The voice coming from the phone was cold and carried an imposing pressure, as if making this call was an unforgivable mistake.
Li Qi’s heart sank. Qi Yuqiu had never mentioned having any brothers, and since he brought his own assistant, Li Qi knew almost nothing about Qi Yuqiu’s private life—not even where he lived.
Could it be that Qi Yuqiu kept things so tightly under wraps because of this man?
Having worked in the entertainment industry for years, Li Qi had seen it all. Though he felt somewhat uncomfortable, it occurred to him that the person Qi Yuqiu was with was incredibly stingy!
Money? There was none—Qi Yuqiu was still burdened with debt. Resources? Not a trace to be seen. Even when Qi Yuqiu was being attacked online, this guy hadn’t lifted a finger to help him out.
Li Qi was starting to wonder if Qi Yuqiu was actually paying to be with this man.
“Speak.” The voice on the phone came again, tinged with impatience.
Li Qi cleared his throat and feigned ignorance. “Is Yuqiu there? I have something to discuss with him.”
There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by the sound of a sliding door. Then the man replied, “He’s asleep.”
Look at this! Just look!
It was already past ten in the morning, and he was still asleep!
Li Qi gritted his teeth. No wonder he couldn’t get through to Qi Yuqiu’s phone last night. Who knew what those two were up to? Luckily, heavy rain had halted filming today. If shooting had proceeded as scheduled, would Qi Yuqiu even have been able to get up?
Not only did this man fail to provide resources, but he also only cared about himself, showing no concern for whether Qi Yuqiu’s work would be affected.
What a scumbag!!
Li Qi felt as though the naive cabbage he had nurtured had been trampled by a black-hearted pig. Fuming, his earlier good mood vanished in an instant.
He snorted coldly and replied with feigned politeness, “Oh, still sleeping, huh? That kid sure has a carefree heart—being criticized online all day and still managing to sleep soundly. Hah.”
“Oh, and could you pass on a message for me? People should rely on themselves. While he’s still young, he should focus on building his career. Relying on cats or dogs is never as good as relying on oneself. Just look at him—doesn’t he know he might have filming today? What was he doing up so late last night? Huh? Absolutely nothing!”
Li Qi angrily hung up the phone, clenched his fist, and punched the plush toy on the sofa. He vowed to make Qi Yuqiu wake up and realize the truth. What was the point of being with someone who gave nothing in return? For his cold-heartedness? For his good looks?
On the other end, Min Yu was equally baffled. He wasn’t a fool and could tell the person on the phone was speaking with a hostile tone, though he didn’t pay it much mind.
However, that person had mentioned that Qi Yuqiu had been criticized all day?
Min Yu took out his phone. It was filled with various work-related apps, and the only news app he had was packed with financial and stock market updates.
He downloaded Weibo and browsed through its sections, quickly finding what he was looking for.
On the Hot Search list, two or three topics related to Qi Yuqiu immediately caught his eye. Min Yu clicked on the highest-ranking one, where the most popular post was from someone called “Entertainment Big Brother.”
After quickly skimming through it, Min Yu understood—these were so-called Marketing Accounts, hired to stir up trouble online and smear Qi Yuqiu’s name.
He opened the Comment Section, where all sorts of vulgar insults were still circulating unchecked. As he read through the barrage of offensive remarks, his expression turned icy cold.
Besides those criticizing Qi Yuqiu’s character, more people seemed to be venting their own malice, filling the comment section with all sorts of vulgar language and vicious curses.
Min Yu didn’t know what mindset Qi Yuqiu had to be able to read through these comments and still happily curl up on the sofa reading books and eating cookies.
As if nothing had happened.
Perhaps he was just putting on a facade, or perhaps he had experienced too much and grown accustomed to being criticized.
Whichever it was, Min Yu felt heartache.
Their family’s child didn’t deserve to be criticized by these people.
