ECG -Chapter 190 Rumors

He had no idea what had happened, and he didn’t have time to check the messages from Yang Qianyi and the others. He looked through his call history, and sure enough, the call from the small theater had been made by Wu Xiaozhou.

He answered the phone and hurriedly asked, “Xiao Wu, what happened?”

Wu Xiaozhou didn’t say anything on the other end, but there was a noisy commotion as if people were fighting over the phone. Fatty Meng shouted, “Let me talk!”

Wu Xiaozhou cursed, “Get lost! With your damn tongue-twisting speech, what the hell can you explain clearly?”

……

In the end, Fatty Meng still failed to snatch the phone. Wu Xiaozhou said, “Haozi, this time you’re famous!”

“You guys saw the video of my piano duel?” Lin Hao wasn’t surprised. There had been so many people holding DV cameras and phones in the theater at the time, so he had already been mentally prepared for this.

“We saw the piano duel video, but that’s nothing compared to the explosive news about you and Qin Ruoyun!”

“Me and Qin Ruoyun? What happened to us?” Lin Hao was stunned, not understanding what he meant.

“Damn, you brat, you were hiding it from us? You two really got together?” Wu Xiaozhou had just finished speaking when Fatty Meng’s voice came from the side:

“Did you kiss…?”

Lin Hao was completely confused. He had no idea what had happened. How did rumors about him and Qin Ruoyun suddenly spread? They hadn’t even done anything!

Then he remembered what happened when the two of them were buying clothes at Yansha. He vaguely felt like he had grasped something, but it was still unclear.

“Xiao Wu, tell me, what exactly happened?”

Seeing that he didn’t seem to be pretending, Wu Xiaozhou briefly told him about the posts they had seen online.

“Damn it!”

Lin Hao cursed. The first thing he thought of was whether Xia Yumeng had seen it too.

Looking up, he saw that boarding had already begun over there, so he could only tell Wu Xiaozhou that they would talk after he returned, then hung up.

While standing in line, he checked his other messages.

The messages from Qin Ruoyun and Yang Qianyi were just wishing him a safe journey, while the ones from Han Ying and the others said: We believe in you…

Something was wrong!

This whole thing was strange. Everyone already knew about it. There was no way Qin Ruoyun and Yang Qianyi didn’t know. So why didn’t their messages mention it at all?

After boarding the plane and taking his seat, he understood.

Qin Ruoyun was deliberately pretending not to know even though she clearly did. She was waiting for him to ask her for help!

Once the plane stabilized, the flight attendant began serving meals. Only then did he realize he was hungry. While eating a small box of hot pasta, he thought about the situation.

Although he hadn’t seen the news and posts yet, after hearing Wu Xiaozhou’s explanation, he immediately understood. Some entertainment tabloids or websites had probably been following Qin Ruoyun and happened to photograph him with her, so they made up some ridiculous dramatic stories just to attract attention.

Because everyone knew Qin Ruoyun’s methods, those media outlets didn’t dare write her name directly. They even blurred her photos with mosaics. As for him, he was an unknown nobody, so they had no worries about him, giving him his first proper moment in the spotlight.

But what was he afraid of?

It seemed the only thing he was worried about was what reaction Xia Yumeng would have after seeing this kind of news. She was the only person he needed to explain himself to.

At first, he was a little worried, but soon he let it go.

He would just tell her the truth. If Xia Yumeng couldn’t understand, or even got angry and threw a tantrum at him, then that could only mean she wasn’t suitable for him. Because this kind of thing would only happen more and more in the future.

This was something unavoidable for a public figure. Unless one reached a certain level of status and age, gossip would always exist. It would occasionally pop up and stir up trouble, making people uncomfortable.

Having lived two lifetimes, Lin Hao saw matters of love between men and women very clearly. If two people couldn’t understand each other and were full of suspicion, their relationship was destined not to last.

Thinking of this, he smiled.

This scandal was also a test of his relationship with Xia Yumeng. It seemed Qin Ruoyun and Yang Qianyi were going to be disappointed. They wanted him to lower his head? It wouldn’t be that easy!

When the news about Qin Ruoyun and Yang Qianyi coming out last year had happened, he still didn’t understand whose background was so powerful that it could make all the media collectively shut up.

But after Qin Ruoyun’s trip to Snow City, when she had clashed with Ma Shuang’s father over the private room incident, and after this trip to Yanjing, he had completely understood.

Yang Qianyi was merely Qin Ruoyun’s professional manager. Qin Ruoyun herself was the true behind-the-scenes big boss.

He wasn’t going to ask Qin Ruoyun to delete these news reports.

