Chapter 20

After a wave of bond heat, Fu Haitang lit a cigarette and casually threw it aside. The flame ignited the skirt on the floor, and smoke spread. Fu Yilan wet the only towel and handed it to Fu Haitang.

Fu Haitang pretended to be disgusted: “That’s your towel.”

“Cover your nose,” Fu Yilan said.

Fu Haitang coughed twice: “I don’t want to… It will be over soon.”

Fu Yilan: “Stubborn.”

The fire started.

Fu Haitang held her hand high, supported by Fu Yilan underneath. She tried her best to hold the burning clothes up to the smoke alarm. Her whole body was weak, and she was wobbling.

But…

“Fu Yilan!” Fu Haitang’s face was flushed. “Where are your hands touching!”

Fu Yilan raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry.”

“Hey—” Fu Haitang almost fell. “Support me a little!”

Fu Yilan smiled triumphantly, pouting her lips: “So hard to please!”

Fu Haitang: “…”

The smoke alarm was successfully triggered, and a light rain fell inside the room. Everything was ready. Fu Haitang found her phone and put it away, then took a long breath and tilted her chin, pointing to Fu Yilan’s arms. “Can I have my clothes back?”

After their entanglement, Fu Haitang’s clothes were now on Fu Yilan. Fu Yilan: “No.”

Fu Haitang stared at the top of the omega’s head. There were two cowlicks, and she had heard that people with two cowlicks were stubborn. “Then you can give them back to me tomorrow. As for today… we’ll pretend it never happened, and I’ll give you money.”

The omega pursed her lips: “Trying to distance yourself so quickly? What’s wrong? Are you repulsed by being with an omega?”

Fu Haitang pressed her fingers to her forehead. She didn’t know where to begin. She wasn’t repulsed by Fu Yilan. She was repulsed by her own vile, restless heart.

Fu Haitang was helpless and no longer wanted the clothes. “Let’s go.”

Fu Haitang turned around and stopped. Her shirt hem was being pulled. The omega’s fingers were white from the force.

“Why are you avoiding my question?” Fu Yilan said, taking two steps forward. She held Fu Haitang’s shirt hem, tugged it twice, and looked up at Fu Haitang. Her eyes were teary, like sugar had been sprinkled on them, shining with a faint light. “Fu Haitang? You’re so good to me. It’s not just because you set me up and feel guilty, is it?”

This was going to be the death of her.

Fu Haitang stared at that white finger, and her throat moved backward. She reached out and slapped the back of Fu Yilan’s hand. It wasn’t light. The back of the omega’s hand turned red. So before the second slap could land, she stopped her hand in mid-air. “Let go.”

At this moment, the changing room door sounded. Fu Haitang and Fu Yilan exchanged a look and both found a spot to lie down and pretend to be unconscious.

#AStationScam

Weibo exploded.

In the hashtag square for A-Station’s scam, almost every comment was an insult to A-Station.

• • Followed the whole thing, didn’t see Fu Yilan.

• • +1, I feel like I was scammed. She wasn’t even there!

• • Scam!

• • Where did Fu Yilan go?

• • Seriously, I’m going to be a conspiracy theorist. Did Fu Yilan get kicked out of the show for being a victim of someone throwing her performance outfit away?

• • Yes, I’ve checked. Fu Yilan’s background is very ordinary. She has almost no connections. Maybe she was scammed by the production team, but they didn’t expect that even without performing at all, she would still successfully advance.

• • She advanced?

• • Yes, the online votes are out. Fu Yilan has 239,869 votes, more than 100,000 more than the second place. She’s the undisputed first. Folks, I won’t say who’s the protagonist in a feel-good novel!

• • Holy crap?

• • Oh my god, the production team’s jaw must have dropped. An orphan advances without performing?

• • …Are you sure she didn’t buy votes?

• • Fu Yilan has no background. She’s a nobody in City A. Do you really think she has the money to buy votes?

• • I’m dying of laughter.

• • My heart aches!! I counted the number of performers. Everyone was there except for Fu Yilan. Our little eucharis lily was really set up by the powers that be!

• • Wuwuwu, thank goodness she advanced. Really.

• • She’s the undisputed first. The production team will have to bring her back no matter what they do.

• • Yeah, can’t wait. I won’t allow Fu Yilan to be wronged like this and leave!

• • A blogger has posted a text and picture analysis! Go check it out! It’s really the production team’s doing!

In just one hour after the live broadcast, the internet had an opinion.

It wasn’t until A-Station released a statement that there was finally an official answer to the question.

Group Show 07 Official Weibo:

• • At 8 p.m. tonight, the 23rd floor of the TV station had an accidental fire, trapping a staff member and a trainee in a changing room. Both have been taken to the hospital and are now out of danger after being checked.

The comments immediately exploded.

• • A fire at 8 p.m.? They were only found after 10:30 p.m. Does this statement even make sense?

• • Oh my god, a fire. Did they faint? They were unconscious for more than two hours?

• • This is hilarious. Why don’t you just say the two of them were having an affair?

• • What a bad excuse. A reason they made up after seeing Fu Yilan get popular.

• • The credibility of this excuse is on par with when I told my elementary school teacher that I forgot my homework at home. It seems flawless, but the teacher already sees through everything.

• • What a clumsy excuse. Just like Fu Haitang saying she’d only sniff and not bite.

• • A-Station, if you’re going to use this kind of excuse to brush me off, I’m really going to be a conspiracy theorist.

At the hospital.

Ren Qing: “…”

Sini chuckled. She tapped her long fingernails on the screen. “These netizens are really something. They’re told the truth and don’t believe it. Hahaha.”

