Chapter 236

"Ruan Lin! Ruan Lin! I saw Ruan Lin! Damn it! When did he get in there!"

"What? Ruan Lin? Damn! The building door below is locked. Hurry down and help me open it!"

Paparazzo A hurriedly snapped a few photos and rushed down to open the door for his partner. By the time the two came back up, they couldn't see anyone in the room from the window angle, which made the two paparazzi scratch their heads in frustration!

"Stay steady, stay steady. The monk can run, but the temple can't. Keep a close eye on them!"

The two paparazzi were eager to know what the three people in the room were doing, what the scene was like, and how much those pictures could sell for. And what about He Lele and the other two?

Eating.

Ruan Lin… why was he across the street? And why did Season know he was across the street? Did Season give him the key? Why? After what happened yesterday, Ruan Lin… was he okay?

With a belly full of questions, He Lele had no appetite.

"I'm going out to buy a pack of cigarettes." Just after finishing, Season put down his bowl and chopsticks and said very casually.

"I, I'll go with you—"

"I'll be back soon." Interrupting He Lele, Season turned and left the room.

Closing the door, Season lingered at the entrance for a while, smiling bitterly with a touch of recklessness. He took out a cigarette pack, put one in his mouth, lit it, and moved toward the stairs to the side, sitting down beside the bodyguard.

Inside the room, He Lele looked down at the half-bowl of rice in her bowl, her heart in turmoil.

"Can't eat?" A deep, soul-stirring male voice.

"……"

"Because of me?"

"Ruan Lin… you, I…" She didn't know what she should say or what she could say. Ruan Lin's abnormality, Ruan Lin's loss of composure, Ruan Lin's precarious acting career… She could coldly say that these were all Ruan Lin's own choices, but could she really turn a blind eye to all this and fall asleep peacefully?

Hate, she couldn't hate. Love, she couldn't love.

Ruan Lin……

"Can I live across the street?"

He Lele slowly raised her eyes. The man across the dining table was still dazzlingly handsome, with the style and temperament of a superstar and the perfect, elegant demeanor of a gentleman. At this moment, there was not the slightest pretense, and the careful yet deep love in those starry eyes made her unable to stop herself from trembling all over.

"Ruan Lin, I, I beg you, forget—"

"I can't forget."

"There is nothing that cannot be forgotten!" He Lele couldn't bear the agitation. "In this world, anyone can live without anyone else, even if you now—"

Ruan Lin stood up, supported himself with one hand on the table, and leaped to her side, looking down at her.

"'Even if I now' what?"

"Even, even if you like me now, or even love me, it's just now! After this period of time, everything will fade! Yet you destroyed your seven years of hard work for something that will fade sooner or later. Is it worth it?"

"It's not worth it." Ruan Lin replied very crisply. While answering, he held her waist and placed her on the dining table, changing her upward gaze to a slight downward one.

"Since you know—"

"If it will fade, of course it's not worth it. But time will prove," he leaned close to her body, resting his forehead on her shoulder, listening to her heartbeat. Ruan Lin's expression was unusually calm. "As long as my blood is still hot… there will never be a chance for it to fade."

No, no! He Lele pushed Ruan Lin away violently, jumped off the dining table, and ran toward the door.

"Lele!"

He Lele couldn't control herself and stopped.

"No matter how long it takes, no matter how many years, I will never give up. Even so, are you still going to run away?"

Footsteps sounded heavily, each step like it was treading on her heart.

"Even if I only ask you to look at me occasionally, are you still going to run away?"

He Lele turned around and covered Ruan Lin's lips. Tears had already blurred her vision, but she held on, not letting the sobbing sound escape her throat.

She shook her head. "This is not what you should say! The Ruan Lin I know is savage, domineering, tyrannical, and arrogant! He wouldn't say such things!"

Ruan Lin took her small hand from his lips and slowly, heavily, pulled her into his arms. "Yes, I am not Ruan Lin. I am just a fool, a fool so stupid that…"

He didn't say the second half of the sentence after all. Those words of regret could only be brewed into bitter, unbearable tears in his heart, borrowed by his eyes to fall low into her hair and cheeks.

"Damn, damn, damn! What is this situation! Young Master Season's little mistress is hugging Ruan Lin!"

"Why do you care about Young Master Season! The key is Ruan Lin! Ruan Lin! Hurry and shoot!"

The next day, the morning paper's cross-page headline—Ruan Lin's rage, destroying flowers for a beauty; deep embrace in a rental apartment, young woman suspected to be his girlfriend.

I get so happy whenever I write about the two paparazzi~~ Wahahaha~~~ So I'm still living up to the "overall tone is light and HAPPY" in the blurb~~~ Hehehehe~~~~

The votes this month seem a bit dismal…… In the remaining few days~~ can I ask for some votes……

Crushing all the girls!!

Good night~~ Sweet dreams~~

☆, (10 Fresh Coins) Chapter 258: Whimsical Ideas

Early in the morning, Season received the news before the reporters who had heard the wind could arrive. His first reaction was naturally to take Ruan Lin and He Lele back to Deep Blue, but as soon as he said it, Lele's almost reflexive "No" forced him to give up. The fear that appeared on her small face when she heard the words "return to the apartment"—even though she hadn't been very panicked after learning she was being stalked by paparazzi—made both men's hearts ache, yet… they had no right to comfort her.

