“Do you need something?” Min Yu looked up at him.
Qi Yuqiu closed the door and replied, “I wanted to find a few books.”
Min Yu nodded. “Feel free to look around.”
Qi Yuqiu walked over to the bookshelf, picked out a book that seemed to have a lot of pictures, and curled up on the small sofa next to Min Yu, flipping through it.
The rustling sound of pages turning drew Min Yu’s attention to the young man lounging comfortably on the sofa.
The book Qi Yuqiu was reading was a collection of illustrated fables. The various little stories made him chuckle from time to time. Sensing someone watching him, he glanced over, the lingering laughter in his round eyes like scattered light.
Min Yu’s lips unconsciously curved upward. He reached over, pulled a blanket from the back of the chair, and handed it to him. “Be careful not to catch a cold.”
Qi Yuqiu scratched his head. “Am I disturbing you? I can take the book and read it elsewhere.”
“No,” Min Yu said, shifting his gaze back to the computer screen.
Qi Yuqiu settled back into the sofa, draping the small blanket over his stomach.
In the quiet study, only the rustling of pages and the tapping of keyboard keys could be heard—an unexpectedly harmonious combination.
After some time, Min Yu noticed the rustling had stopped. He turned to see Qi Yuqiu had fallen asleep, slumped on the sofa, with only a corner of the small blanket still covering his stomach.
He walked over, crouched down, picked up the blanket that had fallen to the floor, and gently covered Qi Yuqiu with it. Then, looking at Qi Yuqiu’s slightly pouted lips, he reached out and poked them—soft, moist, and delightfully springy.
Min Yu withdrew his hand and shook his head with a smile. It felt like he was raising a child.
Another half hour passed, and Qi Yuqiu showed no signs of waking up. Min Yu checked the time, stood up again, and walked over to the sofa. He gently shook Qi Yuqiu’s shoulder, only to hear him mumble something before rolling over toward the edge of the sofa.
Min Yu quickly reached out and caught him, holding him firmly in his arms. Qi Yuqiu’s fluffy head rested on his shoulder, brushing against it unintentionally, and Min Yu felt a warm, soft sensation graze his neck.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. He laid Qi Yuqiu back on the sofa, gazed at the young man’s face, then gave him a gentle push to wake him up.
Qi Yuqiu rubbed his eyes, stretched lazily with a soft groan, and squinted at him. “What is it?”
“Go back to sleep. It’s too late,” Min Yu said, looking down at him in a low voice.
Qi Yuqiu blinked drowsily for a moment before slowly sitting up. “Oh, I’ll go to bed then. You should sleep early too.”
He staggered out of the study. Seeing him sway unsteadily, Min Yu followed him all the way to the bedroom door, only lowering his slightly raised arm after watching him open the door and go inside.
“Good night,” Qi Yuqiu said, leaning against the doorframe. Min Yu nodded, then turned and returned to his own room.
He really was raising a worry-inducing kid.
Outside the window, the rain grew heavier, though the thunder and lightning gradually subsided, leaving only the sound of falling rain. Min Yu lay in bed, reached out to turn off the bedside lamp, and gradually fell asleep in the darkness.
Under the night rain, some slept soundly, while others were too excited to sleep a wink.
At midnight, an entertainment blogger with few followers posted a Weibo.
“Entertainment Without Boundaries: Beating staff until they flee in terror—how impressive. Do staff not have human rights? Do you think you’re superior just because you act in dramas? @Qi Yuqiu”
The blogger had over a hundred thousand followers, and within half an hour of posting, the Weibo had garnered several hundred reposts. The comment section was filled with condemnations of Qi Yuqiu. To casual observers, regardless of which celebrity it was, if you dared to bully a staff member, then that person’s character was utterly rotten.
Two hours later, a Big V reposted the Weibo, instantly spreading the incident far and wide.
“Qi Yuqiu hit someone? Didn’t he just save a child a few days ago?”
“Hah, OP, look at who he saved. Can us ordinary folks compare to the young master of the Gu family?”
“An actor, and he really thinks he’s someone important?”
“Ooh, a lawbreaker! I support the staff member in reporting this to the police!”
Li Qi was called up in the middle of the night. Seeing the news online, his eyes turned red with anxiety. He immediately notified the company’s PR department to find a way to debunk the rumors and suppress the story. However, several more Big Vs began reposting it, making it impossible to contain.
Soon after, another set of photos was exposed. In the photos, Qi Yuqiu and Liu Rui were sitting opposite each other, with Liu Rui looking extremely displeased. The next photo showed Liu Rui getting up and leaving.
“Entertainment Gossip Bro: Fresh-faced idol slacks off on set, angering Film Emperor. Film Emperor Liu says it’s too hard, can’t carry a bronze player 2333”
This Weibo was again reposted by various Big Vs, sparking another round of heated arguments.
Han Chen stayed up all night, closely monitoring the situation’s development. In the original plan, these Big Vs were scheduled to come forward with exposés only at a later stage. However, he hadn’t expected a wild Big V to repost the story, directly pushing it beyond the usual circles.
The studio immediately capitalized on the wild Big V’s traction, mobilizing their own major accounts to follow up, which led to such a massive uproar.
Qi Yuqiu had already damaged his reputation among casual observers by “cursing” someone to go to prison. Although some pointed out that the person he cursed had actually committed a crime, casual observers didn’t care—they only remembered Qi Yuqiu’s foul mouth and malicious heart.
Now, seeing that he had allegedly hit someone, their disgust intensified. With the help of the Water Army and uninformed casual observers, they pushed the topic to the top of the Hot Search.
