SFBF CH39

After reminding Gu Duo, Shen Qing stretched lazily and then pulled little Ao Zai toward the cotton candy stall across from them.

There were two kinds of cotton candy there: roasted marshmallow-style and traditional spun cotton candy. The finished ones displayed in the showcase were all brightly colored. Whether they tasted good or not was another matter, but at least they were pretty enough.

Little Gu Ao was too short to see into the display case.

So Shen Qing had to lift him up so he could look.

At that moment, a burst of commotion came from behind them. Shen Qing thought he heard someone calling his name—

“Shen Qing!”

But there were too many people around and it was too noisy, so Shen Qing assumed he had heard wrong.

Unexpectedly, less than half a minute later, a group suddenly came up in front of them. It was a young man with a child, followed by a cameraman carrying a camera and one or two people holding tablets.

“A-Qing, fancy meeting you here.” The young man walked over and greeted him first.

Shen Qing froze. “You are…?”

The young man lowered his head a little awkwardly in front of him. “Me.”

Shen Qing took a long moment to react. “…Liu Xilin?”

That’s right. It was Liu Xilin.

The same Liu Xilin who, a few days ago when Shen Qing was being torn apart online, had also been dragged into it because Shen Qing had posted a picture of the fireplace in their house—that Liu Xilin, who was two years younger than the original owner.

The matter between Shen Qing and the variety show had later taken a turn online, and people had eventually been able to more or less confirm that the mansion really was Shen Qing’s home. So the netizens who had mocked Shen Qing earlier for “posting photos from someone else’s house” were all slapped in the face.

Most of them were Liu Xilin’s fans.

Because Liu Xilin was marketed as a low-key, hardworking little rich second-generation kid. And he was more popular than the original owner now.

So his fans had all defaulted to thinking that Liu Xilin had to be richer and better connected than the original owner.

So when the two of them posted photos of the same setting, everyone had naturally assumed that the owner of the house must have been closer to Liu Xilin.

On top of that, Shen Qing had been in the middle of being hated by the entire internet at the time. So Liu Xilin’s fans had immediately attacked Shen Qing, accusing him of riding on Liu Xilin’s popularity, being scheming, deliberately using a house that their gege had already posted from to prove his own point, and dragging their gege down with him because he couldn’t clear his own name.

At the time, no one had expected the whole thing to flip around like that… the house had really belonged to Shen Qing.

After the reversal, not only were the group of fans who had defended Liu Xilin branded by passersby as “mobs”—

During those days when Shen Qing had been viciously attacked for “lying that he owned a mansion to deceive the variety show team” and for “forcibly pretending to be rich,” his “friend” Liu Xilin’s total silence also started to look highly suspicious.

—After all, Liu Xilin had taken photos there. There was no way he didn’t know whose house it was.

If he had just made one Weibo post, even vaguely hinting that the house belonged to Shen Qing, Shen Qing wouldn’t have been scolded for that many days.

Not to mention that it was Liu Xilin himself who had replied to netizens saying that it was a friend’s house.

…

If it was the kind of friend’s house you could visit, take photos in, and share online, then obviously the relationship had to be pretty decent.

But if the relationship was so decent, then why, during all those days when Shen Qing was being wrongly accused, had Liu Xilin not said a single word?

Because of that, Liu Xilin’s popularity had dropped a lot over the past two days.

Liu Xilin regretted it so badly his intestines were turning green. He deeply regretted posting those photos from Shen Qing’s house in the first place.

…Show off your wealth too much and eventually your brain gets foggy. At the time he had just thought the pictures looked great, and with a few other little selfish motives mixed in… he had assumed Shen Qing wouldn’t dare say much anyway, so he hadn’t thought too deeply and had just posted them.

He never imagined it would cause such huge trouble later.

Luckily, he hadn’t been on Weibo much during this period. Now his fans were helping him wash it away by claiming Xilin had been so busy lately that he hadn’t had time to contact friends, so how could he have helped Shen Qing speak up?

So the matter hadn’t blown up too badly.

Originally, the past two days had already calmed down, and that incident could more or less have been considered over.

But Liu Xilin never could have imagined that while recording a child variety show, he would run into Shen Qing here of all places!

What Liu Xilin had been busy with lately was exactly this child variety show.

Although filming had only started two days ago, he had already done plenty of prep beforehand, mainly practicing with his five-year-old nephew and helping the child get comfortable with the camera and things like that.

