Chapter 339

Xia Xi first went with the production crew to the dinner venue.

In the luxurious private room, two tables were set: one table seated the director, guests, and other important people, while the other table was prepared for the staff; the atmosphere was very lively.

Director Li said: "Everyone, wait a moment; someone else is coming."

Xia Xi knew who the director meant, showed no surprise, picked up a cup of water and drank slowly.

Someone, however, was quite surprised, glanced around and didn't see who was missing: "Director Li, stop being cryptic—who's coming? I've counted and recounted; everyone's here, no one's missing."

Director Li deliberately let his gaze linger on Xia Xi for a second or two, chuckled and shook his head, refusing to say: "You'll find out soon enough."

After Xia Xi finished her cup of water, she waited a few more minutes; her phone chimed, she pulled it out and saw a message from Xu Yanfeng—just three simple words: "I've arrived."

Since everyone already knew her relationship with Xu Yanfeng, she didn't avoid it, took her phone, and with a composed expression left the private room to wait outside the elevator.

Moments later, the elevator stopped on this floor; the doors slid open, and Xu Yanfeng stood inside, dressed simply in a dark‑blue shirt and black suit trousers, no jacket—it hung over his arm.

He lifted his eyes and saw Xia Xi; Xu Yanfeng raised an eyebrow: "You waited here especially for me?"

Xia Xi stepped forward and extended her hand: "Isn't that obvious? Otherwise I'd have come out just to see the view."

Xu Yanfeng stepped out of the elevator, took her hand, squeezed it firmly, and the smile on his face could not be hidden.

Together they returned to the private room, hands still clasped; everyone's gaze turned to them, fixing on their tightly joined hands for a few seconds, then shifted to their faces.

Director Li, accustomed to storms, calmly greeted: "General Manager Xu has arrived—please take a seat."

The others then snapped out of their reverie, bustling about and greeting in waves: "Hello, General Manager Xu."

Xu Yanfeng smiled and nodded: "Please sit; Director Li's warm invitation, I'm just here to mooch a meal."

Director Li laughed: "Don't mention it."

Xu Yanfeng's seat was naturally placed beside Xia Xi. As Xia Xi had expected, everyone's attention indeed focused on her and Xu Yanfeng; the difference was that they didn't ask probing questions, likely out of deference to Xu Yanfeng's status.

Xia Xi felt relieved and concentrated on eating.

Director Li raised a toast to Xu Yanfeng, smiling so hard his eyes disappeared: "I want to sincerely thank you, General Manager Xu—not only for sponsoring our show, but also for your personal strong support."

Speaking of that, everyone exchanged knowing smiles; Xu Yanfeng's appearance on the program had indeed brought considerable buzz, and even now his name remains high on the Weibo hot-search list.

Xu Yanfeng had originally intended to say he'd substitute tea for wine, but Xia Xi tilted her head slightly and whispered: "Go ahead and drink; it's fine—I'll drive us back."

Xu Yanfeng then set down his tea cup, picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Director Li's, and took a sip.

Director Li then turned to Xia Xi, said a few words of thanks, and offered to clink glasses with her. Xu Yanfeng blocked her, raised his glass again, and clinked with Director Li: "She can't drink; I'll do it for her."

Thus the atmosphere was lifted to another height; a crowd began to clamor, and the questions they had previously held back now poured out.

"General Manager Xu, spill it—who pursued whom between you and Teacher Xia? How long have you been together? When's the wedding? Can we come drink the wedding wine?"

Faced with many questions, Xu Yanfeng gave a gentle smile, set down his glass, and answered each in turn: "She pursued me; we've been together about eight or nine years. The wedding is coming soon—if you'd like to come, you're welcome."

Xia Xi choked, covered her mouth and coughed, thinking: "He's still lying—how could we have been together eight or nine years?"

No one at the scene doubted his words; after a few seconds of silence, the atmosphere grew even more fervent: "Together eight or nine years?! That's truly enviable."

