Girls' dormitory.
It was Saturday and everyone was still sleeping in late, but Feng Yue had already woken up at 5am. She lay in bed without moving much, secretly browsing Weibo under her quilt every now and then - no one knew her eyes were actually open.
Feng Yue was waiting for an exposé.
Fu Ming Shi was so handsome and rich. If it was a normal, public romantic relationship, any girl would want to announce it to the world. But they had been secretly dating, reminding Feng Yue of the previous video where Fu Ming Shi denied rumors between him and Xia Ying. Feng Yue was certain that Fu Ming Shi was just supporting Zhen Bao, the female university student, which was why he said he currently had no girlfriend. Zhen Bao was also pretending not to know Fu Ming Shi's other identity, "Ming Shi".
Zhen Bao wanted to keep it hidden, but Feng Yue insisted on exposing her, letting Meng Jinning, everyone at the academy, and the entire media know that Zhen Bao was a hypocrite through and through - appearing innocent on the outside but selling her body for money on the inside.
But Feng Yue didn't want to provoke Fu Ming Shi, which was why she accepted Li Jian's pursuit - so that after Fu Ming Shi and Zhen Bao thought she had forgotten about it all, she could anonymously leak the news to an online gossip blogger, saying that Fu Ming Shi was supporting a female A University student and providing Zhen Bao's personal information, including a photo of Fu Ming Shi and Zhen Bao together on campus.
The blogger wanted more photos, even offering to pay for them, but Feng Yue didn't dare take the money. She just told the person that Fu Ming Shi would definitely accompany Zhen Bao today for her birthday, then cut off contact.
Feng Yue had contacted the person early yesterday morning and had been checking Weibo ever since, but why was there still no news?
Feng Yue started to worry.
Two roommates got up to eat breakfast and left. Feng Yue kept scrolling to see if anything happened. By the time the third roommate woke up, Feng Yue finally got out of bed casually, washed up and got ready, acting as if nothing had happened. After spending fifteen minutes on her makeup, she had just finished cleaning up when Li Jian called.
Feng Yue didn't like Li Jian at all. He was handsy, forcibly kissing her the day after their first date. He'd propositioned her about getting a room together several times too. Feng Yue knew Li Jian's playboy ways - he acted attentive, picking her up for class every day, but as soon as they got a room he'd toss her aside like the other girls.
Feng Yue was annoyed but had to keep up appearances for now.
"Ok, I'll be right down," she said with a smile, ending the call. As she casually scrolled through Weibo again, she saw the third most discussed trending topic: "Fu Ming Shi Suspected of Supporting Female University Student".
Feng Yue's heart raced. She hadn't been this nervous even waiting for her college entrance exam results.
But she pretended not to have seen it and left the dorm first before eagerly tapping into the topic. There were several leaked photos - Fu Ming Shi waiting outside A University for Zhen Bao, Zhen Bao being held and kissed by Fu Ming Shi after leaving the hospital, the two of them getting into a modest sedan, the sedan parked outside a villa...
Seeing the European-style three-story villa, Feng Yue paused, feeling complicated - happy she had guessed right but also envious. Why did a country girl like Zhen Bao get such good fortune? Feng Yue had never even been to a villa in her life.
After looking at the villa, Feng Yue scrolled through more photos. The last one showed Fu Ming Shi driving out that morning with only his side profile visible in the car, but Zhen Bao's head was tilted towards the camera, completely exposing her innocent face and shocked wide eyes.
Feng Yue smiled. Seeing another classmate approach, she quickly put her phone away and headed downstairs to meet Li Jian first.
Li Jian had bought movie tickets, so they took a taxi over. In the car, Li Jian was also scrolling through Weibo on his phone, so Feng Yue leaned on his shoulder for the first time to look with him. Everyone loved gossip, especially titillating gossip, and Li Jian was indeed drawn in by the now third most popular topic "Fu Ming Shi Suspected of Supporting Female University Student", tapping to read it.
"Ah, isn't this Zhen Bao with her boyfriend?" Feng Yue exclaimed in shock and grabbed his phone.
Li Jian immediately snatched it back, flipping through all the photos before mockingly commenting, "I thought Zhen Bao was so innocent. Turns out she's actually like this." He liked beautiful women and Zhen Bao was the academy's undisputed campus belle. Li Jian had noticed her at the start of school and planned to try his luck after military training ended. He didn't expect Zhen Bao's boyfriend to show up so publicly during training.
"Who is this Fu Ming Shi?" Li Jian was most curious about Fu Ming Shi's identity now, going to check out his Weibo.
Feng Yue took out her own phone, anxiously reading the comments.
"The more innocent a woman appears, the more promiscuous she often is."
"There are no scandals that can't be dug up, and no rich man who isn't lustful."
