Sang Lu was absolutely dying to know.
No pleasantries.
She cut straight to the chase.
The moment she saw the resentment flicker in Feng Bai's eyes,
she sensed the tantalizing whiff of a juicy story.
Feng Bai clenched his fist, crumpling the plastic bag of meat buns into a tiny ball before tossing it into the trash. His voice was icy as he spoke:
"He's been against me since we were kids, picking fights deliberately. If you want the full story, it goes way back..."
Sang Lu's gossip-loving soul ignited. She immediately pivoted, borrowing two small stools from the supermarket entrance and carrying them over.
With a wave of her hand, she said,
"Take a seat. I'm all ears."
Feng Bai paused, then sat down.
After a few seconds of silence, he frowned and began in a low voice:
"In kindergarten, our teacher assigned us a leaf-collecting task. I spent all afternoon gathering them, but then..."
He trailed off.
Sang Lu's eyes sharpened. "Then what?"
"I went to take a shower, and when I came back, he had stomped all over my bag of leaves, crushing them to bits."
"Wow, what a piece of work..." Sang Lu blurted out, like an eager sidekick.
"In second grade," Feng Bai continued, his gaze distant as he reminisced, "I had a pet rabbit. Every day after school, I couldn’t wait to go home and feed it."
Sang Lu’s brow furrowed slightly, a bad feeling creeping in.
Feng Bai gritted his teeth.
"One day, I came home and saw him burying something in the yard. The second he noticed me, he looked guilty. Later, I found out—he’d buried my rabbit!"
Sang Lu stiffened. "That’s just..."
Feng Bai balled his hand into a fist. "When I confronted him, he just shrugged and said, 'It’s just a rabbit.'"
He turned to look at Sang Lu.
"Elder sister-in-law, tell me—has there ever been a worse older brother in the history of the world?"
Before Sang Lu could respond, Feng Bai answered his own question:
"Absolutely not. That’s why I stopped calling him 'brother' after that."
Sang Lu patted his shoulder in silent comfort.
Feng Bai took a deep breath to steady himself before continuing:
"Then, in middle school, I trained for ages in fencing..."
Sang Lu: "Oh?"
Feng Bai: "Finally, there was a major competition. But right before the match, someone tampered with my gear. I underperformed and got eliminated early."
"And the day before the match, he was the one who picked up my gear from the living room table and examined it."
Sang Lu: "..."
Listening to Feng Bai, Feng Yi sounded like some kind of irredeemable villain—a natural-born troublemaker who’d been tormenting his younger brother since childhood.
But...
An image suddenly flashed in Sang Lu’s mind: Feng Yi, grinning wildly, making heart shapes with his hands toward the back of a car.
Was Feng Yi really that scheming?
He didn’t seem like it...
In fact, he sometimes gave off the vibe of someone missing a few brain cells.
Could he just be hiding it really well?
"Elder sister-in-law, you don’t believe me, do you?"
Sang Lu snapped out of her thoughts.
She hadn’t noticed Feng Bai turning to study her.
She shook her head. "No."
She didn’t think Feng Bai was lying, either.
The brothers’ feud ran deep—there had to be a reason.
Sang Lu pressed her lips together and spoke softly:
"But... could there have been some kind of misunderstanding? Have you ever asked Feng Yi directly?"
Feng Bai scoffed, his expression disdainful. "I refuse to talk to him."
Sang Lu blinked, then gave his shoulder another reassuring pat.
Without knowing the full story, she couldn’t judge who was right or wrong.
Sometimes, silence was better than empty words.
All she could do was offer comfort.
As night fell,
Sang Lu bid Feng Bai goodbye and returned to Qilan.
Alone in her room, she kept turning over Feng Bai’s words in her mind. Something felt off.
She couldn’t just take one side of the story.
She’d have to find a chance to hear Feng Yi’s version.
No point in overthinking it alone.
After a relaxing bath, her hair half-dried, she stepped onto the balcony to let the breeze finish the job.
In the distance, she could see the set they’d prepared earlier that day for the finale celebration.
A table stood on the lawn, surrounded by string lights. Low-hanging branches were adorned with stills from previous episodes of the show.
The giant LED screen was dark, but from afar, it reflected the twinkling lights like scattered stars.
This was her first S+ project.
As it neared its conclusion, she couldn’t help feeling sentimental.
Sang Lu pulled out her phone and snapped a few photos.
She didn’t post them—just kept them as mementos.
Glancing between the pictures and the real scene,
her lips curled unconsciously.
She felt incredibly lucky.
Thinking back to when this variety show was just a proposal on paper...
The whole team had pulled countless all-nighters, refining every detail.
No one expected it to perform so well at the investor pitch.
Feng Yan’s face popped into her mind at that exact moment.
Suddenly, she remembered the first time she’d seen him at that investor meeting months ago.
Back then, no one at the studio knew about their relationship.
Their eyes had met briefly before she hurried backstage.
After the meeting, she was surprised to find his car waiting outside.
At the time, she thought he was there for her.
Now, standing on the balcony under the night sky,
Sang Lu rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
Back then, Feng Yan hadn’t spoken. Instead, he’d typed out a message:
「Just had some unfinished business. That’s why I’m still here.」
Recalling his expression now...
His gaze had flickered away for a second, his eyes drifting to the car window unnaturally.
Sang Lu’s breath hitched.
Could he have been lying?
After a pause, she picked up her phone.
Her thumb hovered over Feng Yan’s chat.
Meanwhile, at Qinghe Bay...
A man with sharp, cold features sat in his study, typing on his laptop.
His phone vibrated on the desk.
【Sang Lu: [Photo]】
【Sang Lu: [Photo]】
...
Sang Lu impulsively sent him all the photos she’d taken—the ones she’d originally meant to keep to herself.
【Sang Lu: The setup for the finale banquet. Pretty, right~】
【Sang Lu: As the show’s biggest investor, this is Producer Sang reporting to President Feng.】
【Sang Lu: Praise me.jpg】
She clutched her phone, waiting for a reply.
Soon, a new message popped up.
【Feng: Can’t see the pictures clearly.】
Not clear?
Sang Lu zoomed in.
They were taken from a distance—the details were admittedly fuzzy.
Determined to give her "investor" a proper update,
she grabbed a selfie stick and headed out.
Once she reached the venue, she opened their chat again.
This time, she tapped "Video Call"...
On the other end,
Feng Yan showed no surprise when the video call request appeared.
His finger hovered over the screen—
as if he’d been waiting all along.
He accepted in one swift motion.
Sang Lu’s cheerful voice reached him before the image loaded.
"Hello? Can you see clearly now~?"
