“Candy misses you, go see it.”
“Leave this matter to me and Sister Ming. You don’t need to worry about it, and don’t think about it. Get some good rest.”
These were the words Qi Ke said to Song Yushi before getting out of the car after the show’s recording ended that day. A low-profile black Maybach was parked downstairs at the Mangosteen Entertainment building, with people coming and going in a hurry.
Song Yushi watched Qi Ke quietly for a long time before slowly nodding. She opened her mouth, about to speak.
“Don’t you dare say thank you.” Qi Ke interrupted her just in time. Qi Ke smiled at her and patted the back of her hand. “Wait until this is all over, then you can reward me.”
After speaking, she put on her hat and mask, opened the car door, and got out.
The bodyguards sent by Sister Ming immediately surrounded her, escorting her into the building. Song Yushi’s studio was on the twelfth floor of Mangosteen Entertainment. It was already past closing time, but everyone was still busy.
Different departments were holding small meetings or working, a scene of bustling activity. Amidst the fervor, cold takeout sat on the tables, untouched.
The door to Song Yushi’s office was tightly shut. Sister Ming was waiting for Qi Ke in the studio’s small conference room. When she saw Qi Ke arrive, she stood up and immediately asked, “What happened at noon?”
“Yushi found out.” Qi Ke said lightly. “It’s not important. I sent her to the Qi family home. Don’t worry about all this messy stuff.”
Sister Ming was dumbfounded.
Qi Ke took off her mask and said firmly, “I’ll handle it.”
Sister Ming: “As a colleague?”
Qi Ke looked disapproving. “I’m the future boss’s wife, okay?”
Sister Ming: “…”
It was getting dark; it was time to dream.
After nearly a day and a night of public opinion fermenting, the online discussion grew more and more intense. It wasn’t just a matter for the fan circle; many passersby were also eagerly enjoying the drama. The rational ones were still waiting for a statement from Song Yushi’s side, while the irrational ones had already posted long Weibo posts condemning Song Yushi for her ungrateful behavior, declaring her unworthy of being an idol.
The fan club had already coordinated with the studio, calling for all fans to stop commenting, do less comment spamming, and more liking, and to focus on waiting for news from the studio.
【Before the Ruan family went bankrupt, they were famous entrepreneurs in our area, often doing charity work. They were a very good couple. I really didn’t expect Song Yushi to stoop to this level. They adopted you and treated you the same as their own daughter. And this is the result?】
【Just a passerby. I’ve looked into the whole story. I remember a couple of days ago, Song Yushi cut her live stream short because her sister was sent to the hospital. This sister should be the Ruan family’s child, right? If Song Yushi is really as heartless as the Ruan parents claim, why would she care for the Ruan’s child? Their own daughter is critically ill in the hospital, and the parents are spreading rumors overnight? Who’s the ungrateful one here?】
【Anyway, I’ve disliked Song Yushi from the first moment I saw her. She’s so fake on stage. It seems her relationship with her teammates wasn’t that great either. Otherwise, how could she not have a CP during her time in the group? An orphan, right? She’s an orphan?】
【If it’s fake, why hasn’t the studio come out to clarify? It’s obvious they have nothing to say. I’m speechless. Fans, stop defending her blindly. Wake up!】
【I can’t believe I actually believed what Song Yushi’s classmate said about her family of origin issues before, haha. It was probably just a press release bought by the studio, right? Speechless. You ungrateful wolf, who are you trying to sell a sob story to? Rich people, come adopt me!】
Just as everyone was in the heat of discussion, a new post appeared on an anonymous forum, titled 《No way, no way? There are still people who don’t know that the Ruan parents became addicted to gambling after going bankrupt and even gambled away their daughter’s life-saving money, right?》
OP: The Ruan family is from my hometown. Everyone knows everyone here. What’s with all the nonsense online? Anyway, I’m not sure how they treated Song Yushi, but what they did after going bankrupt was truly inhuman.
OP: Gambling, they gambled until they had nothing left. They borrowed money from all their relatives and still haven’t paid it back. Can you believe the words of people like that? Anyway, if I had to choose, I would definitely choose to believe Song Yushi.
