Chapter Eighty-Eight: Is She Here to Join Us Too?

After getting into the car, Lu Mengyao took off her coat, revealing a sexy camisole top.

“Mmm... it’s a little hot.”

“It is hot sitting in this car,” Cheng Yao teased.

I wasn’t talking about that kind of hot.

Lu Mengyao shot him a glance. Lin Keton’s appearance had stirred up a sense of crisis in her.

“Lin Keton... is she here to join us too?”

“Yeah.”

Cheng Yao felt that the phrase “join us” was used very well.

In truth, Lu Mengyao’s sense of crisis was not all that severe. Lin Keton was a latecomer, and as long as Lu Mengyao did not do anything foolish, there was no way she could be outshone. Besides, she had lately become more interested in reading and had also started cultivating her own hobbies.

For instance, coffee and afternoon tea, and yoga.

“She won’t make a scene, will she?”

That was what Lu Mengyao cared about most. If she made a scene and exposed Cheng Yao’s secrets, Lu Mengyao would be terribly embarrassed.

“Don’t worry. She won’t.”

Cheng Yao’s brows twitched. He had already told Lin Keton that he had a girlfriend; as the other woman, she ought to have the proper awareness.

“Look at my skin. Isn’t it a little fairer now? Smoother too?” Lu Mengyao asked with a grin.

Cheng Yao glanced at her and said, “Can’t tell.”

“Fine. I’ve been doing spa treatments lately. They make your skin more elastic, and if you take care of yourself, you age a bit more slowly.”

“You’re only twenty-two and you’re already thinking about that?”

Cheng Yao was taken aback. He had to admit, that was very much like her. “What about your driver’s license?”

Lu Mengyao looked out the window. “I failed again...”

“Second time already, right?”

“I’m anxious too. Go pick the car up for me. Just leave it in the parking lot for now.”

“Okay. I’ll go tomorrow.”

Cheng Yao thought that made sense. It was not reassuring to leave the Porsche at the dealership, and he might as well buy a few parking spaces in the neighborhood while he was at it.

Suddenly, Lu Mengyao turned and asked, “What are you doing?”

Only then did she realize Cheng Yao was playing with her hair. What was so fun about hair?

Did he really have some strange fetish?

Cheng Yao smiled. Lu Mengyao’s hair was quite smooth, and it felt very comfortable to touch.

“Tonight, try two ponytails.”

“Two ponytails?”

“Yeah.”

“Is that for the shoot too?”

“Mm.”

Cheng Yao agreed easily. He wanted to see what it felt like to hold two ponytails. It was a little bizarre, perhaps, but curiosity was hard to resist.

“My equipment has basically been delivered to the neighborhood gate. When we get back tonight, let’s try it.”

“Okay.”

Of course Lu Mengyao would not pass up the chance to be alone with Cheng Yao. She needed to seize some initiative. Compared with Lin Keton, she had come first, and that was a great advantage.

Dinner was a refined affair of sashimi, garlic lobster, a few side dishes, and hotpot-sliced lamb. They did not spend much either, just a little over eight hundred for the two of them.

During the meal, Lin Keton also sent a message asking who Lu Mengyao was, whether she was his girlfriend...

Cheng Yao did not hide it. It was only a matter of time before the other side knew.

Sure enough, Lin Keton sent back two words: “womanizer”...

Cheng Yao had long since gotten used to it. He knew he was scum, but at the very least Lu Mengyao had chosen this willingly. Even if Lin Keton found out, hadn’t she only cursed him a few times?

Clearly, Lin Keton had been prepared.

When the car pulled up at the neighborhood gate, Cheng Yao picked up a parcel from the delivery lockers. They were all small pieces of equipment, such as an action camera, a microphone, a full-frame mirrorless camera, a stabilizer...

As for the drone, sliding rail, recorder, balance scooter, lighting equipment, and the rest... those would wait until the company was truly up and running.