Once such an incident broke beyond its usual circles, Qi Yuqiu’s image instantly hit rock bottom. Unless the staff member came forward to clarify or someone stepped up to testify for him—but given his poor relationships, forget it. Han Chen smugly switched to his alternate account, stirring the pot in the topic and venting his anger fiercely.
In the morning, Qi Yuqiu got up, charged his phone, and turned it on. The flood of notifications nearly crashed his phone. As soon as it recovered, he received a call from Li Qi.
As soon as he answered, Li Qi urgently said, “Don’t pay attention to the news online for now. Whatever you do, don’t act impulsively this time. The company is already working on a solution.”
Qi Yuqiu opened the nearly exploding private messages on Weibo and spent a good while reading before realizing that someone was accusing him of hitting the assistant director from the previous day. He was truly wronged!
“Li Ge, I didn’t hit him. He was just unlucky. In a couple of days, he might even end up disabled. But I can’t take the blame for that, can I?”
Li Qi took a deep breath. “I know you didn’t hit anyone, but the entire internet is criticizing you now. Clarifying this will take time. Don’t say anything reckless online. The company will handle this for you. Just focus on filming in the crew!”
After hanging up, Qi Yuqiu opened the Hot Search and saw his name prominently at the top of the list. Clicking in, he found nothing but criticism, and he couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.
Separated by a network cable, everyone unleashes the deepest malice from their souls without reservation. They have already discarded their ability to think, being led by the nose by so-called Big Vs, pointing where they are told to strike, completely like puppets held in someone’s hands.
No wonder he could always feel a faint, lingering malice drifting around him everywhere—it turns out everyone is a source of this malice.
Outside, heavy rain continued to pour, making it impossible to shoot his scenes. The crew sent a notice that filming would be suspended for the day, allowing him to rest properly.
Qi Yuqiu strolled downstairs and saw Min Yu already sitting on the sofa in the small living room, watching the news.
He walked over and sat on a nearby small sofa, lazily stretching. Min Yu glanced up and, seeing him still wearing a thin short-sleeved shirt, frowned and said, “The weather is cool; put on a jacket.”
Qi Yuqiu pulled a small blanket from the sofa over himself, blinking at him.
Min Yu sighed helplessly and handed him the jacket placed nearby. “Put this on first. You can go upstairs to get another after eating.”
Only then did Qi Yuqiu grin, set the blanket aside, and drape the jacket over himself.
Min Yu was a head taller than him, so the jacket was naturally a size too big. When he put it on, the sleeves covered his entire hands, making him look like a child wearing an adult’s clothes.
“Come here,” Min Yu said, putting down the tablet and gesturing for Qi Yuqiu to approach.
“What’s up?” Qi Yuqiu replied as he jumped directly from the small sofa, causing Min Yu’s eyelids to twitch. He suddenly understood the feelings of parents with mischievous children at home.
The sofa was too soft, and Qi Yuqiu lost his balance, tumbling onto it. He simply sat cross-legged, tilting his head slightly to look at Min Yu.
Min Yu adjusted his collar and coughed. “Give me your hand.”
Was there a gift for him? Qi Yuqiu’s eyes lit up, and he obediently extended his hand to Min Yu.
Min Yu then reached out, pulling up the sleeve and rolling it neatly before signaling for him to offer the other hand.
Uncle Liu watched this scene with a pleased smile before quietly leaving the living room.
Just as the sleeves were rolled up, someone called. Qi Yuqiu took out his phone and saw it was Sheng Yuke. He answered the call, about to ask if Sheng Yuke had encountered a romantic interest, but was cut off by a torrent of words.
“It must be that idiot Han Chen. Damn, he’s so vicious and malicious. If I hadn’t been there myself, I would’ve believed it. Who knows how much money he spent to ruin your reputation.”
“I just can’t stand this kind of idiot who blatantly lies with their eyes wide open. Just wait, I’ll post on Weibo and tear him apart. What a piece of trash!”
Before Qi Yuqiu could even speak after the outburst, the other end had already hung up. He rubbed his chin, thinking, This kid is quite loyal, just too hot-tempered.
Within two minutes, Qi Yuqiu saw that Sheng Yuke had indeed posted on Weibo.
“Sheng Yuke: Someone really knows how to spend money to twist the truth and smear others. If I hadn’t seen with my own eyes that person bump into the prop, I would’ve believed it.”
With millions of followers, Sheng Yuke’s Weibo post was quickly screenshotted and reposted.
“Keke is so righteous, love you, mwah!”
“As expected of Keke, just wondering who this ‘someone’ is, hehe.”
“Take care of yourself. The Water Army is too crazy. If you speak the truth like this, they definitely won’t let you off. My heart aches for you.”
Sheng Yuke’s comment section was quickly taken over by his fans. Although the Water Army flooded in, they couldn’t gain the upper hand.
His statement caused a small portion of people to start wavering. They felt that as an eyewitness on the scene, Sheng Yuke’s words were naturally more credible than those of the Marketing Accounts.
However, most netizens believed they were all birds of a feather, ganging up to bully the staff.
Qi Yuqiu sent him a message: “You’re going to get scolded.”
“Let them scold, do I look scared?” Sheng Yuke replied arrogantly.
Sure enough, not long after, several photos and a video quickly spread across the internet.
“Yi Sheng Jun: So that’s how it is~ 【Photo】【Photo】”
In the two accompanying photos, Qi Yuqiu and Sheng Yuke were leaning their heads together, looking very intimate.