Chapter 109: Playing Dumb

Ding Heng got out of the taxi and returned to the supermarket entrance.

The crowd of onlookers had dispersed, but the little rabbit Wenjing remained sitting obediently on the roadside steps, her hands supporting her chin, looking around blankly.

From Wenjing's perspective, Ding Heng just said he was going to see what was going on, and then suddenly disappeared into the crowd. It's been more than an hour, and she doesn't know where he went.

"Quiet".

"Ding Heng!"

Upon hearing the call, Wenjing immediately stood up and jumped up and down excitedly.

Ding Heng walked over and picked up several large plastic bags again: "Let's go, I'll take you home."

Wenjing happily hugged his arm, looked up at him, and asked, "Where did you go just now? I looked for you for ages!"

"I ran into an old friend, and we chatted for quite a while."

Ding Heng gave a casual reply, then changed the subject: "By the way, how's the stock market doing lately?"

Wenjing immediately perked up.

"Ding Heng, I have something to tell you!"

Her voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"I followed your instructions, buying and selling every day. I made money as soon as I opened my eyes! I never imagined I'd have so much money in my account..."

Wenjing chattered on and on, talking about how much she had earned that day, which stock had risen the most, and then solemnly giving a guarantee at the end.

"Don't worry! I won't waste a single penny of the money in the account. I can withdraw it immediately whenever you need it!"

Ding Heng smiled calmly, accompanied the girl to the girls' dormitory, and put the bag down.

Wenjing struggled to lift it up, preparing to carry it upstairs herself.

Ding Heng suggested, "Why don't you ask your roommate to come down and help out? You can each buy a milk tea."

Wenjing shook her head decisively: "Why waste money like that?"

"You have so much money in your account now, can't you even part with a cup of milk tea?"

"That's your money, I'm not going to waste it!"

Ding Heng couldn't help but laugh when he saw her stingy appearance.

"Are you really going to move it yourself?"

"Don't worry, I can do it!"

Wenjing used both hands to lift a large bag and laboriously walked into the building.

The bag was too heavy, so she took two steps and then rested, her small figure swaying unsteadily in the stairwell.

Ding Heng stood downstairs, watching Wen Jing's figure disappear around the corner of the stairs.

After a while, she ran down again.

The second trip.

After a while, I came down again.

The third trip.

After finally finishing moving everything, Wenjing ran to the window, leaned out halfway, and waved to Ding Heng.

Ding Heng waved and turned to leave.

When they returned to the dormitory, Liu Chiwang and Qian Pu had not yet come back.

Ding Heng took a quick shower, lay back in bed, picked up his phone, and a message suddenly popped up.

【Flower Sea Sunny Day】: Are you there?

[Ding Heng]: Senior, do you miss me?

Ding Heng: [Kiss]

Hua Qing seemed to have become immune to Ding Heng's teasing and went straight to the point.

【Flower Sea Sunny Day】: Did Longhe go to Hunan University to look for you today?

[Ding Heng]: How did you know?

【A Sea of ​​Flowers Under a Sunny Day】: [Link]

Ding Heng clicked in and saw the trending topics on Weibo: #LongheAppearsOnHubeiUniversityCampus#, #LongheInteractsEnthusiastically#, #LongheMakeupStyling#

Wow, this is definitely a top-notch team.

Not only did they not suppress the trending topic, they even bought a trending search?

He slid down.

In the comments section above, Longhe's fans collectively controlled the comments.

[Longhe was just browsing out of boredom. Celebrities have their own private lives too. Those passersby who excessively crowd around are really rude!]

Scrolling further down, you'll find baseless speculations from passersby.

Is Longhe deliberately creating hype? It's a low-level tactic to generate buzz for their concert tour.

I bet Longhe went to see her boyfriend, otherwise why would she go to the university town alone?

[What young boyfriend? Maybe he's just fulfilling a task assigned by his sugar daddy...]

Ding Heng scrolled past the comments expressionlessly and exited the trending topics.

[Ding Heng]: I've already reached an agreement with Long He, so you can go to the rehearsal tomorrow without worry.