Child variety shows had exploded in popularity over the last two years.

And the one he was participating in was the very famous “Cute Baby Treasure Fun Every Day.” His company had worked hard to get him into it, so Liu Xilin treasured this camera opportunity a lot and had prepared very thoroughly.

But one could always have plans overturned by something stronger. The director assigned to his group was exactly the kind who was very good at capturing shots and also very good at stirring things up. He liked surprise attacks, liked刺激, and aimed to shock viewers in order to drive ratings.

And so, today’s filming content happened to be him bringing a child to an amusement park.

And they were filming in livestream format.

In a huge crowded amusement park like this, way too many things could happen.

Liu Xilin had stayed tense the whole way, leading his little nephew through games and toys, trying hard to shape himself into the image of a cultured young uncle who, though still young, understood all kinds of life wisdom.

After all, he was marketed as a rich second-gen, and he had recently played a graceful noble young master male second lead in a costume drama. So what Liu Xilin’s image currently pushed was worldliness, intelligence, and elegance.

And then Liu Xilin ran into Shen Qing here.

…Truly enemies meet on a narrow road.

Under this kind of livestream situation, Liu Xilin should really have avoided Shen Qing and walked the other way.

Unfortunately, the director beside him had also just recently eaten up all the gossip about Shen Qing. The moment he saw that Shen Qing, as a celebrity, had openly appeared here—and that he was supposedly “friends” with the celebrity the crew was following—the director immediately got excited and motioned for Liu Xilin to go over and approach him.

At first Liu Xilin refused and pretended not to see the director’s signal.

But the director had already directly instructed the cameraman to include Shen Qing in the shot, and the assistant director had even outright yelled Shen Qing’s name.

Liu Xilin: “……”

Recently Liu Xilin had been getting scolded as a white lotus hypocrite, and ever since the show aired, viewers had kept questioning his relationship with Shen Qing and doubting the so-called friendship between them. Under this kind of livestream lens, he had no choice—if he didn’t go over and say hello, that would look bad too.

So Liu Xilin had no choice but to steel himself and go over to “recognize” Shen Qing.

But what he didn’t expect was that after not seeing each other for only a while, Shen Qing actually didn’t recognize him anymore.

With his back to the camera, Liu Xilin’s brows couldn’t stop from furrowing. He didn’t know whether Shen Qing was pretending on purpose, or whether he truly hadn’t recognized him.

—The expression didn’t seem fake, because everyone knew Shen Qing had absolutely no acting skills.

But how could Shen Qing not recognize him?!

Meanwhile, in the livestream of Cute Baby Treasure Fun Every Day:

【Holy crap, is that really Shen Ping’er? What a coincidence. The program team arranged this on purpose, right?!】

【Waaah!! The cute kid Shen Qing is holding is so adorable~!! My god! I don’t care whether the show arranged this or not, I’m in love anyway!】

…After all, this was still a child variety show, so most of the viewers camping in the livestream were there for the cute kids.

At that moment, Shen Qing was holding Ao Zai while letting him look at cotton candy. Unexpectedly called out and shoved into the camera, the fair, tender, chubby little human baby in his arms immediately attracted everyone’s attention in the livestream.

The little chubby kid had huge eyes and was curiously looking at the camera lens.

He wore a tiger-ear headband, the round ears standing up, making his whole head look round too, all tiger-cub silly and cute.

At that moment, the child was perched in a little heap on Shen Qing’s arm, one short little arm looped around Shen Qing’s neck. He was obviously staring blankly at the camera lens, but his little legs kept swinging back and forth, like the restless little tail of a tiny animal.

The funniest part was that the child actually did have a short tail on his butt.

A fluffy white bunny tail, sitting right against Shen Qing’s arm and making the whole kid look even rounder.

The comment feed in the livestream exploded instantly.

At first, the production team had only noticed Shen Qing standing in front of the cotton candy stall. They hadn’t even noticed he was carrying a cute child.

They hadn’t expected such an extra surprise once the camera actually rolled.

The cameraman directly gave all the shots to Shen Qing and the tiny human cub in his arms.

The moment the close-up came out, the comments doubled again, and the livestream audience started climbing rapidly.

