Fighting For My Wife With Myself After Being Reborn - Chapter 18

Early morning.

The gentle sunlight spilled across the surface of the lake, creating a shimmering mosaic of gold. White birds spread their wings and skimmed over the water, their sharp talons snatching fish swimming just beneath the surface before flapping their wings to return to the sky.

Beneath the covers, Shen Huaixu had her arms wrapped around her lover’s waist, her face buried in the crook of her neck. Their limbs were intertwined like vines, and the satisfaction of skin-to-skin contact was enough to make the two people—who had been “busy” all night—unwilling to wake up, wanting only to remain immersed in this embrace and continue sleeping.

It was a peaceful and beautiful morning.

Or it should have been.

If not for that phone call that didn’t know its place, couldn’t read the room, and rang persistently and tirelessly.

On the third ring, Shen Huaixu cursed softly. She reached an arm out from under the covers and fumbled for the phone on the nightstand.

She thought to herself that if the caller couldn’t provide a convincing reason, she would definitely block them.

The call connected. Shen Huaixu covered the microphone and gingerly left Gu Yinghuai’s embrace, trying her best to avoid waking her.

As soon as Shen Huaixu left, the sleeping woman immediately frowned and let out a soft whimper, searching for her in the bed.

The hand she reached out met empty space.

Gu Yinghuai woke from her dreams. She opened her bleary eyes and found that Shen Huaixu’s side of the pillow was already empty.

Where was her Axu?

“What is it?” The early morning in Dali was a bit cold. Shen Huaixu wrapped herself in a blanket and sat on the balcony sofa to take the call. The morning light shone in, bringing a faint hint of warmth.

Jiang Rui’s voice quickly sounded from the receiver. “Have you checked Weibo yet?”

“No.” Shen Huaixu yawned. The blanket on her shoulder slipped down, revealing fair skin dotted with hickeys.

She and Gu Yinghuai had spent a rather fiery night together; she simply hadn’t found the time to browse Weibo. “Did something big happen on Weibo that required you to wake me up so early?”

When Shen Huaixu left, she had specifically pulled out her work SIM card. Jiang Rui was calling her private number. Only Jiang Rui at the company knew this number. Shen Huaixu hadn’t expected Jiang Rui to call her on just the second day of her vacation.

Jiang Rui’s voice sounded very irritable, completely losing its usual composure.

Jiang Rui tried to explain the situation simply. “Listen, someone posted several candid photos of you on Weibo yesterday.”

“It seems to be from when you took the subway to drop Gu Yinghuai off at work on that rainy day. The photos didn’t capture Gu Yinghuai’s face, but the outfit you’re wearing is identical to your work photos, so there’s no way to deny it’s you.”

“Normally, a bit of PR would handle it, but this time it seems someone is pushing it from behind. The heat is rising unnaturally.”

“This clearly can’t be handled like usual. Normally, if paparazzi catch photos like these, they contact the person involved first to negotiate a price.”

“But this time, our PR department didn’t receive a single tip-off. They were published directly.”

“Furthermore, someone deliberately bought trending spots and hired a lot of ‘water soldiers’ (paid commenters) to drive the narrative. I’ve already arranged for our own people to try and shift the topic in the threads.”

Damn. Damn. Damn. Shen Huaixu felt a chill crawl from the soles of her feet to her head. She hadn’t even noticed someone was secretly filming them that day.

Shen Huaixu rubbed her forehead, trying hard to recall her recent actions. She asked Jiang Rui with doubt, “I shouldn’t have offended anyone recently, right?”

Jiang Rui’s voice was low. “Remember that lipstick advertisement?”

Shen Huaixu raised an eyebrow. “You mean—”

Jiang Rui nodded. “Exactly. I heard that the other party’s company warned her because she stood Li Xinxin up and missed out on a major exposure opportunity.”

“I reckon she believes that if she had starred in that ad, the person dominating all the screens lately would be her.”

“Seriously? Is she sick? That’s just displacement of anger.” Shen Huaixu couldn’t understand the other woman’s logic at all. She’s the one who stood them up, and now she’s the one who’s angry? Does the world revolve around her?

