Chapter 41: The Greedy Deceiver Part 2

Jin Wanlai stood up and said to Lian Mei, “I’ve taken up much of your time. I’ll be going now. I await your call anytime.”

Lian Mei got up and escorted her to the door. As Jin Wanlai was leaving, she turned back and smiled lightly at Lian Mei, saying, “Your rescue today has already made the trending topics. I hope you’ll be cautious with any statements you make. But you were very brave today. I truly hope we can work together in the future. Goodbye.”

Watching Jin Wanlai enter the elevator, Lian Mei raised an eyebrow slightly.

Hmm? Her rescue was trending?

Lian Mei closed the door, scooped up the little white cat crouching on the floor, held it in her arms, and went to sit on the sofa to browse Weibo.

#LianMeiRescue# was indeed at number ten on the trending list. Clicking in, she saw it was full of praise from official news public accounts. Scrolling down, she saw many netizens commending her and the rescued person’s Weibo post expressing gratitude.

Being praised was always gratifying.

Lian Mei clicked into the rescued person’s Weibo and left a comment under their post: [Live well.]

Just four short words, not even a punctuation mark.

Then Lian Mei opened Xie Moluo’s Weibo. She went through every single post Xie Moluo had ever made, reading each one carefully, liking each one, and leaving sincere, heartfelt comments. The comments were all very real, very down-to-earth.

[Aaaahhh, so beautiful! Great beauty, post more photos please!]

[Wow, the dishes look so delicious. I want to eat them.]

[You’ve worked hard, catching a flight so late at night.]

…

And just as she was scrolling through Xie Moluo’s Weibo, Xie Moluo suddenly posted a new update. Lian Mei immediately checked it.

Xie Moluo had reposted the surveillance video by the railing, captioning it with three words: [You’re amazing (thumbs up)], and tagged Lian Mei.

Lian Mei instantly liked it and commented: [Thank you wifey for the praise (heart)]. Then she reposted Xie Moluo’s Weibo, rewriting the caption and tagging Xie Moluo.

Xie Moluo’s fans rushed to claim the top comments, but none of them mentioned Lian Mei.

[Looking forward to Luoluo’s new drama.]

[Luoluo, post photos quickly! Without seeing new photos of Luoluo, I have no appetite.]

[Luoluo, hug hug!]

[Supporting courageous acts of kindness.]

[Courageous deeds are awesome!]

…

But this time, the comments section was quite clean. Fans were just chatting and promoting good virtues.

Lian Mei, however, was a bit unhappy. Because her Weibo account’s ranking wasn’t high enough compared to the fans, her comment quickly fell behind.

Annoyed, Lian Mei put down her phone and hugged the little white cat, ruffling its fur vigorously.

“Hmph, they can ‘hug hug’ all they want, she’s still my wife! I’m the only one who can truly hug her!”

“Meow meow meow—”

Jealous women are terrifying!

Hearing this, Lian Mei stopped, released the little white cat with a look of disgust, and said profoundly, “I’m jealous? I think you just need a bath. You’re filthy.”

Little white cat: “Meow meow meow…”

What’s dirty about me? I’m perfectly clean!

Lian Mei picked up the little white cat and carried it towards the bathroom. “Come on, I’ll give you a bath.”

The little white cat’s eyes widened in horror. “Meow—”

I don’t want to—

Bang

The bathroom door slammed shut. Resistance was futile.

–

After tossing the washed little white cat back into its cat bed, Lian Mei returned to the master bedroom and sprawled on the soft, large bed to message Xie Moluo: [Wife, asleep yet?]

A reply came quickly: [No, just finished showering.]

Lian Mei: [Can we video call then? I miss you.]

Animals could be clingy, but Lian Mei always insisted she was human and that she wasn’t clingy.

But it was strange—as long as she wasn’t thinking about Xie Moluo, it was fine. But the moment she did, she just wanted to see her, to hold her, to cling to her, to roll around on top of her…

Xie Moluo directly initiated a video call request. Lian Mei answered with a grin. “Wife~ did you miss me today?”

Xie Moluo’s face on the video paused momentarily, then she silently averted her gaze. Clearing her throat twice, she said, “…You should button up your clothes first.”

Lian Mei: ?

She looked down and realized the buttons on her pajamas were fastened haphazardly, exposing a large expanse of her chest.

She giggled, fixed her pajamas, and explained, “Just finished bathing Tuantuan. It splashed water all over me, so I changed clothes.”

After changing, for comfort, she hadn’t bothered to button it properly. Understandable, right?

Xie Moluo, seeing from the corner of her eye that Lian Mei’s clothes were now properly on, shifted her gaze back. “What is it? Calling me on video so late?”

Lian Mei lay on the bed. “Nothing much, just missed you, wanted to see you… Ah, wait, actually, there is something I need to tell you.”

Xie Moluo: “What is it?”

Lian Mei got up, picked up the contract and scripts lying on the side table, switched the camera view, and showed them to Xie Moluo.

Lian Mei: “Today, Lord Father-in-law sent an agent from Star Gathering Entertainment, Jin Wanlai, to find me. She wants me to sign with Star Gathering Entertainment and become one of their artists.”

