Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

The news of her secret marriage spread much faster than Lin Qingmian had anticipated.

The next morning, before she even got out of bed, her phone was bombarded with messages so much that it almost crashed.

Fang Shiyang: Baby, you!!! Why didn't you tell me?! You're the CEO's wife!!! I actually let you call me "sister"!!! What have I done to deserve this?!

Before she could reply, Jiang Yao called. The woman on the other end of the line sounded shocked and worried: "Mian, did you see the news online?"

"What news?" Lin Qingmian rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Your marriage to Ji Linzhou is trending on social media." Jiang Yao's voice was very low. "I don't know who released the news, but the accompanying picture is a very clear photo of you and Ji Linzhou holding hands in front of the Ji family's old mansion yesterday."

Lin Qingmian was stunned for a moment, then quickly hung up the phone and opened Weibo.

The third trending topic: [The identity of the married wife of the president of the Ji Group has been revealed]

She clicked on it, and the top post was an article from a marketing account, accompanied by a picture of her and Ji Linzhou holding hands under the osmanthus tree yesterday evening. The photo was very clear, and both of their profiles were clearly visible.

The comments section is in an uproar!

[Isn't this the woman who was rumored to be the other woman?]

[Oh my god, so she's the official wife! What was Su Tingwan doing all that acting all this time?]

So Su Tingwan is the third party?

[Wait a minute, didn't the news say Su Tingwan was his fiancée? What's this woman's story?]

Lin Qingmian scrolled down the list one by one, her brows furrowing more and more as she read.

The comments section was filled with all sorts of insults. Some called her a scheming woman, some called Su Tingwan a hypocrite, and some accused Ji Linzhou of cheating on her. Opinions were varied and varied.

Just as she was about to log out of Weibo, her phone rang again. This time it was Lin Qingqing.

She hesitated for a moment, then answered.

"Mian." Lin Qingqing's voice was calm, so calm it was almost unsettling: "You announced your marriage?"

"I didn't make it public," Lin Qingmian frowned. "It was taken without my knowledge."

"Heh." Lin Qingqing chuckled briefly, a hint of something ambiguous in her voice. "Now everyone knows you married Ji Linzhou. Are you satisfied?"

"You used to be inferior to me in every way in the Lin family, but now that you've married Ji Linzhou, it's the other way around."

Lin Qingmian gripped her phone tightly: "Lin Qingqing, I never intended to compete with you."

"You didn't even think about competing, but you've already won."

Lin Qingqing's voice suddenly became sharper: "You married Ji Linzhou, and Ji Xingye can't let you go. Lin Qingmian, you've had everything since you were little, what makes you so special?"

"Just because you're younger than me, just because you have a pitiful face?"

Listening to Lin Qingqing's almost out-of-control voice on the other end of the phone, Lin Qingmian suddenly felt a little tired.

"Lin Qingqing," she said softly, "when you took away my trophy, my spot, my opportunity, I didn't say a word."

"When you had my parents sell me to a man in his fifties, I didn't say a word."

"Don't you find it ridiculous that you're asking me 'why' now?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

Then, Lin Qingqing suddenly laughed, her voice filled with a sharp, teeth-gritting hatred: "Lin Qingmian, don't be so smug."

"One day you'll realize that a man like Ji Linzhou will never truly care for you."

"In his eyes, you're just a commodity to be traded."

After saying that, she hung up the phone.

Lin Qingmian listened to the busy tone coming from her phone, leaned against the headboard, and let out a long sigh.

She admitted that Lin Qingqing's words had stung her.

Because Ji Linzhou did say that marriage was just a transaction for him. Although he said yesterday, "You might be more than just a good match," was that his true feeling, or just a casual reassurance?

she does not know.

She didn't want to think about these things anymore.

She got up, washed up, changed her clothes, and prepared to go to school. When she went to the living room, she saw breakfast laid out on the dining table as usual, with a new note next to it: "I'll handle things online. Focus on your studies. I'll come back and have dinner with you tonight."

She picked up the note and looked at it for a long time before folding it and putting it in the bedside table drawer.

This is the fourth one.

She was somewhat distracted during her morning classes. Although no one dared to discuss her to her face, she could feel the curious and scrutinizing gazes around her. Yao Yingyu sat next to her, hesitating several times before finally leaning in and asking, "Mian, what they're saying online... is it true? You really got married...?"

"Yes." Lin Qingmian nodded. "It's true."

Yao Yingyu opened her mouth wide and couldn't close it for a long time.

During lunch, Lin Qingmian received a new message.

It was from an unknown number, and the message contained only one line: "Lin Qingmian, don't get too cocky. — Su Tingwan"

She stared at the message for a few seconds, then deleted it expressionlessly.

When she left school in the afternoon, she walked out of the teaching building and saw a familiar black Cayenne parked at the school gate.

Ji Linzhou leaned against the car door, a cup of coffee in his hand, looking down at his phone. Passing students glanced at him, some even taking out their phones to secretly take pictures.

Lin Qingmian paused for a moment, then walked over.

"Why are you here?"

Ji Linzhou looked up, put away his phone, and gazed at her face: "I'll take you home."

"Things that happen online..."

"It's all taken care of," he said calmly. "What needed to be withdrawn has been withdrawn, and what needed to be clarified has been issued."

Lin Qingmian was stunned for a moment, then quickly opened Weibo to take a look.

As expected, the trending topic has been removed. The Ji Group's official account posted a brief statement with only three sentences: "Mr. Ji Linzhou is married. His wife is Ms. Lin Qingmian. They have been legally registered for over a year. Please do not spread rumors."

Su Tingwan's studio also issued a statement, using polite language, stating that the previous "fiancée" status was a misunderstanding, and that the two were just ordinary friends, hoping that the public would not overinterpret it.

Although the comments section is still lively, the tide has begun to turn.

Lin Qingmian put away her phone and looked up at Ji Linzhou.

The afternoon sun was bright, bathing him in a warm, golden light. He stood by the car, looking down at her with a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Thank you," she said.

Ji Linzhou didn't answer, but simply opened the passenger door: "Get in, let's go home."

Lin Qingmian got into the car, fastened her seatbelt, and watched him walk around the front of the car to the driver's seat.

She suddenly realized that what Lin Qingqing said might be wrong.

When Ji Linzhou looked at her, his eyes didn't only contain transactions and calculations.

At least not now.

The setting sun was slowly sinking below the horizon, its orange-red light bathing the entire road. The car drove smoothly home, a soothing old English song playing from the car stereo.

Lin Qingmian leaned back in her seat, turned her head to look at the street scene rushing past the window, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.

She found herself increasingly looking forward to "going home".