Chapter 1396 Game of Pretend

　　Not all news from last night garnered mixed reactions. A video footage of the sixteen-year-old athlete and current youngest member of the national shooting team, Ren Jiyu, became viral. It was when Iris Long was performing “Monster of Insanity” with Pandemonium at the gala. 

Ren Jiyu was caught whipping out a slipper from out of nowhere and waving it around before quickly hiding it from his coaches. Another video footage showed him asking Iris Long to sign the slipper with a shy expression.

The Black Stars, especially the Slippers Army, were ecstatic to find that such an impressive youth and world-class athlete was actually one of them.

His actions endeared him to the masses, not only to Iris Long’s fans. As a matter of fact, his action of waving a slipper from out of nowhere became a trending meme. 

He also became some kind of a mascot for the Black Stars’ Slippers Army. Their slogan temporarily changed from “Slippers of Justice” to “Slippers of Glory” because Ren Jiyu brought glory to the country and also to glory to the Slippers Army.

Perhaps the biggest news from last night’s gala that swept the nation was Jin Chonglin’s alleged romantic relationship with Orchidia’s COO Chen Fei. This dating rumour was all over the headlines.

Video footages and photos showed the two sitting together at last night’s gala. Not only that, Jin Chonglin was also seen hugging Chen Fei and covering her mouth. Their faces were only inches apart as they glared at each other. Most people concluded that they were having a lovers’ quarrel. 

The next photos showed them smiling like they had put aside their quarrel and would continue it later in private. Jin Chonglin’s hand on Chen Fei’s waist was too visible. It showed possessiveness, and of course, intimacy. 

Jin Chonglin’s army of fans was in uproar. They dug any information that they could find about Chen Fei’s background. 

Most knew her as Orchidia’s COO and one of Iris Long’s closest friends. Based on the information that Jin Chonglin’s fans found, Chen Fei had a degree in marketing and graduated from the same business school and year as Long Jinjing, Iris’ half-sister, who was also Orchidia’s CFO. Both of them were two of the top students among their cohorts.

After their graduation, the two immediately went to help Iris Long launch her company, Orchidia Beauty, which was now known as Orchidia—one of the current fastest-growing businesses in the country. 

Appearance-wise, Chen Fei was not even near as beautiful as the stunning Iris Long. Well, only very few people could rival Iris Long’s beauty anyway so this wasn’t even an insult to Chen Fei at all. Iris Long was a league on her own. Not a lot of women could compare to her in terms of physical appearance. 

But Long Jinjing was still also a bit prettier than Chen Fei. Despite this, Chen Fei could still considered a very attractive woman because of the strong and confident aura she projected. Her expressions were very sharp as if she could pierce through a person’s bullshit. 

She was also the one who often represented Orchidia at media events after Iris went into maternity leave. She was articulate, educated and skilled. Based on her performance as COO so far, it was clear that she was also an excellent leader. 

Orchidia’s avid consumers trusted her. After Iris Long, Chen Fei was the second most-known person from the company. 

Third was Alric Bauer who was always credited as the main developer of most of Orchidia’s products. Without him, there would basically be no Orchidia. The company’s fans sometimes dubbed him as the “mad scientist”. 

The fourth most-known person from Orchidia was Long Jinjing. Her presence wasn’t as noticeable as the others because she often hid behind the scenes. It was only because the other three would frequently mention her strictness in controlling the company’s budget that the public remembered her. 

The efficiency of Jin Chonglin’s army of fans in digging for information about Chen Fei’s background was quite impressive. They were able to collect this much within a day. Discussion about her compatibility with their Prince Lin Lin filled various forums. 

”Although COO Chen Fei is not what you’d call a traditional beauty, she’s pretty enough. At least, she’s not horrendously ugly. Besides, her education and current career position are all top-notch. Even when our Prince Lin Lin decides to take a break from his showbiz career, COO Chen can still support him.”

”Prince Lin Lin doesn’t need any woman to support him. He’s a freaking member of the Jin family!”

”Calm down. It’s just a figure of speech.”

”I don’t like this! Prince Lin Lin is everyone’s husband. Nobody deserves him! What if he meets another psycho like that evil Fan Luo? No way! I’m gonna protect Prince Lin Lin for his whole life!”