Countless replies followed.
【I’m from the same place as the OP. I know a few other things. The money Song Yushi gave for Ruan Xiangmeng’s medical treatment was also gambled away by them. I remember Song Yushi had just debuted back then, right? She didn’t have much money. It all went to subsidize Ruan Xiangmeng. Later, she stated directly that her money was only for Ruan Xiangmeng’s treatment and not a single cent more would be given to the Ruan parents.】
【However, why is the title of this post so long?】
【Ah, so what’s the truth? Why isn’t Song Yushi’s side saying anything? OP, I’ve posted your thread on Weibo for everyone to judge for themselves.】
After the post started circulating on Weibo, Song Yushi’s studio finally posted on Weibo.
Two posts.
One was a full clarification of the entire incident.
One was a lawyer’s letter.
The lawyer’s letter was stamped and specified that the charge was for defamation.
Finally, a line was added: Reporting cross-border gambling is the duty and responsibility of every citizen. Song Yushi’s studio has collected concrete evidence of the gambling crimes of a certain Mr. Ruan and a certain Ms. Lu, which has been handed over to the public security organs to file a case. We will follow up on the relevant progress at any time. The internet is not a lawless land; everyone must be responsible for their own words and actions. Speak and act with caution.
Once this Weibo post was published, countless people were proven wrong.
The online world was in turmoil, but peace could be found instantly just by turning off the internet. Song Yushi simply didn’t ask for her phone back. After arriving at Qi Ke’s suite, she locked the door, soaked in the jacuzzi, threw herself onto the bed, and slept like the dead.
In the end, she was woken up by hunger.
Her brain was completely groggy from sleep; only her stomach was awake, growling and clamoring to remind its owner that she hadn’t eaten anything for almost eighteen hours!!!
Outside the window, the decorative lights were just coming on. It was evening again.
Usually, there weren’t many people at the Qi family manor. The elders were all vacationing abroad, the middle-aged generation was on business trips all over the world, and the younger generation was either still in school or had just started working. Commuting back to the manor every day was too tiring, so they had all bought houses in the city.
The entire Qi family home was empty.
The auntie had long since received Qi Ke’s instructions to prepare three meals a day for Song Yushi, not a single one to be missed, regardless of whether she ate or not. But as it turned out, it wasn’t that Song Yushi had no appetite; she had simply slept through all her meals.
Song Yushi was so hungry she felt panicked. She went downstairs to find something to eat. In her haste, she bumped right into someone who was just coming up the stairs.
Song Yushi was stunned for a moment, her sluggish brain slowly turning. “…Meng Ying?”
Seeing her pale face, Meng Ying quickly supported her. “Captain, are you okay? I heard from the auntie that you haven’t come downstairs all day? Are you hungry? Qi Ke was right to ask me to come check on you. Don’t torture yourself!”
The barrage of questions made Song Yushi’s head spin even more. She closed her eyes. “Stop!”
Meng Ying immediately went silent.
Song Yushi breathed a sigh of relief and then said slowly, “I just woke up. I’m starving and wanted to go downstairs to find something to eat.”
“That’s easy.” Meng Ying raised her voice and called out, “Auntie Sun—Yushi is awake! You can bring the dinner you’ve reheated eight times to the dining room now! Thanks, muah!“
Meng Ying had this knack for getting familiar with people in the shortest amount of time.
After eating and drinking her fill, Song Yushi was no longer sleepy. After walking with Meng Ying, Candy, and Qi Ke’s little corgi in the garden for half an hour, Meng Ying seemed to remember something, slapped her forehead, and said, “I almost forgot. Before I came, Qi Ke told me that her floor is all yours. You can do whatever you want!”
“Whatever I want,” Song Yushi repeated thoughtfully, “I can do?”
Meng Ying nodded. “That’s exactly what she said!”
Song Yushi smiled.
Meng Ying: “…”
Was it her imagination? Why did she feel that this smile was a bit strange?
