After their eyes met, Ji Yu dropped a cryptic remark.
“Tomorrow, we’ll find a chance to lure him out.”

---

The next day, a rare stretch of warm sunlight appeared in the sky. Rays filtered through the clouds, slipping into the air’s narrow gaps and injecting a trace of vitality into the otherwise cold season.

As soon as Shi Xing arrived at her post, she felt—though she couldn’t be sure—that someone was watching her from behind.

Yet every time she turned around, that strange gaze vanished instantly. Though puzzled, she decided to stay still and observe rather than act rashly.

When she found the captain of the badminton medical center, she brought up her innovative idea regarding moxibustion sticks.

After hearing her proposal, the captain looked clearly conflicted. After hesitating for a long while, he finally said slowly,
“Normally, things like this would be reported directly to Sister Yu Jing. But she’s currently suspended, so Song Lin is temporarily taking over her position.”

Before he even finished speaking, Shi Xing understood what he meant. She could only nod helplessly.

Unexpectedly, before she even had the chance to look for Song Lin, he came to her first. Rubbing his nose, he said smugly,
“You were looking for me?”

Shi Xing felt speechless inside, but she forced herself to suppress her discomfort and calmly explained the entire situation again.

However, after listening, Song Lin acted unusually contemplative. After a long pause, he suddenly raised his voice and accused her,
“You contacted an outside company on your own—were you trying to pocket the price difference?”

There were already many colleagues gathered nearby. Once Song Lin said that out loud, everyone turned to look.

Shi Xing’s breathing grew heavier. She immediately caught the flaw in his words.
“I haven’t even mentioned contacting a company yet. So how did you know?”

That question left Song Lin speechless. Many of the colleagues already disliked him and began whispering criticisms. Seeing the situation turn against him, he left unwillingly.

Even so, Shi Xing’s unease didn’t disappear with his departure. She let out a heavy sigh, feeling a sudden sense of sadness that someone like Song Lin could hold a management position.

---

At the same time, with the Olympics approaching, many provincial-level athletes from various sports were gathered for centralized internal training.

By the end of the day, Shi Xing was swamped with work and had nearly forgotten the unpleasant incident with Song Lin that morning.

During a break, Ying Xiaoxiao came by to deliver milk tea.

The two sat on a bench, their eyes glued to the handsome young men walking back and forth nearby. Ying Xiaoxiao sighed wistfully.
“Suddenly, your job feels pretty blissful.”

Being surrounded every day by good-looking teenage boys was more than enough to spark her enthusiasm for work.

Shi Xing shook her head and replied helplessly,
“You wouldn’t think that if you worked here. Carrying that heavy medical kit everywhere to massage and treat injuries leaves you no time to look at handsome guys.”

Ying Xiaoxiao laughed and nudged her arm, lowering her voice.
“So who do you think has the better body—the fair-skinned swimmer or the tan table tennis guy?”

Shi Xing followed her gaze, examined the group carefully, then sighed.
“I’ll go with the swimmer.”

“After working with table tennis players every day, I’ve had enough of looking at them.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ying Xiaoxiao teased,
“Is that a humblebrag?”

“No. This is just my daily life,” Shi Xing replied, tugging lightly at the corner of her mouth.

Just then, a boy passed by wearing a gray jacket, a crossbody bag slung over his shoulder. His skin was pale, and his eyes looked sleepy.

Ying Xiaoxiao hurriedly shook Shi Xing’s arm excitedly.
“Did you see him? That handsome guy! He looks like a younger version of Ji Yu!”

Shi Xing also found it uncanny. Her gaze unconsciously followed him as Ying Xiaoxiao pulled her along to keep up.

But after walking for a while, they realized the boy had disappeared. Ying Xiaoxiao decided to look elsewhere, leaving Shi Xing standing alone.

Bored, Shi Xing wandered around—and unexpectedly ran into Ji Yu at a corner.

When he saw her, he paused slightly and raised his tone.
“What are you doing here?”

“Did you come looking for me?”
A smile slowly surfaced in his eyes.

Naturally, Shi Xing couldn’t admit she’d chased after someone else, so she vaguely replied,
“Yeah.”

Just then, Ying Xiaoxiao suddenly ran over from another direction, shouting,
“Where did that handsome guy run off to?”

Shi Xing tried to signal her to stop with her eyes, but it was already too late—Ji Yu had heard everything clearly.

Realizing the situation, Ying Xiaoxiao immediately fled, leaving Shi Xing alone to silently suffer.

Ji Yu raised his brow slightly and looked down at her.
“What’s going on? Weren’t you here to see me? You switched targets halfway?”

The barrage of questions made Shi Xing start to sweat. She explained awkwardly,
“We just saw a guy who looked a lot like you.”