【As expected, human babies are the cutest!】

【Hahaha, the way he stares at the camera in a daze while kicking his legs, he’s like the little puppy I have at home that’s curious about literally everything】

【This child is so camera-friendly. His sense for the camera is amazing too, he keeps looking straight into the lens hahaha too cute!】

【Ahem, does nobody think Shen Ping’er also looks especially beautiful today?】

Under the ultra-high-definition camera, Shen Qing’s face looked white as snow, his skin smooth and glowing. His nose bridge was straight and high, the tip of his nose slightly upturned, and beneath that were two thin, vivid red lips.

His apricot-shaped eyes were round, with slightly lifted outer corners, but there was no seductiveness in them. Instead, because his expression was blank, he looked a little cool and aloof.

Like the most stunning flower on a high cliff, impossible to pluck, distant and otherworldly.

【The last time he posted photos I already thought he looked beautiful. Gotta be honest, Shen Qing’s face really hits hard!】

【Ping’er please keep this light makeup style forever, I’m obsessed!】

【No wait, Shen Qing is clearly bare-faced here, where’s the makeup?】

As the camera remained fixed on Shen Qing and the child in his arms, the danmu comments came so fast they almost covered the entire screen.

Even viewers who had been watching other group livestreams heard about the commotion over here and switched over to look. Liu Xilin’s livestream viewer count shot upward.

But his fans could not accept that.

【Did you all forget this is Xilin and Jiji’s livestream room? Recording team, don’t go too far. Who wants to watch Shen Flower Vase and some kid he got from who-knows-where?】

【Ugh, Shen Ping’er is here again to ride off my Lin-ge’s popularity. He’ll even ride child variety-show popularity!】

【LOL Liu fans please don’t be so hypocritical. Wasn’t Shen Qing your gege’s friend? Why didn’t you say Shen Qing was riding his popularity when Liu Xilin posted photos from his house to flaunt wealth?】

【Exactly. Aren’t they supposed to be friends? Friends saying hi when they meet is normal, isn’t it?】

【What “friends”? Didn’t Liu fans themselves previously insist their gege and Shen Qing weren’t friends at all?】

【Hahaha honestly I don’t think the program team arranged this on purpose. Shen Qing looks like he genuinely didn’t recognize Liu Xilin hahaha!】

【For real though, Shen Qing’s absent-minded expression is kind of cute】

Meanwhile, in Liu Xilin’s support chat:

Witch of Linlin’s Home: “What the hell is going on? Why is Shen Flower Vase here? Did the show do this on purpose? Stirring shit up again!”

Linxi Xiaolu: “Calm down, calm down. Running into Shen Qing is a good thing. With his level of variety sense, our Lin can crush him instantly hahaha.”

C-lin: “Sister Lu is right. Linlin is still so young, so it’s already normal for him not to compare in popularity to people who actually raise children. But now with Ping’er joining in, hahaha, heaven is helping our Lin, our Lin is definitely gonna blow up!”

In front of the camera, the production team finally seemed to remember that this was Liu Xilin’s livestream room.

The director signaled the cameraman to quickly frame both of them and both groups of kids together in the shot.

Over there, Shen Qing had recognized Liu Xilin, and he had also noticed the people following behind him.

Even though he didn’t know it was a livestream, Shen Qing still instinctively raised the hand that wasn’t supporting Ao Zai’s little butt and used it to cover the child’s face.

He lifted his chin and asked Liu Xilin, “What are you busy with? What’s all this?”

Liu Xilin: “…Recording a variety show.”

At that, Shen Qing frowned slightly and glanced at the camera again. “You’re filming?”

Liu Xilin looked awkward. “Yeah… livestreaming.”

Shen Qing’s movement of shielding Ao Zai’s little face became even firmer. “Oh. Then I won’t disturb you.”

【Holy crap, what is Shen Qing acting all arrogant for!】

【Wait, what’s going on? Shen Qing really wasn’t arranged by the program team?】

【Honestly, if I were Shen Qing I wouldn’t like it either. No warning, no hello, and suddenly you’re filming me. Filming me is one thing, filming my kid is absolutely not okay!】

【Aaaah who gets this! The look Shen Qing gave the camera just now! It killed me!】

As he said that, Shen Qing turned as if to leave.

But at that moment, the director immediately gave Liu Xilin another instruction: he absolutely had to keep Shen Qing there and at minimum invite him and the adorable child in his arms into one interaction.

