SFBF CH30

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“Oh.”

Shen Qing took his phone back from Gu Huaiyù: “I’ll go take this call.”

Gu Huaiyù said nothing.

Shen Qing hesitated for three seconds, then chose to step out of Director Gu’s office to take it.

Primarily because this was his first time speaking with the novel’s main lead since arriving in this world, and he had no idea what Shen Yuan would say to him.

Even though the original host had harbored feelings for Shen Yuan — and even though Young Master Shen had always treated the original host fairly well — Shen Yuan, as someone universally adored, had a wide social circle. His contact with the original host wasn’t frequent.

And the original host, insecure and introverted as he was, would simply pine quietly whenever Shen Yuan didn’t reach out, rarely making the first move himself.

If he’d been otherwise, the original host wouldn’t have been pushed around by Jinsheng Entertainment the way he was — if he’d ever gone to Shen Yuan to complain, or even just reached out to work together, to borrow a little leverage, he at minimum wouldn’t have been frozen out by the company for over a year.

Worth mentioning, too: the original host had never confessed to Shen Yuan.

And in order not to make Shen Yuan feel guilty — so that Shen Yuan could be happier — the original host had never told him that he’d voluntarily entered this arranged marriage, that he’d done it specifically to take Shen Yuan’s place, to buy him his chance at happiness.

…

Whatever else might be said about him, the original host was not a good person — he’d hurt children. But when it came to Shen Yuan… that was genuine love.

Shen Qing honestly didn’t think he himself could have done the same.

He’d never loved anyone like that, either.

The original host’s deep attachment to Shen Yuan made Shen Qing’s heart give a small, involuntary lurch when the call came through.

Though that might also just be because the young master’s voice was extraordinarily appealing.

Universally adored was not an empty title.

“Hello, Qingqing.”

Standing in the third-floor hallway, Shen Qing pressed a hand to his chest and said into the phone: “Hello… Ah Yuan.”

…He genuinely could not bring himself to say Yuanyuan. That nickname was beyond him.

Shen Qing chose to treat the other person the way you’d treat a friend, and asked directly: “Is something up?”

Casual tone.

“…And you didn’t even tell me, Qingqing! You went through something like this without saying a word! Are we friends or not?” Shen Yuan’s voice was beautiful — his tone naturally lifted at the ends, soft but not coy, and even a complaint from him had a quality entirely its own.

But Shen Qing was more focused on what he was actually saying: “What happened? What did I go through?”

Young Master Shen: “Don’t play dumb — I know everything. It’s that whole mess online, obviously! Tell me honestly — are you hiding somewhere crying again?”

Shen Qing: “…”

After a few more exchanges, Shen Qing summed up the call: Young Master Shen had called partly to catch up, and partly to “inform” Shen Qing that he didn’t need to worry about the online situation — his young master would handle it.

Young Master Shen: “I never expected Jinsheng to treat you like this. And you — I’m too busy most of the time to keep a proper eye out, but why have you never said anything? You’ve always been like this, too proud, too easily embarrassed. But what is there to be embarrassed about with me, your young master?”

“It’s fine, really…”

Shen Qing touched his own face. Hm, felt pretty thin. Nice skin though.

Though it occurred to him he might be a bit dehydrated lately — it didn’t feel quite as supple as usual. The northern climate really was terribly dry.

He suddenly remembered the stockpile of face masks in his bedroom cabinet, and remembered to say into the phone: “Actually, I’ve been pretty busy lately too. I’m planning to terminate my contract with Jinsheng. Also — don’t worry about the online thing.”

Young Master Shen: “…Qingqing, are you blaming me for not protecting you better? You know my situation, my relationship with my father right now…”

Shen Qing: …Was it just him, or did this young master have a way of talking that felt like something out of a drama from fifteen years ago?

“Of course I’m not blaming you. You’re overthinking.”

He wasn’t comfortable with the other person’s formal register, so he just stayed himself.

He said: “I genuinely didn’t mention it because there’s genuinely nothing to mention. If I ever actually need Young Master Shen to step in, do you think I wouldn’t say something? As for you — just focus on living well with Lu Jingyi. Be happy. You don’t need to worry about me.”

