"You...I..."
Seeing Bai Yanfei's red eyes, Lu Qianyi knew that Bai Yanfei was reading the comments again.
“You really are…” Lu Qianyi held out his hand. “Give me your phone. You should be doing something else right now. There’s a puzzle in the study next door, but it’s not a good time for you to play with it. You can tear the puzzle pieces apart and play with them. There’s a puzzle I’ve finished hanging on the wall, and there’s also a Lego set I’ve finished that you can smash around with.”
Bai Yanfei was both amused and exasperated: "Is that how you see me?"
"Then stop looking at your phone. Why are you watching people criticize you? You know those people have no values. Do something that makes you happy. Don't pay too much attention to what they're saying. I'll handle things. Don't worry."
Bai Yanfei felt that Lu Qianyi's words made sense, so he obediently took out his phone and placed it in Lu Qianyi's palm.
"I'm hungry, let me make you some weird food."
Chapter 101 Unexpected Disaster
The more nonchalant Bai Yanfei appeared, the more worried Lu Qianyi became; this didn't seem like the reaction of someone who had been frightened.
He followed Bai Yanfei to the kitchen, but he wouldn't let Bai Yanfei do anything that required a knife. He clumsily held the cleaver and chopped the vegetables, while Bai Yanfei stared at the cleaver and smiled helplessly.
"Let me do it, so you don't cut your hand."
After hearing this, Lu Qianyi became even more cautious. A knife is such a dangerous thing, and it is not appropriate for Bai Yanfei to hold it right now.
"You don't need to worry so much. I've been through this before, so I have experience." Bai Yanfei was very touched, but the source of the problem wasn't Lu Qianyi. The trending topic was caused by Ling Zeyu. Ling Zeyu was most familiar with the ways of the entertainment industry, so if they wanted to resolve this matter as quickly as possible, they still had to rely on Ling Zeyu.
Lu Qianyi successfully completed the vegetable chopping under Bai Yanfei's guidance, but Bai Yanfei found it annoying after just one glance.
"Forget it, I won't bother you or myself anymore." Bai Yanfei sighed. "Let's deal with this first. I'll contact Ling Zeyu."
"Why did you contact him? Trust me, I can handle this."
Bai Yanfei shook his head: "You're not in the entertainment industry, you don't understand how to control the direction of public opinion. Ling Zeyu understands all the rules of the entertainment industry. Even though he has retired from the industry, we definitely don't know as much as he does."
"I don't trust you. What if he tries to do something to you? Will you be able to fight back?" Lu Qianyi was determined not to let that happen.
"Give me your phone first, I'll contact him. I don't know if he's seen the trending topic. If he has, he'll be worried about me again."
In the end, Lu Qianyi couldn't resist Bai Yanfei's insistence and gave him the phone. Bai Yanfei scrolled through his contacts and suddenly remembered that he had already blocked Ling Zeyu and unblocked him. He looked at the string of numbers; he used to remember those eleven letters very clearly, even from memory, but now they seemed quite unfamiliar.
After pressing the call button, he turned on speakerphone.
The phone was answered shortly after it rang. Ling Zeyu didn't say anything, and Bai Yanfei, unsure of what to say, also remained silent.
After a long while, a male voice rang out from Ling Zeyu's side. Bai Yanfei recognized the voice; it belonged to Ling Zeyu's assistant.
Ling Zeyu walked to a quiet place: "Are you just going to keep this stalemate going without saying anything?"
"I just want to know what President Ling wants to do? Is it fun to make me trend on social media?" Bai Yanfei suppressed his anger and gestured to Lu Qianyi not to speak. He didn't want Lu Qianyi to think he was a good-for-nothing.
“This wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t expect it to cause you…” Ling Zeyu lowered his tone. “I’ve already had the trending topic removed, and we’ll issue a statement later.”
What statement should be issued?
Ling Zeyu remained silent.
"We're divorced. I want you to explain that to everyone. As for the smears you threw at me before, I've been smeared for over a year, and I don't care anymore. Since everyone thinks it's my fault, explaining now would be pointless. You just need to clarify our relationship." What Bai Yanfei cared about most was Ling Zeyu's ambiguous entanglement with him. He already had a boyfriend, and he had moved on. What more did Ling Zeyu want from him?
"good."
"Also, Mr. Ling, please don't do this kind of thing again. You don't need to create a persona of a doting husband right now. You're only causing me a lot of trouble. I'm tired of your approach."
This was the first time Bai Yanfei had openly expressed his disgust for Ling Zeyu. Even when Ling Zeyu had barged into his home, he hadn't said he disliked Ling Zeyu.
"You...hate me?" Ling Zeyu repeated these words softly.
"Yes! I hate you, I don't like you anymore, I don't love you anymore." Bai Yanfei tried to calm down. "You know how you treated me before."
