In the huge banquet hall, when the song accompaniment stopped, the deep voice came through the microphone and was clearly heard by everyone at the annual meeting.
The first to be hit was Song Ruyu, who was standing in the audience. The moment she saw Qin Lou appear, the smug smile of revenge on her face had not yet disappeared, but she froze as Qin Lou blurted out the name.
She widened her eyes in disbelief and looked at the woman who was hugged by Qin Lou from behind:
Isn't that what Qin Lou only calls Song Shu? How could he...
Some horrifying thoughts flashed through Song Ruyu's mind at this moment. Her face turned pale and her body instinctively took a step back. She hurriedly held onto the low table behind her to steady herself.
When Song Ruyu came back to her senses from the shocking thought, her expression became distorted.
That person is obviously dead! Isn't Qin Qing the substitute for that person? How could she be Song Shu? !
In other corners of the annual meeting, people also came back to their senses from Qin Lou's sudden appearance. They were either confused or thinking about it, then whispering to each other in shock.
"What did Mr. Qin just say? Why didn't I understand?"
"I heard him call out 'Qin Qing'. He seemed to have said something like faking his death afterwards."
"Shushu? Faking death? What's going on here?"
"Um, do you remember the name of Mr. Qin's first love?"
"Of course I remember. We've been talking about her a lot in the company recently. Her name is Song Shu-Wo Ri. Could it be that what I thought was going on?"
"If she is not, why would Mr. Qin call Qin Qing..."
"Did you drink too much and mistook the substitute for the real one?"
"Do you think that's possible?"
"But I think the other guess is even more frightening. Didn't they say that Song Shu died in a car accident ten years ago?"
"Ten years ago? Ten years ago, everyone thought Bai Song was the real murderer of that case. Ten years later, all the conclusions have been overturned."
"Isn't the resurrection from the dead too scary?"
"I was wondering why Mr. Qin, who had no one close to him for so many years, happened to meet someone who looked like him, Qin Qing, and doted on her right away—it turned out that Qin Qing was the real person."
"This news is really explosive."
"Tsk tsk tsk, it's scheduled for the headlines tomorrow."
"Who was behind the skit 'The President's Substitute Lover'? I guess he's desperate to find a crack in the ground to crawl into now."
"This really hits the nail on the head and offends the future boss lady. Fortunately, I have never said anything bad about Qin Qing before, otherwise, with President Qin's infatuation with her for ten years, she would be unable to hold anyone accountable."
"yes… "
Qin Lou's words successfully brought most of the meeting hall into a climax. The huge surprise brought about waves of discussions that surged towards Song Shu and Qin Lou like waves.
Seeing that the staff who were close to her could hardly suppress their curiosity and rushed over, Song Shu's face changed. She gritted her teeth, held Qin Lou's wrist, turned around and slipped out of the banquet hall door behind her.
The crowd didn't have time to chase after him, and since they were not reporters for any gossip tabloids, no one could afford to rush up and provoke their boss's wife into anger. So they could only stand there and regret the "drama" that ended at halftime.
However, the aftermath has not yet ended. Now no one cares about the progress of the annual meeting. Everyone is focused on gossiping about this shocking reversal.
Countless streams of information flowed through every corner of the huge banquet hall and spread through their respective networks to the entire outside world that was still unaware of the situation.
“…Qin Lou!”
After Song Shu finally pulled Qin Lou to a stop and confirmed that no one was chasing them, she turned back.
The girl, who usually showed little emotion, was so annoyed that she raised her voice a lot. Her fair face was stained with a little pink. It was unclear whether it was because of anger or running. Her breathing was a little unstable as she glanced at the man in front of her.
Relying on the advantage of his long legs, Qin Lou lazily put one hand in his trouser pocket and let Song Shu drag him from the venue to the terrace on the high floor with the other hand. His eyes never left the back of the girl's head.
Only when he was "called" did he seem to come back to his senses, and his eyes became focused.
