Chapter 12

Fu Yilan’s face was a clear warning not to mess with her. When she walked out of the crowd, everyone automatically parted to make way for her. Many people looked at her as if they were watching a “the boy who cried wolf” story.

“Can we find out who took it?” Fu Yilan asked.

Fu Haitang’s eyes showed regret: “There’s no surveillance in the locker room area.”

Fu Yilan looked at Fu Haitang’s phone, then met her eyes, a look of interest flashing across her face.

It meant: If this was your doing, how much money did Gu Jingjing give you?

Fu Haitang’s eyes were filled with hidden excitement. Both she and Fu Yilan knew this was a silent agreement that once this was over, it was time to split the loot.

Fu Yilan looked disappointed: “Then forget it. Maybe I’m just unlucky.” Of course, she would cooperate with Fu Haitang to complete the rich young lady’s task.

A few steps away, Gu Jingjing glared at Fu Haitang.

“I’ve already notified my colleagues to check the surveillance footage,” Fu Haitang said with a smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll solve the issue with your performance outfit.”

“You want to press charges?” The others heard this, and the crowd started to stir. “Then why didn’t you check the surveillance for so many other incidents before?”

But soon, this doubt turned into relief: “It’s good to check. It’ll prevent people from using these kinds of things to create hype during important events. It’s getting old!”

If Gu Jingjing had told Fu Haitang to steal her clothes, wouldn’t it have been easier to just let it go? To check? It was surprising, to say the least. Fu Yilan was taken aback: “Really?”

“You seem very worried about being investigated?” Gu Jingjing walked over. She had her arms crossed and her makeup was flawless. She gave Fu Yilan a disdainful look, feeling that there was no way this person deserved to stand next to her.

And she dared to have designs on Brother Lu Jing? How could a pheasant be paired with a true dragon? A top-tier alpha like Brother Lu Jing could only be with her!

Gu Jingjing looked Fu Yilan up and down: “An ordinary person should just stay in their own circle and not try to get attention or climb the social ladder with some low-class tricks!”

Fu Yilan: “…”

Fu Haitang lightly coughed. Fu Yilan gave a defeated smile. “Gu Jingjing, you’re right.”

This was unexpected. She thought she was a tough cookie, but she turned out to be a useless person who liked to suck up. Gu Jingjing said with contempt: “What are you smiling about? Don’t talk to me. I’ve seen too many people who like to suck up! A country bumpkin! I had a high opinion of you.”

Fu Yilan didn’t like to smile. “I don’t like to smile, and I’m not smiling.”

“Hey, you—” Gu Jingjing’s eyes immediately narrowed, and she put her hands on her hips, ready to make a scene.

Fu Haitang immediately stepped in: “Miss Gu, you should go try on your clothes first. If they don’t fit, I’ll have the styling team fix them for you right away.”

“Don’t need your nonsense.” Gu Jingjing snorted coldly. “It’s bad luck to talk to ordinary people like you!”

After fawning over the young lady, Fu Haitang said to the other girls: “You should go back to what you were doing. Don’t waste your training time.”

Gu Jingjing left first. When she left, most of the people from Class A also followed, and the crowd quickly dispersed.

At this moment, Li Qingqing from Class D slowly came over: “Yilan, are you okay?”

Fu Haitang raised an eyebrow, pretending to be unconcerned as she looked at her phone for messages.

Fu Yilan smiled and said, “I’m fine.”

Qingqing stammered. It was clear she was very nervous, and her eyes darted around.

Qingqing was holding her own public performance outfit.

It was a cheerleader-style outfit, with a fitted short-sleeved top that was cinched at the waist. The short skirt was a pleated mini skirt that hugged the hips. The hem of the skirt was tightened and stitched with two fingers’ width of this year’s very popular lace pleats.

It was cute and energetic without losing its sexiness. If Fu Yilan’s clothes hadn’t been thrown into the toilet, she would have looked great in them.

Fu Haitang blinked her eyes and suddenly snapped out of it. What was wrong with her? She actually thought Fu Yilan was cute?

There’s a saying: “When you think someone is cute, you’re done for!”

She was indeed done for. She actually wanted to help Fu Yilan?

