Chapter 84

In the gradually cooling season of October in the northern city of Yu City, the warmth remained as warm as spring. Fallen leaves piled up into small golden heaps beside the roadside trees, yet the flowers in the flower beds remained oblivious to the atmosphere of autumn, blooming enthusiastically to passerbys.

The entrance of Yu City Airport was packed with people. At first glance, all you could see were young girls wearing pretty dresses; their smiles warmer than Yu City’s flowers. They wore headbands with big “Ha” characters on top, excitedly looking towards the direction of the airport gate.

As the plane landed, a tall girl wearing a mask and a hat walked leisurely and confidently through the crowd, her hands in her pockets. She casually took her luggage from the assistant’s hands.

“I’ll do it.” Another assistant hurriedly offered.

“No need,” the girl said casually, “We’ll be in Yu City for nearly two months. Our luggage is a bit heavy, let’s carry our own stuff.”

The assistant scratched her head in embarrassment, watching the girl’s expression become even more gentle.

Bodyguards in casual clothing followed her. At this moment, the agent who accompanied Haya to Yu City received a call and said in surprise, “What? Understood!”

“Not good, Haya’s schedule has been leaked. The airport outside is filled with fans,” the agent said helplessly and hung up the phone.

The assistant was startled and quickly suggested, “Should we change our route?”

The agent shook their head, “No, all exits are blocked. Our company is contacting the airport to arrange security to maintain order. Let’s wait for a moment.”

Haya nodded indifferently, placing her suitcase behind her and pulling out her phone from her pocket.

“Ding dong ding dong, is there a fairy at home?” Haya pushed up her hoodie and leaned her chin on the suitcase handle, her fingers happily tapping on the keyboard.

“A lost Haya needs assistance from a fairy!”

After two seconds, a reaction image was sent from the other side.

“Your little fairy has appeared.jpg”

“Have you landed?” Lin Weining asked her with a smile, “Are you on your way to the hotel?”

“Report! Haya has been surrounded, many scary lawbreakers want to take Haya away! Requesting blessings from the little fairy!” Haya sent Lin Weining an affectionate reaction image, “Like this.”

Two seconds later, Lin Weining sent a reaction image of beating a dog’s head.

“This blessing spell seems to be more effective!”

Haya’s fingers paused, a smile in her eyes, “The kid has learned bad things.”

She asked Lin Weining, “Who did you learn this from?”

“Hmph!”

Lin Weining proudly said, “Qiong Qiong said I shouldn’t spoil you too much, or you’ll bully people!”

“Nonsense, can you trust what Woof Woof says?” Haya said, “She’s jealous of our good relationship. Just because I didn’t take her ice skating last time when I took you, she resents me, understand?”

Lin Weining immediately retorted, “I’m going to send this conversation to Qiong Qiong. You’re trying to come between us and saying bad things about her. You’re so mean!”

“An old saying goes well, Haya is not bad, but Ning Ning doesn’t love.” Lin Weining finished and immediately sent a pleading reaction image, “Darling, I’m sorry, please don’t reveal this to Qiong’er. Can I give you a gift?”

“I don’t want you to bring one. You’re definitely going to intentionally give me strange things!” Lin Weining said, “Last time, you gave me that tissue box with a big nose and that dog poop ornament. I’m going to be laughed at by Ran and the others!”

“Hehe~” Haya laughed even more joyfully.

“You’re so bad.”

After exchanging messages with Haya, Lin Weining heard teammates say that they had seen information about Haya landing at Yu City Airport and being received by fans.

A girl still wearing stage costume exclaimed, asking Haya, “Be careful and stay safe. Hurry back to the hotel and don’t run around once you’re there.”

“You care about me so much?” Haya asked.

Lin Weining sent another reaction image of beating a dog’s head.

“Remember last time when you went out to buy barbecue from the hotel and spent an hour, almost killing the reporters? Don’t you remember them reporting and criticizing you? I care about the health of the reporters,” Lin Weining said.