"Um?"
This extremely lazy and innocent tone really made Song Shu angry again.
She slowly held her breath and raised her eyes, "Didn't we agree before that we wouldn't expose this matter in the company?"
Qin Lou played dumb, "What did you reveal?"
"..." Song Shu looked up at him expressionlessly.
Qin Lou endured this blank gaze for more than ten seconds, but finally couldn't hold it in anymore. He turned away and laughed hoarsely: "You're breaking the rules by doing this, little clam."
Song Shu still didn't speak.
Qin Lou had no choice but to beg for mercy, "Okay, I was wrong - I let it slip. I didn't see you holding the microphone at the time. I'm sorry for my clam shell."
Song Shu was so angry at Qin Lou's frivolous tone at the end that she wanted to kick him - Qin Lou was probably the only person in the world who could cause such a huge emotional fluctuation in her.
Song Shu took a deep breath and endured it, "You did it on purpose."
Qin Lou blinked innocently, "Did I?"
"… "
"Well I do."
Qin Lou laughed again. He followed Song Shu's wrist, which he had not yet let go of, and gently pulled him towards himself.
There were two rattan chairs on the terrace next to them. Qin Lou met Song Shu's expressionless face and lowered his voice, "I caught a flight overnight yesterday, and I took a taxi here as soon as I arrived at the airport today. I'm so tired now, can you sit with me for a while?"
"… "
Song Shu had to admit that compared to the time when she faced the arrogant and awkward boy, she would take the initiative to make concessions out of heartache - but now this Qin Lou who had learned to be submissive and act pitiful had completely left her powerless to resist.
After holding on for less than two seconds in front of that man's expression, Song Shu retreated, "... Sit down."
After removing the resistance on his hands, Qin Lou curled the corners of his mouth in triumph. Not only did he sit on the rattan chair, he also pulled Song Shu over with him.
Song Shu was caught off guard and fell directly into Qin Lou's arms, then was wrapped around him by someone's long arms and held in front of him without any room for struggle.
Song Shu hesitated for two seconds, then thought that since he had already sat down, it would be impossible to go back to the negotiation state just now, so he just let him be.
And Qin Lou is obviously the person who knows Song Shu best.
He could tell her mental state just from the slight change in her expression. He lowered his voice when he realized that the fire had gradually left the danger zone.
"I know you don't want to expose this matter, but I don't want them to talk about you like that anymore."
Song Shu frowned slightly, "We don't care what others say..."
"I don't care about others, but I care about you. So if others say something bad about you, I don't want to hear a word of it."
Song Shu was slightly startled, and the last trace of emotion in his eyes loosened.
Qin Lou spoke again: "Moreover, I want to be with you without any scruples, without pretending or acting - I want to tell the world that my little clam is back, she is by my side, she is not a substitute for anyone and it is impossible for her to be replaced by anyone - that is an insult to her. And the only person I will see, value, and regard as my life from beginning to end is this one person."
"… "
Qin Lou lowered his voice to the lowest level: "So, can you forgive me?"
Song Shu was silent for a long time, and finally couldn't help but raise his eyes slightly, with a hint of resentment in his dark and clean eyes: "If you still don't forgive me after saying this, then I am not a human being."
Qin Lou was stunned for a moment, then he burst into laughter.
"Does a clam shell count as 'not being a human being'?"
“…Not really.”
"What's that clam shell?"
“… … ”
Song Shu said he didn't want to pay attention to him and turned away expressionlessly.
Qin Lou was a typical example of someone who took advantage of others and still acted nice. Seeing that Song Shu didn't bother with him about exposing his identity in public, he not only didn't feel guilty and stay quiet for a while, but instead became more aggressive and hugged Song Shu to get closer.
So when Luan Qiaoqing happily ran up to the terrace to look for someone as the waiter instructed, she happened to see Qin Lou shamelessly hugging her cousin and asking for a kiss.