Ren Qing: “I’m leaving. You’re in charge of taking Fu Yilan back to her place. When Fu Haitang wakes up, tell her she doesn’t have to come to the company tomorrow.”

“President Ren…”

Ren Qing left.

Fu Haitang was huddled in the hospital bed. After everyone left, she quietly opened her eyes.

Sini: “Still pretending!”

Fu Haitang sat up and waved her hand: “Thanks.”

“Fu Yilan hasn’t woken up yet,” Sini said.

Fu Haitang got out of bed and put on her shoes: “Then, then please take her home. I, I’m going home first.”

“Hey—” Sini held out her hand. “You just took an inhibitor for your heat. You need to be observed… for a while…”

Sini: “…Why are you walking so fast?”

Sini rubbed her forehead helplessly. She went to the next hospital room and found that Fu Yilan was also gone. “Holy crap?”

…

Back home, Fu Haitang went straight into the bathroom. Her underwear was on the floor.

Mist filled the entire bathroom.

The hairdryer was buzzing. Fu Haitang, wrapped in a towel, was drying her hair. As she moved, she noticed her fair neck.

Her gland…

Fu Haitang reached out and touched it. The area around her gland was red from the steam after her shower.

She turned her neck and took two pictures of her neck with her hair pulled back. It was beautiful, but the red, swollen area also reminded Fu Haitang of what had just happened with Fu Yilan.

Fu Haitang put her clothes in the washing machine. Ji Xiaotong was playing a game in the living room.

“Kill, kill, hit… you useless person…”

“Dude, get a job at a factory, okay?”

“Child, go home, child!”

Fu Haitang: “Where did you learn all these lines?”

Ji Xiaotong looked at Fu Haitang excitedly: “Online! How about that? I’m good at scolding people, right! I told you I could learn things online!”

Fu Haitang: “…”

…

The night was clear. A low murmur came from the bed.

Lu Jing said in a hoarse voice, “I really caught you in bed, you two sluts!”

Fu Haitang sat up suddenly, sweat drenching her body.

Fu Haitang put on her clothes and got out of bed. Ji Xiaotong, who was sleeping in the living room, woke up from the noise and asked: “Are you going out this late?”

…

“Catch!”

A can of beer rolled to her feet. Fu Haitang raised her hand and slapped it, holding it tightly. The pool hall owner provocatively raised his eyebrow at Fu Haitang from a distance, pulling the tab of a can and raising it, a gesture of welcome.

Fu Haitang had no appetite. She put the beer beside her, and Sini picked it up. “Not drinking?”

“Nope.”

“You’re not drinking or playing pool. What are you doing here?” The manager walked over. “Coming here to freeload off Sini’s VIP air conditioning?”

Fu Haitang: “…”

“Hahaha, hey—” Sini laughed. “You know, this is the first time she’s asked me to hang out. I’m surprised that someone as stingy as Haitang would have a nightlife. It turns out she just wanted to freeload off my pool hall VIP!”

Fu Haitang was called out but wouldn’t easily admit it. She picked up a pool cue, tilted her head, and squinted at the ball. Almost at the same time, she positioned herself, pushed the cue, hit the ball, pocketed it, and elegantly put the cue down.

Sini was surprised: “You actually know how to play?”

Fu Haitang smirked slightly.

“Looks like you’ve got some skills,” the manager said, coming to take Fu Haitang’s turn. “I’ll play against you.”

With a crisp sound, Fu Haitang rested the cue against her body, her upper body lazily propped up. “So sleepy.”

Manager: “Hey, there’s a minimum charge here. Are you two just going to leave without spending anything?”

Fu Haitang raised her cue, pointed to the sign not far away, and said, “Didn’t you say I could waive the minimum charge if I won?”

“Hiss, then I’ll get serious!” The manager held the pool table, walking from one side to the other, finally finding a solution to the tricky shot, but in the end, she still lost to Fu Haitang.

Fu Haitang lowered her gaze, hooked the hood of her hoodie with her long fingers, and pulled it over her head, walking silently out of the pool hall.

“Where are you going?” Sini asked.

The manager quickly racked the balls. “Not playing another round?”

Sini turned off her phone and stood up. “Haitang, something on your mind?”

Manager: “If the girl doesn’t want to talk, don’t ask.”

Sini sighed: “I won’t ask then. I just hope President Ren won’t ask tomorrow. This is a job at a TV station, and if you get fired, you get put on the industry blacklist.”

…

At night, Fu Yilan went to bed early. The strong inhibitor from the hospital made her exceptionally tired. As she was falling into a daze, she felt as if she was back in that changing room.

A sense of irritation welled up in her heart, but it was quickly soothed by the faint fragrance in her dream.

Fu Yilan heard her own hoarse voice, wrapping her arms around that person and holding them tightly.

Between being half-asleep and half-awake, she already knew it was a dream but was unwilling to wake up.

As her consciousness returned, the person in her arms faded away. Fu Yilan reached out, wanting to grab that curved white waist, but the person was getting farther and farther away from her.

Fu Yilan’s hand was empty. She smiled to herself and woke up from the dream, raising her arm to cover her eyes, mumbling to herself: “Didn’t I already take the inhibitor…”

The heat was unbearable. Fu Yilan got up and heated a cup of milk for herself, then opened a drawer and took out that eucharis lily inhibitor. She held it in her palm, playing with it, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled up.

It was right that it was missing. She never even brought it to the company. Fu Yilan played with the inhibitor, and her other hand touched the hickey on her chest. She brought the inhibitor to her lips and gently kissed it.