“Let’s just assume she’s sick for now.” Jiang Rui was deeply resentful about being called into the office to work overtime so early. “The main reason I called was to ask you: do you plan to give it the cold treatment, or issue a denial?”

Despite asking, Jiang Rui had a hunch that Shen Huaixu might choose neither.

“…” Shen Huaixu fell silent. It took her a few seconds to find her voice. “I need to discuss it with Huai. I’ll get back to you later.”

“Fine,” Jiang Rui agreed.

Before hanging up, Shen Huaixu asked one more thing. “If I plan to go public with the relationship, what will the company do?”

Jiang Rui pinched the bridge of her nose, her voice weary. “The company hasn’t given a clear plan. They won’t stop you if you want to go public, as long as you don’t regret it later.”

“I understand,” Shen Huaixu said. “I never do things I’ll regret.”

But you do things that give me a headache, Jiang Rui thought.

“Fine, give me a call after you two have discussed it. I need to report to the company in advance.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

After hanging up, Shen Huaixu opened Weibo, skillfully switched to her burner account, and clicked on the Hot Search list.

The gossip about her relationship was currently hanging at number one on the Entertainment Chart, with a piercing dark red “Explosive” tag next to it.

Shen Huaixu couldn’t help but marvel. As a model barely ranked in the third or fourth tier, she was experiencing the treatment of a top-tier star for the first time. She wondered how much the other party had spent on trending spots and paid commenters.

They better have spent a lot, otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth the pain of being woken up so early and being unable to sleep in with her Huai.

In the trending hashtag, various marketing accounts were adding fuel to the fire over a few meager photos, analyzing them with great conviction.

A-News Entertainment: [BOMBSHELL! Top model’s relationship confirmed? Photos of subway embrace leaked…]

[Recently, a top model with tens of millions of followers was exposed for being in a secret long-term relationship with a non-celebrity girlfriend. A netizen happened to spot them and took sweet photos of the two…]

Shen Huaixu clicked on the pictures. She had to admit, the person who took the photos had decent skills. In the photo, she was looking down and talking to the person in her arms. Though her baseball cap and mask hid her face, they couldn’t hide the tender gaze she directed at Gu Yinghuai.

Shen Huaixu admired it for a few seconds and silently clicked “Save.”

After saving the photo, she casually opened the comment section. The comments below were almost entirely paid commenters driving the narrative, occasionally mixed with a few comments from passersby asking who Shen Huaixu even was, or saying that zero people cared about her relationship and asking for more “juicy” gossip.

Unfortunately, these were mostly buried at the bottom by the water soldiers and failed to make any waves.

Shen Huaixu quickly scanned the posts and comments under the tag, extracting two main points.

First, that she was hiding her relationship and deceiving her fans’ feelings.

Second, that so-called “insiders” were taking the opportunity to leak information, claiming she had snatched a brand deal from a certain starlet.

As for the second point, if Shen Huaixu hadn’t been the person involved, she might have actually been fooled by this “insider’s” account.

“They really have too much money to burn.” Shen Huaixu clicked on her own Weibo profile. The comment section of her latest post had been flooded with tens of thousands of comments from confused onlookers, and the number was still climbing.

For a “zombie” account usually managed by a team and used only for advertisements, this data was a second spring.

No wonder Jiang Rui had called her so urgently.

If they didn’t catch this overwhelming wave of traffic, Jiang Rui would surely die of regret.

Shen Huaixu exited Weibo. The sun had now completely jumped out of the water and hung high in the sky. The temperature was rising, and the blanket she was wrapped in began to feel like a burden.

She returned indoors, discarded the blanket, and changed into a thin short-sleeved shirt.

“Who was on the phone? So early.” Gu Yinghuai sat on the bed yawning, her smooth long hair a mess after a night of fooling around.

“It was Jiang Rui.” Shen Huaixu knelt on the bed, leaned in, and gave Gu Yinghuai a morning kiss. “Get up first. I have something to discuss with you in a bit.”

