Can't Hide My Love for You - Chapter 1

“Lu Qing is at the Century Hotel.”

The moment the plane touched down and flight mode was deactivated, the phone chimed with several consecutive notifications. When Cheng Yixin saw this short message, she was completely blindsided.

Switching back to WeChat, she saw a message from Lu Qing sent just half an hour ago, expressing deep regret that she couldn’t pick her up at the airport due to an urgent work matter.

“Sister Xin,” Xiaoyu followed her with their bags and asked, “Sister Wenjing just messaged saying she’s reached the airport. Is President Lu coming to pick you up?”

“She’s not coming,” Cheng Yixin replied, her brow furrowing involuntarily. The “President Lu” her assistant referred to was her current girlfriend.

The two had met at a banquet, and after Lu Qing’s persistent and relentless pursuit, Cheng Yixin had finally been moved enough to give the relationship a try. However, shortly after they made it official, her new project began filming. She had been away for three months in a closed-set environment; their interaction had been limited to online chats and video calls.

Having just finished filming, she could understand Lu Qing being too busy to pick her up, but what was the meaning of this anonymous text? The sender was an unfamiliar string of digits—not a mass-generated virtual number—making the possibility of a prank unlikely.

She replied to the anonymous sender asking for clarification, while simultaneously messaging Lu Qing on WeChat to ask what she was busy with.

Lu Qing replied almost instantly, claiming she was discussing a collaboration with a prominent influencer who had tens of millions of followers—a last-minute work arrangement.

Lu Qing ran a company that was, in a sense, in the same industry as Cheng’s. Her firm signed small-time bloggers or amateurs to monetize short-video traffic—essentially an “influencer incubator.” Lu Qing herself came from a wealthy background and often invested in entertainment scripts.

Cheng Yixin didn’t press further. After all, being picked up wasn’t that important, and she feared being spotted by fans at the airport; she had no intention of going public with her relationship yet.

Fortunately, the trip was kept confidential. They exited through the VIP channel and reached the airport parking lot without incident. From a distance, she saw a nanny van hidden in the shadows flashing its lights to signal them.

As they approached, the automatic door slid open, though the tinted windows hid the interior. Once inside, her manager, Li Wenjing, greeted her with a beaming smile. “Welcome back, our big star.”

“Sister, usually when you use that tone, it means nothing good is coming next,” Cheng Yixin joked. “Go ahead—how are you planning to exploit me this time?”

“Look at you! I told you I’d give you a vacation after this movie,” Li Wenjing said with a playful glare, pulling Cheng to sit beside her. She scrutinized her face and added, “Not bad. You’re in great shape. For this break, I’ve arranged some light work—mainly a variety show and a few commercials.”

Celebrities need to maintain exposure. A “rest period” wasn’t about doing absolutely nothing; it just meant no traveling and working locally.

Cheng Yixin was distracted. The anonymous sender had yet to reply.

“Oh, right,” Li Wenjing suddenly added. “That movie President Lu invested in? She handpicked you as the female lead. You know about that, right?”

“I know,” Cheng Yixin replied. Lu Qing had mentioned it two months ago, explaining that one of her influencers wanted to transition into the film industry and hoped to borrow Cheng’s star power.

Though she was in love, Cheng Yixin wasn’t “love-brained.” she would never film a terrible movie and ruin her reputation just for a few sweet words. She had only agreed after seeing that the script and character were solid, and the salary was full price.

“Is it still not finalized?” Cheng asked, puzzled. That was two months ago; her schedule wasn’t that open.

“Not yet,” Li Wenjing explained. “President Lu is on a tight timeline and wants to start filming as soon as possible. Your schedule is booked through next year; even a twenty-episode web drama is hard to squeeze in. We finally agreed on filming locally, but…” Li Wenjing paused. “The shoot is one month. It might have to cut into your vacation time.”

She ended with a teasing smirk: “So, do you want to rest, or do you want to work overtime for love?”

“…” Cheng Yixin felt helpless. “I already promised her. I’ll do it.”

“Then I’ll contact the director.” Li Wenjing nodded, then added more seriously, “About you two dating… if you really want to do it, I won’t stop you. But your career is on the rise. Keep it secret. Whatever you do, do not come out of the closet.”

“I know. We’ve just started; it’s not even set in stone yet,” Cheng Yixin patted her shoulder. “Don’t overthink it.”

