Mu Qiu bit her lower lip, staring intently at him.

Then she reversed her hand and held his.

"Next time, let’s go somewhere less crowded, or even abroad, where not many people recognize us."

"Okay." He agreed with a smile.

As the green light turned on, Cheng Zhirang retracted his hand to focus on driving. Mu Qiu pondered for a moment, then used his phone to call Chen Song.

At a bit past ten in the evening, for the people in Hai City, this time was still considered early.

So Mu Qiu didn’t think much about it, only considering that she had been somewhat impulsive this time. Feeling a bit embarrassed about troubling Chen Song and his team later, she needed to inform Chen Song immediately, giving her more time to handle things.

However, when the call connected, the voice on the other end was that of a man.

"Cheng Zhirang? What do you want?"

Not only was it a man’s voice, but it was also quite cold, giving off an "I’m about to hang up on you" vibe.

Mu Qiu hesitantly reported her name first: "Hello, this is Mu Qiu. I have something to discuss with Sister Chen."

The other party didn’t seem too concerned with her business, focusing instead on: "Are you Cheng Zhirang’s girlfriend?"

"Yes. May I ask who you are?"

The voice on the other side noticeably softened but still wasn’t too polite, saying one sentence before intending to hang up.

"She’s asleep."

"...Ah—alright, then I won’t disturb your nightlife. Sorry, goodbye."

Both parties tacitly reached an agreement, hanging up rapidly, each unsure who disconnected first.

Beside her, Cheng Zhirang turned his head and asked, "Wasn’t it Sister Chen who answered the phone?"

"It was her..." Mu Qiu didn’t know who the other person was, but based on recent gossip, it probably wasn’t that ex-husband, "it was her young boyfriend."

Young boyfriend...

"It should be Chengcheng’s father."

"?" Mu Qiu straightened a bit, curiously asking, "So Chengcheng really isn’t Sister Chen Song’s and that ex-husband’s?"

"No."

"Oh."

Then with that ex-husband, it must have been quite the drama...

She didn’t ask further, and after learning a bit of the truth, leaned back again.

"Since Sister Chen Song didn’t answer, should we inform your assistant about this matter?"

"No need, the news has likely already spread online. Actually, there’s no need to block it; even if we’re spotted shopping, it’s just a part of my normal life, nothing to hide."

"I’m just worried that the crowding might upset others, affecting your public image. I’ll check online."

She always worried more, and Cheng Zhirang felt she might have a somewhat negative impression of the entertainment circle.

Though the entertainment industry is chaotic, much of the news about actors and entertainers doesn’t have a major impact, especially their daily lives, where fans usually encourage "keeping a distance from private life," giving them some space.

It’s not as frightening as she perceives.

From her occasionally excessive avoidance and worry, it seemed she viewed the industry as a scandal pot, as if trending topics equated to scandals being exposed, causing her anxiety.

Who knows how she mentally processed these pieces of information.

Mu Qiu was indeed a bit anxious.

Mainly because tonight’s incident was her doing, she felt uncomfortable, restlessly checking and refreshing on Weibo.

Obviously, photos and videos had already been posted online, the homepage refresh showed all their news.

#ChengZhirangMuQiuGoShopping#

#ChengZhirangProtectsMuQiuTheWholeWay#

#ChengZhirangMuQiuBlockedInMall#

#ChengZhiComfortsMuQiu#

#FansUrgeChengZhirangMuQiuToEnjoyNightlife#

The topics were just these few, with the shared photos being various angles of the two of them together, plus a video of Cheng Zhirang protecting her while moving through the crowd with difficulty.

However, the personal commentary attached greatly varied.

Most fans screamed excitedly with comments like "Brother is so handsome," "Brother Cheng is so cool," or "Brother Cheng’s full gear didn’t help," and so on.

From the photos and videos, you could see Cheng Zhirang’s head almost filled the entire frame, even with a mask and hat, failing to deter the urge to zoom in for close-ups.

CP fans and some bystanders marveled at Cheng Zhirang’s sense of responsibility, saying they were so sweet, while individual fan groups squabbled with each other and the CP fans.

Of course, this wasn’t the most important thing; what mattered more was that some people began questioning whether it’s appropriate to chase stars so irresponsibly, whether celebrities should appear openly while shopping in malls.

These discussions mostly criticized the congestion they caused today, as it inconvenienced the mall and shoppers.

There was also a small segment expressing annoyance at their names frequently appearing in trending searches.

The criticisms mainly focused on these points, and they weren’t too apparent.

As long as there weren’t any hired trolls massively reposting, the dominant narrative remained the multitude of Cheng Zhis, filling the most visible spots with messages like "Brother Cheng is so handsome."

She analyzed while watching, deeply engrossed when a hand reached over, gently covering her eyes.

Mu Qiu cooperatively closed her eyes, allowing his palm to envelop them.

"What’s up?" she asked.

Cheng Zhirang, having apparently stopped the car at the nearest intersection to Yishan District, reached out to cover her eyes, softly pressing her phone down.

"It’s easy to get car sick while using the phone in the car."

Such a gentle admonition, with his warm palm hovering over her eyes, tempted Mu Qiu shamefully.

She immediately set the phone aside, holding onto his palm, slowly moving it down until her clear, beautiful eyes were revealed.

Blinking, her eyelashes could even brush the edge of his hand. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Then I won’t look anymore."

Cheng Zhirang laughed, patting her hair.

"How’s the situation, is it okay?"

"It’s okay, just concerned there’ll be troublemakers stirring things up."

"No need to worry about that; the studio will guide the narrative. If it really can’t be helped, it means someone is interfering, and even if we contained it, it wouldn’t help. I’ll post something on Weibo to clarify."

"I’m really sorry," Mu Qiu said innocently, "since meeting me, your Weibo updates have been pretty frequent."

Cheng Zhirang was noncommittal, raising an eyebrow: "Then Assistant Wen should be thrilled."

After all, Assistant Wen frequently nudged him to update Weibo, working hard at it.

Just as he’d typed a few words, the traffic light turned green, and the car behind started honking. He handed her the phone: "Could you help me out?"

"Sure, could you say something nice?"

While driving, Cheng Zhirang thought for a moment, then called her:

"Baby."

————

ps:

Zhao Yu: I’m not exaggerating, the entertainment industry is really scary! Even someone as good as Yan Shen has been slandered for two or three years!

Mu Qiu: That makes sense, one must be vigilant and considerate, it must be very frightening.

Cheng Zhirang: ...Actually, it’s not that scary.