Chapter 33: Stubborn to the End 

When Lu Hui heard this, she realized Sheng Zhaoming wasn’t lying—this was something Yu Mandong would actually do. He was the type to do things, not speak about them.

Yu Mandong was a ruthless, decisive man who did things quickly and efficiently.

Upon hearing from Sheng Zhaoming about Yu Mandong wanting to marry her, Lu Hui found the whole thing ridiculous. Was he dreaming? Did he really think she was like the women in the novels, who let their parents decide their marriage?

Now, let alone the Sheng family controlling her marriage, even her mother, Xu Qin, couldn’t decide for her.

Lu Hui held onto the handrail, turned around, and said, “My last name is Lu. Who I marry in the future is my own decision.”

Sheng Zhaoming didn’t like her tone, as if he thought the Sheng family would force her to marry Yu Mandong for his fortune. He clearly knew what kind of man Yu Mandong was, someone who might fancy her for her looks but would discard her once he had what he wanted.

Lu Hui nonchalantly shifted the conversation, “Why don’t you ask Yu Mandong yourself? I don’t care about this, don’t talk to me about it, it’s annoying.”

Sheng Zhaoming felt the clear disdain in her tone as she showed her irritation. The sound of her slamming the door behind her was loud and final.

Sheng Zhaoming stood at the stairway, his gaze directed toward her room. He remained silent for a long time, feeling quite uneasy inside.

Lu Hui’s mood, however, wasn’t affected much. What was meant to come would come, and what was meant to be blocked couldn’t be stopped.

Tomorrow, she would be heading to record a new variety show. She found herself unable to sleep, too excited and restless. In bed, she did a set of radio calisthenics, stretched out her limbs, and lay back under the covers. Thinking about the three troublesome men, she summoned the system.

“What do you think they’re really after?”

Her system responded quickly, “Your brother said they want to marry you.”

After a three-second silence, Lu Hui began to reflect. “Well, here’s the thing. Last time, Xie Ran said he wanted to marry me, but only after removing my kidney. Yan Zhao wants my heart, and Yu Mandong just shoved me into a fire pit and watched me die.”

She said this calmly, “So whenever these three say they love me and want to marry me, it sounds like this in my ears—‘I’m here to kill you, and while I’m at it, I’ll kill your mother too.’”

It was chilling and brutal.

The system, in a very cheeky tone, probed, “Have you heard of the popular ‘chasing wife cremation ground’ plot?”

Lu Hui knew exactly what it meant and replied seriously, “Can we just fast-forward to the cremation ground? Honestly, I just want to watch them burn to ashes.”

“…” The system responded, “Good luck with that.”

“I’ll work hard toward that goal.”

After their conversation, Lu Hui closed her eyes, imagining the miserable fate awaiting those three men. She fell asleep, satisfied with her thoughts.

It was clear she was a person with a dark side, laughing in her sleep at the thought of a cremation scene.

That night, she dreamt of a blissful future, and laughed in her sleep.

The next morning, she accidentally overslept. The recording team for Bear Kids showed up at her house without prior notice.

The director of Group A had an unfamiliar address. When he saw a building named “Number One District,” he couldn’t help but marvel at how rich the little celebrities were these days.

“How does a small star like Lu Hui afford a place here? This house must be worth hundreds of millions.”

“Did Lin Tong give the wrong address?”

“No, this is it.”

“Never heard that Lu Hui is a secret rich woman. Damn, what’s her background?” The director was freezing and rubbing his hands. He muttered, “Could she be renting this place?”

“Probably renting. Maybe she’s doing it for the show to make it look better. People are all a bit vain, so this kind of move makes sense.”

“Yeah, there are no pure people in the entertainment industry.”

They chatted as they walked toward the entrance.

Soon, the director, photographer, and other crew members arrived at the address. After checking the door number three times, they confirmed they hadn’t made a mistake.

“This character on the door says Sheng, right? I didn’t see it wrong, did I?”

“It says Sheng.”

The director sucked in a breath, “Should we even go in?”

He felt like they had stumbled onto a big scoop.

The photographer, still bold, said, “Let’s go, we’ve come all the way here.”

“Did you turn on the camera?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go in. It might not be what we think it is.”

With mutual encouragement, they rang the doorbell.

It was still early in the morning, around 8 AM, and both Sheng Zhaoming and Lu Hui were still asleep.

The first to be disturbed by the doorbell was Sheng Lian. The second miss was half-asleep as she shuffled downstairs, eyes barely open, with a disheveled look, clearly annoyed, “Who are you looking for?”

“Is this Lu Hui’s home?”

Sheng Lian moved like a ghost, emotionless, knocking on Lu Hui’s door, yawning long. “There are people downstairs looking for you.”

After delivering this message, she went back to her room to sleep.

Lu Hui, half awake, thought Sheng Lian was sleepwalking again. She put on her pajamas and went downstairs to the living room. Several pairs of eyes stared at her, and the atmosphere was filled with long silence and awkwardness.

The director spoke, “Teacher Lu, our show starts recording when you leave your home. So, is this your permanent residence?”

