Chapter 25: Face Slap

Lu Hui’s ears perked up. “My fans are that rich?”

She hadn’t even bought a car yet—not even a driver’s license—but her fans had already surpassed her and were driving luxury cars.

The driver studied the emblem more closely. “Yep, it’s a Bentley worth over six million.”

Lu Hui didn’t know much about cars. “You can tell just by looking?”

The light turned green, and the driver slowly started moving. “I can’t afford one, but I know cars like the back of my hand. One look, and I can tell what it is.”

As the evening rush hour approached, the traffic began to get congested. The driver thought for a moment and then decided to take a shortcut. He asked, “Miss Lu, do you want me to take you home or back to the company?”

It was Lu Hui’s first time encountering such a crazy stalker fan, and she was a bit shaken. “Take me back to the company.”

She couldn’t let anyone find out where she lived. If people found out she was staying at the Sheng family’s residence with Sheng Zhaoming, living under the same roof, she’d be criticized from all sides. It wasn’t worth it.

The driver agreed immediately, turned at the next intersection, and headed toward the company.

In less than ten minutes, the car parked in the company’s parking lot. The driver glanced at the rearview mirror. The man who had been following them had parked behind the car, and he was fuming. The driver, feeling particularly protective, said, “Miss Lu, you head upstairs. I’ll go deal with them.”

Lu Hui nodded. “Tell them their behavior is dangerous. Don’t get too angry and start fighting.”

The driver patted his chest, reassuring her. “Don’t worry, we Northeastern men never hit women.”

“Don’t be too harsh, though. Just talk to them.”

“I know what to do.”

“Alright, I’ll go upstairs now.”

The driver parked the car and locked it, hanging the keys on his belt. He then walked aggressively toward the car behind him, his temper flaring. He knocked firmly on the window.

The window rolled down slowly, and a man in a black suit looked at him with furrowed brows.

The driver, seeing the man’s attire, was momentarily stunned. He hesitated for a moment, then snapped back into his usual tough persona. “What kind of grown man follows someone like this? Don’t you know how dangerous it is? You followed us all the way from the venue to here and still think you’re in the right?”

The man remained silent.

The driver, feeling satisfied with his reprimand, continued, “I know today’s fans are crazy, but if you’re going to stalk someone, at least do it in a proper place. No celebrity is going to like fans like you.”

The man opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again. He wanted to explain that he wasn’t a fan, but he didn’t know how to, especially since his behavior had already been noticed. He had no idea what to say and didn’t want to disturb the person in the back seat.

Seeing the man’s silence, the driver thought his attitude was improving. He adopted a more conciliatory tone. “Go back and do something productive.”

“Okay,” the man replied helplessly.

The man sitting in the back finally spoke, his voice deep. “Drive. Let’s go.”

The driver didn’t dare disobey. He rolled up the window, drove the car out of the parking lot, and headed for the exit.

The man in the back seemed displeased. “You can’t even handle a small thing properly. If this happens again, don’t bother coming back.”

The driver felt nervous. “It’s my fault.”

The man closed his eyes to rest. He wasn’t anxious; he was too anxious, taking risks when his foundation wasn’t solid to find her.

He couldn’t remember how many years had passed since he had almost lost her.

Years ago, he made her a scapegoat, using fabricated evidence to send her to prison.

Seven years—he hadn’t thought much of it at the time.

It was just…

Seven years.

It would soon be over.

He would reward her generously, offering even the smallest bit of affection that she had always dreamed of.

The seventh year of her prison life was almost over. She had been out of prison for less than a week when she died in front of him.

He never cherished what he got once he had it, and that’s a common flaw among men.

At first, he didn’t feel much about it—he just sighed a few times at the loss, lamenting that she wasn’t lucky. The good times were about to come, but she died instead.

He considered himself calm, taking care of her funeral with dignity. He contacted the funeral home to make arrangements, even instructing the staff, “She loved beauty, so make sure to put some makeup on her.”

There wasn’t much to say about the funeral.

She had many friends in life, but after her criminal record came to light, some left, and others distanced themselves. No one stayed in touch.

Cremation, burial, and just like that, she was gone.

The words on her tombstone were engraved by him. The chisel was sharp, and it even cut his hand, with blood dripping onto the stone. He didn’t wipe it off but quietly stared at it for three seconds before having it moved.

In his life, he had witnessed too much life and death. People came and went, and he had become numb.

From his teenage years, when he ventured into society, to his thirties, he had taken many lives. His cruelty wasn’t in words, but in actions—the most ruthless of them all.