”You’re the one who’s a psycho! We may belong in the same fandom but I refuse to associate with such a crazy fan like you! If you really love Prince Lin Lin, then you must treat him as a human being and not as a product that you can control! He has a right to fall in love, marry the woman he loves, and build his own family just like the rest of us.”

”I love Orchidia Beauty products. COO Chen Fei is an incredible woman worthy of my respect. I support her relationship with Prince Lin Lin! She’s definitely not a psycho like that murderous she-devil Fan-what’s-her-name who bewitched our Prince Lin Lin for such a long time.”

”Let’s not make all this wild speculations. I’m sure that Prince Lin Lin would clarify whatever kind of relationship he has with COO Chen. Let’s wait for what he has to say before overreacting.”

The dating rumour between Jin Chonglin and Chen Fei continued to fester and even grow into bigger proportions. The video footage showing him covering her mouth during the gala inspired many fan fictions. Some of them even had strong, kinky overtones.

###

Orchidia. 

With the help of the company’s security (and the ever cute and mighty Ketchup), Jin Chonglin was able to slip inside the building without anybody untrustworthy noticing him. The employees in the know about his arrival were all discreet and professional. They even helped him cover his tracks.

He was now sitting in the COO’s office and sipping a nice cold latte from the company’s own high-end café. He looked so comfortable. It was as if he was inside his own home. 

Chen Fei glared at him and was even hissing at him. She looked like she was about to murder him. 

”Are you fucking kidding me, you shithead?! Pretend to be your girlfriend?! Are you insane?! No way! I refuse to join in this kind of shitty game of pretend!”

Jin Chonglin sighed and put down the latte on the table. “I’m doing this to protect you!”

She was incredulous at his claim. “Protect me?! Now I’m sure that you’re dumber than I initially thought. How does pretending to be your girlfriend protect me or even solve this dating rumour between the two us? You’re not going to protect me this way. I’m sure that your fans will eat me alive instead! No, I refuse this. I don’t want to be involved with you in this way.”

Then she shuddered and rubbed her arms. “I’m having goosebumps just thinking about it.”

He clicked his tongue. “You rude woman, how dare you call me dumb? You’re the dumb one!”

She gave him the finger with both hands. “Fuck you, Jin Chonglin!”

”How dare you?! You’re so vulgar! We’re inside your office! Where’s your professionalism?!”

”You dare to call out my professionalism? You’re the one who barged into my office like a lowly thief! Then you even dare to spout all this nonsense about me pretending to be your girlfriend? There’s really something wrong with your brain!”

Jin Chonglin was almost near his tolerance limit for the woman. She was talented, alright. Talented in making him angry!

He took several deep breaths to calm himself down. His purpose in coming here in spite of all the danger of being recognized by the public and causing mass hysteria was not to fight with Chen Fei. He came here to make a deal with her.

”Let’s talk like adults,” he said. “All this shouting will get us nowhere.”

”Hmph!” Although she was like this, she still stopped yelling at him and sat down in another seat before crossing her arms over his chest. “Now explain.”

He sighed but still explained why he came up with the ridiculous idea of pretending to be in a relationship.

”To be honest with you, this kind of gossip will go away on its own even without us doing anything,” he said.

”Let’s not do anything then,” she replied.

”If you’re ready to be face a lot of criticism and even insults, then let’s not do anything.” He shrugged.

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

”I’m a man. What’s more, I’m Jin Chonglin, a superstar.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. A narcissistic braggart as always.”

A visible vein started throbbing in Jin Chonglin’s forehead. He restrained his temper and decided to ignore the woman’s infuriating words.

”People already expect me to be a magnet of ladies because of who I am. It doesn’t really bother me. There had been countless females throughout my career who tried creating dating rumours with me for clout. Most of the time, I ignore the rumours and just let my team handle them. But there are times that I had to make a personal statement to deny the relationship. It depends on the situation.

”What I’ve noticed is that the females are always the ones who are in the losing end in this kind of dating rumours. Women tend to be the ones who suffer while I remain the superstar that I am.”