Seducing Him - Chapter 22

Their flirtatious, joking conversation ended in his calm, unhurried tone.

Because he really did turn and start running water into the bathtub.

The young man was meticulous about bathing—he added essential oils to the water, had neatly folded bathrobes nearby, a wine glass filled with red wine, a bouquet of roses, and even adjusted the overhead lighting to a warm, seductive yellow.

The camera swayed again, and when it turned back, he was already sitting naked in the water, lazily leaning back against the edge of the tub. His dark hair and pale skin were framed by the large bouquet of roses, and wisps of steam rose from the bath, giving him an aura of cold, alluring desire.

Due to the angle, Ci YiYang couldn’t see clearly, only glimpsing the skin above his chest and the arm resting beside him.

Even so, it couldn’t hide the sense of indifference about him that seemed capable of stirring desire yet too lazy to act on it.

He turned his head slightly, as if seductively drawing her in through the screen with a cold, beguiling look.

Before he could speak, Ci YiYang’s hand trembled, and she accidentally tapped “hang up.”

In the dorm, Ming Ying had already ended the call, the lights were off, and there was silence on the other end. The quiet was so intense that Ci YiYang could hear her own heartbeat pounding.

Her mind was full of the image from just now.

A cold, aristocratic-looking boy lying in a bathtub too small for his body, the warm yellow light mingling with the mist falling on his pale skin, faintly reddened in some areas. His expression toward the camera was hazy, as if immersed in a sticky, damp sensation.

Ci YiYang closed her eyes, feeling her heartbeat race up and down her chest, into her ears, and spreading through her limbs, her bl00d vessels heated as if gone mad.

She struggled to suppress her chaotic heartbeat, forcing herself to close her eyes and stop thinking about it.

That night’s video call seemed to have never happened. Ci YiYang didn’t call him afterward, nor did she send messages, and he likewise didn’t reach out.

In the morning, she suddenly received a call from her senior brother.

“Ci YiYang, quickly check online—someone’s exposed you.”

“What?” she asked, confused.

Her senior sighed and immediately forwarded a message, “Look at this.”

Ci YiYang clicked the link without understanding, and the first thing she saw was the huge headline: “The Once-Praised Goddess of the Beijing University Journalism Department Turns Out to Be a Gold Digger.”

Below the headline were photos of her during military training.

Her brows furrowed as she scrolled down.

The first few pages were filled with emotional posts by the uploader, accusing her of all sorts of fabricated deeds. The posts claimed she had secretly dated this person for months, swindled tens of thousands of yuan, then turned against him, even hiring people to beat him. Many rumors about her were fabricated.

Further down were more photos, mostly taken secretly, seemingly authentic. But there were also attachments of many purchase screenshots, gift images, and several pages of chat screenshots.

The avatar and username in the chat matched hers perfectly.

These fake chats were convincing enough to make many believe them. Several comments had accumulated tens of thousands of likes, all posted within three hours.

After reading, Ci YiYang wasn’t panicked. She asked her senior, who hadn’t hung up, “Do you know who posted this?”

The post didn’t mention any male party; she didn’t know him, but she recalled a man named Wan Wei who had stalked her several times and said strange things to her in the bar and near the stairwell.

She had been busy recently, so she hadn’t paid attention. Wan Wei hadn’t appeared again since Lu Jin confronted him at the school stairs, so she had forgotten about it.

Now that this post appeared, her first thought was him, though she didn’t truly know him. While the words in the post seemed fabricated, they were convincingly realistic.

Her senior said, “I don’t know, but I heard he’s probably from the Foreign Languages Department.”

He paused, then reminded her, “Be careful with your private information. Most of our department has probably seen the post.”

As a journalism student, he knew it was hard to verify truth from lies in such online exposures, but he trusted Ci YiYang’s character—she would never do such things.

“Thanks for the reminder, I know. It’s not me; I didn’t do this.”

Her senior believed her. He had other matters to attend to and only offered brief comfort before hanging up.

Ci YiYang had planned to return to the dorm, fearing questions, and sat on a chair instead, carefully examining the inconsistencies in the post.

