CEO's Sweetheart is a Super Idol-Chapter 417 - 409 Difficult Choice

Early Morning

The first light of dawn broke through.

Lv Fangxin reluctantly pulled herself out of bed.

Her issue had finally been suppressed, and after returning, she even apologized to everyone.

Mr. Zhou had asked her to come by the company this morning.

Knock knock!

Yuwei heard a knock at the door. When she opened it, just as she’d expected, there was Lv Fangxin, disheveled and listless.

"Sister Yezi." Lv Fangxin hung her head in despair, her hands nervously twisting together.

"Come in." Yuwei knew that coming over this early meant Fangxin didn’t want to be seen by anyone else.

Inside, the soft scent of carnations filled the air, soothing yet poignant.

"Sister Yezi, Mr. Zhou isn’t summoning me to just give me a lecture, is he?"

Lv Fangxin got straight to the point. She knew there wasn’t a lot of time for them to talk privately.

"Of course not. The most likely scenario is that he’ll ask you to break up the CP."

"...Break things off with Yinghan? That’s absolutely impossible."

"Fangxin, what are you even thinking? Do you realize how big of a mess this situation has turned into? If you keep going like this, the entire group will get dragged down with you. Don’t you feel even a shred of guilt toward your sisters?"

Yuwei’s words hit Lv Fangxin like a bolt from the blue, leaving her utterly dazed and collapsed in her chair.

She loved her group and never wanted to burden her sisters, but to break up with Chen Yinghan...

"Fangxin, don’t forget who your fans are."

"How could they possibly tolerate you having a friendship like that?"

"You may look like you’re shining brightly right now, but in reality, you lack any foundational work to stand on. The moment this goes public, which entertainment company would dare to take you in?"

Yuwei’s brow furrowed as her tone hardened in a way Lv Fangxin had never experienced before.

Her friend’s tendencies to let her emotions take over when it came to relationships were indeed a problem.

"Sister Yezi, is there really no other way?"

"Fangxin, separating would be the best thing for both you and her. If you keep bundling yourselves as a CP, both of your careers will end. And if you refuse, your resources will disappear too."

Tears filled Lv Fangxin’s eyes. She had no idea how to face this crossroads.

Though she was more mature and clear-headed than most her age, love had always been the hardest trial for anyone.

"...Fangxin, at the very least, you need to agree for now. Once the group disbands, you’ll be free to do as you wish."

These words struck Lv Fangxin like a heavy blow. She realized that when it came to the honor of the group versus herself, her most trusted and closest "sister" had chosen the former.

Despite understanding Yuwei’s reasoning, Fangxin still couldn’t bear it emotionally.

Her heart weighed down like dead ashes, tears streamed down her face as Lv Fangxin left the room.

Watching that fragile figure retreat like a flower battered by the storm, Yuwei nearly reached out to stop her.

But in the end, reason prevailed over emotion.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou? You must’ve heard everything that just happened..."

"You did very well, Yezi. I hope you can..."

"I’m sorry, Mr. Zhou. This is my limit. As for Chen Yinghan, you’ll have to handle it yourselves."

She didn’t wait for Mr. Zhou to respond before hanging up the call.

Afternoon

At a variety show filming set, a distracted Yuwei suddenly saw a group chat notification pop up.

Fu Xiaoyu, Lv Fangxin, and Chen Yinghan are set to co-star in a historical drama.

Seeing this message, Yuwei was stunned.

What on earth was this big ship trying to pull?

Forcing herself to calm down, her mind still wrestled with the incomprehensibility of the situation.

While she was crafting her thoughts, a phone call came through.

"...Yinghan!"

"Yezi, I’m in the teahouse next to your recording site, Qingshan Teahouse, private room #4. Can we talk?"

"Sure."

After agreeing, Yuwei didn’t tell her assistant. Instead, she let her team know she had errands right before getting in her nanny car.

She left quickly, fearing someone in her team might leak her itinerary.

But what she didn’t expect was that, despite her best efforts at being discreet, someone was already watching her.

Li Ke, holding binoculars, focused on the girl in the distance wearing a hat and mask.

Although he couldn’t clearly see her face, Yuwei’s distinguishable figure betrayed her immediately under his gaze.

"Heh! Just as I expected, she’s going to see Chen Yinghan."

Li Ke grinned like he had caught onto some big secret, his enthusiasm evident.

He was just about to step out of his car when he noticed two people exiting a car parked across the road.

One of them was carrying a camera bag.

Sensing something was off, Li Ke adjusted his binoculars to study the two. Just as he suspected, they were tracking Yuwei.

"Could they be fans?"

"No, that’s not right. Normally, this kind of thing would be done solo, so why are there two of them?"

Perplexed, Li Ke got out of his car, keeping his hat and mask on, and began following the two "fans" on the opposite side of the road.

Crystal-clear waters flowed gently, and the air brimmed with the rich aroma of tea.

Chen Yinghan, serene and elegant, sat cross-legged before a nanmu wood table.

"Yuwei, it’s been a while."

"Indeed, it’s been a while, Yinghan. You’re still as beautiful as ever."

"Heh, you’re the real beauty here."

"Let’s skip the formalities. What do you want to talk about?"

Yuwei didn’t feel there was much need to reminisce with Chen Yinghan.

Chen Yinghan took a sip from her celadon teacup. "You’ve already heard about me and Fangxin, haven’t you?"

Yuwei nodded slightly.

"Big Ship contacted me and asked me to break things off with Fangxin." Chen Yinghan’s face turned cold and frosty as she spoke.

"I honestly don’t care about Big Ship. Whether I’m an actress or not doesn’t matter to me, but I can’t bear to see Fangxin lose everything she’s worked so hard to achieve." Chen Yinghan cast a deep, significant gaze at Yuwei.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me. I do have conditions, though."

Yuwei picked up her cup of tea, quietly taking a sip, patiently waiting for her to continue.

"We can publicly end things or maintain this distance over the next two years while your group is still active. But two years from now, I want to be friends with her again."

"Then what’s the deal with this drama you’re both starring in?"

"It’s compensation from Penguin and also their last attempt to capitalize on the buzz between me and her."

After saying this, Chen Yinghan’s face carried a faint sneer.

Yuwei’s expression remained unchanged, but her hands beneath the table trembled slightly.

Penguin had reached a new level of shamelessness, taking all the glory while leaving others to be used as tools.

And Zhou Dan—talking about mutual trust was nothing but a joke.

It seemed she had been too naïve.

"Yezi, Fangxin loves you all dearly. She loves this group. She always talks to me about all of you."

"When I make friends, it feels like I’m falling in love."

"If she ever cared too much for others, I’d feel jealous. But I’ve never stopped her from loving any of you."

As Chen Yinghan spoke, her eyes began to glisten with tears.

Yuwei knew how much pain Yinghan was enduring in this moment but had no idea how to offer any comfort.

"I’ll leave you to it, Yezi."

"Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her."

Yuwei looked at Chen Yinghan, as if she was seeing her in an entirely new light.

Outside the teahouse, Li Ke stood in the distance, holding his camera.

He not only managed to snap photos of both Chen Yinghan and Yuwei leaving separately but also captured images of the two who had been tailing Yuwei. He was deeply intrigued—who were those two individuals?