Qin Feng frowned and muttered a “sorry” as he took out his phone—it was a call from his assistant.
He hesitated for a moment but still carried his wine glass to the side to answer.
“What’s up?”
The assistant’s words came like a machine gun, “Feng-ge, something happened! You need to check the trending topics right now!”
“Hold on. Let me take a look.”
Qin Feng’s brow furrowed deeper as he exited the call screen and opened Weibo’s trending list.
Three out of the top ten trending topics had his name.
The hottest one, #Fenghuo Qin Group#, had already climbed to No. 3 and was tagged with “Boiling”—the topic had already surpassed a billion views.
Quickly scanning the topics, Qin Feng put the phone back to his ear and said, “Get in touch with the Qin Group’s PR team. Suppress the heat and remove the tags.”
But his assistant said urgently, “I already did! PR managed to remove one trending tag, but the buzz is too high. Several big marketing accounts and a bunch of water armies are stoking the flames—it’s impossible to contain! The people from Qin Group said it seems like someone is intentionally pushing this. They told me to ask you if you’ve offended anyone recently.”
Have I offended anyone…
Qin Feng’s expression turned sour.
He instinctively glanced at Qiao Nan, and for some reason, thought of his adoptive older brother.
The leading figure in the drone industry. CEO of Xunan Technology.
He’d heard his father mention him once—on the surface, he appeared kind and easygoing, but in reality, he was a sharp and aggressive businessman, even more ruthless than Qiao Shian and his wife.
A classic “smiling tiger.”
Qin Feng hadn’t bothered to hide his phone call from those nearby, so Qiao Nan overheard something about “trending topics” and curiously opened Weibo.
He wasn’t prepared for what he saw—Qin Feng’s name was right there at the #2 trending spot, and below it, several more trending tags all related to Qin Feng.
Qiao Nan nudged Qian Chuan with his elbow and whispered, “Your cousin’s gone viral!”
He counted, sucking in a breath, “Four trending posts.”
Qian Chuan was shocked and leaned over to look at the screen with him.
Qiao Nan tapped into one randomly—the top post was from a good-looking influencer who had just published a long expose accusing “Fenghuo” of cheating.
It included chat logs and intimate photos that left very little to the imagination.
Qiao Nan: Whoa!
Qian Chuan: Damn!
As they scrolled through the comments under that post, they discovered that it wasn’t just one person.
Four or five influencers had posted similar long exposes, accusing Qin Feng of cheating, hookups, and promiscuity—across the board.
His “partners” included online influencers, models, third-tier actors, and even regular university students—regardless of gender.
Some internet sleuths even bypassed the Chinese firewall and dug up his history from when he studied abroad.
The results were utterly scandalous.
To be fair, Qin Feng’s art was quite good. He was a typical romanticist—bold colors, expressive strokes, full of decadent beauty.
At just twenty-five or six, he already had some fame in the art world and even a small fanbase.
After going viral in a video interview, his good looks attracted even more attention.
Handsome, wealthy, and a rising star in the art world.
These factors had pushed him to the top—so when he fell, the crash was deafening.
Qiao Nan whispered, “Your cousin is such a scumbag.”
Qian Chuan stared at the bed photos released by bloggers, his worldview thoroughly shattered. He muttered, “I think so too.”
The two of them whispered in low voices, clearly gossiping.
Qin Feng couldn’t hear what they were saying, but just seeing them huddled together over the phone was enough to guess they’d seen the trending topics.
Qin Feng hung up, smoothed out his expression, and walked over to Qiao Nan with a wine glass in hand. His tone carried a hint of helplessness:
“I originally just wanted to explain things to you, but now there’s this mess. I’m afraid your impression of me just got even worse.”
Qiao Nan quickly shoved his phone into Qian Chuan’s arms, straightened his posture, and gave a polite but awkward smile.
Fortunately, Qin Feng didn’t try to push the issue.
“It was wrong of me to lie to you before. I’ll drink this glass of wine as an apology. If there’s ever anything I can help with, don’t hesitate to ask. I hope you’ll give me a chance to make it up to you.”
