“Were you waiting for me?” she asked doubtfully.

“Yeah.” Zhang Yue was a bit uncomfortable. “There"s something I really want to know that"s not good to ask in front of others. Please don"t think that I"m a gossiper.”

“What is it?”

“When you fell sick before, the paparazzi took a picture of somebody sending you to the hospital. Was that your boyfriend?” Zhang Yue secretly thought: If she said it wasn"t, then he"d ask her if she had a boyfriend or not. If she doesn"t…

“Yep.”

Zhang Yue was startled and forced an embarra.s.sed smile, trying to be casual by playing it off, “Wow, he really is, haha. I didn"t know that you had a boyfriend.”

Sheng Jiaoyang also secretly felt upset about the topic. She was currently tied together with Shen Zhining and she couldn"t find a way to escape it anytime soon. If she found somebody she really liked later, she would miss the chance to be with them.

No way, she had to think of a way to build connections for Shen Zhining and let him know more outstanding people. She refused to believe that there wouldn"t be at least one person that he"d like.

The two returned to the room, each with their own problems. Zhang Yue"s a.s.sistant, who was immersed in eating, didn"t discover anything off, but Ning Xiaoruan"s heart was thudding heavily the entire time. Did that brat Zhang Yue just confess to his cousin-in-law? From Zhang Yue"s appearance, it was probably a failure. However, what did Xu Jiaojiao"s absent-minded att.i.tude mean?

The first thing Ning Xiaoruan"s brain thought of was a recently popular online phrase: From acting to love. If it was like that, then it explained everything. Xu Jiaojiao had grown feelings for Zhang Yue as they"d acted together, but she didn"t want to ruin her relations.h.i.+p with his cousin, so she"d rejected Zhang Yue"s confession. However, she was secretly unwilling and guilty, which was why she seemed so worried now. How could Xu Jiaojiao like somebody else though?! It was hard for his cousin to find somebody that he liked; she can"t get stolen away now. The whole family was still waiting for his cousin to marry and start a family!

If Sheng Jiaoyang knew Ning Xiaoruan"s thoughts, she"d ruthlessly flick his forehead, telling him that something was wrong with his brain and that he urgently needed medical treatment!

After hotpot, they each returned to their hotel rooms to rest.

Ning Xiaoruan, who was still waiting for his cousin"s reply, felt especially uneasy. Oh no, Cousin wouldn"t get angry if he heard Xu Jiaojiao was eating with another man, right?

After rolling a few times on the bed, Ning Xiaoruan made a call.

“What?” Shen Zhining said coldly when he answered the phone.

“Cousin, did you see my text?”

“I did.”

Ning Xiaoruan"s eyes widened. “Then, are you angry? Let me tell you, Cousin, although that kid Zhang Yue confessed to Cousin-in-law, she didn"t accept it-”

“Next time, don"t need to bother me about this,” Shen Zhining interrupted Ning Xiaoruan.

“How is this bothering you? Didn"t you have me follow Cousin-in-law because you wanted to know what she was doing?” Ning Xiaoruan said. “Cousin, don"t strain your relations.h.i.+p with Cousin-in-law because of jealousy. Otherwise, everybody will think that something has happened between you two-”

He hadn"t finished speaking when the other side abruptly hung up.

“Did Cousin really get angry?” Ning Xiaoruan thought that his good intentions had actually made things worse and followed the mindset of "if something happens that he can"t fix, find Cousin, and if Cousin"s not there, find parents". Since his cousin was now ignoring him, he immediately called his Mother for advice on his cousin"s love crisis.

Madam Ning listened with worry and then promptly asked her husband, Mister Ning, to impart on Shen Zhining some of their marriage secrets.

Shen Zhining, who always strictly followed his schedule, was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep when he suddenly got a call from his uncle. He picked it up, thinking it was urgent, only to receive a series of baffling admonishments and advice.

What "women need to be coaxed, especially one as young as your Jiaojiao"?

What "make more time to accompany her, or the distance will affect even the deepest love"?

What "since you decided on an actress as a girlfriend, you must believe in her"?

“…I know,” Shen Zhining replied.

Uncle Ning finally added, “If you two really can"t get along, then it"s better to break up. Uncle can introduce you to even more outstanding and beautiful girls.”

