The comment exploded in popularity in less than the blink of an eye, with the number of replies stacking up incessantly.
Whether it was the netizens’ mischievous sense of humor or genuine agreement, the number of likes was also skyrocketing simultaneously.
Song Qiuyu’s shapely brows furrowed. In truth, this wasn’t the first time she had seen similar comments.
However, after everything she had experienced recently, it was difficult for her to remain calm.
She had many theories about this. For instance, perhaps this wasn’t just a simple attempt to mess with her head, but something more targeted…
“Should I handle it instead?” Jiang Xiao’s gentle voice rang out by her ear.
“No, I’ll do it!” Song Qiuyu opened the replies to the comment, pretending to be composed.
[Wandering Monkey]: Finally, someone who isn’t blind has appeared. I kept saying this author was a girl!
[You Are Truly a Dog]: Whether Lemon Wife is a man or a woman, she is still my wife. You’re not allowed to slander my wife!
[Chirping]: Watch it if you want, and if you don’t, then get lost!
[Grandpa Niu and Hu Tutu]: Is that for real? No photo, no truth!
[Hajimi123]: How do you know the author is a woman? Could it be…?
[A Pound of BBQ]: Are there any lack of “gods” on the internet? If she wants to play pretend, let her. Just wait for her followers to hit 1,000,000, then she’ll self-dox and spend a passionate night with her top fan!
There were a few objective comments, but as she scrolled further down, there were more than a few abusive remarks that made her eyes ache.
It was as if they had finally found an outlet; some netizens were relentlessly venting their hostility onto her, the short video producer.
As she continued reading, she felt a bit breathless.
She didn’t want to look anymore and just wanted to delete them all and block the users with one click.
Continuing to look would undoubtedly lead to internal friction.
Before she could delete them, a large, warm hand suddenly covered her eyes.
“Don’t look if you don’t want to!” Jiang Xiao took the phone away.
“I can delete them myself!” Song Qiuyu hurriedly grabbed Jiang Xiao’s hand and pulled it down.
“But…” Jiang Xiao hesitated.
“But what?” Song Qiuyu reached out to take her phone back.
“This is my phone,” Jiang Xiao said, blinking.
“Uh…” Song Qiuyu suddenly felt restless and embarrassed. She nodded repeatedly, withdrew her hands, and fished out her own phone.
When she opened the comment section again, the popularity of that specific comment had reached ridiculous heights.
Gritting her teeth, she deleted it and blocked the user immediately.
As expected, several people in the comment section began asking where the comment had gone, but they were quickly drowned out by new messages.
“Phew…” Song Qiuyu gripped her phone.
She felt that being a short video producer was truly not easy.
She couldn’t imagine the psychological pressure those great directors faced every time they encountered negative reviews before becoming famous.
Perhaps because they experienced so much while growing up, even if they directed a bad film later and netizens scolded them, the directors themselves remained unfazed.
She was somewhat envious of their mental fortitude, yet at the same time, she didn’t want to possess that kind of thick skin.
Perhaps being liked and being hated were two things that had coexisted from the very beginning. Song Qiuyu bit her lip as certain negative emotions threatened to surge up. She habitually suppressed them, forcing the corners of her mouth to curl upward.
“Speaking of which, Xi’er, I recently learned a magic trick,” Jiang Xiao suddenly said.
“Hmm?” Song Qiuyu was stunned for a moment.
She turned her head to look at him and saw him extend his arm, bringing it close to the back of her neck.
The movement of his fingertips caused a burning itch.
She lowered her eyes and took a shallow breath, her attention focused on his large hand, which was still clenched into a fist.
“Oh, it’s just this? This magic trick is already old news!” Song Qiuyu said with a chuckle as she watched Jiang Xiao blow on his fist.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s old news.” Jiang Xiao slowly opened his palm.
In the center of his palm was, as expected… an Orange-flavored Da Bai Tu Milk Candy.
Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but smile. ‘Seriously, do you just carry candy with you at all times?’
