Trending Again – Chapter 49

Extra: Lu Qi? Yu Jing

Lu Qi patted her phone in her pocket and noticed the battery was only at 5%. Glancing at it, she saw 55 missed calls.

Even without thinking, she knew who had called. With a formidable wife at home, this was a kneeling washboard¹ for sure~

The WeChat interface was stuck on the input keyboard. She typed out an explanatory message, unsatisfied, deleted it, made some changes, deleted again, and in the end, just gave up.

VX

Lu Zonggong²: Wife, I messed up. I’ll come back right away. Save me a spot…

Midway through the message, the phone prompted: “5 seconds until shutdown.”

Lu Qi anxiously ran her fingers through her hair. It was all because of these chaotic social engagements; they made her too busy to spend time with her wife.

While it might be said that the job of a manager wasn’t too demanding, even though Si Meng was becoming more and more popular, it didn’t affect her slacking off at work. It was just the endless socializing every day that made her feel somewhat helpless.

“Um, can I borrow a power bank?” Lu Qi licked her lips and asked. She really couldn’t remember who these people were and how she was connected to them.

The girl with long wavy hair took the opportunity to link her arm with Lu Qi’s, feigning intimacy as she said, “How about you come to my place to rest for the night, Sister Lu? It’s so late, and Sister Jing won’t be so stingy.”

Lu Qi awkwardly pushed her hand away, her expression turning somewhat serious. Those who knew her were aware that although she was usually playful and smiling, she could be difficult to deal with when she got serious.

Lu Qi was adept at handling matters smoothly, with an extensive network in the industry. Her PR skills were iron-fisted, and many people tried to curry favor with her, but she only supported Si Meng.

“How about Yu Jing? It’s none of your business, and as an outsider, who are you to criticize? Besides, what kind of person are you? Thinking of crawling into my bed—do you even deserve that?”

Lu Qi took a lighter from her pocket, lit a ladylike cigarette, and wisps of smoke curled through her stern profile.

The girl’s expression stiffened, and before she could continue speaking, she was pulled away by others.

Some people might wear a smiling face, but ultimately, they were tigers that could devour others.

Back at home, Lu Qi realized she had forgotten her keys. Well, her wife didn’t bother to leave the door for her anyway.

Squatting in a corner, like a child abandoned at the doorstep, it took quite a while before the door was cautiously opened, revealing Lu Qi asleep at the entrance.

“Day by day, all you know is to drink and mess around outside.”

“She wouldn’t answer calls, and who knows if she even reads messages.”

“Forgetting her keys, sleeping at the doorstep. What if I didn’t open the door?”

“So annoying, big troublemaker. Always bullying me.”

Muttering to herself, Yu Jing dragged Lu Qi into the bedroom, helping her change clothes and freshen up. As she looked at Lu Qi’s profile, she hesitated to speak.

Pinching Lu Qi’s cheek, Lu Qi unhappily buried her face in the blanket, giving it a slight nudge.

Yu Jing’s heart softened. She had initially planned to bring up the idea of breaking up tonight, but she couldn’t bear to do it. Well, let’s leave it for tomorrow.

Love couldn’t withstand the realities of life—basic necessities like firewood, rice, oil, and salt. Affection between two people couldn’t surpass the importance of being well-matched. Ill-fitting glass slippers would eventually fall off despite the deep affection.

Yu Jing held the blanket and pillow, lying on the sofa, reminiscing about the bits and pieces of their relationship.

The next morning, a loud noise echoed from the kitchen. Lu Qi, massaging her throbbing temples, followed the sound.

“I’ve told you, your hands are for art. Leave the rough work like cooking to me.” Lu Qi, concerned, gently held Yu Jing’s burnt fingers and carefully blew on them.

“Still hurting? Let me blow on it for you.”

Yu Jing was momentarily at a loss for words, then she was promptly chased out of the kitchen by Lu Qi, who had prepared a hearty breakfast.

“When did you learn to cook?”

“I had Mengmeng teach me. I’m happy to cook for you.”

Yu Jing gestured towards her phone, and Lu Qi belatedly realized her phone was in Yu Jing’s hands.

Yu Jing: “Your ex-girlfriend called you last night.”

