The commotion online was larger than expected.
And the main reason, unexpectedly, was Miss Yuan herself.
Fan Qing never actually fell back asleep.
Once he was awake, it was difficult to pretend nothing had happened.
And since it concerned his reputation, he might as well take a look.
After checking, he realized it had not been a major issue to begin with.
Strictly speaking, neither he nor Miss Yuan truly belonged to the entertainment circle, so the scandal alone would not have stirred much.
Except—
He looked at another trending topic with complicated feelings.
#MissYuanEngagementBanquetStuns#
Yes.
The original rumor about him and Miss Yuan had not been significant.
But the outfit designed for her by Yao Ge had shot up the trending charts first.
“Holy crap holy crap holy crap! I have a bold guess about this outfit—is it what I think it is? Is it? Right??”
“Miss Yuan! I remember this rich queen! Is she not the one who won Yao Designer’s raffle before? Ugh, why is she so gorgeous on top of being rich and lucky? How is that fair?”
“Damn it! I was just admiring the outfit, and now the comment above has dealt me critical damage. I cannot live like this. The gap between people is infuriating.”
Fan Qing felt torn between laughter and exasperation.
So this trending topic had completely veered off course?
Did none of these people feel heartache looking at it?
How had it devolved into a philosophical discussion about the art of reincarnation?
He supposed that was the internet for you.
With that wave of attention, the exposé had quietly gathered momentum.
And when it did, it struck precisely at Miss Yuan, who was already in the spotlight.
Whoever was behind it had some brains.
Fan Qing thought about it.
And they must have attended the engagement banquet.
Otherwise, they would not have known so many specific details.
His expression cooled slightly.
In that case, he knew who it was.
Or rather, which two people.
And he was not the only one.
Miss Yuan had already obtained the evidence as well.
The evidence had come in the simplest form—surveillance footage showing them trailing Fan Qing secretly to the doorway.
It was indeed them!
The moment Miss Yuan got the proof, she wasted no time and went straight to pay a visit to one of them.
The woman at home panicked immediately upon realizing Miss Yuan had come.
She quickly sent a message to the other accomplice:
“Seems like she knows it was us? What do we do? She has the evidence and came to my house!”
The other one, seeing the message, almost lost it.
She immediately blocked and deleted all contacts for that person—one clean sweep.
None of this concerned her!
If someone from the Yuan family wanted to cause trouble, let them go find this one!
After finishing, she finally exhaled in relief.
Knock, knock.
The door was tapped, and she felt an inexplicable flutter of anxiety.
No, no need to panic.
The Yuan girl had gone after that other person—how could she possibly still come here?
Right, it’s just her. Calm down.
Stop scaring yourself!
“Miss, the master says a distinguished guest has arrived, please come downstairs.”
The familiar housemaid’s voice drifted from the door.
She whispered nervously,
“Is it someone from the Yuan family? Or her fiancé?”
The maid glanced outside and saw a tall, young man, strikingly handsome yet carrying a subtle but dangerous aura. She shook her head.
“Neither. It’s a…”
She had been about to say “quite terrifying person,” but her gaze met his.
A shiver of being watched, coupled with an inexplicable intuition, made her swap words at the last second.
“He’s a tall, handsome man.”
Tall and handsome?
The girl’s eyes lit up instantly.
Could this be… her destined match?
She nearly leapt down the stairs, eager to see him.
“I got it! I’m coming right away.”
Luckily, she had put on some makeup out of boredom at home that day.
She bounded down, her heart fluttering, and saw the man the maid had described.
Tall and handsome—indeed, there was no mistake.
Before she could revel in it, she sensed something off. Why did the atmosphere in the living room feel… strange?
The next second, her father spotted her and barked coldly,
“Hurry over here! And tell me—what foolishness have you been up to outside?”
After scolding her, he subtly gestured to the man seated nearby.
“Mr. Jin, as you can see, my daughter has come down. This matter… she is still young and inexperienced…”
“I don’t think she’s that young anymore.”
Mr. Jin smiled faintly, sipping his medicinal tea. He implied,
“At her age, she’s about the same age as my younger brother. So she isn’t that young anymore. My brother might cause me some trouble, but he rarely creates real chaos or damages my relationships with other families. Would you agree?”
The middle-aged man understood.
He looked helplessly at his still-confused daughter, nodding apologetically.
“You’re right, Mr. Jin. My daughter is too inexperienced. I’ll have her go out, learn a few more things, and return. I’ll make sure she clarifies and apologizes online regarding those messy rumors.”
“Dad!”
