Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 346: Going Home for the New Year!

Ever since Jiang Xinyi confessed to Zhou Yuwen, she stopped pretending altogether and just showed her hand.However, seeing Jiang Xinyi act like this made Zhou Yuwen a little panicked.

Take today, for example. Jiang Xinyi brought him an iced Americano and a sandwich.

Zhou Yuwen thought to himself, 'Since she already brought them, I can't just let them go to waste.'

So, he ate the sandwich while working.

Right at that moment, Jiang Xinyi sent him a message: "There's something on your mouth. Wipe it."

"?"

Zhou Yuwen paused and sharply looked up.

Through the office window, he caught sight of Jiang Xinyi quickly ducking her head back down behind her workstation.

Hehe.

Speechless, Zhou Yuwen texted back: "Instead of working properly, you're peeking at me? Do I pay you a salary just so you can slack off?"

"I'm already done with my work, alright? I'm just highly efficient. I can't help it."

Along with the text, Jiang Xinyi sent a smug, humming emoji.

"Are you really done?"

"Yep!"

"That impressive?"

"Of course!"

"Then come to my office for a second."

As soon as Zhou Yuwen sent that, Jiang Xinyi did not hesitate. She immediately got up and trotted over to his office, wondering what he needed to say face-to-face.

Seeing her glowing with such radiant joy, the other employees who had been buried in their work couldn't help but look up and steal a few glances at her.

Jiang Xinyi seemed a little off today...

Entering the office, Jiang Xinyi put on a haughty front and asked, "What did you call me in here for?"

"Take this document and process it for me." Zhou Yuwen seamlessly handed the paperwork sitting in front of him over to her.

"?"

Jiang Xinyi had actually thought he called her in to whisper some sweet nothings!

After all that...

"Wait,"

"What are you staring at? Didn't you say you were done with your work?" Zhou Yuwen asked.

Jiang Xinyi was so exasperated she actually laughed, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. It took her a long moment to respond, "No, hold on. You called me all the way in here just to assign me more work?"

Zhou Yuwen gestured as if to say, what else?

Jiang Xinyi glared at him.

Zhou Yuwen looked genuinely innocent. Was that not allowed?

Fine, you win!

'Zhou the Exploiter!'

Jiang Xinyi huffed the evaluation inwardly, snatched the document from his hand, and marched out without looking back.

Office romances were never easy, especially when trying to pursue a guy like Zhou Yuwen.

In the couple of days before heading home, rumors had already spread around the office that Jiang Xinyi was chasing the boss. However, most employees found it hard to believe. They scoffed at the idea—was it a joke? Wasn't Jiang Xinyi the ex-girlfriend of Zhou Yuwen's counselor? Upon hearing the gossip, Lu Hui naturally relayed it to Liu Shuo immediately, harshly criticizing Jiang Xinyi in the process. She complained that these wealthy young ladies really knew how to play the game, each one wilder than the last.

"Just look at how wild Jiang Xinyi is. After dating the teacher, she wants to date the student. If Teacher You ever found out about this, I bet he'd die of embarrassment."

Women like Lu Hui naturally couldn't stand seeing other girls living better lives than them. A wealthy young lady born with a golden spoon like Jiang Xinyi was her natural enemy. Lu Hui loved gossiping about her behind her back; unfortunately, her boyfriend did not share a common language with her on this topic.

Things that Lu Hui found fascinating were merely a given to Liu Shuo. Just like this time—while she chattered away with great relish, he only pouted in disdain and muttered that there was nothing weird about it.

"My bro is so excellent. Isn't it only natural for Jiang Xinyi to like him? Besides, didn't you have a crush on him back then, too?"

"When did I ever like Zhou Yuwen?!" Lu Hui instantly fired up.

Liu Shuo just grinned widely. "Why are you getting so anxious? It's not like I'm mad."

"I'm telling the truth!"

Lu Hui firmly declared that she had never liked Zhou Yuwen and that he was overthinking things.

"Alright, alright, I'm overthinking it."

Liu Shuo did not care about these things at all. He was entirely focused on the "Method of Arduous Battle" his friends had taught him, hoping he could get Lu Hui into bed a few more times tonight.

Unfortunately, while it was true that young people had raging fires of passion, his was purely superficial heat—blown out with a single gust.

Lu Hui was feeling quite depressed. Liu Shuo was heading home for the winter holiday in a few days, so he wanted to properly enjoy some intimate time with her before leaving. Initially, she did not feel much about it.

But when Liu Shuo was on top of her, it suddenly crossed her mind that Zhou Yuwen already had an unknown number of women, yet he never tired of looking for more.

Just how strong must Zhou Yuwen's stamina be?

