Chapter 13

The airport facilities were so modern that Zhen Bao was dazzled.

Fu Ming Shi explained everything to her in a low voice, like a tour guide. The spacious hall was brightly lit. The tall man and petite woman walked side by side, one bending down to speak and the other listening intently. The listener would occasionally express surprise or nod and smile. From afar, they looked like a couple in love.

After over ten minutes, Zhen Bao finally saw the airplane she would be boarding for the first time in her life. She thought the plane looked a bit small from the outside, but since she had never seen one before, Zhen Bao prudently held back her opinion for fear of embarrassing herself. Once on board, she was thoroughly confused to find that the plane only had a handful of seats. She whispered to Fu Ming Shi, "Does the plane only carry seven or eight passengers at a time?"

Fu Ming Shi held back a laugh, but the amusement in his eyes was about to spill over. "Have you heard of private jets?"

Zhen Bao had not, but now she understood based on the literal meaning.

She lowered her head and walked to the window seat, pretending to look outside, embarrassed about making a fool of herself.

The man sat down next to her. Zhen Bao turned her face so close to the glass she was nearly pressing against it.

"We're about to take off. Let me buckle your seatbelt for you," Fu Ming Shi considerately offered.

Recalling the seatbelt situation that morning, Zhen Bao's ears turned red. She quickly declined his help, lowering her head to find it herself.

However, the airplane seatbelts were different from the ones in cars. Zhen Bao was stumped again.

Fu Ming Shi took the seatbelt and helped buckle it around her waist, avoiding her chest area. Zhen Bao still felt rather awkward.

Fu Ming Shi opened his laptop to check for any new developments today.

Zhen Bao's attention was drawn to it once more.

Fu Ming Shi introduced her to Weibo and helped her register an account. "Think of a nickname," he said.

Put on the spot to come up with a name, Zhen Bao's mind went blank.

Staring at her, Fu Ming Shi's long fingers typed a few characters in the nickname field: Cinderella in Crystal Shoes.

Of course Zhen Bao knew the story of Cinderella. She stared at the nickname for a few seconds before suddenly pouting and pointing at the screen, indicating she wanted it changed. She didn't like such a high-profile nickname. One look and people would think of Cinderella, but she wasn't a real-life Cinderella.

"You don't like those high heels?" Fu Ming Shi entered the password on his own.

Zhen Bao was still agonizing over a nickname and didn't notice anything amiss with him inputting the password. By the time she wanted to suggest the high heels, the screen already displayed a successful registration message.

"If you really don't like this nickname, you can change it," Fu Ming Shi said as he opened the editing page and gave her the final say. "I can switch it if you truly don't like it."

Zhen Bao fell silent. The nickname Fu Ming Shi chose did sound quite nice.

"Then we'll use this for now. I'll follow you after your college entrance exam is over." Fu Ming Shi followed Zhen Bao first. Just as he finished following her, a new email came in. Fu Ming Shi taught Zhen Bao how to log in on mobile, while he handled his business correspondence first.

Zhen Bao browsed Fu Ming Shi's page and saw his verified account stated he was the CEO of Prosperity Group. She then clicked open Fu Ming Shi's most recent post from five months ago commenting on something. She saw many mentions of a "Xia Ying," plus a bunch of people calling Fu Ming Shi "husband," saying Xia Ying was unworthy of him. Some defended Xia Ying, describing her and Fu Ming Shi as a perfect match.

Head lowered, Zhen Bao read it all carefully. Then her hand inadvertently touched something and the page suddenly switched to Xia Ying's side. Zhen Bao gave a start, stealing a peek at Fu Ming Shi. The man's expression was focused. Zhen Bao inexplicably felt a bit guilty, but couldn't resist taking a look at Xia Ying's Weibo posts. There were ancient costume drama shots and magazine covers, all extraordinarily beautiful.

The more Zhen Bao looked, the more engrossed she became, gradually forgetting her initial gossipy motives. This Xia Ying was truly too gorgeous.

"Good makeup techniques, photos altered with beauty filters...in person she's quite ordinary," Fu Ming Shi remarked after finishing his emails, noticing Zhen Bao viewing Xia Ying, seemingly with an appreciative gaze. He couldn't help but weigh in with his very objective opinion.

Zhen Bao was puzzled. "What are beauty filters?"

Fu Ming Shi smiled, finding her like a curious baby.

The plane would take off in fifteen minutes. Fu Ming Shi downloaded a beauty app on his phone, then left his seat to choose angles and take pictures of Zhen Bao. With her outgoing personality, Zhen Bao was only acting shy due to suddenly meeting wealthy people in an unfamiliar environment. Now rather familiar with Fu Ming Shi, she readily posed for him with a radiant smile, the same as when she had taken photos for the driver and bodyguard.

Seeing Zhen Bao's sweet and innocent smile in the camera frame, Fu Ming Shi froze for a moment before snapping quite a few consecutive shots.

After taking the photos, Fu Ming Shi showed Zhen Bao the difference between before and after beauty filters were applied.

Zhen Bao hadn't slept well last night and had some dark undereye circles today. That was the main difference after beautifying—the rest looked about the same. This made Zhen Bao doubt Fu Ming Shi's evaluation of Xia Ying. Fu Ming Shi didn't explain it was because Zhen Bao's foundation was too good. He simply clarified his relationship with Xia Ying: "Hardly any gossip in the entertainment industry is real. Just remember I only have one fiancée, you. Don't believe anything else."

Zhen Bao nodded. On a whim, she followed Xia Ying.

"No need to follow irrelevant people," Fu Ming Shi undid it for her, adding, "Focus on preparing for the college entrance exam. You can play on Weibo after."