After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future
Chapter 460 - 455: Softbank Waiting for a Good Price

"Happy?"

Lu Liang paid with his card and left a delivery address at the store, as they had purchased too much; just the shoes alone amounted to three pairs, and the clothes were bought in complete sets.

The two of them only had four hands between them and couldn't possibly carry it all, not to mention that the sports car had limited space and couldn't fit everything.

"Happy!" Sakurada Miyuki beamed, her eyes narrowing as she clung to Lu Liang's arm, wishing she could hang herself on him entirely.

She had always thought she wasn't a vain girl, but the envious looks from the salespeople still made her very happy.

The pair left Yorletown, and just as the sports car drove out of the parking lot, a young couple emerged from behind a load-bearing column.

"Was that Lu Liang just now?"

"Looks familiar, seems like it, right?"

"Holy shit, has Lu Liang changed girlfriends?"

"Well, he's been so close with Little Wang, what good could he be? Did you get a picture?"

"I did, but it's not very clear, and it's only a profile."

"Send it to me."

The girl was filled with righteous indignation and started tapping on her phone, composing a short essay on Little Red Potato.

"Encounter with Lu Liang in Tokyo..."

In recent days, Domestic Entertainment had been quite calm,

with no stars getting caught, nor any artists getting married.

Wang Feng seized the opportune moment and released his 12th album, "No. 29 Green."

Thus, the news of Lu Liang's date with his new girlfriend in Tokyo spread quickly from Little Red Potato, reaching the top of the trending searches.

Li Manli was participating in the popular parachute training live: "Brothers and sisters, as long as there's no god-like player, I'll definitely survive to the final circle."

She found a bush to hide in and, during her spare time, glanced at the live chat: "Did you break up with Lu Liang?"

Li Manli was taken aback and asked, "What breakup?"

The assistant beside her gave her a look and briefly explained that about half an hour ago, someone in Tokyo spotted someone who looked like Lu Liang shopping with a beautiful girl.

Upon hearing this, Li Manli was shocked, her mind in a whirl, and her thoughts racing. Suddenly, she smiled at the camera: "Right, we broke up a long time ago, but it's not a big deal, is it?"

"Could it be that none of you have multiple ex-girlfriends? No way, no way, don't tell me some of you have been single since birth?"

She figured that many celebrities' images collapsed because of cheating scandals, and the best way to protect Lu Liang's reputation now was to admit that they had broken up long ago.

One statement to clarify, another to mock, directly resolved the crisis of damage to Lu Liang's reputation.

The breakup news also quickly spread from the live stream, strongly hitting the top of the trending searches and sparking heated discussions among netizens.

"No wonder last month, when Panda went public and several PDD and Hai streamers attended, only Li Xiaomeng didn't go."

"Damn, Lu Liang, this asshole always likes younger girls. That chick looks like she can't be over 20."

"Has anyone noticed that Lu Liang's new girlfriend looks a lot like Showa's number one singer, Nakamori Akina?"

"Honestly, she's not as pretty as Li Xiaomeng."

"A 70% resemblance to Akina, and I'm losing my mind. How could she not be as pretty as an internet celebrity? Dude, are you blind?"

"Give me ten minutes, I want all the information on that girl."

"Am I the only one paying attention to Meixue's new album?"

Wang Feng: "I'm paying attention too..."

Night fell, and Lu Liang returned to Roppongi with Miyuki.

Suddenly, he received a message from Li Manli: "I didn't want to break up with you, just didn't want your reputation to be damaged."

Lu Liang felt puzzled and glanced at the domestic news. After thinking for a bit, he replied, "Don't be fooled by those online news snippets taken out of context; I've been at the company all this time."

He asked Wen Chao to send over a random photo, which he then forwarded to Li Manli.

"It's getting colder, make sure to keep warm, and send me a message when you're back in the country~" Li Manli sent a cute emoticon pack.

Although she knew the news was probably true, as long as Lu Liang was still willing to deceive her, why not pretend it was fake?

Because all she had was Lu Liang.

"It's getting late, get some rest soon."

Lu Liang smiled and stroked his chin, murmuring, "It seems I have to wear a mask when I go out in the future."

It was just an insignificant little incident, he didn't take it to heart too much, but he couldn't help but reflect on how Li Manli had grown.

She had made the best choice right off the bat, no longer the brainless haughty little fairy from before.

At that moment, several sales associates from the store arrived with more than a dozen shopping bags.

"Thank you so much, sisters, for bringing these over so late."

Sakurada Miyuki bowed her thanks, and once they had left, she joyfully unwrapped the packages and began trying on different outfits in front of her mother, switching between several sets of clothes.

Not only were there clothes and hats, but also a small crossbody bag. She inquired delightedly, "Do I look good, Mom?"

Erii smirked and nodded, "Our Meixue, you look good in anything."

"Good looking," Lu Liang also chuckled and nodded.

Meixue's smile blossomed like a flower. She spread her arms wide and, regardless of her mother's presence, gave Lu Liang a big kiss.

