After leaving the hotel, Su Qinghe stood by the roadside and took a deep breath of the night air.
The taste of freedom.
Although this world was a little ridiculous, at least she was still alive, hadn’t been completely canceled by the internet yet, and still had a chance to turn things around.
She pulled out her phone and scrolled through the original owner’s contacts.
Both her parents’ numbers were there.
The mess the original owner had created was now hers to clean up.
But it was too late tonight.
She would go home, get some sleep, and deal with everything tomorrow.
Su Qinghe hailed a taxi and gave the driver the address of the original owner’s home.
As the car pulled away, she leaned back in her seat and watched the city lights flash past outside the window while her mind raced.
The original owner’s family was in business.
Not a small business, either.
They even had major projects in cooperation with the Lu family.
Her family had always known about her obsessive pursuit of Lu Zhiheng, but they had never been able to stop her.
After everything eventually blew up, the family was dragged down with her. Their stock price crashed, her parents seemed to age overnight, and in the end they had to sell the company just to preserve what little wealth they had left.
Now…
She had to stabilize this ship before it reached that point.
First, she needed to completely cut ties with Lu Zhiheng.
No more chasing him.
No more publicity stunts.
No more causing trouble.
Ideally, she needed Lu Zhiheng to genuinely believe she had turned over a new leaf, so that from now on they could go their separate ways and stay out of each other’s lives.
Second, she needed to focus on her career.
At present, the original owner was a completely unknown actress signed to a small agency. Her resources were terrible, she relied heavily on money from home, occasionally picked up minor supporting roles, and maintained an online persona of a wealthy heiress pursuing her dreams in the entertainment industry.
But that persona was bound to collapse sooner or later.
She needed to carve out a new path for herself in this world.
Just as Su Qinghe was thinking, her phone suddenly rang.
Caller ID: Sister Zhao.
She answered.
The moment the call connected, a sharp female voice exploded through the speaker.
“Su Qinghe! Have you lost your mind again? What were you doing at that hotel? Someone photographed you in the lobby and posted it online! Do you know what’s trending right now? #SuQingheMeetsLuZhihengAtNight# Explain yourself!”
Su Qinghe: “…”
Slowly, she closed her eyes.
Fine, very good.
Excellent.
The trending topic had arrived.
Holding her phone, she listened to her manager’s furious rant without the slightest ripple in her emotions.
If anything, she wanted to laugh.
A trending topic. Amazing!
She hadn’t even properly debuted in this world yet and had already claimed the number one spot as a deranged villainess supporting character and obsessive simp.
What an exciting start.
“Hello? Su Qinghe? Did you go mute? Do you even understand your current situation? The last scandal barely died down a few days ago, and now you’ve gone and pulled this stunt again…”
“Sis,” Su Qinghe interrupted calmly, “have you actually looked at the trending topic? What exactly did they photograph?”
Her manager, Zhao Jing, known as Sister Zhao, paused.
“What?”
“What was in the photos? Was it me in the hotel lobby? Or entering the hotel? Did they get a shot of me and Lu Zhiheng together?”
There was a brief silence as Zhao Jing apparently checked her phone.
When she spoke again, her tone had noticeably weakened.
“It’s… it’s just a selfie angle of you in the hotel lobby. The gossip accounts claim you had a secret meeting with Lu Zhiheng. They’ve attached a photo of you standing near the elevator and another of Lu Zhiheng’s back as he entered the hotel…”
Su Qinghe laughed.
That was it?
She had thought they had somehow photographed her and Lu Zhiheng inside the room.
That would have been actual evidence.
But this?
She was standing in the hotel lobby.
Lu Zhiheng entered the hotel.
The two were practically eight hundred meters apart, yet the gossip accounts were already calling it a secret rendezvous.
Their imagination was even wilder than hers.