The smile on Luan Qiaoqing's face froze instantly, and quickly twisted into a state of gritting teeth—
"Qin Lou, how dare you behave like a hooligan in broad daylight in front of everyone!?"
"… "
Qin Lou was already upset because his playfulness with Song Shu was interrupted. When he saw that the person coming was Luan Qiaoqing, whom he always regarded as his number one rival in life, he curled his lips and snorted coldly.
"Little clam, if you were a poor student in school, will you always use idioms like her when you grow up?"
Song Shu was used to the cockfighting scene where the two of them would dislike each other whenever they met, so he just struggled slightly and whispered, "Let me get up."
"No." Qin Lou tightened his arms around the person even tighter.
Luan Qiaoqing rushed to the two of them and said, "There are so many chairs nearby, why did you insist on having my sister sit with you?"
Qin Lou looked straight ahead and said, "The chairs next to them are occupied."
Luan Qiaoqing: "… The entire terrace is empty except for the two of you, and I would believe you if you said there was a ghost!"
Qin Lou: "Then there must be something fishy."
Luan Qiaoqing: “…”
Luan Qiaoqing took a deep breath and decided to give up arguing with Qin Lou before she was angered to death by him.
Song Shu has always been kind to Luan Qiaoqing, and at this time he took the initiative to give Luan Qiaoqing a way out:
"You came here in a hurry, right?"
"It's nothing urgent. I just want to tell you some good news." When Song Shu reminded her of her intention, Luan Qiaoqing immediately smiled. "I have to say, my brother's voice just now was very handsome. Sister, you didn't see the expressions of those who said bad things about you, especially Song Ruyu. I think she was almost paralyzed by fear, hahahaha... She deserved it for letting her do that to you!"
Song Shu didn't care about these things, and her expression didn't change. After listening to what Luan Qiaoqing said, she just glanced at Qin Lou helplessly, "It won't take a day for this matter to spread. You can deal with the mess yourself then."
Qin Lou nodded nonchalantly—
Compared to being able to make public the fact that the little clam next to him was indeed a genuine one, all the other troubles were just a small price to pay for him.
Luan Qiaoqing slapped her forehead, "Oh, yes, there is one more thing. After Song Ruyu was frightened, she seemed to call someone for help, crying and asking the other party for help. Who did she call? Did she call you to beg for help? You must not be soft-hearted!"
Song Shu was the one being asked, and looked confused when he heard the words.
She had completely stopped caring about Song Ruyu a long time ago, and now she was even less clear about that person's social network. The only thing she might know was...
Song Shu turned to Qin Lou and asked, "Do you know who it is?"
Qin Lou sneered and said, "It's useless even if she asks the king of heaven for help."
Luan Qiaoqing immediately gave a thumbs up, "That's right, your sister is a troublemaker, you must have the courage to help my sister get back on her feet!"
"… She's a troublemaker, but you're no worse." Qin Lou didn't buy it.
Luan Qiaoqing choked.
Song Shu also glanced at Luan Qiaoqing, and after signaling Luan Qiaoqing not to fan the flames, she turned to Qin Lou, "Could it be Han Shi? Wasn't he engaged to Song Ruyu?"
Qin Lou was startled, then laughed, "Don't you know what happened to Han Shi because of Ding Jiujiu? Would he intercede for Song Ruyu? It's good enough that he didn't add insult to injury."
Just as Qin Lou finished speaking, a phone call came in.
He took out his cell phone, looked down and scanned it, with a slight smile on his face.
“… I thought it was someone else.”
The author has something to say: I came late, and today I sorted out the remaining outlines. It has been decided that it will be a show of affection before marriage + wedding + daily life after marriage + Little Pearl Extra, all of which are sweet daily life without a main plot line. This part is expected to be around 40,000 words, and it should be updated twice a day within 7 days (发奋图强.jpg).
It remains to be confirmed whether Qiaochu CP can write a sequel.