Chapter 45: The White Moonlight’s Substitute (11)

Yao Shiyun’s hand paused mid-motion as she ate her cake.

The pain of being wronged and blamed seemed to gradually ease away through Yao Rong’s gentle words.

“Mom, would you like to hear about my story with Lu Xinghua? Lu Xinghua is FallingStarLightOnThinSnow from the forum post—my ex-boyfriend.”

Yao Shiyun put down her cake and moved closer to Yao Rong, squeezing onto the small couch with her.

This gave her a sense of security.

Yao Rong nodded, her warm gaze resting on Yao Shiyun. “If you want to tell me, of course I’ll listen.”

Yao Shiyun began from the very beginning—how she met Lu Xinghua. As she spoke, she discreetly observed Yao Rong’s expression. Seeing her mother remain calm throughout, she unconsciously shared more and more.

Like confiding in her best friend, Yao Shiyun grew increasingly animated as she talked. When she finally finished, a warm glass of milk was placed into her hands.

“Drink some,” Yao Rong said.

Yao Shiyun took the glass and drank it all in one go.

Yao Rong gently smoothed her daughter’s messy hair and asked, “What are you thinking now?”

“In the first couple of days after our breakup, I kept wondering why Lu Xinghua would treat me this way. Was it because…” Under Yao Rong’s gaze, Yao Shiyun’s voice grew softer, “Was it because I’m not worthy of being loved…”

Yao Rong shook her head with a smile and refuted, “Whether you are worthy of love is not something a single man gets to decide. As long as you continue to grow, to love yourself more, more and more people will love you.”

Yao Shiyun nodded vigorously, adding, “That was how I thought a few days ago. Now, I’ve realized that our breakup wasn’t because I wasn’t worthy of love. It was simply because Lu Xinghua stopped loving me.”

“That’s the right mindset,” Yao Rong encouraged, her tone slow and guiding. “From everything you’ve told me, I feel that Lu Xinghua is someone who lacks responsibility, is highly manipulative, and above all, extremely selfish.”

“To be with you, he went to great lengths to gather information about you, confessed publicly in that forum post, and even invited you on stage at the fashion design department’s New Year’s gala—all without considering whether his actions would affect you.”

“But when he wanted to break up, he resorted to every possible means to suppress and coerce you. To protect his own reputation, he didn’t hesitate to ruin yours.”

Yao Shiyun listened intently, letting every word sink into her heart.

She didn’t want to think of Lu Xinghua as being that awful, but she knew that was just her own wishful thinking.

Her mother, as an outsider, could see things much more clearly than she could.

“Xiao Yun, I actually understand how you feel,” Yao Rong suddenly said.

Yao Shiyun turned her head and met her mother’s gaze.

“I once didn’t want to think of Yun Jun as being that bad either. Because every time I felt disappointed in him, I would always remember the good times we had.”

Instead of continuing to discuss Lu Xinghua, Yao Rong shifted the conversation to her own past with Yun Jun.

“But during these past few days in the hospital, I came to a realization. If I had chosen to divorce Yun Jun the moment I realized he was wrong for me, I would have spent these past ten years living freely and happily.”

“I’ve already wasted more than a decade, so I don’t want to waste any more time. When I finally made the decision to divorce Yun Jun and kick his family out of the company, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. It was the right choice—my only regret is that it took me this long to realize it.”

Yao Rong tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and gave a faint yet relaxed smile.

That smile spread from the corners of her eyes to her brows, softening the weariness and sickness on her face, giving her an almost radiant charm.

Yao Shiyun was momentarily stunned.

She had always known her mother was beautiful.

But this time, her mother’s beauty was no longer that delicate, fragile kind—it was filled with a vibrant life force.

It was a beauty that transcended age and appearance, making it impossible to look away.

Would she, too, one day become like her mother?

If her mother could handle relationships with such grace, couldn’t she try to be more free-spirited too?

