Chapter 32: Photo Crisis

Chapter 32 Photo Crisis

Song Jiyao's gaze lingered on Ji Ziyang's face for two seconds, then shifted away, landing back on Lu Hechi.

His tone was contemptuous: "So this is the little star Lu's keeping?"

Lu Hechi froze for a second, turned around, and only then noticed Ji Ziyang had followed him over.

"I'm just good friends with Hechi," Ji Ziyang hastily explained. "Unlike some people who are so filthy-minded."

Ji Ziyang had no clue his one sentence had just insulted two people at once.

"Filthy-minded?" Chen Jiadong didn't seem fazed at all—he even cracked a smile. "Yeah, a little."

Yeah, he really was.

Lu Hechi glared at Ji Ziyang beside him. "Didn't I tell you to get lost? Why are you still standing here?"

Ji Ziyang reached over and hooked his arm through Lu Hechi's. "Hechi, what are you saying? Shouldn't you be leaving with me?"

Seeing this, Song Jiyao whipped out his phone, aimed it at them without a second thought, and snapped a photo.

He looked down to admire it.

The timing was perfect—Lu Hechi was turning his head just as Ji Ziyang met his gaze.

Not bad, it actually looked kinda pretty.

He tapped a few keys and sent it to Shen Lanxue.

"..."

The second Lu Hechi heard the shutter click, he knew something was up.

Song Jiyao was his brother's good friend—what the hell would he want with a photo like that?

His scalp prickled. "...Who'd you send that to?"

Song Jiyao gave him a smile. "What do you think?"

Lu Hechi: "..."

He tried to explain: "It's really not what you think. I've got nothing to do with that guy."

Song Jiyao didn't give a damn. "Go explain it to Lan Xue yourself, whether you do or not."

Lu Hechi had just barely patched things up yesterday, and he really didn't want some random photo to screw it up.

He looked over at Chen Jiadong.

Chen Jiadong was leaning against Song Jiyao, all dolled up like a kept bird, not even giving him a glance.

Lu Hechi was on the verge of tears.

This Song Jiyao was a total disaster—not only messing with him, but look what he'd done to Chen Jiadong!

"Chen Jiadong." Lu Hechi called out to him.

Chen Jiadong looked up. "Mr. Lu."

Lu Hechi: "...I'll come find you next time—we need to have a proper talk. What's your WeChat? Let's add each other first."

Song Jiyao looked at Lu Hechi and raised an eyebrow. "Trying to poach someone right in front of me? That's not cool, is it?"

Chen Jiadong played along, hugging him and resting his head on his chest, saying in a sugary voice: "Ayao, you're the only one in my heart."

Lu Hechi: "..."

A staff member ran over. "Teacher Chen, you're here! Director Wang's already waiting inside."

Chen Jiadong nodded, then turned to Song Jiyao and said, "Let's go, we'll head in first."

Song Jiyao glanced at him without a word, slinging an arm over his shoulder as they headed toward the studio.

As he passed Lu Hechi, Song Jiyao didn't slow down, but his eyes locked onto Lu Hechi's face, and he flashed him a smile.

Lu Hechi stood there, watching their backs disappear around the corner.

"Mr. Lu?" Ji Ziyang spoke up from beside him. "You know Chen Jiadong?"

Lu Hechi snapped out of it and turned to him. "What's it to you?"

Ji Ziyang chuckled. "He's just some third-rate nobody. How do you know him?"

"Heh." Lu Hechi was this close to punching someone.

"Who told you you could grab my arm?" Lu Hechi said through gritted teeth. "I'm a married man, you get that?"

"What's my wife gonna think?!"

"God, this is pissing me off!"

Ji Ziyang looked confused. "But Mr. Lu, you and your wife have always had a terrible relationship."

Lu Hechi didn't buy it at all. "Bullshit! Alright, alright, get the hell out of here!"

Seeing how dark Lu Hechi's face had gotten, Ji Ziyang didn't dare stick around and quickly turned to leave.

Lu Hechi stood alone at the entrance. The summer breeze blew in from outside, carrying the early evening warmth against his face.

He pulled out his phone and checked it—no new messages.

This wouldn't work. If his brother actually believed it, wouldn't he move out of the master bedroom?

Lu Hechi quickly gathered his thoughts and fired off a long message.

"Bro, that photo Song Jiyao took is completely out of context. I've got absolutely nothing to do with that guy. I was just here for a pre-interview for the show and ran into Chen Jiadong, wanted to chat a bit.

You know he's my good friend, and then that guy just randomly came over and grabbed my arm. I shook him off right away—Song Jiyao just caught that one-second window to stir up trouble.

I'm totally innocent!"

After sending the message, Lu Hechi breathed a small sigh of relief. He tucked his phone into his pocket and turned toward the parking lot.

After a few steps, he stopped and looked back at the direction of the studio.

The hallway was already empty—no one there.

He thought back to how Chen Jiadong had looked leaning against Song Jiyao, putting on that whole seductive act, and something felt off.

Chen Jiadong was the captain of the basketball team in high school, with a swarm of fangirls trailing him everywhere.

He used to be the sunny, good-looking type too—so how, how did he turn out like this?

Lu Hechi walked back to his car and started the engine.

His phone buzzed—Shen Lanxue texted him back.

"That guy works at your company?"

Lu Hechi typed back.

"Yeah! But there's seriously nothing going on between me and him. If you don't like this show, I'll just quit it."

Shen Lanxue texted back five seconds later.

"I believe you."

Lu Hechi stared at those four words, eyes glued to the screen for a couple seconds, then smiled.

His heart felt all warm and fuzzy.

That feeling of being trusted without a doubt.

He didn't text back, just set the phone aside and hit the gas.

He'd learned to drive from Butler Feng—it was supposed to be his brother teaching him, but the company had been swamped that stretch, and Lu Hechi figured he couldn't always depend on a driver to get around.

Butler Feng whipped out his driving instructor's license.

Lu Hechi thought it'd take at least a week, but surprisingly, he got the hang of it in just one afternoon after a quick spin around the block.

Maybe those memories in his head were carved into his body.

Lu Hechi drove all the way home, where Shen Lanxue had picked up Little Star from the old mansion. The kid was in a little swimsuit, splashing around in the villa's pool.

It was just Little Star and the swim coach in the pool.

Shen Lanxue sat on the edge watching.

"Bro, I'm back!" Lu Hechi lunged over, pulling Shen Lanxue into a hug and burying his face in his shoulder to take a whiff.

It was a habit he'd picked up recently.

"Don't hug so tight." Shen Lanxue, startled by the gesture, pushed him back a little.

Quite a few servants were watching, and even Little Star had his big dark eyes wide open, staring at them without blinking.

"Uh, ahem." A wave of embarrassment hit Lu Hechi a beat late, and he scratched his head. "It's just that I missed you that much."

"Oh, right—what did that photo Song Jiyao sent you look like? Let me see. He's such a jerk, deliberately trying to frame me!"

Shen Lanxue hesitated for a moment. "I already deleted it."

He said that, then his gaze dropped to the black bracelet on his wrist.

His thumb unconsciously flicked the diamond chip, then let it go. When he looked up again, his face showed nothing out of the ordinary.

"..."