There was a pause on the other end, as though Shen Yuan had been momentarily taken off guard. He took a moment before responding: “Qingqing, your tone is different from before. You sound so much lighter! It seems like you’re doing well at the Gu family’s…”

They talked for a while longer after that — casual conversation, the kind you have with a friend you haven’t seen in a while. They made loose plans to meet when Shen Yuan next came back to Hua City.

The other significant thing was that Shen Qing spent some effort convincing Shen Yuan not to get involved in the online situation, and promised he’d handle it himself.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Shen Yuan. It was simply unnecessary to trouble the novel’s main lead.

The novel’s main male lead, Lu Jingyi, was currently an actor — a film emperor — but in the not-too-distant future he would be acknowledged as the true son of one of Hua City’s three great families, the Lu family.

Lu Jingyi, having been switched at birth and grown up struggling in difficult circumstances, had developed a fairly extreme personal code as an adult.

He was fiercely protective. He held grudges. He settled scores.

And his possessiveness toward Shen Yuan was substantial.

“Shen Qing” had never confessed to Shen Yuan, but it was obvious to anyone paying attention that he had feelings for him.

Which meant Lu Jingyi had already harbored wariness and dislike toward “himself” for a while. Shen Qing had no desire to get tangled up with Shen Yuan any further.

Saying hello to Shen Yuan, letting him know he was leaving Jinsheng, thanking him for his help in getting him into the industry — this served as a natural way to draw a clean line between himself and the main couple.

And then Shen Qing thought of Gu Duo and Gu Ao.

His two children, who were going to end up specifically pitted against the main couple’s side of things in the future… a small headache.

Well. In this moment, Shen Qing found himself suddenly and uncontrollably worrying: Duoduo and Aozai, twenty years from now, would be the antagonists — and antagonists were destined to lose against the protagonists with their plot armor.

Which meant Duoduo and the others would end up as… collateral damage?

Thinking about it now, the real crux of the problem was still Gu Huaiyù.

…As long as the big boss didn’t die, nobody would dare try to carve up their household. The Shen family and the Lu family would all be irrelevant, and there’d be no room for the protagonist couple’s side of the story to gain traction twenty years from now.

Of course, none of that could be blamed on the big boss. He could only take it one step at a time.

Looking on the bright side — at least he wasn’t going to abuse Duoduo and Aozai. Maybe when they grew up, Gu Duo and Gu Ao wouldn’t feel the need to be so ruthless, fighting and grasping for everything they could reach.

…And if they ended up like him — content with ordinary life, genuinely happy just having a few hundred million to live on — then the two of them could retire right now.

After briefly worrying about the future, Shen Qing chose to stop thinking about it.

Still refusing to spiral.

After that, without even looking at whatever Miao Feiyu had sent, Shen Qing opened his Weibo directly.

He genuinely couldn’t be bothered with the online drama, but he knew Shen Yuan’s whole persona was built around being a ray of sunshine — and the biggest thing about sunshine personas was warmth and enthusiasm. The original host had ended up in such a bad position partly because Shen Yuan had been busy with his own things and simply hadn’t known what was happening. If he had known, he wouldn’t have done nothing.

Now, to draw a clean line between himself and this ray of sunshine — well, actually just to draw a line between himself and Shen Yuan — Shen Qing had no choice but to do what he’d promised on the call and resolve this himself.

After a few seconds of ads, the app opened to the Weibo interface.

His Weibo was, as expected, a mess.

After debuting through candid shots that went viral purely on looks, then filming two or three projects and appearing on a few variety shows without making any real splash — and actually accumulating some negative press — the original host had been pushed aside by his agency, or by the entertainment world in general, and more or less blacklisted.

For the past year, Miao Feiyu had iced him out. His social media had naturally gone unmanaged, left entirely to the original host himself.

Since the original host had always been extremely compliant and easy to control, Miao Feiyu had never tried to take over the accounts. Now that Shen Qing wanted to log in and post something himself, there was no one to stop him.

If Miao Feiyu had admin access to his socials, Shen Qing had no doubt he’d have tried something already.