Out of the women Lu Hui knew about—Zheng Yanyan, Lu Lin, and the recently arrived Tao Tian—every single one of them was constantly glowing with vitality. To say Zhou Yuwen did not possess some special skill...

Lu Hui would not believe it for a second.

But thinking about it, Zhou Yuwen was handsome. If she really got a chance with him, that wouldn't be too bad either.

Still, it was just another day of unscratchable itching for her.

Sigh. To be honest, Liu Shuo did not treat her poorly at all. Although he was a bit younger than her, she had never once worried about money since getting together with him.

However, there was more to life than just love. Watching him happily smoking and playing on his phone over there, she felt a sudden surge of sorrow. 'Is this how my life is going to be forever?' she thought.

They were both twenty-five. Why did Jiang Xinyi get to find a tall, handsome little puppy to date, while she was stuck sharing a bed with this chubby guy in front of her?

She felt deeply dissatisfied. Right at that moment, Li Qiang suddenly sent her a message.

"Baby, what are you busy with? (Grinning)"

Seeing Li Qiang's text gave her some psychological comfort. She thought to herself, 'Well, at least I have a little wolf pup of my own.'

Truth be told, when she first started her online romance with Li Qiang, she had been quite anxious, constantly worrying about what would happen if Liu Shuo found out.

But after thinking it through, she decided that she couldn't be entirely blamed for it.

If anyone was to blame, it was Liu Shuo for being too unrefined.

It wasn't like she hadn't tried playing the Werewolf app with him, but he was completely unsuited for the game. He had a one-track mind and would lash out and curse at other players over the slightest thing.

Several times, he would be calling her "baby" one second, only to start a screaming match with a stranger the next. It honestly embarrassed her to no end.

Later, Lu Hui reasoned with herself, 'Li Qiang and I are strictly an online couple. As long as I make sure we never meet in person, it's fine.'

At least physically, she remained loyal to Liu Shuo.

Besides, look at Zhou Yuwen! He spent every day fooling around with all sorts of females.

If he could do it, why couldn't she?

Comparatively speaking, her behavior was actually quite tame!

With this psychological comfort, she felt much better.

Remembering that Li Qiang and Zhou Yuwen were classmates, and bursting with gossip she had nowhere else to spill, she hesitated for only a second before deciding to chat with him.

"Just went for a run," she typed back. Having just finished with Liu Shuo, she had thrown on a camisole. A fine layer of sweat still clung to her neck, making her actually look like she had just finished exercising.

She understood men far too well. While she wasn't traditionally beautiful, finding the right camera angle and applying a simple whitening filter worked wonders.

She looked like an absolute online goddess.

The moment she sent the picture, Li Qiang replied with a long string of drooling emojis.

He even asked her to angle the camera a little higher and send another one.

She replied with a few eye-roll emojis before typing, "Hey, I remember you being roommates with Zhou Yuwen, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Why, baby?"

"Did you know that your counselor's ex-girlfriend works at Zhou Yuwen's company..."

Unable to keep the juicy gossip to herself, she finally spilled the beans about Jiang Xinyi pursuing Zhou Yuwen. Hearing this, Li Qiang was even more shocked than she had been.

"Teacher You's girlfriend is chasing Old Zhou?!"

"Super shocking, right?"

"That's fucking insane! Holy shit!"

Seeing Li Qiang's replies, Lu Hui chuckled aloud, thinking, 'Now this is emotional value.' It was miles better than dealing with Liu Shuo.

Although the news of Jiang Xinyi's pursuit had spread through the office, it was the end of the semester. With only two days left, the impact wouldn't be significant anyway.

After finalizing the winter holiday work arrangements for the four thousand part-timers, Zhou Yuwen asked Lu Lin to stay behind to assist Jiang Xinyi.

Since Jiang Xinyi's family lived right there in Jinling, and with a master like Liu Jing backing her up, managing four thousand people shouldn't go wrong. Lu Lin was simply staying in Jinling to handle any sudden emergencies that might pop up.

Of course, Zhou Yuwen had made it clear that if she wanted to go home, she was completely free to do so.

But it was Lu Lin who didn't want to go back.

Aside from the two of them, Lu Hui had also stayed behind.

He hadn't planned on having her stay; she had actively requested to work overtime after seeing that Lu Lin was offered double salary.

Zhou Yuwen had been curious and asked if she didn't need to go home to reunite with her family.

Her eyes had darted away as she stammered out that family could be seen anytime, but work was more important.

Hearing that, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Since it was the New Year, he didn't want to play favorites. He told her that since she was staying, she should work hard, and he would give Liu Shuo a big red envelope the following year.

