Lin Shengyan leaned closer, looking disdainful yet earnest.
Lin Tingyue patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "Second Brother, if you're going to establish a public persona in showbiz, make sure it's real, or it might come crashing down one day."
"Then, in your esteemed opinion, what persona should I establish?"
"Do you even need to ask? The love-brained persona, of course."
"Lin! Ting! Yue!"
He knew it.
Lin Tingyue stuck out her tongue and ran off, heading straight for Lin Yuhuan, who happened to be coming over. She asked sweetly, "Big Brother, what were you doing just now?"
Lin Yuhuan said, "I ran into a business associate and his wife. We chatted for a bit."
"A business associate?"
"Yes. His surname is Song. He's looking at paintings over there."
Lin Tingyue looked over, her eyes widening.
[That's not his wife at all!!!]
Lin Yuhuan: "?"
[His real wife is on her way here!]
Was it going to be that exciting?
Chapter 35
[Aaaaah, she's about to come through the door! Doesn't that mean she'll catch her husband with someone...]
What?
There was even cheating-exposure gossip at an art exhibition? Everyone instantly perked up.
It was a coincidence, too. This art gallery was huge, even divided into east and west wings, yet Song Yu and Yan Fei beside him just had to take a fancy to a painting directly opposite the main entrance.
Even more coincidentally, just as the elegantly dressed real wife entered, Song Yu happened to want to find a staff member to discuss buying the painting. He turned around with Yan Fei on his arm and looked straight into Yang Man's eyes.
The three stared at one another. At that moment, even the gallery seemed to fall particularly quiet.
[Help, did they use up a lifetime's worth of coincidences on this?!]
But the scene everyone expected-her kicking her husband and tearing into the mistress-never happened. Instead, everything was extremely harmonious.
Yang Man even greeted Song Yu and Yan Fei first. "What a coincidence. You're here to see this exhibition too?"
Song Yu nodded. "Yes. If I'd known you were coming, I would've bought three tickets."
Yang Man gave Song Yu a reproachful look. "You didn't give me a ticket, but didn't I come anyway? Clearly, having a ticket or not makes no difference."
Song Yu's gaze changed too, clinging to Yang Man like sticky chewing gum. He said, "Got it. I'll remember to buy three tickets next time."
[Are they flirting??? Has the outside world developed this far already???]
[I don't understand. I'm utterly shaken.]
[Oh my god, they're even going for a threesome. Did I get the gossip wrong, or has the world really become this surreal?]
Lin Tingyue lowered her head to scroll through her phone. Yan Fei leaned affectionately against Song Yu and said, "Not three. Four."
"Four..." Song Yu pretended to look troubled.
"Oh, come on," Yan Fei wheedled. "Are you agreeing or not? If you think you're getting the short end of the stick, I'll have my husband buy the tickets next time, okay?"
"It's only a little money. How could I be getting the short end of the stick? What matters is that everyone's happy."
[Husband???]
[Seriously? You both have spouses, yet you're openly doing this here...]
[Could their marriages have broken down, and they've chosen not to divorce to keep up appearances while actually seeing other people?]
That was as far as Lin Tingyue and the spectators could imagine, but the explosiveness of this gossip far exceeded their expectations.
"Oh!" Yan Fei's eyes lit up, and she waved at a man in a suit who was walking in. "My husband's here."
"What took you so long?" Yang Man complained as she took Xiao Liang's hand. She looked at Yan Fei and said, "He's my husband today. Isn't your husband holding your hand right now?"
Meeting Song Yu's jealous gaze, Yan Fei hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, yes."
Song Yu pinched her arm. "I'll deal with you when we get back."
The implication was quite obvious.
[Huh?]
[I think the gossip just opened fire on me.]
[Finally found it. So it's not cheating, but swapping lives. If Yan Fei gets tired of being with Xiao Liang, she has Yang Man lend Song Yu to her for a few days...]
[Isn't that just swapping... you know? They really have some nerve. Their four-person life isn't crowded at all.]
The spectators were utterly shocked too. They had only heard of this sort of thing online, never imagining it actually happened in real life, and so brazenly at that.
Quite a few people said they needed to wash their eyes. They had suffered internal injuries from consuming this gossip.
Lin Tingyue had also suffered no small amount of damage. She decisively called the police, never expecting that this gossip still wasn't over.
At the time, Yang Man's pair went to the west wing, while Yan Fei's pair went to the east wing. The two pairs didn't meet again, but Yang Man ran into Song Yu's parents in the west wing while she and Xiao Liang were kissing passionately.
"I'll beat you two shameless things to death!"
Song Hai immediately raised his cane and gave Yang Man and Xiao Liang one blow each. While they clutched the places he had struck, their eyes brimming with tears, Song Yu's mother, Cao Ya, slapped them both as well.
