Chapter 9: Whatever You Say

Tang Yu’s ears and even her delicate face flushed red. She wanted to distance herself from him, yet her body seemed frozen by the hand he rested on her waist, stiff as stone, her legs heavy and immobile.

“P-President Lou, you must have misheard…”

Whether he had or not, she definitely couldn’t let him know she had flirted with him like that—otherwise, even if she jumped into the Yellow River, she wouldn’t be able to clear her name!

“I see,” Lou Xizhou said with a tone full of regret, reluctantly loosening his hand around her slim waist. “But you’re always welcome to flirt with me.”

“…” Tang Yu thought he must be daydreaming!

She hadn’t even flirted with Zhou Ruancheng, so how could she possibly have flirted with him?

Now that she thought about it, she seemed no longer that fond of Zhou Ruancheng.

Maybe she had once liked him, but from the moment he first canceled the wedding, or when he kept leaving her to help Yu Shuang, her feelings had seriously declined.

They should have broken up right after the first engagement.

“Come inside, let’s discuss the draft,” Lou Xizhou said as he stepped inside, casually smoothing her straight hair.

Tang Yu suddenly let out a long breath, feeling as if she had come back to life.

He was forbidden fruit; she shouldn’t get close.

They talked about the press release for less than ten minutes. Lou Xizhou only suggested two points, leaving the rest unchanged.

Tang Yu had expected him to be very strict about the interview content, especially since Secretary Xing had mentioned the overseas situation was quite delicate.

But it turned out not to be so difficult.

“Alright then, I have to head out,” Lou Xizhou said, standing up and striding away.

Tang Yu was a bit stunned to see him leave just like that, since she hadn’t even packed her things.

“President Lou?”

“Consider this your home. Just close the door when you leave. I’ll send you the door code later,” Lou Xizhou’s voice drifted from outside, growing faint.

What did he mean consider this her home?

Her real home was nowhere near here!

Tang Yu anxiously grabbed her phone and draft and chased after him, forgetting even to change out of her slippers.

Lou Xizhou was already seated in the Rolls-Royce waiting outside. Through the open window, he waved goodbye to her as she stood bathed in sunlight, showing no sign of concern.

Tang Yu stood at the door, frustrated.

He left without a care, but what about her?

If he later claimed something valuable was missing from the house, how could she argue?

Her phone buzzed with a message.

Tang Yu opened it and found he had sent her the door code!

He really...

Tang Yu was speechless with anger.

She wanted to call him but didn’t have his number, so she made a voice call instead.

Inside the car, Lou Xizhou was busy handling matters. Seeing the voice call, he answered.

“President Lou!” Tang Yu called.

“What’s the matter?” he replied calmly.

“I’ve deleted the code,” Tang Yu said seriously. “President Lou, I hope you won’t do this again. I feel disrespected, and you’re too casual trusting an outsider like me. It’s unreasonable.”

Lou Xizhou wanted to say they were already married on paper but feared it would scare her away completely. He decided to take it slow, see if feelings could develop.

If there was truly no chance, he wouldn’t force it.

No one wants a forced relationship.

“Alright, I’ll listen to you. It was thoughtless of me to burden you mentally. I’ll do better next time.”

Hearing this, Tang Yu felt a subtle sense of progress between them.

“...”

Noticing she hadn’t hung up, Lou Xizhou asked, “Anything else?”

“No,” she said, then hung up.

After a sigh, she realized she still hadn’t changed her slippers and went back inside.

Returning to her own apartment next door, Tang Yu found Mo Xixi gone, knowing she had left, so she packed and headed to the newsroom.

Driving to the office, she saw Zhou Ruancheng blocking the entrance. Panicked, she hurried to drive past.

Zhou Ruancheng looked up just in time to see her car and quickly got in to give chase.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, Tang Yu sneered and pressed the accelerator harder.

Like an eel weaving through traffic, she gradually distanced herself. Zhou Ruancheng tried to follow, weaving through cars as well.

But his driving skills couldn’t match Tang Yu’s amateur racing experience. He clipped another car and had to stop.

Tang Yu circled around and returned to the newsroom.

The first thing she did was publish an exclusive interview with Lou Xizhou, CEO and acting chairman of Lou Group.

Lou Xizhou appeared on the cover, and the article was selected for the next issue of the North City Business Times’ financial magazine.

Once published, it instantly shot into the top ten trending topics.

President Li hurriedly instructed the editorial department to finalize the layout for printing and send it to the press, while the online digital magazine was launched simultaneously.

Within an hour, the story climbed to third place on the trending list.

Industry insiders, who had long heard about Lou Group’s quiet return to develop the domestic market, were secretly eager to collaborate, surprised Lou Xizhou had chosen such a high-profile approach.

Netizens polarized sharply.

Female readers focused on Lou Xizhou’s romantic life, while male readers were interested in his domestic strategic plans.

Fueled by the attention, Tang Yu’s failed two-year-old attempt to interview Lou Xizhou overseas was revived and became a hot topic, making her a trending figure overnight.

“Reporter Tang, why not ask if President Lou is married? Who’s the lucky daughter of some big shot?”

“See? That’s what happens when you boldly pursue despite embarrassment!”

“This female reporter’s quite pretty too!”

“Just by having the guts to chase him abroad, she deserves a special reporter contract with Lou Group!”

“It’s all fate. Don’t just look at the results—daring to chase him overseas wasn’t easy.”

“What a brave female reporter! Send her to the front lines, and she’d go without hesitation.”

There were thousands of comments. Tang Yu didn’t read them all but noticed one at the bottom claiming to have seen her photo at a wealthy businessman’s home, saying she was the businessman’s daughter.

No one paid attention to that comment.

Tang Yu was relieved no one cared; otherwise, it would have been a huge mess.

Especially she couldn’t let Zhou Ruancheng notice, or things would spiral out of control.

Watching Tang Yu bask in the spotlight, Yu Shuang grew green with envy.

Last time she went to Sand City, she had hoped to interview President Lou herself, but Lou Group only sent a vice president—no sign of Lou Xizhou.

Only then did she realize why Tang Yu hadn’t gone—there was nothing newsworthy.

Yu Shuang stared at the computer screen showing reports on Lou Xizhou, racking her brains for a way to ride the wave of popularity.

Right!

Lou Xizhou’s love life was a perfect angle. As long as she focused on that, how could she not generate buzz?

She started digging into Lou Xizhou’s personal relationships—and found none!

No relationships? Couldn’t she fabricate some?

After all, online rumors were always a mix of truth and lies; no one could tell.

A news article titled “Lou Group CEO Secretly Married” suddenly appeared.

It soared to number one on the trending list, exploding in popularity.