Chapter 79: Onstage and Backstage, Manipulating Puppets
But even so, once he was done speaking, Meng Donghua still rushed to reassure her. "Guide, you don’t need to pay any mind to the outside rumors. They’re all just hearsay, after all. The Captain has never admitted that the two of them are childhood sweethearts. Those statements were most likely fabricated by people with malicious intentions."
Xu Qingsui clicked her tongue. ’Childhood sweethearts, huh? That part’s probably true.’
However, according to Lu Jingyu, the two of them had never taken that step into a romantic relationship.
’So the rumors circulating outside are half-true, half-false.’
Seeing Xu Qingsui click her tongue, Meng Donghua grew even more anxious. "Guide, this kind of thing only counts if the parties involved admit it themselves! Even if you really have your doubts, you must confirm it with the Captain. You can’t just find him guilty right away!"
Meng Donghua was a veteran who had been by Lu Jingyu’s side for a long time, and it was rare to see Lu Jingyu take an interest in a woman.
And since this woman was also his savior, he was a one-hundred-percent supporter of the Sui Yu Faction.
He was determined not to let the progress between Xu Qingsui and Lu Jingyu come to a muddled end.
"Besides, that Guide Xie has been here for a while now. She’s been staying in her room these past few days and hasn’t gone to see the Captain, and the Captain certainly hasn’t gone to see her."
"If things between them were really as the rumors claim, they would have certainly interacted by now."
"You have to give the Captain a chance to explain!"
Seeing Meng Donghua looking even more anxious than she was, Xu Qingsui couldn’t help but laugh.
"You don’t need to worry about me. You should be worried about your Captain. This mess isn’t going to be easy to clean up."
Connecting the recent rumors to Lu Jingyu’s attitude toward Xie Qingling that day, and his brief, glossed-over description of their relationship, Xu Qingsui became even more certain of Xie Qingling’s feelings for Lu Jingyu.
’It’s clearly a case of unrequited love on her part, and now she’s starting to force his hand.’
’I was originally an outsider who got dragged into this. It won’t be so easy to extricate myself.’
’The key to this problem is Lu Jingyu. He started it, so he has to be the one to solve it. Whether or not this mess can be handled properly is all up to him.’
Having reached her own conclusions about the situation, she didn’t bring it up herself when Lu Jingyu came looking for her again.
’She didn’t want to get too involved in the drama between those two.’
Seeing that Xu Qingsui genuinely didn’t seem to mind, Meng Donghua finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He began to plan, ’I have to find a chance to give Captain Lu a heads-up, so he doesn’t lose his chance with Xu Qingsui over this.’
The rumors that reached Xu Qingsui inevitably reached Lu Jingyu as well.
The moment he heard the rumors, he immediately guessed their source.
Some things only get messier the more you try to explain them, and doing so might even play right into certain people’s hands.
So he immediately chose to ignore the situation, intending to let the rumors die out on their own.
However, he was also worried about causing a misunderstanding with Xu Qingsui, so he would check her reaction whenever he went to see her.
With a tacit understanding, neither of them brought it up, and they continued to interact as they always had. Seeing this, Lu Jingyu worried about it even less.
’As long as Xu Qingsui didn’t misunderstand, that was all that mattered to him.’
Because of this, Lu Jingyu paid even less attention to the outside talk and didn’t even spare Xie Qingling a single glance.
The rumors spread so quickly that, naturally, Xu Ruming did not miss them.
That day, she had only noticed that someone had moved in next door, but she hadn’t investigated further or met the person face-to-face.
After hearing the rumors, she became intensely curious about this mysterious woman.
’Lu Jingyu’s childhood sweetheart? Isn’t that Xu Qingsui’s love rival!’
After suffering repeated setbacks at Xu Qingsui’s hands and being warned by Shen Ling’an, she hadn’t dared to cause any more trouble for Xu Qingsui recently.
’And now a love rival for Xu Qingsui has just popped out of nowhere. Isn’t this a godsend?’
’Forget the heavy label of being the "other woman." I can use this childhood sweetheart as my pawn to help me deal with Xu Qingsui.’
’As for whether I can successfully stand by Lu Jingyu’s side, I’ll figure out a way after getting rid of Xu Qingsui first.’
Having made up her mind, Xu Ruming prepared a plate of pastries—something she rarely did—and knocked on Xie Qingling’s door.
The moment the door opened and she saw the woman inside, Xu Ruming froze on the spot.
’It’s her!’
Xu Ruming had secretly seen this woman once outside Xu Qingsui’s door that day, and she’d had a feeling then that the woman knew Lu Jingyu.
’To think they were actually childhood sweethearts.’
And back then, Xu Ruming had already had the idea of using this woman to deal with Xu Qingsui.
But the woman never appeared again after that, so she had slowly pushed the matter to the back of her mind.
Who would have thought that when this woman reappeared, she would have already joined the Heiyu Alliance and caused such a huge stir within the Alliance.
As surprised as Xu Ruming was, she felt even more certain that her plan was feasible.
’Use this woman as a knife in my hand, to strike at Xu Qingsui. It would be best if she could take care of Xu Qingsui directly. But if not, letting them fight until they both suffer devastating losses would be fine too.’
’All I need to do is sit back, enjoy the show, and wait to reap the benefits.’
Having made up her mind, Xu Ruming immediately put on an amiable expression and offered the pastries in her hand.
"Hello, my name is Xu Ruming. I live right next door. I’ve been meaning to come by and visit, but today’s the first chance I’ve had."
Xie Qingling sized up Xu Ruming, a flash of contempt in her eyes.
Because of Xu Qingsui, she had already made inquiries and gotten a clear picture of all the key people and events related to her.
She was also crystal clear on the messy entanglement between Xu Qingsui, Shen Ling’an, and Xu Ruming.
Knowing this was Xu Ruming—the bitch who stole another woman’s fiancé and still tried to play the part of a saint—Xie Qingling couldn’t even be bothered with her.
However, her plan was still missing a pawn. She needed someone to help her blow the situation up, to do the dirty work she disdained to do herself.
Harboring her own schemes, Xie Qingling immediately forced a slight smile and let Xu Ruming into the room.
"As a new member, I should have been the one to visit first. It’s my fault for troubling you to come to me instead."
Seeing Xie Qingling’s soft, weak appearance and listening to her overly formal way of speaking, Xu Ruming became even more convinced that she would be easy to manipulate and use for her own ends.
Little did she know, she was only seeing what Xie Qingling wanted her to see.
While she was scheming, Xie Qingling had already made her a part of her own scheme.
The two of them schemed for their own ends, and as for who would come out on top, that would only be decided by who had the last laugh.
"Guide Xie, please don’t say that. I heard long ago that you’re an S Level guide from Central City. In terms of status and ability, I should be the one visiting you."
Xie Qingling guided Xu Ruming to a seat and said with a smile, "Forget it, let’s not get caught up in such formalities. From now on, we’re neighbors and comrades-in-arms. There’s no need to be so polite."
Xu Ruming nodded repeatedly. "In that case, I won’t stand on ceremony. I love dealing with straightforward people like you, Guide Xie. Let’s get to know each other better from now on."