The post was fake; a quick review of the chat pages revealed flaws. She had never added this person, had no chat history, and the homepage ID was different, clearly a high-level forgery. Anyone who knew her knew she never posted product sales.

The tricky part was that most people didn’t know the truth. Many had already concluded she was a gold digger, influenced by Wan Wei’s apparently sincere words. Some extremists even generalized, claiming girls at Beijing University were all gold diggers.

While she was editing a reply but hadn’t sent it, she noticed the post with over a hundred thousand likes had been deleted without reason.

Just as she was about to check, the call interface for Jing Zuoyuan popped up.

She paused, then answered.

“I saw what happened online,” Jing Zuoyuan’s warm voice said. “That person isn’t you.”

Hearing him immediately state it wasn’t her lifted her spirits.

“How do you know it wasn’t me?” she asked.

People were already claiming she had dated many for money, despite her not knowing them, leading to indiscriminate attacks.

Jing Zuoyuan explained, “Although the avatar was yours, the Moments content and chat tone were different—clearly someone was impersonating you.”

“Setting aside that the impersonator defrauded tens of thousands using your avatar and infringed your reputation, posting private information online before verifying facts is also illegal. From the surface, one might face criminal liability, the other administrative or criminal penalties.”

“I thought you were here to comfort me,” she said. But the serious tone of his words made her laugh.

Hearing her playful voice, Jing Zuoyuan relaxed, joking warmly, “Do you want me to handle it? I’ve already collected the evidence for you.”

Ci YiYang shook her head. “Not yet. No need to call the top law firm. You can stay put for now; you’ll be needed later.”

Jing Zuoyuan smiled, “Alright. If needed, I’ll help. Consider it a favor among longtime acquaintances.”

Ci YiYang sincerely said, “Good. If necessary, you’ll be the first person I call. But for now, I’ll handle it myself. If I can’t, I’ll come to you.”

“Alright,” he said, laughing softly. “I thought you’d need someone now, but you’re steadier than I imagined. Seems my hero moment isn’t needed—though I hope there won’t be a next time.”

Ci YiYang smiled.

After the call, she tried searching for the poster online, only to find all relevant entries changed.

Not only had the original post been deleted, the poster publicly apologized, admitting he had mistaken the person. A video clarification appeared as well.

Even though the young man in the video had bandages on his head, she immediately recognized him as Wan Wei, now hospitalized.

The apology marked a sudden turn of events. She checked and discovered that during her call with Jing Zuoyuan, a man had come forward, admitted using her avatar to scam her roommate, promised to return the money, and would surrender to the authorities.

The situation unfolded too quickly; she hadn’t even started handling it before it was resolved.

She called Jing Zuoyuan again.

“Need me again?”

“Thank you, Jing Zuoyuan.”

Both voices sounded at the same time. There was a brief pause before he gently reminded her, “You already thanked me.”

“I mean it this time.”

“Alright, I’ll accept it for next time, since I haven’t done anything yet,” he replied warmly.

“You’ve already helped me a lot,” she said. “I’ll treat you to a meal to thank you properly.”

This matter was resolved so quickly and perfectly only because of Jing Zuoyuan. A verbal thanks felt insufficient, hence the invitation.

“You’re being so polite?” he asked, surprised. It was the first time she initiated an invitation.

“I should be. Tell me when you’re free,” she said.

Jing Zuoyuan accepted graciously, “Okay. I’ll think of a day; I’ve been away from Beijing these past few days.”

“Alright,” she nodded, aware of his busy schedule.

“Then I’ll hang up.”

“Mm, okay.”

No sooner had they hung up than a knock came at his study door.

“Come in.”

“Sir, the public opinion incident you instructed has been resolved. Both the party spreading rumors and the fraudster have clarified.”

“So fast?” Jing Zuoyuan raised his brow, surprised.

He had already instructed someone to handle it but didn’t expect it to conclude so quickly with a video clarification.

The person at the door replied uncertainly, “Perhaps a change of conscience; we hadn’t even started yet, and they admitted it themselves.”