“See?” Jiang Xiao smiled along with her. “Didn’t the magic trick achieve its purpose?”
“Are you looking down on me?” Song Qiuyu stopped laughing instantly. She pouted and stared at him.
“How am I looking down on you now?” Jiang Xiao unwrapped the candy’s paper.
“You always coax me like I’m a little girl.” Song Qiuyu tilted her head.
“Because, Xi’er, you are my little girl,” Jiang Xiao said with a smile, bringing the milk candy close to the corner of her mouth.
Song Qiuyu’s eyes wavered.
“Brother, Autumn Rain Bro!”
Just as she was about to eat it, the figures of Jiang Li and Xie Zhuran burst into her field of vision without warning.
‘Oh no!’
With a *smack*, Song Qiuyu reacted extremely quickly, striking Jiang Xiao’s hand from below. Jiang Xiao was stunned; he hadn’t expected this sudden move at all.
He accidentally loosened his grip, and the milk candy flew toward the ceiling.
Then, Song Qiuyu extended her hand with quick eyes and fast movements.
During the action, the sleeve of her thick down jacket slipped down slightly, revealing a patch of snowy skin at her wrist.
She snatched the flying milk candy out of the air.
Looking at Jiang Xiao with a grin, she pretended she had just won a game. “I won!”
“Ah, right, right, right.” The corners of Jiang Xiao’s mouth flattened.
He admired her ability to adapt to the situation.
“What were you two just doing?” Xie Zhuran looked at the milk candy between Song Qiuyu’s fingers, lost in thought.
“Were you playing a game to see whose reflexes are faster?”
Jiang Li silently rolled her eyes at Xie Zhuran.
She felt that even if she hadn’t made a sound just now and let her brother feed Autumn Rain Bro the candy, it wouldn’t have mattered.
Was this guy truly stupid or just pretending?
“Yeah, exactly!” Song Qiuyu nodded, replying to Xie Zhuran.
Right after she finished speaking, she heard a sudden hiss of pain from beside her.
She turned her head and saw Jiang Xiao rubbing the large hand she had just struck.
For some reason, even though she felt she hadn’t used much force, the spot where Jiang Xiao had been hit was actually quite red.
“How about we play another round?” Jiang Xiao asked with a light chuckle while rubbing his hand.
“No… definitely not!” Song Qiuyu shook her head and then stood up obediently from her chair.
“Autumn Rain Bro, I’ve discussed it with Brother Zhuran. We still plan on going over there with you guys,” Jiang Li said tentatively.
As she spoke, she used her eyes to inquire about the specific situation from her brother.
After confirming that everything was settled, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
However, thinking about the unexpected incident on the main road, she couldn’t help but tighten her grip on the bag of fruit in her hand.
She hoped there would be no more accidents from now on.
Hearing Jiang Li’s words, Song Qiuyu pursed her lips and pondered for a moment before smiling and nodding. “Alright then, we’ll go together later.”
But then again, she wondered if her resolve was too weak.
In such a short time, she had wavered back and forth twice. ‘How frustrating. It’s all Jiang Xiao’s fault.’
Chatting and laughing, the four of them walked back toward the hospital ward.
On the way, Xie Zhuran tried to invite Jiang Li to play the reflex game. To everyone’s surprise, Jiang Li agreed.
The end result, however, was that both of Xie Zhuran’s hands were swollen from being hit. Jiang Li’s reflexes were simply too fast.
Song Qiuyu took advantage of them playing the game to swiftly shove the milk candy she was holding into Jiang Xiao’s mouth.
Her mood was quite good now, even happier than if she had eaten the candy herself.
However, the person being fed the candy was not being honest; he actually brushed his tongue against her palm!
Song Qiuyu could only secretly nudge him with her elbow.
Upon returning to the ward, Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
Recalling the things she had said when she left, she suddenly didn’t know how to handle the situation.
