CHAPTER 95: CHAPTER 91: ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE PROGRAM TEAM

On the other side, Xu Qingqiu, having waited half the day to no avail, could only reluctantly head home.

It was not until everyone had gone far away that Chu Tian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the thought of her reaction upon seeing the video the next day made him want to laugh.

Xu Qingqiu had just arrived home and was still collecting herself. She turned on the light and saw two figures staring straight at her, a study in contrasts: one large, one small; one tall, one short; one plump, one slim.

"AHHH! You scared me to death! What are you two doing?"

"What are we doing? What are *we* doing? Xu Qingqiu! Where did you go so late at night without resting? Don’t you know you’re a celebrity? What if something had happened?!"

"Sister Hua, I wore a mask and glasses! See, I even wore a hat!"

"Are you dumb? Who wears sunglasses in the middle of the night? Do you think everyone else is an idiot?"

"Spill. Where did you go?"

"I didn’t go anywhere. I just took a stroll around the company."

"Just took a stroll around the company? Is there something in there you can’t stop thinking about? Something that requires you to go two nights in a row?"

"You go there for hours and only come back late at night! Do you even have any regard for me as your agent?"

"Don’t think I don’t know what you’re secretly up to. Do you realize what a critical time this is for you? Is it appropriate to be running out like this?"

"I’ve worked tirelessly to build your career, and you’re this reckless behind my back? Tell me, what if you end up causing a life-altering scandal? What then? You tell me, what then?"

Xu Qingqiu listened to Sister Hua’s long speech, utterly puzzled. The more she heard, the more confused she became.

"Sister Hua, what are you talking about? What ’life-altering scandal’? What do you mean, ’reckless’? I just went out for a walk."

"Still lying to me? Qingqiu, I know things between you two have been progressing quickly, but isn’t this a bit too fast? Where’s Chu Tian? Tell him to come back; I need to talk to him!"

"Hold on, what does this have to do with Chu Tian?"

"How could it not? What if you keep going to see him every night and get photographed? You spend hours together late at night! Tell me, what if that leads to a life-altering scandal?"

Finally, Xu Qingqiu seemed to understand Sister Hua’s implication, and her face turned bright red with embarrassment.

"You’ve misunderstood! I really wasn’t with Chu Tian! I was just wandering around downstairs at the company, trying to catch Youmeng..."

"You don’t believe me? Look, all these mosquito bites! I got them downstairs. I really wasn’t with Chu Tian!"

"Really?"

"Really..."

"Geez, you scared me! I thought you and Chu Tian had sneaked off late at night to get a room..."

"A room for what?"

"Nothing, never mind. As long as you’re okay. But really, if you want to find Youmeng, just tell us. Don’t just sneak off like that. What if something happened? Don’t do it again, okay?"

"Anyway, it’s late. You should get some rest."

Li Chunhua, having said her piece, quickly retreated with Yiyi, whose eyes were gleaming, clearly having enjoyed the spectacle.

It was too embarrassing. She had been so confident, ready to catch them red-handed and issue a stern warning, only for it to be a complete misunderstanding.

The two of them hurried back to their respective rooms, leaving Xu Qingqiu standing there bewildered, her thoughts in turmoil.

「The next morning」

Xu Qingqiu, yawning and scratching, walked into the company at a leisurely pace.

As she entered, she specifically glanced up at the surveillance camera and saw its red light blinking, indicating it was working fine.

Once inside her office, she subconsciously glanced at the surveillance monitor, only to see a completely white screen.

What’s going on? Could it be broken again?

She hurriedly checked it using the method someone had shown her the previous day. There seemed to be no issues with the system itself, yet the screen remained white, showing nothing.

She tried rewinding the footage, but it remained white. Only when she forcefully dragged the progress bar far back did the normal footage from the previous night appear.

She realized something was amiss. The newly installed surveillance system couldn’t have broken down on its second day. There had to be a problem!

Frowning, she rapidly scrubbed through the footage. Around the ten o’clock mark from the previous night, she finally spotted something unusual.

What is this? Isn’t this the fat cat mascot costume from last night? How did it get here?

As she pondered this, the footage showed the large, fat cat mascot putting down the rose it held. It then turned, bowed to the surveillance camera, and began to dance.

This...

Is it mocking me? Is it Youmeng? Or just a prank?

While she was lost in confusion, the mascot finished dancing. It then struggled to pull something out from its rear.

It was too small to see clearly. All she could make out was the mascot holding some unknown object towards the camera. Then, the entire screen went white.

It stayed like that until the end of the recording.

What was that thing? Why did the feed go blank as soon as it was pointed at the camera?

While she was still puzzled, someone knocked on the office door.

"Come in!"

"President Xu, this bouquet of flowers was found at the door this morning. There’s a card inside with your name on it."

Flowers? Roses? The fat cat mascot?

Xu Qingqiu immediately thought of something.

"Bring it here, let me see!"

She opened the card from the bouquet and, indeed, found a message written on it:

[Do not try to find me. I will appear when the time is right. Just remember, I mean you no harm. We are friends, and I am here to help you—that’s enough. — Youmeng]

So it was you...

Xu Qingqiu looked frustrated. She was annoyed at herself for not realizing that the fat cat mascot she’d brushed past was Youmeng.

After her frustration faded, a bit of dejection set in. She hadn’t expected all her careful planning to be in vain, and even to be mocked for it.

Looking at the slightly wilted roses in her hand, Xu Qingqiu pondered for a long moment. In the end, she kept the card and casually tossed the bouquet out.

"EH? What’s this? Why throw away such nice flowers?"

Chu Tian had just seen some news online and was about to tell her when he happened to see her tossing out the flowers.

These were the flowers I carefully selected last night. Does she dislike them that much?

When Xu Qingqiu saw Chu Tian, she clearly panicked. She clumsily hid the card behind her back and stammered, pointing at the discarded flowers, "That... those flowers were delivered by mistake. I was just about to have someone throw them out!"

"Delivered by mistake? Shouldn’t you return them to the sender, then?"

"Um... I asked. The sender said they weren’t fresh anymore, so they didn’t want them back."

"Oh, really? That’s a pity. Such nice flowers. If you don’t want them, I’ll take them. They’ll look great decorating my desk."

Xu Qingqiu watched, dumbfounded, as Chu Tian picked up the bouquet.

What am I supposed to do now? The flowers are from Youmeng, but I like Chu Tian more. I only threw them out because I was afraid he’d misunderstand.

But now Chu Tian wants the flowers... This is...

Frankly, Xu Qingqiu really couldn’t handle such a complicated situation. She couldn’t very well admit the flowers were from someone else, could she? Should she ask if he was jealous?

Seeing how he acted, that seemed highly unlikely. Trying to provoke him like this probably wouldn’t work.

Chu Tian, seemingly oblivious to her discomfort, began arranging the flowers and said, "Right, I came to tell you something. The production team of The Sound of Nature has released an announcement. You should take a look. Also, tell Sister Hua we can get started."

"Oh, okay... Wait, what did you say?"

"I said..."

"Never mind that part, I heard the rest! I’ll call Sister Hua right away!"

Finally grasping the important news, Xu Qingqiu quickly pushed aside her chaotic thoughts and refocused on work.