“That’s paparazzi, not reporters. Besides, who asked him to follow me on foot? I was being nice by not calling the police on him,” Haya heard her manager call her and quickly told Lin Weining, “Alright, I’m off to meet the waves!”

“Be careful not to get swept away by the waves. Good luck!”

Lin Weining sent a cheering on reaction image.

Haya hooked her lip, tucking her phone into her pocket.

“Stop laughing and hurry up,” the manager urged, giving Haya’s hat a gentle tug. Haya’s manager was her cousin, who had previously worked as a makeup artist. Over the course of her two years with Haya and Cuqi, she had learned a lot. Following SGS’s solo debut, she transitioned into her new profession.

With her tall stature, Haya was lifted up by her manager and tossed forward.

The manager glanced at her and smirked, “Don’t think that just because you’re wearing a mask, I can’t see your lewd smile.”

Haya: “???”

She pulled down her mask, pushed her glasses up, revealing a naturally beautiful face without any makeup.

“Say those two words to my face again?” Haya challenged.

“Alright, I’ll change it to showing off then. Come on, come on, always teasing the young girls, trying to put on a facade!” the manager commented.

Haya said discontentedly, “What we’re doing is called mutual pursuit, you know?”

“Hehehe, you’re running east, she’s running west. The Earth is round. Sooner or later, you’ll meet somewhere on Earth with your souls,” the manager pushed her forward, “I wish you a beautiful future. Bless you.”

“You have no idea what love is,” Haya retorted, “I think we’re moving pretty fast already.”

“Don’t be funny, just you,” as her cousin who had watched her grow up, the manager compassionately patted her shoulder, “You were the one who tried to flirt with girls back in middle school, riding your bicycle and kicking the girl on the backseat so hard she flew off, scaring her so much that she kept three meters away whenever she saw you. Or inviting a girl to an amusement park and then forcing her onto a roller coaster where she cried her heart out and avoided you like the plague?”

Hearing this, Haya said petulantly, “That’s all in the past, we’ve all grown up.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve only seen your height grow, not your brain,” as they neared the door, the manager whispered, “If you really win her over, I’ll hire ten carriages to set off fireworks at your doorstep to congratulate you.”

“One word is enough.”

Haya raised her hand, tugged at her collar with a proud expression, “Just wait to lose.”

She took off her hat and extended her hand to the girls outside the door, their eyes shining with admiration. Looking at the twinkling light in their eyes, she felt an infinite surge of pride in her heart.

Seeing how well she interacts with young girls, taking down a little fairy shouldn’t be a problem, right?

A bit not so good.

However, on the second day of arriving at the hotel, before the filming of the program even began, before she could enjoy the beautiful scenery of Yu City, a piece of news struck her like a thunderbolt to the brain.

The news was trending, with the hashtag #LinWeining and #QiLoveAffair, making her head spin.

A loving and affectionate family.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Qiong was the first to speak, “No way, could it be true that someone is dating secretly behind our backs, Xu Pearl?”

Xu Heran sent a voice message, her voice lazy, “No way, could it really be that someone is dating, and someone can’t tell?”

Jiang Qiong: “?”

“It’s absolutely not like this! This reporter is making things up! Nonsense!” Lin Weining said angrily, “I don’t even know that guy!”

“Alright, alright, we know your taste. A clean and innocent cutie like this definitely isn’t your type,” Jiang Qiong said, “You like the bad ones.”

Lin Weining: “QAQ No way!”

Haya, belatedly, touched her phone.

“?”

“It’s here! Haya!” Jiang Qiong said excitedly, “Can I interview you?”

“What’s your current mood and feelings? Are you happy?”

“I think he looks like a sucker. What the heck, it’s early in the morning!” Haya said vehemently, “What’s going on?”

Lin Weining weakly sighed in her text.

“I don’t know either.”

Laurel, who had been up early studying, came downstairs to pour coffee, saw the conversation in the group, and opened the emoji.

“Yours, catch it.jpg.”

In the emoji, a little person tossed a green hat.

“Catch your hat and put it on your head.jpg!” Haya immediately responded.

