Rumor Has It I Don’t Follow A-Class Morals - Chapter 31

Maybe it was because she just woke up, but Ming Muyao’s hair was a messy bun at the back of her head, and there were still faint sleep marks on her face. When she smiled, her eyes curved pleasantly, giving her a relaxed and friendly appearance.

Su Yin felt a little uneasy from that smile. She looked down and said to Ming Muyao, “I’ll go get you some porridge.”

Once Ming Muyao saw her head to the kitchen, she yawned and started eating soup dumplings to help herself wake up. By the time she finished breakfast, she was fully alert again.

She had gone to bed around 2 a.m. and woke up a little after 7. Though the sleep hadn’t been deep, it wasn’t terrible either.

Ming Muyao figured she could catch a nap at the office during lunch break and still get enough rest overall.

After breakfast, she left the house. When she arrived at the company, quite a few employees still hadn’t shown up.

Every minute earlier a worker arrives is a minute lost, Ming Muyao thought, deeply understanding the sentiment. She knew no one would come in before their shift actually started. Strolling comfortably through the quiet company building, she greeted the early-arriving secretary, Lisa: “Make me an extra strong espresso—no milk, no sugar.”

Secretary Lisa was startled to see Ming Muyao so early. She quickly put away her phone and greeted, “President Ming.”

Ming Muyao glanced at her and smiled. “No need to be nervous. A little slacking off helps relieve work stress. Besides, it’s not even work hours yet.”

The secretary nodded quickly and hurried off to the break room to make her coffee.

As more and more people arrived, Ming Muyao noticed a few employees outside the inner-facing glass wall of her office peeking in repeatedly.

Usually, the blinds in her office were drawn, but since she’d come in early today, no one had put them down yet.

What are they looking at me for?

Ming Muyao frowned slightly and looked back. The employees instantly shrank away, clearly afraid of making eye contact with her.

Watching this, Ming Muyao took a sip of coffee and leaned back in her executive chair, reflecting.

Sometimes, being a bit of a scary boss really does have its perks.

Just before noon, she got a call from An Jinyao. The other woman sounded groggy, like she’d just woken up. She subtly probed, asking if she’d said anything wrong last night.

Ming Muyao didn’t understand why she was asking and replied calmly, “You were just giving a normal work report. Why?”

“Oh, nothing.” An Jinyao quietly let out a breath of relief. She was terrified that she might’ve run her mouth after getting drunk and said all the things she used to curse Ming Muyao for in her head. If that happened, she might not even know how she died.

“I heard you and Manager Sun are meeting with the people from Ruicheng tonight,” Ming Muyao reminded her. “They’re pretty cautious. Just have some drinks and casual conversation the first time—don’t talk business yet. Set up another meeting for that.”

“I understand, President Ming. Don’t worry.” An Jinyao hesitated for a moment, then said, “President Ming, did you know you’re trending right now?”

Ming Muyao paused.

She’d just heard a very familiar word.

“Trending? What trend?” she asked, confused, as she moved her mouse and opened a browser. She didn’t even need to go to the trending tab—her name was already at the top of the real-time hot topics.

Ming Muyao spotted shopping with small-time influencer—holding hands, flirtation off the charts

Ming Muyao: ?

Small-time influencer? When did she ever go shopping with a small-time influencer?

Clicking into the gossip post, Ming Muyao couldn’t help but laugh. This wasn’t some influencer—this was clearly Su Yin.

Whoever had taken the photos had captured her shopping trip with Su Yin, including scenes of them picking clothes, eating at the mall, and even a few subtle intimate moments she hadn’t noticed herself.

Since it was gossip, there weren’t too many comments yet, maybe because the post was still fresh. But even the few comments weren’t very kind.

The very first one said something about Ming Muyao picking up yet another small-time influencer from who-knows-where. It added that she had a great figure—plenty of curves in all the right places.

Frowning, Ming Muyao closed the call with a quick “Something came up” and then went straight to the trending post again. Her name was still pinned near the top, so she clicked in to read more.

Where did this little influencer come from? Never seen her before. She’s really cute—totally Ming-jie’s type.

Ming Muyao’s always liked this type—young, sweet, and innocent-looking. Say what you want, at least her taste never changes.

How much do you think it costs to sleep with this influencer? Those long legs wrapped around your waist… must feel amazing.

She looks so young… is she even legal?

Ming-jie might be wild, but she’d never break the law. She’d never touch someone underage—probably just a baby-faced type.

Why can’t I find this influencer anywhere online? Who is she really?

Ming Muyao’s frown deepened.