【Flower Sea Sunny Day】: How did you talk to her? She didn't make things too difficult for you, did she?

[Ding Heng]: It's alright, it's just a small, insignificant sacrifice.

sacrifice!?

Hua Qing, who had already lain down, suddenly sat up straight. She had saved the book for future reading of "A Cosplayer Photoshoot: Why Did the System Take It Seriously?"

A trivial... sacrifice?

Certain images unconsciously surfaced in her mind.

Long He was on Ding Heng, his hand brushing over the man's muscular chest, his smile wicked.

"Ding Heng, you wouldn't want your girlfriend to miss the competition, would you...?"

Hua Qing shook her head vigorously to dispel the evil thoughts in her mind, her face already flushed.

She hesitated for a long time, swiping her fingers across the screen, and finally sent only two words.

【Flower Sea Sunny Day】: Thank you.

In the dormitory, Ding Heng was about to reply "Goodnight" when a system notification suddenly popped up.

[Progress of romantic entanglement: 62%]

good guy?

How could prices rise so suddenly?!

[Ding Heng]: Good night.

【A Sea of ​​Flowers Under a Sunny Day】: Good night.

Ding Heng put down his phone and prepared to close his eyes and go to sleep when the screen lit up again, this time with a friend request.

The profile picture is a woman's profile picture, with the caption: "Ding Heng, I'm Aunt Yang Sijie."

Yang Sijie – Longhe's mother.

Ding Heng clicked "Approved".

[Ding Heng]: Hello, Aunt Yang.

[Yang Sijie]: Hello, hello, it's been so long since we last met. Is it convenient to have a voice call?

The words were polite, but also conveyed a sense of distance.

Ding Heng's impression of Yang Sijie wasn't too bad.

In my memory, this aunt was a complete workaholic. Every time she returned to Xingcheng to visit Longhe, she would buy herself toys as well, and she would receive generous red envelopes during holidays.

However, since his mother passed away and Longhe was taken to Shanghai, the two families have had almost no contact.

"Hello, Aunt Yang."

"Xiao Ding, did I disturb your rest?"

"No, Auntie, please tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing really, I just wanted to ask if Xiaohe came to see you today?"

"That's right."

Ding Heng made no attempt to hide anything, and Yang Sijie on the other end of the phone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"That's good, that's good."

Her tone softened: "You're someone I know well, after all. If it weren't for you, I'd have a lot more to worry about."

Ding Heng smiled and asked, "Did your aunt call just to ask about this?"

"That's all."

Yang Sijie paused slightly: "Also... if it's convenient, Auntie would like to talk to you about Xiaohe."

Ding Heng sat up slightly: "Auntie, please speak."

"Xiao Ding, as you know, Xiao He is currently in the rising phase of her career and is a key artist that the company is focusing on developing. Even a little bit of negative news could cause us significant losses."

Yang Sijie's voice remained gentle, but her wording began to become more formal.

"So Auntie hopes you understand..."

"Don't worry, Auntie, I understand."

"you understand……?"

"right!"

Ding Heng was very serious.

"The entertainment industry is a mixed bag, dazzling and confusing! I will definitely help you persuade Longhe... not to smoke, not to drink, not to touch things he shouldn't, to pay taxes according to the law, to abide by industry regulations, to actively cooperate with the company's arrangements, to spread positive energy, and to be a good young person of the new era!"

There was a full half-minute silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a soft laugh.

The laughter was soft, but Ding Heng could discern its meaning.

Of course she knew he was pretending to be stupid.

He knew she knew he was pretending to be stupid.

But some things are best left unsaid.

"You're a good boy, Auntie won't disturb your rest."

Goodnight, Auntie.

The phone hangs up.

Ding Heng leaned against the headboard, staring at the ceiling, and let out a bitter laugh.

He understood what Yang Sijie meant, of course.

What does it mean to have a "child you know very well"?

What does it mean to say, "If it weren't for you, Auntie would still have a lot of trouble"?

The translation is: Luckily it was you; if it were someone else, I might have had to resort to other means.

But what could he do?

Pretending to be clueless for now is better for everyone...