Zhou Chenyu called Xu Qingqing overnight, shouting, "Xu Qingqing, do you have any sense at all? I told you we shouldn't have sent those love letters!!"
Xu Qingqing, not fully awake yet, frowned in confusion and said, "What's wrong with you?"
Zhou Chenyu sighed to the heavens and said, "What do you think is wrong? Your General Manager Xie came to ask me today about the situation when you wrote those love letters back then. He definitely figured it out!"
Xu Qingqing was instantly wide awake. She sat up in bed, her sleep mask falling off her face.
Holding the phone, she asked nervously, "No way, he found out? What should we do then?"
Zhou Chenyu was speechless: "Why are you in such a hurry, Miss? Even if your General Manager Xie found out, he wouldn't have the heart to get angry at you." The one who'd suffer would still be him, the unlucky guy caught between two threats.
Zhou Chenyu felt he was too unlucky. Le Jiaojiao, Xu Qingqing, Xie Lianqing... what kind of demons and monsters were all these people around him!
Fortunately, Zhou Chenyu's elder brother had mentioned a project abroad some time ago, asking him to go supervise it. He had thought it was too far and troublesome and didn't want to go at the time, but now he was mentally prepared and planned to buy the fastest flight ticket tonight to escape this city.
After hearing her childhood friend's words, Xu Qingqing thought to herself: "You're right."
She instantly relaxed, flopping back onto the bed, and said nonchalantly, "Well then, I'll go back to sleep!"
Zhou Chenyu: "...Damn???"
However, Xu Qingqing wasn't so heartless as to completely ignore her childhood friend.
Lying back in bed with her eyes closed, she lazily comforted him: "Don't worry too much. It's just that you wrote some things for me. No matter how angry he gets, he surely wouldn't make you eat those love letters."
Zhou Chenyu was exasperated: "I'm begging you, Miss Xu, please don't give any more of your terrible ideas in front of your General Manager Xie."
Imagining Xie Lianqing's current mood, he thought it wasn't impossible for the other man to do something like that.
Xu Qingqing thought Zhou Chenyu was making a mountain out of a molehill and casually comforted him: "Relax, Xie Lianqing won't do anything to you. At most, he'll just be a little angry."
It wasn't like she and Zhou Chenyu hadn't played similar pranks on Xie Lianqing before. He usually didn't take it too seriously with them, mostly just laughing it off. She didn't know why Zhou Chenyu was so nervous this time.
Hearing her indifferent tone, Zhou Chenyu sneered: "Oh really? Do you know your General Manager Xie specially got a safe for those love letters, takes them out to look at them every now and then, and I heard he even plans to write you a reply letter at your wedding..."
Xu Qingqing, who had closed her eyes for less than five seconds, instantly opened them again. She gulped and said, "How could that be?!"
She had no idea about any of this!
If she had known, she definitely wouldn't have been so casual about it!
Zhou Chenyu said sarcastically, mimicking her tone: "Yeah, how could that be, Miss Xu?"
Xu Qingqing hugged her head nervously and offered another terrible idea: "Why don't you run away? Run fast, okay? Come back next year."
Based on her guess, once Xie Lianqing figured out the truth, he was probably about to come looking for them.
Zhou Chenyu sneered. Did he need this silly girl Xu Qingqing to tell him that?
Sprinting on the road to the airport, he hung up the phone. A notification popped up on his phone—a message from Xie Lianqing, just a few simple words: "Where are you?"
It seemed General Manager Xie was already at his house and hadn't found him.
Zhou Chenyu thought about it and finally decided to borrow a page from Xu Qingqing the coward's book. He pretended not to see the message and posted a friend circle update saying he was boarding a flight abroad for a business trip.
Before turning off his phone, he screenshot Xie Lianqing's message and sent it to Xu Qingqing, saying: "Once I'm gone, General Manager Xie will definitely go find you. When disaster strikes, we each flee for our lives."
Xu Qingqing: ...
After Zhou Chenyu fled, Xu Qingqing couldn't sleep either. She waited anxiously alone for Xie Lianqing's call. Yet, for some reason, he never contacted her.
In Xu Qingqing's mind, once the secret was out, she would never think of taking the initiative to confess and beg for leniency. She would only bury her head and continue hiding, pretending nothing ever happened.
So Xu Qingqing nervously waited a while longer. Seeing that Xie Lianqing still hadn't come looking for her, she very ostric-like decided that Xie Lianqing hadn't discovered the truth and quietly put the matter out of her mind.