“Oh, I don’t have to go either. The protagonist has a kind of magic. Except for the villains, everyone else will inexplicably be good to them. Don’t worry, everything will turn out okay~” Fu Haitang imagined Ji Xiaotong with her feet propped up on the bed, playing a game and eating snacks, while laughing at her. “I’m not a corporate drone like you guys. I’m very free~”

Was she conquered by the protagonist’s halo?

Fu Haitang suddenly understood. This explained it. The inexplicable palpitations and desires were not from her own will. It was the book and this worldview at play.

“Qingqing, what do you want to say?” Fu Yilan’s voice woke Fu Haitang up.

Qingqing: “…Yilan, I wanted to say that the public performance is in two days. Isn’t it a waste of everyone’s time to keep us here waiting for surveillance footage?”

Fu Haitang pursed her lips, trying to hold back her laughter.

Fu Yilan nodded guiltily: “But what about my performance outfit? I still haven’t found it.”

Qingqing’s eyes lit up: “Then I’ll give you mine. I… I can participate in this performance or not!”

Fu Haitang: “Qingqing, don’t say things like that casually. The surveillance footage will be available soon. Your clothes are fine, right?”

Qingqing: “No problem, no problem, they’re great. Yilan will definitely look good in them! So, Yilan… please take this set of clothes from me.”

“Mhm,” Fu Haitang agreed wholeheartedly, nodding along.

Fu Yilan glanced at Fu Haitang. Just as she was about to say something, Fu Haitang added, “But you’re also right. If we can find Yilan’s clothes earlier, this matter will be resolved.”

Qingqing: “Exactly!”

Fu Yilan narrowed her eyes slightly.

Her phone vibrated. The surveillance footage had been retrieved, and the security department notified Fu Haitang to come over. Fu Haitang simply replied with a “wait a moment” and then, pretending everything was normal, she kept everyone in the changing room.

“Qingqing,” Xiao Qian came over. “…Yilan, are you okay?”

Fang Qian, Li Qingqing’s best friend. They shared a dorm and were very close. Fu Haitang remembered them. They often wore the same clothes and hair accessories.

Li Qingqing comforted Fang Qian, “It’ll be over soon.”

“How much longer?” Gu Jingjing rolled her eyes, already very impatient.

“Thank you, Qingqing,” Fu Yilan took Li Qingqing’s clothes. “Then I’ll go try them on to see if they fit.”

Li Qingqing let out a sigh of relief. “So can we leave now? Yilan has clothes now, so this matter can be dropped, right?”

“Everyone can leave!” Fu Haitang said with a smile, signaling to the others. Gu Jingjing sneered and left a message as she passed by Fu Haitang: “This works too. I’ll give you credit for that.”

The crowd started to leave. Fu Haitang received a message from Gu Jingjing.

After reading the message, Fu Haitang became excited. She put her phone away. “By the way, Fang Qian and Li Qingqing, don’t leave yet. Come with me.”

“Qingqing, thank you for your clothes,” Fu Yilan said. “What about you? What will you wear for the performance?”

Li Qingqing pulled Fang Qian behind her. She looked at Fu Haitang and then at Fu Yilan, and suddenly understood something. She laughed with anger, “Are you two playing tricks on me?”

Fu Haitang raised her hand to adjust her cardigan: “Huh?”

“Qingqing,” Fu Yilan was also confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Fu Yilan, don’t you understand?” Fang Qian immediately got angry. “If Qingqing gave her clothes to you, she can’t perform on stage! She gave up her chance at the public performance to you!”

Fu Yilan looked down, lovingly stroking the hem of the skirt, and said to herself, “So that’s it. My skirt was thrown away because without it, I couldn’t perform on stage.”

Li Qingqing was flustered: “No, no, Yilan! Xiao Qian didn’t mean that. Don’t overthink it. I… I voluntarily dropped out!”

“Qingqing!” Fang Qian was anxious. “What are you doing?”

“No way?” A few heads squeezed in through the door, arguing among themselves. “Did Qingqing throw Fu Yilan’s clothes away?”

“That’s not confirmed yet! Don’t make wild guesses!”

“If it wasn’t her, why would she give her clothes to someone else? Isn’t that a guilty conscience? And she even voluntarily dropped out!”

“Most likely, it was her…”

“Uh, she must have hidden it. Couldn’t she just secretly take it out again?”