"I was confused before, I..." Ling Zeyu tried to explain that he had mistaken the person for someone else. He thought he liked Bai Yifei, but in fact, the person he fell in love with at first sight was Bai Yanfei. So he had no control over Bai Yanfei at all. Every smile and frown of Bai Yanfei could tug at his heartstrings, and he wanted to see Bai Yanfei all the time.
Bai Yanfei slammed the phone down and angrily threw it aside.
"Just as I thought, he wanted to use public opinion to pressure me."
This phone call made Lu Qianyi look at Bai Yanfei in a new light. He only knew that Bai Yanfei was very smart, had excellent academic performance, and was an outstanding designer, but he did not know that Bai Yanfei had this side to him.
Ling Zeyu had hurt Bai Yanfei terribly before.
"So what do we do now? Will Ling Zeyu continue with his plan?"
Bai Yanfei shook his head: "I don't know either, I don't understand him."
That's what he said, but Bai Yanfei knew that Ling Zeyu would probably do as he thought. He didn't understand the meaning of what Ling Zeyu was doing now, but he hated the entertainment industry.
"Well, all we can do now is wait. Don't keep thinking about comments and private messages. I won't let what happened before happen again. But you still have to stay home these next few days." Lu Qianyi comforted Bai Yanfei. Many of the cyberbullying incidents had disappeared, but the internet remembers. He paid someone to reconstruct what had happened before, and that's how he found out what Bai Yanfei had really gone through.
Bai Yanfei suddenly remembered something: when they were outside, the cameras were pointed at them. Lu Qianyi stood in front of him; he didn't know if the cameras had captured him, but they definitely had captured Lu Qianyi.
He was so focused on checking his own trending topics that he forgot to look at Lu Qianyi's. Bai Yanfei hurriedly opened Weibo, and sure enough, public opinion had shifted in another direction.
Ling Zeyu's fans felt that Lu Qianyi had deceived him, and they began to dig into Lu Qianyi's background.
"Go and suppress the trending topic!" Bai Yanfei hasn't posted on Weibo in a long time. Otherwise, he could have asked Ling Zeyu's fan club for the administrator's contact information. Now, he can only rely on Lu Qianyi's money to solve the problem.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Although Lu Qianyi was puzzled, he still did as Bai Yanfei suggested.
"Now the criticism is directed at you, I just forgot." Bai Yanfei looked annoyed. If he had realized the problem sooner, he wouldn't have stood there dumbfounded for so long.
"It's okay, don't be nervous, they can't do anything to me." Although Lu Qianyi didn't understand the ways of the entertainment industry, he was very confident in his family's wealth.
"The entertainment industry isn't as simple as you think." Bai Yanfei became even more anxious when he saw Lu Qianyi still acting nonchalant. "The trending topic hasn't died down yet, have you contacted anyone?"
He said immediately.
Weibo crashed twice that day, and Bai Yanfei breathed a sigh of relief when he could no longer see any related terms for himself and Lu Qianyi on the trending topics.
"It's finally quieted down for a while."
If things had been resolved this quickly last time, would Bai Yanfei have avoided being cyberbullied...?
Lu Qianyi gripped his phone, feeling deeply sorry for Bai Yanfei. What kind of person could have made Bai Yanfei so sensitive? He knew Bai Yanfei hadn't used Weibo in a long time, and he had even looked at Bai Yanfei's account. Ling Zeyu had followed Bai Yanfei's fan account, but judging from Bai Yanfei's reaction, it seemed he no longer cared.
There are also a lot of insults under Bai Yanfei's account. The best way is to not look at it. Leaving Weibo is also inevitable.
But Lu Qian also knew that Bai Yanfei was a person who loved surfing the internet. Ling Zeyu had forced Bai Yanfei to quit Weibo, which showed how deeply he had hurt Bai Yanfei.
The number rang again, and Bai Yanfei answered the phone.
During this special period, Ling Zeyu's phone call could not be ended casually.
"Just say what's on your mind."
"I'm downstairs in your apartment building, let's grab a bite to eat together."
Bai Yanfei sneered: "Do you think I can go out now? Or should I have dinner with you? Are you worried there aren't enough cameras?"
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Bai Yanfei waited quietly for Ling Zeyu to speak. His face was expressionless, but only he knew that his palms were sweating. His calm exterior was all an act; only he knew how nervous he was in front of Ling Zeyu.
This is a hurdle he has to overcome. He can't let his legs go weak every time he faces Ling Zeyu, otherwise Ling Zeyu will seize his weakness and deliver a fatal blow.
"Then I'll come to your house to find you."
“It’s not a good time for us to meet right now. I think President Ling understands this better than I do.” Bai Yanfei felt his patience was wearing thin.
