That night, Lin Qingle coaxed for a long time before Xu Tingbai’s expression finally improved a little.
The next morning, the alarm clock went off for work. Lin Qingle had been thoroughly exhausted by a certain someone the night before and was too tired to even open her eyes. She simply reached out and fumbled around blindly.
“I got it.” The person behind her stirred and turned off the alarm.
Lin Qingle mumbled something incoherent, unwilling to leave the warmth of the blanket. After turning off the alarm, Xu Tingbai lay back down and pulled her into his arms.
“I have to get up…”
Xu Tingbai responded with a soft “Mm,” but his arms didn’t loosen.
Lin Qingle struggled in his embrace. “I’m so tired. It’s all your fault…”
Xu Tingbai’s lips curved slightly as he nuzzled the back of her neck—it smelled nice, refreshing and invigorating.
The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.
“Yu qywzv?” bl ypjle elzkclayvlzu.
Nkd Ckdtzl: “…Ebs vsze usw dsv vs zlv xl pzllr zypv dktbv?”
“R eke zlv usw pzllr.”
“Ebyv vkxl eke usw zlv xl pzllr?”
Idsokdt bl bye ds taswde vs pvyde sd kd vbkp yatwxldv, Dw Mkdtcyk nswze sdzu pyu, “Mbld dlmv vkxl, R osd’v es vbkp.”
“Slyzzu?”
“Slyzzu… Llmv vkxl, sdzu obld ol esd’v byhl osaj vbl dlmv eyu. Tso ycswv vbyv?”
“E-Ebs oydvp vs rzyu okvb usw?” Nkd Ckdtzl lzcsole bkx yde pzkrrle swv sq bkp lxcaynl. “R’x nblnjkdt Elkcs qkapv.”
She sat up, grabbed her phone, and opened Weibo.
She was trending!
Right at the second spot on the trending list—#Woman Brings Dog on Bus and Bullies the Elderly#
“……….”
As infuriating as the tag was, she had to admit—it was very effective at making people mad.
Xu Tingbai sat up beside her and frowned when he saw it. “The clarification statement will be released later. Don’t worry.”
Lin Qingle wasn’t worried at all—this was something she had insisted on doing. The one who really needed comforting was the man beside her. He had been furious about this last night and had certainly taught her a lesson for it.
She clicked into the trending topic but didn’t bother reading the comments. People online could be vicious, and even she couldn’t handle too much of it. But as she scrolled down, a newly popular video was pushed to the top.
It was posted by an unknown netizen but had already been shared over a thousand times. The video’s thumbnail showed her, so she tapped on it.
It was footage of the incident at the café last night—when that student deliberately bumped into her. Someone had been filming the whole time?!
Of course… That student had done it on purpose, so it wasn’t surprising that someone was secretly recording.
At first, Lin Qingle wasn’t too bothered, but when she watched the later part of the video and saw that Xu Tingbai was also captured in it, she could no longer stay calm.
Her brows furrowed, and she immediately opened the comments.
【Serves her right! Support the uploader! Teach her a lesson!】
【Where did this happen? If I had known, I would’ve gone to watch the drama unfold!】
【Wait… Is that her boyfriend?! Holy shit, he’s hot!】
【That guy must’ve been deceived.】
【Bro, run! Your girlfriend is evil!】
【Did you guys even watch the full context of the last video? Is it really okay to gang up on someone like this?】
【If you’re gonna be a bleeding heart, don’t comment. That last video was very clear.】
【This guy probably isn’t a good person either. Nowadays, people just have pretty faces and nothing else.】
…
“Are they insane?! Why are they dragging you into this?!” Lin Qingle’s anger flared instantly. “Wait a second! I’m calling Xiaoni to check if the clarification statement is ready. Tell her to post it now!”
Xu Tingbai was right beside her and had naturally seen the comments too. He let out a helpless chuckle—seriously? Compared to the insults directed at her, these were nothing. Yet, she had been able to take it just fine, but now that he was involved, she was blowing up.
Xu Tingbai reminded her, “Lin Qingle, didn’t you say last night that we should let the topic heat up a bit more and post the clarification at noon?”
“A little time won’t make a difference. They can insult me, but not you. We’re posting it now.”
Xu Tingbai raised an eyebrow. “Why not me? Consider it sharing the burden with you—weathering the storm together.”
“Weather what storm? What if people dig up your identity later? You’re the owner of Aurora. That’s absolutely not an option.”
“Exactly because I’m the owner, we should wait until the topic gains more traction. The exposure might be even bigger.”
Lin Qingle understood the logic. The longer they waited, the more attention it would get, which was ultimately beneficial. But in the end, this whole mess had started because of her. She was the necessary factor in this controversy—she had no choice but to endure it. But Xu Tingbai didn’t have to be involved, and she refused to let him be dragged into it.