Erii smiled lightly, silently gathered the shopping bags scattered on the floor, and then returned to her own room.

With a crafty smile, Sakurada Miyuki whispered into Lu Liang's ear, "Sir, Mommy has gone to sleep."

"So?"

"It's time for us to go to sleep too."

Suddenly, Meixue jumped onto Lu Liang's back like an octopus. Using hands and feet, she clung tightly to him.

"Then let's go," said Lu Liang, his mouth curving into a smile as he carried Meixue to her girl's room.

Although his room was the master bedroom with a larger bed, he preferred to keep things separate for dry and wet areas; otherwise, he wouldn't sleep comfortably.

Meanwhile, it was five o'clock in the afternoon in London.

Although she had returned from East Country, Zheng Xiaoxuan's phone still retained the National app.

She would casually scroll through Little Red Potato and Weibo in her free time, and her eyes fell on the trending topic the moment it appeared.

She was so angry that she stormed next door to Su Wanyu's room, intending to share the news.

But upon opening the door, she saw Su Wanyu sitting quietly by the window reading, with the baby in the nearby crib also in peaceful silence, round eyes wide open, grabbing at the air.

Wisps of the sunset filtered through the window, casting a golden glow over them, enveloping them in a holy light. The scene was picturesque, almost like an oil painting.

Seeing Zheng Xiaoxuan, Su Wanyu lifted her wrist to check the time and said with a warm smile, "Is it this late already? I'll go cook dinner. Xiaoxuan, would you mind looking after Siqing for me?"

She picked up the baby, kissed him, and said, "Mommy's going to make dinner, can Auntie take care of you, is that okay?"

"Oh, sure." Zheng Xiaoxuan naturally took the child, but the words at the tip of her tongue were never spoken.

That was just the kind of guy Lu Liang was. Telling her would only ruin Su Wanyu's mood and seemingly serve no other purpose.

"Bastard, you owe me a favor," she muttered resentfully. After a long contemplation, she chose to keep it to herself.

Su Wanyu was busy trying to earn credits to graduate early and had to take care of the baby and her 'big baby,' so she had no time to browse the internet.

Moreover, based on her extensive internet surfing experience, although Lu Liang was famous, he was still a businessman.

The lifespan of this news on the trending searches would definitely not exceed 24 hours. It was almost certain that as long as she didn't tell, Su Wanyu would probably never find out.

Suddenly, the little one burst into tears with a loud cry.

Zheng Xiaoxuan glared unsympathetically, "What? You don't like it when I call out your dad?"

The baby cried miserably, and no amount of comforting helped, until Zheng Xiaoxuan cried uncle, "All right, all right, I'll stop talking about him."

Just as the words left her mouth, the baby suddenly ceased crying, his large eyes blinking, with shiny teardrops still clinging to his lashes.

Zheng Xiaoxuan was astonished, "Did you forget to drink Mengpo Soup?"

Suddenly, she smelled something foul and her face darkened instantly.

The next morning, as Zheng Xiaoxuan had predicted, the excitement surrounding Lu Liang slowly faded.

The news didn't last even one night. After all, breaking up and finding a new girlfriend, while not negative, couldn't be considered positive either.

Lu Liang was cozying up to the Liu family recently. In case he took offense and Weibo suffered an undeserved disaster, that wouldn't be ideal.

Little Red Potato and Douyin also downplayed the news. Both apps held stakes by Lu Liang, and they certainly weren't bored enough to offend a shareholder.

Especially Little Red Potato, which was in need of funds recently.

The internet, except for Tieba which was uncontrolled, paid no interest to such gossip. Because in their eyes, it was just about changing a girl. If they had as much money as Lu Liang, they'd surely play even more extravagantly.

On the afternoon of the 18th, Sun Zhengyi returned to his country from Beijing, and Lu Liang went to Softbank Corporation in the Harbor District with Ota Ling.

There, he not only met the legendary investor nearing sixty but also saw Old Ma from Ali Group.

"Mr. Sun, hello," greeted Lu Liang with a smile, then turned to the beaming Mr. Ma, "Mr. Ma, we meet again."

"Talk about a coincidence, I had some business to discuss with Mr. Sun and followed him back. Wherever life takes you, we meet again."

Old Ma chuckled and hurried to explain, "Mr. Lu, I'm here to help Alipay break into the Neon market. You go on with your talk, pretend I'm not here."

He had no desire, nor would he interfere in DiDi's affairs, which meant Lu Liang could be at ease and needn't view him with animosity.

Lu Liang realized, exchanged a few pleasantries, and got down to business, "Mr. Sun, I'm here to talk about DiDi, and I'm hoping for your support."

"Mr. Lu, I've just come back from Beijing," Mr. Sun said with a smile, having already met with Liu Qing, "and we've had a discussion."

Mr. Sun awaited Lu Liang's offer with a smile, seemingly poised to extract a good price.

He was aware of the situation with DiDi, and he knew the significance of Softbank's 10% decision-making power for both parties.

Liu Qing had made an offer to gain the support of Softbank, which was quite tempting, but he was still interested in hearing Lu Liang's bid.