Chapter 32: Rejoice.

At a corner inside Qin Qianyu's home, two people stood holding there breaths, they were watching the show happening on the sofa between Qin Qianyu and Lu Mingxi.

"Nice!"

"Mhm!"

Ouyang Zihan gave a throaty reply to Wen Wú Ling. She also wondered who this girl was that came with her daughter. She assumed that the girl was a friend from school but she heard her say to Lu Mingxi that she was Xiaoyu's big sister so she asked,

"Aunty, I'm her big sister because I was born 5 days before her."

Ouyang Zihan smiled.

She still had reservations because of Meimei but, she didn't want to judge from this single meeting and so far, she was totally satisfied and gently pat the girl's head as she nodded approvingly.

"How has Yu'er been at school?"

Wen Wú Ling was surprised by the question, they weren't in the same school, and even now it seems that Qin Qianyu's mother didn't know she had been expelled.

Thinking up to here, the ever quick thinking Wen Wú Ling uttered,

"I don't know, I don't go to school anymore. But, what I do know is that if Xiaoyu places well in the upcoming SIC competition then we'll be in the same University starting in the new semester together."

Ouyang Zihan was floored, this girl is already in university and if her daughter did well they would both start together at that very same university.

"Aunty, I'll go and wash up now, can you point me to the bathroom?"

"Mhm, come, I'll show you."

The two left their corner leaving Qin Qianyu and Lu Mingxi to sort out themselves.

Meanwhile in another part of the city, a young man was sitting in a detention centre holding both his face and and groin area.

"Where is this guy from? Every time I enter his details it gets flagged and removed. Even when I upload a photo of him to the systems data base it becomes corrupted. The only place that still has his image is the parks Duty Officers station."

"Could it be because that station's system is independent to ours?"

"Maybe, Hey, do you think that this guy maybe someone high up, what should we do? Do we just let him go?"

"But what if he's not? For all we know he could be a hacker that laid out a set of parameters for his image and other information."

The officers at the detention centre were in a dilemma, they wanted to process this guy for his stalking and such but, the system wouldn't let them process him.

"Heh! My sisters algorithm isn't a straw house, good luck suckers! My sister's genius is truly god tier!"

Wen Wú Ping gloated internally when heard the frustration coming from the officers.

"Should we just do it old school, write it out by hand, then scan it in so that we have both a digital and analogue version, and if the digital one fails we'd still have a paper trail at least."

"Nice! Let's test it out."

Wen Wú Ping's eyes went large, everyone uses computers nowadays, but it didn't mean paper was only used for wiping. He panicked, if his family finds out he'd been in trouble with the law he could only imagine the consequences.

The officers did just that, they printed out a form filled it in by hand and attached a printed photograph of Wen Wú Ping and scanned it into the system.

After 10 minutes it stayed, no glitches, no signs of corruption, no flagged and deleted entries.

They seemed to have found a loophole around the algorithm that had been giving the officers hell.

"Wen Wú Ling! Mysterious Cute Jogging girl! Why are the two of you doing this!? it was only a little misunderstanding!"

Wen Wú Ping screamed out aloud in his mind.

The officers rejoiced and proceeded with the last stages of his detention before sending it off to the prosecutor's office.

Back at Qin Qianyu's home, Wú Ling had washed up and Qin Qianyu left to do the same thing.

The swelling on Mingxi's head had lessened and the bruise it wasn't as visible as it once was.

"Mrs Qin, this lotion is magical! Where did you get it?"

"Yu'er got it for me, so you'll have to ask her. I only use it on my stomach now and then and never noticed it had such an effect, but seeing it like this, I'm gobsmacked myself!"

"Oh on your . . stomach? . . Mrs Qin, are you having a baby!?"

Both Wú Ling and Mingxi looked and saw the little bump.

Seeing the excited and shocked looks from the pair. She understood and explained how Qin Qianyu was more excited than the parents to be. She added how Qin Qianyu didn't want them to feel lonely if she placed well at SIC and was admitted into Zhishi University.

Ouyang Zihan went on to tell them the name Qin Qianyu gave and its meaning.

The girls thought the meaning was a little depressing seeing that they knew a little of what Qin Qianyu has been through.

Then after thinking about it more, they were pleasantly impressed. As was Ouyang Zihan by Qin Qianyu's nature and mindset.

The trio chatted some more while Qin Qianyu was showering. She had no idea that her image in the minds of the two girls had been elevated to another level thanks to her mother.

Qin Qianyu came back and rejoined the trio. She went up to Mingxi and carefully checked the bruising.

"This lotion actually has this type of effect! How are you feeling now? Any dizziness, soreness, nausea?"

