By the time Lu Fangcao rushed to the hospital, Mother Kong had already been taken into the operating room. Kong Yinmeng waited anxiously outside, her eyes glued to the operating room doors.
“Is Auntie’s injury serious? What did the doctor say?”
Her phone buzzed incessantly with WeChat notifications. She had given Liu Zhi a piece of her mind before coming, and now he was frantically trying to explain.
No one could have predicted how things would escalate to this point not them, and certainly not Xiao Ya. Xiao Ya had only intended to cause a scene and tarnish Kong Yinmeng’s reputation.
But Mother Kong had become desperate. In the ensuing scuffle, she fell and, by a stroke of terrible luck, hit her head.
After returning home, Xiao Ya had slipped into her room while no one was watching, recorded a video, and sent it to her best friend, adding plenty of her own venomous commentary about Kong Yinmeng.
Shortly after, Xiao Ya went into premature labor. Not long after Mother Kong was rushed to the hospital, Xiao Ya was admitted to the same City Hospital.
“The doctor said the situation isn’t good. After her wound is bandaged, she needs a full-body checkup.” Kong Yinmeng recalled the doctor’s expression, and a wave of dread washed over her.
Lu Fangcao gave her a hug. “It’s okay. Your mom will definitely be fine. I can help you deal with the online mess, however you want to handle it.”
“I’ll deal with that later,” Kong Yinmeng replied, her mind a whirlwind. “I can’t think about anything else right now. I just want my mom to be safe.” Her father had taken leave from work and was already on his way.
She gripped Lu Fangcao’s hand, trying to soothe her anxiety, wondering if her mother would be out of surgery by the time her father arrived.
Since Lu Fangcao hadn’t been replying to his messages, Liu Zhi finally called.
“Fangcao, listen to me,” he said. “I swear, I didn’t tell him. He figured it out himself. His wife is… well, she’s really something. I can’t get away right now, but I’ll come to the hospital to see you tonight. I feel responsible for this. Oh, and his wife seems to have gone to City Hospital too. Please, don’t lose your temper with her. Let’s just wait until your mom is discharged before we deal with anything.”
Liu Zhi, an outsider, had been dragged into the mess after failing to keep his mouth shut during the bank transfer.
Meanwhile, the online sentiment had taken a bizarre turn. The public was overwhelmingly siding with Xiao Ya, and Kong Yinmeng’s Weibo was flooded with vitriol.
After the second episode aired, those who had intended to praise her were left bewildered by the comments section, unable to understand what had happened.
By the time ordinary people understood what had happened, it was too late to say anything. How could normal people compete with the speed at which paid internet trolls spammed posts?
The overwhelming wave of negative comments turned her Weibo page into a chaotic mess. Zheng Yi was still on a plane at the time and only learned about the massive incident after he landed.
“Brother Chen, I trust her character. Her family would never try to extort money. It’s obvious someone is manipulating the narrative. Please help me suppress the comments. I’ll call her and find out what’s going on.”
Chen Yuan didn’t want him getting involved. He said over the phone, “Zheng Yi, let me handle this. Don’t do anything rash. If you get involved, it will only make things harder to resolve.”
This was originally a minor incident. If Kong Yinmeng hadn’t appeared on the show, it probably wouldn’t have caused a ripple. But if Zheng Yi stepped in, it would only attract more attention.
“I know, Brother Chen. I’m counting on you.” After hanging up, he immediately called Kong Yinmeng. It took three tries before she finally answered.
Her voice sounded exhausted. “Zheng Yi, you saw the trending topics, didn’t you? I’m busy right now. Can I explain everything to you once I’m done?”
She truly had no time to explain or argue right now. Just moments ago, her mother had been wheeled out of the operating room, and for the time being, there were no major complications.
However, the doctor suspected something was wrong with her head and said they would have to wait until she woke up tomorrow before performing an examination. Her father had told her to go home and get some sleep, and she would come back tomorrow to take his place.
“You don’t need to explain anything to me,” Zheng Yi said. “I trust you. With an amazing boyfriend like me, how could you possibly go looking for another man? The woman in the video is obviously lying. Get some rest, and I’ll come find you. Just send me your address.”
Although he had just gotten off the plane, he still wanted to get to her side as quickly as possible. This was the duty he owed her as her boyfriend.
Xiao Huang, who was still packing Zheng Yi’s luggage and hadn’t left yet, was completely panicked. He gestured wildly, trying to speak, but was silenced by a single glare from Zheng Yi.
Kong Yinmeng shook her head wearily, then remembered they were on the phone and he couldn’t see her movements.
“No need,” she said. “You’re busy with work, too. Get some rest early. Let’s talk another day.” She truly didn’t have the energy to speak properly right now. If she lost control of her emotions and snapped at him… that was not a scene she wanted to create.
Zheng Yi sat on the sofa, watching Xiao Huang keep urging him not to do anything rash. He had an event tomorrow afternoon; if he went to Hong City now, it would definitely disrupt his schedule.
His eyes were indeed fixed on Xiao Huang, but the problem was that his ears weren’t hearing a word he said. Immediately after, he logged into Weibo and started scrolling through Kong Yinmeng’s profile.
