Rekindled Hearts: The Tycoon’s Reluctant Love
Chapter 399 - Chapter 399 Chapter 398 She Saw Shi Ying Getting into His Car

Chapter 399: Chapter 398: She Saw Shi Ying Getting into His Car Chapter 399: Chapter 398: She Saw Shi Ying Getting into His Car After handing the flower to Shi Ying, Yanxi introduced everyone:

“The one wearing rimless glasses, looking refined and well-dressed, that’s Old Fu, Fu Yunshen. Don’t be fooled by his scholarly appearance; he’s actually quite naughty, often getting hit on the head by his woman.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Fu Yunshen grabbed an ashtray and hurled it at Yanxi.

“Don’t fucking tarnish my image.” Fu Yunshen pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “For Shi Ying’s sake, I’ll let you off today.”

Yanxi shrugged his shoulders, “The one dressed fashionably and not looking the least bit stable, that’s Jih Feng. We all call him Crazy, a famous director.”

“The most normal one among us is definitely Chengjin.”

Shi Ying nodded slightly to the people in the private room, “Hello, everyone.”

“Don’t stand there, go sit down!” Gu Siting commanded.

With Yanxi and Jih Feng present, the atmosphere in the private room was quite lively and bustling.

Gu Siting sat to one side smoking, not saying much.

He caught sight of Yanxi’s phone ringing on the sofa out of the corner of his eye and his dark eyes narrowed slightly.

A call from Xia Yiwan.

He stretched out his leg and kicked Yanxi’s direction.

“Your wife is calling.”

Perhaps because Xia Yiwan was Ming Yao’s friend, Gu Siting still hoped Yanxi would take good care of his own family.

And prevent any changes due to Shi Ying’s arrival.

Yanxi glanced at the caller ID and without a second thought, he pressed the reject button and then turned off the phone.

Shi Ying noticed Yanxi’s action and frowned slightly, “Why didn’t you answer the phone?”

“It’s not important.”

…

Ming Yao returned to the country from Italy.

Old Master Huo called her and invited her out for a meal.

The watch contest incident nearly left Old Master Huo too embarrassed to face Ming Yao.

Yet, it was Ming Yao who did not blame her grievances with Huo Chun on Old Master Huo.

After the meal, Ming Yao drove back to her apartment from the restaurant.

While waiting for the traffic light, she glanced out the window nonchalantly.

At that glance, she froze slightly.

A few men dressed in finery, obviously of high status, were coming out of the Imperial Palace Club.

The looks of those men, even top celebrities in the entertainment industry couldn’t match theirs.

Let alone the natural aura they carried with them.

Walking among them was a woman in a white long dress.

Ming Yao fixed her gaze and was dumbfounded.

It was the same figure she had seen on the streets of Italy.

At the time, she had thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Turns out, she hadn’t been mistaken!

It was Shi Ying!

She hadn’t died?

How did Gu Siting find her?

The woman’s voice Zhong Ling and Lu Zhou heard over the phone that day, that was Shi Ying, wasn’t it?

Ming Yao’s hands gripping the steering wheel tightened slightly.

The sound of honking rose as the red light turned green, and the cars behind urged Ming Yao to move on.

Ming Yao, having no time to think further, could only drive away.

Through the rearview mirror, she saw the men escorting the woman into Gu Siting’s car.

Ming Yao’s hands on the steering wheel tightened again.

Back at the apartment, Ming Yao sat on the sofa with a dazed expression.

Shi Ying was alive and well; Gu Siting must have been busy with her recently, so that’s why he hadn’t contacted her, right?

After returning to the Capital City from Italy, he hadn’t even given her a word of notice.

Ming Yao felt somewhat choked up inside.

He had explained to her before about his relationship with Shi Ying, but she still found herself inexplicably caring about it.

She shook her head, stood up, and walked into the study, trying to numb herself with work.

…

Originally, after Liu Yun was arrested, Ming Yao had intended to resign from Capital City Medical College.

But after some time spent with the students of the 2023 class, she found them quite endearing.

They were not less intelligent than others; rather, to varying degrees, they lacked familial warmth, leading to some rebelliousness and a sense of loss in their personalities.

Ming Yao’s teaching method focused more on practice.

When she had the time, she would take them up the mountain to gather herbs, or to nursing homes to diagnose and treat the elderly.

Gradually, the students of the 2023 class warmed up to her.

Most of the time, they didn’t see her as a teacher, but rather as an older sister.

That day, Liu Wushuang came to find Ming Yao in her office, “Teacher Ming, the semi-finals of Idol 101 that Huo Ci is participating in are coming up soon, do you have time tonight? Let’s go watch the competition together.”

Seeing Liu Wushuang’s expectant eyes, Ming Yao smiled and nodded her head, “Sure.”

In the evening, Ming Yao and Liu Wushuang arrived at the competition venue.

Huo Ci was handsome, willful, and excelled in singing and dancing; from the first broadcast of the show, he had gathered a substantial fan base.

Now that the semi-finals had arrived, Huo Ci’s popularity had skyrocketed, making him the hottest contestant in Idol 101.

In every ranking released, he was firmly in first place, with hundreds of thousands more popularity votes than the second place.

Li Xiujie was also a trending contestant, staying consistently in second place. Before participating in Idol 101, he had already made a name for himself in Country H.

He had great potential to take the center position of this edition of Idol 101, but given the current situation, he could only remain in second place behind Huo Ci.

This was something he couldn’t reconcile with.

Not debuting as the center would defeat the purpose of his participation in this show.

The semi-final was about to begin, and Li Xiujie stealthily made a phone call.

After the call, he entered the dressing room with a bottle of mineral water.

Glancing at Huo Ci’s locker, he walked over, took out the spare key, opened it, and switched the bottled water inside.

Huo Ci, having finished applying makeup, came over to change his clothes and felt thirsty. He picked up the bottle and took a big gulp.

After taking a sip, he noticed something was off about the taste, and he frowned.

A sharp, cold light flashed in his eyes–had someone tampered with his water?

Before long, Huo Ci started to feel a scratchy pain in his throat.

He opened his mouth and realized his voice had become hoarse.

“Fuck,” Huo Ci cursed softly.

“Huo Ci, what are you doing? Hurry up and change; it’s almost time for you to get on stage!”

The assistant director came over to urge Huo Ci.

Huo Ci clenched his throat, finding the scratchy pain getting worse.

“I might not be able to perform.”

The assistant director was startled, “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Someone tampered with my water.”

The assistant director frowned, “Your locker was locked; how could anyone have tampered with your water?” With that, he waved his hand, “Now’s not the time to figure this out; if you can’t perform, you’ll be eliminated on the spot!”

Huo Ci’s voice was terribly hoarse; even if he went on stage, his performance would end up with the lowest score.

“I’ll get the doctor to come and check on you now.” For the safety of the contestants, the show had prepared a medical team.

Huo Ci took out his cellphone from the locker and opened the surveillance app; seeing Li Xiujie messing with his water, he clenched his fists tightly.

He rushed out, intending to confront Li Xiujie, but Li Xiujie was already on stage performing; Huo Ci could only suppress his anger.

Soon, the assistant director came back with the doctor.

After examining Huo Ci, the doctor shook his head, “You need to go to the hospital for a blood test; regaining your voice right now is impossible!”

The deputy director looked at Huo Ci with regret, “If you don’t go on stage, I’ll let the host announce your withdrawal later!”