Qiao Shu organized her thoughts, her fingertips tapping on the keyboard. After confirming there were no mistakes, she clicked send.
Why double-check?
Zhang Qian had said that when posting on Weibo, you should review it a second time before sending—develop a good habit to avoid trending on social media because of it.
She was so obscure that checking or not checking hardly mattered. Though she was obscure, she couldn’t just act recklessly.
Qiao Shu waited over ten seconds, but there was no reply. She glanced at the time—still early, just past ten o’clock.
Had Jiang Tu gone to sleep?
“Buzz…”
Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Qiao Shu lowered her gaze and saw an unfamiliar number starting with 187.
Jiang Tu?
But that didn’t make sense—she hadn’t given Jiang Tu her phone number. How would he have it?
Qiao Shu swiped to answer, her red lips parting slightly.
“What’s your room number?”
Asking for the room number right off the bat—who else could it be but Jiang Tu? Qiao Shu’s voice carried a hint of nasal tone. “1608.”
“Alright, take care of yourself.”
Qiao Shu paused for a few seconds. “Thank you, Teacher Jiang!”
There was no response from the other end. If it weren’t for the call still showing as connected, Qiao Shu would have thought Jiang Tu had hung up.
Faced with silence, Qiao Shu softened her breathing. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now. You should rest early.”
“Mhm.”
The man’s magnetic, low voice reached her ears, sending a slight tingle through Qiao Shu’s heart—it felt strange.
Qiao Shu put down her phone and picked up the hairdryer to dry her hair. Just then, her phone on the table rang again.
The noisy hairdryer drowned out the ringtone. After drying her hair for two minutes, as if remembering something, she tossed the hairdryer aside and picked up her phone to look.
There were several more missed calls.
Qiao Shu slapped her forehead in frustration and called Jiang Tu back. After a few rings, he answered immediately.
“What were you doing? Why didn’t you answer?”
A flicker of embarrassment passed through Qiao Shu’s obsidian-like eyes. “Sorry, I was drying my hair and didn’t hear it.”
“Fang Zheng is waiting for you at the door.”
“Alright, thank you!” Without bothering to hang up, Qiao Shu slipped on disposable cotton slippers and went to open the door.
Fang Zheng stood at the doorway, looking around, then checked the time on his wrist, secretly relieved that the hotel was discreet. If paparazzi had caught them, it would have been disastrous.
With a click, the door opened.
Fang Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and handed over a bag. “Teacher Qiao, here’s some cold medicine and ginger tea.”
Qiao Shu took the bag from Fang Zheng, looking at him apologetically. “Sorry for making you wait so long.”
“No problem, no problem. Drink the ginger tea while it’s hot,” Fang Zheng waved his hand. “I’ll head back now.”
Carrying the bag, Qiao Shu walked over to the sofa before remembering the call was still connected. Tentatively, she spoke.
“Teacher Jiang?”
“Mhm.”
That magnetic, low voice again. Qiao Shu mused—with a voice like that, it was a shame he wasn’t a voice actor.
“Thank you for the ginger tea and cold medicine, Teacher Jiang. It’s so late, I won’t disturb you any further.”
“You’re welcome. Rest early.”
After hanging up, Qiao Shu let out a soft sigh. She hadn’t expected Jiang Tu to send her cold medicine—perhaps out of concern for a colleague he was working with.
Or maybe he was worried her cold would delay tomorrow’s schedule. Or perhaps because she was his wife.
Qiao Shu sighed. Whatever the reason, she should be grateful to Jiang Tu.
Qiao Shu opened the bag. The ginger tea was still warm, and there were two boxes of cold medicine. She drank the ginger tea and took the medicine.
Qiao Shu went into the bathroom to wash up, too tired to dwell on Ou Yaya’s affairs. Right now, she was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.
At 10:55 PM, Qiao Shu was fast asleep, dreaming sweetly, yet her name was trending on the hot search list.