The man remained unmoved, continuing,
“I’m not sure when Mr. Jin’s brother is available. I heard he was recently promoted to company general manager—should I personally bring a congratulatory gift?”
That seemed reasonable.
Mr. Jin set down his cup slowly.
“No need for you to come personally. He’s still young. But your daughter, being about the same age, going personally is appropriate.”
And just like that, the plan for her to personally apologize was settled.
With the discussion concluded, Mr. Jin had no interest in lingering.
He had more pressing matters—Fan Qing was lying comfortably at home, probably asleep.
Though he could have checked via phone, he preferred to keep an eye on things in person.
He thought, wasting this much time on trivial matters was already enough.
Before getting into his car, he turned back.
“Speaking of which, I’ve taught my brother quite well. Perhaps you should come by sometime; I can share some of my methods with you.”
Although Jin Yi was somewhat incompetent, Fan Qing was quite capable, wasn’t he?
And besides…
Mr. Jin’s eyes swept past the middle-aged man’s daughter cowering behind him.
He had not misspoken.
Even if Jin Yi caused a little trouble, it only cost a bit of pocket money—he hadn’t brought this much chaos.
The middle-aged man felt mortified.
A faint, unsettling thought even crept into his mind: could it be that he had not taught his daughter as effectively as Mr. Jin had taught his son?
Perhaps… he really should pay a visit one day.
Mr. Jin’s car slowly drove away, leaving the man deep in thought.
Behind him, the girl suddenly cried out,
“Dad! You don’t mean to make me personally apologize to that… Fan Qing, do you? I won’t! Who is he anyway? Just a lowly manager relying on PG sales to become general manager…”
Smack.
The middle-aged man delivered a harsh slap.
“That’s because he has the ability! If you have the ability, go find someone like Mr. Jin to cover you!”
Recently, Mr. Jin had made some remarks, and families were waiting to see if they could leverage Fan Qing to gain favor with him.
But their daughter? She managed to offend them all at once.
Raising her all these years was less effective than raising a few pigs.
Even pigs are smarter!
Thus went Miss Yuan’s visit—and Mr. Jin’s quiet, yet overwhelming control of the situation.
Both families quickly crumbled and, in a swift turn, pushed their daughters forward.
They had really come to apologize in person.
Fan Qing didn’t hold back—he directly handed over Nie Luo’s address.
The girl who came to apologize stepped inside, saw Fan Qing, then noticed Nie Luo, and her mouth literally dropped open like a duck’s egg.
…Damn?
How was Fan Qing this impressive?
Even if the Jin brothers were formidable, how had he managed to get Nie Luo here too?!
For a moment, her apology was drowned out by an overwhelming mix of envy, jealousy, and frustration.
The Jin brothers were one thing, but Nie Luo!
Nie Luo!
Who in their social circle wouldn’t want a chance with him?
…Wait a minute?
So Nie Luo liked men?
No wonder no one in the circle had ever claimed to have “been with” him.
Hold on…
So Nie Luo and Fan Qing?
Then what about Jin Yi and Jin Si???
The girl who came to apologize was completely lost in thoughts too indecipherable to speak of.
When she left, she couldn’t even tell north from south.
Fan Qing watched as she literally ran straight into a sturdy tree trunk.
Nie Luo, who had been holding onto Fan Qing’s waist, saw it too.
But he was more concerned about something else.
“Is it okay? Let her know?”
“You’re worried she’ll blab?”
Fan Qing knew exactly what Nie Luo was thinking.
Nie Luo nodded naturally.
“Yeah. After all, she could easily fabricate stories about you and Miss Yuan. She doesn’t seem like a good person.”
Fan Qing smiled slightly.
“Don’t worry. In her mind, Big Brother Jin seems even less like a good person.”
With Jin Si’s intimidation, who would dare to spread rumors?
Speaking of which, Jin Si had intervened again this time.
Though not entirely unexpected, it did make Fan Qing pause.
Jin Si’s apparent hobby of… looking after his younger brother—wasn’t that a little… unusual?
Thinking of this, Fan Qing glanced at Nie Luo.
Could it be…?
“Ah Qing?”
Nie Luo looked puzzled.
Fan Qing hesitated for a moment.
“By the way… aside from your manager and the Jing Yuan situation, did things go fairly smoothly for you in the industry? Did anyone ever harass you?”
Nie Luo blinked.
He thought for a moment, then shook his head very slowly, uncertain.
“Somewhat? But compared to others I know, it’s been very little. Why do you ask?”
Fan Qing’s expression cracked just slightly—rare for him.
Nothing serious.
He just suddenly realized how clever it had been of Nie Luo to acknowledge his “older brother” back then.