Although thename of Xueshi Mall doesn't have a foreign flavor, it is also a famous brand inthe area around the University City. (TN: foreign flavor or western style.)
It is largeenough to concentrate on shopping malls, supermarkets, restaurants, cinemas,Internet cafes, game halls and other popular commercial facilities. It will notfeel boring to run inside and play for a day. One will have fun just by eating,drinking, and playing.
The businessorientation of Xueshi Mall is very clear. The service target population is the hundredsof thousands of teachers and students in the university city and the ordinarywhite-collar and blue-collar workers in the nearby business district. There arebasically no luxury brands in the mall, mainly middle-grade goods.
Lu Chen cameto Xueshi Mall more than once before, so he was familiar with this area.
He firstparked his car in the parking lot north of the mall and then walked directlyalong the walking path to the inside of the mall.
Because it'sweekend time, the mall was bustling with people.
"Let'seat first…"
Lu Chen sawthat the time was already past 5 o'clock. He said, "The food in Yunjin Restauranthere tastes good, and the price is also affordable."
Lu Xi said, "Mayas well, just order two or three dishes. I can't eat much."
Lu Chensmiled and said, "I've been eating a lot lately. Two or three dishes arereally not enough. At least five or six!"
Lu Xireached out and squeezed his arm and said, "You are a lot stronger."
She hadrarely done such a thing to Lu Chen in the past.
In a strangecity, for the same goal, the gap between them is slowly melting.
As he spoke,four girls came from the front door, and they happened to face each other.
One of thegirls in a yellow shirt was stunned and had an incredulous look on her face.
And the girlin the white dress next to her looked pale!
This girl wasYe Zitong.
The fourgirls in their dormitory chose to stay in Beijing during the summer vacation.
Ye Zitongwas dragged by Zuo Xintian to go to the mall this evening, along with two otherroommates, but the two never expected to meet Lu Chen in Xueshi Mall.
When she sawLu Chen and the woman beside him talking and laughing intimately, she felt asthough her heart was stabbed by a sharp knife.
Although YeZitong knew very well that she and Lu Chen have not determined what their realrelationship is, this scene still gave her a sense of shame, indignation, pain,and embarrassment.
Not only ZuoXintian, but the two roommates knew Lu Chen. They both believed that they'redating.
"LuChen!"
Zuo Xintian firstcalled out, "How could you do this!"
She was about to rush forward to confront Lu Chen, but she was pulled back by Ye Zitong: "Forget it…"
Zuo Xintian had high expectation for them1: "How could you do that? You like him so much, yet he's like this…"
In Zuo Xintian's view, Lu Chen was simply the legendary heartless Chen Shimei2. After appearing on a TV program, and gaining a little bit of fame, he began to have an affair. Unexpectedly, he was with another woman behind Ye Zitong's back.
It'sunbearable!
What annoysZuo Xintian most was that the women around Lu Chen is not as pretty as YeZitong.
"Yezi!"
Lu Chen, whowas equally shocked, reacted. All of a sudden, he didn't know whether to laugh orcry.
He quicklywent up to Ye Zitong and asked, "You and Tiantian are shopping too?"
Ye Zitongturned her head and ignored him, but her eyes were red: "Tiantian, let'sgo."
Zuo Xintianand the other two girls cast disdainful eyes to Lu Chen, like a knife cuttingmeat and scraping bones!
Lu Xi lookedat him with a smile on her face.
Lu Chenhurriedly grabbed Ye Zitong's hand, afraid that she would run away regardlessof, the misunderstanding would be really big.
"Yezi,this is my big sister Lu Xi, who just came from home today."
Huh? Big sister?
The threegirls were dumbfounded when they found out. Lu Xi and Lu Chen were really quitesimilar!
They arebrothers and sisters.
How embarrassing!
Zuo Xintianwished that she could look for a crack to hide in, and her face was as red asan autumn frost apple.
Ye Zitongtried hard to break away from Lu Chen's hand, but she was also stunned when sheheard his explanation. A faint blush quietly emerged from her pale face, andfor a moment she was at a loss as to what to do.
Thismisunderstanding was really a bit too big, and the funny thing was that therewas no reason for her to be jealous.
After all, theyjust mutually have good impression of each other.
At thistime, Lu Xi came over and asked with a smile, "Hello, I'm Lu Xi, Lu Chen'sbig sister. Are you his friend?"
Lu Chen letgo of Ye Zitong's hand and introduced her a little awkwardly, "Big sister.This is Ye Zitong. She is a student of Beijing University. She is a friend Imet in Beijing."
Ye Zitongendured her shyness and plucked up enough courage to raise her head and said,"Hello big sister Lu Xi. "
Lu Xi smiledand said, "Nice to meet you. You're called Yezi, right? It just so happensthat I have just settled in Beijing, and now I want to buy some things and Idon't know where to go. Can you help me with it?"
In front ofYe Zitong, Lu Xi is a gentle and amiable big sister. She cannot help but nod.
After themisunderstanding was resolved, Ye Zitong introduced Lu Xi to Zuo Xintian andher two other classmates.
The girls'ages didn't differ greatly, so they soon became familiar with each other.
As a result,Lu Chen was left out to the side.
