On the other side of the globe, in England.
Ling Heng’s mood gradually lifted as the video call ringtone played on and on.
Thinking he was about to see her any moment, the corners of his mouth kept curling upward uncontrollably.
But the ringing continued until the system notified him that no one was answering, and it hung up automatically.
Ji Ran lightly patted his shoulder from behind the sofa, his tone full of sympathy and pity.
“Buddy, stop being delusional. You’ve definitely fallen for a pig-butchering scam.”
“My IQ is 160!” Ling Heng unceremoniously slapped his hand away.
“She’s not picking up… there must be a reason.”
“Stop making excuses for her. The reason is she doesn’t dare show her face.” Ji Ran said with certainty.
He sat down next to Ling Heng, wearing a smug grin.
“Count how many millions you’ve sent her. If it were me, I’d answer your call completely naked from the bathtub.”
“Besides, her voice is so cutesy, it’s too fake! I bet she’s using a high-end voice changer to make it sound like a real person.”
“That’s why the little scammer doesn’t dare answer a video call—one look and she’d be exposed.”
“Shut up!” Ling Heng irritably kicked the coffee table.
His baby had such a pure-looking face. She couldn’t possibly be a scammer.
He kept calling the video again.
The ringtone, which had just stopped, started bouncing again—completely dancing on Qiao Shutang’s frayed nerves.
She was panicking hard.
If she didn’t answer, he’d definitely get angry. If he went crazy and investigated her, it would only be a matter of time before the truth came out.
If she did answer, she was afraid of saying the wrong thing and exposing herself even faster…
The ringtone kept ringing like a death knell.
In her panic, Qiao Shutang bonked Qiao Xingye on the head repeatedly.
“I told you not to use my photos to trick people! I told you not to pretend to be a high school girl!”
Qiao Xingye held his head with both hands, not daring to talk back a single word.
He really couldn’t figure out how his secret online romance using his sister’s photos had suddenly been exposed.
He also hadn’t expected the other party to insist on a video call.
Zero—: [Answer]
Qiao Shutang saw the single word and gasped sharply.
It was a commanding tone, an attitude that brooked no argument.
Even through the screen, she could see the icy chill on his face and his completely vanished patience.
Qiao Shutang wiped her forehead and pushed Qiao Xingye toward the door.
“Play along with me.”
Then she resolutely pressed the answer button.
On Ling Heng’s phone screen appeared a pure “first love face”—skin so white it glowed, big eyes, smiling shyly as she looked at him.
His heart felt like it had been hooked by an invisible little hook.
It was her!
So beautiful!
He was about to open his mouth to greet her when the girl suddenly turned her face away in a slight panic. Then the camera spun rapidly and was covered by a book.
He could only hear the sound of a door lock turning.
Then an elderly, loving female voice.
“Tired from studying? Take a break, have some fruit.”
Then the girl’s slightly flustered voice.
“Thank you, Grandma.”
“Emm… Grandma, um… next time could you knock before entering my room?”
“I haven’t even gotten on to you yet. What’s with closing the door at home for no reason?”
“Hey, are you secretly dating someone? Be careful you don’t get tricked by some good-for-nothing!”
“Grandma, I’m not.”
“You’re not? Then hand me your phone and let me see.”
Immediately after, a hand reached into the frame, and the video call ended.
Ling Heng sighed and tossed his phone onto the coffee table.
He unbuttoned two buttons of his silk shirt to cool off, revealing a stretch of his chest with its pronounced contours.
Why did his face feel so hot? It felt like he had a fever.
Thankfully, Ji Ran was there to throw cold water on him.
“Just one look? This is an advanced-level pig-butchering scam! This guy could be a top salesperson in northern Myanmar. Hey, I heard there’s an anti-fraud app in China—let me download it for you, bro.”
Ji Ran reached for Ling Heng’s phone on the coffee table, only to have his wrist clamped in a death grip.