"This girl isn't as pretty as me."
"A bunch of certificates still can't compare to having a nice face, breasts and legs."
"Female university students these days are becoming more and more unreliable."
"Not bad girl, come warm brother's bed and brother will give you 500."
"She's actually from our A University. Really tarnishing A University's name."
...
Feng Yue smiled. She had never looked forward to Monday so much before, wondering if Zhen Bao would still have the nerve to show her face to their classmates.
While Feng Yue was gloating and reading the comments, Zhen Bao was also reading them on her bed, her eyes blurring after not even finishing the first page. Fu Ming Shi sat beside her and saw two teardrops as large as beans roll out from his fiancée's watery eyes.
Fu Ming Shi grabbed the phone and turned it off.
Zhen Bao stood up to go to the bathroom.
Fu Ming Shi seized her wrist and pulled her onto his lap, hugging her. Zhen Bao could no longer hold back, burying her face in his chest sobbing. She didn't understand why some people were just spouting nonsense online when they didn't know anything. She had always been afraid of people finding out, precisely because she worried they would say such things.
Not only were they randomly speculating, but they were insulting her too.
Zhen Bao had never been scolded like this her whole life, neither online nor in real life.
Those demeaning words crowded her mind. The more upset she felt, the more she cried, and the more she cried, the more upset she became.
Fu Ming Shi's chest was completely soaked. Looking at his fiancée crying as if the world was ending in his arms, Fu Ming Shi oddly felt like laughing. Zhen Bao was from a remote rural village. Before meeting him, she had only used an old phone without internet access. She was a simple, guileless country girl who possibly hadn't even heard of online violence before, much less been the target of public speculation for the first time.
After Zhen Bao had cried for a while, Fu Ming Shi stroked her wet little face and rested his chin on her head, saying, "The first time I encountered media rumors was around seven or eight years old when people said my dad supported a mistress. My schoolmates all found out and secretly laughed at me."
Zhen Bao slowly looked up, astonished. Could it be...?
Fu Ming Shi kissed her tear-stained eyes and calmly recounted, "I ignored them and continued with class, but when the driver came to pick me up after school I hid and cried alone in the car. I didn't say a word to my dad that night when I saw him, only telling my mom."
Imagining a young handsome Fu Ming Shi sulking with his father, Zhen Bao forgot her own sadness, curious to hear the rest.
"You've met my mom. She didn't smile much when she was younger, seeming dissatisfied with everyone. But that night when she saw I wasn't talking to my dad, she kept smiling. As soon as my dad explained it was all fake and swore he had no other woman, she stopped smiling."
Zhen Bao's heart tightened. Could it be...?
Fu Ming Shi tapped her lips, stopping her wild conjectures. He said helplessly, "At bedtime while coaxing me to sleep, my mom finally told me that people outside our family want to see gossip about the rich Fus. So they make up rumors, saying my grandpa had many women, my dad supported mistresses, my mom had affairs... As long as the Fus have money, these things are unavoidable. The way to deal with it is to focus on doing your own things. The more you care and explain, the more fun you give those idlers."
Zhen Bao understood what Fu Ming Shi meant, but in theory everyone comprehends this. When it happens to you personally...
"It's fine. After going through it so many times, I'm immune to any scandals now."
Fu Ming Shi kissed her forehead, then moved back a little to look into her eyes and say, "It's normal for you to cry, but remember - as long as you date me, as long as you marry into the Fu family, news like this will only increase. Maybe you get close with some male classmate or colleague and people just take a photo saying you cheated. Maybe you have dark eye circles from working overnight and get rumors spread of relationship troubles... That kind of life - are you afraid of it?"
From the moment Zhen Bao and Fu Ming Shi got together, Zhen Bao was destined to have countless people paying attention to her future. Fu Ming Shi had never reminded her before, but now their relationship was exposed and Zhen Bao was experiencing media attention for the first time in her life. Fu Ming Shi finally had a chance to have a long talk with her.
Zhen Bao looked at him blankly, trying to imagine what that kind of life would be like in her mind.
Fu Ming Shi gave her a minute. After a minute, he didn't need her answer but instead threw out another question: "Then would you give up on me, your fiancé, because you're afraid of becoming the focus?"
His eyes were deep, and beneath his calm gaze was a hint of danger, as if he would punish her if she answered that she would give up. But how could Zhen Bao give up on a man who had been so good to her just because of some irrelevant gossip from strangers?
Zhen Bao shook her head and took the initiative to hug him.
Fu Ming Shi smiled and rubbed her head contentedly: "Since that's the case, you'll have to learn to ignore gossip sooner or later."
The problem came back to those photos again. Zhen Bao was at a complete loss: "But the things those people are saying are so nasty, I..."
