Chapter 24: This game was played by Zhaoping.(part 1)

Chu Yanze realized that what he had just heard was extremely offensive to Gu Zhaoping.

For a moment, his mind seemed to suspend in a brief emptiness.

His subconscious was making a decision should he be completely honest with Gu Zhaoping, or should he slightly conceal and modify what he had just heard to make it sound less offensive?

But this internal struggle only lasted a few seconds.

His slightly open lips closed again.

“She said…”

Chu Yanze’s lips were a little dry.

His gaze, after lowering for a moment, lifted again with a newfound determination, barely concealing the nervousness in his eyes.

He said, “She’s a sasaeng fan, questioning whether you and I are secretly dating. That’s why she’s upset.”

He decided to be honest with Gu Zhaoping.

No techniques or strategies just pure honesty.

But Gu Zhaoping wasn’t surprised or caught off guard by this.

She remained calm, already familiar with how fans of celebrities behaved.

She didn’t even react to the phrase secretly dating, nor did she care that she was being dragged into this mess.

This was not enough to affect her mood.

“Handle it yourself.”

Gu Zhaoping didn’t loosen her grip.

Her gaze simply shifted downward, landing on the camera in the fan’s hands.

The fan, who had been staring at her in a daze as she suddenly moved closer, immediately panicked upon realizing where she was looking.

She clutched her camera tightly.

She absolutely didn’t want anything to happen to the precious content she had worked so hard to capture!

Chu Yanze paused slightly, glancing at Gu Zhaoping before turning his head back.

He stretched out his hand toward the fan.

“Delete the photos and videos of me.”

The fan clung even tighter to her camera, lowering her head without saying a word.

Even though she had been caught red-handed, she still held onto a sliver of hope.

As long as Chu Yanze wasn’t too aggressive about making her delete everything, she might still be able to keep something.

After all, most celebrities wouldn’t dare to escalate things too much with sasaeng fans.

Regular fans knew how terrible sasaengs were, but the general public didn’t.

If a celebrity publicly confronted a sasaeng and the story was spread with malicious intent, it could damage their reputation with casual fans.

Seeing that she was intent on resisting,

Gu Zhaoping shifted her gaze back and tightened her grip slightly.

“Are you determined to break the law?”

“Harassing someone’s private life, spying on their personal activities, illegally collecting private information, distributing their image without consent if you understand basic laws, you should know that all of these are illegal, right?”

Her voice was calm and steady.

She wasn’t angry, nor was she threatening her.

She was merely stating the facts.

Yet, the words sent a cold chill down the fan’s spine, making her feel like she was already on her way to jail.

The fan froze for a moment before shivering involuntarily.

“A rational person should know how to weigh the consequences.

Between facing a lawsuit and repeatedly appearing in court as a defendant do you think it’s worth it?

Not to mention the contents of your camera just the financial cost of defending yourself in court would be far worse than having this camera smashed to pieces.”

“This is already me being lenient with you.”

“So what exactly are you hesitating about?”

The fan stiffened, and a wave of cold dread washed over her.

She suddenly felt like she had been hit over the head.

A chill crept down her back.

She could tell that Gu Zhaoping was serious.

If she didn’t delete those photos and videos, Gu Zhaoping would really take legal action.

Over the past few days, Gu Zhaoping had already made headlines online.

She had even offered a cash reward to have the internet collect evidence to clear her name.

Oh no.

Wait.

She has a legal background!

The sasaeng fan’s heart sank.

She was done for.

She had messed with the worst possible person.

Gu Zhaoping was practically untouchable wealthy, powerful, legally knowledgeable, and completely unafraid of stirring up trouble.

She didn’t care about public perception at all.

Unlike most celebrities who were shackled by their image, this woman would do whatever she wanted.

The fan’s heart turned ice cold.

Finally, her tightly clenched hands loosened slightly.

Her grip on the camera weakened, and after a moment of hesitation, she stiffly stretched it toward them.

Chu Yanze gave her a glance and silently took the camera.

He lowered his head, opened the album, and selected every photo where his face appeared, deleting them all.

He knew this wasn’t everything.

She had definitely taken more before.

Some had probably already been uploaded and backed up elsewhere.

But he wasn’t naive enough to think he could control everything.

As long as she deleted the immediate content, that was already a step forward.

After thoroughly clearing all files, Chu Yanze handed the camera back to her.

The sasaeng fan’s face was twisted with frustration.

She was even trembling slightly.

This wasn’t the first time she had been caught for being a sasaeng, but it was the first time she had felt genuine fear.

Her palms were visibly sweaty as she took the camera back.

Chu Yanze casually remarked, “Nice camera.

You should use it for taking normal photos.”

And just like that, the issue was resolved.

From start to finish, Gu Zhaoping hadn’t even paid attention to the secret date accusation.

She didn’t care about that at all.

For her, the priority was handling the invasion of privacy.

Fortunately, she didn’t mind.