"What if I insist on seeing you?" Ling Zeyu honked the car horn a few times in frustration. "I'm right outside the residential area. Either I go in, or you come out. Otherwise, I'll make Lu Qianyi trend on social media again."
It turns out that Ling Zeyu was the one who made Lu Qianyi disappear from the trending topics so quickly. He had his suspicions at first, but he didn't think of Ling Zeyu, because he felt that Ling Zeyu wouldn't do such a thing.
It was as if fate was deliberately working against him; it was Ling Zeyu who did it.
"Come in, but don't let anyone take pictures, or I'll make sure you never see me again."
Ling Zeyu had just opened the car door and gotten out when he heard these words. He gripped the car door tightly and slammed it shut.
Bai Yanfei actually dared to threaten him?
"No one is staking out this place, so our meeting won't be posted on Weibo."
Bai Yanfei opened the downstairs door for Ling Zeyu. After going in, he saw Lu Qianyi beside him and narrowed his eyes.
"I want to talk to you alone. I don't want to see any other people."
Bai Yanfei didn't want to implicate Lu Qianyi because of her. This whole thing was an undeserved disaster for Lu Qianyi, since he had already lost so much, it wasn't worth it.
The two went to the study. Lu Qianyi was originally unwilling, but seeing that Bai Yanfei insisted, he didn't want Ling Zeyu to think that he didn't trust Bai Yanfei, so he made a gesture that made Ling Zeyu bow down.
Lu Qianyi walked to Bai Yanfei's side, first patted Bai Yanfei's head, then bent down and quickly kissed Bai Yanfei's cheek.
"Alright, go ahead." Lu Qianyi rubbed Bai Yanfei's face, but before his hand could touch Bai Yanfei, Ling Zeyu pulled him away and raised his fist.
"Why does President Ling want to hit someone? I just kissed my boyfriend in my own home. President Ling, is there any need to get so worked up?" Lu Qianyi's smile was so irritating that Bai Yanfei quickly went up to pull Ling Zeyu away.
"Let's talk in the study." Bai Yanfei glanced helplessly at Lu Qianyi. Did he even know what he was doing? He knew Ling Zeyu was very jealous, yet he still provoked him like this.
"Lead the way." Ling Zeyu put away his fist. He didn't want Bai Yanfei to see his violent side. The study door closed, and Bai Yanfei poured two glasses of water.
"I'd like to drink tea."
Bai Yanfei knows how to brew tea; he used to brew tea for Ling Zeyu at the Ling family home.
"I don't like it without tea."
Bai Yanfei said this intentionally, but he didn't forget his purpose, so he only dared to say a few words to provoke him. He didn't dare to say too much. The issue of trending topics hadn't been resolved yet, and he knew how terrible cyberbullying was. No one wanted to experience cyberbullying.
"I hope President Ling can handle this matter properly as soon as possible, after all, it was caused by you." Bai Yanfei looked directly into Ling Zeyu's eyes.
Ling Zeyu stared at the cheek that Lu Qianyi had just kissed. He pulled out a tissue and wiped it hard, making Bai Yanfei's face turn red.
"Ling Zeyu!" Bai Yanfei had no choice but to stand up and dodge Ling Zeyu's hand. "I let you in to solve a problem, not to let you go crazy."
"You know I can go crazy?" Ling Zeyu smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes. "You break up with Lu Qianyi, and I will immediately resolve this matter according to your wishes."
"Impossible." Bai Yanfei refused without the slightest hesitation. If he abandoned Lu Qianyi now, what difference would there be between him and a scumbag? Using Lu Qianyi and then throwing her away? That's not what he wants to do. Unless Lu Qianyi does something immoral, he will not take the initiative to break up with her.
"If you don't break up with him, I won't deal with this. Which do you think is easier, trending on social media or suppressing it?"
Ling Zeyu's question was pointless. Anyone who has ever genuinely followed a celebrity knows that suppressing a trending topic is much harder than getting it trending. You can pay to get on the trending list and have the hashtag appear there, but even if you suppress it, people will still discuss it; you can't suppress it completely.
"Can't you just let me go?" Bai Yanfei stammered. "I regret it, okay? I shouldn't have liked you, shouldn't have loved you, and I definitely shouldn't have agreed to marry you, Xiaofei. If it had been Bai Yifei who married you, the ending would have been different. You would have really liked Xiaofei, and I would still be a devoted fan of yours. I might have been jealous of Bai Yifei because of your love for him, but I would never have been hurt so deeply by you!"
"Impossible! I don't like Bai Yifei. Even if I marry him, I'll find out about you very quickly." Ling Zeyu pinched Bai Yanfei's chin, forcing him to look up at him. "I won't allow you to regret this!"
Chapter 102 Disappointment
"How could you regret it? You can't regret it!" Ling Zeyu was angered by Bai Yanfei's words, and his chest heaved.