Although today’s filming was supposed to be natural and unscripted, with a high degree of freedom for the guests and no formal game segments—

The production team had still long ago established a rule for the sake of making things more watchable: the on-site director had the right to issue three requests, and the guests had to carry them out.

In order to keep Shen Qing there, the director directly used one of those privileges.

【…Xilin and Shen Qing aren’t just “not friends,” they’re practically enemies. Did everyone forget the center-position stealing incident? The director is really making things hard for Xilin.】

【My secondhand embarrassment is acting up. Program team, don’t go too far. You always make guests embarrass themselves—who would dare participate in the future?】

【No, some of you are being way too biased. Shen Qing is obviously the most innocent one here. He just came out to have fun and now has to cooperate in fake interaction with his enemy.】

【Exactly. Liu Fireplace is such a low-grade poser, pretending to be rich off someone else’s fireplace. Why wasn’t he afraid of awkwardness then?】

【Hahaha sorry but now whenever I see the word fireplace I just want to laugh】

【If he’s scared of embarrassment then don’t accept variety shows. Now he takes the paycheck and still complains. Fireplace really is a white lotus through and through.】

【Supporting “Shen Qing misery” +1. If he refuses today, people will probably turn around and scold him for being arrogant and pretentious again.】

【I’ve always thought Shen Qing seemed pretty honest. Why do people keep calling him pretentious? Hahaha he’s seriously too miserable.】

【Because his face looks too cold and aloof maybe? Shen Qing’s bone structure is seriously high-end.】

【No, he really was pretentious before—empty bravado. People in the industry all know it. Otherwise why do you think he has no friends? The main reason Shen Qing flopped is that his personality is just genuinely unlikeable.】

Over there, Liu Xilin had been ordered by the director to keep Shen Qing there. He was unwilling in a hundred different ways, but still had no choice except to force himself to go along.

So Liu Xilin entered awkward-chat mode. “A-Qing, you’re… taking a child out to play?”

He looked at the child in Shen Qing’s arms. Coincidentally, that same child happened to be looking up at him too. The moment his eyes met those dark, glossy, huge little eyes, Liu Xilin’s heart almost shook from how cute he was.

He blurted out, “Whose child is this? So cute!”

Shen Qing lifted his eyelids slightly. Knowing the camera was still filming, he kept shielding Ao Zai’s face and said, “Mine.”

“Oh.” Liu Xilin didn’t process it. He was still thinking about how to interact with Shen Qing, so he continued instinctively, “Whose child in your family?”

Shen Qing said, “My family’s. My child.”

Liu Xilin: “…?”

Liu Xilin visibly choked on his words.

He and Shen Qing had debuted together.

Back then, they had both been innocent teenage boys.

How did he not know Shen Qing had a child?

The livestream comments exploded again: 【??? Since when does Shen Qing have a kid now too!】

【This kid has to be at least three years old, right? Shen Qing only debuted two years ago! Did he secretly get married and have a child early?】

【No, wouldn’t that be having a child out of wedlock? Didn’t they say Shen Qing only registered his marriage three months ago?】

【Right! Shen Qing married a rich man, and that mansion belongs to the rich guy! Then this child…】

In front of the camera, Liu Xilin was obviously stunned too.

He only knew that Shen Qing and Gu Huaiyu had entered a political marriage.

Because Gu Duo and Gu Ao had previously been so invisible that even back in the Gu family they were rarely ever mentioned; and their little uncle was excessively low-key. If you weren’t close to Gu Huaiyu, you wouldn’t know President Gu had brought them home at all.

Someone like Liu Xilin, whose family was really only upper-middle class, naturally had even less chance of knowing.

Not to mention that the previous “Shen Qing” had been embarrassed to tell people he had married a big shot only to become someone’s little aunt. He had always deliberately hidden the children’s existence from the company, and Liu Xilin barely paid attention to him anyway, so he knew even less.

So now Liu Xilin stood there with a shocked expression.

But of course Shen Qing had no intention of explaining any more to him.

Actually, Shen Qing had already noticed the “instruction” the director had given Liu Xilin just now.

Although he didn’t know exactly what sort of nonsense the program team was trying to pull, Shen Qing also understood that this chance meeting definitely wouldn’t end with a simple greeting.

…In the distance, he could already see Tian Yi—who had noticed the situation long ago—almost rushing over with people.

