Chapter 104: Preventing President Huo from Pursuing True Love

This was... only a tiny bit embarrassing.

Bai Lu immediately dropped her obedient-little-sweetheart act. “Uncle, Auntie, hello!”

“Hello to you too.” Qiao Qiyue’s voice was warm with amusement. “Little Lu, thank you for taking care of Qiao Qiao.”

“It’s no trouble at all. Qiao Qiao and I are good friends.” Bai Lu played the part of a very well-behaved girl. “Good friends are supposed to help each other.”

Beside her, Qiao Qianyi rolled her eyes so hard it was almost a performance.

Bai Lu promptly kicked her.

Qiao Qiyue said, “Little Lu, after you return to the capital, let Qiao Qiao bring you home for dinner. Your uncle and aunt have many ways we’d like to thank you. Oh, and invite those other little friends too. Qiao Qiao was looked after by all of you during the variety show.”

Bai Lu caught the unspoken meaning in his words and answered in a voice as soft and sweet as honey. “All right. I love going around and freeloading meals the most!”

“Then the two of you should rest early. We won’t disturb you any longer.”

“Goodbye, Uncle and Auntie~~~”

Qiao Qianyi had never been polite to her own father in the slightest, and she blurted out an order at once: “Old Qiao, skip the dinner invitation and all that nonsense. It’s fake as hell. If you really want to thank everyone for taking care of me, then call in and tell Liu Nana not to bully Di Jiaer.”

Bai Lu: “……”

As expected, Miss Qiao’s brain was practically brand-new and almost unused.

Qiao Qiyue sighed. “Qiao Qiao, learn a little from Little Lu. She’s younger than you, but far more sensible.”

“Hey! Old Qiao, what’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I’m stupid? Let me tell you, if I am stupid, then I inherited it from you!”

Qiao Qiyue sighed again.

Being a father was hard.

After that, Qiao Qianyi hung up in a huff.

Bai Lu was speechless.

“Dummy, when your father invites everyone to your house for dinner, he’s already making his position clear. He won’t sit by and let Liu Nana use some backer to bully Brother Jiaer. He’s Brother Jiaer’s support, understand?”

“Huh? So that’s what it means? Then my dad really is sick in the head. Why not just say so directly? Why go around in circles like that? Isn’t it troublesome?”

“...Fine. Stop talking and go take a shower.”

“No.” Qiao Qianyi hugged her around the waist. “Explain it to me.”

Bai Lu sighed. Being a mother was no easy job either.

“Didn’t you say it yourself? The person caught between two friends is in a very difficult position. Your father can’t speak too directly, so inviting everyone to your house for dinner is his way of showing he’ll protect Brother Jiaer.”

Bai Lu explained patiently, “Businesspeople are the sharpest of all. A lot of things don’t need to be said; one glance is enough to understand. Your father wasn’t putting on a show for Brother Jiaer’s agency boss. He was putting on a show for Liu Nana and Liu Nana’s backer.”

Qiao Qianyi was clearly an excellent student and understood immediately. “After Liu Nana’s backer sees my dad’s attitude, he’ll have a reason to brush her off. And as long as Liu Nana isn’t stupid, she won’t keep clinging to that backer and begging him to help her bully Brother Jiaer.”

Bai Lu looked at her with motherly affection. “Qiao Qiao is so smart.”

Qiao Qianyi: “...I feel like you’re insulting me, but I have no evidence.”

--

For the next two days, the barrage of live comments was still an utter mess, with everyone tearing into each other.

The guests, however, remained polite and courteous to an almost excessive degree.

But anyone with eyes could see that the more polite they were, the more turbulence was churning beneath the surface.

This extreme courtesy made the production team even more anxious than a direct shouting match would have.

Especially the directors, who kept a bottle of fast-acting heart medicine in their pockets at all times.

They were terrified that one tiny incident would shatter this brittle politeness and spiral into the guests ripping each other apart on the show.

This was not the first season!

After all, the guests in the first season had been so obscure that even if they tore into each other face-to-face, it would barely matter.