Mingxi just shook her head, she couldn't speak because she was absolutely stunned by the beautiful sight of a freshly washed Qin Qianyu.

"What's wrong? Why are you . . "

Qin Qianyu asked after observing the subtle changes in Lu Mingxi,

"If I had to turn Lala for someone, I'd turn Lala for you."

Mingxi muttered unconsciously,

" . . . "

"Not before me hussy!"

Wen Wú Ling exclaimed in feigned anger at what Lu Mingxi just confessed. Lu Mingxi was shocked that she had uttered her thoughts aloud and quickly tried to recover,

"I'm sorry! I don't know what I'm even saying!"

"Hahahaha!"

Ouyang Zihan laughed happily at the teens antics. It even brought back fond memories for her and the time she spent with her own school and childhood friends.

Just like how they are now, when she was their age, she too, along with her friends all had a youthful innocence and naivety.

Ouyang Zihan brought out some refreshments for the girls, as they all chatted, Ouyang Zihan turned the tv on and an entertainment show was on showcasing new works, new films and television series and raising talents.

Soon the conversations stopped when three of the four people in the lounged glared at the tv.

The only one not doing so was Wen Wú Ling. She quickly noticed the looks of the other three as the host spoke about a new raising talent in the industry.

"Murong Meimei!"

Lu Mingxi sneered, Wú Ling noticed that even Qin Qianyu who was unfazed by the encounter at the cafe held disgust and hatred on her face but what surprised her more was Qin Qianyu's mother, Ouyang Zihan who looked absolutely livid.

Wen Wú Ling couldn't hold it anymore and exclaimed loudly bringing everyone's thoughts back to the present.

"Why do we all hate this new star! Tell me! I want to hate her too, don't leave me out! It's not fair!"

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

Lu Mingxi and Ouyang Zihan both looked to Qin Qianyu then to Wen Wú Ling. Suddenly Lu Mingxi uttered,

"I bashed my head in earlier because of her,"

"Huh!?"

"She's the reason . . No! that's not right, she's an attributing factor to what I did wrong and why I'm here today."

Lu Mingxi said as she looked remorsefully at both Qin Qianyu and her mother then hung her head low not saying another word.

Qin Qianyu looked at the downcast teen and smiled in her heart, she knew now that Mingxi would always act out before thinking anything through, she would deal with the aftermath afterwards.

"Although Meimei's path diverted from how it was in my former life, it wasn't by much."

Qin Qianyu thought to herself.

"Meimei seemed to have still gotten into the same agency as she did in her former life, but a little earlier than I expected."

It was from that point onwards Meimei started making waves in the industry and it all started with the teen romcom series "Rejoice Lin Xie" with Meimei playing as the series main female lead Lin Xie while Qin Qianyu was hiding away from Mingxi in a library.

"Wait what? That's it? . . Mingxi, I've seen the sequel before even seeing the first one. Now you give me a 30 second trailer and expect me to wait till it's officially released! . . Girl you are maddening!"

Wen Wú Ling quipped, but soon noticed how awkward Mingxi was. Wú Ling sighed and reached over and rubbed the girls back lightly reassuring her.

"Sorry, I'm just playing, don't mind me."

"It's fine, sorry for being a downer,"

"You're not, besides, I'll just make up my own narrative, it'll be way better than the original. You'll see, your version will suck in comparison and the ratings will be through the roof!"

" . . . "

"How . . How boring is your life?"

Mingxi muttered aloud in retort. This of course caused everyone to breakout in fits of laughter because of the banter between the two.

Feeling more open around the two, Qin Qianyu explained everything about Meimei, Mingxi, the whole deal with Secondhand and the signed document as well as sowing discord between her and her mother.

"Well I'm glad you found your head . . . My version is still better though. But what about this newest one? Do you think she's behind it too!?"

Wú Ling asked while Ouyang Zihan was away.

Qin Qianyu knew it wasn't but she couldn't tell them that. She just hinted to it possibly being a guy.

Ouyang Zihan gave Qin Qianyu some money and told her to go and treat her friends to a meal.

Qin Qianyu agreed, she was going to show Wen Wú Ling around anyway but because Mingxi turned up that was pushed back for another time.

As they left, Qin Qianyu told her mother that she would be staying at the studio tonight as grandpa Wú had an appointment that she'd be taking him to.

Ouyang Zihan was fine with that and shortly after the three teens left Qin Qianyu's home.

Qin Qianyu thought of a place for the three of them to go and eat so she decided to take the two girls to Aunty Sun's for a meal.

"As your big sister, I forbid you from selling me! If need be we can put a hat in her head to hide the bump, she'll fetch a fare price!"

