*#BREAKING: Is Lu Jingyan Off the Market?*
A blurry photo had no business breaking the internet—yet here it was. A soft silhouette of a woman with long raven hair sitting across from an unidentified man at an upscale restaurant was now making rounds on Weibo, Instagram, and various gossip forums.
#"Looks like Lu Jingyan to me…"#
#"That's *definitely* her profile."#
#"OMG! She has a boyfriend?? What about Leng Xuanmo???"#
#"Plot twist: it's not Xuanmo. She moved on???"#
#"Someone tag Mo Tianyi. We need answers!!"#
The comments were pouring in by the second, with tags and theories flooding every platform. Fan wars reignited. The post came from Mei Xiaotong's private story—a photo she uploaded innocently, or perhaps not so innocently, as some fans believed. The picture was vague, with lighting too dim to identify the man—but the woman's outline matched Lu Jingyan a little too well.
Some fans were thrilled.
#"Queen is finally dating!"#
#"She deserves love and privacy."#
#"As long as it's not a Leng, I approve."#
Others? Not so much.
#"If she's playing both Xuanmo and this mystery man, that's low."#
#"This is why I never trusted her white lotus image."#
Even the hashtag *#LuJingyanDatingMysteryMan* began trending at #3 worldwide.
***
Jingyan burst into Mei Xiaotong's studio an hour later, phone still vibrating in her hand. "Tell me you didn't do this."
Mei didn't flinch. She was sipping green tea, scrolling calmly as if her post hadn't just set the internet on fire.
"Hi to you too," she said with a cheeky grin. "You're welcome, by the way."
Jingyan slammed her phone down on the desk. "Why is the world convinced I'm dating some guy when it was *you* in that picture?"
Mei tilted her head. "Technically, I never said it was you. People assumed."
"You didn't correct them either!" Jingyan snapped. "This is spiraling! Xuanmo hasn't reached out, Tianyi is sending me cryptic texts, and Hua Shu is threatening to fly back from Country F."
"I told you," Mei said with a shrug, "the mystery man trope works. They're all riled up. Even Leng Xuanmo probably thinks you've moved on."
"And you're okay with him thinking that?"
"No," Mei admitted, "but I'm okay with him being forced to act. He's been taking too long."
Jingyan exhaled sharply, pacing. "You didn't even warn me."
"I figured plausible deniability would work in your favor," Mei replied. "You want him to fight for you? Give him something to fight against."
Jingyan stopped pacing and stared at her. "I'm not a pawn in a drama you're directing."
"You're not," Mei said gently. "But you're still in a story—and if you want a different ending, sometimes you have to shake the middle."
The room went quiet.
Jingyan glanced at the trending tags still flashing on her screen. Comments ranged from romanticized speculations to ruthless judgment. Some netizens had begun making edits of her with mystery men. Others dragged Leng Xuanmo for "losing her." It was chaos.
"I just wanted a normal week," Jingyan murmured.
"I just wanted you to admit you still care," Mei whispered. "And I knew you wouldn't—unless the world forced you to choose."
Jingyan met her friend's gaze, the frustration ebbing into something softer. "You should've told me first."
"I know." Mei sighed. "I just… panicked. Thought it'd help. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't. But either way, I'll take the heat for it."
Jingyan looked down at her phone again. Notifications kept flooding in. She didn't know what hurt more—the silence from Xuanmo or the chaos Mei had unleashed.
"Next time," she said quietly, "you ask. Got it?"
Mei nodded. "Got it."
"And delete the picture."
"Already did," she said, holding up her phone. "But the internet doesn't forget."
Jingyan shook her head, a half-smile tugging at her lips. "Apparently, neither do ex-boyfriends."
Just then, her phone lit up—*Leng Xuanmo*.
Her heart skipped.
Mei grinned. "Told you it'd work."