The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

Xiao Guangzi followed Ding Jiajia outside, saying, "Teacher Yibo, Sister Yanruo, I'm going downstairs to see how those paparazzi are doing."

Zhou Yanruo: "Go check on Shen Qing again to see if she's alright. It would be best if you could get in touch with Jie Can. Today's events won't be over so easily; we'll be busy later."

Xiao Guangzi: "General Manager Xie isn't in Huizhou; he returned to Beijing a few days ago. Should I contact him?"

Zhou Yanruo: "No need, Shen Qing will contact him. You go ahead."

Xiao Guangzi responded and left.

Only Shang Yibo and Zhou Yanruo remained in the room.

Zhou Yanruo glanced at Shang Yibo and teased, "Had you had your fun? You even started fighting. You're really something, always looking for trouble."

Shang Yibo plopped down on the sofa. "I didn't think that much about it. If I want to fight, I'll fight."

Zhou Yanruo smiled and said, "That's good."

Shang Yibo didn't hear clearly and pressed, "You mean it's good? Is that sarcasm or...?"

"Thumbs up, that's really good. So what if you got hit? Who cares?" Zhou Yanruo said with a roguish air, "Anyway, we have plenty of trouble, one more won't make a difference. Let's just get it over with first. But judging from your appearance, you don't look like you gained much advantage. I'm afraid you got hit too."

"I can tell, the second half of that sentence is obviously sarcastic. You see me like this, but you didn't see how stupid Jian Zheng was. I beat him so badly he was almost knocking his teeth out. If the security guards hadn't stopped him, I would have kept him in bed for days."

Zhou Yanruo pouted, her face full of disbelief. "With your small frame, you can beat a big fat guy? I just can't believe it."

Shang Yibo rolled up his sleeves, revealing a section of fair and toned arm. "These are all muscles, okay? Jian Zheng's are all fat and greasy. How can they compare to my muscular physique? You missed out on seeing my boyfriend power. It's your loss."

Zhou Yanruo chuckled inwardly: "That brat, he's getting more and more excited."

He nonchalantly replied, "Anyway, I wasn't there, so you can make up whatever you want."

The two were chatting and laughing, the atmosphere was just right, and the tension and depression of the past few days were swept away.

Zhou Yanruo's phone rang unexpectedly. She took out her phone, glanced at the caller ID, and handed it to Shang Yibo, saying, "See? You can't be happy for long before trouble comes."

Shang Yibo also saw that the caller ID showed it was Jie Can. "What are you afraid of? What's meant to happen will happen sooner or later. Answer the phone, I'll go make you a cup of coffee."

Zhou Yanruo nodded, then slid the answer button and connected the call, "Hello, Director Xie."

Immediately, Jie Can's irritable voice came from the other end of the phone, "President Zhou, have you arrived in Huizhou yet? You've all heard about Yibo's fight, haven't you? Isn't that outrageous? How do you manage your artists? If you don't care, you can just go home and inherit the family business, but you can't ruin other people's lives and drag our Shen Qing down with you."

Zhou Yanruo, with a neither humble nor arrogant attitude, said, "President Jie, please watch your words. What do you mean by ruining others? Who did you ruin? As far as I know, Teacher Shen Qing came up here on her own and spouted nonsense. What business is it of hers? We didn't pursue her ill intentions, but you're turning around and blaming her instead? Wanting to be famous isn't like this. With your emotional intelligence, IQ, and lack of common sense, it's no wonder you can't become famous."

Shang Yibo returned to the living room with two cups of coffee. He listened to Zhou Yanruo arguing with someone on the phone, a smile playing on his lips. He placed one cup of coffee in front of Zhou Yanruo, then gently pushed it forward, winking at her and mouthing, "Ignore them, hang up."

Zhou Yanruo glanced at Shang Yibo, turned on her phone's speakerphone, and placed it on the coffee table.

All I heard on the phone was Jie Can, who was speaking with a strained voice: "President Zhou, don't put it so harshly. No matter how popular Yibo is, he can't withstand this kind of treatment. I'm calling you to discuss how to handle this situation."

Zhou Yanruo thought to herself, "That's more like it."

So he said, "President Jie, you should have said so earlier. We've cooperated with Ms. Shen Qing's hype before, but there's a limit. You should teach her what to say and what not to say. Some hype is okay to ride, and others won't mind, but don't act innocent. But if you ride the hype wrong, you'll burn yourself out, and it's not worth it."

Shang Yibo, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

Jie Canru deflated like a punctured balloon, his voice noticeably weaker: "Yes, yes, President Zhou, let's schedule a time to connect with Qingnan online and discuss how to handle this matter in a way that benefits all parties." He added at the end, "It would be best if we could hold an online meeting immediately. I heard that many people recorded videos at the event, and I guess some of them have already posted them online."

Zhou Yanruo calmly said, "I just arrived at the hotel. Let me get a feel for things first, and then we can schedule a time later, okay?"

Jie Can's tone became urgent, and he said in a half-accommodating and half-pleading tone, "President Zhou, let's discuss and sort out the situation at the same time. That would be more efficient, okay? You know Yibo's situation. As soon as there's any movement online, it will quickly become a trending topic."

Zhou Yanruo didn't dare to be too careless. After all, her family's ability to generate trending topics was well-known. She couldn't let things escalate and cause any further problems. After all, the Rushang Group's matter hadn't been resolved yet, and if she got involved, it was hard to say which direction it would take.

"If I hadn't answered your call, I would have contacted Qingnan," Zhou Yanruo said. "You two should arrange a time; I should be able to do it anytime."

Jie Can quickly agreed, "Soon, I'll hang up now."

Seeing that they had ended their call, Shang Yibo picked up his coffee cup, held it up to Zhou Yanruo, and said with a smile, "Yanruo, you haven't changed at all. You really are worthy of being called 'the disciple of Abbess Miejue.' Although Jian Zheng is a scoundrel, the nickname he gave you back then was quite fitting."

Zhou Yanruo took the coffee cup. "It's all because of you. You've ruined my image as a white-collar elite."

"Forget about white-collar elites, the free-spirited Zhou Yanruo is back, you know? This is how you were when I first met you. When I saw you again later, you had become a sophisticated and worldly professional, and I hated it. What kind of experiences made you change so much?"

Zhou Yanruo: "When I first met you, you weren't this talkative. It seems that your calm and elegant scholarly demeanor back then was just an act, and now you're showing your true colors."

Shang Yibo was delighted that she connected the past and the present, so he went even further and said, "None of it is an act, it's all just how I am, you like it, right?"

Zhou Yanruo pouted and clicked her tongue.

The two of them have resolved their inner conflicts and let go of past entanglements. This relaxed state is how they should be.

Shang Yibo likes this way of getting along, and so does Zhou Yanruo. So, what's meant to happen will happen, and what's meant to be will be.