“Oh? That’s rare.” Gu Yinghuai’s curiosity was piqued. “What is it? Can’t you say it now?”

Shen Huaixu poked her forehead and handed her a set of clothes. “You’ll find out in a bit. Go brush your teeth first while I order breakfast.”

“So mysterious.” Gu Yinghuai took the clothes and changed while still yawning.

Fifteen minutes later, a hotel staff member pushed a cart of lavish breakfast and knocked on their door.

Shen Huaixu laid out the breakfast and sat across from Gu Yinghuai to explain the morning phone call.

“So you want to take this opportunity to go public, right?” Gu Yinghuai said, biting into a soft piece of bread.

“Yeah.” Shen Huaixu pushed the sliced pancakes to Gu Yinghuai’s side. “I wanted to ask your opinion. After all, regardless of anything else, this concerns your—”

“Sure, no problem.” Before Shen Huaixu could finish, Gu Yinghuai agreed directly. But then she showed a worried expression. “But will it be okay? Normally, going public affects your work, doesn’t it?”

Shen Huaixu didn’t care much about that. She picked a grape and tossed it into her mouth. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not the type who relies on fans for a living anyway. Besides, the money I’ve earned is enough to support us both.”

“And if I lose my job, you’ll support me, right, Huai?” She blinked her eyes, trying to look like a homeless puppy.

Gu Yinghuai ate the pancakes Shen Huaixu had cut. The soft bread combined with honey syrup, cream, and the fragrance of fruit brought a burst of happiness with every bite.

“Depends on your performance.” She winked playfully. “If you perform well, I’ll hire you as my Chief Manager to wait on me hand and foot.”

“I’m confident I’ll get a perfect score.” Shen Huaixu believed that on the exam paper that was Gu Yinghuai, if she claimed to be second, no one would dare claim to be first.

Gu Yinghuai shrugged. “Being too conceited makes it easy to crash, you know.”

Shen Huaixu smiled and didn’t respond.

Her stomach was mostly full. After finishing the pancakes, Gu Yinghuai ate a few other things and then put down her cutlery, leaning back in her chair to rest.

Opposite her, Shen Huaixu was drinking a specially made vegetable juice with a neutral expression.

It was bright green and gave off an ominous vibe.

“Every time I see you drink vegetable juice, I find it amazing. How can you drink something so foul-tasting without changing your expression?” Gu Yinghuai leaned in to sniff the glass, which still contained some residue, and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I’m glad I’m not cut out to be a star.”

“I’m used to it.” Shen Huaixu took a sip of warm water, trying to wash the taste of the juice out of her mouth. “I need to call Jiang Rui back and tell her what we’ve decided.”

Gu Yinghuai: “Okay, go ahead.”

The call connected quickly. Shen Huaixu explained her plan to take the opportunity to go public. Jiang Rui was silent for a few seconds on the phone and then said she understood.

“Send me a screenshot before you post. I’ll check it, and you can post once I confirm it’s okay. Also, regarding the brand deal snatching, I’ll handle that. You don’t need to answer any questions about it.”

“Okay, I got it.”

The two talked for a few more minutes. Jiang Rui repeatedly reminded Shen Huaixu that she must let her see it before posting on Weibo. Only then did she hang up.

“Honestly, I’m not a three-year-old.” Shen Huaixu complained to Gu Yinghuai. “Saying it so many times is so annoying.”

Gu Yinghuai propped her chin on her hand and looked at her. “After all, someone has quite a track record, right?”

“You’re actually teasing me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll be mean to you, hmm?” Shen Huaixu pinched her nose. Her voice was mock-stern, but her eyes were overflowing with doting affection.

Gu Yinghuai balled her hands into fists and held them by her cheeks, pretending to shrink back in fear. “Wow, I’m so scawwed.” After saying that, the two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

That day at noon, the female lead of the number one trending topic finally made her appearance under the gaze of thousands.

Shen Huaixu: [Showing off my love for the first time, I’m not very practiced yet. [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] …]

A full nine photos, and not a single one was a solo shot.