“Shhh—”

Fu Yilan stroked the narcissus on the hem of the dress. This was Li Qingqing’s pheromone scent. Although she didn’t like other people’s things, this outfit was difficult to make quickly. Fu Haitang probably knew something, and her own set would not be coming back.

She would make do for now.

Fu Haitang: “Qingqing, whether you stay or leave, the production team will notify you after the meeting. But Fang Qian has to come with me now.”

Fang Qian: “No…”

Fu Yilan: “Then I’ll be going, Teacher Fu.”

“Wait a minute,” Fu Haitang replied, and then she winked at Fu Yilan.

Fu Yilan: “…” What are you trying to be cute for? Fu Yilan snorted and left.

“Let’s go,” Fu Haitang was displeased with the snort.

The group followed Fu Haitang, entering the office one after the other. They didn’t say a word, all because Fu Haitang was constantly on the phone.

Fu Yilan didn’t know what this person was up to and gave Fu Haitang a suspicious look.

“You have a lot of hostility towards me?” Fu Haitang hung up the phone. “You’ve already guessed the truth. I didn’t throw your clothes away.”

There was no one else in the post-interview room. Fu Haitang exported the video sent by the post-production team, cut out the beginning and end, and played the key parts for everyone to see.

“The clothes were delivered to the station at noon. I notified you all about it in the group chat beforehand,” Fu Haitang said. On the screen, Fang Qian went to the changing room during lunch break. When she came out, her stomach was bulging, clearly hiding something.

Fu Yilan suddenly understood and immediately put on a wronged expression, her voice choked up as she asked, “Fang Qian, why are you targeting me?”

At this point, there was nothing to hide. Fang Qian gave up: “Why? I just did what you wanted. What, did I do it badly?”

Li Qingqing: “Qianqian…”

“Isn’t this what you like?” Fang Qian sneered. “Deliberately being late, throwing away your bed number, and gaining so much attention. I’m just helping you out some more? Is that not what you wanted?”

“Oh~” Fu Yilan ran a hand through her hair. “So that’s what you meant.”

Fu Yilan: “How will you handle this?”

What do you want me to say?

Fu Haitang took out her phone and motioned for Fu Yilan to look. Fu Haitang had applied to the station for a twenty-minute official post-interview for Li Qingqing and Fang Qian.

A post-interview meant it would be officially filmed. If it was filmed, it would be broadcast. The things that Fang Qian and Li Qingqing did would be publicly broadcasted.

On the way to the practice room, Fu Haitang simply explained Fu Yilan’s confusion: “The station has changed a little bit of their filming plans.”

Fu Yilan looked away and casually plucked a leaf from a potted plant, playing with it in her hand.

Fu Haitang reached out and held the elevator, motioning for Fu Yilan to go in first: “The matter with Fang Qian and Li Qingqing will most likely be broadcast tomorrow. The performance the day after is live.”

Fu Haitang smiled: “Guess what the viewership rating will be the day after tomorrow.”

Once it was made public, with the influence of a show, even if Li Qingqing and Fang Qian didn’t drop out, they would be attacked by netizens.

Their future careers in the entertainment industry would likely be ruined. This punishment would probably be even more severe than making them drop out.

Was this all Fu Haitang’s doing?

She was so ruthless.

Fu Yilan’s eyes held a subtle smile.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Fu Haitang asked.

“This is for you,” Fu Haitang took out an inhibitor. “It’ll be these two days, right? Don’t forget to use it. The public performance is the day after tomorrow…”

Fu Yilan held the inhibitor, turning it over and over, examining it. “Cymbidium? How do you know my pheromone scent?”

Fu Yilan: “Did you… last night?”

Fu Haitang froze.

This was bad. Fu Haitang’s mind was in a mess. Fu Yilan’s gaze was burning. They both knew the passion between them last night, the ambiguity that had been held back for half the night was about to be exposed because of an inhibitor Fu Haitang had given her.

Fu Yilan’s throat moved. She crumpled the green leaf in her palm, kneading it into a ball with her sweat.

Fu Haitang stood rooted to the spot, her heart almost jumping out of her mouth, until the elevator chimed.

The 23rd floor had arrived.

The moment the door opened, Gu Jingjing’s angry roar came.