While Yao Shiyun was lost in thought, Yao Rong’s voice pulled her back. “So, Xiao Yun, now that you know how calculating Lu Xinghua has been, do you still want to hold onto past feelings for him?”

Lu Xinghua had calculated everything to his advantage. If Yao Shiyun still held onto sentimental feelings, she would only lose miserably.

Her emotions shouldn’t be wasted on someone like him.

“Mom, you’re right!” Yao Shiyun took a deep breath. “Honestly, in just these past few days, he has already disappointed me more than once. Just this afternoon, he told me that our relationship wasn’t something outsiders should judge. Yet, in that forum post, he kept implying everything was my fault.”

Yao Rong cautioned, “Someone like him might let you down even more.”

“Even more?”

Yao Shiyun found it hard to imagine—but at the same time, she knew it wasn’t impossible.

She picked up the half-eaten jar cake, using the sweetness to steady her emotions while reorganizing her thoughts.

Yao Rong didn’t rush her.

After finishing the last bite, Yao Shiyun finally spoke up. “Mom, can you teach me what I should do next?”

Before, when dealing with the Yun family, she had learned passively by observing her mother. Now, she was actively seeking guidance.

Yao Rong was pleased by this change.

“Of course.”

“What’s my next step?”

“You should make a new post and upload my medical records to prove you were in the hospital these past few days. Then, wait for the original poster and Lu Xinghua to upload their chat records.”

“That’s it?” Yao Shiyun was surprised by how simple it sounded.

“Of course not. But first, we need to take control of the situation.”

Yao Shiyun understood. “And if they do upload the records?”

“Whether they do or don’t won’t affect your next move.” Yao Rong reopened the forum thread and pointed at the original poster’s profile picture. “Who do you think this person is?”

A flash of understanding crossed Yao Shiyun’s mind. “I get it—I’ll find out who the poster is.”

The person had clearly used an alternate account.

But in today’s digital age, if she really wanted to dig, she could definitely uncover who was behind it.

She wanted to see for herself—who was this original poster, and what was their connection to Lu Xinghua?

Yao Rong encouraged, “Good. These two tasks are now yours to handle.”

“Yes, madam.” Yao Shiyun finally smiled, saluting playfully. “Mission accepted.”

Yao Rong laughed, grabbing her bag as she stood up. “Alright, it’s almost time for class. Wash your face and head to your lecture.”

Yao Shiyun followed her mother out of the café, waved goodbye, then rushed down the steps. “I’m off, then!”

*

“Shiyun, over here.” As soon as she reached the classroom, her roommate Zhou Miaomiao waved her over from a corner.

Yao Shiyun walked over and took the empty seat beside her.

“Here,” Zhou Miaomiao handed her a carton of yogurt. “Where were you at lunch?”

She had thought Yao Shiyun would return to the dorm after giving the things to Lu Xinghua.

“Thanks.” Yao Shiyun curved her lips into a smile, inserting the straw into the yogurt box. “I was with my mom.”

“Oh, got it.” Zhou Miaomiao opened the forum thread on her phone. “Did you see? The tone of the comments has shifted somewhat. Now many people are asking the original poster to upload screenshots.”

Yao Shiyun thought to herself that she not only knew about the shift in comments, but she also knew who was behind it.

Just then, the teacher walked into the classroom.

Zhou Miaomiao quickly put away her phone.

Yao Shiyun took out her own phone and posted using her main account, attaching redacted photos of the medical records in the main post, calling out: 「I’ve posted my evidence, where’s yours?」

After posting, Yao Shiyun took out her textbook and started paying attention to the lecture.

After listening for about fifteen minutes, during the teacher’s problem-solving session, Yao Shiyun unlocked her phone again to check the replies to her post.

Clearly many people were following this drama – though Yao Shiyun had only posted fifteen minutes ago, the thread had already moved to the next page.

