Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 416: The Clear-Headed Tao Tian

"Uh, I..."Qu Jing certainly did not care. After all, her relationship with Zhou Yuwen was already unconventional. If Tao Tian were added to the mix, Qu Jing not only would not object, but she might even help Zhou Yuwen explore some new tricks. If that happened, Tao Tian would be the one to suffer.

Tao Tian, however, was far more traditional. She was with Zhou Yuwen purely out of love. As for allowing him to find other women, that was simply a matter of having no other choice.

Now, asking her to be intimate alongside another woman was something she absolutely could not accept.

Just when Tao Tian was at a loss for words, Zhou Yuwen fortunately noticed her hesitation and said, "Forget it, I was just joking. As long as you two are happy. Oh, and don't forget our actual business."

With those words, Zhou Yuwen left.

He left a visibly discouraged Qu Jing behind. She looked at Tao Tian with a hint of resentment and complained, "You see? Zhou Yuwen left because you hesitated."

Tao Tian kept her head down and remained silent.

Qu Jing pressed further, "I really don't understand. We have already laid all our cards on the table, so why can't you accept it? If the two of us joined forces, we might be able to keep Zhou Yuwen to ourselves and completely push out Zheng Yanyan and Su Qing."

Tao Tian shook her head. "Let it go."

"I am not saying I refuse to join you..."

Lifting her head, she caught sight of Qu Jing's curious expression and blinking eyes. Tao Tian could not help but blush. "I am not refusing to be with you, it is just that bringing it up so suddenly... I cannot quite adapt to it."

"Then make sure you are mentally prepared next time," Qu Jing said. "Whether you can adapt or not, just agree first. I can stay in the second bedroom for now. The most important thing is to keep Zhou Yuwen here."

Tao Tian nodded and gave a soft hum of agreement, though her response was somewhat perfunctory.

After their conversation, the two girls originally planned to head to their respective homes. However, for whatever reason—perhaps just out of politeness—Tao Tian asked Qu Jing if she wanted to come over and visit her place.

Tao Tian regretted her words the moment they left her mouth, as Qu Jing's expression showed her heart was stirred. Sure enough, after a brief hesitation, Qu Jing agreed, "Alright, I will go take a look beforehand so we are not caught off guard the next time Zhou Yuwen comes over."

"..."

Hearing this, Tao Tian's blush deepened.

And so, Qu Jing went over that evening and ended up staying at Tao Tian's place. However, the two girls did not do anything inappropriate. They were roommates to begin with, and before their conflict over Zhou Yuwen, they had been close sisters. Sharing a bed was simply a matter of course for them.

But during their late-night bestie gossip session, Qu Jing could not resist asking some intimate questions. For example: "When Zhou Yuwen is with you, does he like this part of you the most?"

"This really is your most attractive feature for men."

Those few remarks left Tao Tian blushing furiously, prompting her to fire back at Qu Jing. "What about you?"

"When Zhou Yuwen is with you, what does he like about you?"

"I do not have your natural advantages," Qu Jing replied. "I can only rely on acquired effort."

"Acquired effort?" Tao Tian asked, puzzled.

Qu Jing leaned in close to Tao Tian's ear and whispered a few words.

This was a little secret between Qu Jing and Zhou Yuwen, something that logically should not be shared. But right now, Qu Jing was trying to drag Tao Tian down into the water with her, naturally hoping to help her adapt first.

Tao Tian was utterly shocked upon hearing it, her face burning an even deeper red. Yet, out of curiosity for new things, she could not help but ask, "Zhou Yuwen likes that sort of thing?"

Displaying a rare moment of shyness, Qu Jing admitted, "He definitely did not like it at first, but later on, I think he really enjoyed it. If it were you doing it to him, I bet he would like it even more."

An image of herself kneeling before Zhou Yuwen flashed through Tao Tian's mind. Just that single mental picture was enough to make her stop imagining. She quickly dismissed the thought and stammered, "F-forget it. Let's just forget it."

Seeing Tao Tian's reaction, Qu Jing scoffed. "What a coward."

Tao Tian said nothing.

Qu Jing lowered her head in thought for a moment before speaking up. "Sweetie, I want to apologize first. I definitely did some things wrong before, but I remember your kindness in speaking up for me in front of Zhou Yuwen. I know you are close to Minmin, but as things stand now, you and Minmin are ultimately outsiders. We are the good sisters who can stay together for a lifetime. I am sure I do not need to tell you how many women Zhou Yuwen has; you probably already have a good idea."

"Those girls all came out of the same dormitory. If they find out about your existence, they will definitely gang up on you. But you and I are from the same dormitory. Even though we had our conflicts, I am still much more trustworthy than they are. We should join forces, shouldn't we?" Qu Jing said, her tone sincere.