Lu Mingxi froze where she stood when Wen Wú Ling pointed her out,

" . . . "

Qin Qianyu was speechless, she looked around the area they were in, she didn't think it was anything bad.

She reached out and pinched Wen Wú Ling's cheek.

"No one's getting sold, stop with the nonsense, look! you're scaring Mingxi."

"Hmph, good, besides I know martial arts, I'd kick your arse if you did! Mingxi what about you? Can you fight?"

"I . . Ah, I only know . . how . . to . . push,"

Lu Mingxi muttered softly. In reality, she didn't want to answer, yet the words just left her mouth making her feel embarrassed

"Push! . . Listen Mingxi, we are all beautiful women, but we also need to protect ourselves. A push isn't going to cut it. Let me tell you what happened, Xiaoyu and I met with a pervert today."

"What!? Really!?"

"Ahuh! Do you know what, Xiaoyu ran in like a maniac and sent a pervert flying with a drop kick just to rescue me!? She was like a hero!"

"Haaa! If only you were a man, it would have been perfect! He could have whisked me away from my dreary life, alas, my poor heart, she was not a he,"

" . . . "

Lu Mingxi looked at Qin Qianyu with newfound respect and awe. If only Meimei hadn't goaded her into acting, if only she was cleaver enough to not only see through the girl but also skip levels like Qin Qianyu then maybe their school life friendship could have started earlier.

"Tsk! Dreamer, come on you two we're almost there."

The three girls entered a shabby looking store which was half full, the three attracted a lot of attention from those inside.

Some even had excited looks as they all seem to recognise Qin Qianyu. The girls noticed this, but Qin Qianyu took no notice.

"Aunty Sun! I have money! Feed us your best."

This seemed to be the calling card of a regular, as when others heard it they went back to their meals.

"Ahh! My Xiaoyu, come sit, what would you like this evening?"

A portly middle aged woman asked with a smile.

The other two girls who came along with Qin Qianyu smiled as they found Aunty Sun's smile contagious.

"My friends are new so the works would leave the best impression."

"Right you are, I'll get started, I'll leave the rest to you."

"Alright! Thanks Aunty Sun."

With that said, Aunty Sun went to the back and the three girls found a table.

Qin Qianyu left and came back from behind the counter with three bottled drinks. Two Fruit drinks for the girls and water for herself.

"Xiaoyu! I wasn't joking! If you dare to sell me, I'll . . I'll . . I'll something you and you won't like it!"

" . . . "

"It's just a drink, calm down. Have you never eaten in a place like this?"

" . . . "

Wen Wú Ling shook her head. She was use to fine dining, even the cafe they went to earlier would be her lower limit.

Qin Qianyu turned to Lu Mingxi, she was the same as Wen Wú Ling.

"Well, let's all just consider this a new dining experience."

After awhile the first lot of dishes came out and onto the table.

The girls got stuck right into it they couldn't believe how delicious it was.

While that was happening, a mixed group had finished up and both Wú Ling and Mingxi noticed how they kept looking over at their table.

Lu Mingxi was about to say something when a few men walked over to them.

"Sorry to bother your meal, but Miss 45, could you sign this for me?"

The man leading asked as he handed over a paper serviette and pen.

"Miss 45!?"

Both Wú Ling and Mingxi thought. Qin Qianyu however just smiled and nodded.

She took the pen and signed it.

"Haha, thanks a lot. Well I won't intrude enjoy your meal."

The people with them cheered when the man showed off his signed mouth wiper.

Aunty Sun came with the second course and saw the confusion on the faces of Qin Qianyu's friends.

"Xiaoyu is somewhat of a celebrity here in my small restaurant."

She pointed out the big screen for the two girls then a security video played back showing Qin Qianyu and her table of food.

The two girls looked at Qin Qianyu horrified at what they just witnessed.

"Xiaoyu! How are you not Aunty Sun's twin!?"

" . . . "

"Pfft!"

"Hmph! Where was it that I met you today!? That's why! I just have a great metabolism don't hold that against me."

The girls started to relax more, and enjoyed the evening of food and conversation.

More people came by for signs after their own meals, some even willing to pay for the girls meals, which was declined by Qin Qianyu's friends and Qin Qianyu herself.

The trio spent a little over two hours there and their table was a mess with prawn shells, crab shells, bones and more.

A cleaner came by to clear the tables and the girls settled the bill.

Qin Qianyu led the girls back to main road and they soon parted ways for the day.

They wanted to meet up again tomorrow, but since Qin Qianyu was heading to the capital with grandpa Wú she had no time.

Qin Qianyu told the two that just because she wouldn't be able to hangout with the pair, it didn't mean that Mingxi and Wú Ling couldn't hangout with each other.