The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

Chapter 201 Let nature take its course

A sharp pain shot through Shang Yibo's clenched fist. He opened his palm and found that his fingernails had carved four deep red marks into his palm.

He listened so intently that he didn't look up until Zhou Yanruo stopped speaking, his eyes blurry with tears. However, to his surprise, Zhou Yanruo's expression was unusually calm as she recounted her experiences, as if she were telling someone else's story.

Zhou Yanruo looked away, and her eyes met Shang Yibo's. On Shang Yibo's fair and handsome face, his eyes were glistening with tears, and his expression was filled with sorrow, which made Zhou Yanruo's heart tremble.

Those familiar eyes and that familiar scene made her feel as if she were seeing Wang Jie from back then, the same person who showed the same expression when his loved ones passed away.

What on earth is going on today? First, I was exposed by bored netizens and innocently subjected to cyberbullying. Now I'm sitting here, voluntarily revealing a past buried for eighteen years and pouring out my heart to someone I don't even know very well.

Did they mistake Shang Yibo for Wang Jie again? No, they just look alike. We can't have such absurd thoughts anymore.

Zhou Yanruo didn't want this atmosphere to continue, so she had to adjust her mindset and move on.

Shang Yibo murmured in a hoarse voice, "I never imagined that you experienced such a huge life change back then, and that you silently endured it all by yourself."

He said in a deep voice, "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for? I didn't even care that idle people online were venting behind their internet cables." Zhou Yanruo looked at Shang Yibo's sorrowful expression and deliberately teased, "What, are you sympathizing with my situation?"

Shang Yibo was still immersed in sadness. When Zhou Yanruo teased him, he glared at her, then took a tissue and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became somewhat awkward, and the two remained silent for a while.

Shang Yibo was unwilling and thought to himself, "Zhou Yanruo just mentioned Wang Jie, so should I just tell her that Wang Jie is actually right in front of her?"

Hesitantly, wondering whether he should mention Wang Jie, the thought had barely formed in his mind before his mouth involuntarily uttered the name.

"Wang Jie, he is...?"

At this moment, Zhou Yanruo pursed her lips gently and said, "These past few years have indeed been tough, but it's all in the past now. I'm not the kind of person who likes to dwell on the past."

"Oh?" Shang Yibo felt a strange sense of disappointment. He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

It seems that those hardships in life have eroded Zhou Yanruo's natural emotions. In comparison, matters of the heart seem insignificant in her eyes.

At this moment, Shang Yibo had only one thought in his mind: not to disturb Zhou Yanruo anymore, so as to avoid stirring up unnecessary waves in her peaceful life.

Perhaps the best way for the two of them to get along right now is to let things take their natural course and not force any changes.

Seeing that Shang Yibo remained silent, Zhou Yanruo took the initiative to bring up the matter of handling public opinion: "I'll call Qingnan and ask how they're handling it."

She stood up and walked to the coffee table in the living room to get her phone, which was charging. Shang Yibo was pulled back to reality by her words, and the headline he had just seen online flashed through his mind: "[The woman beside Shang Yibo is not simple]". He watched Zhou Yanruo's retreating figure, muttering softly, "Is she really that complicated?"

"What's not simple?" Zhou Yanruo turned around and asked curiously.

Shang Yibo bluntly said, "Some people online say you're not a simple woman. I've been thinking, what's so special about you?"

Zhou Yanruo smiled and replied, "It is indeed not simple. You'll find out soon enough."

Her phone had automatically shut down because it ran out of battery. She was so busy talking that she hadn't turned it on after plugging it in. Now, as soon as she turned it on, she received a series of message notifications. "No wonder my phone was so quiet earlier; I forgot to turn it on."

After dialing Qi Qingnan's number, Zhou Yanruo pressed the speakerphone button. The phone rang only once before Qi Qingnan answered, "Yanruo, what's wrong? Your phone is off. Did you see my message?"

Zhou Yanruo replied, "My phone died just now, and I just saw your message. Is your strategy to not respond at all and just let it go?"

Qi Qingnan, on the other end of the phone, seemed to be in a noisy environment, her voice somewhat muffled: "Those people who do public relations follow the same old routines step by step, which I don't think are very effective. Every time, they just wait until things develop to a certain point and then they calm down on their own. On the contrary, excessive manipulation will only make the situation more serious, so it's better to handle it quietly, which is both simple and economical."

Zhou Yanruo: "That works too. I was with Yibo, so he heard it too."

Qi Qingnan: "Yibo, stop responding to online comments. Those people are just trying to get attention and traffic. Ignore them, and they'll find new topics to talk about."

At this moment, Zhou Yanruo had already walked back to the dining table and placed her phone on the table in front of Shang Yibo. "You can talk to Qingnan."

Shang Yibo readily agreed, "Okay, you guys handle it." As he finished speaking, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, but his eyes glanced at Zhou Yanruo with a wicked smile, clearly a vengeful expression.

Zhou Yanruo saw an expression completely different from his answer and added, "Don't worry, we need to discuss company matters. We don't have time to pay attention to those online comments."

Qi Qingnan's voice became intermittent, "You... Yibo, I'll contact you later... The signal is bad, I'll hang up now."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yanruo immediately received a message from Qi Qingnan: "Keep an eye on Yibo. Although he seemed obedient on the surface, he didn't mean it."

Zhou Yanruo couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Are you that happy?" Shang Yibo asked curiously.

"Look." Zhou Yanruo held her phone out to Shang Yibo, showing him Qi Qingnan's message. "Everyone knows you, there's no point in pretending."

Shang Yibo scoffed, "I'm still waiting to see how 'extraordinary' you really are. If you just back down now, you won't get to see it."

Shang Yibo sat quietly at the dining table, waiting to see just how "not simple" Zhou Yanruo meant.

Zhou Yanruo sat down by herself, quickly operated her phone with her head down, then looked up at Shang Yibo and said with a sly smile, "Search my Weibo."

Shang Yibo took the phone, opened Weibo, chuckled twice, and said, "No need to search, you're already trending. Looks like you have a knack for becoming famous through controversy; it's a real shame you're not an artist."

Zhou Yanruo has changed her Weibo nickname to "An Extraordinary Woman" and posted a new Weibo post: [The essence of following celebrities should be to gain emotional value. If the opposite makes you uncomfortable, then you might as well temporarily log off and live your real-life life properly. If you have other motives, such as wanting to engage in cyberbullying, then let me tell you, neither offline nor online, it's acceptable. I solemnly say to you, "No." Yes, literally, stop here.]

As Shang Yibo was reading this post, Zhou Yanruo quickly posted another: [If you want to discuss this with me, please introduce yourself first. Are you an adult? Are you over 18? Are you here to follow a star, or are you deliberately causing trouble? Of course, those who cause trouble might have ulterior motives. So, may I ask what kind of fan you are?]

This is what Zhou Yanruo meant by "not simple"—she simply changed her Weibo nickname to "Not a Simple Woman".

"Is this just a self-proclaimed 'not simple' or is that what you think you are? Let me add some spice to your story."

Immediately afterwards, Shang Yibo posted on his Weibo: "Fans' enthusiasm for their idols and my enthusiasm for my acting career are essentially no different; both are about pursuing inner emotional fulfillment. As for their so-called meaning, that's something imposed by the outside world, and what does it have to do with our personal feelings?"

Finally, he specifically tagged Zhou Yanruo.