Tao Tian did not answer the question; she simply tilted her head to the side.

"Sweetie?" Qu Jing asked curiously.

"Hmm? What is it?" Tao Tian acted as if she had just woken from a dream. She replied, "I walked around all day and I am so tired. I almost fell asleep just now. What did you say?"

Seeing Tao Tian like this, Qu Jing did not know what to say for a moment. When Tao Tian asked again what she had said, Qu Jing could only dismiss it with a "Nothing."

In truth, Tao Tian had heard every word Qu Jing said. But having been trapped once already, how could she be so foolish again? She had a vague understanding of Zhou Yuwen's personality: throwing a little tantrum or being jealous occasionally was fine, but forming factions and fighting to the death for his affection was something he absolutely would not tolerate.

The root reason Qu Jing was so eager to incite factional conflict was her own lack of confidence. Her rise to her current position was improper to begin with, so it was natural for her to feel a sense of crisis.

But Tao Tian felt no such crisis. She was confident in her excellent figure, knowing she was exactly Zhou Yuwen's type. As long as she consistently maintained her body and kept herself in peak condition, she believed Zhou Yuwen would dote on her alone even if she did nothing else. Why would she involve herself in Qu Jing's underhanded schemes?

Besides, Qu Jing, you already trapped me once.

Did you think I would be stupid enough to follow you down this dark path again?

Her attempt to forge an alliance having failed, Qu Jing had no choice but to find another way.

As for Zhou Yuwen, he had genuinely wanted to keep sleeping with Tao Tian tonight. Unfortunately, Tao Tian was tied up with a bunch of matters. With no other option, he finally remembered Zheng Yanyan and the others, whom he had not contacted in a while.

Speaking of which, it had been over a month since he last visited the big flat. He had no idea what state those girls had left the place in. As the saying goes, three women are enough to put on a play. With Su Qing and two other women living in the big flat at Lan Ting, Zhou Yuwen could hardly imagine how chaotic it must be.

Zhou Yuwen did not inform them in advance about his visit to the big flat, planning instead to launch a surprise inspection.

Yet, upon opening the door, Zhou Yuwen did not find the World War III he had envisioned. Instead, Lu Lin was sitting peacefully on the sofa, playing with her phone.

When she saw Zhou Yuwen walk in, she froze for a moment.

She hadn't even registered what was happening.

Meanwhile, Zheng Yanyan stepped out of her room, piqued by curiosity.

Lu Lin was usually quite casual at home, lounging in pajamas. Although she was tall, the pajama pants could not hide her long legs.

However, in terms of sex appeal, she was no match for Zheng Yanyan. Zheng Yanyan was wearing only a red Calvin Klein sports bra on top and a pair of white jeans on the bottom, leaving her slender waist and two lotus-root-like arms exposed.

The second she saw Zhou Yuwen, she let out a surprised gasp.

Quickly recovering, she threw herself at him, embracing Zhou Yuwen tightly. Wrapping her long legs around his waist, she completely ignored Lu Lin's presence and kissed him passionately.

"What brings you here today?" she asked happily.

"Didn't I miss you?" Zhou Yuwen replied. "I came to see you."

As he spoke, Zhou Yuwen subconsciously glanced deeper into the apartment.

Zheng Yanyan pouted her lips and asked, "Did you miss me, or someone else? Hmph, what are you looking at? Are you looking for Su Qing?" "What kind of talk is that? Since you all live here, I naturally want to see how you are getting along. As for missing you, I definitely missed you," Zhou Yuwen said, holding Zheng Yanyan's slender waist and signaling for her to get down from him.

Zheng Yanyan pouted. "Stop looking. She went back to the dormitory."

"Back to the dormitory?" Zhou Yuwen was somewhat surprised.

Zheng Yanyan then explained that Su Qing had found living here too troublesome.

"Mainly, seeing that you weren't coming back, she went to stay in the dormitory with Shen Yu."

Zhou Yuwen remarked, "Oh, look at her, that is exactly how a student should behave. Then look at you—not good at studying, yet dealing with so much drama every day."

Zhou Yuwen lightly tapped Zheng Yanyan on the head twice. Zheng Yanyan pouted and declared, "Whether I study or not is not important. You are going to provide for me anyway!"

"So you expect me to take care of you for the rest of your life?" Zhou Yuwen asked.

"Of course~"

Zheng Yanyan took it as a matter of course, and Zhou Yuwen just smiled.

It had to be said that among Zhou Yuwen's women, Zheng Yanyan was the most simple-minded. However, her way of thinking also made things the least complicated. Considering she had already tacitly accepted Zhou Yuwen having other women, holding onto this belief proved she truly intended to stay with him for a lifetime.