「Knock knock, it’s been two hours. Why hasn’t the original poster shown the screenshots yet」

「Original poster, you should know one thing.. When you tell one lie, your entire story becomes untrustworthy, so hurry up and post the screenshots」

「I’m starting to question the original poster’s motives now, could they be one of LXH’s admirer?」

「No no no, I think there’s an 80% chance it’s someone LXH knows. The original poster knows too many details, even the order of the chat records」

Although there were still some negative comments in the post, Yao Shiyun skimmed over them.

After reading all the replies, Yao Shiyun privately messaged Lawyer Tao: 「Uncle Tao, if someone posts defamatory content about me, can I sue them? Of course, my ultimate goal isn’t to sue, but to find out who actually made the post」

Lawyer Tao was still following up on Yun Letao’s case, and replied quickly upon seeing Yao Shiyun’s message: 「No problem. If you file a lawsuit, you have the right to request Baidu’s lawyers to provide the poster’s real information.」

Yao Shiyun sent the link to the “818” post directly to Lawyer Tao: 「Thank you Uncle Tao. When’s the earliest we could get results?」

「Lawyer Tao: Day after tomorrow or the day after that.」

*

“Damn it.”

In the boys’ dormitory, Ling Bai suddenly made a loud outburst.

A roommate who was playing games took off his headphones and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“No worries, you can keep playing your game.” Ling Bai leaned over to glance at the bed across from him.

Lu Xinghua was lying there, taking a nap.

“Xinghua, Xinghua, wake up, quick!” Ling Bai called out.

Lu Xinghua groggily opened his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh, I need to talk to you alone.” Ling Bai said.

“Alright, let me freshen up first.”

After washing up, Lu Xinghua and Ling Bai walked out to the balcony together.

Standing in the corner of the balcony, Ling Bai scratched his head. “So, Xinghua, did you see the forum post?”

“I saw it. I even replied to it.” Lu Xinghua discreetly observed Ling Bai’s expression and got straight to the point. “Xiao Yun asked me about it today, so I checked it out. Actually, I’ve been wanting to ask you—Ling Bai, did you make that post?”

“It was me.” Seeing that Lu Xinghua had figured it out, Ling Bai sighed. “I got angrier the more I listened to you talk last night, so I thought I’d help you vent some frustration.”

“Ling Bai, you—” Lu Xinghua said helplessly. “Don’t do that again.”

“Alright, no next time.” Ling Bai promised. “But now there’s a problem.”

“What problem?” Lu Xinghua asked casually, not thinking much of it.

Before his nap, everything had been progressing as expected.

Based on what he knew about Yao Shiyun, she would have just swallowed the insult and wouldn’t have responded at all.

“You should check the forum yourself. Basically, Yao Shiyun is demanding that I post screenshots.”

Lu Xinghua’s eyelids twitched as he quickly skimmed through the posts.

Before long, his face darkened.

“Have you finished reading?” Ling Bai said awkwardly. “It’s all my fault for not thinking things through when I made the post, adding that PS part. What should we do now? Should we post the screenshots?”

“If you post the chat logs, everyone will know I gave them to you.” Lu Xinghua hesitated. “Ling Bai, I’d rather not get involved. After all, I promised Xiao Yun I wouldn’t interfere anymore.”

“Ah…” Ling Bai looked embarrassed. “Not posting screenshots doesn’t really affect me, since I used an alternate account. But without the screenshots, many people won’t believe what I said.”

Ling Bai wasn’t thinking about himself—he was mainly concerned about Lu Xinghua.

Lu Xinghua: “…”

This was a perfect example of shooting oneself in the foot—Lu Xinghua now thoroughly understood the meaning of that phrase.

“What should we do now, Xinghua?” Ling Bai asked.

Lu Xinghua: “…”

“How about this—you just say you don’t have the chat records.” Lu Xinghua stammered. “Wasn’t I drinking at the bar last night? You can post a photo of me drinking there and say you overheard me talking to myself while I was drunk.”

Ling Bai felt something was off, but since he had posted voluntarily, he quickly suppressed that strange feeling.

“Okay.”