Upon hearing that, she instantly laughed. "Boss, if you really want to give out a red envelope, it would be much better to just give it to me directly!"

He nodded. "True enough!"

With the matters in Jinling settled, the twenty-fifth arrived in the blink of an eye. There were only four days left until the New Year. Over the past few days, his mother had been calling him almost daily, repeatedly interrogating him about what exact date he was coming back.

He kept telling her "soon," but never followed up with concrete news.

Finally, on this day, he told her he estimated he'd arrive by two in the afternoon.

His mother was satisfied, noting that he would make it back just in time for the evening dinner gathering.

"What? There's a dinner gathering tonight?" Zhou Yuwen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Honestly, in his past life, he had detested these kinds of relative-filled banquets. The main reason he delayed coming back so late was that, in his memories, heading home for the holidays meant endless, inescapable family meals.

"What kind of reaction is that? Logically speaking, we should have had this meal ages ago! But because we've been waiting for you, it got dragged out until today!" Her tone carried a hint of her usual unreasonable and bossy nature.

Zhou Yuwen said, "Alright, alright. As long as you're happy."

"What do you mean, 'as long as I'm happy'?" her displeased voice crackled through the phone.

Zhou Yuwen quickly corrected, "I mean I'm happy too! I'm thrilled!"

By the time he hung up, the car was already cruising down the expressway.

There were four people in the vehicle.

Liu Shuo was driving, and Zhou Yuwen sat in the passenger seat.

Li Shiqi and Su Qing were seated in the back.

Thinking about it, out of the four people in the car, Zhou Yuwen's family seemed to be the most normal. As for the rest: Liu Shuo's father was a wealthy local boss, but he had taken in a secondary wife, leaving Liu Shuo neglected and unloved by his relatives, essentially an outcast in his own home.

He rarely ever called his father.

Because it was the New Year, he had reluctantly made one call.

His response had simply been: "Mind your own damn business!"

As for the families of Su Qing and Li Shiqi, their situations were even harder to explain in a few words.

So, while heading home for the New Year was supposed to be a joyous occasion, in the end, Zhou Yuwen was the only one who had actually called his family.

Su Qing didn't have many thoughts about it. After all, she mentally considered herself a 'married-off' daughter. To her, going home felt much more like going to Zhou Yuwen's family's house.

When he was on the phone just now, she had perked up her ears to listen closely.

The moment he hung up, Su Qing leaned forward, clinging to the back of the front seat. "Zhou Yuwen, is Mom taking you out to eat with relatives again?"

"What 'Mom'? Is she your mom? Don't just go around calling people that," he retorted.

Honestly, even without his retort, Liu Shuo and Li Shiqi both froze for a second upon hearing her.

Su Qing's small face flushed slightly. "Oh, come on, I'm just used to calling her that!"

Zhou Yuwen said flatly, "Little Su, we only ever dated. You're acting like we actually got married."

Su Qing cast a charming, flirtatious glance his way and replied playfully, "In my dreams, we were already married."

"Stop right there!"

As the two bickered, Liu Shuo chuckled along from the driver's seat. "Bro, to be honest, you hid it incredibly well. If sister-in-law hadn't exposed it, I never would've known you dated in high school. Right, Class Monitor? Not a single leak."

The Class Monitor he was referring to was Li Shiqi, who had held the position for both of them back in high school.

Put on the spot, Li Shiqi stammered slightly. "I... I didn't know. In high school, all I knew was studying."

"Oh, right, that's true!"

Since all four had attended the same high school, chatting was completely natural and effortless. They were all familiar with the major events that had happened during those years.

Furthermore, Liu Shuo's habit of calling her "sister-in-law" left an excellent impression on Su Qing. She even mentioned that she remembered him from back then.

"I heard my classmates talk about you before," Su Qing said with a smile.

"Oh? Sister-in-law actually heard of me?" Liu Shuo immediately perked up, pleased.

Su Qing nodded. "Weren't you the guy who tried to climb the wall to go to an internet cafe during our sophomore year, but your pants caught on something, and you ended up dangling there showing off your red underwear?"

At this, Zhou Yuwen and Li Shiqi both burst out laughing. That was absolutely Liu Shuo; everyone remembered that incident clearly.

Utterly embarrassed, Liu Shuo groaned, "No way, sister-in-law. Could you at least remember something good about me?"

Su Qing covered her mouth, giggling. "But aside from that, I really don't remember anything else!"

To be completely honest, Su Qing's impression of Liu Shuo was incredibly faint. In her past life, back when she was dating Zhou Yuwen, she had no memory of someone like him being by his side.

In fact, the only reason she knew about that incident now was because she had asked around among their high school classmates back when she first suspected Zhou Yuwen was a reborn person like herself.