Lu Qi felt a bit guilty, “Really? I remember deleting her a long time ago…”

Yu Jing sneered, “Ex-girlfriend, not just one, right? There’s Yinyin, there’s Manman, there’s Little Zi, there’s Luoluo, there’s… how many ex-girlfriends do you actually have?”

Lu Qi’s hand holding the chopsticks suddenly paused. Normally eloquent, she couldn’t even come up with a clever retort. A single lie would require countless more to cover it up.

Lu Qi: “Do you want to hear the truth?”

“You tell me.”

“I’ve had over twenty before, I swear I’ve really cut ties with all of them…”

Yu Jing abruptly stood up, her expression calm but her emotions had long exploded inside. She wasn’t angry because Lu Qi had dated so many women; it was because Lu Qi had never told her about any of this.

Clearly, she was the main partner, yet those other women warned her, saying she wasn’t worthy of Lu Qi.

“Let go.”

“Don’t go, let me explain…”

“What’s there to explain? Listen to your romantic history? If you keep this up, I’ll br—”

Before the words could finish, they were forcefully silenced by a deep, intense kiss, blocking the word “breakup” entirely.

A dominating kiss, that agile tongue dancing in her mouth, teasingly savoring her saliva, as if wanting to consume her completely.

“I never went all the way with them; I only had relations with you. Now that it’s over, you don’t want to take responsibility?” Lu Qi said in a somewhat aggrieved tone, holding onto Yu Jing without letting go.

Yu Jing was speechless, feeling as if she were the victim.

“I admit that before the age of 25, I was indeed capricious, everything I did had a short-lived enthusiasm, including relationships,” Lu Qi calmly said. She rarely talked about her past with others, after all, turning over a new leaf wasn’t a particularly glorious thing.

“But there are two things I’ve always stuck with, up to now: painting and liking you.”

Yu Jing buried her head in Lu Qi’s embrace, feeling a mix of anger and moved emotions. The eyes of someone in love couldn’t hide their true feelings. So, even a fickle person can be moved?

“Then accompany me to a place. If you come with me, I won’t bring up breaking up again.”

“Great!”

Lu Qi happily followed her wife, but little did she expect that she would be taken back to their alma mater.

At the entrance of the Fine Arts Academy:

Lu Qi absentmindedly looked at the list on the bulletin board. It had been a long time since she last visited.

Boldly written on the list was the name “Lu Qi.”

“Before, I thought it was someone with the same name as you. Never expected it was really you!”

“Heh, would the Fine Arts Academy acknowledge a student who got expelled?” Lu Qi self-deprecatingly chuckled.

Back then, she confessed to the girl she liked and showed her carefully drawn graduation design. The girl gladly accepted her, but later, Lu Qi became a victim of plagiarism.

The serialized manga became a sensation overnight, and simultaneously, she was thrust into the eye of a storm of online harassment. The relentless cyberbullying robbed her of the courage to pick up a pen and draw again.

To protect that girl, the academy posted notices accusing Lu Qi of plagiarism, expelling her from the school, seemingly validating all the accusations against her.

“Lu Qi, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up those things. I didn’t know…” Yu Jing glimpsed her pained expression, feeling guilty. She had intended to help Lu Qi overcome her past.

“It’s okay; those are all in the past. Look at me now, doing well, right?” Lu Qi casually stroked her head.

“What are your plans for the future?”

“I probably won’t be a manager anymore. Being Mengmeng’s manager was just to fulfill my sister’s wish. Now that Mengmeng has returned to the top, I can rest easy.” Lu Qi smiled, her expression filled with affection.

Yu Jing also smiled, holding Lu Qi’s hand. “Then, let’s draw together in the future. We can become content creators on Bilibili, turning our story into an anime.”

Lu Qi pondered for a moment and added, “Well, this story is quite long. We should start from when I first met Si Meng.”

“Why?”

“Silly, if it weren’t for Mengmeng, how would I have met you?”

“Oh, right. So, what should we name the anime?”

“How about 《Trending Together with You》?”

LP: Last chapter! Thank you all for reading. Again, this is the author’s very first web novel, it may not be perfect, but it’s fine as their first web novel :))

1. a situation where someone is in trouble or facing a difficult or challenging circumstance, often due to the actions or demands of a formidable or dominating person.
2. dominant or assertive role in the relationship