Reversal

Lu Jing froze.

His heart lurched with panic. He instinctively tried to explain: "Xiao Huai, listen to me..."

"Is this what shixiong wants to say — the 'trust me' you just mentioned?" Ying Huai looked at Lu Jing and spoke softly, word by word.

"Shixiong once told me something else too: 'there are too many things in this circle that haven't come out yet.'"

For the first time, Lu Jing understood what it felt like to have no words to defend himself.

He quickly shook his head and said quietly: "Xiao Huai, listen to me, it wasn't what you just saw. I was deliberately stalling..."

Lu Jing wanted to explain directly what he had just been doing, but the next second, an urgent phone ringtone suddenly sounded.

Lu Jing instinctively reached to decline it, but the moment he looked down, he saw it was a call from Lu Father.

Lu Jing's movements froze instantly.

He glanced at Ying Huai. Ying Huai, supported by Liang Shining, leaned half against the wall with a calm expression, his face unchanged.

Lu Father rarely called Lu Jing unless there was something very important to convey.

This call, Lu Jing did not dare not answer.

He looked at Ying Huai again, took a deep breath, and finally turned to answer Lu Father's call first.

"Father?"

"What took you so long to pick up," Lu Father's voice carried a hint of displeasure. "What are you doing?"

Lu Jing took a deep breath. "Sorry, Father, I was a bit busy just now..."

Before he could finish, Lu Father rudely cut him off: "You used to be at the same company as Ying Huai. You should have his dirt, right?"

Lu Jing's hand on the phone suddenly tightened.

Lu Father on the other end didn't notice anything off about Lu Jing: "Compile it and send a copy to the company's PR department."

Lu Father let out a cold laugh: "No wonder you refused so cleanly when I asked you to get him on the Variety Show before. Turns out you knew Liang Shining was joining too."

"Since he wants to join this Variety Show, I'll oblige him," Lu Father's voice dripped with nauseating condescension. "But he shouldn't expect it to be comfortable."

"I'll send him a big gift — the highest level of attention."

Lu Father finished smugly, only then noticing that Lu Jing on the other end had been silent for a long time.

Lu Father frowned: "Did you hear me, Lu Jing?"

Lu Jing took a deep breath. "I heard you, Father."

"It's just, Father, Ying Huai is after all an artist of our company. Does the company have other plans to boost his attention..."

Before he could finish, Lu Father laughed outright: "I didn't know when you became so naive, Lu Jing?"

"He's already a discarded piece for the company, Lu Jing."

Lu Father spoke slowly, word by word: "His only value now is to give the company one last burst of heat."

Lu Jing on the phone still didn't answer. Lu Father frowned, slowly sensing something was off.

"You haven't gone soft, have you, Lu Jing?"

Lu Father let out a cold laugh: "Has Ying Huai brainwashed you too?"

Lu Jing glanced at the faintly smiling person not far away, and his grip on the phone tightened little by little.

"No, Father."

"Good that you haven't," Lu Father's voice sank lower and lower. "Get this done quickly. I want to see results before the Variety Show pilot livestream at the latest."

"—If you still want the Lu Family Heir Announcement position."

Lu Father waited for his most deferential son to reply, but the next second, he heard Lu Jing say hurriedly: "Father, I have something to attend to. I'll hang up first."

Lu Father, who had been waiting to be held up on a pedestal: ?

Before he could say anything more, he heard a soft click — Lu Jing had already hung up.

Lu Father: ......

"Xiao Huai, where are you going?"

Lu Jing strode forward a few steps and blocked Ying Huai, who had turned to leave.

"Discharge. Going home." Ying Huai yawned and looked up with a smile.

"Seeing how busy shixiong is, I won't disturb you."

Lu Jing's fingers tightened around the phone little by little. He forced out: "It's not what you think, Xiao Huai. I really didn't want to hurt you..."

"Then what about that phone call just now?"

Ying Huai suddenly said lazily: "That was Uncle Lu calling shixiong, wasn't it?"

"Let me guess. The reason Uncle Lu is in such a rush to find shixiong now must be that he saw Mr. Liang's Variety Show announcement and is hurrying shixiong to deal with me."

Ying Huai looked up, his peach-blossom eyes slightly curved, gazing at Lu Jing with a half-smile: "So what did shixiong choose?"

Lu Jing's expression stiffened. He hung his head and, after a long moment, said quietly: "I didn't want to either, Xiao Huai, but you know, the Lu Family really matters to me..."

Before he could finish, the next second, he heard Ying Huai laugh softly.

"Yes, it really is very important."

Ying Huai looked at Lu Jing and spoke, word by word: "So my life doesn't matter."

He wasn't sad. On the contrary, he found it more laughable.

—This was the shixiong he'd pined for his whole past life.

Lu Jing's body trembled. At the same moment, Ying Huai felt his arm suddenly tighten.

Ying Huai didn't mind. He toyed with the Hongyu Jewel Pendant at the end of his hair, and the smile at his lips slowly widened.

"Shixiong's 'trust' really is cheap."

Lu Jing stood rigid behind him without speaking. Ying Huai yawned, and his expression returned to its familiar casual indifference.

He paid Lu Jing no more attention. He turned around and, leaning on Liang Shining, ambled back.

·

Ying Huai had originally planned to quickly pack up and discharge to go home.

But after two steps, he was forced to stop.

"Mr. Liang," Ying Huai sighed helplessly, "you're hurting me."

He spoke as he turned his head, only to meet Liang Shining's slightly darkened expression.

Ying Huai froze.

Liang Shining looked down at Ying Huai, said nothing, and slowly loosened his grip finger by finger.

'Sorry,' he said quietly.

Ying Huai stared at him for a few seconds, then said with interest: 'What was Mr. Liang thinking about just now? So lost in thought?'