However, Xu Qingqing still secretly asked Secretary Zhang from the secretariat for leave and, feeling guilty, decided not to go to the company and show her face in front of Xie Lianqing for a while.
Actually, given Xu Qingqing's personality as a drama queen, even if Xie Lianqing confronted her, she had countless excuses to argue or act indifferent. But since Zhou Chenyu said Xie Lianqing cared so much about those love letters, if he found out they were fake, his anger would probably multiply.
And today was Xie Lianqing's birthday. Of all days for him to discover the truth, why did it have to be today...
Xu Qingqing thought it over and finally decided it was best for her to just stay quietly at home recently. Little did she know her behavior was practically a classic case of self-incrimination.
As for Xie Lianqing, who was patiently waiting for her to take the initiative to confess and apologize, hearing Secretary Zhang's report about Xu Qingqing asking for leave nearly made him laugh in anger.
Last night, after sensing something was off, he only had to think for a moment to narrow the suspect down to Zhou Chenyu. Because during that period, he was the only one who could have colluded with Xu Qingqing to do such a shameless thing.
No wonder last time Zhou Chenyu came to his house and saw those love letters in the study, his expression had been so strange.
However, Xie Lianqing was only making an educated guess. To be completely sure, he needed to go to Zhou Chenyu's house and compare the handwriting with Zhou's from middle school. But the moment he called Zhou Chenyu to ask if he was home, the other man guessed his meaning from just a few words.
By the time Xie Lianqing rushed to the Zhou residence, Zhou Chenyu had already fled! At that point, what else was there to understand? The guy must have been feeling guilty all along.
Zhou Chenyu running away wasn't a big deal. Xie Lianqing, guessing he was hiding, deliberately sent that message. Based on his understanding of the other man, Zhou Chenyu would most likely inform Xu Qingqing and probably complain about her 'terrible' idea of giving love letters for his birthday.
Over the years, Xie Lianqing had long figured out the routine of Xu Qingqing and Zhou Chenyu teaming up for pranks and then shifting blame onto each other afterwards.
However, he didn't expect Xu Qingqing to plan on playing ostrich to the end.
Usually at this time, she would be contacting him through various means to chat or make strange requests. But today, Xu Qingqing was eerily quiet, clearly also feeling guilty.
Xie Lianqing laughed in exasperation. He rested his forehead in his hand, feeling a headache coming on just thinking about her and that pile of love letters in his study.
He had collected those things for so long, and they held youthful memories of his time with Xu Qingqing. But keeping them also reminded him that the writer was Zhou Chenyu.
The thought that the love letters he had treasured for so long were actually written by Zhou Chenyu—even the wise and steady Xie Lianqing couldn't help but feel a straight man's frustration.
Meanwhile, Xu Qingqing at the Xu family's old residence had no such worries. She had always been adept at playing ostrich, which could be considered one of the innate skills of the timid.
After taking leave and not having to go to work, she initially felt bored, but later she had more and more fun.
Could there really be such a good thing in this world as not having to work?!
Xu Qingqing was overjoyed.
For a moment, she was even tempted to simply resign from the Xie Corporation. After all, at the company, she only made coffee and memorized vocabulary, with no real responsibilities. Moreover, recently she had to review for her IELTS exam, which cut into her daily leisure time significantly.
While agonizing over this, Xu Qingqing opened Weibo only to find many people tagging her. It was then she realized that she and Xie Lianqing had unexpectedly gone viral.
It turned out that Xiao Liu's girlfriend, whom they had met at the amusement park, had posted the photos Xiao Liu took for them. The caption read: "OMG, you have no idea what I experienced today!!! I ran into Miss Xu and General Manager Xie!!"
Xiao Liu's girlfriend was among the earliest batch of fans who followed Xu Qingqing. She was known among fans for always rushing to the front rows to grab hot comments whenever Xu Qingqing posted.
After she shared the photos of Xu Qingqing and General Manager Xie on her own Weibo, it quickly attracted others who also liked Xu Qingqing. Everyone was frantically leaving comments, asking about the situation at the time.
——【Holy crap, holy crap, the amusement park east of City A? Is it too late if I go now?】
——【The blogger's luck is insane, oh my god!】
Even though more than a day had passed, Xiao Liu still seemed very excited, replying: "This post was edited yesterday! They've probably left by now."
"When I saw them, they were strolling hand-in-hand at the amusement park. Apparently, because Miss Xu is afraid of heights, they couldn't ride many attractions... As for why the female protagonist, being afraid of heights, still went to the amusement park, I don't know either, don't ask me!"