“It’s enough. The hype is high enough. Have the company get ready—it’s time to post.”
With that, she immediately called Dong Xiaoni. After the call, she noticed that Xu Tingbai was sitting there with a dark expression, unmoving.
Lin Qingle blinked. “What? Why aren’t you making your call?”
Xu Tingbai let out a cold huff. “Feeling uncomfortable reading those comments now? Well, I wasn’t feeling great yesterday either. Got it now?”
Lin Qingle froze for a moment—then understood.
Yesterday, a flood of people had been attacking her, but she hadn’t let him step in. So he had been holding back his anger all along. But now that the tables had turned and it was his turn to be criticized, she had immediately taken action.
Lin Qingle grinned sheepishly. “Well… nothing I can do about it. You’re Xu Tingbai, after all…”
“Heh.“
Lin Qingle cleared her throat, then switched to coaxing mode. “I mean… you’re my baby. Ever since we were kids, I couldn’t stand seeing you get bullied. Now? Even less.”
Xu Tingbai gave her a sidelong glance but said nothing.
Lin Qingle urged, “Come on, hurry up! Make the call already. Don’t start sulking again—I already coaxed you yesterday.”
Xu Tingbai remained still, so Lin Qingle quickly reached over him to grab his phone. “Hurry up, call now.”
He took the phone, but just as she was lying over him, he pressed her down onto his lap, preventing her from getting up. Lin Qingle struggled. “Hey—”
Xu Tingbai’s palm rested firmly on her lower back, holding her in place.
“Xu Tingbai…”
“Shh.” He dialed the call.
Lin Qingle froze and immediately fell silent.
Xu Tingbai glanced at her, then spoke slowly, “Send out everything we prepared. Yes, all of it—including the in-bus surveillance footage… Mm, do it now. How’s the progress on that other matter? Alright, as long as the deal is settled. Handle it as soon as possible…”
The person on the other end was probably Jason. After talking for a while, Xu Tingbai ended the call.
Lin Qingle, still lying across his lap, turned her head and asked, “How is it? What did Jason say?”
Xu Tingbai replied, “Everything’s ready.”
“That’s great!” Lin Qingle beamed. “Alright, alright, let me go. I need to get up.”
Xu Tingbai didn’t let go. Instead, he lowered his head and bit her ear.
Lin Qingle shuddered violently. “Ah! Stop it…!”
Her ears were her most ticklish and sensitive spot, and he always targeted them—it never failed.
“Aaahhh—Xu Tingbai!!”
“Are you still going to make me angry in the future?”
“I… mm! No, I won’t!”
“You better not.”
Xu Tingbai continued teasing her, but in the end, he was the one who couldn’t hold back. Without hesitation, he wrapped her up and pulled her under the covers.
“We still have work…”
“There’s time.”
“There’s not!”
…
In the end, Lin Qingle barely made it to the office on time, rushing in with a bare face—she hadn’t even had time to do her makeup.
By the time she arrived, the official statements had already been released. The guide dog training center’s Weibo post explained the entire situation and even shared pictures of Yangyang.
Aurora’s official Weibo account then reposted the statement, expressing their trust in their employee, Lin Qingle.
These two posts alone left netizens in an uproar. If some people were still skeptical at first, that doubt completely disappeared by noon when the public transportation authority released the in-bus surveillance footage. The internet’s opinion fully shifted.
The footage clearly showed the guide dog, the visually impaired young man, and the entire incident from start to finish—
【I told you the original video was too short and lacked context! But no one wanted to listen back then.】
【It was a guide dog! That means it was allowed on the bus! There was no reason to stop them!】
【From the footage, this girl did try to explain, but the other passengers refused to listen and insisted on kicking them off.】
【That blind guy is so pitiful…】
【So it turns out the old man was the one causing trouble. Unbelievable. And he had the nerve to say blind people are a burden to society? By that logic, aren’t elderly people also a ‘burden’?】
【Looking at this angle, the girl only lightly waved her hand, and the old man sat himself on the ground.】
【Guide dogs are allowed on public transport! Spread the word!!!】
【Where are the people who demanded an apology from the girl earlier??? You are the ones who should be apologizing!】
…..
Because this incident involved guide dogs, various guide dog training centers across the country, along with many influential official organizations, responded to the news. They reposted it, encouraging more attention on visually impaired individuals in China.
Soon, “guide dogs” became a trending topic.
By the time this topic hit the hot search, it was already the end of the workday. Looking at the trending discussion about guide dogs and visually impaired individuals, Lin Qingle felt both relieved and gratified. Although there was still a long way to go for guide dogs to receive the attention they needed, at least this was a step forward.
——
Lin Qingle had thought this was just a small step forward—until…
A week later.
