Turns out I Was the CEO's White Moonlight [Rebirth] - Chapter 23

Strange thoughts swirled in Ji Wencheng’s mind. After a long while, he silently closed the webpage before him and opened his profile settings page instead.

He deleted all the information he had previously filled out, sat there racking his brains for a long time, then typed out a new self-introduction with a flurry of keystrokes. He also deleted some of the messy posts he had made on Weibo, leaving only a few cold, impersonal reposts, trying hard to create the impression that he was aloof and wealthy.

After finishing all this, Ji Wencheng finally felt a bit more comfortable. With a light heart, he closed the browser and finally freed up his hands to deal with the work he had neglected earlier.

In the bustling Xie-Shen super topic on Weibo, some discordant notes suddenly appeared.

Thanks to the popularity of the two individuals, although this CP had only emerged recently, fans were already energized, squatting in front of their computers and frantically producing content. In just a few days, the fandom was thriving, with countless fan art and fanfiction. There were even incredibly skilled editors who manually spliced videos together, creating an entire music video for the vast CP fandom to enjoy.

However, this peace was shattered by a few people who were jumping around in the super topic.

These accounts, clearly throwaways, lurked in the comment sections of content creators, nitpicking and subtly implying that Xie Yun wasn’t worthy. Then, shifting their tone, they adopted a provocative attitude, saying that someone like the “golden master” would naturally have better romantic prospects waiting for him. As for Xie Yun? He shouldn’t even think about it.

Where did these idiots come from??

Once or twice might have been tolerable, but after repeated provocations, even the most patient fans couldn’t hold back. These throwaway accounts, having provoked public anger, were quickly exposed by furious fans. And upon closer inspection

Oh wow, putting one down to lift another up? Think you’re so clever, huh?? 🙂

Everyone stared at this fan who was trying to promote their own CP while biting everywhere like a rabid dog, and malicious smiles spread across their faces.

Not long after, a hot post rapidly climbing to thousands of replies appeared on a famous gossip forum

“Has anyone seen the drama in the fandom of that popular real-person CP lately? It’s so wild, I’m stunned!”

Ji Wencheng, bored and secretly lurking on his phone in the office, happened to come across this post.

Not long before, driven by shameful jealousy, he had ultimately pretended to be calm and hired a group of paid promoters to help boost the super topic for him and Shen Yelin. To avoid being recognized at a glance, he had also deliberately given a boost to a few others who seemed to have decent relationships with Shen Yelin, which truly felt humiliating.

Although these online squabbles were meaningless when taken seriously and couldn’t possibly affect real-life outcomes, Ji Wencheng just felt uncomfortable and had to compete with Xie Yun in this regard.

Now, those promoters had achieved some results, even increasing the number of followers under his account, and content was gradually being produced. Aside from the intense clashes with the Xie-Shen fandom, things were relatively peaceful otherwise.

This outcome pleased Ji Wencheng greatly, and he decided to increase his investment in marketing for this group of promoters.

The moment he saw the post title, as if guided by some unseen force, he clicked on it.

As it turned out, what greeted him was a long string of disdain.

“Are the fans of the Ji-Shen CP supertopic out of their minds, hahaha? Are they genuinely stanning this eldest son of the Ji family? Wow, do they really not bother to investigate the person themselves before shipping them and just go around pairing them up with others?? Hahaha, everyone in the industry knows this young master is a notorious playboy, changing partners faster than he changes clothes, right?? Are they shipping this CP because they enjoy toxic, abusive relationships and hope to write about a ‘chasing wife to the crematorium’ plot??”

Ji Wencheng scrolled down expressionlessly.

The revelations in the thread kept pouring in:

“Hey, I heard some gossip recently that he just switched to someone new again. I don’t understand the circles of the rich! #Goodbye”

“Same as above. Even when it comes to shipping CPs, there are quality ones and trashy ones. I can’t stand Ji-Shen, it makes me want to puke. I wish those who stan such a toxic pairing get cheated on and mistreated by scumbags every day. Our golden boy wants no part of this. He’s such a good, upright, and outstanding young man let’s not let this kind of poison touch him.”

“Exactly. He’s not worthy of our golden boy. We’re taking our guy and leaving, no thanks. Get lost, don’t come clinging to our CEO Shen.”

After reading these comments, Ji Wencheng felt a string in his mind snap with a sharp “crack.”

What kind of nonsense were they talking?? How was he mistreating anyone?

Furious and bitter, Ji Wencheng thought to himself: If Shen Yelin were as easy to please as they imagined, why would he have ended up in this state? These people wouldn’t even have a chance to stan Shen Yelin he had already won him over before the other even started university, hadn’t he?

Thinking this, he felt slightly comforted: At least Yelin treated him differently from others. After all these years of shared feelings, their bond had become something inseparable. Shen Yelin had silently helped him clear away so many troubles, how could their relationship shatter just because of outsiders’ interference?

Having reasoned this through, Ji Wencheng finally felt the boiling bitterness and anger in his chest subside a little.

Fu Jianyi had naturally witnessed this entire farce from start to finish.

But for him, it wasn’t so much witnessing as it was being present all along.