The crisp slaps drew the attention of quite a few people in the west wing.
Most had just witnessed the gossip at the entrance. Looking over, they thought, Whoa, why is it you two again?
The Lin family were all in the west wing too, because Lin Xiawan was there.
Standing beside Lin Xiawan, Lin Tingyue's eyes lit up.
[Tsk, tsk, tsk. Without coincidences, there really would be no story.]
Lin Xiawan had already taken it in stride. After all, wherever Lin Tingyue was, there was bound to be gossip.
Holding her cheek, Yang Man finally managed to make out who had hit her, and her heart lurched. Seeing the cane strike Xiao Liang again, Yang Man, who had been about to explain, said anxiously, "Dad, you've hit him, so you can't hit me now."
"Why can't I hit you? My son treats you well, doesn't he? Yet you're fooling around behind his back, and so-so brazenly!"
Song Hai was so furious that he could barely breathe. His face pale, he clutched his chest. Cao Ya stepped forward to rub his back. "Song, Song, don't get angry. Don't get angry. It's not worth ruining your health over these two shameless things."
She sharply spotted the wretched man Yang Man had been holding trying to escape. Grabbing Xiao Liang, she snapped, "Where do you think you're going, you homewrecker? Just wait until my son comes to deal with you!"
Xiao Liang was actually tall and burly, but the beating had left his limbs weak. Now, caught in Cao Ya's grip, he had no strength to fight back. Seeing quite a few people taking photos with their phones only made him more embarrassed. "Auntie, please let me explain. Manman and I aren't what you think."
"You're already calling her Manman, and you're telling me it's not what I think? Huh? Tell me, would you call your coworkers that at work? Look at you, with no sense of propriety whatsoever. Don't you know a friend's wife is off-limits? Just you wait."
Cao Ya said sternly, "Song, call our son. Let him see what his wife and his buddy are doing behind his back!"
"Auntie, don't!"
Yang Man and Xiao Liang spoke in unison. Right now, they were only cheating. If Song Yu really came over, wouldn't everyone find out about their swapping?
[So you do know this is wrong...]
Song Hai called Song Yu, while Cao Ya held fast to Yang Man and Xiao Liang as they tried to leave.
[A yellow hound led on her left, a gray falcon raised on her right. Auntie looks truly majestic!!!]
Nearby, Lin Shengyan: "?"
Was that how you were supposed to use "a yellow hound led on the left, a gray falcon raised on the right"?
But after glancing at those two, he actually thought it was quite apt.
[I can't imagine how shattered these two elders will be if they learn the truth. There'll definitely be Want Want shattered ice pops all over the floor in a moment.]
"Pfft."
Lin Shengyan laughed aloud and explained casually to Lin Tingyue, "I thought of something happy."
Lin Tingyue: "..."
[Do I look like I believe you?]
[Second Brother probably isn't thinking of Cheng Jinshuang, or he wouldn't be able to laugh.]
Lin Shengyan: "?"
Lin Tingyue, that's going a little too far. Why are you making personal attacks? Lin Shengyan clenched his fists, then loosened them under his parents' intimidating gazes.
Hmph!
Meanwhile, Lin Yuhuan stared at the floor. The man with the aura of a big shot was wondering where the Want Want shattered ice pops were.
"How strange. Why does it sound like the ringtone is right in front of me?"
Song Hai looked up from making the call and saw Song Yu, who had just finished touring the east wing and come to the west wing, with Yan Fei on his arm.
With a thud, the phone in Song Hai's hand fell to the floor.
[Sigh, look. They've made the old man so angry he can't even hold his phone steady. And these two actually came over to watch the show.]
[Bet you didn't expect that it was your own house collapsing.]
The gossip wasn't funny, but this commentary was hilarious. Everyone around them was stifling laughter.
"Song Yu, you..."
Song Hai pounded his cane heavily against the floor. "You're fooling around out there too?"
Hearing him, Cao Ya looked over, her mouth falling open. A few seconds later, she roared, "Song Yu, get over here!"
Song Yu was afraid
of making his parents ill with anger, so he walked over and said, "Mom, Dad, let me explain..."
Song Hai said coldly, "What is there to explain? I have eyes. I can see for myself."
"Oh my god, isn't this your buddy's wife?" Cao Ya cried out, releasing the hand gripping Xiao Liang.
[Go on. Run toward your real wife.]
Xiao Liang said weakly, "Honey."
Yan Fei, who had been about to run, was now noticed too.
"You wretched little bastards."
With all her experience, how could Cao Ya fail to understand what had happened? She released Yang Man, lunged forward, and slapped Song Yu and Yan Fei.