“How similar?” Ji Yu clearly didn’t believe her, tugging at his lips faintly.

She thought for a moment and ventured,
“Like… your biological son.”

The moment the words left her mouth, she knew it was wrong. Sure enough, Ji Yu’s expression turned strange.

Before she could explain further, he let out a soft chuckle and drawled lazily,
“Sounds like someone’s changing her heart.”

Her face flushed red as she clung to his arm.
“That’s not what I meant.”

Ji Yu rubbed her head—and just then, the boy who looked so much like him appeared in front of them.

The boy spoke softly,
“Are you Senior Ji Yu?”

Ji Yu nodded in confusion. After getting confirmation, Lin Youhao gathered his courage.
“Can I get your autograph?”

This time, it was Shi Xing who froze. So the handsome guy was actually Ji Yu’s fan.

Ji Yu exchanged a glance with Shi Xing, then smiled meaningfully and said cheerfully,
“Of course.”

Several other boys nearby immediately gathered around to ask for autographs as well.

Shi Xing was gradually squeezed out of the crowd. She rubbed her forehead and smiled helplessly—kids really were something.

Seeing Ji Yu surrounded, she was about to tactfully leave when her phone rang. It was the company owner from the night before.

He said someone had come to discuss cooperation, and the content matched what Shi Xing had mentioned almost exactly. Afraid something might be wrong, they called to confirm.

Shi Xing’s eyes lit up.
The big fish had taken the bait.

She quickly returned and tugged on Ji Yu’s sleeve, whispering,
“He really fell for it.”

Ji Yu grabbed a jacket, took her hand, and led her straight to the parking lot.

He drove to the outskirts of the city. Along the way, Shi Xing messaged the boss, asking him to stall the other party for now.

The boss immediately agreed.

When they arrived, they saw Song Lin inside, just as expected.

The moment Song Lin saw them, panic flashed across his face.

Ji Yu looked at him and teased casually,
“I thought Captain Song was too busy to have time for places like this.”

Though Song Lin usually strutted around in front of Shi Xing and the others, he instantly changed his tune in front of Ji Yu, smiling obsequiously.
“When Shi Xing told me about this this morning, I thought it was very promising. I just came by after work to take a look—help her evaluate it.”

Listening to his sycophantic tone, Shi Xing rolled her eyes silently.

Ji Yu glanced behind him, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.
“Evaluating for someone else—yet you planned to sign your own name on the contract?”

Song Lin could no longer keep up the act and immediately begged,
“I was wrong.”

Shi Xing let out a cold snort and continued,
“You were the one who secretly took our photos before, weren’t you? The IP address from the backend was traced to your home.”

She added pointedly,
“Do you realize I could sue you for invasion of privacy?”

At that, Song Lin was practically on the verge of kneeling.
“I’m sorry, please don’t call the police. I was just momentarily possessed. You two were being attacked so badly online, so I wanted to ride the wave a bit. I didn’t do anything serious—just took a few photos behind your backs and twisted the facts a little.”

“A little?” Shi Xing was speechless.

Ji Yu had borne so much backlash because of this, and now the man thought a light apology would end it.

Ji Yu had originally intended to hand Song Lin straight over to the police. But when he caught sight of Shi Xing’s expression, he paused.

She looked even angrier than he was.

At that thought, the corner of his lips lifted slightly—and he even forgot to react.

It wasn’t until Shi Xing patted him and asked,
“What are you spacing out for?”
that he snapped back.

Ji Yu looked at her with an unreadable gaze and said slowly,
“My girlfriend’s standing up for me—can’t I be happy about that?”

Shi Xing was utterly defeated by his logic. When men became lovestruck, even Wang Baochuan had nothing on them.

---

While Song Lin was being taken to the police station, the internet exploded once again.

No one knew where the rumors came from, but netizens began discussing it wildly across platforms.

Shi Xing scrolled through her phone. Ever since Ji Yu’s last incident, she had rarely paid attention to trending topics.

“Apparently a team doctor from the Sports Bureau got arrested.”

“A lot of old scandals are being dug up again. Are they doing another internal purge this time?”

“Who said the sports world has no gossip? This place is wild.”

As public opinion surged, Shi Xing suddenly felt there was an invisible force guiding the narrative.

She turned and showed Ji Yu the comments on her phone.
“Did your people leak Song Lin’s situation?”

Ji Yu nodded.
“Consider it revenge for you.”

Shi Xing couldn’t help worrying that he might offend the people backing Song Lin.

But Ji Yu didn’t care. He casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders, eyes fixed on the TV ahead, and said calmly,
“It’s fine. Worst case, I get criticized a bit.”

“Song Lin isn’t important enough for the higher-ups to fall out with me over.”