Shen Zhining really regretted not dumping Ning Xiaoruan in Africa now. Leaving that brat here was the same as giving himself trouble.

“Zhining, are you listening?”

Shen Zhining leaned against the headboard and lowered his eyes as he agreed. “Our current relations.h.i.+p is very good, you don"t have to worry.”

“Then, that"s good. Remember what I said before; even if you"re busy, you need to spend time with each other.”

“I know.”

After hanging up, Shen Zhining sat motionless for a few moments as he pondered, seeming to examine something in his mind.

On the other hand, Ning Xiaoruan happily went to sleep after tossing the issue to his parents.

Sheng Jiaoyang, who was completely unaware of what Ning Xiaoruan had done, found that Zhang Yue"s att.i.tude towards her had changed. He was now slightly distant and did things in a completely strict, business-like manner when they were acting in their scenes together. Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t care much about Zhang Yue"s changes. In the first place, he wasn"t her type.

The director took Xu Jiaojiao"s status as a student in consideration and shot all of her scenes, one after another. This way, they"d pretty much be done in half a month. After that, she"d be on vacation and only needed to come back if a few parts needed to be adjusted.

While Sheng Jiaoyang was preparing to go back to school, the episode of the Ultimate Ace which she partic.i.p.ated in also aired during primetime.

That evening, Ye Fan"s fans exploded.

For young idols like Ye Fan, a large part of their fanbase was young people, and some were even younger. If Sheng Jiaoyang had made her social media public, it probably would"ve been completely spammed. She didn"t publicise it, but her a.s.sistant Zeng Xuan"s account was bustling with activity.

Zeng Xuan had posted all about Jiaojiao"s recent happenings, so her social media immediately became the back garden of Ye Fan"s fans. Almost all of the comments were asking about how Xu Jiaojiao had attracted their little Fanfan. There were even a few Gu Zhou fans making trouble inside the comments as well.

A popular figure like Ye Fan was a walking headline. Whenever he talked more than a few sentences with a female star, it would immediately be judged as a love scandal. Furthermore, he"d even written a love song towards a certain somebody, live on TV. How could his fans possibly be calm? A few days ago, there was an insider that had said that Xu Jiaojiao and Ye Fan"s relations.h.i.+p was rather deep, but at that time, everybody had thought that Xu Jiaojiao had hired people to hype herself up online. After all, in many people"s impression, Xu Jiaojiao was somebody who was always exaggerated in the news. However, when the newest episode of the Ultimate Ace was broadcast, everybody was stunned.

In the program, Ye Fan specifically sought Xu Jiaojiao to be his partner, nothing at all like the rumours of how Xu Jiaojiao was trying to chase and fawn after him. Furthermore, Xu Jiaojiao"s temperament was straightforward. Her face was pretty, her figure was perfect, and she had skills. She was able to walk on the runway of an international fas.h.i.+on show with the world"s best supermodels, and could even paint fantastically, completely reversing everybody"s impression of her.

Of course, there"d always be stubborn nitpickers that said she was too arrogant. But, in any case, everybody was now forced to acknowledge her amazing abilities.

At this time, Xu Jiaojiao"s fans officially established a fanclub.

Liu Lu was the president of the fanclub and she was extremely excited to see Sis Jiao again.

The vice president was the intelligent and calm techie, the shut-in Zheng Yuan, who"d also eaten with Sheng Jiaoyang before.

Because she"d supported Sis Jiao from the start and was close to her, all the other fans obeyed their management. As a Technology major and a top student, the first thing Zheng Yuan did was write a list of rules and benefits, creating an exquisite rule system for the fans.

In order to better implement the rule system, Liu Lu got Sis Jiao"s approval and gave out rewards to those following the rule system.

Every month, a civil Jiao-fan would get the chance to receive Sis Jiao"s signature.

Every season, a civil Jiao-fan would be given a ticket for Sis Jiao"s meet and greet.

Every year, a civil Jiao-fan would be able to enter the central group chat and get a specially chosen gift from Sis Jiao.

The original Jiao-fans became the selection committee, and future admins would be decided entry through a vote, chosen based on how much they followed the rules.

When Sheng Jiaoyang returned to school, the number of people in her fan club had already reached five digits, and that number was steadily increasing.Previous ChapterNext Chapter