The pain made Ji Ran grimace.
This was still Ling Heng going easy on him, for the sake of having grown up together in split-crotch pants.
Ling Heng said, word by word: “She’s not a scammer!”
“Fine, fine, fine, she’s not a scammer,” Ji Ran said, rotating his wrist and making a face as he ran off. “I’ll livestream myself eating shit.”
Ling Heng shot him a glare.
He tapped a cigarette out of the pack.
Lit it.
Took a deep drag, let it into his lungs.
“She’s young. An elder suddenly walking in must have scared her.”
“At least now we can confirm the photo is really her.”
Not like what Ji Ran had speculated earlier—that a scammer had stolen someone else’s photo.
At that thought, he picked up his phone again and excitedly sent a message.
Zero—: [Baby, once Grandma’s gone, let’s video chat again.]
Ji Ran pressed his thumb against his own philtrum.
“Even if Xiao Qiao really is a beauty, she’s still a gold digger. Who asks their boyfriend for money every other day?”
“That girl a couple years back—what was her name, Xinxin? She hounded her own husband to death, and she was a beauty too.”
“You haven’t even met her in person. Isn’t sending money a bit too eager?”
Ling Heng corrected him, very displeased: “My wife has never asked me for money. I send it because I want to.”
He muttered under his breath: “Besides, it’s all small amounts. Altogether not even enough to buy a car.”
“Come on, come on,” Ji Ran said with a bitter smile, walking toward a blank white wall. “Dare to do this move with me?”
He planted both hands on the floor, swung his legs up in one clean motion, and kicked into a handstand against the wall.
Ling Heng didn’t know what he meant by it, but he followed suit and handstanded next to him.
“How hard is this move?”
Ji Ran: “Not hard. It just depends on whether we can pour the water out of your brain.”
“You little punk, you’re asking for it!”
The two good brothers engaged in a fierce and friendly round of physical communication, until they collapsed, sprawled every which way, on the wooden floor.
A “ding” came from the phone on the coffee table—a message notification.
Ling Heng sprang up like a carp, his long arm shooting out to snatch the phone.
His sapphire-bright eyes dimmed in an instant.
“It’s an engagement banquet invitation from your brother. Next month—so rushed.”
Ji Ran sat on the floor with his legs casually bent, rubbing his sweat-damp hair.
“Oh, right, forgot to tell you—my brother’s robbing the cradle. He found a girlfriend four years younger than him.”
Ling Heng raised a sharp brow.
“A four-year age gap counts as robbing the cradle?”
He was twenty this year, also four years older than Xiao Qiao.
So what did that make him?
“The main thing is she’s a peerless beauty. Her nickname is the Capital’s Da Qiao—just imagine how gorgeous she must be.”
Ling Heng scoffed.
“Then why isn’t she called Xi Shi, Diao Chan, or Yang Yuhuan?”
Ji Ran scrolled through photos on his phone as he answered: “Her surname is Qiao. Her name is Qiao Xingyue. She was runner-up in a beauty pageant and won Miss Photogenic.”
“Here, this is a photo of her and my brother.”
Ling Heng took one look—dazzling and striking, certainly prettier than most female celebrities.
“With that much makeup, who knows what she looks like underneath?”
Not like his Xiao Qiao, who could hold her own bare-faced.
Ji Ran said: “My brother’s seen her after a shower. He says there’s not much difference.”
Ling Heng replied, “Your brother’s lovesick, can you trust that?”
Ji Ran shrugged. “Hey, let’s just go peek into the dressing room before the banquet.”
“I heard there’s a real beauty among her bridesmaids. When the time comes, I’ll have my sister-in-law introduce her to you. She’s definitely more reliable than,” he pointed at Ling Heng’s phone, “that fake Xiao Qiao of yours.”
Ling Heng woke his phone—still no new messages.
An hour had passed.
What was his Xiao Qiao doing right now?