"Hello, who is this?" Lu Ye’s agent glanced at the unfamiliar number and asked politely.
"Hi, I’m Sang Ning. Is Lu Ye available?"
Earlier, Sang Ning had forgotten to ask Xi Meina what Lu Ye’s agent’s name was. She had no choice but to be extra polite.
But as soon as she finished her polite greeting, the other party hung up without saying a word.
The steady tone of the busy signal echoed in her ear, leaving Sang Ning bewildered.
Did she dial the wrong number?
After cutting the call, Lu Ye’s agent nervously turned to glance at Lu Ye, who was still angrily scrolling through his phone. Seeing this, he exhaled in relief—Lu Ye likely didn’t hear who was calling just now.
For Sang Ning to contact Lu Ye at this hour must mean she’s trying to use him to clear her name. He worried Lu Ye might soften up—if Lu Ye helped Sang Ning, things would get messy!
Men know men best. Although Lu Ye constantly rants about Sang Ning, deep down, he doesn’t actually hate her. This is something even Lu Ye himself probably hasn’t realized.
"Who called just now? Why did you hang up without saying a word?" Lu Ye, still glued to his phone, didn’t even look up as he asked.
"Ugh, it was just a spam call. Nothing worth talking about." The agent casually shoved the phone into his pocket.
Just as the phone was about to touch his pocket, a hand shot out like lightning and snatched the phone from him.
The agent spun around, utterly bewildered and dumbfounded.
Lu Ye tilted his chin up slightly, giving him a smug, knowing smirk.
"Normally, you’d roast spam callers so thoroughly they’d hang up themselves. But today, you skipped the cursing step and even sneakily glanced back at me. Do you really think I’m that stupid?"
The agent was speechless. Since when did Lu Ye grow a brain?
"Bro, I’ve reformed starting today. I’m trying to be a cultured person. Is that so wrong?" The agent pitched his grievances dramatically, giving the performance of a lifetime.
"Nope, I prefer you uncultured." Lu Ye deadpanned, flipping the phone to face the agent’s direction.
"Face unlock complete. Let’s see which unlucky soul just called you." Proficiently, Lu Ye pulled up the call history on the phone.
"What the hell? You haven’t even saved this number’s name!" Lu Ye muttered, disappointed—he had assumed the caller was someone they both knew.
"Bro, I’m telling you it was just a spam call. Can you finally believe me now?" The agent laughed awkwardly and reached out to reclaim the phone.
As his fingers brushed the edge of the phone, Lu Ye pulled back abruptly, taking the phone out of reach and hitting redial on the last number.
"My man’s intuition says you’re lying!" Lu Ye declared solemnly, as the phone began to ring.
Fine, don’t believe me. Go burn everything to the ground. Do whatever you want.
The call connected, but no one spoke right away.
"Hey, dumbass who just called me—who the hell are you?" Lu Ye’s greeting was anything but civil, delivered with aggressive hostility.
He was in an exceptionally bad mood today—not only had someone paid for a smear campaign against him, but he’d also been kicked out of a group chat. This unfamiliar number was the unfortunate spark for his fury.
Sang Ning had a habit of glancing at incoming call numbers, and she noticed instantly that this was the same number she had called earlier, only to be rudely hung up on.
After pressing the answer button, she barely glanced at the strange number on the screen before lifting the phone to her ear—only to be met with someone calling her a dumbass.
Sang Ning immediately recognized the familiar voice. Comparing it with her memory, she confirmed it—this was Lu Ye.
"I’m your dad. Son, hearing your dad’s voice, shouldn’t you get on your knees?" Sang Ning snapped back, equally uncouth.
To her surprise, the other party didn’t insult her; instead, he confidently identified her by name.
Sang Ning couldn’t help but wonder how much Lu Ye must loathe her to identify her voice so easily.
"Yes, son," she replied smoothly, her gleeful opportunism downright shameless.
Lu Ye nearly exploded in fury. "Sang Ning, are you insane? Do you really think I wouldn’t dare hit you just because we’re on the phone?"
Sang Ning snorted dismissively. "Well, lucky for you there is a phone between us. Otherwise, when you called me a dumbass, I’d have already knocked you out with a punch."
Lu Ye seethed, his anger bubbling uncontrollably. If being petty had a championship, he would definitely be vying for first place.
"Sang Ning, I suggest you adjust your attitude right now. I have evidence that could clear your name. If you butter me up—"
Lu Ye, eager to use his evidence to leverage Sang Ning, spoke with such overconfidence that his agent kept him under close scrutiny. This forced him to abruptly halt mid-sentence.
"Forget it, Sang Ning. I just wanted to call and gloat. I hope you crash and burn—I wish you’d retire from the industry and get trashed online for the next hundred years!" Lu Ye vented furiously, practically spitting his words out.
Sang Ning found his antics childish. So this "important matter" was nothing but mockery—how dull.
Unwilling to waste time on such an immature third-grader, Sang Ning directly hung up the call.
"That’s not like Sang Ning at all. I just insulted her. Normally, she’d fight back, right?" Lu Ye stared at his phone, confused.
Out of Lu Ye’s sight, his agent rolled his eyes discreetly. Surely any rational adult wouldn’t bother arguing with an immature child like Lu Ye, right?
"No way—I didn’t get to fully vent my anger just now. I’m saving Sang Ning’s number, and I’ll give her hell later tonight!" Lu Ye muttered, his determination intense.
Deliberately, he saved Sang Ning’s number into his contacts right in front of the agent before handing the phone back.
The agent observed Lu Ye for a while and noticed he was scrolling through Weibo again. This finally eased his tension.
He had underestimated Lu Ye. It seemed Lu Ye truly loathed Sang Ning.
Freed from the agent’s watchful eyes, Lu Ye relaxed significantly. He hated having someone hovering nearby while he worked.
Lu Ye copied Sang Ning’s number, opened the search bar in WeChat, and entered her details.
Most people’s WeChat ID matched their phone number, he reasoned—and sure enough, Sang Ning’s WeChat appeared.
To send a friend request, verification was required. Lu Ye typed his note: "The handsomest member of your team—Lu Ye, requesting approval."