Fortunately, her father and mom knew her very well—or perhaps they already understood Jiang Xiao well enough—because they didn’t bring up the matter at all. Instead, they found a safe topic to open the conversation.
“This injury of mine isn’t really a big deal. I only need to rest for one or two days at most. It’s just today’s train tickets…” Song Zhao Ye sighed, feeling a bit pained over the cost.
“It’s okay, Father, I have money! I earned quite a bit at the Comic Convention!” Song Qiuyu said, patting her chest.
If someone else had said this, they might have seemed like a wealthy upstart, but coming from her, it could only be described with one word: adorable.
Su Luo and Song Zhao Ye smiled with relief, feeling that their child was truly a little blessing sent from heaven.
They became even more determined to handle the relationship between the two families well and ensure their daughter married into a good home smoothly.
Yes, the premise was that the Jiang family was a good home.
Even though there were past events they would rather not look back on that forced them to compensate the Jiang family, there were many ways to compensate.
It didn’t necessarily mean sacrificing their child’s entire life.
This couple, having experienced so much, no longer had the reckless courage of their youth; they only wanted to firmly ensure their child obtained the happiness she deserved.
“Good. Once my injury is mostly healed, we’ll go to the Jiang family!” Song Zhao Ye said with a smile.
“Lao Song, is it really necessary to go to the Jiang family?” Xie Zhuran asked at that moment, his thoughts unclear.
He turned his face toward Song Qiuyu and whispered the question.
“…”
Song Qiuyu’s lips parted slightly.
Before Xie Zhuran could get a response, Jiang Li spoke up.
“Brother Zhuran, I want to play the reflex game again. Can you play with me some more?” she said, looking at him with a slight smile.
Xie Zhuran only hesitated for a second before resolutely accepting the invitation.
Then, he rolled up both his sleeves, seemingly preparing to strike Jiang Li’s hand until it turned red with all seriousness!
However, Jiang Li’s reflexes remained consistently fast, and she wasn’t hit even once.
Watching them play, Song Qiuyu became lost in thought.
A casual glance caught Jiang Xiao messaging someone, causing her brows to knit slightly.
She was curious and wanted to lean over for a peek, but looking at the other people in the ward, she feared being discovered.
She could only walk over as if casually, intending to strike up a conversation.
As if they shared a telepathic connection, Jiang Xiao looked up at that moment. He smiled at her and said, “I’m chatting with my aunt.”
“Oh.” Song Qiuyu was taken aback.
“Uncle, Auntie, my aunt said that once we get off the train, she’ll come to pick us up,” Jiang Xiao followed up immediately.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but blush a little.
She curled her hand into a fist and coughed twice before inquiring about this aunt as if nothing were wrong.
According to Jiang Xiao, this aunt’s name was Jiang Yingxue.
She wasn’t much older than them, having just graduated last year and gotten married immediately after graduation.
As for the uncle-in-law, his surname was Su, and his name was Su Ning.
Song Qiuyu didn’t think much of it.
After all, the surname Su was very common, though people named Su Ning might be less common.
Two days passed quickly.
On the day they set off again, the two police officers also showed up. However, they were dressed in plain clothes.
Thus, the group walked toward the train station while chatting and laughing, without much awkwardness or restraint.
During the journey, the two officers updated them on the current investigation. The entire nest of people had definitely been cleared out.
The only remaining concern was the possibility of potential accomplices.
After all, people of the same ilk tended to be attracted to one another.
Therefore, they still needed to pay close attention to the people around them.
Upon arriving at the train station and bidding farewell to the two officers, the six people boarded the train one by one and took their seats.
They had good luck when buying tickets; all their seats were right next to each other.
Consequently, they spent the trip chatting and looking at the scenery until they arrived at the city where the Jiang family lived—Jinfeng City—the following morning.
As they walked out of the train station, they saw a slender and elegant figure waving at them from a distance.
This person could only be Jiang Yingxue, who had come to pick them up.
They immediately walked over to talk with her, and following some idle chatter along the way, the group headed straight for the Jiang family home.