The President Made Me Trend

It seemed Shen Meng was tired of watching Lu Yucheng and Mo Qinghuan’s public displays of affection and wanted Li Pengyuan to visit the set to boost her own image. However, on the phone, Li Pengyuan’s tone lacked the sweetness Lu Yucheng had when speaking to Mo Qinghuan. He simply replied, “Didn’t I already give the director a red envelope to make sure you’re well taken care of in the film crew?”

“Of course I know that, but I want you to visit the set. Besides, your company isn’t too far from the film crew, right? That Lu Yucheng comes to visit Mo Qinghuan almost every day. It’s really enviable. Pengyuan, can’t we be like that?”

Shen Meng continued to act coy over the phone, her exaggerated mannerisms making her agent shiver. But she dared not leave, as doing so would only make things more obvious.

She thought that since Li Pengyuan’s company was nearby, he could at least drop by to see her. Shen Meng imagined herself proudly announcing to everyone that she too had a boyfriend. However, her request put Li Pengyuan in a difficult position.

He sighed and patiently explained, “Meng, you’re putting me in a tough spot. From the beginning, I told you I have a wife and kids. For their sake, I can’t meet you in public places. You agreed back then that you wouldn’t ask for anything else and that you just liked me for who I am.”

Li Pengyuan’s words left Shen Meng speechless. Indeed, she had said that to climb the social ladder, but after several secret meetings, she thought he had fallen for her and would sacrifice everything for her. Now, it seemed that was just her fantasy.

Unable to hide her disappointment, Shen Meng began to cry, pouring her heart out to Li Pengyuan over the phone. “Pengyuan, do you know how much I suffer in the film crew every day? That Mo Qinghuan relies on Lu Yucheng to bully and mock me. I’m really hurt. Pengyuan, I know you have a wife and kids, but what am I to you? Didn’t you say you loved me?”

Her anger finally turned into tears, and she cried uncontrollably, not caring about her makeup.

Li Pengyuan was in a meeting, hoping to quickly wrap up the call. But Shen Meng’s incessant crying made him frustrated. He reluctantly suggested, “How about this: I’ll call the director tonight and ask him to take better care of you. As for Mr. Lu, Meng, I can’t openly oppose him. You know our financial strength is vastly different. If I offend him, future collaborations will be difficult. Please, for my sake, don’t make a fuss, okay?”

Li Pengyuan had heard from the director about Shen Meng’s arrogant behavior in the film crew. He didn’t want to bring it up, but her demands were becoming increasingly difficult to fulfill, leaving him with no choice.

“How can you say that, Pengyuan? I didn’t…”

Shen Meng tried to explain, but before she could finish, Li Pengyuan’s impatient voice cut her off. “Alright, let’s leave it at that. I need to get back to my meeting.”

Listening to the dial tone, Shen Meng angrily threw her phone to the ground. Her agent, witnessing the scene, was too scared to say a word. Shen Meng, feeling defeated, muttered to herself, “What does that old man take me for? Just something to discard once the novelty wears off? Li Pengyuan, you won’t escape my grasp!”

Her muttering was filled with bitterness, and her expression was almost grotesque. Huo-Jie, observing from a distance, couldn’t hear who Shen Meng was talking to, but judging by her drastic mood swing, it was clear she had argued with her mysterious financial backer. Huo-Jie mocked, “Qinghuan, look at Shen Meng. She looks like an angry goldfish. Haha, serves her right for making up stories. Didn’t expect karma to hit so soon!”

“Making up stories?” Lu Yucheng, hearing Huo-Jie’s words, instinctively felt that Shen Meng must have caused trouble for Mo Qinghuan before he arrived.

Concerned, he looked at Mo Qinghuan and asked, “Tell me what happened. Did Shen Meng cause trouble again? She’s really bold. I let her off before, but she dares to act up again?”

“Mr. Lu, you don’t know. Actually, just now…” Before Mo Qinghuan could speak, Huo-Jie eagerly wanted to tell Lu Yucheng about the photo incident.

But before she could finish, Mo Qinghuan shot her a look, reminding her, “Huo-Jie, Xiaoxue went to eat. You must be hungry too. Go have some food and come back.”

“Look at me being so inconsiderate, forgetting to give you two some alone time. I won’t be the third wheel. I’ll go fill my stomach first.” Huo-Jie thought Mo Qinghuan wanted to tell Lu Yucheng herself, so she quickly left.

However, once she left, Mo Qinghuan didn’t seem to have any intention of telling Lu Yucheng. She merely said, “You know what Shen Meng is like. She deliberately makes mistakes during filming, which is exhausting. But it’s okay, I’ll be fine after a rest.”

“Is that really all?” Lu Yucheng had learned to read Mo Qinghuan’s eyes. She had a habit of blinking when she lied, and this time was no different.

But he understood that if she didn’t want to talk about it, pressing her wouldn’t help. So he decided not to expose her lie. Instead, he had his secretary bring over some dishes and said with a smile, “I recently discovered this chef. He’s quite talented. I noticed you liked these dishes before, so I had him learn them. Try them and see how they taste.”

“Alright.” Mo Qinghuan picked up her chopsticks and even fed a green bean to Lu Yucheng. Despite using the same chopsticks, Lu Yucheng didn’t mind and accepted it.

Mo Qinghuan didn’t notice that throughout the meal, Lu Yucheng’s gaze was fixed on her. It was a probing look, as he wanted to see through her, but it wasn’t easy. The only shortcut was to ask Huo-Jie.

The filming continued, but Lu Yucheng and Huo-Jie seemed to have vanished. His private car was parked nearby, so he couldn’t have gone far. Just as Mo Qinghuan was searching for him, the director suddenly shouted, “Cut!”

Only then did she realize she was so focused on finding Lu Yucheng that she forgot her lines. The director looked at Mo Qinghuan with some difficulty. With Lu Yucheng present, he didn’t dare criticize too harshly, so he gently reminded her, “Miss Qinghuan, what were you daydreaming about? Did you forget your lines?”

“I was distracted,” Mo Qinghuan apologized.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Meng mocked, “Qinghuan-Jie, even if you don’t pretend to be distracted, everyone in the film crew knows Mr. Lu is here and brought food trucks for the staff. But even so, please be serious, okay? Don’t waste the director’s film and delay everyone’s time.”