Chapter Ninety-Seven: Reluctantly Keeping the Appointment

The familiar tone, that skin-crawling way of addressing her, instantly made Song Wanning think of Jian Anan.

But when she turned toward the voice, she found that the newcomer was actually Shen Yue.

Her brows lifted, and her thirst for gossip surged at once. Instinct told her there had to be something juicy here.

And as Song Wanning had guessed, there was indeed a huge piece of gossip to feast on.

Ever since Shen Yue realized that Jiang Mingzhao had been constantly and conspicuously avoiding her, she had been utterly baffled, tormented by the question of why he fled her as though she were a ghost or a demon.

If Jiang Mingzhao knew what Shen Yue was truly thinking, he would probably be so furious he’d die on the spot. He was already avoiding her with no attempt to hide it, all right?

How much more obvious was he supposed to be?

In this production, Shen Yue’s relationship with Nan Yan was merely lukewarm, the sort of acquaintance that amounted to a greeting when they met. She was only on good terms with Jian Anan, and they often chatted in private.

So she went to ask Jian Anan for advice, asking how the other woman managed to attract Jin Jianyi and keep him tightly in her grasp.

Even Shen Yue’s foolish self could tell that Jian Anan did not especially like Jin Jianyi, yet Jin Jianyi still kept licking up to her shamelessly, making every effort to curry favor.

Thus Jian Anan claimed she would impart her hard-won secrets to Shen Yue without omitting a single word.

In the end, one made up nonsense with gleeful abandon, while the other listened with equally earnest delight.

After all, she was someone taught by Jian Anan, so her style inevitably resembled the other woman’s in one way or another.

Jiang Mingzhao’s tone was full of grievance. “If you have something to do, go do it yourself. Why do you have to keep following me? I’m going to meet my friends now, so stop trailing after me.”

“What do I have to do? I just want to spend more time with you and get to know you better. Who are you going to see? Or maybe I should come too...”

When Shen Yue finally made out the faces of the three people ahead, the rest of her words lodged in her throat.

Jiang Mingzhao had not yet noticed anything unusual and kept talking to himself. “You should really save your energy. Who needs you to keep them company? Who needs you to know anything?”

Then he turned to Song Wanning and said, “Let’s hurry and go. Otherwise we’ll get followed by some random nuisance again.”

It was rather amusing, really. Back when Shen Yue was infatuated with Wen Jingxing, she had not dared to pursue him so openly.

First, because Wen Jingxing was someone else’s partner, and she did not dare be too brazen for fear of being scolded by netizens.

Second, because Young Master Wen looked far more intimidating than Jiang Mingzhao, and she was afraid of provoking his temper with the slightest misstep.

But Jiang Mingzhao was sunny and handsome, and a comedian to boot; the hostility around him was never all that heavy.

And since he was her legitimate variety-show partner, Shen Yue had thrown herself into the chase with all her might.

After all, Jiang Mingzhao would not dare do anything to her. At most he would say a few words—he wasn’t going to lose a chunk of flesh over it.

In the end, even Shen Yue was the type to bully the soft and fear the hard, picking on the honest and easygoing.

However, the fans online were not nearly as agreeable as Jiang Mingzhao. The moment they saw their idol suffering, they cursed Shen Yue day after day, adamantly opposing her pursuit of Jiang Mingzhao.

But no matter how hard they cursed, Shen Yue could not see it now.

At this very moment, she was feeling rather pleased with herself.

Song Wanning said, “Then let’s go. What are we waiting for?”

Perfect. She did not want to see Shen Yue either. At the start, that woman had been sent and incited by Jian Anan quite a lot, coming to disgust her whenever she pleased.

What she had not expected was that Shen Yue would actually say to Song Wanning, for Jiang Mingzhao’s sake, “Where are you going? Can you take me with you?”

Since she had not addressed anyone by name, Song Wanning simply pretended she neither saw nor heard anything.

Naturally, Jiang Mingzhao and Yun Ze were even less likely to pay her any mind.

In the end, only Nan Yan said, “Oh, we arranged to go to Song Wanning’s place for seafood.”

“Seafood? Really? I love seafood. Can you take me too?”

Shen Yue looked eager and ingratiating.

Nan Yan seemed a little troubled. Even though she rarely paid attention to the gossip in the crew, she could still sense that Song Wanning did not like Shen Yue or Jian Anan.

Now Shen Yue was saying she wanted to come, but this was Song Wanning’s little house, and the food had been brought by her as well. At the very least, they would need Song Wanning’s nod of approval before allowing Shen Yue to join them.

Yet Jiang Mingzhao coldly exposed her, saying, “What are you pretending for? Who was it that got disgusted by seafood before, and in one swipe threw the meat into my bowl? You like seafood? Pigs would fly first!”

Shen Yue scratched her head awkwardly, yet naturally followed behind them. “Brother Mingzhao, I really didn’t do it on purpose. It was just that it was too fishy. After I took one bite, I got startled, and the meat slipped out of my hand by accident...”

“Then you’re really something. Everyone else’s ‘by accident’ falls on the table, but yours went flying straight into my bowl.”

At the time, Shen Yue had been so vain that she believed anything she threw over, Jiang Mingzhao would surely eat.

Who knew that even if he starved to death then and there, he would rather pour out the whole meal? But the program had rules: food was distributed according to task progress.

In the end, it was Li Weiwei who showed mercy and, considering it an accident, made an exception and gave Jiang Mingzhao an extra half bowl of rice.

But now, Shen Yue was determined to deny that she had done it on purpose.

Jiang Mingzhao snorted coldly and strode ahead, ignoring her completely.

The group hurried to Song Wanning’s little house at twice their usual speed.

Meanwhile, when Jian Anan and Jin Jianyi finally reached the dining area, they found that not a single person was there.

She looked at Li Weiwei beside her in surprise. “Director, isn’t it already time for the dinner assembly? Why is there no one here?”

“Hm? You didn’t know? I thought they had all told you.”

Li Weiwei had asked that on purpose.

From the moment Jian Anan finished her task and was on her way over, she already knew the other woman probably had no idea what was happening tonight.

Jian Anan was a little embarrassed. “What happened?”

“Oh, Song Wanning came back and brought a bucket of seafood. She said she wanted to treat the other guests to dinner, so I agreed. I thought you didn’t like seafood, so I had food prepared for you as usual as well.”

When Jian Anan heard this, her hand clenched silently into a fist. Why had not a single person told her about this?!

Had they all gone? Then Shen Yue must have gone too.

That stupid woman—why didn’t she say anything to her before going?!

“Not at all, Director. I actually quite like seafood. But why did no one tell me? How strange...”

Li Weiwei silently rolled her eyes. Listening to this woman speak, why did it feel so unpleasant and so lacking in straightforwardness?

“If you want to go, then hurry. They should have only just started.”

Hearing that, Jian Anan became even more speechless. They were already eating, and no one had come to invite her!

She could clearly have chosen not to go, but she still said to Li Weiwei, “Director, thank you for your trouble tonight. I really do love seafood, so I’d better head over now.”

Tonight was a rare opportunity to come into contact with Wen Jingxing. How could she possibly miss it?

Once again receiving a monthly vote, so happy, so happy.

The End.