As they say, toxic solo stans only lose their composure over a real sister-in-law. Ding Jiaxin’s sixth sense wasn’t unfounded.
Since childhood, Ding Yuxi had always responded better to softness than hardness. Ding Jiaxin could be as tough as a steel plate with anyone else, but when she needed a favor from her cousin, she knew she had to act a little cute to get what she wanted.
Ding Yuxi was most defenseless against people acting cute with him.
And as luck would have it, Yu Shuxin was the best at acting cute with others.
Ding Jiaxin was certain that her brother had been tricked into taking photos for her precisely because of that bad woman’s cute act.
She might have even been coaxed into being free labor over a meal.
If it were the old Ding Jiaxin, she would have directly called Ding Yuxi and asked him why he was taking photos for her rival.
But ever since Ding Jiaxin stood Ding Yuxi up in January, leaving him waiting at the airport in the middle of the night without anyone showing up, she had been walking on eggshells around him, unable to hold her head high.
She wanted to say something to Ding Yuxi. After deleting and retyping in the chat box over and over, a tear landed on her phone screen.
Why did everyone who came into contact with Yu Shuxin end up liking her so much?
Ding Jiaxin turned off the screen, crossed her arms, and stared blankly out the window at the endless darkness of the night.
…
Toxic solo stans not only lose their composure over a real sister-in-law, they also lose their composure over a real brother-in-law.
A hot post appeared on the entertainment gossip forum, vaguely worded without naming anyone directly.
momo No. 1: Let’s discuss—are the two on today’s trending search dating on the company’s dime?
Floor 1: Please don’t spread rumors about a single female celebrity. The paparazzi already received a cease-and-desist letter and deleted their post.
Floor 2: Although I’m a career fan, this indie director guy and Sister Fish look so good together. Can I say that?
Floor 3 replying to Floor 2: Speaking of which, does a director count as a regular person? They’re in the same circle as celebrities.
Floor 4 replying to Floor 3: I’d say yes. People behind the scenes should count.
Floor 5: Hey hey, don’t derail the thread up there.
Floor 6: I also think they look great together. I looked it up—Director Bro went from a gofer to assistant director in just three years of work. What level of capability is that?
Floor 7 replying to Floor 6: I have a bit of connections. A friend worked on a set with Director Bro. His work ability is indeed very strong. He’s great at using camera language to portray character personalities. Check out “1001”—many of the male lead’s highlight shots were filmed by him. Also, he has a great personality and is very gentle. When the director and the crew manager argued, he would proactively step in to mediate.
Floor 8 replying to Floor 7: What’s “1001”?
Floor 9 replying to Floor 8: It’s last year’s hit drama “A Thousand and First Heartbeat.” It’s good.
Floor 10: Why are you all so into shipping random couples? Can’t our Fish make friends anymore? Every guy has to be judged on whether he’s worthy of dating her.
Floor 11: Exactly, exactly. Put “Sister Fish is single” up on the big screen! Firmly defend a single female celebrity’s freedom to choose her collaborators.
Floor 12 replying to Floor 7: Haha, I also saw the handsome guy today and went to ask my connection. I heard Drunk Director has a terrible temper and loves to blow up on set. Director Bro is basically a fire extinguisher on set every day.
Floor 13 replying to Floor 12: Yeah, after all, he’s the prized disciple of Drunk Director.
Floor 14 replying to Floor 10: This is a gossip forum to begin with. If you don’t gossip in a gossip forum, why are you here—to study serious literature?
Floor 15: Stop arguing, you guys. Check out the Yuzhou Zhongxin forum. The tea they’re spilling there is terrifying. I’m shipping so hard I’m dizzy.
…
The Yuzhou Zhongxin group wasn’t just application-only—it was also a read-and-burn group. Any content you saw before pulling down to refresh would turn completely blank.
A bunch of gossipers left comments on floor 15, hoping she’d invite them into the group.
