[Brother Cheng can only date younger girls now, sigh]

Amidst the fiery disputes on one side and peaceful serenity on the other, many bystanders surfed the Internet, witnessing the stark differences in fandoms, and couldn’t resist joining the Cheng Zhi ranks, ultimately being drawn into the fanbase by a few deceptive images.

Single fans and couple fans dueled for three hundred rounds, finally concluding under Su Yan’s Weibo.

At one in the morning, Su Yan cleared things up with a Weibo post.

[Su Yan V: No.]

Soon after, Shu Ran also clarified.

[Shu Ran V: Only knew about this after Yan Shen Studio called me in the middle of laughing and crying. It didn’t happen; we just happened to run into each other and exchanged a few words.]

Most fans were placated, but some, along with couple fans, fell into deeper confusion.

[Is this a denial planned together? It’s really hard to say what’s true or false]

[I’m just curious, why did my brother suddenly participate in this variety show? No prior disclosure of any intention.]

[Plus, attending the first session, who would put Su Yan in the first session?]

[Why did it happen to be those two going out? And bumping into each other coincidentally?]

[The gaze didn’t look like there was nothing going on]

The simple denial couldn’t dismiss all doubts. Su Yan and Shu Ran knew this well.

But there was no other way but to deny, definitely not letting Lin Banyan’s name come out.

Lin Banyan suddenly broke up with Su Yan, returned to Jiali, and started accepting various significant projects, with an apparent intent to focus solely on her career. If she were exposed now, it might impact her plan.

So Su Yan informed Lin Banyan of his intention to clarify and waited all night for a reply.

The next day brought news: [Lin Banyan participated in a Belle Reine new product show] [Lin Banyan appeared for the second time on the cover of Gonoria magazine] [Lin Banyan signed with FH Jewelry for endorsement].

It turned out that as long as Lin Banyan wanted to return to her career path, she had plenty of chances to make it big. With a debut on a new variety show, she quickly returned to the public eye, reclaimed the title of Jiali princess, and became an object of the company’s resource allocation.

His news, thus, became unimportant.

Su Yan looked at various reports about her, sitting alone at home in silence for half a day.

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Netizen: Admit it, how much did Shufu Jia pay you? I’ll offer three times as much with Lifebuoy.