Someone, drunk, simply got up, staggered over to Xu Yanfeng's side, and slurred: "General Manager Xu, tell the truth—did you come on our show just for Teacher Xia?"

"That's one way to put it." Xu Yanfeng spoke in an even tone, earnest, his eyes never leaving Xia Xi as he said: "She was nervous during her first recording, so I came to keep her company so she could relax; thus I appeared as a representative of the Xu Clan Group. As for the rest, record it however you usually do."

This amounted to an indirect denial of the rumor that he had interfered with the show's rules.

That person exclaimed, glanced at Xia Xi, seemingly incredulous: "Teacher Xia nervous? Does she ever get nervous? I can't see it at all—she's utterly composed."

Xu Yanfeng gave a faint smile: "She just doesn't show it."

Xia Xi pretended to lower her head to eat, then secretly pinched him under the table to remind him not to ruin her act.

Someone, while eating, kept scrolling through Weibo; combined with Xu Yanfeng's words, the online posts from Nan Da alumni felt more vivid—their intense campus romance continuing to this day, still so sweet, almost too good to be true, like a fairy tale.

Just then, a exposé microblog popped up, standing out starkly amid the cheerful chatter; I stared at it for a while and confirmed it wasn't my hallucination.

The user's ID was a string of gibberish, like a freshly registered account.

"Xia Xi has poor character; in college she dated two people at once and was even caught in bed, yet she somehow got onto a variety show, relying on looks and education to market herself online—she'll surely crash and burn. Pictures prove it! 【Image】"

Opening the picture revealed a blurry bedroom shot, likely several years old; still, one could make out the woman as Xia Xi, and the man… turned out to be the mega‑internet celebrity Zhou Du with millions of fans!

The person who saw this microblog was Xiao He; her blood seemed to freeze in an instant, she stared at the phone screen for a long time, not hearing the person beside her speaking.

"He Minzhen, you weren't going to eat shrimp? I passed it to you." The girl next to her tapped her arm; seeing no reaction, she found it odd, leaned in to look at He Minzhen's phone: "What are you staring at? You're so absorbed… Good heavens, this can't be real, can it?"

Xiao He jumped at the nearby voice, snapped her head up, and realized the whole table was staring at them.

"What's real or fake? What are you looking at?"

"Xiao He, what's that expression?"

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

The girl sitting beside Xiao He kept gasping, didn't answer the others' questions, and tugged Xiao He's sleeve, whispering low: "Should we tell Teacher Xia that someone is smearing her online?"

Xiao He was unsure: "Should we tell her?"

"Definitely yes! This has risen to damaging her reputation! Sigh, fame brings controversy; once you're hot, all kinds of smears follow. I thought only celebrities got this, never imagining ordinary people can't escape either…"

The phone screen dimmed; Xiao He hesitated, then turned her head to look at Xia Xi sitting at the other table, who was chatting with the person beside her, a faint smile on her face, very gentle.

She had only recently met Xia Xi; from what she knew, Xia Xi shouldn't be as the poster described, yet that photo… didn't look fake.

The girl beside her said: "While this microblog hasn't yet been seen by many, we'd better suppress it; otherwise, once it gains traction, who knows what fallout it could cause."

Xiao He made up her mind, eyes resolute, picked up her phone and walked behind Xia Xi.

Xia Xi was holding a spoon, ladling soup, when her shoulder was suddenly tapped; she turned to see a tense‑looking He Minzhen, blinked slightly, and said: "Xiao He, what's wrong?"

"Teacher Xia, I have something to tell you." Xiao He bowed, unsure how to begin, pressed her lips together, and handed over her phone: "Take a look at this microblog."

Xu Yanfeng noticed the movement beside him, leaned in, and together with Xia Xi looked at Xiao He's phone; the photo reflected in his pupils, the light in his eyes sinking bit by bit. He reached out, took the phone, and stared at it steadily, his dark eyes narrowing.

Xiao He didn't dare to breathe, maintaining her bowed posture until her waist and back grew sore.