“Hey, hey, hey! Guess what I just saw on my way here!” Ji Chaochao burst into the office, shouting excitedly.
“What now? You’re always making a fuss.”
“I take the subway and the bus to work, right? I just saw advertisements for guide dogs on both! And in the bottom right corner, there was our Aurora logo! Since when did our company get involved in this? This is insane!” Ji Chaochao waved his phone around as he spoke. “I took pictures—sending them to the group chat now!”
“Awesome!”
Hearing Ji Chaochao’s words, Lin Qingle was equally surprised. She had been staying at Xu Tingbai’s place for the past few days, so she hadn’t taken public transport and had no idea this was happening.
She quickly opened the photos he sent in the group chat. The images showed advertisement walls by the subway escalators, as well as bus exteriors and entire bus stop billboards wrapped in the campaign.
The ads featured a guide dog leading a visually impaired individual, with large text beside them:
“I Am Your Eyes.”
In smaller text, the ads detailed the laws allowing guide dogs on public transport.
“Qingle, this was arranged by President Xu, right? What a massive project! So extravagant!”
Lin Qingle was stunned. Xu Tingbai hadn’t mentioned anything about this to her, but with Aurora’s logo in the corner, it had to be his doing.
“I don’t know either.”
“How could you not know? He didn’t tell you?”
“No…”
Ji Chaochao widened his eyes, then suddenly had a knowing expression. “Ohhh—I get it now~”
Lin Qingle: “What exactly do you get?”
Ji Chaochao smirked in envy. “That guide dog incident—you went out of your way to help, and now President Xu is helping you in return! He loves what you love! Am I right?”
…
Honestly, this kind of advertisement campaign was the best way to educate both drivers and passengers. Regardless of age or gender, anyone who used public transport in the past few days would have been informed.
So this was what Xu Tingbai meant when he said, ‘Leave it to me.’
These ad spaces and materials required preparation in advance, which meant he must have started working on this the very day the incident with Xiaoqian happened. He just never told her.
Lin Qingle shot up from her seat. “I’ll be right back!”
“Huh? Where are you going?”
She didn’t have time to reply. Rushing to the elevator, she pressed the button impatiently.
She checked the time—ten minutes before work officially started.
Ding—
The elevator arrived. Lin Qingle stepped in without hesitation and pressed the button for the top floor.
“Assistant Manager Lin? What’s wrong?” Jason looked surprised to see her.
“Is he busy?”
Jason replied, “No, President Xu’s meeting doesn’t start for another half hour.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
Lin Qingle strode straight toward the office. When she reached the door, she pushed it open without hesitation.
Xu Tingbai was standing by his desk, sipping coffee. Seeing her barge in, he set his cup down. “What brings you up here? Did you leave something in my office?”
Without a word, Lin Qingle took a few quick steps forward and—whoosh!—suddenly leaped into his arms.
Xu Tingbai froze for a moment before instinctively catching her securely. “You…”
Smack—
A crisp, loud kiss landed on Xu Tingbai’s cheek.
He blinked slowly, completely caught off guard by her sudden display of affection.
Lin Qingle wrapped her arms around his neck, her eyes sparkling. “Xu Tingbai, you are so amazing and so smart!”
Xu Tingbai: “Hm?”
“The subway and bus ads—you arranged for them, didn’t you?”
He raised an eyebrow slightly. “So this is what got you all worked up.”
“This is important! Now more people will know about guide dogs, which means in the future, people like Xiaoqian won’t have trouble taking public transportation anymore!”
Xu Tingbai: “That makes you this happy?”
“Of course!” Lin Qingle beamed. “When did you set it up? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“That day, I saw how frustrated you and Xiaoqian were, so I decided to do it.” He carried her over to the couch and sat down with her in his arms. “This is just a small step. There’s still a long way to go. But Aurora will start supporting guide dog initiatives moving forward—we’ll provide funding for guide dog training centers.”
“Really?”
“Mhm. Our company already has charity projects. We’re just adding guide dog support to the list.”
Smack!
Another loud kiss.
Xu Tingbai narrowed his eyes. “Are you planning to skip work today?”
Lin Qingle: “Nope! I just think President Xu is too wonderful. Hmm… on behalf of Xiaoni and the others, I thank you, President Xu! And thank you, Aurora!”
“That’s all?” Xu Tingbai raised a brow. “Isn’t that a little too casual?”
“Then how should I thank you?” Lin Qingle was buzzing with excitement. “You name it, and I’ll do it!”
Xu Tingbai chuckled. “You said it yourself. No take-backs.”
Second Life Translations' Comment Policy
1. Be kind and respectful. Comments with curses will be put under moderation.
2. No links to other websites or asking for links.
3. No spoilers!