In truth, before arriving, Zhou Yuwen had genuinely been conflicted about how to allocate his time that night. After all, there were three people in the flat, and Zheng Yanyan and Su Qing had never gotten along. In secret, he could sleep with them one by one, but if they were all present together, he probably would not be able to sleep with any of them.

Now that Su Qing was gone, things were much easier to handle.

Taking a shower, he first warmed up with Zheng Yanyan, sharing kisses and engaging in other activities.

By the time everything was over, Zheng Yanyan was dripping with fragrant sweat, feeling as if her body had fallen apart. She lay comfortably in Zhou Yuwen's arms, embracing him and sweetly calling him hubby.

According to his usual routine, as long as Zhou Yuwen coaxed her to sleep, he could then head to the second bedroom next door to find Lu Lin.

But today, after warming up with him, Zheng Yanyan lay prone in Zhou Yuwen's arms and remained unwilling to go to sleep for a long time. She just stayed pressed against him, pouting her lips as they chatted.

Calling him "hubby" over and over, she bombarded him with all sorts of questions.

She even asked about the villa gathering.

Zhou Yuwen was somewhat surprised. "You know about that?"

"How could I not know? The entire school knows about it, so of course I have to know. That is my hubby's villa!" Zheng Yanyan said with a laugh.

"The entire school knows?"

Zhou Yuwen grew even more surprised upon hearing this.

Zheng Yanyan was definitely exaggerating a bit.

But there were indeed quite a few people who knew. After all, from the planning to the set design, down to selecting the etiquette hostesses, everything was handled by part-time students hired from the university. Students who did not pay attention to such things certainly remained unaware, but those closer to Zhou Yuwen, or those working part-time jobs, had all caught wind of it.

Furthermore, there had never been a shortage of news surrounding Zhou Yuwen on campus.

Now, the gossip was spreading again. "Have you heard?"

"That Zhou Yuwen who writes novels actually bought a villa near the school."

"Bought a villa? Is writing novels really that profitable?"

"It is not just money from making novels. He is also in business. His Xianlin Delivery is now all over the province. I heard Meituan is offering twenty or thirty million to buy his Xianlin Delivery?"

"Ah? The Xianlin Delivery at our school is his company?"

"How could you not know?"

"I had no idea. I thought it was some external company. Wait, isn't he only a freshman?"

"Exactly!"

Many students were not actually that perceptive to new things. Even though they frequently used Xianlin Delivery to order food, they had never stopped to wonder who the boss of the company was.

It was not until news broke about just how much Zhou Yuwen's Xianlin Delivery was worth that they suddenly realized the truth, unable to stop themselves from exclaiming, "Damn! That's so badass!"

Zhou Yuwen had genuinely put a lot of effort into this housewarming party. After all, he was about to discuss a business deal worth tens of millions. Moreover, based on Liu Jing's hints, she had invited several industry titans to introduce to him.

Given that, the setup could not afford to look cheap. Consequently, the part-time students working on the villa's banquet arrangements would naturally gossip a bit—discussing, for instance, what kind of props Zhou Yuwen was using, or what kind of sound system he had acquired.

He even specifically hired students from the Nanjing University of the Arts to put on performances.

"That high-end? Isn't it just moving into a new house?"

"It is far more than that. Zhou Yuwen is not like the rest of us. I heard that many prominent bosses in Jinling are attending this gathering. Rumor has it that even our university principal is going."

"Seriously? What exactly does this Zhou Yuwen do? He even knows the principal?"

There were always a few braggarts in any crowd. In reality, Zhou Yuwen's gathering could not be considered top-tier luxury, but to the student body, it was utterly mysterious and unfathomable.

Take, for example, the female classmates Su Qing had invited earlier.

They were absolutely overjoyed. They even specifically went on Taobao to buy new clothes and spent every day gossiping, saying that since the gathering was so high-end, they might just run into a few wealthy rich second generation heirs.

"Maybe one of them will fall for you at first sight!"

"Oh, stop it! What are you saying!"

The girls chattered and laughed away.

Under these circumstances, it was impossible for Zheng Yanyan to remain ignorant about the banquet at Zhou Yuwen's villa.

Her clinginess toward him today was undoubtedly driven by her hope of tagging along to see the spectacle for herself.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuwen found himself in a slight dilemma.

He said, "It does not matter if you go, but I will definitely be extremely busy that day. I probably won't have time to look after you."

"I don't need you to look after me! I just want to go with Lu Lin to take some photos and check-in!" Seeing that Zhou Yuwen was about to agree, Zheng Yanyan hurriedly sat up.

Straddling him, she leaned forward and acted coquettishly.

Zhou Yuwen hesitated for a moment before replying, "Alright. Just don't go adding to the trouble."

"I promise I won't!"