Shen Wei returned from the pig farm, her body permeated with an unpleasant odor.
Pig farming wasn't a job just anyone could do.
Even though they had taken great care in tending to the animals,
the intense smell near the pigsties was too much for someone like Shen Wei, who wasn't used to such grueling work.
She drove home, took a shower first thing,
changed into fresh clothes, and finally tossed her worn outfit into the washing machine, hitting the start button before heading back to the kindergarten.
As soon as she arrived at the kindergarten, she spotted Doctor Lu waiting for her, scanning the area.
Shen Wei couldn't help but smile.
Doctor Lu's eyes lit up when he saw her.
Undoubtedly, some new gossip had reached his ears.
It was hard to imagine that he used to be an attending physician at a top-tier hospital, and the youngest person to earn a doctorate.
Yet in just a few years at the kindergarten,
he had transformed into someone who could out-gossip the old men at the village entrance if you gave him sunflower seeds to munch on.
As Shen Wei parked her car carefully, Doctor Lu rushed over before she could even step out.
Shen Wei asked, "What is it now?"
Doctor Lu blurted out, "Have you heard? That ex-boyfriend guy is pestering Lin Rui again."
"Who? Lu Zheng? Isn't he with my cousin?"
The drama between Lu Zheng and Shen Qingqing had been the talk of the town back then.
Stories of him angering his father to the point of illness for love, leaving the Lu Group for love, and so on.
These tales were still circulating.
He had even opened an arcade to compete with them at one point.
"Men, you know. They always want what they can't have. Haven't you read those 'chasing wife' novels? I'll tell you, as soon as the other woman gives up, the male lead comes crawling back."
Doctor Lu's greatest pleasures these days, apart from relishing various bits of gossip and searching for information about Starry Sky Kindergarten online,
were listening to web novels.
He'd spent quite a bit of money on this hobby.
Doctor Lu's eyes sparkled, thrilled to encounter a real-life 'pure love warrior'.
Shen Wei couldn't help but laugh, "How did you find out about this?"
Doctor Lu said, "Our pure love warrior, CEO Lu, chased her all the way here. You have no idea, his belated passion is more persistent than weeds. It's left Lin Rui completely flustered."
Shen Wei said, "I'll go check on her."
She then went to find Lin Rui.
Upon entering the office, she found Lin Rui fuming.
The office was empty except for her.
Lin Rui said, "Doctor Lu told you, didn't he? How does that man know every bit of gossip!"
She had just seen Lu Zheng and found it irritating. After exchanging a few words, she spotted Doctor Lu and her heart sank.
She wasn't surprised to see Shen Wei come in now.
Shen Wei couldn't help but smile, "There's one thing that escaped him, and he still considers it a disgrace!"
"What's that?"
Shen Wei said with a laugh, "The affair between the security guard and Teacher Tang."
Hearing this, Lin Rui also laughed, "The security guard used to be in the special forces and was trained in reconnaissance. No wonder he couldn't uncover that."
Shen Wei added, "But since then, he's learned his lesson. He won't let a single piece of gossip escape his ears now."
As they joked, Lin Rui's mood improved a bit.
She couldn't help but vent, "I can't believe he used to be such a jerk! How did I ever fall for him?"
Their families had been friends for years.
Similar backgrounds, same age, and matching education levels. Their parents had encouraged the match.
A young girl's emotions, combined with Lu Zheng's handsome appearance, had inexplicably stirred something in her.
In the end, they naturally got together.
Without any formal confession, they went abroad together.
She thought it would be different from other business marriages.
At least they had feelings for each other, but Shen Qingqing's appearance shattered that illusion.
At that time, Lin Rui really wanted to get revenge on them.
She was disgusted by both of them.
If a man could be stolen away so easily,
what did all their beautiful past experiences mean?
It was hard to let go.
But what she couldn't let go of wasn't this scumbag of a man.
It was the version of herself who had invested so much in that relationship.
Later, she came to Starry Sky Kindergarten, initially intending to seek revenge on them.
Who knew that coming to Starry Sky Kindergarten would bring her healing instead.
Moreover, Starry Sky Kindergarten had entered a period of rapid development.
Among all of them, she was the one who had studied business.
So she focused more on expanding Starry Sky's reputation.
Including this culinary competition.
They had invested a great deal of manpower, resources, and energy into it.
Gradually, she forgot about him.
Who would have thought he'd go crazy and come looking for her again?
Before they could finish venting,
Lin Rui's phone rang.
Lin Rui glanced at it irritably, and Shen Wei knew it must be Lu Zheng calling again.
Shen Wei said, "Answer it. Let's see what he has to say."
Lin Rui then picked up the call. For some reason, she put it on speaker.
They heard CEO Lu say, "I know you said you were pregnant before just to upset me, and your so-called boyfriend is just an art teacher at Starry Sky Kindergarten. I know all this. You still care about me, don't you? Can we start over?"
Hearing about it secondhand was one thing, but hearing it in real-time was quite another for Shen Wei.
She couldn't help but wonder if the system's claim about altering the storyline meant derailing Shen Qingqing's love life.
So Lu Zheng had remembered his feelings for Lin Rui.
After all, one was a pampered young lady, the only daughter of the Lin Group.
The other was a girlfriend without any support, who even brought him ridicule from others.
Everyone knew which choice to make.
As Lu Zheng was making his heartfelt confession, suddenly a woman's voice came through, "Lu Zheng, what's going on? You're talking to another woman right in front of me? Is she trying to seduce you again? She's nothing but a homewrecker."
Shen Wei recognized it as Shen Qingqing's voice.
Chaos erupted on Lu Zheng's end, his voice tinged with impatience, "Don't talk nonsense."
Lin Rui was speechless. She hadn't said anything, yet was suddenly labeled a homewrecker. Who would stand for that?
She then said, "Keep your dog in check. I don't want him anymore. Only you still treat him like a treasure. It's laughable. Lu Zheng, listen carefully, even if there were no other men left in the world, I wouldn't take you back!"
She then hung up the phone with flair.
It was truly insane.
Afterwards, Lin Rui blocked Lu Zheng's phone number and all other means of contact.
Before, she had thought that since they moved in the same circles,
they were bound to run into each other occasionally.
Cutting ties so completely didn't seem right.
But who would have thought these two would be so relentless?
Lin Rui looked at Shen Wei and said, "Those two are fighting again!"
The more Lin Rui thought about it, the angrier she became: "Don't tell me we're just part of his game too. It's disgusting to even think about it."
Shen Wei couldn't help but say, "Maybe there aren't any girls around him with better conditions than you. Boys are just that practical."
Lin Rui scoffed, "As if he's worthy!"
In the past, she had limited experience with men. But now, at Starry Sky Kindergarten, it was just like what people online said – all kinds of cute guys were available.
There were street dancers, classical dancers, artists, brooding types, muscular ones – who would even look at him?
It was absolutely laughable.