Fortunately,they always have to eat. So, after a brief discussion, they went to YunjinRestaurant to share a table.
Lu Xi seemsto like Ye Zitong very much and has been pulling her to talk all the time.
She didn'teven let her go when they were eating.
In thecourse of the meal, the way they address each other change and became "Big SisterXi" and "Zitong".
After eatingthe sumptuous dinner, Lu Chen paid the bill.
Her big sister,who was now accompanied by the girls, no longer let him accompany them to themall to act as a "bag carrier", and said that they would just contacthim after they finish shopping.
They would probablytake a long time.
Lu Chenthought about it, and simply went to the Internet cafe on the top floor of themall to surf the Internet to kill time.
With his IDcard, he registered and open a computer. He logged on to the webpage and searchedfor related content on "Singing China".
And theresult has revealed a lot of things.
As the 1stplace winner in the top 16 of "Singing China" Beijing singing district,apart from the official website of "Singing China," Lu Chen's name wasbasically not found on other websites, and only few small sites with littlefame reposted about this.
In someforums and post bars, there were a lot of discussions about Lu Chen, mainlyabout his original works.
In sharpcontrast to Lu Chen, several contestants in the top 16 far outperformed him in termsof keyword search terms, such as "Newcomer Zheng Kai performed well and conqueredthe judges by relying on his natural voice. Winning a place in the top 16 of "SingingChina" Beijing singing district!" and so on.
Lu Chen waswell aware of the reason, that is, these contestants have signed up with an entertainmentagency, and there are teams behind them that was promoting it, and in turn, thosebig websites will post their advertisements. It's everywhere.
Lu Chen didn'tfeel uncomfortable or depressed about this, because this is how things are inthe current entertainment industry. It is very difficult to become popularwithout throwing money into the hype. It's all about making things interesting.A newcomer like him who relies solely on himself is a rarity.
Willing tobe willing. If he gave up, he will get it. If he gave up vanity, Lu Chen willget freedom. (TN: I didn't understand this.)
Moreover,gold will always shine. Now, it was only the competition in the Beijing singingdistrict. When it comes to the tournaments and finals, his name is bound to beknown by more and more people. He doesn't have to spend money to makeheadlines!
In addition,Lu Chen is also organizing his own team to strengthen online publicity.
He shut downthe news search and logged on to Inspur Blog.
Lu ChenFMX's account was registered two weeks ago. It has been certified as a personal"V", and currently has 75000+ fans, mostly [Whale TV] fans.
This wasalso thanks to Li Bai's help in publicity, otherwise Lu Chen himself would nothave that much fans.
According tothe local tyrant, it's actually too easy to grow a fan base. It's simple to buymillions of fans with a little money. A little packaging can make you look like"Big V", that is, a celebrity in the blog.
As for beinga "Big V" because of the zombie fan base, Lu Chen was still unsure! (TN: Zombiefan base, because they were bought.)
Because hedoesn't like to cheat people, and he doesn't like to cheat himself.
In the blog,he updated two articles, and answered many questions from fans. Time passedquickly.
At about 9o'clock, Lu Xi called.
They'vefinally finished shopping.
Lu Chen loggedout, paid the bill, and left. Going back to the main entrance of the mall, hesaw Lu Xi and the four girls again.
Everyone wascarrying big bags and small bags; they had a good harvest this evening!
Aftermeeting, Lu Xi said to Lu Chen, "Give me the car keys and the keys athome. I'll send Tiantian and the others back to school and then go home bymyself. You can accompany Zitong."
Lu Chenlooked at her in surprise. He looked at Ye Zitong again, and the latter flushedand didn't speak.
Of course,there was no objection.
Zuo Xintiangrinned and said, "You two have a good time. It doesn't matter if you comeback later. Goodbye!"
She winkedat Ye Zitong.
Ye Zitong'salready red face became redder and she glared at her.
Lu Chen wasa little worried and asked, "Big Sister, do you know how to get to Jinchengyuan?"
He wasafraid that Lu Xi would not be able to find her way back.
Lu Xi said, "Evenif I don't remember the way, can't I navigate with my cell phone?"
Lu Chen concededdefeat and gave her both the car keys and the home keys.
After Lu Xileft with Zuo Xintian and the two girls, there were only Lu Chen and Ye Zitongleft.
Speaking ofwhich, since the last time they went skating, the two haven't seen each otherfor a while, just chatting through QQ.
Now seeingher again, Lu Chen's heart couldn't help but feel a touch of tenderness.
Today may bea chance encounter, but maybe it's the fate between the two.
He naturallytook Ye Zitong's hand and said, "Are you tired of shopping? Let's go andsit at the ice shop over there."
Ye Zitongnodded meekly.
After a littlemisunderstanding, the relationship between the two has undoubtedly taken a bigstep forward.
Although theirrelationship has not yet been clarified, but it is precisely this hazy feelingthat is most moving!
…….
At thismoment, Lu Chen didn't know,
On theInternet, a storm of public opinion that is closely related to him is about tocome!
_________
TN: Raw says "hate iron for not being steel" which means to feel resentful towards somebody for failing to meet expectations and impatient to see improvement. More info .1
TN: Chen Shimei is a Chinese opera character and a byword in China for a heartless and unfaithful man. More about him: Here.2