Although the name of Xueshi Mall doesn’t have a foreign flavor, it is also a famous brand in the area around the University City. (TN: foreign flavor or western style.)
It is large enough to concentrate on shopping malls, supermarkets, restaurants, cinemas, Internet cafes, game halls and other popular commercial facilities. It will not feel boring to run inside and play for a day. One will have fun just by eating, drinking, and playing.
The business orientation of Xueshi Mall is very clear. The service target population is the hundreds of thousands of teachers and students in the university city and the ordinary white-collar and blue-collar workers in the nearby business district. There are basically no luxury brands in the mall, mainly middle-grade goods.
Lu Chen came to Xueshi Mall more than once before, so he was familiar with this area.
He first parked his car in the parking lot north of the mall and then walked directly along the walking path to the inside of the mall.
Because it’s weekend time, the mall was bustling with people.
“Let’s eat first…”
Lu Chen saw that the time was already past 5 o’clock. He said, “The food in Yunjin Restaurant here tastes good, and the price is also affordable.”
Lu Xi said, “May as well, just order two or three dishes. I can’t eat much.”
Lu Chen smiled and said, “I’ve been eating a lot lately. Two or three dishes are really not enough. At least five or six!”
Lu Xi reached out and squeezed his arm and said, “You are a lot stronger.”
She had rarely done such a thing to Lu Chen in the past.
In a strange city, for the same goal, the gap between them is slowly melting.
As he spoke, four girls came from the front door, and they happened to face each other.
One of the girls in a yellow shirt was stunned and had an incredulous look on her face.
And the girl in the white dress next to her looked pale!
This girl was Ye Zitong.
The four girls in their dormitory chose to stay in Beijing during the summer vacation.
Ye Zitong was dragged by Zuo Xintian to go to the mall this evening, along with two other roommates, but the two never expected to meet Lu Chen in Xueshi Mall.
When she saw Lu Chen and the woman beside him talking and laughing intimately, she felt as though her heart was stabbed by a sharp knife.
Although Ye Zitong knew very well that she and Lu Chen have not determined what their real relationship is, this scene still gave her a sense of shame, indignation, pain, and embarrassment.
Not only Zuo Xintian, but the two roommates knew Lu Chen. They both believed that they’re dating.
“Lu Chen!”
Zuo Xintian first called out, “How could you do this!”
She was about to rush forward to confront Lu Chen, but she was pulled back by Ye Zitong: “Forget it…”
Zuo Xintian had high expectation for them1: “How could you do that? You like him so much, yet he’s like this…”
In Zuo Xintian’s view, Lu Chen was simply the legendary heartless Chen Shimei2. After appearing on a TV program, and gaining a little bit of fame, he began to have an affair. Unexpectedly, he was with another woman behind Ye Zitong’s back.
It’s unbearable!
What annoys Zuo Xintian most was that the women around Lu Chen is not as pretty as Ye Zitong.
“Yezi!”
Lu Chen, who was equally shocked, reacted. All of a sudden, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He quickly went up to Ye Zitong and asked, “You and Tiantian are shopping too?”
Ye Zitong turned her head and ignored him, but her eyes were red: “Tiantian, let’s go.”
Zuo Xintian and the other two girls cast disdainful eyes to Lu Chen, like a knife cutting meat and scraping bones!
Lu Xi looked at him with a smile on her face.
Lu Chen hurriedly grabbed Ye Zitong’s hand, afraid that she would run away regardless of, the misunderstanding would be really big.
“Yezi, this is my big sister Lu Xi, who just came from home today.”
Huh? Big sister?
The three girls were dumbfounded when they found out. Lu Xi and Lu Chen were really quite similar!
They are brothers and sisters.
How embarrassing!
Zuo Xintian wished that she could look for a crack to hide in, and her face was as red as an autumn frost apple.
Ye Zitong tried hard to break away from Lu Chen’s hand, but she was also stunned when she heard his explanation. A faint blush quietly emerged from her pale face, and for a moment she was at a loss as to what to do.
This misunderstanding was really a bit too big, and the funny thing was that there was no reason for her to be jealous.
After all, they just mutually have good impression of each other.
At this time, Lu Xi came over and asked with a smile, “Hello, I’m Lu Xi, Lu Chen’s big sister. Are you his friend?”
Lu Chen let go of Ye Zitong’s hand and introduced her a little awkwardly, “Big sister. This is Ye Zitong. She is a student of Beijing University. She is a friend I met in Beijing.”
Ye Zitong endured her shyness and plucked up enough courage to raise her head and said, “Hello big sister Lu Xi. ”
Lu Xi smiled and said, “Nice to meet you. You’re called Yezi, right? It just so happens that I have just settled in Beijing, and now I want to buy some things and I don’t know where to go. Can you help me with it?”
In front of Ye Zitong, Lu Xi is a gentle and amiable big sister. She cannot help but nod.
After the misunderstanding was resolved, Ye Zitong introduced Lu Xi to Zuo Xintian and her two other classmates.
The girls’ ages didn’t differ greatly, so they soon became familiar with each other.
As a result, Lu Chen was left out to the side.