This time was different. There was the nation’s darling daughter, a couple of second-tier rising actors, and the leader among the Four Little Actresses!

Forget a full-on fight; even the smallest incident would send the show straight onto the trending charts.

Fans would fight each other, then all turn around and shred the production team.

The crew could only swallow their suffering in silence.

Fortunately, the very thing the production team feared most did not happen.

Liu Nana was extremely well-behaved, quiet in a way that was obvious to the eye.

She hardly spoke at all, simply stayed with the group and followed the schedule in silence.

With Liu Nana behaving like that, even Qiao Qianyi found it hard to keep pressing the issue.

[Little Qiao: My mom secretly told me that Liu Nana’s backer scolded her badly and told her to behave herself and stop provoking me.]

[Little Qiao: My dad also warned me that as long as Liu Nana stays quiet and doesn’t provoke me, I can’t keep making trouble for her.]

Qiao Qianyi told everyone this in the little six-person group chat.

[Little Lu: Listen to your dad.]

[Little Zu: Don’t make things hard for your father. Be good and listen.]

[Little Ye: Sister Little Lu and Brother En are right!!!!]

[Little Di: Should we add Brother Huan in here too?]

[Li Huan: ?]

[Little Lu: Brother Huan, change your name and keep the lineup.]

[Little Huan: ok]

[Little Ye: I really wish @Little Huo With him would come back, and if we kicked out Shen Xinluo, wouldn’t that be ridiculously satisfying?]

[Little Lu: Hard not to support that.]

Huo Yanfang looked at the chat content, deep in thought.

“Tang Xing——”

“Mr. Huo, please don’t make this difficult for me.” Tang Xing wore a solemn expression. “If you don’t want Assistant Xu to assassinate me, please abandon every thought in your head.”

Huo Yanfang raised a brow.

Tang Xing immediately looked stricken and let out a pained sigh. “Mr. Huo, if there’s blame to be laid, lay it where it belongs. Go find Xu Yi. It was he who refused to let you participate in the variety show under the identity of Huo Yan Sui anymore, and who stopped you from pursuing true love. That has absolutely nothing to do with me.”

Master Yin suddenly let out a soft sound. “Tang Xing, what’s going on?”

“Second Master, I’ve woken you.” Tang Xing hurried to the bedside and helped the person lying there sit up.

“I wasn’t asleep to begin with.” Leaning against the headboard, Master Yin said, “Tang Xing, I’m asking you something!”

Tang Xing stammered, too afraid to speak.

In the dim room, Master Yin cast a glance in Huo Yanfang’s direction. “Speak! I’m right here. What are you afraid of? Since I told you to speak, then speak.”

Tang Xing glanced shakily at Huo Yanfang and forced himself to say, “It’s just... a somewhat dangerous situation. If Mr. Huo keeps going out in disguise to have fun, he’ll be in danger, and it won’t be convenient for us to protect him. So Assistant Xu won’t let him—”

“That’s enough.” Master Yin, his grotesque and terrifying face dark in the shadows, cut him off coldly. “I understand.”

Tang Xing: this is fucking ridiculous.

Who could have imagined that Master Yin hadn’t been asleep at all?

And since Master Yin had asked, he couldn’t not answer.

What let Tang Xing breathe a little easier was that Huo Yanfang had no intention of reproaching him.

Instead, he ordered, “Tang Xing, go call Dean Ye here.”

Tang Xing nodded. “Yes, I’ll go right away.”

Master Yin had not closed his eyes for three days.

Dean Ye had clearly already prescribed sleeping pills for him, and Mr. Huo had personally fed them to him.

They had thought that after taking the sleeping pills, Master Yin might at least sleep for a little while.

Who would have thought the pills would become less and less effective?

It looked like they could only use a sedative now.

But if this went on, Master Yin’s body...

It was too frightening to even think about.

Through the darkness, Master Yin looked at Huo Yanfang, his gaze sharp and bright. “I’m the one holding you back.”