"I'll clarify things." Fu Ming Shi spoke lightly: "After I clarify, most people will just envy you, including your classmates."
Zhen Bao was silent. She actually just wanted to be an ordinary college student. She didn't like slander or envy, and didn't want to be the focus of attention. But in this situation now, she could only choose to get used to the other effects that came with dating Fu Ming Shi earlier, including another layer of foreseeable public opinion.
"I'm going to make some calls." After kissing Zhen Bao, Fu Ming Shi left first.
Zhen Bao watched him leave. After Fu Ming Shi went out, she couldn't help but press the power button on her phone. As soon as it turned on, Jia Xiao Yu’s call came through.
Zhen Bao cleared her throat and answered.
"Where are you? Have you seen the news online?" Jia Xiao Yu asked worriedly, with Fan Xuan and Qian LeLe crowding around her.
Zhen Bao nodded.
Jia Xiao Yu said gloomily, "How did you get secretly photographed?"
"What's the point of talking about it now?" Fan Xuan interjected, and instructed Zhen Bao over the phone: "Hurry up and get your Fu to clarify things! I'm so mad about this nonsense of being a mistress!"
Zhen Bao glanced at the door and whispered, "He went to make some calls, I guess he's arranging it."
"Are you okay, Zhen Bao?" Qian LeLe said, trying to sound upbeat, "You don't need to look at those comments. You and Fu Ming Shi have a pure romantic relationship. Everyone will know soon. Don't take those online comments seriously. Look at those big celebrities, almost none of them don't get cursed at, but they still keep acting and singing as usual. Just look forward to seeing those people get slapped in the face after properly celebrating your birthday with your Fu!"
Zhen Bao felt warm inside at how much her roommates cared about her. She smiled sincerely and said, "Got it, I’ll treat you guys to a meal when I get back."
"Pfft, who wants you to treat them? Remember to remind your Fu that he still owes us a fancy dinner!" Jia Xiao Yu said with a mischievous laugh.
After chatting for a few more sentences, Zhen Bao hung up the phone. She had just put her phone down when Fu’s father called. "Feng Bao, don't be angry. You have Grandpa to back you up. If you’re willing, Grandpa will go back right now and arrange a wedding for you two. Let's see who still dares to slander you."
Zhen Bao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and instead comforted Fu’s father not to get angry and focus on recuperating.
After contacting the most important people, reporters from who-knows-where got her number and kept calling her. Zhen Bao had no choice but to turn off her phone and open her laptop to check Weibo. She didn't know if it was due to Fu Ming Shi’s persuasion taking effect, or if her roommates' concern reminded her that she still had friends to rely on, but now when Zhen Bao looked at those comments again, although she still felt irritated, she no longer got so angry that she cried.
After reading a page of comments, Zhen Bao was about to turn the page when Weibo suddenly stopped responding. After refreshing, the Weibo post with the drastically increasing number of reposts was gone. Zhen Bao checked the hot topics, and the topic was also gone. Screenshot reposts on other media platforms were also disappearing one by one.
Zhen Bao stared blankly at the screen, wondering what was going on.
There was a knock at the door. Zhen Bao looked back to see Fu Ming Shi walking in, holding his laptop with one hand.
Zhen Bao got up from her seat and told him that the Weibo post had disappeared.
While putting down his laptop, Fu Ming Shi said, "If they don't retract it, I'll sue."
Zhen Bao opened her mouth in surprise.
Fu Ming Shi smiled and pulled his fiancée onto his lap, holding her sideways: "Come, help me choose some photos."
Zhen Bao tilted her head, and saw Fu Ming Shi open a folder that contained two subfolders named by year. Fu Ming Shi opened last year's folder, and thumbnail images immediately filled the screen. It looked like she was in every photo, some of which she hadn't even seen before.
"Some were secretly taken by Father, and some were secretly taken by me," Fu Ming Shi said, holding her with one arm while moving the mouse with his right hand.
Zhen Bao's face grew inexplicably hot. Were there any really ugly candid photos of her?
"This one?" Fu Ming Shi clicked to open a photo of the two under a ginkgo tree during Zhen Bao's military training last year.
"Post it on your Weibo?" Zhen Bao asked, looking at the photo.
Fu Ming Shi nodded.
Zhen Bao looked at the photo again and shook her head. If they were going public, Fu Ming Shi was dressed too approachably in the photo, it seemed a bit silly.
After copying a military training photo to the desktop, Fu Ming Shi chose a couple photos of them at the villa. In one, he was sitting on the sofa holding her, while Zhen Bao held the moon in her arms and Hei Dan squatted in front of them. She didn't know how it happened so perfectly, but that day she and Fu Ming Shi had both worn white tops, looking like a couple's outfit.
