Song Chu was somewhat melodramatic and, to be precise, had a strong sense of justice.

His father had an affair with a small-time celebrity and even had a child with her, which led to the collapse of what was once a happy family.

This personal experience made him particularly resentful of such moral decay.

Seeing Ning Qiuxiu, a young and promising woman, seemingly selling herself for resources and benefits was distressing to him.

If they were dating, he might have understood, but given their circumstances and her health issues, Song Chu was even more convinced that Ning Qiuxiu was being forced into being someone’s mistress for personal gain.

This realization made him both disappointed and angry, leading him to block her.

However, blocking her wasn’t going to solve anything.

Although he didn’t claim to fully understand Ning Qiuxiu, he felt she wasn’t the type to do such things willingly, especially considering her seemingly good background.

So, he found excuses for her—maybe she had a hidden struggle or was being coerced by someone…

Once you start making excuses, you end up brainwashing yourself.

The more Song Chu thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

He imagined Ning Qiuxiu as a fragile and helpless little white lotus, forced into such a situation by the evil Zhan Qingyue.

It must be like that!

With his extraordinary ability to concoct scenarios, Song Chu successfully created a dramatic story of an evil villain and a princess in distress and decided to become the righteous knight to rescue Ning Qiuxiu, starting his mission tonight under the cover of darkness.

He admitted that he had feelings for Ning Qiuxiu.

Although it wasn’t to the point of love, feelings develop over time, right?

Even if Ning Qiuxiu didn’t like him, it was fine; they could still be friends.

But right now, he had to pull her out of this situation.

Song Chu: “Although I don’t know why you ended up in this situation, I want you to know that there is someone who is willing to be entirely devoted to you. As long as you’re willing to reach out, that person will pull you out of the abyss.”

Ning Qiuxiu: “……”

Ning Qiuxiu hadn’t wanted to explain things so soon.

The reason was that when she was ready to explain, Song Chu had blocked her on WeChat, refused her calls, and avoided her for a few days.

Now he was back, making it seem like a never-ending cycle of drama. Even though she had a good temper, it didn’t mean she didn’t get upset.

Plus, she was feeling unwell, so she just wanted to ignore him for a while.

However, now that he was at her doorstep, the situation became tricky.

She needed to explain to avoid any problems.

After thinking it over, she copied and sent him the explanation she had prepared earlier when she was blocked on WeChat.

Song Chu: “So it’s a scandal among the wealthy, with your parents forcing you to be with an old and disabled person, right?”

Ning Qiuxiu was on the verge of a breakdown.

“Kid, you’re not suited to be a star. The screenwriters really need someone like you.”

It was also her fault for copying an outdated explanation.

She should have just said they were married and avoided all this trouble.

Ning Qiuxiu had to continue explaining. Just as she was typing, there was a knock on the door.

Startled and feeling guilty, she almost dropped her phone on her face.

She awkwardly hid her half-written message under her pillow and pretended to be asleep.

From the sounds, it was Zhan Qingyue at the door.

Ning Qiuxiu closed her eyes and listened as the sound of the wheelchair wheels moving across the floor approached.

She wondered if he was so dedicated that he was still working here at night.

Don’t mess with her, Song Chu was still waiting downstairs!

“Qiuxiu, wake up.” To her surprise, Zhan Qingyue reached out to wake her.

Ning Qiuxiu pretended to just be waking up, blinking groggily, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“This can help with my health, and it should be good for you too.” Zhan Qingyue handed her a cup.

Seeing the floating substance in the cup, Ning Qiuxiu knew exactly what it was.

It was indeed effective.

Recently, she had been busy earning money and maintaining a strong persona.

To keep up the image, she had to make extra effort in her free time, preparing for any situation.

She put aside her other talismanic work for now since it wasn’t making any money.

She had previously given a lot of the Tian Gang talismans to Zhan Qingyue, instructing him to burn one every few days.

She probably had very few left.

She thought it was more important for Zhan Qingyue to have them, and her minor cold didn’t need them, so she didn’t use them herself.

But with Song Chu still outside and the red carpet event coming up tomorrow, Ning Qiuxiu decided to take one and drink it to boost her energy for dealing with these troubles.

When she reached out for the cup, Zhan Qingyue didn’t give it to her.

He asked, “Do you remember how you fed me water?”

Ning Qiuxiu: “!!!”

It was quite unfair of Mr. Zhan to settle accounts when she couldn’t speak!

Ning Qiuxiu pretended to be clueless and shook her head.

She was the patient now, and her weakness gave her reason.

Zhan Qingyue raised his eyebrows: “Seems like my memory is still pretty good.”

“……” Ning Qiuxiu glared at him, wondering who was actually having memory problems.

Zhan Qingyue chuckled and handed her the cup.

Ning Qiuxiu breathed a sigh of relief, but just as she was about to drink, she heard Zhan Qingyue say, “Thank you.”

“?” Ning Qiuxiu was puzzled.

Zhan Qingyue’s expression was unusually serious: “You gave me a chance to start over and took care of me for so long. I haven’t even said thank you.”

— Today, Zhan Qingyue experienced firsthand how hard it was to take care of someone.

He deeply felt that even though Ning Qiuxiu, as a young lady, might have been playing her part, she had genuinely cared for him for such a long time.

Although he had been trying to repay her: helping her father, buying hot searches for her, and investing in her shows, it seemed like… he had never actually thanked her.

So, Zhan Qingyue decided to say thank you.

…It was rather sentimental.

Ning Qiuxiu didn’t mind. Helping Zhan Qingyue was also helping herself.

Otherwise, the Ning family might have gone bankrupt, and she would have been in debt.

Considering she hadn’t earned 3 million for such a long time, she knew paying off that debt wasn’t easy.