He was in a good mood today and had originally meant to tease the taciturn Liang Shining a few lines, but the next second, Liang Shining suddenly turned his head and said quietly: 'You.'

Ying Huai: ???

The one who had tried to tease only to be teased back choked, the tips of his ears flushing red beyond his control.

'Mr. Liang really is the student surpassing the master,' Ying Huai touched the Hongyu Jewel Pendant at the end of his braid, steadying himself with effort. 'Even cracking jokes now.'

Liang Shining didn't answer. He stared at the Hongyu Jewel at the end of Ying Huai's braid for a few seconds, then suddenly said: 'You seem to really like this Hongyu Jewel.'

Ying Huai was startled.

He instinctively touched the Hongyu Jewel at the end of his braid; the smooth, cool feel unconsciously calmed his heart as well.

'Mm, I like it a lot,' Ying Huai said offhandedly while signing the discharge notice. 'Maybe because it puts me at ease.'

A flicker of surprise crossed Liang Shining's face.

He paused, then spoke again, a hidden joy in his voice: 'Do you know who gave you this jade bead...?'

'Of course I do.' Ying Huai looked up, puzzled.

The next second, Liang Shining heard Ying Huai reply casually: 'My elder brother.'

Liang Shining's expression froze abruptly.

He instinctively wanted to refute: 'No...'

But before he could finish, he saw the person in front of him suddenly straighten up.

'Alright, discharged, going home.' Ying Huai straightened up with a smile and casually waved at Liang Shining.

Liang Shining came back to himself. Setting aside what had just happened, he reached out to stop Ying Huai: 'Do you need my help with the Lu Jing matter?'

Ying Huai froze for a moment, then looked up with a strange expression.

Liang Shining said quietly: 'And this Variety Show, if you don't want to participate...'

'Why wouldn't I participate?' Ying Huai suddenly laughed. 'Free resources, why not use them.'

In his last life, this Variety Show had the Lu Family Group invite each of his former teammates one by one, perfectly driving wedges and manufacturing hot topics, making a killing.

But this life, everything had changed.

The trending topics were already in hand, and he didn't have to bother tracking down those people from his last life.

Ying Huai was happy to take it easy.

'Mr. Liang doesn't need to worry about me. Just take care of yourself.' Ying Huai's peach blossom eyes curved.

He glanced at Liang Shining, then said with sudden interest: 'Speaking of which, I'm more curious — why does Mr. Liang want to participate in this Variety Show?'

Liang Shining's expression suggested he wanted to say something but held back. Ying Huai, however, didn't seem to care about his answer; his peach blossom eyes curved, and he turned and left directly.

·

This fainting spell had after all put some strain on Ying Huai's heart.

He had been running a low fever for days after discharge, and only when the company notified him to attend the Variety Show's pilot livestream was he able to barely get up.

Inside the Variety Show livestream room, comments were already starting to get excited.

[Did you hear? This pilot livestream is actually just a gimmick — it's really a lead-up to expose one of the artists' scandals.]

[Yes! I just saw that big marketing account on Weibo saying they have firsthand dirt and are about to drop a big melon.]

[Firsthand dirt means... it came from someone in the industry?]

[Probably, so the authenticity... damn, now I'm curious.]

[What's there to be curious about? Blind guess: Ying Huai. What surprise scandal of his don't I, this emperor, know yet.]

[It should be the solid proof of him abandoning his teammates to jump ship to the Lu Family before debut, right? There was never any evidence before.]

[Swear Brother: Yo, they're actually willing to put out the evidence? Then I swear, it must be Ying Huai.]

[Swear Brother must be someone in the industry, knows a lot.]

[Swear Brother: I'm just an ordinary melon-eating bystander (innocent.jpg)]

[Swear Brother: But I'm sure, Ying Huai's about to receive a big gift.]

Ying Huai had no idea the comments were already predicting his next round of cyberbullying.

He felt his fever spike again, and it took him a while to notice that besides Liang Shining, Le Xi and Lu Jing had also inexplicably shown up at the scene.

Le Xi looked excited, but Lu Jing's expression was rather grave.

The livestream began, countless comments flooding the room. The Variety Show Director carefully cued the flow: 'Next, let's invite Lu Family Group's eldest son, Mr. Lu Jing, to say a few words.'

Lu Jing slowly stood up.

He glanced at Ying Huai, his expression seeming to hold something back, and slowly walked onstage clutching his script.

'I will also be participating in this Variety Show,' Lu Jing said quietly. 'I hope this will be an interesting, clean variety experience...'

Lu Jing's words seemed to carry hidden meaning. Le Xi's expression grew more impatient, but Ying Huai couldn't be bothered to pay attention to what Lu Jing was saying.

He was still a bit dizzy, wanting only to huddle in the back row and get the livestream over with so he could go home and catch up on sleep.

But the next second, a playful voice suddenly came over.

'Little shidi, long time no see.'

Ying Huai's expression shifted slightly.

He turned his head and watched Xin Wan walk step by step to stand before him, raising an eyebrow: 'I swear, little shidi must have missed me.'

His tone was casual and unrestrained, but when he looked at Ying Huai, a trace of resentment somehow seeped through.

'I heard Lu-shixiong has been getting very close to little shidi lately.'

Xin Wan leaned down, glanced at Lu Jing on stage, and slowly smiled: 'Is little shidi waiting now for the big gift Lu-shixiong is sending you?'

The moment his words fell, the phone in his pocket suddenly started buzzing frantically.

A flicker of excitement crossed Xin Wan's face. He opened his phone and went straight to the trending searches; the next second, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

—On the trending searches was not the Ying Huai scandal he had anticipated.

At the same moment, Xin Wan saw his own little shidi suddenly smile.