"This one?" Fu Ming Shi consulted her in a low voice.
Zhen Bao nodded.
Fu Ming Shi closed last year's folder and opened this year's, then chose a family portrait taken at Fu’s father’s place during the New Year. In the photo, Fu’s father sat smiling on the sofa, with Fu Zheng and Feng Ke behind him on the left, and Zhen Bao and Fu Ming Shi on the right. Fu Ming Shi had one hand in his pocket and the other arm naturally and intimately around Zhen Bao’s waist, with the corners of his lips quirked up. Next to them Fu Zheng’s expression was much more indifferent, and Feng Ke still had her usual cold beauty, but from the angle of their crossed arms, the married couple’s hands must have been clasped together hidden behind the sofa.
Zhen Bao also had this photo, and often took it out to look at.
Seeing that Fu Ming Shi had also copied this one, Zhen Bao said uneasily: "Should we notify uncle and auntie?"
Fu Ming Shi looked at her. "Why?"
Zhen Bao lowered her eyes. Perhaps the elders didn’t hope for her to be recognized so soon...
"You've already accepted New Year money from us." Fu Ming Shi released the mouse and instead hugged her with both hands. "You accepted New Year money from the Fu family, so even if you want to back out now you can't."
Zhen Bao immediately thought of the jade bangles Feng Ke had given her.
Fu Ming Shi kissed her red face and got ready to type. With simple, straightforward words and uploading the photos, the Weibo post was sent successfully. After it was posted, Fu Ming Shi opened his followers list and pointed to the abandoned big account Zhen Bao had given up using after just a few days: "You can use this from now on."
Zhen Bao's gaze shifted to see the nickname Fu Ming Shi had given her back then, "Zhen Bao in Crystal Slippers".
In that moment, Zhen Bao suddenly felt that some things seemed like they would be troublesome to imagine, but when the day actually came that she had to face them, it turned out to be quite simple if she was willing to confront them. It was like having a huge boulder weighing on her heart—pushing it took great effort, but once it was pushed away, what came was a lightness in body and spirit.
At the movie theater, Feng Yue had no interest at all in watching the film. Discovering that the big V's Weibo post was gone, she immediately guessed that Fu Ming Shi had used his connections. Feng Yue then switched to refreshing Fu Ming Shi's feed, feeling that he would say something. But with the evidence right there, Fu Ming Shi keeping Zhen Bao as a mistress was now a settled matter. Even if he denied it, no one would believe him. Even if the online traces were gone, this matter had already spread to the university forums, and Zhen Bao's reputation was ruined.
Just as the thought sank in, a new Weibo post unexpectedly popped up in her refresh.
Feng Yue's heart leapt up nervously, not daring to look.
Fu Ming Shi: Happy birthday, my fiancée, Cinderella Zhen Bao
Attached were three photos, two of Zhen Bao and Fu Ming Shi together, and the third...
Seeing that family portrait, Feng Yue felt her whole body's blood nearly freeze. After guessing that Shi Ming must be Fu Ming Shi, Feng Yue had gone online to search for information on each member of the Fu family, so she recognized Fu’s father and the others at a glance. Fu Ming Shi had actually brought Zhen Bao to meet his family? Did that mean the "fiancée" title could really be true?
But how was that possible? Zhen Bao had nothing besides her face. With so many actresses who were both beautiful and famous, how could Fu Ming Shi really marry an ordinary college student instead?
Feng Yue's fingers trembled as she opened the comments under Fu Ming Shi's Weibo post.
"Wow, she's actually the official wife!"
"Zhen Bao looks so beautiful in these photos, Fu looks so happy!"
"Poor Fu, his son, daughter-in-law, grandson and granddaughter-in-law are all showing off their affection right in front of him!"
"I feel like I'm seeing Fu's middle and old age."
"Congratulations, congratulations! Don't forget to hand out some red envelopes, Fu!"
"I knew it, all the A University girls are good kids!"
"Now that she's met the parents, who exactly is this Zhen Bao?"
Seeing this comment, Feng Yue finally came alive and opened up the replies below:
"I heard she's from C Province, someone dug up her background before."
"She's not a rich beauty is she? How did they meet then?"
"This girl must have some tricks up her sleeve."
Feng Yue furrowed her brows deeply. That's right, how did Zhen Bao and Fu Ming Shi meet? With Fu Ming Shi's family being so wealthy, there's no way Zhen Bao was his neighbor. As an ordinary college student, could Zhen Bao really have some kind of special skills? As she thought about this, she kept scrolling, and suddenly saw a link exposing Zhen Bao's identity. Feng Yue hurried to click it open, and the first thing she saw was the headline:
"Father Passed Away and Mother Ran Off, Cinderella's Hardship Turns to Joy"