“Good. Get some rest. I’ll wake you when we reach the apartment.”

Cheng Yixin put on the eye mask her assistant handed her. Just as she was about to drift off, her phone buzzed. She lifted a corner of the mask to peek at the screen.

Upon seeing the content, she ripped the mask off entirely.

The anonymous sender had stopped playing games, replying with only six words: She is with Yu Jiao.

Yu Jiao. A notorious figure in the industry known for being “infamous.” She was the type who would act coquettishly toward married hosts. Cheng Yixin had the misfortune of sharing a stage with her once; her private impression of the woman could be summed up in two words: Green Tea.

What was Lu Qing doing with Yu Jiao? Since when was Yu Jiao an “influencer”? Since when did she have ten million followers?

There were only two possibilities: either Lu Qing was lying, or the anonymous person was playing her.

The van dropped her at her apartment. After hesitating for a few minutes at home, Cheng Yixin decided to head to the Century Hotel to see for herself.

To her surprise, the moment she entered the lobby, she ran straight into Lu Qing’s secretary. The look of sheer guilt in the secretary’s eyes was unmistakable, but it was too late for her to hide.

“Teacher Cheng, long time no see.”

Meeting the assistant here, combined with the woman’s guilty behavior, caused the scales in Cheng Yixin’s heart to tilt. She steadied herself and acted nonchalant. “Lu Qing told me to come find her. Where is she?”

“President Lu is busy. Please wait a moment, I’ll call her now.”

Cheng Yixin stopped her. “She just told me she finished up and asked me to come up. Just take me to her.”

The assistant hesitated. That hesitation confirmed everything.

Cheng Yixin added smoothly, “She told me she just finished talking with Yu Jiao. Is there someone else there?”

Hearing this, the assistant assumed her boss had already come clean. She immediately led the way. Out of professional habit, she tried to send a quick message to her boss on the way, but Cheng Yixin skillfully distracted her, cutting off any chance of a warning.

They reached the room on the top floor. As the assistant reached for the doorbell, Cheng Yixin interrupted: “Don’t. I want to surprise her. You can go back to work.”

Once the assistant left, Cheng Yixin’s expression darkened. She pressed the doorbell and stepped to the side, cleverly avoiding the line of sight of the peephole.

A minute later, the door opened.

Inside stood Lu Qing, wearing a white bathrobe. She froze upon seeing Cheng. A flash of guilt crossed her face—which Cheng caught instantly—before she tried to mask it. “Baby? What are you doing here? I just finished hosting and was about to shower and come see you.”

Seeing Lu Qing’s attire, Cheng Yixin had already guessed the rest. Ignoring Lu Qing’s advances, she reached out and shoved her aside.

Lu Qing hadn’t expected the sudden move and stumbled back. By the time she reacted, it was too late; Cheng Yixin had already strode into the room.

A woman sat by the window, swirling a glass of red wine. Hearing the commotion, she turned calmly to look.

It was indeed Yu Jiao.

Cheng Yixin suddenly felt like her head was glowing bright green—she was being cheated on.

“Isn’t this Cheng Yixin?” Yu Jiao stood up, walking toward her with a provocative glint in her eyes. “Long time no see, Teacher Cheng. What brings you here?”

She glanced at the matching bathrobes she and Lu Qing were wearing and let out a contemptuous smirk. “It seems I shouldn’t have been here.”

Lu Qing rushed in, her first thought being that her “harem” was on fire. Realizing she needed to stabilize Cheng Yixin, she grabbed her hand. “Yixin, let me explain.”

“What is there to explain about cheating?” Cheng Yixin looked at her, eyes cold. “Are you going to tell me she’s a man in disguise?”

“…” Lu Qing was speechless.

The more Cheng Yixin thought about it, the angrier she got. If she didn’t do something, she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. She looked at Yu Jiao, who was leisurely enjoying the show with her wine glass.

Cheng Yixin lunged forward, grabbed Yu Jiao’s wrist, and in one fluid motion, flicked the entire contents of the wine glass onto Lu Qing’s face.

Yu Jiao gasped in shock.

The deep red liquid dripped down Lu Qing’s face and onto the white bathrobe. Cheng Yixin threw Yu Jiao’s hand aside and walked out of the room without looking back.

How disgusting.

This relationship isn’t worth keeping!!