Xie Yun’s counterattack had been executed so brilliantly that it made Fu Jianyi even more cautious. He had been carefully observing the aftermath of the incident, afraid that Yaoyu Entertainment might uncover any traces.

Fortunately, the people from Yue Lin had cleaned up their tracks thoroughly. If nothing unexpected happened, the matter should have ended there.

But the unusual activity in the Xie-Shen CP supertopic quickly caught his attention again.

Shen Yelin had always kept a low profile. Despite netizens digging for information for most of the day, they hadn’t been able to uncover his personal details. How could someone like him have people close to him dug up and a bunch of supertopics created in just a few days?

When he scanned the fiercely contentious comment section, he immediately understood.

Ji Wencheng really wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

If it weren’t for this incident, Fu Jianyi might have almost forgotten about this person, whom he had once considered his biggest competitor. After all, the young master Ji had been keeping a low profile at home lately, and his figure had disappeared from all the major clubs. People were even speculating whether something had happened to him, given his sudden absence.

Only Fu Jianyi knew clearly in his heart that the other party was currently hiding away, secretly preparing a big move. If he let his guard down, he would likely be kicked out of the competition by the other side the very next day.

This couldn’t help but make Fu Jianyi feel a bit restless.

Since Xie Yun’s matter had been exposed, he had never communicated privately with Shen Yelin again. For one, as a half-competitor, it wasn’t appropriate for him to approach Shen Yelin at this time. For another, after the blow of this incident, Xie Yun might gradually distance himself from Shen Yelin in the future.

Staying put was actually the best choice.

However, now that things had gradually calmed down, he had almost never successfully managed to arrange a meeting with Shen Yelin again. That past outing felt like a dream.

In fact, Fu Jianyi suspected that Shen Yelin was indirectly avoiding him.

Could it be that his overly hasty approach last time had displeased Shen Yelin?

Realizing this, Fu Jianyi furrowed his brows and began reflecting on his recent behavior.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have been in such a hurry to bring the two of them closer. He needed to learn from Xie Yun perhaps slowly winning the other person over with patience was the right approach.

Recently, the system had been surprisingly quiet.

Normally, before Shen Yelin could even say a word, this chatterbox of a system would have already blabbered seven or eight sentences in his ear, giving him a headache. But for some reason, it had recently seemed to vanish into thin air, rarely appearing during the day.

Shen Yelin couldn’t help but find this a bit novel.

However, since the system didn’t take the initiative to speak up, he couldn’t be bothered to ask. With an indifferent expression, he walked to the underground garage, got into his car, and prepared to drive to the airport located in the suburbs of City B to pick someone up.

Just moments ago, his aunt, who rarely ever asked him to do anything, had suddenly called to say that Lu Chen was returning, with his flight landing in the afternoon. She asked if he could spare the time to help pick him up.

Hearing this news, Shen Yelin paused subtly before agreeing and heading downstairs to drive.

To be honest, he was actually quite surprised.

It wasn’t that Lu Chen’s return was unexpected. Counting the days, Lu Chen should indeed be returning around this time. However, given that their relationship was far from good, Shen Yelin sincerely wished the other would stay abroad and never come back.

His reaction was so unusual that it even prompted the system, which had been hiding and staying silent, to speak up.

“Host,” the system tentatively asked, “do you really dislike this person?”

Shen Yelin wasn’t particularly inclined to answer.

His parents had passed away very early, and he had mostly lived with his uncle and aunt, who took care of him. The Lu family was his mother’s maiden family, and the two families had always been on good terms. Over time, they had become quite familiar with each other. The only member of the Lu family Shen Yelin didn’t know well was Lu Chen’s family.

The Lu family was much larger than his own, with a sprawling extended family some staying in the country, others focusing on expanding their market abroad. Lu Chen’s parents happened to belong to the latter group, so Shen Yelin had hardly met them before high school. Later, for some reason, the Lu family brought Lu Chen back to study in the country, and the two finally got to know each other and became familiar.

Of course, the process hadn’t been pleasant.

Even the most placid of temperaments will eventually encounter someone they find utterly grating. Shen Yelin, for his part, merely appeared difficult to provoke in truth, his temper was far from mild. The only thing that set him apart from others was that when angered, he never showed it outright. Instead, he preferred to quietly and methodically make the other party pay.

Shen Yelin turned the steering wheel and slowly drove the car into the VIP terminal of the airport.

Stepping out of the vehicle, he made his way toward the arrivals exit according to the information his mother had sent him. Perhaps he had arrived a bit late the exit was deserted, with hardly anyone left in sight.

Clearly, Lu Chen was not there.

Shen Yelin frowned slightly and was about to take out his phone to call the other when suddenly, someone breathed softly against his ear from behind.

The warm, damp breath brushed against the nape of his neck, instantly stiffening Shen Yelin’s entire body, nearly making him jump out of his skin.

Pursing his lips tightly, he turned his head and caught sight of a handsome face. The other was smiling at him, lips curved in a teasing grin as if deliberately trying to provoke his anger, and blew another breath toward him. After a long moment, he drawled lazily:

“Long time no see,” he said with a laugh. “Did you miss me?”