As more and more people paid attention, and given that both Xu Qingqing and Xie Lianqing naturally attracted attention, their trip to the amusement park quickly became a trending topic.
Xiao Liu's girlfriend simply organized the events from yesterday and chatted with everyone——
"By the way, the young lady was having a blast! I wasn't there at the time; my boyfriend didn't know them. He just thought this couple had great vibes and offered to take photos for them. He said Miss Xu was particularly cheerful and enthusiastic. While General Manager Xie was still hesitating, she agreed right away!"
"Later, my boyfriend asked if they could post the photos on his Weibo. Not only did Miss Xu agree, she also boasted about herself, saying that she and Xie Lianqing were so good-looking, it'd be a shame not to share the photos."
"My boyfriend is a typical straight guy. Maybe because his expression was too indescribable after hearing that, Miss Xu deliberately messed with him. She tricked him, saying she wasn't General Manager Xie's girlfriend, but his younger sister, named Xie Qingqing."
The comments below were filled with "hahaha."
——【Truly a grade-schooler move, holding a grudge like that.】
——【Creating a cousin out of thin air, Xie Qingqing. Confirmed by the look, this is totally something Xu Qingqing would do.】
——【Your account above is done for, you guys are probably going on Xu Qingqing's blacklist...】
——【Am I the only one seriously looking at the photos? So sweet, so sweet, I really want this couple to get married!】
——【In the photos, the young lady and General Manager Xie look so sweet and adorable. General Manager Xie even carries the young lady's bag. My boyfriend says carrying your girlfriend's bag in public ruins your image, but General Manager Xie is still as handsome as ever!】
——【In the photos, General Manager Xie's eyes are shining when he looks at the young lady, wuwu as if she's his whole world.】
——【Already cropped and screenshot for couple avatars, arranging to use them with my boyfriend immediately!】
——【Folks, I'm a new shipper coming from the trending topics! Any lore or directions? I'm here to dig up old content for sugar!】
After a while, Xiao Liu posted a few more photos on her Weibo, saying——"Oh right, oh right! While my boyfriend was sorting the photos, he found two more sets of candid interactions between the young lady and General Manager Xie, also super sweet. I rushed him to get them out!"
In this set of candid photos, Xu Qingqing was standing on tiptoe, reaching out to offer the milk tea in her hand to Xie Lianqing's lips. He was looking at her with a helpless expression, yet his eyes held a smile.
"At the time, the young lady, being fickle, wanted to buy another cup of milk tea but felt she couldn't finish it alone and didn't want to waste food. So she was begging Xie Lianqing, who doesn't like sweets, to help her drink half."
——【OMG, murder!!!】
——【'Didn't want to waste food,' my foot. These two have fortunes in the tens of billions, yet they're still quite thrifty and economical?】
——【What's wrong with being thrifty and economical? The person above simply doesn't understand the importance of food. Every single grain of ours is precious, okay!】
——【You're focusing on the wrong thing! The blogger's making things up, even knowing General Manager Xie doesn't like sweets? Did he tell you on the spot? So fake.】
——【The person above shouldn't talk nonsense if they don't know. Everyone knows General Manager Xie doesn't like sweets; he mentioned it in a financial channel interview.】
——【General Manager Xie is clearly smiling, yet his expression pretends to be reluctant, so scheming... How about I help Qingqing drink it instead!】
——【Looking at the photo, it seems the milk tea hasn't been drunk yet. Qingqing is so considerate. I thought as a spoiled young lady who acts up so much, she'd drink half herself and then casually hand the rest to General Manager Xie. Didn't expect her to let him drink first...】
Seeing this, Xu Qingqing was a bit surprised. Although she could be quite demanding in a relationship, her upbringing since childhood made her uncomfortable with letting others eat her leftovers, so she hadn't thought her behavior was anything special.
But seeing netizens praising her, she was still quite pleased.
So she took a screenshot of that comment and sent it to Xie Lianqing, saying gleefully, "Your girlfriend is so considerate, huh."
Xie Lianqing replied quickly, saying, "Indeed, she'd be even more considerate if she were willing to write the love letter herself."
Xu Qingqing: ...Oops.
She got too carried away and had completely forgotten about that.
Xu Qingqing pressed the keyboard to type, wanting to say something. However, after thinking for a long time, she finally silently closed the page, pretending she hadn't seen the message.
She'd wait until Xie Lianqing cooled down!