With the accounts fully in his own hands, the options were plentiful.

“Shen Qing’s” last post was actually from just two weeks ago — ever since marrying Gu Huaiyù, he’d suddenly been fawned over by people in the industry, and his Weibo updates had started getting actual engagement. That had noticeably increased the original host’s desire to express himself online.

He’d post a photo of his afternoon coffee, pair it with some positive-energy caption.

But scrolling through the account, Shen Qing found that while the original host had posted prolifically, not a single photo gave any hint of the villa — nothing that would let someone looking at it picture a large house.

The coffee photo had been taken inside, but only caught a corner of the small side table.

His bedroom — covered in pink wallpaper and pink décor — appeared often, but always in close-up fragments. A morning curtain photo. A caption that said: [Good morning.]

In summary: from his posts alone, no one could have guessed he lived in a large villa.

No wonder the netizens were calling him delusional.

…The original host had been living here for three full months before Shen Qing arrived, and had managed to give nothing away?

You couldn’t exactly call it a low profile — the original host was posting constantly, photo after photo.

After reviewing the original host’s memories, Shen Qing figured out the reason: he’d been genuinely terrified of Gu Huaiyù.

Having heard that Gu Huaiyù was dark-natured and temperamentally strange, the original host had been acutely sensitive about it — assuming someone like that would never want his private life exposed. So he’d never dared tag or reference Director Gu online, not even obliquely.

The original host had been waiting to outlast Gu Huaiyù and deal with it afterward, which made it easier to suppress that urge to show off. Life at this point was already incomparably better than before the marriage, after all. At minimum he could take a sports car out for a drive —

The household staff used sports cars for grocery runs, so him driving a luxury car out wouldn’t look out of place.

The decision to lend the villa to the variety show had come after agonizing deliberation, requiring tremendous courage, and only after triple confirmation with Dr. Ling that Gu Huaiyù would be dead soon.

…

Shen Qing: …Wasn’t that all a bit excessive?

He agreed with the original host’s instinct that Gu Huaiyù probably didn’t love having his private life splashed across the internet.

But even if the villa appeared online, outsiders wouldn’t connect it to Gu Huaiyù.

Besides — the big boss genuinely was not petty.

Original host, you were simply too timid! Spend a little time with him and you’d know — he really wouldn’t care about this.

This villa, however nice, however expensive, was less than a thousandth of Gu Huaiyù’s total assets.

It was just a house. No need to treat it like a state secret.

Wearing two diamonds worth over a hundred million yuan each, Shen Qing lifted his phone without a care in the world. Taking advantage of being on the third floor, with a clear view over the property, he casually snapped two photos of the villa’s interior.

Both floors in frame.

The whole building used an open vertical design, so natural light flooded through from top to bottom — making the already spacious villa look even larger and brighter.

Combined with the understated, elegant décor and the spotless cleanliness, the entire space had a quietly opulent, breathtaking quality.

No photography skill required. A casual snap and you had a stunning architectural image.

Today was the weekly deep-clean day, and there were staff visible on the ground floor wiping the hall — one on the curved staircase polishing the railings, another arranging fresh flowers in the small sitting room. Looking down, the space had a certain liveliness to it.

Shen Qing carefully chose angles that kept their faces out of frame, checked the photos several times, and uploaded two.

One was a top-down full view of the villa from the third floor.

The other was a selfie, taken with the glass ceiling and glass chandelier of the atrium as a backdrop.

He thought for a moment and added: [It’s the big weekly clean today [yay]]

Send.

Done. He opened WeChat, scrolled through his contacts, and made a few calls.

Meanwhile, a large wave of netizens had already descended on his Weibo and the related fan discussion boards.

[Can someone decode this? Shen Qing randomly posts a photo of what looks like a museum??]

[That’s not a museum, that’s clearly someone’s home… and he literally said, big weekly clean (lol)]

[Not a fan, just passing through, when did Shen Qing actually get kind of good-looking?]

[Are you kidding? Shen Huhu debuted on his face alone, you don’t know the nickname “Little Vase Shen” was hard-earned.]