Fortunately, they always have to eat. So, after a brief discussion, they went to Yunjin Restaurant to share a table.
Lu Xi seems to like Ye Zitong very much and has been pulling her to talk all the time.
She didn’t even let her go when they were eating.
In the course of the meal, the way they address each other change and became “Big Sister Xi” and “Zitong”.
After eating the sumptuous dinner, Lu Chen paid the bill.
Her big sister, who was now accompanied by the girls, no longer let him accompany them to the mall to act as a “bag carrier”, and said that they would just contact him after they finish shopping.
They would probably take a long time.
Lu Chen thought about it, and simply went to the Internet cafe on the top floor of the mall to surf the Internet to kill time.
With his ID card, he registered and open a computer. He logged on to the webpage and searched for related content on “Singing China”.
And the result has revealed a lot of things.
As the 1st place winner in the top 16 of “Singing China” Beijing singing district, apart from the official website of “Singing China,” Lu Chen’s name was basically not found on other websites, and only few small sites with little fame reposted about this.
In some forums and post bars, there were a lot of discussions about Lu Chen, mainly about his original works.
In sharp contrast to Lu Chen, several contestants in the top 16 far outperformed him in terms of keyword search terms, such as “Newcomer Zheng Kai performed well and conquered the judges by relying on his natural voice. Winning a place in the top 16 of “Singing China” Beijing singing district!” and so on.
Lu Chen was well aware of the reason, that is, these contestants have signed up with an entertainment agency, and there are teams behind them that was promoting it, and in turn, those big websites will post their advertisements. It’s everywhere.
Lu Chen didn’t feel uncomfortable or depressed about this, because this is how things are in the current entertainment industry. It is very difficult to become popular without throwing money into the hype. It’s all about making things interesting. A newcomer like him who relies solely on himself is a rarity.
Willing to be willing. If he gave up, he will get it. If he gave up vanity, Lu Chen will get freedom. (TN: I didn’t understand this.)
Moreover, gold will always shine. Now, it was only the competition in the Beijing singing district. When it comes to the tournaments and finals, his name is bound to be known by more and more people. He doesn’t have to spend money to make headlines!
In addition, Lu Chen is also organizing his own team to strengthen online publicity.
He shut down the news search and logged on to Inspur Blog.
Lu Chen FMX’s account was registered two weeks ago. It has been certified as a personal “V”, and currently has 75000+ fans, mostly [Whale TV] fans.
This was also thanks to Li Bai’s help in publicity, otherwise Lu Chen himself would not have that much fans.
According to the local tyrant, it’s actually too easy to grow a fan base. It’s simple to buy millions of fans with a little money. A little packaging can make you look like “Big V”, that is, a celebrity in the blog.
As for being a “Big V” because of the zombie fan base, Lu Chen was still unsure! (TN: Zombie fan base, because they were bought.)
Because he doesn’t like to cheat people, and he doesn’t like to cheat himself.
In the blog, he updated two articles, and answered many questions from fans. Time passed quickly.
At about 9 o’clock, Lu Xi called.
They’ve finally finished shopping.
Lu Chen logged out, paid the bill, and left. Going back to the main entrance of the mall, he saw Lu Xi and the four girls again.
Everyone was carrying big bags and small bags; they had a good harvest this evening!
After meeting, Lu Xi said to Lu Chen, “Give me the car keys and the keys at home. I’ll send Tiantian and the others back to school and then go home by myself. You can accompany Zitong.”
Lu Chen looked at her in surprise. He looked at Ye Zitong again, and the latter flushed and didn’t speak.
Of course, there was no objection.
Zuo Xintian grinned and said, “You two have a good time. It doesn’t matter if you come back later. Goodbye!”
She winked at Ye Zitong.
Ye Zitong’s already red face became redder and she glared at her.
Lu Chen was a little worried and asked, “Big Sister, do you know how to get to Jinchengyuan?”
He was afraid that Lu Xi would not be able to find her way back.
Lu Xi said, “Even if I don’t remember the way, can’t I navigate with my cell phone?”
Lu Chen conceded defeat and gave her both the car keys and the home keys.
After Lu Xi left with Zuo Xintian and the two girls, there were only Lu Chen and Ye Zitong left.
Speaking of which, since the last time they went skating, the two haven’t seen each other for a while, just chatting through QQ.
Now seeing her again, Lu Chen’s heart couldn’t help but feel a touch of tenderness.
Today may be a chance encounter, but maybe it’s the fate between the two.
He naturally took Ye Zitong’s hand and said, “Are you tired of shopping? Let’s go and sit at the ice shop over there.”
Ye Zitong nodded meekly.
After a little misunderstanding, the relationship between the two has undoubtedly taken a big step forward.
Although their relationship has not yet been clarified, but it is precisely this hazy feeling that is most moving!
…….
At this moment, Lu Chen didn’t know,
On the Internet, a storm of public opinion that is closely related to him is about to come!
_________
TN: Raw says “hate iron for not being steel” which means to feel resentful towards somebody for failing to meet expectations and impatient to see improvement. More info here.1
TN: Chen Shimei is a Chinese opera character and a byword in China for a heartless and unfaithful man. More about him: Here.2