“Rebound!”

“Rebound ineffective!”

Seeing them still playfully arguing, Lin Weining suddenly felt a bit wronged. She had been defamed, how could they still be joking around here? Especially that one person!

Why… Why does she seem so indifferent!

“Hmph!”

She sent out a message in frustration.

Haya immediately tried to console her, “It’s alright, this kind of fake news will be clarified soon, trust our legal department.”

She sent a series of thumbs-up emojis.

Who wants to hear these things from you!

Lin Weining became even more angry, tossed her phone aside, covered her head with a pillow, and was so furious that her eyes turned red.

So dumb.

At this moment, her phone suddenly rang.

Lin Weining waited for a while, hearing a series of messages one after another. The corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curve upwards. She finally knew—

Picking up her phone, Lin Weining looked at the sudden outbreak of hat-throwing war in the group chat, becoming even more furious.

A bunch of idiots!

Haya, who had successfully placed a hat on Jiang Qiong’s head, smirked triumphantly, leaned against the headboard, and messaged Lin Weining privately.

“Aren’t you guys going to participate in an outdoor variety show? I think their group is also on the program list, right?”

“Which group is this person from? I’ve never even heard of them. Are they trying to piggyback off us?”

“Even someone as beautiful, kind, and adorable as our Ning Ning is being piggybacked by this despicable person. Sigh, I feel so sorry for her. I really want to appear by Ning Ning’s side and give her a comforting chest rub.”

“Don’t get angry, because getting angry at people like this isn’t worth it.” Haya was frantically trying to comfort, but none of her words hit Lin Weining’s sore spot. She’s truly doing an amazing job.

Lin Weining turned over, buried herself in the blanket, ignoring Haya.

Three minutes later, Haya called, but Lin Weining didn’t pick up.

Three minutes passed again, but Haya unexpectedly didn’t continue calling!

This person is so infuriating!

Absolutely no sincerity!

The more Lin Weining thought, the angrier she got. She quietly wiped her tears under the covers, crying sadly.

The person who didn’t call was currently contacting Sister Cui.

“What’s going on, Sister?” Haya was extremely anxious, “We absolutely can’t let someone casually slander Ning Ning’s innocence!”

“I know, why are you more anxious than Weining?” Cui Qi helplessly laughed, “The trending topic has already been taken down. I just figured out the whole story. This young man quite likes Weining, and since they’re going to appear together on the variety show, he wanted to discuss with us whether we should work on it a bit, creating a romantic storyline on the show.”

“Huh?” Haya’s eyebrows furrowed tightly.

“Of course, we definitely refused!” Cui Qi said, “The trending topic was mishandled by the show’s staff. They started the hype before the show even began. I’ll definitely hold them accountable for this.”

“Tch.”

Haya held her phone and tablet, sliding her fingers up and down on the news interface. She saw that fans had dug up evidence that Lin Weining and this male idol from the boy group had confirmed their relationship due to many matching items.

For example, the tissue box that Lin Weining used casually during a livestream was deliberately shown by the male idol during his livestream, recommending it to everyone. The melancholic Weibo post that Lin Weining made had a picture of a dog figurine pooping, and the male idol inadvertently displayed the same figurine in his car shortly after. Not to mention the matching bracelets, rings, shoes, and clothes…

Haya felt that this was all premeditated!

She told Sister Cui about this incident and urged her to be on guard against this despicable person trying to copy Lin Weining. Cui Qi smiled and said she understood, asking how Haya’s rumors compared to her own, remarking that Haya seemed to be more worked up.

“I have rumors too?” Haya said in surprise.

Cui Qi thought for a moment. She mentioned sending Haya to a variety show where a male guest wanted to carry water for her, and she simply said she didn’t need to carry a water bucket and ran away. When a female guest wanted to wipe her sweat, she wrinkled her brow and evaded, saying that the scent of the perfume was a bit overwhelming.

“It’s going well, keep it up.”

Cui Qi said with a smile.

Keep it up until the day someone can’t take it anymore and falls for you.

