033 Apology—The Farce Comes to an End

“How about it? Would you like to invite your benefactor out for a meal?”
Before Su Yunjin could reply, Fu Lin spoke up of his own accord.
His easy familiarity left Su Yunjin both amused and exasperated. “But if I remember correctly, last time I was the one who saved you.”
“But yesterday, it was I who saved you. Hmm… although it can’t compare to you saving my life, at the very least, you could buy me a meal, right?”
Well then.
She had been latched onto.
Su Yunjin had absolutely no defense against Fu Lin’s breezy manner.
But perhaps that was for the best; it made things less awkward between them. Smiling, Su Yunjin asked him a little more seriously, “Was it you who uploaded those videos yesterday? But so much time has passed—how did you have the footage from that day? And what about the mother of the person involved…”
“Hold it, hold it! Those questions will have to wait until the day you invite me to dinner. For now, I need to keep it a secret.”
It was as if Fu Lin feared that if Su Yunjin learned the answers, she’d no longer want the ceremonial banner. He hurriedly cut off her inquiries.
“What, you’re keeping me in suspense?”
Su Yunjin feigned annoyance in her tone.
But anyone who knew her well would have seen that, at this moment, her face bore none of the petulance in her voice—there was only a gentle, faint smile.
Tone was just one element of performance; right now, Su Yunjin was merely using her skill with “voice,” reciting her lines as if on stage.
To others, it would seem as if she were slightly displeased.
But her displeasure was well measured—not unreasonable, but the playful willfulness of a young woman.
“Of course! Otherwise, what if you don’t show up? You’re a busy star now. If you don’t come, what am I supposed to do with my hard-won good Samaritan award?”
Fu Lin had no idea Su Yunjin was using her “voice” to speak with him.
At this moment, her voice sounded soft and tender to him. Though he could sense her unhappiness, it made him want to drop his defenses entirely.
He nearly blurted out all the answers on the spot.
But to see Su Yunjin, he held his tongue.
“Don’t forget—Saturday at two in the afternoon, you must come to the fire station. If you don’t, I’ll deliver the banner straight to your TV station.”
Feigning threat, Fu Lin finished and quickly hung up the phone.

“Happy now, kid?”
After Fu Lin hung up, the fire chief beside him looked at him with a fatherly smile.
Notifying citizens recognized for bravery to collect their banners was typically a job for the unit’s clerks.
But Fu Lin, lovestruck, had pleaded to take on the task himself. In the end, the chief had no choice but to bring him along.
Before making the call, the boy had rehearsed countless times just to get those brief words right. Even when he picked up the phone, you could see his hands trembling.
“Thank you, Chief. Thank you, ma’am.”
Faced with the chief’s teasing, Fu Lin simply thanked both the chief and the young female clerk.
“In all the time I’ve known Lin, I’ve never seen him blush so hard.”
The clerk laughed as if she’d just tasted the juiciest gossip, eyes full of envy. “I’m so jealous. Why didn’t I have a young man so pure-hearted toward me back in my day?”
“Ma’am, you’re teasing me again.”
Fu Lin blushed even deeper.
Quickly changing the subject, he said, “Oh right, I still have some snacks in my dorm. I’ll bring some for you and the clerks.”
Seizing the excuse, Fu Lin dashed out.
With both the chief and the clerk there, their gazes full of playful curiosity, he couldn’t bear it any longer.
Once Fu Lin had left, the clerk and the chief immediately put away their smiles, exchanging glances filled with worry.
Some things didn’t need to be spelled out.
But everyone understood.
After all, Su Yunjin was part of the entertainment world. In that murky milieu, how pure could anyone’s heart truly be?
Certainly, Su Yunjin’s rescue was admirable, but what of the future?
Though their department didn’t see as much darkness as the criminal police, they’d still heard plenty of real stories.
To sum it up, there were almost no good people in showbiz.
“Sigh, I just hope the boy doesn’t get hurt too badly in the end.”
The chief shook his head with a sigh and left the clerk’s office.
Meanwhile, after Fu Lin hung up, Su Yunjin could only resign herself to collecting the banner at the fire station at two o’clock on Saturday afternoon.
For now, though, having finished breakfast, she turned to her morning lessons.

She’d gone to bed late the night before and had woken up even later today. Morning, midday, and evening lessons would probably all have to be combined.
The day passed quickly. Thanks to coverage of the city’s fire department and the matter of Engine Number Four, Su Yunjin was finally free from the maelstrom of the live broadcast scandal.
Thus, she spent her day in peace.
But online, it was a day of endless drama.
First, Zhang Chuchu’s contract was terminated. Then there was a very public spat between Zhang Chuchu and Luo Zizhen, followed by a flood of alleged revelations from Zhang Chuchu’s various ex-boyfriends.
Fact and fiction blurred together.
Spectators could only watch, dumbfounded.
And it didn’t stop there—the very marketing account that first broke the story about the C-Position girl group’s dark secrets, “Inside the Circle,” was sued for revealing trade secrets.
The lawsuit was filed by none other than the C-Position girl group’s powerful backers, the Lu Group.
Barely two minutes after the lawyer’s letter went public, the owner of “Inside the Circle” posted a lengthy apology to the C-Position girl group.
The letter was long-winded, but its main points were simple.
First, they admitted to spreading rumors and believing the wrong people in a fit of righteous zeal, never expecting the post would cause such a commotion.
Second, they confessed to not knowing the full story and felt deeply responsible for the consequences, now wishing to apologize to both the C-Position group and Su Yunjin.
Following “Inside the Circle’s” apology, Zhang Chuchu’s personal microblog was also updated—with even more words than the marketing account’s missive.
Yet her rambling post focused mostly on how much she loved the show and how hard she had worked for it from the very beginning.
Of course, in the end she still felt wronged—why was it her whose contract was terminated?
Only at the very end did she apologize for the C-Position group’s live broadcast incident, expressing hope for future collaboration.
After so many celebrity scandals, reversals, and tales of fake friendships and brotherhoods, the internet’s audience had long grown immune to such statements.
Naturally, Zhang Chuchu was met with an unending chorus of mockery.
As for Luo Zizhen, there was no apology at all; instead, she simply shut down comments on her posts amidst the storm.
But this didn’t spare her from the netizens’ outrage—subforums and topics were still filled with veiled digs and open criticism.
The whole affair dragged on until ten at night, when the flow of traffic began to ebb, interest waned, and at last the farce came to a silent, ignominious end.