So there had to be some kind of secret behind it.
After thinking it over, Qiuyun contacted Assistant Qian, who had connections in certain circles, and asked him to find a few people who could investigate that couple’s background.
Assistant Qian agreed readily, without the slightest hesitation.
Qiuyun transferred fifty thousand yuan to him as pocket money for his associates’ cigarettes and drinks.
“Sis? If you don’t eat the meat now, it’ll get old.” Qiu Ze put some food in his sister’s bowl.
“In a minute. I’m handling something.”
Qiuyun thanked Assistant Qian over the phone. The moment she looked up, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that someone nearby was secretly taking pictures of them.
“Stop!”
Qiuyun rose and was just about to give chase when the two girls immediately grabbed their cameras and took off.
“What happened, Sis?” Qiu Ze asked, still holding his chopsticks and wearing a disposable apron.
The two girls were unbelievably fast. With the mall’s many passageways and the crowds of people coming and going, they disappeared in an instant.
“Nothing. Someone was taking pictures of us.”
“Huh?!” He nervously looked around. “Where? Where are they?”
Qiuyun was speechless. “They’re long gone.”
To be fair, the people she’d encountered today had been fairly civilized.
Back when she was researching her idol’s career, she had seen videos secretly leaked by sasaeng fans. Those people would shove cameras right into his face, follow his car, and lie in wait to film him. Even after staff members scolded them or knocked their phones away, they still wouldn’t stop.
After finishing their meal, Qiuyun paid the bill and left the restaurant.
It quickly became obvious that she had relaxed too soon.
In just twenty minutes, more than a dozen girls carrying cameras with huge telephoto lenses had gathered outside the barbecue restaurant. Their flashes were practically being shoved into the siblings’ faces!
Qiuyun instinctively raised a hand to shield her eyes.
“What are you doing!” Qiu Ze stepped in front of his sister to protect her.
The fans began shouting.
“We’re the ones who should be asking what you’re doing! Do you know your photo was taken by fans from the rival fandom? They’ve been laughing at us because of your terrible personal conduct!”
“Exactly! I stocked up on your cards ages ago because I believed in you. And now you pull this! Who am I supposed to sell those cards to?”
“Our fan support group is about to be established! We even persuaded the major fans from other fandoms to come help run the data team! We’ve been fighting for your career, and what about you? You bring your sister-in-law to the mall for a meal and get photographed by rival fans!”
At that, Qiu Ze finally understood what had happened.
“She’s my sister! My actual sister! She’s not some sister-in-law!”
“I don’t buy it! Do you think I don’t have a younger brother at home? Would a younger brother hold the curtain open for his sister? Would he get her bowls and chopsticks? Would he put food in her bowl? Do you think I’m stupid?”
Qiu Ze was stunned.
Huh?
Was that not allowed?
The fans continued their barrage.
“What? You bring your sister-in-law to the mall for dinner, but you don’t have the guts to admit it? Hey, girl, do you see what kind of person this guy is? He has no sense of responsibility, and you still want to be with him?”
Qiuyun wasn’t as accustomed to camera flashes as Qiu Ze was. It took her a moment to come forward. Then she said with utmost seriousness, “I really am his sister. His biological sister.”
Seeing that both of them insisted on the same story, the fans began to waver.
Just as Qiuyun was about to take out her ID card to prove it, someone shouted, “She’s lying! I saw them holding hands! They’re definitely not siblings!”
It was the two girls who had been taking pictures earlier.
The fans, already furious, realized they had been deceived again and angrily began shoving the pair.
“Oh, so you’re too scared to admit what you did, and now you’re teaming up to lie to us?”
“You want to date and make money off your fans at the same time? How can you expect to have everything your way?”
Qiu Ze hurriedly shielded his sister. “Don’t listen to them! We weren’t holding hands. She really is my sister!”
Qiuyun’s expression darkened. “Keep your hands to yourselves. Don’t force me to call the police.”
One of the girls was so angry that she began to cry. “Fine! Call them! If we don’t get this all over the trending searches today, all the effort I’ve put in for so long will have been for nothing! Waaaah!”
The scene instantly descended into chaos. Someone even reached out to pull Qiuyun’s hair.
Quick as a flash, Qiuyun struck the girl’s Inner Pass and Pool at the Bend acupoints. The girl’s arm went numb and tingly, and she jerked it back as though she’d been shocked.
Qiu Ze desperately tried to explain and keep order.
“Please, listen to me! She really is my sister! We have the same parents—we’re actual siblings!”
But how could fans consumed by disappointment possibly listen to his explanation? They all demanded an explanation and blocked the way, refusing to let them leave.
“Everyone, move aside! Make way!”
Mall security arrived.
And with them came Pei Cizhou, whom Qiuyun had met earlier that morning.
Wearing a black T-shirt and cargo pants, with casually tousled bangs falling across his forehead, Pei Cizhou radiated the unmistakable vibe of a young college guy.
The security guards shouted as they worked to disperse the crowd. “What are you doing? Why are you all gathered here?”
With the guards maintaining order, and with everyone noticing that more and more onlookers were gathering, the fans gradually stopped.
Pei Cizhou took two or three strides to Qiuyun’s side. Anxiously, he pulled her protectively behind him and looked her up and down.
“Are you all right? I saw someone lunge at you just now. Did you get hurt?”
“No.” The situation had temporarily stabilized, and Qiuyun finally had the chance to dig her ID card out of her bag.
She covered the ID number and address at the bottom, leaving only her name and photo visible as she showed it to the girls.
“My name is Qiuyun, and I’m Qiu Ze’s older sister. He was practicing alone in the studio during the National Day holiday, so I said I’d take him out for a good meal to help him recharge. We just happened to run into the rival fans you were talking about.”
The moment she produced her ID, everyone stared at one another, sheepishly falling silent.
Seeing that the situation had turned against them, the two girls who had been stirring things up—already standing at the very edge of the crowd—slipped away immediately.
Pei Cizhou narrowed his eyes and shot an unfriendly look at the kid beside him.
Oh, so this was Miss Qiu’s family’s Yaozu.
“Ahem. Actually, we believed you from the start. Don’t misunderstand, Sis,” the girl who had mentioned forming the fan support group hurriedly explained.
Damn, with a gorgeous guy like that knowing her, even if she weren’t his sister, there was no way she’d be interested in her own little dark-skinned guy.
Wait. Why was her own little dark-skinned guy glaring at him?
Could this handsome man only look like a decent person and actually be bad news?
The moment Qiu Ze saw this unfamiliar man arrive and grab his sister by the wrist, he naturally had no good impression of him. Not only did he glare at Pei Cizhou, he even puffed himself up at him.
This was outrageous!
Didn’t this guy know that in this world, the brother-in-law-to-be was king?
This man had already been sentenced in Qiu Ze’s mind.
To death.
Seeing the nearby security guards and the growing crowd of onlookers, Qiuyun had no intention of becoming the center of an incident that obstructed traffic. After explaining everything, she urged everyone, “Come on, disperse. Don’t block the way and inconvenience other people.”
Apologizing as she went, Qiuyun led her brother away. Pei Cizhou followed close behind.
As soon as they hurried out of the mall, Qiuyun quickly told Qiu Ze to put his mask back on.
“How did you end up here?” Qiuyun finally had the chance to ask Pei Cizhou once they were safely away.
Pei Cizhou coughed lightly. “I happened to be passing by.”
“...” Qiuyun was speechless. “Do you honestly think I’ll believe that?”
“All right.”
Pei Cizhou decided to tell the truth. “You said you were coming to find your brother, didn’t you? I was worried you might get bullied.”
Qiu Ze: ???