[Of course he looks fine, everyone knows he can’t act, can’t sing or dance, zero variety show instincts, zero social intelligence, face is literally his only quality]

[No I agree, he seems genuinely better-looking though? His expressions used to be so off. When the early candid shots first circulated I thought he was cute, but the more I saw of his social media the weirder it got. He also got a bit too thin and it stopped working for him. He looks honestly better now than those original shots!]

[Good editing, good lighting, not that deep.]

[HAHAHAHA don’t think posting a selfie means we don’t know you stole that photo!]

[Where did Vase borrow that backdrop? His “home”?? The audacity!!]

[Exactly, if it were your home you’d have taken the variety show up on their offer!]

…

Shen Qing finished his calls and came back to hundreds of new comments — uniformly insulting and mocking, asking where he’d borrowed the background, questioning how he could have the nerve to claim it was his house.

Then sharper-eyed netizens had found what they believed to be a “matching” photo —

[@LinxiLittleLu: Look at the floor-to-ceiling window on the far left, and the fireplace in the corner. This matches almost perfectly with something my Lin posted a while back.]

This user had included a screenshot — a grab from the Weibo of an artist named Liu Xilin.

Shen Qing knew Liu Xilin. He was also under Miao Feiyu, debuted around the same time as the original host but two years younger. Young, energetic, leading with a guileless image. He was actually one of Miao Feiyu’s more popular artists, and the one the company was pushing hardest this year.

Liu Xilin had been among the group Miao Feiyu had brought to his house that time.

Liu Xilin’s post was several selfies.

From the background — taken at the villa. During that same visit.

The most prominent one had the grand fireplace in the ground-floor sitting room as a backdrop, Liu Xilin throwing up a V sign, looking sunny and handsome.

The caption read: [Warmth on a winter’s day.]

The comments underneath were entirely complimentary — praising his looks, thanking him for working hard, that sort of thing.

Liu Xilin had been polite about it; even though he had a substantial following now, he still replied to fans, thanked them.

Someone asked if the house was his — it was so beautiful.

Liu Xilin replied: No, it’s a friend’s place.

The comments erupted into praise for his social circle, calling him a secret rich-kid adjacent, saying even his friends had this level of taste.

Shen Qing: …

Funny thing was, he clearly remembered that the day he’d first arrived in this body — head bandaged, going downstairs to meet Miao Feiyu — this same sunny-and-handsome Liu friend had not expressed a single word of concern about the bandage on his head. He’d been snickering with the others.

And when other people had mocked him — called him a failure, said he was nothing — this sunny friend had joined in the laughter.

But now in the photo caption he was calling the homeowner a friend.

Back on the main Weibo feed, the post from user “LinxiLittleLu” already had over two thousand likes and several hundred comments.

General consensus: everyone agreed that Shen Qing and Liu Xilin’s photos had been taken in the same location.

Someone said: [Aren’t Shen Qing and Liu Xilin at the same company? Maybe a mutual friend’s place?]

[So the Little Vase really did borrow someone else’s house for his photo! …How does he have the nerve to say it’s his home!]

[Liu Xilin is actually from old money, his own family’s place is no less impressive, and even he didn’t claim it was his house.]

[Because my Lin is always low-key like that]

[Like, Shen Qing would rather admit he has integrity problems and flaked on the show than admit he’s broke??]

[Vase is just the type who loves face but has low emotional intelligence, he didn’t think it through that far.]

[…Has anyone considered the possibility that this actually is Shen Qing’s house, and he’s the friend Liu Xilin is talking about?]

[Come on, you all forgot what happened two years ago — Shen Qing stealing Liu Xilin’s center position? These two not actively fighting is an achievement. They never interact online. There’s zero chance A Lin went to his place as a guest.]

…

Reading this, Shen Qing felt compelled to set the record straight on the original host’s behalf — it wasn’t the original host who’d stolen Liu Xilin’s center position. Back then, the original host had just debuted and was at the height of his brief fame. Liu Xilin at the time wasn’t as popular, partly because of his younger, less-defined look.

