The “man” spoke, but the voice that came out was soft and distinctly feminine. Qin Yi froze for a moment, then noticed that the person in front of him didn’t have an Adam’s apple, and the hand holding the cigarette had black nail polish on it.
Feeling uncomfortable under that intense gaze, Qin Yi instinctively took two steps back.
“Don’t be nervous, handsome boy.” The short-haired woman stood up excitedly, reached into the inside of her blazer with her left hand, and pulled out a business card. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Xue Mingyue, founder of Fude Media.”
Qin Yi accepted the card with suspicion and glanced at it without saying anything. He had never heard of this company, but it sounded like it had something to do with the entertainment industry.
Xue Mingyue seemed to see through his thoughts and quickly added, “You know Lai Hongshen, right? The one who’s super popular on short video platforms recently? He’s one of our artists!”
“I don’t know him,” Qin Yi replied.
Xue Mingyue paused. “Then what about Yan Shishi? She plays the second female lead in Legend of the Martial Heroes. Her popularity online has skyrocketed recently, even overshadowing the female lead.”
Still, Qin Yi shook his head. “Don’t know.”
In fact, during those difficult years, Qin Yi could barely get enough food to eat, let alone spare the mental energy to care about celebrities. To this day, he had never owned a phone, and watching TV or browsing short videos was out of the question. Whenever his classmates talked about these things, he could only sit there, completely clueless.
Unaware of this, Xue Mingyue continued listing off more names of her company’s well-known artists, only to be met with the same three words.
“I don’t know.”
After hearing this response one more time, Xue Mingyue almost lost it.
How was this possible? Was this kid some wild man who just came down from a remote mountain forest? How could he not know a single person? Was he pretending just to reject her? But… he didn’t seem like the type.
Just as Xue Mingyue was puzzled, Gu Rumeng pulled back the curtain and came out from the back of the bakery, having just finished preparing a cake.
“Oh, Qin Yi, you’re back from school?” She placed the cake on the counter and smiled. “How was your day?”
“Really? That’s great!” Gu Rumeng beamed.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Xue Mingyue quickly interrupted. “Rumeng, do you know this handsome boy?”
“Yeah.” Hearing her best friend’s voice, Gu Rumeng finally remembered someone was still in the shop. “Qin Yi is my younger brother.”
“Huh? Since when do you have a little brother?!” Xue Mingyue was stunned. Her eyes darted between Qin Yi and Gu Rumeng in disbelief. “No way… you two don’t even look alike! Sure, you’re both good-looking, but the facial features are totally different!”
“What do you mean not alike?” Gu Rumeng huffed and walked over to link arms with Qin Yi. “We’re practically carved from the same mold, okay?”
Xue Mingyue went silent, her face full of disbelief, like she was asking, Do I look stupid to you?
Qin Yi, now awkwardly caught with his arm held, wanted to explain, but when he saw Gu Rumeng give him a subtle wink, he swallowed his words.
“Fine, whatever.” Xue Mingyue wasn’t dumb. She had known Gu Rumeng for years—if she really had a younger brother, how could she not know? But she didn’t push the issue and instead redirected her fiery gaze to Qin Yi.
“Rumeng, has anyone ever told you your brother has serious star potential?”
Hearing that, Gu Rumeng’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. Like a lioness protecting her cub, she stepped in front of Qin Yi. “I’m warning you, don’t even think about touching my brother.”
“What are you saying? I’m just trying to help him shine!” Xue Mingyue said defensively.
“Qin Yi has less than two months until the college entrance exams. He doesn’t have time for your nonsense.”
“How is being a star nonsense? Getting praised under the spotlight by thousands—how wonderful is that?”
“Then why don’t you become a star? Didn’t a talent scout try to recruit you back in the day?”
She understood what Gu Rumeng was worried about. Everyone knew what the entertainment industry was like. For someone with no background or family support, it was nearly impossible to stay clean in that world. Gu Rumeng just didn’t want her little brother getting sucked into that mess.
“Rumeng, I swear on my life—I’ll make sure he’s protected every step of the way!” Xue Mingyue said sincerely.
“What do you mean ‘our’ little brother? Qin Yi’s my brother. He has nothing to do with you,” Gu Rumeng snapped.
“Oh come on, we’ve been best friends for years! What’s yours is mine, right?” Xue Mingyue gave a flattering grin.
“Don’t make me kick you out,” Gu Rumeng rolled her eyes.
“Okay, okay! I give up! I won’t touch him, happy now?” Xue Mingyue sighed in defeat, but her eyes still lingered on Qin Yi, unwilling to let go of the idea entirely.
Qin Yi, having noticed this, finally said, “I’m not interested in becoming a star. Besides, I made a promise to Sister Rumeng—I’ll get into a good university.”
That statement was like a bucket of cold water poured over Xue Mingyue’s head, extinguishing the last bit of hope she had. But Gu Rumeng couldn’t help but smile when she heard the word promise.
“Sigh… such a gem is going to be buried just like that,” Xue Mingyue lamented dramatically, but no one responded.
Gu Rumeng turned back to Qin Yi. “Once the customer picks up the cake, I’ll take you next door to buy some new clothes. And your hair’s gotten a bit long. We’ll get it trimmed while we’re at it.”
Just as she finished speaking, Xue Mingyue perked up. “I’ll cut it! Let me do it—I’m great at this!”
She looked genuinely excited. Before starting her media company, she used to run a hair salon.
“What are you trying to pull now?” Gu Rumeng asked warily.
“I’m hurt, Rumeng.” Xue Mingyue pouted. “You won’t let me help him become a star, at least let me give him a makeover! You know how much I love this stuff.”