Chapter 241
Xie Mi and Shen Moqing enjoyed some leisure time with the air conditioning at the milk tea shop. When they finished their drinks and returned to the villa, they saw Xiao Jingxi’s latest Weibo post.
Crisis PR—late, but finally arrived.
[Xiao Jingxi]: Yes, Xie Mi and I were once together.
We met in high school. Our first encounter was in the cafeteria, when we both wanted the last portion of sweet and sour pork ribs. I let her have it, and that was the beginning of our fate.
Later, she started pursuing me. At the time, I was focused entirely on my studies, so I rejected her. But she never gave up, constantly showing up before me in different ways. Under her relentless advances, I admit—I fell.
I gradually got used to her presence. If I didn’t see her for a day, I would search for her figure. That’s when I realized a truth: I liked her. Finally, when we entered university, I accepted her confession, and we became a couple.
But back then, I was studying at a film academy and had already started acting, at the peak of my rising career. We mutually decided to keep our relationship hidden.
Because of my busy career, we barely had time to meet, and most of our communication was through phones. Perhaps it was precisely this that made her feel insecure about our relationship.
There was no cheating, no betrayal, no third party—none of those melodramatic plots.
What existed was only a crisis of trust caused by lack of communication.
As for Xu Shuangrong, the CP hype we did was partly out of pity for a junior, and partly due to company demands. But I swear to the heavens, we never crossed any lines. All “CP moments” were done with staff present! It was our fault for deliberately misleading CP fans, but from beginning to end, I never betrayed this relationship.
The one I liked has always been, and only ever will be, Xie Mi.
…
A five-hundred-word “essay” meticulously describing how he and Xie Mi got together, and blaming their breakup on nothing more than “a lack of trust.”
Guided by Xiao Jingxi’s PR team, once this Weibo post went out, fans immediately flooded in to control the comments.
[Bow Once For Me]: Bro, you were careless. Girls are very sensitive inside. Even if it’s for work, you need to set boundaries with CP hype. We know you didn’t mean it, but this time it really was your fault.
[Three-Second Heartthrob]: Best Actor Xiao, you’re just too kind-hearted!
[Rice Cake]: Sigh, I can tell you really love this industry, so you wanted to help Xu Shuangrong since she seems passionate about acting. But you should have considered your own situation first—no wonder your girlfriend got jealous!
[Sad Little Coconut]: Got it. Just don’t do anything that can cause misunderstandings next time. We trust you!
Fans were clearly steering the narrative—converting the “cheating” accusation into a “breakup due to misunderstanding” narrative. The guiding hand was obvious.
But aside from a few clueless passersby, most people stayed sharp.
[Snack Street Lady Boss]: Excuse me? What’s with the whitewashing? If you have a girlfriend and still hype CP with someone else, that’s already unforgivable. What, are your girlfriend and CP fans both just part of your little play?
[Only Interacts With Puppies]: Do his fans have some weird fetish for tolerance? He’s practically waving green flags in their faces and they still call him kind-hearted?
[Snow White’s Stepmother]: Forget everything else. Just the three-minute hug during set visit and the gifting of a ring—Jesus himself couldn’t save you from that.
[Love-Sick Dog]: To those helping him whitewash—may you all find yourselves such a boyfriend too…
“The one I liiike~ has alwaaays been~ only~ Xie~ Miii~”
Just as Xie Mi was cringing from Xiao Jingxi’s sappy post, an even more cringe-inducing voice rang out.
Looking up, she saw Lai Bingxuan sitting on the villa’s living room sofa, phone still in hand, clearly fresh from reading the same gossip.
Her eyes nearly rolled into the sky. “What a thick skin. If you liked Xie Mi so much, what were you doing back then? Oh, now that you’ve broken up, suddenly you know how to cherish her?”
[Worthy of being the No. 1 living meme in Chinese entertainment—she really dares to say it, hahaha]
[First time I’ve seen a variety show guest gossip live and openly comment. Sister Lai is savage.]
[Exactly! That Weibo post left me speechless. And doesn’t it sound like he’s actually saying it was Old Xie who pestered and chased after him in the first place?]
[And somehow he’s making himself the victim too, huh!]
“Miss Lai, I know you want to stand up for Teacher Xie, but maybe keep it down a little…”
Liu Woxing was just about to pull Lai Bingxuan back when he saw Xie Mi standing at the door. He instantly fell silent.
Lai Bingxuan also spotted her, and—for once—shut her mouth.
“Ahem…”
“It’s fine, say whatever you want. I don’t mind.” Xie Mi waved her hand casually.
Liu Woxing looked worried. “Teacher Xie…”
“Teacher Xie.”
Another voice spoke up. Xie Mi turned her head to see Xu Shuangrong standing at the door, eyes still red.
“Can we talk?”
She looked as though she had just finished crying, tear tracks still dried on her face, yet her eyes were stubborn as she stared at Xie Mi.
Xie Mi raised an eyebrow.
“Sure.”
Originally, Xu Shuangrong’s plan was to salvage her image in front of Xiao Jingxi and win back his favor.
But now, with things taking a sudden turn, Xiao Jingxi, in his time of crisis, had wasted no hesitation in throwing the blame on Xu Shuangrong. So Xu Shuangrong decisively chose to sacrifice him in return.
At this moment, Xiao Jingxi—the original male lead—had lost the reputation he was supposed to have in the “script.”
Which meant Xu Shuangrong’s plan to benefit through him was no longer viable.
Now, under such circumstances, Xu Shuangrong suddenly sought her out. Xie Mi was truly curious about what she planned to do next.
On the seaside rocks, Xie Mi and Xu Shuangrong stood facing each other.
The cameraman stood thirty meters away, appearing to leave them a private space to talk—but in reality, the boom mics picked up their every word.
[What kind of giant battlefield is this…]
[Wait, aren’t both of them victims of Xiao Jingxi’s scumbaggery? One’s the ex-girlfriend, the other got unknowingly pulled into a CP with a taken man. Both are pitiful.]
[Weibo’s all about pitying Xie Mi, but honestly I feel a bit for Xu Shuangrong too. Isn’t this basically being forced to be the third wheel? She cried so hard earlier I thought she’d faint. Must be despairing for a girl to go through that.]
[Uh… but is she really innocent? Didn’t she already suspect Xiao Jingxi and Xie Mi’s relationship? And wasn’t she the one who exposed it?]
[Seriously, everyone’s cursing Xiao Jingxi, but it feels like Xu Shuangrong’s being overlooked. She might not have been unaware.]
[So… did she know or not? I’m so curious!]
“…I’m sorry.”
Amid the flood of speculative comments, Xu Shuangrong bowed deeply to Xie Mi. Her voice was hoarse from crying, but the words rang firm.
“It was me who caused your relationship with Jingxi to break. I’m sorry!”