What had actually happened was that the event organizers had mixed up their positions. Initially Liu Xilin had been placed at center, then it was corrected. A marketing account caught wind of this and spun it as Shen Qing stealing the center position that rightfully belonged to Liu Xilin — and it had made headlines.

The whole thing had blown over in two days. The company had not intervened and had not clarified.

Both artists involved were their own, after all — any drama would only drive attention to both of them.

And at the time, many netizens hadn’t even bought the narrative that Shen Qing had stolen the spot, given that Shen Qing was the more prominent one then.

Miao Feiyu had specifically told the original host not to clarify — said to wait for it to ferment further, then clarify later, so netizens who felt they’d wronged him would feel more sympathetic and his popularity would be higher…

And unbelievably, the soft-tempered original host had actually listened. He hadn’t clarified.

Once the company dropped him, and Liu Xilin’s star rose in his place over the following two years, of course the company wasn’t going to clarify on his behalf.

Old rumor, dragged back out by people who didn’t want to investigate — for the casual observer, it landed like fact.

And so it had fully cemented into: Shen Qing had stolen Liu Xilin’s center position.

Because of this, plus the fact that the two of them never interacted online, nobody believed Shen Qing could possibly be the friend Liu Xilin had mentioned.

With the “Shen Qing is Liu Xilin’s friend” theory debunked, comments continued their one-sided assault:

[Shen Vase loves showing off so much, if it were his house why wouldn’t he bring it onto the show!]

[I’ve seen Shen Qing on variety shows, he always hunches his shoulders and looks terrified. Someone with real money wouldn’t act like that.]

[Didn’t you all hear? Shen Qing supposedly had a flash marriage. Maybe it’s his partner’s house.]

[Impossible, I don’t believe Vase could find someone. And still the same question — if his partner were that wealthy, why wouldn’t he just go on the show!]

[What’s there to speculate about, just @LiuXilin, let A Lin come reply!]

Shen Qing: …

Oh, you’re very close, actually. He does have a partner! Don’t stop! Keep going!

The original host had never had any notable work to speak of. His variety show appearances had gotten him mocked. He didn’t even have any loyally devoted fans. The current one-sided pile-on was not surprising to Shen Qing at all.

He leaned against the railing and waited.

Within a few minutes, Miao Feiyu was calling.

This time Shen Qing picked up.

“Hello?”

“Shen Qing, what are you doing! Who told you to just post whatever you want on Weibo?” Miao Feiyu’s tone was sharp.

Shen Qing sounded entirely innocent: “What did I post that was wrong? I just updated my account. I used to post like this all the time, and you never said it was a problem.”

Miao Feiyu: “…That was then, this is now.”

That was before I thought you’d actually dare post photos of Director Gu’s villa as self-proof.

Miao Feiyu: “Did Director Gu agree to this? You posting those photos?”

Miao Feiyu knew Shen Qing really did live in the big villa — he wasn’t delusional and wasn’t making things up. But he’d been perfectly happy to let the online attacks run, mainly to pressure Shen Qing and push him toward taking the villa onto the variety show to prove himself to the public.

He genuinely hadn’t expected Shen Qing to be dumb enough to just post photos and clarify on his own now.

Before this, Shen Qing had never once made any decisive move without running it by him first.

And what was Shen Qing even hoping to achieve? Just to prove he had a villa, to get back at netizens for calling him delusional?

After getting kicked out of Gu Huaiyù’s property that day, Miao Feiyu had thought Shen Qing had finally grown a spine and developed a mind of his own. But apparently he was still this foolish.

Miao Feiyu’s tone was unconsciously full of contempt, with that familiar condescending quality: “This is what happens when you don’t listen to me. You can see for yourself — even with photos, nobody believes that’s your house. You could livestream from inside and nobody would believe it! Unless you’re willing to show the marriage certificate and property deed! Stop being naive. Joining the variety show is your only option for proving it.”

Shen Qing: “Don’t rush — this is just the beginning.”

Miao Feiyu: “?”