On the other end of the phone, Xie Lianqing watched as the 'typing...' indicator on the other side flickered on and off before finally disappearing completely, and he couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.
Xu Qingqing was really getting addicted to playing ostrich!
When the day of the banquet hosted by Xie Lianqing arrived, Xu Qingqing, having hidden at home for several days, ultimately couldn't avoid it.
Xu Qingqing attended with her grandparents. After they got out of the car, they saw Xie Lianqing waiting outside.
Xie Lianqing first gave a slight nod to Chairman Xu and his wife. After they exchanged polite greetings, he casually inquired, "Would it be convenient to borrow Qingqing for a few minutes?"
Grandfather Xu and the others naturally had no objections. They were happy to see their granddaughter and Xie Lianqing getting along well.
And so, Xu Qingqing was taken away by Xie Lianqing. He led her, avoiding the crowd inside the villa, and the two walked up to a quiet study on the upper floor.
Xu Qingqing was getting a bit tired from walking. She shook her hand and asked, "Why did you bring me here?"
Hearing her, Xie Lianqing stopped and turned around, a faint, knowing smile on his lips. "Has Miss Xu finally deigned to speak to me?"
From the moment they got out of the car until now, she had been looking everywhere but at him, let alone speaking to him.
Xu Qingqing, of course, wouldn't admit she was feeling guilty. She said, "What do you mean, 'deigned to speak to you'?"
After being on edge for several days, she wasn't feeling so apprehensive anymore. She had adopted a 'what will be, will be' attitude, thinking that if Xie Lianqing was too angry, the worst that could happen was a breakup.
However, Xu Qingqing didn't really want to break up with Xie Lianqing just yet. The matter with Bai Youlan wasn't resolved, that system and its tasks were still there. What if Xie Lianqing really ended up with Bai Youlan after breaking up with her? What would she do then?
Although she believed Xie Lianqing wouldn't do that—after all, he had kept her love letters for so long, he must really like her.
But Xu Qingqing couldn't be entirely sure. After all, Lin Donghan had seemed perfectly normal before he fell for Bai Youlan, and look how he'd turned out now.
So Xu Qingqing felt it was better not to gamble. What if things really turned out like in the novels, with Xie Lianqing and Bai Youlan together, and the Xu family falling into the hands of Bai Youlan and her mother? Even if she went to hand out flyers at Xie Lianqing's wedding, no one would probably pay her any attention.
The image flashed in her mind: the handsome new couple in the church, Bai Youlan in a wedding dress worth millions, exchanging rings with Xie Lianqing amidst blessings. Meanwhile, she, bankrupt and down on her luck, standing alone on the street in an out-of-season dress, handing out flyers to the wedding guests passing by...
Xu Qingqing shook her head vigorously. Too tragic.
She absolutely could not let that happen!
While Xu Qingqing was lost in her wild thoughts, Xie Lianqing was explaining about the love letters. He took the letters written by Zhou Chenyu from the drawer and asked her with a smile, "Is there even one in here that you wrote yourself?"
Although he had already compared them and guessed the answer, he still held onto a sliver of hope, wanting to hear it directly from Xu Qingqing.
Xu Qingqing, feeling guilty, hung her head and refused to answer.
Seeing her expression, Xie Lianqing pretty much understood. Alongside his anger, he felt a touch of amusement. He raised an eyebrow and said, word by word, "Xu Qingqing, you really are something else."
Xu Qingqing: ...
"What's the big deal if I had someone else write the love letters? Even if I wrote them myself, you'd still break up with me."
Suddenly, Xu Qingqing thought of a solution!
Whenever she did something wrong, she just needed to find something even worse that the other person had done. That way, she could stand on the moral high ground and accuse them.
Then she and Xie Lianqing would be even!
It must be said, when it came to relationships and stirring up trouble, Xu Qingqing had a natural talent for finding unconventional solutions.
Xu Qingqing thought for a moment and said righteously, "That's right! And you're the one who dumped me back then!"
In her whole life, she had only ever been the one to do the dumping—except for that one time in middle school when Xie Lianqing broke up with her.
She pulled Xie Lianqing closer, squinting her eyes threateningly:
"You have to let me dump you back." Xu Qingqing's temper was like the weather in June, changing in an instant. She suddenly grew very angry.
Xie Lianqing was taken aback, completely not expecting the conversation to jump here.
Seeing that Xu Qingqing seemed genuinely upset, he sighed and explained the truth: "Back then, I overheard you telling Zhou Chenyu that you were dating me for revenge and would break up with me soon after."