After all, at this moment, he was still barefoot. Since someone wearing crystal shoes like Qin Ruoyun wasn’t afraid, what did he have to fear?

After getting off the plane, it was already past two in the morning. At that hour, he couldn’t get into the dormitory building, and he didn’t want to spend the night at an internet café near the school either, so he stayed for one night at an aviation hotel near the airport.

At nine in the morning, he was woken up by a call from Qin Ruoyun.

“Haotzi, I’m really sorry. I didn’t expect this kind of news to come out!” Qin Ruoyun’s apologetic voice came from the other end of the phone.

Lin Hao took his phone and got out of bed, walking into the bathroom. “It’s fine, Sis. As long as it doesn’t have any bad impact on you.”

“Sis didn’t show her face, so it’s fine. I’m just worried it’ll affect you!”

Amid the sound of running water, he laughed out loud. “Who even knows me? It’s fine, Sis, don’t worry! Alright, I still have something to do here, so I’ll hang up first!”

“You little fox!” Qin Ruoyun muttered unhappily before hanging up.

Yang Qianyi sat behind the office desk and giggled. “See? I told you. This kid would never open his mouth and ask you for help!”

Qin Ruoyun crossed her long legs and placed them high on the desk. Her body sank into the large, thick chair as she said lazily, “Not ask me? Let’s see how he explains this to that little girlfriend of his!”

“You’re sure it isn’t Bai Zhitao?” Yang Qianyi was still very curious.

“It’s not!” Qin Ruoyun shook her head. “Bai Zhitao’s boyfriend is the bassist from their band. His name is Xiao Wu, and he’s tall and muscular!”

The last time Qin Ruoyun came back from Xuecheng, she had already told her about it. But she was still very curious about that girl named Xia Yumeng. She wondered what kind of girl could be worthy of Lin Hao, this little fox.

“That girl is really that pretty?” Yang Qianyi asked.

“Mm.” Qin Ruoyun thought of Xia Yumeng’s appearance again and murmured, “Young, beautiful, and graceful.”

The word “young” stabbed Yang Qianyi’s heart a little. She didn’t continue the topic.

“What are we going to do next?”

“Forget it!” Qin Ruoyun curled her lips. “That bastard doesn’t even care, so why the hell should I care?”

Yang Qianyi nodded. “That’s true. If we ignore it, it’ll die down in a few days.”

The two of them chatted for a while longer about company matters. Qin Ruoyun’s assistant, Shu Dongdong, knocked on the door and entered, saying that it was time and they had to leave soon.

A major real estate developer in Yanjing was holding a groundbreaking ceremony for a new property today. The middleman was one of Qin Ruoyun’s old friends. She was being paid 500,000 yuan just to cut the ribbon, and the main reason she agreed was because she felt embarrassed refusing to give this friend some face.

Just as Qin Ruoyun arrived at the property’s groundbreaking ceremony, Lin Hao had already arrived downstairs at Xia Yumeng’s dormitory building carrying several large bags.

After he finished checking out of the aviation hotel, he received a text message from Xia Yumeng. It only had four words:

“Are you back?”

Lin Hao quickly replied:

“Just arrived. I missed you.”

“Me too. Come to my school.”

“Okay.”

Standing in front of the dormitory building, Lin Hao unexpectedly became nervous.

Although he had made enough mental preparations, he was still afraid she wouldn’t understand him. He was afraid this relationship, which had only just begun, would already come to an end.

He had heard Xia Yumeng mention that the dormitory auntie guarding the building was extremely fierce, so he didn’t dare go upstairs. Instead, he stood below and sent her a message.

Not long after, Xia Yumeng came running out in a pure white tracksuit.

Her hair was tied into a ponytail, her face was bare of makeup, and her expression was filled with joy that she couldn’t hide.

Lin Hao was still carrying several plastic bags. Since they were inside the campus of the Normal University, he didn’t dare make any overly intimate moves. He simply smiled and asked:

“Uncle and Auntie went back?”

Xia Yumeng shook her head. “They moved directly. Why would they go back?”

Lin Hao was stunned. He hadn’t expected things to move so quickly.

“Is the new home close to the Normal University?”

“It’s very far!”

Xia Yumeng walked over and openly hugged his arm. “Tell me, what gifts did you buy for me?”

“Wow—”

At that moment, a burst of teasing voices came from upstairs.

The two of them looked up and saw two open windows on the third floor. Several girls were leaning there, their heads close together, shouting and cheering at them.

Xia Yumeng’s face instantly flushed red. She pulled Lin Hao’s arm and said:

“Let’s go. Don’t pay attention to these annoying girls!”