Shen Qing: “I never signed a contract with the show. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“…Shen Qing, what are you planning? I’m warning you, don’t do anything stupid! This has been building for days — you can’t just push it off on a small editor anymore. If you now say you never signed a contract, that’s practically accusing the broadcaster of deliberately misleading the public and using you for attention without accountability! You can’t afford to make an enemy of a major broadcaster…”

“But they were using me for attention. The timing when I said I was withdrawing wouldn’t have caused them any actual loss.”

Shen Qing said: “As for not being able to afford enemies — I’m leaving the industry anyway. What do I have to be afraid of? The ones who should be worried are the people who allowed this to happen, or rather, the people who drove it to this point. Isn’t that you?”

Without waiting to hear what else Miao Feiyu might say, he ended the call.

Then blocked the number.

Shen Qing looked down from the railing — and found Aozai standing on the second floor with a robot clutched in his arms, looking around in all directions.

The robot was well over half a meter tall, nearly as big as Aozai himself. With his short little arms and short little legs, holding this enormous robot was clearly an effort, and the whole image was extremely funny.

“Hey.” Shen Qing gave a whistle from upstairs.

The big-headed Aozai below immediately looked up.

Shen Qing: “What are you doing standing there?”

“…Auntie, was that Third Auntie who came just now?”

Gu Ao sounded like he’d just woken up, his voice round and soft.

Shen Qing was curious how Aozai had even noticed anything about Gu Huaixiang’s visit, and simply trotted down the stairs to get closer.

Freshly woken Gu Ao looked different from his usual self — eyes wide and watery, expression hazy and soft, none of his usual lively bouncy energy.

Shen Qing couldn’t help ruffling the child’s fluffy hair: “How did you come out by yourself? Where’s your brother?”

“Brother went to ask the housekeeper uncle to… gather intelligence!”

Shen Qing started to ask what intelligence, but then thought about Aozai’s question regarding the third young miss, and realized the children must have been aware of the visitors the whole time.

He asked: “Did Aozai know Third Auntie came?”

Still half-asleep, Gu Ao nodded truthfully: “Brother said we should stay in our room and not go out.”

Shen Qing: “…”

The two brothers really did not enjoy the company of the other Gu family members.

Shen Qing asked: “So why has Aozai brought this robot out?”

At the mention of the robot, Aozai instinctively held it tighter: “Aozai came out to find brother~”

“If you were going out to find your brother, why bring the robot with you?” Shen Qing was tickled by his unusually soft-voiced state.

“Take this, so Aozai can carry it.” He held his arms out helpfully.

Aozai hesitated a moment, then handed the robot over, explaining: “If Aozai doesn’t watch it, Di-gege and Ming-gege will take it!”

“…”

Shen Qing stilled: “They used to come into your rooms and take things?”

Aozai rubbed the corner of his eye, not sure why Auntie had suddenly gone so serious, but nodded anyway: “Di-gege would! He’s bad! Ming-gege, now also bad…”

The “Di-gege” Gu Ao was referring to was the eldest Gu uncle’s son — the oldest child in this generation, nearly ten years old.

Shen Qing understood now why, whenever Gu family members visited, Duoduo and Aozai locked themselves in their rooms and didn’t come out.

Who knew whether the visitors had come to cause trouble for them again?

From a child’s perspective, the way Duoduo and Aozai had handled it was actually quite smart.

Shen Qing at least fully approved.

He also noticed, with a sharp eye, that the robot Gu Ao had brought out was actually Gu Duo’s one.

This was the limited-edition robot set Gu Huaiyù had given them — the same one Gu Ming had tried to take the last time he visited. One for each brother, different patterns and designs, one for Duoduo and one for Aozai.

Aozai had brought out his brother’s.

He must have been worried that while he went out to look for his brother, someone might sneak into the room and steal the robots. But Aozai’s arms were too short — with everything he had, he could only hold one at a time.

Shen Qing understood this child’s nature well enough by now. The most precious things — Aozai always needed to guard them personally before he could feel safe.

Which meant that in Aozai’s mind, his brother’s robot was more in need of protection than his own.

Shen Qing felt a sudden wave of tenderness and ache at once. He reached out and ruffled the child’s head again, then took his hand and smiled: “Third Auntie has already left. Aozai doesn’t need to worry anymore. Come on — let’s put this robot back first.”