Xu Qingqing was instantly shocked. "You knew back then?! When did you hear that?"
Xie Lianqing sighed. "Outside the school, at that restaurant you and Zhou Chenyu always went to."
Xu Qingqing thought back and felt deep regret. "I knew we shouldn't have eaten at that restaurant. Its gold decor clashed with my zodiac sign. Zhou Chenyu just wouldn't listen."
Seeing her expression, Xie Lianqing let out another sigh. "I left on my own initiative back then to avoid embarrassment for both of us..."
Actually, part of the reason for the breakup was his anger and inability to accept the deception after being betrayed. Xie Lianqing had been the golden boy, the unattainable flower, admired and fawned over since childhood. It was only after getting involved with Xu Qingqing that he slowly started to change his personality for her.
It was easy to imagine how someone like him, upon discovering that the only girl who had ever moved his heart had approached him just for some ridiculous revenge, would be unable to accept it, given his proud nature. So he decided to break up and leave. To avoid seeing Xu Qingqing again, he even chose to skip a grade and leave.
But Xie Lianqing would never tell Xu Qingqing all this. It was enough for her to know that he loved her.
Xie Lianqing saw things clearly. Xu Qingqing had always been carefree and thoughtless; she wouldn't, and likely couldn't, empathize with such struggles.
Xu Qingqing also didn't dwell on whether her boyfriend's reason for the breakup was perfect enough. After all, it seemed somewhat understandable that Xie Lianqing would be so heartbroken upon discovering the truth that he would leave...
She had originally wanted to dig up some past mistake of Xie Lianqing's to offset her own wrongdoing of having Zhou Chenyu write the love letters. Who would have thought that digging up the past would only add another layer to her own crimes!
Originally, she only had to explain the proxy love letter writing. Now, suddenly, she had the added issue of her original motive for pursuing him. The more Xu Qingqing thought about it, the guiltier she felt.
Xie Lianqing should have been angry, but looking down at her surprised expression, he couldn't help but laugh softly. He reached out and tapped her forehead. "Alright, let's call it even."
Xie Lianqing had seen right through her little trick of changing the subject. He had known Xu Qingqing since middle school, and although he had left the country later, he was long familiar with these tactics of hers.
Even though he had been angry when he first learned the truth, after a few days, his anger had subsided.
So, in a way, Xu Qingqing's ostrich tactic had been quite effective.
Xu Qingqing, no longer needing to fabricate an excuse, was immediately overjoyed. "So you forgive us?" She was still quite loyal, not forgetting to plead for her good brother Zhou Chenyu even at a time like this.
"What else?" Xie Lianqing didn't bother with the subtlety in her words.
He laughed softly, sighing with a hint of helplessness, and said quietly, "Xu Qingqing, even your revenge lacks perseverance."
Writing love letters, and even having Zhou Chenyu do it for her.
To this day, Xie Lianqing still didn't know how he had fallen for her.
The love letters were written by someone else, the reason for pursuing him stemmed from a prank, she was carefree and never really kept him in her heart... And yet, he had still fallen head over heels, unable to let go even after drifting overseas for years.
Xu Qingqing widened her eyes, alert. "Don't talk nonsense. I even brought you drinks back then."
When she was pursuing Xie Lianqing, besides the love letters, she had put in a lot of effort—bringing him hot water in winter and drinks in summer.
Especially that one summer, rain or shine, without fail, she would bring him a bottle every day after class.
When Xie Lianqing played basketball during P.E., she would squeeze in among the other girls, stretching her arm out to hand him a drink.
Xu Qingqing had never been rejected in her life. During her first few attempts, she didn't understand. Seeing that Xie Lianqing wouldn't drink anything she offered, she began to suspect that Zhou Chenyu's intel was wrong and that she was buying flavors he didn't like.
So, in a fit of pique, Xu Qingqing went online and wholesale-ordered a whole cartload of various drinks, storing them at the school supermarket.
Later, when Xie Lianqing and his team played basketball, other girls would give him drinks one bottle at a time. Only Xu Qingqing, leading Zhou Chenyu who carried a huge box for her, would bring an entire case. Each case contained different drink flavors and brands.
With a whole case of drinks, she'd let Xie Lianqing pick first. After he chose his preferred flavor, she would then sell the rest on the spot, wholesale-style, to the other basketball team members. She kept this up every week, persistently, and even managed to earn enough for two extra jianbing guozi.
Recalling those youthful days, Xu Qingqing's eyes suddenly lit up, realizing she might actually have had a knack for business.