She’d always known the original Ming Muyao was rich and lived wildly, but she hadn’t expected that just shopping with Su Yin would be enough to make headlines. Don’t people online have anything better to do?

Out of curiosity, she searched her own name and discovered that she was actually pretty famous online, even had an account with over a million followers.

Apparently, the original Ming Muyao had been quite the party girl—there were loads of photos of her all over the internet.

Seeing someone with her face surrounded by women in bikinis at a pool party, champagne dripping down their chests as they leaned against her, gave Ming Muyao goosebumps.

This is seriously gross.

Still, it was just a bit of gossip. As a somewhat well-known entrepreneur—not a celebrity—the buzz died down pretty quickly.

But the photos were still a problem. Ming Muyao felt like her own reputation was already trashed, but Su Yin’s shouldn’t be dragged into this. Who knew how wild the rumors would get?

She called in the PR team and instructed them to deal with the issue: no matter what, they had to get any news or trending posts with Su Yin’s image taken down.

Then she grabbed her things and left the office, heading home.

Housekeeper Chen was sunbathing in the yard while working on a craft project. She was surprised to see Ming Muyao return and hurried over. “Back already? You usually don’t come home for lunch. Did you eat yet? I can whip something up real quick.”

“No need,” Ming Muyao replied, not even getting out of the car. She rolled down the window and asked, “Where’s Su Yin?”

“She went to the hospital to visit her mother. Left in the morning. Said she wouldn’t be home for lunch, so I didn’t cook anything.”

“Got it.”

Ignoring the housekeeper’s surprised expression, Ming Muyao turned the wheel and headed straight to the rehabilitation center.

It was a beautiful sunny day. Though the patient rooms were quiet, there was a comforting warmth in the air.

Walking down the hallway, Ming Muyao could see many people out in the yard sunbathing. Most of the residents here required full-time care, but the peaceful environment really reflected the quality of the place. I guess there’s truth to the saying—you get what you pay for.

As she neared the patient room, she heard Su Yin’s voice coming from the half-open door.

“Starting tomorrow, I will be a happy person.”

“Feeding horses, chopping wood, traveling the world.”

“Starting tomorrow, I will write to every family member.”

“Tell them about my happiness.”

“Give every river and every mountain a warm name.”

“May you marry your true love.”

“May you find happiness in this world.”

Excerpt from Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms by Hai Zi

Through the gap in the door, Ming Muyao saw Su Yin sitting beside the bed, a thick poetry collection in her hands.

Sunlight poured in through the wide window, casting a gentle glow over the clean, tidy room. In that moment, Su Yin looked ethereal as she read aloud.

When the poem ended, Su Yin looked up at her mother in the bed. The woman was lying still, her eyes open and blank, staring at the empty ceiling above.

But Su Yin didn’t seem bothered. She got up to adjust the blanket, gently tidied her mother’s hair, then sat back down and flipped to the next page to continue reading.

A passing nurse spotted Ming Muyao standing at the door and looked at her curiously. “Are you a family member?”

The voice broke the silence in the room.

Su Yin’s reading stopped abruptly.

Ming Muyao glanced at the young nurse and nodded before pushing the door open and walking in.

With a soft click, she shut the door behind her. Su Yin was already turned around, looking at her in surprise.

“You came? Why?”

Putting down the poetry book, Su Yin stood up to greet her. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the office? Did you eat lunch yet?”

Ming Muyao smiled gently. “I suddenly missed you, so I came to see you.”

Su Yin froze slightly, then awkwardly touched her ear and turned to look at her mother. “I was just keeping my mom company while she sunbathed.”

“Yeah,” Ming Muyao followed her gaze. “Were you reading poetry just now?”

“Mm-hm. My mom used to love modern poetry. When I was little, she’d hold me and read poems to me all the time,” Su Yin said softly. “The doctor said I should talk to her more, but just talking to myself feels weird. So I figured reading to her might help… Maybe she’ll wake up.”

Miraculous recoveries from vegetative states were rare, but sometimes, miracles did happen.

The two of them stayed by the patient’s side for a while. When everything was taken care of and the woman was lying back down comfortably, it was already past noon.

Wiping her hands, Su Yin looked at Ming Muyao and said, “You haven’t eaten yet, right? I didn’t bring anything either. Want to eat at the hospital cafeteria? I’ve eaten there a few times—it’s not bad.”

Ming Muyao stared at her for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Did you read the news today?”

Su Yin looked confused. “Why would I read the news?”

“No reason…”

Ming Muyao studied her carefully. She really didn’t seem like she knew anything about the trending post. After a long pause, Ming Muyao looked at her and asked, “Su Yin, do you want to go back to school?”