“Conscience?” Jing Zuoyuan chuckled. There’s no such thing as a spontaneous conscience in this world.

Since it was resolved and didn’t affect Ci YiYang, he closed the file. “Good. Let’s also deal with those who spread rumors during the chaos.”

“Yes, sir.”

Because the matter was properly handled, the rumor-monger was expelled, the fraudster prosecuted, and Ci YiYang suffered no serious consequences.

Beijing’s November weather changed daily, growing colder; thin coats were now worn.

Ci YiYang hadn’t returned to the manor for weeks.

This week, she came suddenly. The housekeeper was surprised at first, then happily took the items she carried and invited her in.

Outside, a fine drizzle fell, chilling her skin, but inside the hall, the temperature was just right.

“Where’s Lu Jin?”

Ci YiYang removed her beret, placing it on the coffee table. The hem of her skirt was darker, dampened by the rain. Her gentle, warm gaze shimmered like water in autumn.

She hadn’t messaged Lu Jin during this time; contact had been minimal.

The departments were far apart, so they rarely met. She only heard of him through school news or classmates’ gossip.

Lately, people were curious about Lu Jin’s background.

Although Lu Lan was about to marry his father, she still didn’t know what Lu Lan did or who Lu Jin’s father was, but she had little interest in those who knew him.

The housekeeper said, “I haven’t seen the young master wake up. He’s probably still in his room.”

Although the manor had many servants, only one housekeeper remained. Lu Jin disliked being disturbed, so ordinary staff didn’t check on him and weren’t aware of his whereabouts.

Ci YiYang nodded, letting the housekeeper go, and after sitting briefly in the hall, she went upstairs.

Passing Lu Jin’s room, she found the door open.

No one was inside; she didn’t know where he had gone.

Ci YiYang stood at the door, scanning the empty room, holding her bag.

It was a perfect opportunity.

She hesitated, then stepped inside, standing by the bed, inspecting the warm jade ivory decoration on the nightstand.

She didn’t know when Lu Jin had placed it there; she hadn’t seen it before.

It was beautiful, with a small iron plaque next to it that could attract magnetic objects.

Ci YiYang opened her bag, took out her phone, and attached the rear camera to the ivory. Not only did it cover the camera, it was almost the same size as her miniature camera.

It was strange—like it had been specially made for this camera.

As she adjusted the camera’s angle, she suddenly noticed footsteps behind her.

She turned sharply and froze, heart racing.

Lu Jin was standing behind her.

“Lu… Lu Jin,” she stammered, stepping back until her heel hit the bed, falling onto it in a panic.

He glanced at the jade ivory she had touched, then calmly approached, suddenly bending to hug her tense body. He whispered gently in her ear, “Sister, what are you looking for?”

He seemed to have seen nothing.

Her racing heart settled slightly at his words.

“Nothing, just noticed the decoration on your nightstand and wanted to check it out,” she said.

Fearing he would notice the ivory, she cupped his face with both hands, frowning, and asked, “Where did you go just now? I called but there was no sound.”

Lu Jin pressed his cheek against her palm, gently rubbing with his nose. “Went to get something.”

Ci YiYang watched the obedient boy nuzzle her.

He was exceptionally handsome, the slightly curled wolf-tail hairstyle complementing his delicate face, softening his usual cold demeanor. His beauty resembled the finest porcelain in a display cabinet.

She scanned his face, pushed him gently, and naturally stood, walking toward the door.

“I’ll go back first. Dinner together tonight.”

Her visit seemed only to say this.

Lu Jin sat on the bed, watching her leave until the door closed, then slowly focused on the ivory on the nightstand.

Her room had remained clean over the weeks, unchanged. She wasn’t overly fastidious and allowed the housekeeper to clean regularly; bed linens were changed every three days, regardless of occupancy.

Ci YiYang placed her bag on the table, took out many items, and sat down, carefully reading the instructions.

Most were for male use. She didn’t want to accidentally break anything.

‘A toy’ can’t just be used once and thrown away—you have to play until you’re satisfied.