“Really?!” The moment Aozai heard Third Auntie was gone, he immediately perked up, visibly more alert.

Shen Qing walked him back to the room: “How come you fell asleep so early? We haven’t even had lunch yet.”

Gu Ao blinked his big eyes and rubbed his chubby little face: “Aozai… studying made Aozai tired, so Aozai fell asleep!”

His whole expression said: a little embarrassed, but that’s just how it is.

All right — Little Long Aotian appeared to be fully awake now.

Shen Qing: “Studying…”

Studying, as in… actual studying?…

He brought Aozai back to the room, and shortly after, Gu Duo returned as well.

Gu Duo had indeed gone to gather information. He’d heard the commotion earlier but deliberately hadn’t gone out — partly because Aozai was asleep and he hadn’t wanted to disturb him, and partly because he simply didn’t want to see those people, and had instinctively not wanted to appear.

He’d waited. Waited to see how the adults handled it.

Not knowing whether he and Aozai would be summoned out to greet the guests. If someone came to call them, they’d have to go…

But in the end, even after Aozai had woken up and the noise outside had subsided, no one had come.

Gu Duo thought about it, and decided to go out and look.

He’d told Aozai to stay in the room, not knowing Aozai had already gone out carrying his robot to look for him.

Now, coming back to find Shen Qing already in the room — Gu Duo’s small figure faltered at the door.

He looked at Shen Qing. He wondered if Shen Qing was going to say he’d been rude. That visitors had come and he hadn’t gone out to greet them.

In the main Gu residence, many people had said things like that about him — that he was antisocial, had no manners, didn’t follow the rules.

Gu Duo stood in the doorway. Without thinking, his shoulders pulled inward slightly. The hands inside his sleeves curled into fists.

He lowered his head a little.

In the limited field of view, he could vaguely make out Shen Qing walking over and crouching down to his level.

He seemed to be looking at him.

A moment later, Gu Duo heard that clear, even voice, entirely without reproach: “Your maternal grandfather and the others came without warning this time — neither your uncle nor I knew they were coming. Don’t worry. Next time, whether they’re coming or going, I’ll let you know in advance.”

Gu Duo looked up. His eyes were full of confusion: let them know? Let them know what?

Shen Qing: “Give you advance notice, of course — at minimum let you know when they’ve left. That way you don’t have to feel so on edge.”

Gu Duo: “…”

The small fist that had quietly clenched loosened slightly. Gu Duo tilted his head, bewildered: how did he know we were on edge?

Shen Qing: “Don’t worry. You’re safe here. Trust that your uncle and I will protect you properly — understood?”

Gu Duo: “…”

He truly hadn’t expected this person to have come here to say this.

Gu Duo asked: “I didn’t go out to greet Maternal Grandfather. Aren’t you going to blame me?”

Shen Qing thought: that’s fine — your little uncle just drove your grandfather out himself.

Though he still believed, in general, that people should have good manners. It was just that sometimes it was about the situation, not the rule.

Shen Qing: “Of course you don’t have to see someone you genuinely don’t want to see. But I believe Duoduo is a reasonable and polite person — if someone has earned your dislike, there’s a reason for it. If that person isn’t worth your time, then we don’t see them.”

Gu Duo listened carefully. Shen Qing’s way of saying things was a little roundabout, and he didn’t entirely follow.

But that was all right. He was holding onto every word this person said, and he could turn it over later at his own pace.

So Gu Duo nodded: “Okay. I’ll remember that.”

Formally, gravely agreeing.

Shen Qing was so amused by his solemn little expression that he instinctively reached out and ruffled this child’s head too.

Gu Duo didn’t move away.

Right at that moment, Auntie Zhang came in carrying a freshly cut plate of fruit. “The young masters and Madam are all standing at the door — come have some fruit first, lunch won’t be long.”

Shen Qing drew Gu Duo inside and sat him down to eat fruit.

After spending a while in the children’s room, Shen Qing suddenly remembered the online situation and pulled out his phone to check Weibo.