Gu Huaiyu liked to keep a low profile, so Tian Yi’s subordinates naturally had their own “invisibility” method. Under normal circumstances they didn’t show themselves in public. It wasn’t like in the movies, where the big shot always had rows of bodyguards in suits and black sunglasses behind him.

Even when following Shen Qing, the bodyguards still followed that same unspoken rule and didn’t appear easily.

Unless the person they were protecting ran into trouble.

And in front of a livestream camera, Shen Qing obviously couldn’t let them show up.

…Even if it were just Tian Yi coming over alone to drive away the production team, who knew what kind of hot-search topic or tomorrow’s headline that would become.

He had already trended a few days ago, and these past two days advertisers and new management companies had already started contacting him.

He had no idea who leaked his number, but those people knew he was about to terminate his contract with Jingsheng, and they had directly skipped the agency and called him personally.

Apparently a lot of capital saw his recent reversal after being blackened as something with hype potential and all wanted to hurry and partner with him.

But Shen Qing didn’t like dealing with that stuff, and he didn’t want to trend again either.

So he immediately signaled Tian Yi not to come over.

Then after thinking for a moment, Shen Qing first adjusted Ao Zai’s posture in his arms, trying to make the child lie against his shoulder so he wouldn’t be caught on camera.

After doing that, his gaze shifted. He looked at Liu Xilin with eyes narrowing slightly, then suddenly curled his lips.

He smiled.

And asked, “How do you want me to respond?”

The end of his tone lifted slightly, his voice lazy and carrying a trailing note of laughter.

Liu Xilin: “……”

When Shen Qing glanced sideways, his eyes seemed to ripple. The smile spreading from his lips looked warm and bright, and at close range the impact was intense.

His gaze was soft and threaded like silk, shimmering like water.

And especially at that moment, with the crowd surging around them, a gust of wind came from somewhere and lifted Shen Qing’s bangs, fully revealing his handsome, refined face.

【Holy crap, why do I suddenly think Shen Qing looks so gentle and intellectual?!】

【Aaaah, that little upward tail in his voice—I’m drunk off it!】

【Sisters, who understands this! His gaze is practically melting into threads!! I feel seduced!】

In that instant, forget the livestream audience—even Liu Xilin, who knew him well, stared blankly.

…He had known Shen Qing for over two years now, and he had never once seen him smile like this.

Until now, Shen Qing’s impression on him had always been gloomy, introverted, dark, somehow sneaky and impossible to communicate with—shadowy and unlikeable.

Like everyone else, Liu Xilin had never liked him.

And he had certainly never respected him.

Even though back when they had first debuted, Shen Qing had become more popular than him with just a few photos.

But hadn’t he himself still steadily surpassed him step by step?

Yet today’s Shen Qing had completely overturned his impression!

When Liu Xilin just stood there in a daze and didn’t answer, Shen Qing tilted his head again. There was a hint of impatience at the bottom of his eyes, yet he still maintained a proper, bright smile.

He didn’t press or ask anything further. He simply looked at him like that.

Liu Xilin: “……”

For some reason, he started blushing uncontrollably.

Liu Xilin quickly snapped out of it.

Under the camera lens, he looked flustered. It took him a moment before he finally remembered to answer. “I, I… Are you buying cotton candy? I’ll get it. Let me treat you.”

As he spoke, Liu Xilin directly stepped forward. Finally breaking the close eye contact with Shen Qing, he unconsciously pressed a hand to his chest and hurriedly pulled out his phone.

“One cotton candy.”

“What kind of cotton candy?” the vendor asked stiffly.

Liu Xilin was at least a fairly famous traffic idol now. Although most people bringing children to amusement parks still didn’t recognize him, there were still some fans who had deliberately tracked him down and were filming nearby.

On top of that, there was also the production crew.

So the whole journey had already been a bit of a scene.

The moment he approached, the crowd packed the cotton candy stall completely shut. Plenty of people were standing there to watch the excitement, but no one was actually buying cotton candy, seriously affecting the stall’s normal order. So of course the vendor’s expression wasn’t good.

Liu Xilin glanced at the display case. His brain was still half-frozen, so he directly answered, “One of every kind.”

【Holy crap, is Liu Xilin acting like some domineering CEO? “One of every kind” hahaha】

【He suddenly feels kind of puppy-like now. Did Shen Ping’er just flirt him into losing rational thought? Shen Ping’er really looks so good!】

In front of the camera, the vendor asked uncertainly, “You really want one of every kind?”