“Why are you ignoring me! I’ve suffered so much to see you!”

“Jingjing.”

[…]

Fu Yilan stepped out of the elevator and bumped into a heartbroken Gu Jingjing who was running toward it. The inhibitor in her hand rolled and stopped at the feet of the person who had been following her, Lu Jing.

Lu Jing bent down, picked it up, and handed it back to Fu Yilan. “Cymbidium?”

Fu Yilan’s lips twitched into a smile: “Thank you.”

It was a look of a thousand years. When Fu Yilan looked up, she seemed to see a familiar feeling in Lu Jing’s eyes. “You…”

“Brother Lu!” Gu Jingjing was furious. “You go down and wait for me. I’ll be right back after I go to the bathroom.”

Lu Jing left, and Fu Yilan also, with great tact, left the elevator entrance.

A car key was thrown at Fu Haitang. Gu Jingjing: “You handled today’s matter well. You can have this car.”

Fu Haitang was stunned: “A BMW?”

Gu Jingjing: “It’s a crappy car. If you don’t like it, you can sell it for scrap.”

It was an X-series car, worth hundreds of thousands… Fu Haitang remembered that Gu Jingjing had her butler order this car so she could participate in the show in a low-key manner.

At that time, Fu Haitang had complained that driving a car worth four to five hundred thousand at the age of twenty was considered low-key? She never expected that this pie would fall right into her lap so quickly.

“There’s something you need to do,” Gu Jingjing said.

Fu Haitang: “Yes, Miss! Just say the word!”

Gu Jingjing: “That b1tch Fu Yilan looks a little familiar, but I can’t remember who she is. Go check her background for me. Why is there only a record of her living in Chuancheng after she was twelve? And she’s an adopted daughter. I need to know if she has ever been to City A before that.”

Fu Haitang: “…”

“What?” Gu Jingjing was puzzled, then displeased. “Is it difficult?”

Fu Haitang: “Miss, this might take a little time,”

Gu Jingjing: “If you can’t do it, get out. There are plenty of people who want this job!”

Fu Haitang blocked the elevator until she saw off the great Buddha that was Gu Jingjing. Only then did she straighten up and smile.

Fu Yilan turned the corner and came out. “What were you talking about?”

There were surveillance cameras everywhere in the hallway. To ensure privacy, Gu Jingjing intentionally lowered her voice when giving instructions to Fu Haitang. Fu Yilan had no idea what they were talking about.

“We were talking about how handsome Teacher Lu is,” Fu Haitang said, tossing the car keys in her hand, feeling smug. “Want to go for a drive?”

Fu Yilan smiled: “You like this type?”

“Who doesn’t? A big star, a top celebrity, and a young lady who loves him to death.” It’s really unlucky that you have a love rival like this, Fu Haitang thought with a sigh.

Fu Yilan twisted the stem of the leaf in her hand. With a gentle twist, the green leaf flew out in a spin and then floated gently to the ground.

A foot stepped on it. The leaf crumpled and rotted. Fu Haitang lifted her foot and glanced at it, thinking that Fu Yilan was so excited to see Lu Jing that she had to torture a leaf.

Fu Haitang suddenly had an idea. She stepped closer, raised her hand and placed it on Fu Yilan’s shoulder. Her palm was facing up, and she gently cupped Fu Yilan’s neck. Leaning in, she said softly, “I can tell you a secret.”

“Teacher Lu likes cymbidiums,” Fu Haitang said.

Fu Yilan lowered her eyes. In her hand lay the cymbidium-scented inhibitor.

Gu Jingjing’s hostility towards her had become Fu Haitang’s opportunity to profit. By giving her the cymbidium-scented inhibitor, she had inquired about Lu Jing’s preferences beforehand, wanting to use her to provoke Gu Jingjing and gain a profit.

Thankfully, she had met a mercenary businesswoman, which allowed her to quickly see things clearly and not lose her mind and heart when she was about to become a pheromone slave.

Fu Yilan tilted her head: “You really are a master of planning.”

“You too,” Fu Haitang smiled. That was close. She had almost thought that Fu Yilan’s passionate emotions last night, caused by her pheromones, had a small part of her own feelings for her.

It turned out it was just a pure mutual exploitation.