If she had cared about what people thought…

Then Chu Yanze’s guilt, embarrassment, and shame would have been even worse.

He turned back to the sasaeng fan and said,

“Aside from privacy violations, you should also consider something else.

Which is harder stopping your false rumors, or facing me in court?”

“Ruan Nian has nothing to do with me.

Stop randomly pairing me with strangers to satisfy your fantasies.”

“I don’t mind taking you to court again over this.”

The sasaeng fan flinched.

She suddenly remembered that Chu Yanze had once confronted a fan in court before.

That case had caused a huge stir.

It had even taken a serious emotional toll on him.

Ever since then, he had avoided getting involved in fan disputes.

Regarding the CP (couple pairing) of him and Ruan Nian, although he had always disliked it, he remained indifferent and never interfered with others’ freedom to ship whoever they wanted.

Speaking up would only make things worse.

Until now.

Until this moment.

He didn’t know why, but suddenly, he felt a strong opposition toward this ridiculous CP that had been forced upon him.

The sasaeng fan looked at him in near despair.

With her years of experience chasing idols, she was almost certain he must have someone he genuinely liked now.

Someone as cold and indifferent as him, someone who usually didn’t care about anything, would only start to value his own reputation if he had a real love interest.

He didn’t want his name to be associated with anyone else, even in the fantasies of strangers.

Because now, he had someone he wanted to be associated with.

As Chu Yanze’s cold silhouette walked away, the sasaeng fan suddenly squatted down and burst into tears.

She cried for a while, then gradually calmed down.

She opened her camera and flipped through the now-empty gallery.

She wiped her nose while scrolling until suddenly she found a video that hadn’t been deleted.

The video began with a short selfie she had recorded, so Chu Yanze hadn’t checked it earlier.

But what followed in the footage…

It was from just now.

Gu Zhaoping and Chu Yanze sitting together.

The way Chu Yanze looked at Gu Zhaoping while she spoke to someone.

And the part where Gu Zhaoping spoke about scars.

She replayed the video multiple times.

In the end, for some reason, she still couldn’t bring herself to delete it.

Gu Zhaoping’s words, the way she spoke they were now deeply imprinted in her mind.

She watched the video again, and suddenly, a trace of hesitation appeared in her expression.

When Chu Yanze returned to his seat, Fang Yining had already come back.

Seeing him walk over, a few people at the table looked up at him, curiosity flashing in their eyes.

They clearly wanted to know what had happened.

Chu Yanze nodded politely, slightly bowing his head as he spoke in a calm and apologetic tone.

“Sorry, Zhaoping-jie, everyone.

I might be disrupting your gathering, so I’ll excuse myself for today.”

The group was momentarily stunned.

His words were addressed to everyone, but his gaze lingered on Gu Zhaoping’s hands just a little longer.

He didn’t want any more incidents to disturb their gathering.

His gaze quickly shifted away from her slender fingers.

Just before leaving, he suddenly remembered the paper bag he had been holding earlier.

Retrieving it naturally, he picked it up and handed it to Gu Zhaoping.

“Zhaoping-jie, this is a gift I bought for you earlier.”

He spoke briefly and to the point, his eyes clear and sincere.

There was no hesitation in offering this small token, nor did he appear intrusive.

He was simply being earnest.

He didn’t say, I hope you like it.

Nor did he mention that it was just a minor gift.

He simply introduced it before leaving, making sure she had received it.

The paper bag was simple, with a minimalistic design.

Its contents weren’t immediately obvious.

Gu Zhaoping paused slightly, noticing that it was the same bag Chu Yanze had been holding earlier when they went to buy milkshakes.

She placed it on the table and nodded in thanks.

Seeing her accept it, a faint light flickered in Chu Yanze’s eyes for just a brief moment.

A simple satisfaction, a quiet joy that she had accepted his gift.

After Chu Yanze left, Fang Yining could no longer hold back her excitement.

She had been dying to scream about this CP (ship) the whole time!

She nudged her friend wildly with her elbow.

“Zhaoping, Zhaoping, you’ve got good taste this time!”

Gu Zhaoping turned to her, waiting for an explanation.

Though, this kind of teasing was easy to understand.

After a brief pause, she replied, “This isn’t about my taste.”

Xiao Chu wasn’t a male model.

He was her team member.

But Fang Yining wore an I understand expression, nodding knowingly.

“I get it, I get it!

Of course, he’s different from those male models.

Even if it’s just about looks, this one is fine-quality grain.

Worth savoring for a few more years!”

“It’s not.”

Gu Zhaoping’s response was simple and firm, leaving no room for further gossip.

Fang Yining could only look at the unopened gift with a pout.

She was bursting with curiosity but had no way to satisfy it.

Still, she decided not to push it further.

After all, today’s meal was on Miss Gu Zhaoping.

With such a generous friend covering their expenses, any worries quickly faded away.

Back at the Gu residence, Gu Zhaoping completed her daily workout.