“Sis, listen to me.” Settling comfortably against the back seat, Su Qinghe spoke lazily. “First, there are no photos of me and Lu Zhiheng together. Second, I went to the hotel because the water at home was shut off and I wanted to rent a room to take a shower. Third, if those gossip accounts had any real evidence, they would’ve posted it already instead of making baseless guesses.”
Her manager was silent.
Then she asked uncertainly, “You’re serious? Your water was shut off?”
Without changing the expression, Su Qinghe replied, “That’s right. I can have my mom confirm it.”
After all, her mother had no idea the original owner had been replaced. She could always coordinate the story later.
Her manager fell silent again.
Clearly, she was trying to process the information.
After a long pause, she carefully asked, “Then… you didn’t go looking for Lu Zhiheng?”
Su Qinghe sighed. Her tone was so sincere it could have qualified her for party membership.
“Sis, I’ve seen the light. I’ve come to deeply understand that feelings can’t be forced. Lu Zhiheng doesn’t like me. If I keep chasing him, I’ll only make myself look worse. Starting today, I, Su Qinghe, am turning over a new leaf, becoming a better person, focusing on my career, and staying away from men.”
Her manager: “…”
The silence on the other end stretched on so long that Su Qinghe thought the call had disconnected.
Then Zhao Jing’s voice drifted over.
“Have you been drinking?”
“No.”
“Do you have a fever?”
“No.”
“Have you been cursed or something?”
“…Sis, can you believe me just once?”
Zhao Jing let out a cold laugh.
“Su Qinghe, you said the exact same thing last month. Then you spent three days camping outside Lu Zhiheng’s company. The month before that, you said the same thing again, then sent him ninety nine roses and hired people to hold signs saying ‘Lu Zhiheng, I Love You.’ How am I supposed to believe you?”
Su Qinghe: “…”
Fine! The original owner’s character setting really was carved into her bones.
Taking a deep breath, she switched tactics.
“Sis, let’s do this. Release a statement saying my trip to the hotel was purely for personal reasons and had nothing to do with anyone else. If anyone spreads rumors, we’ll reserve the right to pursue legal action. After that, I won’t respond anymore. We’ll let things cool down naturally.”
Her manager hesitated.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.” Su Qinghe sounded completely certain. “Trust me. This time, I’m serious. Just wait and see. Starting today, you’ll never see another trending topic with both ‘Su Qinghe’ and ‘Lu Zhiheng’ in the same headline.”
Her manager laughed.
“I wonder how long this sudden burst of determination will last.”
After hanging up, Su Qinghe opened the trending topics.
#SuQingheMeetsLuZhihengAtNight# had already climbed to third place.
The number one topic was #SuQingheDerangedObsessiveSimp#.
The comments section was full of mockery.
【Her again? She still hasn’t given up?】
【Lu Zhiheng is so unlucky to be stalked by a crazy woman like this.】
【Sis, stop clinging to him. President Lu doesn’t even acknowledge your existence.】
【Su Qinghe, can you have a little self respect? Everyone in Beijing knows you’re throwing yourself at him.】
【This is hilarious. She’s been rejected eight hundred times and still keeps charging forward. Gotta admire the courage.】
Su Qinghe read through every comment without changing expressions.
She even felt tempted to leave a like.
They weren’t wrong.
The original owner deserved the criticism.
But she was Su Qinghe, not the original owner.
After a moment’s thought, she switched to her own account and drafted a post.
【Su Qinghe V: I went to the hotel tonight because the water at home was shut off and I wanted to rent a room to take a shower. As soon as I arrived, I got photographed. The gossip accounts have even better imaginations than I do.
While I’m here, I’d also like to officially clarify something: Mr. Lu Zhiheng and I have absolutely no relationship. We never had one in the past, and we won’t have one in the future. I wish Mr. Lu every success in his career and hope he finds true love soon.
That’s all. Everyone can go home now.】
She hit send. Then she silenced her phone, tossed it into her bag, and closed her eyes.
Whatever chaos followed could wait.
Tomorrow was another day.