Moreover, that money came through Zhan Qingyue’s support, which had helped her make significant earnings in the drama.

Otherwise, she might not have even earned 1 million, let alone live the current life.

Ning Qiuxiu was still worried about the silly kid downstairs and had no time for idle chatter with Zhan Qingyue.

She quickly drank the water and pulled out her phone, finding multiple messages from Song Chu and a missed call she hadn’t heard because her phone was on silent.

She opened her notes app and typed: “No need to thank me. I’m a do-gooder who doesn’t leave a name.”

Zhan Qingyue: “……”

He discovered a new type of Ning Qiuxiu: the shameless kind.

Ning Qiuxiu: “I’m feeling sleepy again. You’ve taken care of me all day, so you should rest too.”

“If you don’t respond, I’ll just knock on your door. You have five minutes,” Zhan Qingyue texted.

“???” Ning Qiuxiu was startled.

She flipped her phone over and saw the message on the screen just as it disappeared.

The sender, besides Song Chu, was no one else!

“……”

This was just too unlucky. In just one or two seconds, she got caught.

She hadn’t thought about how messages would display on the screen.

Even worse, she was hoarse and couldn’t speak.

Frustrated and anxious, she wanted to explain but couldn’t.

Zhan Qingyue had warned her not to let anyone think he was being cuckolded. Now, it seemed like the “green hat” was arriving on its own.

“Is there a guest?” Zhan Qingyue raised an eyebrow.

She wondered if he would believe it was a scam or harassment message…

But since she had saved Song Chu’s number in her contacts, Zhan Qingyue would easily see the sender if he looked.

None of her excuses seemed appropriate. If she explained that the sender had made a mistake, what if Zhan Qingyue went to check outside?

“Hm?” Zhan Qingyue was waiting for her explanation.

Thinking it over, Ning Qiuxiu decided to come clean and quickly typed: “The person who saw me sitting on your lap that day is also my friend. They thought I was your kept woman and now have a strong sense of justice, wanting to elope with me to get me away from your clutches.”

After typing, she showed Zhan Qingyue.

He read it and, having never encountered such a situation, was momentarily stunned before smiling: “Your friend is quite interesting.”

Ning Qiuxiu: “If I explain things clearly to him now, he’ll just leave.”

Zhan Qingyue: “Once he has a preconception, no matter what you say, it will always seem like an excuse. It’s hard to argue.”

Ning Qiuxiu: “…”

It really does seem that way.

“And you made him wait so long outside your door, and now you’re just dismissing him with a few words. You won’t have any friends left if you keep this up.”

Each of his words hit home.

But Ning Qiuxiu looked at him warily and typed: “Don’t mess around, or I’ll be angry!”

Even though Song Chu’s actions were quite frustrating, they were for her sake.

She had been so honest with Zhan Qingyue; if he dared to take action against Song Chu, she would indeed be angry.

Zhan Qingyue smiled: “I’m not that petty.”

Ning Qiuxiu was deeply skeptical.

Since he told her not to put a green hat on him, she didn’t believe Zhan Qingyue would be so magnanimous.

“Trust me, I’ll help you. I guarantee a cure.”

Song Chu had been waiting outside for a long time, with no response from Ning Qiuxiu.

He felt increasingly wronged, thinking she saw him as just a child.

He believed she didn’t take his feelings seriously.

This realization hurt him, but he couldn’t let go of Ning Qiuxiu. In this self-pitying state, the door to the villa finally opened…

Ning Qiuxiu, not at ease, put on a coat over her pajamas and went to the living room to make sure Zhan Qingyue didn’t do anything to the boy.

Before long, the butler brought Song Chu in.

Seeing Ning Qiuxiu’s pale face and difficult expression, Song Chu immediately jumped to conclusions and warned Zhan Qingyue: “This was all my plan, and it has nothing to do with Qiuxiu. Don’t hurt her.”

Zhan Qingyue, rarely serious, waved his hand and said, “Qiuxiu is sick and hoarse. I’m here to speak for her. If Mr. Song has any misunderstandings, let’s discuss it.”

Song Chu snorted.

Zhan Qingyue wasn’t going to push it further and said, “Qiuxiu and I are in a consensual and legal relationship recognized by law. Would Mr. Song like to see our marriage certificate?”

Ning Qiuxiu: “……”

Where’s this marriage certificate coming from?

Zhan Qingyue was sure Song Chu wouldn’t ask to see it.

As expected, Song Chu was stunned for a moment and then looked at Ning Qiuxiu.

Ning Qiuxiu nodded.

“……” Song Chu’s face changed from red to white, like a monkey spinning around in confusion. “Then why, when I asked Qiuxiu if your relationship was legitimate, did she never give a clear answer? Don’t try to fool me!”

Song Chu looked at Ning Qiuxiu, signaling with his eyes: ‘Qiuxiu, if you’re being held hostage, blink!’

Unfortunately, Ning Qiuxiu didn’t catch that.

Zhan Qingyue continued as her spokesperson, smoothly taking the blame: “It’s my fault. I was afraid my younger brother would think I was teaming up with the Ning family against him, so I asked Qiuxiu to keep our relationship private for now.”

He then wrapped his arm around Ning Qiuxiu and kissed the top of her head, speaking in a loving tone: “I’m sorry for making you go through this.”

“!!!”

Ning Qiuxiu was completely taken aback by this turn of events.

Even through her hair, she could feel the touch, and her scalp tingled.

She couldn’t help but blush.

It was so unfair, taking advantage of the situation!

Yet she had to pretend to be shy, shaking her head with a loving expression to show it was nothing.

In terms of acting, we’re professionals!

Song Chu: “……”