Wen Ruqiao had a bad habit: she was a sucker for good looks.
She always had a bit more tolerance and patience for attractive people.
Take An Ruosu, for example. At the airport, she had sensed the other woman’s hostility, but she just couldn’t bring herself to dislike An Ruosu.
Lu Minglang was even more so.
Seeing a grown man with reddened eyes, looking fragile and wronged, Wen Ruqiao pulled out a tissue and handed it over, her tone softening considerably. “Be good, don’t cry, okay?”
Lu Minglang’s gaze trembled.
Was she… comforting him?!
Seeing his look of disbelief, Wen Ruqiao simply stuffed the tissue into his hand. “Wipe your tears.”
As if hypnotized, Lu Minglang wiped his cheeks in a daze.
Wen Ruqiao couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Even when a beauty cried, it was different from ordinary people—strangely beautiful.
“My relationship with my family isn’t great, and I’m not very good at getting along with relatives either,” Wen Ruqiao sighed, explaining seriously. “Besides, my personality isn’t great either, and I’m not very likable. I think it’s better if we all just pretend this never happened rather than having an unpleasant time after acknowledging each other. I don’t want to cause trouble for the Lu family.”
In Wen Ruqiao’s memory, there were almost no warm moments of getting along with family.
She was always being scolded, reprimanded, and disliked.
Especially after Wen Yingnai was brought back to the Wen family, that sense of not fitting in finally reached its peak.
That day, Wen Ruqiao finally understood that love might have no reason, but not loving always had a cause.
She remembered Wen Yingnai’s childish and arrogant taunt: “You’re not even a Wen family member! You don’t deserve the love of Mom, Dad, and Brother!”
Wen Ruqiao found it laughable, but she also knew Wen Yingnai wasn’t wrong at all.
Not loving meant not loving. Wanting someone who didn’t love her to love her was a mistake in itself.
So she left the Wen family.
Now, suddenly, someone appeared, telling her he was her brother. Subconsciously, Wen Ruqiao was on guard.
Would the Lu family dislike her as much as the Wen family did?
If that were the case, then maybe… it was better not to know them at all.
Lu Minglang was stunned for a few seconds before he blurted out anxiously, “No! You’re great! You’re really great!”
How could Xiao Qiao think she wasn’t good enough?
In his eyes, she was clearly the cutest and best little sister in the world!
Wen Ruqiao was merciless. “That’s because you’re too easily fooled. You probably think everyone in the world is a good person.”
She stood up to leave, but her wrist was grabbed by Lu Minglang.
Turning back, she met Lu Minglang’s eyes, red as a rabbit’s. His hand was cold, his fingertips trembling slightly, yet he held on with great strength, as if afraid Wen Ruqiao would run away.
“I’m not an idiot, and I don’t think everyone in the world is a good person either…” Lu Minglang’s voice was low and hoarse, tinged with a hint of tears. “I truly think you’re great, Xiao Qiao! I won’t dislike you! The Lu family won’t dislike you either! Absolutely not! I… I swear! If I’m lying, may I become deaf, mute, lame…”
An Ruosu, hiding in the shadows eavesdropping, was so excited she almost slapped her leg off.
Goodness, everyone knew how much Lu Minglang loved the stage. That oath meant he would never be able to sing or dance again.
Xiao Ou beside her looked pained. “Big sis, you’re slapping my leg.”
“Uh… ahem… sorry about that.” An Ruosu switched back to her delicate little white flower persona, “Are you alright, Xiao Ou?”
Xiao Ou rubbed his leg, saying with genuine sincerity, “Sis, I don’t think the delicate little white flower persona suits you. Have you considered trying the strong woman persona instead?”
An Ruosu was so angry she wanted to hit him.
“Hey hey, don’t hit me, don’t hit me! Sis, the gossip is more important!”
…
Lu Minglang rambled on for a long time. To say Wen Ruqiao wasn’t moved at all would be a lie.
But thinking back to those scenes at the Wen family, Wen Ruqiao’s brows furrowed slightly as rationality returned. She slowly withdrew her hand.
“Lu Minglang, I’m doing just fine living on my own now. If you need any help, you can come to me. But as for acknowledging family ties… let’s just forget it.”
“I’ve never had family. I don’t think I’ll need it in the future either.”
She walked away without looking back.
Lu Minglang chased after her a few steps, then stopped.
He was afraid that if he kept pursuing her so persistently, Xiao Qiao would get annoyed with him.
Before he could even begin to feel sad, a shiny bald head emerged from the corner, sparsely dotted with a few thin strands of hair. Director Meng asked with a gossipy expression, “Xiao Lu, are you and Ru Qiao really siblings?”
Lu Minglang pursed his thin lips and nodded.
An Ruosu couldn’t hold back and popped out too.
“Did you do something to wrong Ru Qiao? Why doesn’t she want to acknowledge you as family?”
As soon as she asked this, Lu Minglang’s eyes grew even redder.
Director Meng cleared his throat, “I think it’s understandable. From what I heard in Ru Qiao’s words just now, it seems she’s been lacking family warmth, so it’s normal for her to have difficulty accepting you right now. But blood is thicker than water, and constant dripping wears away a stone. I actually have an idea that might help her accept you…”
Lu Minglang instantly looked up, his damp puppy-dog eyes staring straight at Director Meng.
“For Xiao Qiao, I’m willing to do anything!”
Wen Ruqiao took a walk by the seaside, and her mood gradually calmed down.
She wasn’t actually as calm as she appeared on the surface.
She just didn’t want others to see her in a pathetic state.
During her most vulnerable and helpless moments, what the Wen family gave her was only mockery and cold indifference.
Not long after, a staff member came looking for her, “Teacher Wen, the director asked me to call you back for the live stream.”
Wen Ruqiao was taken aback. She had already prepared to leave, “When I scolded He What’s-His-Name earlier, wasn’t it filmed? Won’t it affect your show?”
The staff member was a recently graduated young woman who still had a little canine tooth when she smiled, “Qiao Mei! You scolded him well! So many people online support you now!”
Wen Ruqiao: ?
Wasn’t she just being criticized by the entire internet not long ago?
The young woman already had a favorable impression of Wen Ruqiao, and after hearing the whole story behind Wen Ruqiao scolding He Huainan, she became an even bigger fan, saying cheerfully:
“Qiao Mei, lots of marketing accounts suddenly appeared with justice on their side and released the surveillance footage from the magazine office that day. This is solid evidence! It completely exposed He Huainan!”
She handed Wen Ruqiao her phone. Wen Ruqiao glanced at the screen—the Weibo exposé posts below the exposé post already had tens of thousands of comments, all criticizing He Huainan.
【Ugh, what a refined gentleman? More like a drama queen!】
【No wonder he fell into a manure pit—serves him right!】
【So it turns out he tried to seduce Qiao Mei but failed, then framed her and used it for reverse publicity!】
【So disgusting. Look at his shifty-eyed appearance. Thank goodness Qiao Mei wasn’t in the dressing room at the time, or who knows how he might have harassed her!】
…
Wen Ruqiao found it rather strange. When Song Qingqing had approached the magazine agency earlier, hadn’t they claimed the surveillance cameras were broken?
For a broken surveillance system to suddenly be restored—what kind of miracle was this?