They had several kinds of roasted marshmallow alone!

Before Liu Xilin could answer, Shen Qing had already stepped in to stop him. “No, he’s joking.”

Then Shen Qing smiled at the vendor again and said, “Sorry. I’ll bring the child back to buy some in a bit.”

As he said that, he started to leave with Ao Zai in his arms, intending to clear the stall so the poor vendor could work again.

【Shen Qing is so polite. I wanted to say it earlier—Liu Xilin, you guys are blocking the stall!】

That danmu floated past. Liu Xilin, who naturally couldn’t see what the netizens were saying, still hadn’t realized that. He was still stubbornly insisting, “No really, one of each.”

Then he said to Shen Qing, “Think of it as a gift for the baby.”

【…Liu Xilin, did you forget you’re still holding one baby in your own hand?】

【Jiji baby: confused face. Has my little uncle already forgotten me?】

【Hahaha I’m suddenly shipping this. Even if Liu Xilin isn’t a puppy, he’s at least a little wolf dog. Such a simp】

【Help, the interaction is gonna be them two eating cotton candy together, right?!】

【I also want to see them eat cotton candy together!】

【I’m shipping it, shipping it.】

Completely unaware of what the barrage was saying, Shen Qing also noticed the little child Liu Xilin was holding, who seemed to be getting ignored. He couldn’t help smiling helplessly.

He said, “If my baby eats that much cotton candy, his teeth are going to rot.”

【Hahaha what Shen Qing said makes so much sense. Who can even eat that much cotton candy? Liu Xilin, don’t make me laugh to death】

【Shen Qing is so patient explaining logic to Liu hahaha, like a big brother. Honestly Liu Xilin isn’t suited to child variety shows. Shen Qing fits better than he does. So Shen Qing stop blocking him and turn your little cub around so auntie can see again waaah!】

Liu Xilin, not knowing what the danmu said: “Ah… sorry.”

He had been looking at Shen Qing the whole time. Only after Shen Qing said that did it seem to occur to him that yes, this really was the case. A rare expression of helpless confusion even appeared on his face.

He said, “Then I can share them with everyone else…”

“Madam!”

At that very moment, Aunt Zhang squeezed through the crowd and came to Shen Qing’s side.

Earlier, Shen Qing had gestured for Tian Yi not to come over, but Aunt Zhang still didn’t feel comfortable leaving Shen Qing alone with the child.

Especially now that Madam and the young master were surrounded by so many people, Madam clearly didn’t feel safe putting the child down, which meant he had to keep carrying him all alone. How tiring!

She figured that she was just a nanny, and going over wouldn’t have much impact, so she volunteered herself and squeezed out of the crowd to get beside Shen Qing.

“Madam, let me hold the little young master,” Aunt Zhang said.

Aunt Zhang’s appearance caused Liu Xilin’s voice to cut off abruptly.

Aunt Zhang had no idea they were livestreaming here, nor that right beside them was audio recording equipment.

And she certainly didn’t know that a single “Madam” from her had instantly made the livestream comments flood the screen again.

【HOLY SHIT, “Madam”? What madam?? She means Shen Qing??!】

【I was already wondering why Shen Qing seemed different these last two times I saw him. Looking again now, he’s absolutely radiating married-man energy. No wonder he’s gotten gentler!】

【So Shen Qing is already married and you people in front were still blindly shipping nonsense?】

【I don’t care, shipping everything just gives me balanced nutrition! Does anyone else think Liu Xilin’s frozen expression looks a little heartbroken?】

Liu Xilin truly was frozen. Along with him, the cameraman, director, and even the onlookers around them all froze too.

To the point that even Shen Qing couldn’t avoid starting to feel awkward…

Damn. He had only remembered to make the arrangement with Duoduo and Ao Zai not to call him “little auntie” outside, and had forgotten to tell Aunt Zhang not to call him “Madam” in public!

…Which only proved he still had not fully adapted to this terrifying transmigration world.

What “Madam” and “young master” nonsense? At home, fine, call him whatever you like.

But in front of this many people—and during a livestream…

Still, Shen Qing very Ah-Q’d himself by thinking: he wouldn’t know what livestream this was anyway. Nor was he going to watch it.

As for other people’s stares… as long as I’m not embarrassed, then no one is embarrassed.

So Shen Qing kept smiling and, as calmly and generously as possible, passed Ao Zai into Grandma Zhang’s arms.