Five minutes later. Qi Ke’s study.
Meng Ying sat cross-legged on the tatami mat by the window, looking speechlessly at her captain, who was across the table, flipping through a photo album with great interest. “So what you wanted to do was look at Qi Ke’s childhood photos?”
Meng Ying glanced over. “And they’re from her kindergarten days!”
Song Yushi flipped through the old photos one by one without looking up. “Then what did you want to do?”
“The recording studio!” Meng Ying tapped the table, frustrated by her lack of ambition. “I heard from Zhong Yi a long time ago that the recording studio in Qi Ke’s house cost millions, the effects are awesome, it has every kind of instrument, it’s practically… a KTV paradise! Unfortunately,” Meng Ying’s face fell, “I wanted Qi Ke to bring me here back then, but she wouldn’t agree.”
Song Yushi: “…”
It would be a miracle if she had agreed!
“If you want to go, you can go by yourself.”
“No way,” Meng Ying shook her head. “I just feel that if I bring you along, even if we break something, Qi Ke won’t kill us.”
Song Yushi: “…Can’t we just not break anything?”
Meng Ying said dumbly, “Huh?”
Song Yushi couldn’t be bothered with her and turned another page. The photographer must have had a shaky hand when taking this one; the picture was a bit blurry, but you could still vaguely see how happy the subject was.
Little Qi Ke looked to be only five or six years old. She was smiling at the camera, her eyes curved into crescents, her dimples shallow, full of sweetness. She had an astonishing amount of hair even as a child. It was cut short, with a small pigtail tied on the left side. One could imagine it bobbing up and down as she walked, looking incredibly proud.
“So cute.” Song Yushi said softly.
Meng Ying didn’t hear clearly. “What?”
Song Yushi looked up, met her eyes, and said seriously, “Qi Ke was really so cute when she was little.”
“And here I was wondering what you were talking about!” Meng Ying scoffed, pulling another album out of a nearby drawer. This one was heavy. As she struggled to move it onto the table, she grumbled, “It’s not like you gave birth to her, and she’s not your wife. Why are you praising her?”
Song Yushi: “…”
Meng Ying might look silly, but she was spot-on when it came to finding things to roast.
“This is a commemorative album! It’s for our Sweet Day!” Meng Ying excitedly brought the album over to Song Yushi’s side. “Look, look, this is a group photo from our first tour! Aww, we were all so young and inexperienced!”
“This is the group photo from our graduation concert. I’m tearing up. I’ll be a group fan of Sweet Day for my whole life!”
“Huh? Why is this photo just two training uniforms hanging together, one with a ‘Q’ and one with a ‘Y’? These two letters look so familiar.” Meng Ying murmured, “Q, Qi. Y, Ying? Yi? Yu?”
Meng Ying slammed the table. “Ah! Captain! You, me, and Zhong Yi, our CP name should be Yi Ying Yu!”
Song Yushi: “…”
What a lunatic!
The training uniforms in the photo were indeed Song Yushi’s and Qi Ke’s. It’s just… Song Yushi looked at her own uniform. She remembered that she had thrown it away after it got old. Was this photo taken before or after she threw it away?
Song Yushi’s mind was wandering, but Meng Ying was still flipping through the pages.
“Wow! This one is a photo of you and Keke, Captain. When was this taken? You’re smiling so sweetly. Captain, why is there a hickey on your face?”
“This one… is also a photo of you and Keke? Is this at the amusement park we went to in Iceland? But why is it nighttime? Didn’t we go during the day?”
“The next one should be someone else, right? Keke and I also have a lot of… okay, it’s still you two.”
“Captain.” At this point, Meng Ying would have been truly slow if she hadn’t noticed something was off. She looked at Song Yushi seriously. “I’ve discovered a very serious problem.”
Song Yushi’s heart leaped into her throat. “…What?”
Meng Ying: “I never realized your relationship with Keke was so good back when we were in the group! It’s not just for show to make money now! You guys are showing your true feelings!”
Song Yushi: “…………”
A little bolder, and you’ll be close to the truth.
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