“Hey, don’t say that about me, Sister. I think we shouldn’t participate in this program if we can avoid it. This mistake is really frustrating, isn’t it?” Haya said, “If the program requires a breach of contract fee, I’ll pay!”

“Sure, I know you have money. But the responsibility lies with them. Of course, given this situation, I won’t send FYU to participate and be exploited for publicity.” Cui Qi tapped her fingers on the table, thought for a moment, and then smiled, “Actually, your variety show has invited our girl group as well, asking us to be guests. Originally, I was thinking you’d go and the others would go somewhere else, but now…”

Haya’s eyes lit up and she excitedly bounced off the bed.

“Come on, you let Weining—plus the others—pack up and send them over. With me around, I guarantee no one dares to spread rumors about our girls!” Haya promised, “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Okay.”

Cui Qi hung up the phone and contacted the show’s production team. After SGS went solo, the popularity of the eight girls didn’t diminish; FYU’s momentum was still strong. The program team naturally agreed. However, they had also invited another girl group, the Fruit Group. This meant that they had to fit both groups into the show, and since it was a street dance program, most of the time would be dedicated to the dancing contestants. Camera time wasn’t guaranteed, and there was even a possibility of losing during the later PK rounds.

“No worries, just follow the normal procedures,” Cui Qi conversed with the program team with a smile. “This is FYU’s last stop for this itinerary. You don’t need to worry about their schedule. We’ll do our best to cooperate with your filming.”

Upon hearing this, the program team felt relieved and immediately contacted their legal department and Universal to sign the contracts.

In the hotel, the manager knocked on Lin Weining’s door, looking at her reddened eyes, and said with sympathy, “Oh dear, did they make Ning Ning cry?”

“These people are so annoying. They always pick on the honest ones.”

In the adjacent room, FYU teammates heard that Lin Weining was crying, and hurried over to comfort her.

“Back when we were filming ‘Starlight Girls,’ we practiced until late at night, and we were so tired that we held back tears in desperation. Now you’ve finally learned to cry whenever you want to cry?” Lin Ran teased Lin Weining, handing her a tissue.

Lin Weining felt a little embarrassed, thinking of herself as a trainee in the past. No matter how wronged she felt, she never dared to cry. But now… well, it was all someone else’s fault.

“See, fans know you won’t date behind their backs. Everyone believes in you. Don’t cry,” Sang Shiyi said.

The shy Shu Yuemeng walked over and patted her head.

Lin Weining became even more embarrassed, rubbing her face.

“Yeah, I was just upset a moment ago. I’m much better now!” Lin Weining said with a smile. “Anyway, since we’re at the last shoot, following Cui Qi’s temper, we’ll probably have some time to rest afterward. How about I treat everyone to bubble tea?”

“Sounds good!” the four girls said with a smile.

Lin Weining’s eyes curved. Just then, her phone rang with a special notification sound from a social media platform. She had set her two groups and the company’s accounts for special notifications.

Out of habit, Lin Weining glanced at her phone and saw a familiar profile picture.

SGS: “Hahaha. So, we were saying, we don’t know what to gift the fairy, right? You guys must like this equipment, even fairies.”

In the photos Haya posted, they were all order receipts for items she had purchased. In today’s trending news, most of the same items that confirmed the relationship were gifts from her!

Fans laughed heartily, saying, “That’s right! Ning Ning is so pure and hardworking, always running around. How would she have the time to deal with these strange things? It turns out you’re the mastermind behind the scenes!”

Lin Weining’s mood suddenly improved a lot. Her anger towards someone lessened just a tiny bit. Then, she saw the last two images.

“Elementary Schoolers’ Favorite Fairy Magic Castle—Can be used as a cat or dog bed; customizable size.”

“Love’s Magic Circle Transformation Set: Elf Wings, Transformation Magic Wand—The favorite birthday gift for 5-10-year-old girls!”