#Suspected Jiang Tu and Qiao Shu Exchanging WeChat#
The top trending post featured a nine-grid GIF. Although the images were blurry, it was still recognizable as Qiao Shu and Jiang Tu.
【Is this really them exchanging WeChat?】
【It really looks like they’re adding each other on WeChat. Ah, I’m dead! They’re even wearing matching down jackets!!】
【Is Jiang Tu doing this on purpose? Does he have a crush on the actress? Why is he wearing last season’s clothes?】
This comment was flooded by Jiang Tu’s fans.
【Are the haters catching the scent? My brother wore this same jacket while filming promotional material last week. Are you blind?】
【Haters, take a look at this photo—he wore it while shooting a brand advertisement. Is it wrong for my brother to be frugal??】
【We’ve said not to engage with haters. Do some of you not know that? It’s so infuriating.】
【Enough, all I see is sweetness.】
【Let it go, it’s just actors making friends normally. Looking forward to Jiang Tu’s upcoming drama “Source of Flames.”】
At 11:05 PM, Jiang Tu went online.
Fans excitedly refreshed the celebrity activity feed in the fan community, convinced that Jiang Tu was logging in to clarify the situation.
They waited for a minute, only to see “Jiang Tu followed Qiao Shu” appear in the celebrity activity feed.
Fans were stunned. What kind of move was this?
Did their brother accidentally tap the follow button?
Mutual follows between co-stars are common in the entertainment industry, but only fans know that Jiang Tu rarely follows anyone.
Unless they’re very close.
He only follows people he’s familiar with. Since his debut, his follow count has remained in the double digits, with directors and producers making up the majority, and the rest being fellow actors.
After just a few days of working together, he’s already following the actress? Isn’t there something fishy about this? Couldn’t he wait until the drama aired to follow her?
Is this early promotion for “Glimmers of Light”?
Soon, #Jiang Tu Follows Qiao Shu# climbed to the top of the hot search list, with the top three trending topics all related to Jiang Tu.
Jiang Tu’s fans couldn’t hold back.
Their brother followed Qiao Shu and then logged off without posting anything—just logging in to follow someone before disappearing.
【Are the marketing accounts bored? What’s the big deal? Isn’t it normal to follow a co-star?】
【Hahaha, seeing this reminds me of Jiang Tu’s interview where he said he wouldn’t publicly announce if he were in a relationship.】
【I believe my brother isn’t dating!】
【Even if he is dating, so what? He’s not an idol; he’s an actor! He has the right to date!】
【Waiting for the #Qiao Shu Follows Back Jiang Tu# hot search. I wonder if we’ll see it tonight.】
Not long after.
#Qiao Shu Hasn’t Followed Back Jiang Tu# trended, appearing right below #Jiang Tu Follows Qiao Shu#.
【This is hilarious. Is this a drama series?】
【Maybe the actress is already asleep? Let’s wait until tomorrow to see if she follows back.】
【Is this even worth trending? I’ve figured it out—Qiao Shu is gaining a bit of fame by riding on Jiang Tu’s coattails.】
【Qiao Shu! Stay away, stay away, stay away!】
【Qiao Shu! Don’t make me turn from a neutral observer into a hater!】
Unaware of the online uproar, Qiao Shu thought she might catch a cold, but she didn’t.
She just had a slightly stuffy nose.
The next day.
Qiao Shu was awakened by her alarm. She had set her phone to silent the night before, so she checked to see if there were any missed calls.
There were over a dozen missed calls, all from Zhang Qian, and one from a contact saved as “Manager Chen.”
Qiao Shu had a bad feeling. Her boss rarely called her, especially not at 11 PM.
She dialed Zhang Qian’s number to get a sense of the situation.
“Finally, you’re awake! Do you have any idea how much chaos is happening online?”
Qiao Shu licked her dry pink lips, her voice heavy with a nasal tone, “What happened?”