If he were to say that he loved her, he would say he truly loved Lu Hui. This feeling had only grown stronger with the old belongings in her bedroom.

He didn’t even know if he had gone mad enough to attend a banquet at the risk of losing his life, all for a letter she had written to him. In that well-prepared banquet, he lost a life but gained only a pair of legs.

He always thought he could forget someone quickly. But reality slapped him hard in the face. At thirty, forty, fifty, and then sixty, when old age came, and others had to take care of him, he would still think of her, looking at pictures of her from when she was seventeen or eighteen, reminiscing about the past.

He had done many bad things in his life, but surprisingly, he lived a long life—up to eighty—without a lover, without children, and with no attachments when he passed. But when he woke up, it seemed like God had played a joke, sending him back to his youth.

However, Lu Hui was gone. She disappeared, or perhaps she never existed.

The man had used all his resources, and only now had he found her.

His subordinate quietly reminded him, “Sir, we’ve arrived.”

The man hadn’t fallen asleep. He opened his eyes and nodded.

He got out of the car and sat in a wheelchair. “Don’t alarm anyone.”

“Understood, sir.”

Meanwhile, the Northeastern man was telling Lu Hui the story of how he convinced the fan to stop following her, spitting out saliva with every word, “I tell you, that man was so scared after I scolded him, he didn’t even dare to fart. He’ll probably behave from now on.”

Lu Hui was more shocked by the fact that she had male fans.

The Northeastern man patted her shoulder with a sense of loyalty, “What are you thinking? You have plenty of male fans. That long-haired handsome guy from before, wasn’t he your number one fan?”

“Cut it out,” Lu Hui thanked him, then safely left the company and went home.

Tonight, the Sheng family was destined to have an unsettled night. After finishing her own matters, Xu Qin turned her attention to Lu Hui. The daughter of her and her ex-husband, Lu Hui, had now become a tool to stabilize her position.

“Mr. Xie seems to be quite satisfied with you.”

“Which Mr. Xie?”

“Xie Ran.”

Just hearing that name made Lu Hui feel disgusted; she didn’t even want to eat.

Xu Qin continued, “Your father also hopes to build a good relationship with Mr. Xie, which would benefit the Sheng family.”

Those words didn’t sit well with Lu Hui, and even Sheng Zhaoming found them harsh.

“Does the Sheng family need to prosper by selling me off, their adopted daughter?”

Xu Qin was so furious she was almost fuming. “Stop spouting nonsense.”

“Mom, there’s no chance between me and Xie Ran. Who I marry in the future is none of your business,” Lu Hui stated directly.

Xu Qin pointed at her, ready to scold her, but Sheng Zhaoming stepped in and blocked the attack, clearly upset. He said to Xu Qin, “The Sheng family doesn’t need your self-important ideas.”

Xu Qin, too angry to argue with her stepson, dropped her chopsticks and said she wasn’t feeling well and needed to rest upstairs.

As soon as she left, Lu Hui gained her appetite back, finished eating, and then returned to her room.

In the living room, only Sheng Zhaoming and Sheng Lian, the biological siblings, remained. Sheng Lian asked quietly, “Bro, are you and Huihui getting back together?”

Sheng Zhaoming was a bit awkward. “Don’t overthink it.”

Sheng Lian muttered, “Oh, but you’ve been acting all strange lately.”

Sheng Zhaoming firmly denied it, “Nothing’s going on.”

—

The sixth episode of “Star 1V1” was the finale, a grand event. Numerous stars were invited to assist and appear as guests. Some contestants from previous episodes, who had stirred controversy, were even brought back with a surprise revival opportunity—one of them being Zuo Anran, who had recently passed through a scandal.

Zuo Anran’s company had decent resources. After her negative news subsided, they arranged a few gigs for her, buying some trending searches to help clean up her image.

Fans learned the news and were torn—while they criticized the company for sending her back into the limelight, they couldn’t resist being curious. After all, the program’s popularity and viewership were incredibly high.

Girl group fans were more loyal than actors’ fans and had much stronger support power.

“Tonight, Lu Hui will be fighting for the championship, right? I want her to perform in front of the Blue Sea and show her what the blue ocean really is.”

Zuo Anran’s support color was her favorite blue.

“You’re right, we’re not the fragile little fans who cry anymore. After this big hardship, we’ve become invincible. Sisters, promise me, we’ll give Anran the best stage.”

“It’d be even funnier if Lu Hui wins the championship. Just imagining her holding the trophy while surrounded by fans of others… It’ll be so entertaining.”