Lin Weining: “…”

Lin Weining: “…………”

Around them, the four members of FYU witnessed the previously somewhat downcast girl suddenly slam the table, her small, fair face flushed with anger. Her chest heaved, and she typed with a “clack clack” on the keyboard.

“Haya! How dare you send me these things! Use them yourself! Go live in them yourself!”

Haya was responding to fan messages when she saw Lin Weining’s comment. She quickly approached, saying, “Come on, let’s live together, okay?”

“You’re so annoying! I hate you QAQ!”

“Oh~”

The onlooking fans made indiscernible sounds from their mouths, feeling like the atmosphere was quite subtle here~ hehehe~

More, hurry up!

Earlier this morning, before Haya had driven Lin Weining to tears for the second time, their manager walked in after hanging up the phone. “Ning Ning, don’t be upset. Cui Ji has confirmed. She’s canceling this variety show for us. We’re flying to Yucheng this afternoon to participate in ‘Watch Me Dance~Uhh!'”

The angry girl widened her eyes. “Isn’t that…?”

“Yes, it’s Haya’s show. Haya is the leader, and you guys are guest participants.”

“Great!” Lin Weining clenched her fist. “This time, I’m definitely going to teach Haya a lesson!”

“I want her to know that I, Lin Weining, am not someone to mess with!”

Sitting in front of her, Lin Ran couldn’t help but burst into laughter as she looked at Lin Weining’s slightly flushed face.

“Snrk—”

Around them, the girls who couldn’t hold back their laughter buried their heads in their arms.

Lin Weining widened her eyes. “What are you all laughing at?”

“I believe in you!”

“Yeah, you can do it. Oh, go for it! We’re rooting for you!”

“Yes, make Haya submit to your authority!”

Lin Weining lifted her chin and clenched her fist.

That evening, FYU, who had flown for two hours, landed. As soon as a certain slim girl, who was wrapped up tightly, stepped out of the airport, her icy face coldly glanced at the girl standing in front of her. Before she could even declare war, the other girl with long legs took two or three steps forward and embraced her, reaching out to hug her into her arms.

Haya smiled as she wrapped her arms around the person’s waist. Pressing her close, her lips naturally brushed against the side of Lin Weining’s face, and they kissed through the mask.

“You’ve slimmed down again. You’ve worked hard.”

The four people beside them, who were automatically ignored, walked ahead as usual, showing no signs of being neglected.

“What should we eat tonight?”

“I feel like having rice noodle rolls.”

“The plain chicken in Yucheng is quite good. Let’s try it tonight.”

“Sure.”

In the midst of this conversation, there was a voice that interrupted, someone who had taken their luggage and pulled them into an embrace.

“Did you not eat properly again? Didn’t my mom send you supplements? Did you not take them?”

“I did eat them!”

“Your waist has gotten even smaller.”

“It’s itchy, don’t touch it!”

“I bought you the new jelly from XX, and there’s also your favorite lychee flavor.”

“…Well, I can reluctantly forgive you for that.”

…

Once they were in the car and left, the excited gaze of the paparazzo who had spent a lot of time chasing after Haya, losing twenty pounds in six months, was finally satisfied. He had finally captured her!

The cycle of heaven was just, and revenge was finally his!

At 8 PM, as the night settled over Yucheng, countless people leisurely scrolled through their phones and saw the latest news.

“The popular idol prefers red fans over blue fans, openly hugging and cuddling former teammate at the airport!”

“#HayaLinWeiningConfirmedRelationship#”

Having just resolved a heated argument and feeling relieved, Cui Qi made herself a cup of tea to enjoy the city lights under the night sky. She marveled at the calm that had finally arrived. However, her assistant’s call came through.

Cui Qi listened to her assistant’s voice calmly.

Detached.

Sarcastic.

Her calm expression slowly twisted, and the fingers gripping her phone tightened.

Haya. Damn it, you!!!

Go to hell with your non-existent rumors!

Go to hell with your promises of no rumors!

You bunch of little tricksters!

Mischief makers!

I, Cui Qi, won’t trust you again! I’m just a barking dog!

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Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Sinensis
Proofreader: Ruu

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