Ao Zai was very obedient and also close to Aunt Zhang, so he enthusiastically wrapped his arms around Aunt Zhang’s neck.

Shen Qing deliberately shifted his body to block Aunt Zhang and Ao Zai from the camera.

Then he took out his phone, ordered three roasted marshmallow skewers and one traditional cotton candy, and directly scanned to pay.

【Shen Qing paid. He really has such a big-brother vibe. Liu Xilin can’t pull off domineering CEO at all—even buying cotton candy he drags it out forever.】

【Agreed. I really can’t ship the two of them. This round Shen Qing’s aura absolutely crushed Liu’s.】

【The only thing I care about is that Shen Qing bought three roasted marshmallows. He isn’t about to give one to Liu Xilin to eat, is he?】

【AAAAAH I want to see them eat cotton candy together!】

At that point, the vendor passed out the three roasted marshmallow sticks and set them all onto the empty space above the display case.

Shen Qing really did hand one over—but it was to the little boy called Jiji next to Liu Xilin. He said, “Little friend, gege is treating you to candy.”

Jiji hadn’t had much camera sense the whole time and was also a little shy. By now he had almost completely hidden behind Liu Xilin.

Shen Qing didn’t force him to take it. He simply stuffed the marshmallow into Liu Xilin’s hands instead and said, “This is for your little one.”

Liu Xilin didn’t take it. He wanted to say there was no need.

But Shen Qing blinked at him and said, “Don’t you need to complete your mission?”

He didn’t say anything more than that, but only then did Liu Xilin suddenly remember the director’s request: he had to interact once with Shen Qing and the human cub in his arms.

…And sharing cotton candy together was obviously one such interaction.

Liu Xilin was completely stunned.

He had never expected Shen Qing not only not to give him the cold shoulder, but to actually help him complete his task…

He was even treating him to cotton candy!

“Qing-ge…” If there hadn’t been so many people around constantly reminding him that they were still filming, Liu Xilin might really have burst into tears on the spot.

【Holy crap Shen Qing is so indulgent! I really feel this strong older-brother energy… Because Liu Xilin is a younger little brother to him, he doesn’t mind that Liu didn’t speak up for him! And now he’s even willing to cooperate on camera! He even buys him cotton candy!】

【Who says Shen Qing has no variety sense? Holy crap, he’s only been on screen for a few minutes and I’m already crying!】

【Liu’s fans really should apologize to Shen Qing.】

Liu Xilin’s hand trembled as he took the marshmallow, while Shen Qing himself didn’t think much of any of this.

…After all, the whole amusement park belonged to his President Gu anyway, so the money he used to buy cotton candy was basically just wool taken from the sheep’s own back.

What’s more, Liu Xilin and the crew filming here were effectively advertising the amusement park too.

Harmony makes money, after all. This was the fastest and simplest solution.

After handing that roasted marshmallow to Liu Xilin, Shen Qing let Ao Zai choose one for himself and said, “The last one is for gege.”

Of the remaining two roasted marshmallows, one was yellow and one was blue. Ao Zai looked at them and pointed with his little chubby hand. “Ao Zai wants this one!”

He pointed to the yellow one.

But Ao Zai’s reason for choosing yellow was: “Gege likes that color!”

“Ao Zai is such a good boy.” Shen Qing handed the yellow roasted marshmallow to Ao Zai. After finishing payment, he slipped his phone back into his pants pocket and then intended to take Ao Zai back into his own arms.

But unexpectedly, after completing the important task of choosing a cotton candy, Ao Zai immediately found a new task to do—he automatically turned himself toward the camera.

Shen Qing’s figure was tall and straight, and he had almost completely blocked Aunt Zhang and Ao Zai from view.

But that couldn’t stop Ao Zai from actively finding the lens himself.

Now, climbing against Aunt Zhang’s shoulder, he planted both his little legs on the adult’s arm and forcibly stretched his head out over Shen Qing’s shoulder.

The child in the round tiger-ear headband had a big round head, round eyes, and snowy pink skin.

Ao Zai blinked directly at the camera.

