Within just one night, Xu Xiu’s name and photo screenshots were pushed onto the trending list, drawing a wave of scathing criticism.
At the same time, Lin Youqiao received endless praise.
【Lin Youqiao may be rich, but she’s not a pushover. That outfit costs hundreds of thousands.】【I heard luxury clothes can’t even be washed. Isn’t that basically ruined? I really don’t understand the world of the rich.】【Some people really use their ‘disadvantaged status’ as a shield to act however they want. She deserved to be taught a lesson.】【Since she likes playing the good person so much, she should just pay for that hundreds-of-thousands jacket.】【That young mother is so young—she must be struggling. Probably just jealous of Lin Youqiao’s beauty and wealth.】【But… this mom is pretty too, right? Even though the camera angle is harsh, you can still tell she’s stunning. Pretty surprising.】【Above commenter, your values are following your looks, huh.】【What beauty? She clearly has the face of a vicious supporting female character—cold and scheming.】
Among all the comments, Xu Xiu noticed this one at a glance and casually clicked a like.
She really was playing the “villainous supporting female character” role.
This person had accurately identified the essence of things—impressive.
【This woman is so malicious in her little schemes. Just because our Qiao Princess is rich, she tried to turn the tables on her. Clearly Qiao Princess is the victim, yet she’s being wrongly accused just because the other party is wealthy?】
“Qiao Princess” was a nickname used by some of Lin Youqiao’s fans.
Everyone knew she was from the Qiao family—a textbook rich, beautiful socialite heiress.
She occasionally shared her life online, and the everyday items she used were worth a fortune to ordinary people. Fans said she lived like a princess.
So they called her “Qiao Princess.”
Xu Xiu watched the online storm unfold and calmly worked on her computer.
It seemed Lin Youqiao had made thorough preparations.
She probably had also spoken to the airport authorities in advance; there likely wouldn’t be any official clarification.
But even without external help, Xu Xiu wasn’t worried at all.
Although everyone online was trying to act as “justice warriors,” digging into her identity, she had just returned to the country—there was almost no information about her domestically. It wouldn’t be easy to track her down for now.
After finishing her work on the computer, she was about to head to the kitchen when she noticed Xu Zhiran sitting on the sofa, frowning deeply while typing intensely on a tablet.
A flash of the screen caught her eye. She raised an eyebrow and walked over, taking the tablet.
【My mom is not a vicious supporting female character. She’s a good mom. You people are bad…】
It was a discussion about the airplane incident. The comment section was filled with insults and malicious speculation about her.
And the little one was preparing to respond to them one by one.
Xu Xiu frowned slightly, for the first time feeling that having a “genius little prodigy” wasn’t entirely a good thing.
For example, normal kids would just use a tablet to watch cartoons—but this little one was reading news, and even understanding it.
He hadn’t even fully learned to read, yet he was already ready to argue with internet trolls.
She turned off the tablet and sat down on the sofa, pulling him into her arms.
Before she could even organize her words, the little one apologized first.
“Sorry, Mom… did I do something wrong?”
He instinctively thought he had made a mistake.
He seemed to have made his mother unhappy.
He lowered his head in disappointment, feeling he hadn’t helped her at all and had only caused trouble.
Seeing him like this, all of Xu Xiu’s reprimands got stuck in her throat.
She lifted his little face so he had to look at her and said seriously:
“Xu Zhiran, you don’t need to apologize to Mom. You are Mom’s child. Mom will never blame you.”
The little boy’s phoenix-like eyes looked at her blankly, his cheeks squished adorably by her hands.
“Mmm… reaaally? Mom will never blame me?”
“Of course. Mom will never blame you—and Mom will always love you.”
She couldn’t help but kiss his forehead. As soon as her lips left, Xu Zhiran imitated her and gave her forehead a soft little kiss too.
Xu Xiu hugged him tightly, completely unaware that in the near future, this “little troublemaker” would almost make her break her promise of “never blaming him.”
Of course, at this moment, the mother and son on the sofa were still in a warm, loving scene.
After the warmth, Xu Xiu picked up the tablet again and reminded him:
“Mom isn’t blaming you, but this way of doing things isn’t right.”
She hadn’t originally planned to teach him these things so early.
In her imagination, Xu Zhiran wouldn’t even know about these matters, and everything would be resolved quietly.
But the little one was too smart—she had no choice but to teach him a bit about the complexities of the world, so he wouldn’t secretly do something shocking later.
“The first sentence, ‘my mom,’ directly exposes that you are Mom’s child. After that, no matter what you say, people won’t believe you. They’ll instead attack you.”
Worse still, they might think it was actually Xu Xiu herself pretending to be a child online to gain sympathy.
After all, in the public’s eyes, how could a three-year-old kid possibly be surfing the internet?
If they dug deeper, even their address and phone number might be exposed.
“Leave this to Mom. Mom can handle it.”
She wasn’t worried—this kind of online exposure and backlash was already within her expectations.
Xu Zhiran nodded in understanding.
But unexpectedly, her explanation planted a new idea in his mind.
He stared silently at the tablet.
So he still wasn’t strong enough.
If he were the kind of “hacker” Mom mentioned, maybe he wouldn’t get discovered—and he could even find out who those people were who were insulting her.
Xu Xiu had no idea that her casual mention of “hackers,” meant to explain the complexity of the internet, would end up planting the seed for him to learn yet another skill in the future.
Yunyang Resort Hotel was the only seven-star hotel in Beijing, located in the most luxurious area of the city center.
At this moment, Xu Xiu stood outside the entrance holding Xu Zhiran’s hand.
“Mom, why are we here? Are we really here to find Dad?”
The little boy tilted his head up, looking at the unfamiliar towering building.
So tall.
The sky had already darkened, and the building was brightly lit.
An hour ago, his mother had suddenly said she would take him to see his father.
He thought she was joking—but soon, they really arrived here.
Xu Xiu glanced at the time and replied casually:
“Yes. You’ll see him soon.”
Today was originally the day she planned for father and son to reunite. Even though things online were chaotic, she had no intention of changing it.
“Let’s go.”
She led him toward the back entrance.