In the time he’d been away, a new high-liked post had appeared in the public feed — another eagle-eyed netizen, this one posting a comparison image. But it was a comparison between one of Shen Qing’s older posts and the one he’d just posted.

[@LanxiLifestyleV: Not a fan, not into celebrity stuff — I was originally just drawn in by the architectural style in the first photo. Looking more carefully, I went and scrolled through @ShenQing’s account, and this blogger actually has some interesting content. First, let me formally introduce you to this Spanish handcrafted dining table that appears in both photos…]

The next several hundred words were the blogger’s detailed breakdown of the table.

The images she’d posted alongside included, first, a photo Shen Qing had posted two months ago — describing it as afternoon tea. The photo showed only about half of a tabletop, a coffee set, and some fruit as accent.

But anyone looking closely could see — this table also appeared in the aerial view Shen Qing had just posted today, positioned on the ground floor not far from the fireplace.

It was just a table, and it was a small detail. Without someone pointing it out, most people might not have caught it.

Now that someone had, netizens started noticing — the table in both photos really was identical.

And through the knowledgeable blogger’s explanation, people learned that this table was apparently the handiwork of a globally recognized master craftsman — one of a kind in the world, reportedly purchased for over two million yuan.

Furthermore, since Shen Qing had posted his aerial view in high resolution, the table was captured fully and clearly. Those with expertise could zoom in, examine it, and confirm the table was the genuine article, not a replica.

[So… what this means is, Shen Qing was living in or had visited this house at least two months ago, and sat there drinking coffee by himself?]

[Liu Xilin’s photos were posted a week ago, which means Shen Qing was in this house before him…]

[My brain can’t keep up, someone summarize please.]

[So Shen Qing might genuinely have access to this villa — he’s entered it on at least two separate occasions…]

[Not just two — someone else found something. The painting on the wall isn’t ordinary either! Shen Vase’s selfie from two and a half months ago also has that painting in the background, and at that time Hua City hadn’t fully entered winter yet — the view outside the window is completely different from today. The details look consistent, probably not faked.]

[Right but if he has a villa, why did he agree to the show and then flake? Messing with people is just a personality flaw! At minimum his character is questionable!]

And then new information surfaced.

A verified account with over twenty million followers — someone known to have real connections in the entertainment industry — posted:

[@EntertainmentSharpTongueShenV: “Flaking”? There was never a contract signed.

The variety show is still in the planning stages, scouting five family homes — only three have been confirmed. Shen Qing’s side’s management did have conversations with the show, sounds like terms didn’t work out, so the collaboration fell through. That’s it. The show suffered zero loss.

As for why the show posted what it did, and why Shen Qing’s agency didn’t clarify — that I don’t know.

What I do know is: having followed this whole thing, I think Shen Qing is genuinely being wronged. I’d sincerely recommend he change agencies.]

This account’s style had always been blunt and direct. In the early years, he’d attracted plenty of hate himself. But people eventually figured out that when he broke something, it was real nine times out of ten. So they’d started calling him Sharp Tongue.

And Sharp Tongue lived up to the name — where there was demand for information, he delivered. Where there was demand for receipts, he provided those too.

The moment that post went live, the public mood shifted entirely.

[Wait, there’s actually a reversal here? So why didn’t Shen Qing say something before!]

[What could he say? “My own agency wouldn’t act, so a variety show got to smear me unchecked”? That’s basically burning down his relationship with his company…]

[Stuck with an agent like that is genuinely unlucky. What did the company think they were doing, dumping on their own artist like this!]

[@EntertainmentSharpTongueShenV: Because if Shen Qing took his villa onto the show, Jinsheng could push another one of their artists onto the show alongside him.

But Jinsheng has a history of making their own artists throw each other under the bus — they build one up and tear another down, and Shen Qing has always been the one getting torn down. That photo some of you saw from a certain Liu-surnamed artist? That was shot at Shen Qing’s home, on a visit the agent personally brought them on. Shen Qing wanted to pull out of the show, the company said no, so they manufactured this whole situation.]

[So… the big villa actually is Shen Qing’s?]

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