The McLaren stood out quite a bit inside the neighborhood. The Cayenne had once been the big shot; now the McLaren had taken that place.

Cheng Yao did not go back to his own place. Instead, he went with Lu Mengyao to Building Twelve.

There was no way Cheng Cheng could have guessed that her brother was actually this close.

Back in the room, the two ragdoll cats immediately latched onto Lu Mengyao, meowing as they circled around her.

Lu Mengyao was practically melting. She nuzzled the cats for a while before finally going to scoop the litter box.

That was the first thing she did every time she came home now. Cheng Yao was setting up the equipment. “Your roommates don’t ask you about this?”

“They did. I told them the truth.”

“What do you mean?”

Lu Mengyao blinked and poured out some cat food. “I told them I have a man outside, and that I stay over there sometimes. They envy me and make sarcastic remarks—what else can they do? I’ve been posting on Moments lately, so they asked me about it privately too, and even asked whether the man was handsome. Of course he is...”

“Actually, they just want to see photos. If he’s handsome, they’ll say they envy me; if he’s ugly, they’ll comfort me while secretly mocking me. Do you think I don’t know what they’re thinking?”

“You girls really do have a lot of drama,” Cheng Yao said with a smile.

Places like Jin Yi had far too many older men looking for little caretakers. Young rich heirs also liked driving to the school gate, and some influencer companies came there to scout new talent.

Jin Yi was famous as a breeding ground for seafood.

Lu Mengyao rolled her eyes. “What else would it be? You think seven people in one dorm are all living in peace? We just happen to be sharing space. Our dorm is still considered good. At our school, some girls are bullied on campus, and some are tormented by the whole dorm...”

“That kind of thing is pretty common.”

Cheng Yao nodded. The poorer the educational standards and the laxer the management, the more likely such problems were to arise.

“All right, I’m ready. Let’s go to your room.”

“Okay.”

In Lu Mengyao’s room, the wardrobe was packed with all kinds of clothes, many of them still bearing their tags, pristine new branded pieces.

She sat curiously on the edge of the bed and asked with a smile, “How are we filming? This is proper filming, right?”

Though she was smiling, if it were some kind of indecent video, she would still be very resistant to it. She knew some people truly had such habits and tastes, enjoying shooting provocative things.

But she did not like that.

It would be like leaving a handle for others to seize, and besides, wouldn’t it be awkward to watch oneself appear in a little video?

What if, heaven forbid, it got leaked? Wouldn’t that be terrible?

“What are you thinking? I’m not ninety-one yet...” Cheng Yao said, amused and exasperated. He knew what Lu Mengyao had in mind.

Lu Mengyao smiled without speaking. She chose a demure outfit, then adjusted her hair.

Cheng Yao fixed the phone in place, got the equipment ready, and began the first shoot.

With advanced photography techniques, he naturally brought out Lu Mengyao’s innocent side. Cheng Yao suddenly thought of a sentence:

What you see is only what she wants you to see.

No luxury goods, only a pure outfit, a pure face, and a pure smile; everything about her seemed beautiful, innocent, and clean...

Lu Mengyao looked at the video and said in surprise, “Your skills are that good?”

“Of course. Did you think otherwise?” Cheng Yao lifted a brow.

Lu Mengyao did not mind his flirtatiousness, only felt a little astonished. She had thought Cheng Yao was just messing around, but who would have expected the result to be genuinely good? Even someone as picky as she was about photos and videos found it very satisfying.

She had not expected him to have such a talent.

“Change outfits, change outfits...”

“Oh, you’re not going out?”

“Just stay here. What are we to each other?”

Then Cheng Yao showed her a few clips of Zheng Yuechan’s videos. Lu Mengyao learned from them, and she learned quickly, able to grasp the essence at once.

Cheng Yao had a feeling she could become popular.

She just lacked a team.

Perhaps that was how Zheng Yuechan had felt about him back then.

...

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