Finally, he found an account that interacted with her very frequently. After visiting the profile and confirming it was Lu Fangcao’s Weibo, he sent her a private message.
It was the middle of the night.
Kong Yinmeng lay in bed, forcing herself to fall asleep, but with little success. She regretted it so much; if she had the ability to predict the future, she would never have sent Hao Bin the money.
His wife was a complete lunatic. She didn’t even want to go on Weibo, afraid she would waste her energy arguing with netizens.
Just then, her phone lit up with a notification sound. She scrambled to sit up, terrified it was a message from her father, or worse, her mother…
Fortunately, she was overthinking it. The message was from Lu Fangcao, telling her to open the door right now she was standing right outside.
Kong Yinmeng was touched. It felt so good to have a friend by her side when things went wrong. She quickly went to the door in her pajamas, but the moment she opened it, her smile froze.
“You… what are you doing here?” Kong Yinmeng turned her head and saw Lu Fangcao staring at Zheng Yi like a fool. She didn’t even have to think to know that Lu Fangcao was the one who brought him here.
“I was worried about you, so I came to see you. Fangcao, thank you for your help. You should get back and rest now.”
“Oh, oh, oh, okay. My mission is complete, so I’ll be going now.” Lu Fangcao said goodbye to Zheng Yi instead of Kong Yinmeng, glancing back three times as she entered the elevator.
She had never imagined her idol would send her a private message, let alone come to Hong City. Although he hadn’t come for her, she had been fortunate enough to meet him.
Not only that, she had just taken a commemorative photo with her idol. She silently prayed that Kong Yinmeng and Zheng Yi would soon become a couple.
That way, she would have more opportunities to see her idol.
Kong Yinmeng didn’t know whether to be happy or angry happy that her boyfriend had traveled a thousand miles to see her, and angry that her best friend had sold her out.
“Come in first.” Now that he was here, she couldn’t exactly refuse to let him in. Fortunately, she had disposable slippers he could use.
After Zheng Yi came inside and changed into the slippers, he looked around at the home’s decor and furnishings. Seeing that she was a clean person, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
When he was booking the plane ticket, Xiao Huang had followed him around, rambling on about how a girl’s place isn’t always clean and tidy, and how a surprise visit might make her angry.
“Let’s just go to sleep. We’ve both had a long day. We can talk about everything tomorrow after we wake up.” From her expression, he could tell she hadn’t fallen asleep yet.
Zheng Yi draped his arm over Kong Yinmeng’s shoulder. She gave a slight, barely perceptible shiver and hesitated as she walked toward the bedroom, suddenly stopping at the doorway.
“Um…” She wasn’t sure what to say. Should she ask him to sleep on the sofa? That didn’t seem right either. They were practically a couple now, but sleeping in the same bed felt like things were moving too fast.
Zheng Yi reached up and ruffled her slightly messy hair. “What’s with the nerves? It’s not like we’ve never slept together before. As long as you don’t agree to it, I won’t do anything to cross the line.”
Then he added, “But if you want to do something to me, I won’t resist.”
“Pfft, in your dreams!” Kong Yinmeng felt much more at ease. She trusted him completely; since he had said it, he wouldn’t try anything.
Kong Yinmeng lay flat on the bed, turning her head to look at the man beside her who had already closed his eyes. The sight only made her feel more awake than before.
“What’s wrong? Want to do something to me?” Zheng Yi asked without opening his eyes. Yet, he reached out his arm, inviting her to use it as a pillow.
Kong Yinmeng shifted closer and leaned against him, sighing. “I can’t sleep. I never expected my mom to get into an accident, nor did I expect you to suddenly show up.”
“Don’t think too much right now. You have things to do tomorrow, and you’ll be exhausted if you don’t sleep,” he said, patting her back while humming an unfamiliar tune, just like someone soothing a child.
A singer’s voice was undeniably more captivating than an ordinary person’s, and Kong Yinmeng, an occasional music listener, found herself completely defenseless against his voice.
“I finally understand why your fans love your songs so much,” she murmured. She knew it was already late, and staying up any longer would be pointless.
Zheng Yi lowered his head to kiss her hair, continuing to hum. Gradually, her breathing became steady and even. Only after confirming she had fallen asleep did he begin to summon his own drowsiness.
While they slept soundly, a group of netizens did not rest. Even though Zheng Yi had not made a public statement, the fire of controversy was still directed at him.
Chen Yuan took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, strictly controlling the online narrative. “Tu Ye is truly disgusting, actually targeting a commoner. If he hadn’t interfered, that woman’s video would never have trended.”
The PR department was furious. They weren’t supposed to be working overtime, all because of Tu Ye.
When Chen Yuan first told them to “empty the bottle”—to clear the comments and suppress the news they weren’t too upset. After all, Kong Yinmeng wasn’t a celebrity.
But soon, they had to keep it up. The water army hired by Tu Ye was subtly shifting the battleground to Zheng Yi, splashing him with accusations that were blatantly false.
The problem was that the gossip-mongers only cared about the drama, not the truth. So they had to fight all night, terrified that this would affect Zheng Yi’s future.
“I’ll contact his ex-girlfriend,” Chen Yuan muttered. “If he’s being ruthless, I’ll be ruthless in return. Let’s see who gives in first.”