Then suddenly, he lifted his little chubby paw and waved at the lens, almost like he was greeting it…

【AAAAAAH I’M DEAD!!】

【Sorry little wolf dog, but this round I’m still standing with Shen Qing and the big boss. The child is innocent! Shen Qing must not get divorced!】

【Holy crap, Shen Qing’s child is this cute, so why didn’t they invite him onto the show? Liu Xilin obviously doesn’t know how to handle kids. Shen Qing is clearly more attentive, he even protects the cub on camera!】

【This kid is so good at finding the camera, he’ll be an award-winning actor one day hahaha】

【Agreed. Human cubs shouldn’t be brought out to do business, unless they personally enjoy being on camera (slurp)】

Shen Qing also noticed that Ao Zai had ended up on camera again.

Actually, there wasn’t much issue with letting Ao Zai show his face.

The reason Shen Qing had kept shielding him earlier was that he’d worried the kids might not want to be on camera, and also because he didn’t want Ao Zai too exposed in public.

But if Ao Zai himself liked it, then that was a different matter.

Especially since the moment Ao Zai waved his little chubby paw, the people around them all started squealing over how cute he was. Shen Qing could tell from the assistant director’s reaction that the livestream comments were probably already melting too, so there was no issue at all.

As long as the audience’s evaluation of his little cub wasn’t malicious, Shen Qing was perfectly happy to let Ao Zai play around.

Probably encouraged by the people around him and the director opposite them, Ao Zai got even more enthusiastic.

And in order to keep filming this child for a few more minutes, the assistant director even specifically held up the tablet to show Shen Qing just how passionate the livestream comments were.

Looking at the little chubby kid in the tablet screen, blinking and interacting with the audience, Shen Qing himself found it incredible… Ao Zai really might actually be able to become a little child star one day.

At that moment, the traditional cotton candy Shen Qing had ordered was ready too.

Aunt Zhang was still holding Ao Zai, so Shen Qing automatically picked up the cotton candy meant for Duoduo, along with the giant traditional one.

He thanked the stall worker.

The traditional cotton candy was multicolored and came covered by a huge plastic bag. It was even bigger than Shen Qing’s face and eye-catchingly bright in the middle of the crowd.

Some of the onlookers nearby—whether they were passersby or fans, it was impossible to tell—suddenly began shouting, “Eat cotton candy! Liu Xilin and Shen Qing, eat cotton candy together!”

As everyone joined in the teasing, Liu Xilin’s face immediately flushed again.

He looked at Shen Qing.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side beyond the crowd, outside the giant cream-cake-shaped rest area, Gu Duo stood frowning while Uncle Tian lifted him up so he could look toward where Shen Qing was.

When Auntie had gone to buy cotton candy with his little brother, Gu Duo had never imagined they would end up surrounded like this.

At first he didn’t know what was going on over there. In his mind, as long as Auntie and his little brother weren’t being bullied, then it was fine.

But when he stood up from his seat and got closer, he began hearing more and more people around him talking about his auntie, saying his auntie was so handsome and gentle, saying that that Xilin guy was Auntie’s little puppy younger brother, saying the two of them looked so well matched.

Gu Duo, who had already been vaguely worried that Auntie and little uncle might divorce: “???”

As luck would have it, his phone watch rang right at that moment.

The caller ID showed… little uncle?

The first time he had ever received a call from little uncle, Gu Duo didn’t even have time to feel curious about why little uncle was calling him. He picked it up immediately.

Gu Duo’s surroundings were very noisy, but little uncle’s side seemed to have no sound at all. The background was very quiet.

Gu Huaiyu’s voice came through the speaker: “Duoduo, what are you doing? Are you still at the amusement park? …Why aren’t Auntie and Uncle Tian answering their phones?”

Only then did Tian Yi, who had always been responsible for protecting Young Master Duo, glance at his phone.

…Uh. President Gu really had called him just now. It was just too noisy around them and he hadn’t heard it…

Over there, Young Master Duo had already raised his wrist and answered, “We’re still at the amusement park…”

“Oh. What are you doing?”

Because of the noise around him, Gu Duo couldn’t hear the exact tone in his little uncle’s voice, but he assumed little uncle still didn’t know what was happening over here with Auntie…

Originally he hadn’t wanted to say anything at all, but in that moment even Gu Duo couldn’t hold back. He said, “Auntie ran into his little puppy younger brother. They’re… buying cotton candy now, and they’re filming.”

Gu Huaiyu: “?”

After a single beat of silence, Gu Huaiyu’s voice turned cold and sharp. “Duoduo. Turn on the camera. Show me what’s going on over there.”

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