Seeing the expressions on both their faces, He Lele also realized her reaction was a bit extreme and smiled forcedly. "I can go hide at a friend's place first."

"Who?" Both men asked in unison.

"Lingyu, you've both met her."

"……" "……"

After contacting Ren Lingyu, Ruan Lin helped He Lele disguise herself slightly and had the bodyguard protect her as she left the rental building first. Ruan Lin had a ready-made mask and walked out swaggeringly under the paparazzi's lenses. Season waited until the reporters came to the door before he went downstairs with a cold face.

The reporters who had bought the news only knew that Ruan Lin and his secret girlfriend were here, so they were both surprised and delighted to see Season.

"Chairman Season, why are you here? Do you know that Ruan Lin, he—"

Before the reporter could finish asking, Season's gaze swept over the questioning reporter like a knife. "Since when do you all need to worry about my whereabouts?"

The reporters were speechless and could only lower their heads, avoiding Season's gaze and retreating to clear a path, terrified of being remembered by him and put on Muse's blacklist, which would make life difficult later.

Every house has its rules, and every trade has its norms. Exposing celebrity gossip is one thing, but provoking these high-level company executives is another matter entirely……

Throughout the morning, Ruan Lin was nowhere to be seen, the paparazzi lost their tracking target, Wu Ming's phone was about to explode, and all sorts of rumors were being asserted on the internet. Of course, almost all of them were misattributed and fabricated.

The morning paper didn't actually have He Lele's photo. After all, domestic restrictions on mainstream media were still quite strict, and who would dare to openly publish photos of someone's private life in print media? Besides, the paparazzi worked hard to steal the material, but they couldn't sell it for a high price to print media. The best buyers were naturally those wealthy portal websites dedicated to increasing their media influence! So, when the discussion on the internet was at its most intense, the entertainment section of a certain portal website exclusively broke the headline, exposing several photos of Ruan Lin and He Lele embracing. Five minutes later, the photos and the news were taken down.

Although the response from Muse's public relations department was impressively fast, in those five minutes, many quick-eyed netizens had already saved the photos and spread them wildly on various social networking sites. Subsequently, print media and various TV stations added their own embellishments, "netizen tips," and interpreted the pictures as they pleased, each spinning their own stories.

Netizens want the excitement, media wants ratings and clicks, and paparazzi want money.

Who cares about those whose privacy has been violated, who are being used for excitement, ratings, clicks, and money?

He Lele, who was checking the news online during her lunch break, looked very calmly at the various "whimsical ideas" on the internet. Some people even said that Ruan Lin and Du Wei had fallen in love because of a drama, and later Ruan Lin was snatched away by Du Wei's best friend—his current girlfriend. Du Wei, in a fit of anger, got together with Qin Zhixiu, who had been pursuing her for many years. The day before yesterday, the two women met by chance at the TV station, Du Wei couldn't bear the grief and had a conflict with her former best friend, and Ruan Lin disregarded his demeanor for his girlfriend……

She had seen the morning paper in the morning and came to New X as usual. Even now, seeing the photos and these absurd revelations, her mood didn't fluctuate much.

Was it because her name wasn't mentioned in the news, and her appearance in the photos wasn't clear? No, that wasn't the point. The paparazzi could take photos indoors, so they must have been following her from outdoors; there must be clear photos of her, but they at least had some consideration for her status as a non-public figure.

If she were completely exposed, would she be afraid?

He Lele thought for a long time and finally smiled faintly.

She had once feared this the most, feared it so much that she had completely acted as a "chamber maid" for three months. And today, when she was truly facing the threat of exposure, she was—completely fearless.

So what if she was exposed? It would just be enduring the strange looks of others for a while longer. As for her hometown, hadn't she always been publicized as a "prostitute who doesn't charge money"?

What exactly had she been afraid of before?

It turned out that the most terrifying thing was "fear" itself.

Working in the afternoon, during breaks, some staff members chatted about recent gossip, but they would never have thought that the heroine of the gossip had walked past them as if nothing had happened.

"Xiao He, how do you feel about your work during this time?"

After the afternoon dubbing session, Cai Mingxiao called He Lele into the office.

"I've really learned a lot, and I'm very grateful for everyone's care."

"Ah… your tasks here are almost finished, right? Are you planning to take on new roles or stop for some further studies?"

"Uh……" Shouldn't this be decided by the company?

"It's like this. I've mentioned it to you before. At the end of this month, there's a big project in the industry. It's an opportunity for the entire dubbing industry, especially for young female voice actors. There's almost no suspense that this will make several star-level voice actors overnight. We naturally hope to make good use of this opportunity."

He Lele thought for a moment. "What project?"

"The format is very old-fashioned—a talent show, but this time it's for voice actors. The final winner will directly get the dubbing role for 'Empress Zetian.' Of course, the role is secondary; the key is that the government attaches great importance to this project. The funding, the scale of the competition, and the media resources—I dare not say it's unprecedented, but it's definitely unparalleled. Being able to stand out in the competition will undoubtedly bring both fame and fortune." Cai Mingxiao smiled and took an agreement out of the drawer.

"A talent show… is it going to be on TV?"

"Of course!" He pushed the agreement in front of He Lele.

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me, but I…" He Lele shook her head and curled her lips with some guilt. "I can't."

— Author's Notes —

Author's Note: