"◎Stepping on My Butt◎"
"I think we might need to look into this further," Lin Shengxi said, still unable to believe it. "Brother Yan’s taste can’t possibly be that bad. Le Qing is slightly better-looking than the average person, and she seems to have improved a bit now, but Brother Yan isn’t the type to judge based on looks, right?"
Jiang Suizhi remained silent regarding Jiang Yan’s aesthetic standards.
He rewatched the video Lin Shengxi had sent him several times. Since it was filmed from an outsider’s perspective, the woman’s full face wasn’t entirely visible, but the side profile captured in the frame was enough to showcase the superiority of her features.
The woman in the video wore nothing more than a simple white sweater, speaking unhurriedly with a calmness that seemed out of place in her surroundings.
However… neither the woman Lin Shengxi described as "unimpressive in the past" nor the "bold and confident" woman Jiang Yan had mentioned seemed to match the person in the footage.
Jiang Suizhi wasn’t foolish enough to judge someone based solely on hearsay or fragmented online comments.
As for the two children, they looked exactly like the ones in the photo Lin Jian had taken—leaning against the bed with wide, bright eyes, even more spirited than in the picture.
"Investigate this Le Qing."
Lin Shengxi hesitated. "Suizhi, to be honest, I already looked into her when I first found her suspicious. But I couldn’t dig up much about her background. The only thing I heard was that she recently went bankrupt. Judging by the current situation, she probably isn’t part of our circle—otherwise, there’d be more buzz about her."
What Jiang Suizhi was thinking, however, was that Jiang Yan had protected her so well in the past that naturally, no one would easily uncover anything about her.
Moreover, Jiang Hechang had used money to drive her away. Knowing Jiang Yan would search for her, he would have erased any traces of her existence, making her far harder to investigate than the average person.
Even Jiang Yan had taken nearly a year to track down her and the children’s whereabouts.
Jiang Suizhi turned his gaze to the two photos on the wall. "Start with her two children."
Without Jiang Yan and Jiang Hechang’s interference, there would be more traces left behind by the children.
"Got it."
"Be even more discreet than before."
After hanging up, Jiang Suizhi called Lin Jian.
Lin Jian sounded slightly surprised. "What’s up?"
"At your exhibition," Jiang Suizhi glanced at the photo’s filename, "how was this photo taken?"
"So you saw it," Lin Jian chuckled. "Isn’t it fascinating? If I didn’t know about your… condition, I’d almost suspect those two kids were yours."
The other end of the line was silent, but Lin Jian was used to his sparing words. She continued, "It was pure coincidence—I happened to run into them on the street."
"Were they like this when you met them?"
"...Yeah." Lin Jian also found the situation somewhat unbelievable. "The two kids were picking through trash at the time. Later, my brother threw some kind of gathering, and I ran into them again. I casually asked about what had happened, and they said the kids had run off on their own. I figured there might be other reasons."
The two accounts didn’t quite match.
As Jiang Suizhi continued analyzing the situation in his own way, Lin Jian suddenly asked, "They’re really not your kids?"
"No."
"Then why are you so interested?" Lin Jian teased. "If you want, I can just give you that photo."
She had meant it as a casual remark, but the other side didn’t give her time to take it back. "Thanks. I’ll treat you to a meal sometime."
Lin Jian raised an eyebrow in surprise, though she didn’t actually care about the meal. She knew Jiang Suizhi well—given their past friendship, his attendance at her exhibition was already a rare display of sentimentality from him.
Suddenly, she thought of something else. "But if you’re really curious, there’s another way."
"What?"
"I’ve scheduled a photoshoot with Le Qing that hasn’t happened yet. Le Qing is the mother of those two kids," Lin Jian explained. "It’s a single-parent household—she’s raising them alone. She said she’d bring the kids along for the shoot. You could free up some time and come see for yourself."
This was exactly what Jiang Suizhi wanted.
He wouldn’t act impulsively before verifying everything, but right now, he was eager to meet the two children. As for Le Qing… if it really was her, he’d honor his promise to Jiang Yan and take care of her.
"When?"
"That depends on when she and I schedule it. I’ll call you when it’s set."
Lin Jian was a woman of action, and now she had an extra dose of curiosity. After finishing her call with Jiang Suizhi, she immediately reached out to Le Qing to arrange a time for the shoot.
However, after a full day at the hospital, Le Qing hadn’t seen the message.
---
The next morning, while editing the previous day’s video footage of the children, Le Qing finally noticed the flood of notifications on her phone.
"Auntie~" Xia Na'an, now full of energy, toddled over with her milk bottle and phone in hand, beaming. "Auntie, count! So many people talking!"
She couldn’t read, so she didn’t understand the comments—only that the number had grown much larger than before.
At this point, the system naturally hadn’t read out the negative comments to the children. Since they couldn’t read, exposing them to the toxicity of the internet too early wouldn’t be good.
Secondly, he was somewhat curious to see how Le Qing would react.
To his surprise, as she skimmed through the remarks, Le Qing showed little reaction and didn’t explain to the children what was being said.
In the past, if anyone had spoken poorly of her, she would’ve immediately started arguing—even the children wouldn’t dare defy her.
Xia Na'an was so excited she could barely sit still, swinging her little legs and leaning on the table with sparkling eyes. "Auntie, does this mean everyone likes us?"
Lots of comments must mean they’re liked.
"Mm." Le Qing closed the comments section without another glance and calmly continued editing the video. "You’re both good kids. Of course, many people will like you."
The system was taken aback by her composure—she hadn’t projected any of her emotions onto the children.
A moment later, the doorbell rang.
It took Le Qing a second to remember—before leaving the hospital yesterday, Pei Yu had mentioned she was off today and could come over to teach her how to bake a cake.
She felt an inexplicable nervousness. This was the first time someone was visiting her home—though it wasn’t really her home yet.
While she was still lost in thought, Xia Na'jia had already made his way to the door and checked the video intercom. "Doctor Auntie is here!"
Their aunt had told them to always check who was outside before opening the door, and they remembered it well.
Xia Na'an, who had heard Doctor Auntie mention baking a cake, scrambled down from her chair and dashed over. "Brother, open the door!"
"Hello there," Pei Yu greeted from the doorway, spotting Le Qing standing frozen in the living room. "I was starting to think no one was home."
Yue Qing stood up and only then remembered she had never bought extra slippers for guests. Compared to her earlier composure, she now felt a faint hint of fluster. "No need to change shoes, just come in directly."
Pei Yu glanced at the tidy, well-organized home. "It's snowing outside, and my shoes are a bit dirty. It wouldn’t be good to walk in like this."
"It's fine," Yue Qing stepped forward to close the door. "I forgot to buy slippers."
Pei Yu paused for a moment but didn’t comment further. Instead, she adjusted the bags she was carrying, slipping them over her shoes before stepping inside.
Most households kept extra slippers for guests. Yue Qing hadn’t just moved in—her excuse of forgetting to buy slippers was flimsy at best.
Or perhaps, she didn’t see this place as a proper home to live in.
After entering, Pei Yu set her things down and noticed the unfinished video editing on the screen. Remembering the online gossip from that morning, she asked, "Are you okay?"
Yue Qing handed her a glass of water, confused. "What do you mean?"
"The people online."
Mentioning the internet, the two little ones suddenly had a lot to say—especially when facing their doctor auntie. In their minds, doctors, police officers, and teachers were the most impressive people, and they were eager to show off. Little Le’an hugged her phone and trotted over to Pei Yu. "Auntie, so many people like me and my brother!"
Pei Yu, seeing the hateful comments online: "…?"
How did they come to that conclusion?
"Who told you that?" she asked.
"Auntie did!"
Now exposed, Yue Qing finally understood what Pei Yu had been referring to earlier. She smiled faintly. "There really are a lot of people who like them."
Just not those people.
"I see," Pei Yu grasped her well-intentioned lie and didn’t expose it. Instead, she remarked, "If only they had a kindergarten education."
The two children, eager to prove themselves, obediently sat down for their daily reading time. "We are going to kindergarten!"
Pei Yu walked over to Yue Qing, who was organizing things. "Does it not bother you?"
"Baseless rumors," Yue Qing lowered her eyes, her voice calm. "If I cared about everything, I’d never have the energy. Besides, those people are strangers to me. There’s no point getting upset over them."
"You’re quite resilient," Pei Yu said.
Yue Qing smiled wordlessly before adding, "But I’ll need you to wait a bit longer. I have to finish editing this video and upload it."
"A clarification?"
"For the sponsors."
"That makes sense. It wouldn’t be good if this affected your income."
"Not just that," Yue Qing continued working on the screen without pause. "Money isn’t the most important thing for them right now. I’ll make sure they never lack for it. But when they grow up, these videos will become irreplaceable memories. I don’t want my own issues to taint their recollections."
Hearing this, Pei Yu couldn’t help but glance at her. There was a quiet, inexplicable allure in the other woman’s serene expression.
Just then, two little heads popped up from under the table like bamboo shoots after rain.
"Wrong!" One of the shoots—little Le’an—scrunched up her face. "Auntie didn’t study properly!"
Yue Qing looked up in surprise. "What?"
"You said it yourself," the other shoot, her older brother, propped his hands on the table like a tiny teacher. "Don’t blame yourself for—for what?"
"For no reason!" Little Le’an supplied helpfully.
"Right!" Little Le’jia nodded firmly. "You can’t blame yourself! You didn’t do anything wrong recently."
Recently—how precise.
"Who bullied Auntie?" Little Le’an blinked her big eyes. "An’an knows how to reason! An’an learned from the talking pen!"
She pointed at her little mouth. "Brother and I both have mouths. We can argue with them! Don’t be scared!"
Yue Qing closed her laptop halfway, baffled. "How did you even pick up on that?"
She hadn’t spoken much, and her tone hadn’t been particularly emotional. How had these two managed to pinpoint the issue and emerge from under the table like tiny detectives?
But now, neither child answered.
Just as mysteriously as they had appeared, they retreated beneath the table again.
The two little ones, shielded by the table, began whispering conspiratorially. "Gege, An’an’s feet can’t reach the floor!"
"Gege can’t either!" Little Le’jia mumbled.
Two seconds later, his tone brightened with pride. "I’ll lie down. Step on my butt first, then slide down like a slide!"
Yue Qing: "…"
Kid, you’re a genius.