Lu Hui was confused, not aware of this part of the script. She blinked a few times and snapped back to reality a few seconds later.

The director asked politely, and she shamelessly replied, “This isn’t my house. I’m just freeloading at a hotel.”

“…”

The lie was so blatant that even a fool wouldn’t believe it.

The director forced a smile, “Could you introduce your home to the audience?”

Lu Hui pointed at the camera aimed at her, “Is this live?”

The director shook his head, “No.”

Lu Hui relaxed, her eyelids drooping from lack of sleep. She murmured, “Then no.”

The director was speechless. This new guest was really hard to deal with.

With so many people, even small movements made a considerable noise.

Both members of the Sheng family had shallow sleep, disturbed by the slightest sound, and they had terrible wake-up moods.

Sheng Zhaoming, disturbed by the faint sounds coming from downstairs, couldn’t fall asleep. His face was cold as he threw off his covers, put on his pajamas, and slippers, and marched downstairs.

His expression was very, very foul.

The entire production crew could hear his voice even before seeing him, “Lu Hui, you’re deliberately trying to keep me awake, aren’t you?”

With a cold sneer, he added, “Let me tell you, if I don’t get a good night’s sleep today, you can forget about sleeping well in the future.”

Lu Hui: “…”

The production crew: “Wow…”

The information they just overheard was a bombshell.

Three times denying a relationship on Weibo! And secretly living together!

Living together! That’s huge news if it gets out.

Sheng Zhaoming, having vented his anger, froze when he saw the dark camera. His face hardened, and his voice turned icy, “What is this?”

Lu Hui, acting as a bilingual translator, replied, “Camera. It’s the camera.”

Sheng Zhaoming’s cold expression was quite intimidating. “Take it away.”

The crew quickly redirected the camera, pointing it out the balcony window towards the sky.

Lu Hui said to them, “I’ll freshen up and change, then we can head to the airport together.”

“Alright… okay.”

Sheng Zhaoming, clearly irritated, grumbled, “Where are you going? Sheng family’s place isn’t your office; don’t bring just anyone here.”

This was quite harsh.

The crew members, most of whom had started from the bottom, had heard much worse than this. This level of hostility didn’t bother them much.

It was Lu Hui’s face that was losing all the dignity. They thought Lu Hui would either bite her tongue or apologize.

However, Lu Hui rolled her eyes dramatically. “I thought you were a firecracker, but I must have been mistaken. You’re more like a speaker – loud and explosive at the slightest provocation.”

Sheng Zhaoming, fully awake now, responded coldly, “I’m your brother.”

Lu Hui kept her distance, “No thanks, I’m not worthy of it.”

As bystanders to what might be a dramatic sibling (or possibly romantic) battle between the wealthy family members, the crew instinctively backed away, afraid of getting caught up in the drama.

They were impressed. “Wow, what a bold sister. Even the heir of the Sheng family can be spoken to like that?”

Not long after, Lu Hui came downstairs with her pink suitcase and asked, “Can we go now?”

The director confirmed, and one by one, the crew quietly packed up their equipment and cautiously exited the Sheng family’s living room.

The A-Team had a mix of regular crew members and temporary outsourced workers. When a juicy piece of gossip emerged, it couldn’t help but spread like wildfire.

On the way to the airport, the audio team couldn’t hold back from gossiping with their friends.

[Damn, huge breaking news.]

[I won’t ask, it’ll choke you to death.]

[Lu Hui and Sheng Zhaoming are living together.]

[Oh, look, it’s you again! How did it circle back to Lu Hui and her rumored lover?]

[I saw it with my own eyes while recording the show, ahhh, I can’t spill it online, but I’ll tell you—don’t tell anyone though, okay?]

[Alright, bestie.]

Before the promise to keep it secret had even cooled down, the best friend immediately spilled the beans online, revealing that Lu Hui and Sheng Zhaoming were living together.

The comments flooded in.

Marketing accounts had already fabricated hundreds of boyfriends for Lu Hui, claiming she couldn’t keep up with them.

The show crew was equally underhanded. They had caught footage, and although they didn’t dare show Sheng Zhaoming’s face, they had no qualms about revealing the inside of the Sheng family’s house. Since it was bound to be known eventually, why not take advantage of it for publicity?

The internal team quickly joined in on the action, saying, “The third station caught it, and it should air. Everyone can look forward to the first episode next week.”

They were desperate for ratings.

Lu Hui arrived at the airport with the crew, checked in, went through security, and found her seat.

As soon as she sat down, someone took the seat next to her.

Looking up, she was surprised to see who it was.

A man with long black hair and delicate features, sitting beside her, exuding an air of quiet nobility. It was Yan Zhao.

Great, Yan Zhao was doing something so lowbrow as sitting on the plane.

The director, in the back, leaned over and explained, “Teacher Lu, Mr. Yan is a new guest for this season, a ‘new dad.’ You should get to know him more so you can work together better on the show.”

The production team had been looking for a fresh face, and they’d worked hard to get Yan Zhao on board.