Xie Moluo’s eyes brightened. She clearly hadn’t expected her father to stop obstructing them!

But then she fell silent again. After a long moment, she said, “Star Gathering Entertainment, huh? A big company. They treat their artists quite well… What did you say to her?”

Lian Mei was so outstanding. If she returned to the entertainment industry…

She was someone who belonged on the rise in the industry. Xie Moluo just didn’t know if she’d be able to hold onto her then…

Xie Moluo lacked confidence in herself. Her looks weren’t stunningly outstanding, being more on the sweet side. She acted in small-budget sweet romance dramas and hadn’t become a huge success after several years in the industry.

The current Lian Mei was different from the old Lian Mei. She was gentle and considerate, flawless in her features, and tall…

Once netizens got to know Lian Mei better, they would definitely like her. She was bound to become popular.

Right now, Xie Moluo was wholly seeing Lian Mei through the lens of love. In her eyes, everything about Lian Mei was perfect.

Xie Moluo’s eyes held a trace of nervousness, but Lian Mei’s next words eased her anxious heart.

Lian Mei, lying on the bed and holding her phone, said, “I said I needed to ask my wife, and I’d reply later. Wife, do you think I should sign?”

Xie Moluo leaned against the headboard, looking at Lian Mei’s unflattering camera angle, and smiled. “I think you can sign. Star Gathering Entertainment is quite good. But wait two more days, until I get back to help you review the contract. These contracts need to be carefully examined.”

Lian Mei nodded. “Okay, I’ll wait for you to come back. Hey, why weren’t you at Star Gathering Entertainment?”

With Father Xie holding shares in Star Gathering Entertainment, wouldn’t Xie Moluo have had better opportunities there? Why stay in a small company like Blue River Entertainment?

Xie Moluo pursed her lips in a smile. “Probably because when I first entered the industry during university, I wanted to make it on my own. I ended up battered and bruised. Back then, Blue River Entertainment was the one that threw me a lifeline, so I signed with them.”

After she and Lian Mei got married, Father Xie used his connections everywhere to block her resources and pressured Blue River Entertainment. Yet Blue River Entertainment stubbornly withstood the pressure and continued searching for opportunities for Xie Moluo. Xie Moluo was grateful.

The young couple chatted idly, neither willing to hang up first.

As they talked, the topic turned to Weibo. Lian Mei’s face instantly crumpled into a puppy-like frown. “Wife, my comment on your Weibo got pushed down by others…”

It stung. She had commented so early—how could it be pushed down? So frustrating!

Xie Moluo laughed. “No, it hasn’t. Aren’t you in the top spot of my comments section?”

Lian Mei was stunned. “I’m first?” Her voice sounded excited.

Xie Moluo nodded, a smile playing on her lips. “It’s getting late. I have early scenes tomorrow, need to sleep. You should sleep early too.”

Xie Moluo knew Lian Mei wanted to go check Weibo, so she intentionally said this.

“Okay, then get some good rest. Good night~” Lian Mei said cheerfully.

Xie Moluo nodded. Just before ending the video call, she suddenly said to Lian Mei, “That restaurant is in B City. Once I’m done filming this drama, I’ll take you to B City to eat there. Goodnight.” With that, she hung up.

Puzzled, Lian Mei blinked, then immediately flipped over, lying on the bed and opening Weibo to find Xie Moluo’s page.

Under the latest post, her comment [Thank you wifey for the praise (heart)] had been upvoted to the very top.

Lian Mei scrolled down and suddenly discovered that all the comments she’d left on Xie Moluo’s older Weibo posts had been personally replied to by Xie Moluo and boosted to the top.

Lian Mei: Wife replied to every single one of my comments?! !

Just then, Lian Mei spotted the old post where she had praised a dish: [Looks so delicious…]. Xie Moluo’s reply to her was: [Once the filming is done, I’ll take you to eat it.]

Seeing this, Lian Mei’s heart blossomed with joy.

Was this what it felt like, love where every word got a response?

It was so sweet it could kill her! Human love was damnably sweet!

Lian Mei clicked into the public square for her and Xie Moluo. It was much calmer now, but one person’s post left a deep impression.

[Has this promiscuous woman Lian gone mad?! Running to Luoluo’s every Weibo post frantically liking and frantically commenting! Totally fake!]

Lian Mei clicked on the comments. The top comment: [But Luoluo personally boosted all her comments… (takes a deep drag from an old cigarette)]

[Broken Heart #1]

[Broken Heart #2]

…

Lian Mei found the “XieMoluoLianMeiDivorce” supertopic and looked at the moderator’s statistics. Today’s check-in numbers had seriously plummeted, angering the mod into frantically urging people to check in.

After reading, Lian Mei shut off her phone and rolled around happily on the bed.

Divorce? Forget it! Divorce wasn’t possible in this lifetime!

And just as Xie Moluo slept and Lian Mei rolled around on the bed, the official Weibo for “Sweet Travel” quietly uploaded a roughly edited video episode late at night.

Netizens who followed the “Sweet Travel” official Weibo all flocked over.