Min Yu directly called the head of the legal department, instructing him to handle the false statements targeting Qi Yuqiu online.
“President Min, do you want to deal with the major offenders or all of them?”
“All of them.” Min Yu’s eyes turned cold. Those who did wrong must bear the consequences they deserved.
“Understood. Rest assured, I’ll handle it right away.”
The legal director steadied his tone, only to look bewildered at his assistant after hanging up.
Seeing his expression was off, the assistant asked worriedly, “What did the boss want? Did something happen to the company?”
If it wasn’t something major, why would President Min suddenly call personally!
The director said with a dazed look, “No, President Min said we should help Qi Yuqiu sue a few marketing accounts.”
“Who?” The assistant was also confused, doubting his own hearing.
“Qi Yuqiu.” The director turned to look at him. “Do you know who that is?”
The assistant shook his head: “No, I don’t know.”
After the two searched online, they became even more bewildered. How did this controversial little celebrity get involved with their icy, stern boss?
It felt unreal—the more they thought about these two together, the more awkward it seemed.
The director couldn’t help but sigh: the world is vast, and nothing is too strange.
From then on, a not-so-secret secret quietly spread within Min Group’s headquarters: it turned out that Qi Yuqiu was President Min’s relative!
With such a powerful backer, yet still striving on his own—even if he wasn’t doing well, his spirit was commendable!
After the legal director confirmed he had started handling Qi Yuqiu’s matter, Min Yu’s anger subsided somewhat.
Having slept all morning, Qi Yuqiu had no idea those criticizing him had been targeted by a giant entity. He stretched comfortably, drank the lemon tea Uncle Liu had prepared in one go, and looked at Min Yu, who was working.
Hearing the movement, Min Yu walked over and clumsily ruffled his hair. “Go change quickly. We’re going out for lunch at noon, and I’ll take you somewhere in the afternoon.”
“What are we going to do? Is it fun?” Qi Yuqiu asked excitedly. He hadn’t gone out to have fun since arriving here, and there were many interesting things he hadn’t had the chance to see.
“It’s fun.” Min Yu smiled rarely. He wanted to take Qi Yuqiu out to relax, to temporarily forget the online comments. By the time they returned, those who had slandered him should have apologized.
Qi Yuqiu jumped off the sofa. “I’ll go change!”
With that, he dashed out of the study.
Min Yu smiled, watching his joyful demeanor, and the gloom in his heart dissipated.
After rummaging in the wardrobe for a long time, Qi Yuqiu finally found the only set of sportswear. He realized with some frustration that he really needed to buy clothes—he had worn everything wearable, and what remained was simply unwearable.
It was still raining outside. Min Yu didn’t bring the driver along, instead driving Qi Yuqiu out himself.
As a public figure, Qi Yuqiu, under the constant reminders of his assistant Deng Chao, had finally remembered to wear a hat and sunglasses every time he went out.
The oversized sunglasses covered half his face. Qi Yuqiu leaned in close to Min Yu and asked, “Can you still tell it’s me?”
Min Yu replied with a hint of amusement in his eyes, “Not at all.”
Only then did Qi Yuqiu, satisfied, adjust his hat brim and say, “Then let’s go!”
Uncle Liu chuckled and said, “Xiao Yu, you have to keep an eye on Xiao Qi. Don’t let him eat anything he shouldn’t—he’s not just one person now!”
Hearing this, Qi Yuqiu quickly picked up his pace, dashed to the main gate, and after stopping, waved at Min Yu to hurry up and drive.
“Ah, look at him—he’s still a child himself,” Uncle Liu said, watching Qi Yuqiu stride away in the light rain, his heart pounding with worry that he might slip.
Min Yu couldn’t help but smile. “Uncle Liu, don’t worry. I’ll watch over him.”
Only then did Uncle Liu wave them off.
After they left, Uncle Liu stood at the main gate holding an umbrella. After a long while, he smiled. Having one more person in the house really did make it livelier.