Floor 15 replied: “I asked the group leader. She said too many people have noticed her private corner, so now she only accepts hardcore whales—loyal solo fans—into the group.”
Floor 10 happened to be a wealthy fish fan. She showed floor 15 her voting records from the talent show and her merch purchase history, and successfully got in.
With complicated feelings, she stared at the single lonely post in the Yuzhou Zhongxin group that had been piled with over a thousand floors.
Group leader: “A Feasibility Analysis of the Marriage Between a Certain Fish and a Certain Director Bro”
Everything below is made up by me. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. But if these two newbies get married, I’ll release all the materials in this thread for everyone to ship together.
[Before that, please join me in guarding this little secret.]
I’ve liked Xinxin since the reality show “Qing You,” so I went to the finals night.
[Finals ticket.jpg]
At the finals venue, I kept filming Xinxin, wanting to capture every moment of her.
When I went back to sort through the photos, I noticed a man in sunglasses and a mask sitting diagonally across from the stage, also filming Xinxin the whole time. I re-examined the angles—he should be Silence, the only male fan photographer in the fish fandom, who gained ten thousand followers with just two god-tier photos.
[Airport cold-faced queen.jpg]
[Stage queen shedding tears.jpg]
The composition and photography style look really similar to today’s overpass photos, right? I checked the photo EXIF info—same camera model.
[Photo EXIF comparison.jpg]
Right, if I just concluded from that, you’d probably think I was delusional. So I went through all the behind-the-scenes and leaked photos from the sets Director Bro worked on this year.
[Fully geared-up fan photographer in hat and sunglasses.jpg]
This is Silence I captured on finals night. Hat, sunglasses, mask, clothes, pants, shoes—I found the same items on him in leaked photos from other sets where Director Bro worked.
[Massive comparison images.jpg]
By this point, floor 10 was already in awe. This group leader really knows how to dig…
She continued scrolling down, and the text and images above all turned blank.
Group leader: By now, I believe you should agree that Fish Sis’s fan photographer Silence and Director Bro are the same person.
What I’m about to say next is my speculation—and it’s only speculation. It doesn’t mean the two people I ship will definitely go in this direction.
Everyone knows Fish Sis comes from a great family. I only learned about Director Bro by chance through a mutual friend…
Floor 10 pulled down to here, but no more content would load. When she refreshed again, it showed the post had been locked.
She went back to the group and refreshed, and a new post appeared.
Group leader: I’ve locked the previous post. Looking forward to the day it gets unlocked. New babies only need to know one thing: Fish Sis’s fan photographer and Director Bro are most likely the same person. If you still want Silence to produce god-tier photos, don’t stir things up in front of the people involved…
Floor 10 was practically coughing blood by this point. She furiously hit the leave-group button. What kind of person is this?!
Floor 10 then privately messaged floor 15, asking what the group leader’s speculation was about.
Floor 15 replied, super innocent and cute: “What speculation? Isn’t it just that the fan photographer and Director Bro are the same person? So shippable!”
The 10th floor was in absolute hysterics. She figured that the group leader had posted a speculation and then, within seconds, realized it wasn’t appropriate and deleted it. She just happened to catch the first few lines of the speculation.
But just like the 15th floor, who was already delirious from shipping, she was hooked too.
From the airport photos taken when they were still unknown, to the tearful photos on debut night, to the overpass photos when they took another step forward.
From fan photographer to colleague, from audience member below the stage to fellow traveler on the stage.
Many times, CP fans aren’t really shipping whether the two people are actually together—they’re shipping the possibility of them being together.
…
A low-key super topic also appeared on Weibo, called “Yu Zhou Zhong Xin.”
Every day, people in the super topic check in like clockwork.
“Report! Today bro and sis are filming in the same group!”
Below, a neat row of “Shipping it!”
“Report! Today bro and sis are filming in separate groups!”
Below, another neat row of “Shipping it!”
Each one like little robots, adorably cute.