He tilted his head and drained the wine in one go, then placed the glass firmly on the table.
“I’ve got work to handle now, so I’ll take my leave.”
Qian Chuan got up to see him off. Before leaving, Qin Feng turned back to glance at Qiao Nan.
The boy wore a white shirt and trousers, clean and fresh, yet he had an inexplicably alluring quality that made people want to get close.
No wonder someone would keep such a close eye on him.
After seeing Qin Feng off, Qian Chuan returned and saw that Qiao Nan was still looking at the trending topics.
He spread his hands and said, “So, not angry anymore, right?”
Qiao Nan sighed and shook his head.
“Forget it. An eye for an eye—when does it end? What happened to him was way more embarrassing than my public shame.”
After Qin Feng left, the private room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere again.
Xiao Rang came over with a wine bottle and plunked it down in front of the two.
“Are you guys here to have fun or to gossip?”
Qiao Nan pushed the bottle a bit farther away, poured himself a cup of chrysanthemum tea, and sipped it slowly.
“I drove here, so I can’t drink.”
Xiao Rang was full of question marks.
“Then why did you even ask us out if you’re not drinking?”
Qiao Nan grinned and pointed at Qian Chuan.
“To fleece him!”
As he spoke, he pressed the service bell to call the waiter, and directly ordered two bottles of Romanée-Conti 1999, charging them to Qian Chuan’s tab.
Qian Chuan cursed, “Didn’t you say you weren’t mad anymore?!”
Qiao Nan nodded earnestly.
“Yeah, I’m really not mad now.”
Since Qiao Nan wasn’t drinking, the gathering ended earlier than usual.
After calling a few designated drivers for Qian Chuan and the others, Qiao Nan saw it was still early.
He texted Pei Xu to confirm he was still at the office, then got ready to drive over to him.
As Qiao Nan drove out of the underground parking lot and was about to switch lanes to the main road, he saw a black Toyota speeding down the opposite lane and hitting a stray dog that couldn’t dodge in time.
The dog was flung into the air and crashed hard in the middle of the road.
It seemed to have hurt its hind leg and couldn’t get up no matter how hard it struggled.
It could only prop itself up with its front legs and desperately try to crawl toward the roadside.
The road wasn’t a main thoroughfare, so traffic wasn’t heavy.
But if the dog stayed there, it was only a matter of time before it got hit again.
Qiao Nan pulled over and ran toward the stray dog.
As he got closer, he realized the dog was fairly large—probably a medium-sized breed.
It also had a severe skin condition; its sparse white fur was clumped together.
Because of the collision, its abdomen was stained with a large patch of blood.
It looked quite horrifying.
No wonder some pedestrians nearby were only watching but didn’t dare approach.
Qiao Nan cautiously got closer but didn’t try to pick it up immediately.
Only after confirming that the injured dog wasn’t aggressive did he gently lift it up.
He placed it in the backseat and used GPS to find the nearest animal hospital.
By the time all the examinations and treatments were done, it was past 10 p.m.
Luckily, the dog had only suffered a broken leg.
Its internal organs were fine. In comparison, the skin disease was actually more serious.
The vet said it would need to stay in the hospital for a few days, and after its leg began healing, they could continue with further treatment.
After paying and leaving his contact info, Qiao Nan left the hospital with Pei Xu.
Pei Xu had arrived after work upon getting Qiao Nan’s message.
Seeing the blood on Qiao Nan’s clothes, he said, “I already asked Zhao Bo to take your car for cleaning. Come home with me.”
Qiao Nan nodded.
Thinking of the whimpering dog that had licked his hand, he added, “How about we go to the Binjiang house tonight? I want Aunt Chen to make some dog food so I can bring it to the hospital tomorrow.”
Pei Xu knew that Qiao Nan had always liked animals.
This time, he didn’t say anything and simply drove to the Qiao residence.
It had been a while since the two had come home together.
Uncle Wang and Aunt Chen exchanged a look, thinking the brothers had finally made up.
They greeted them with bright smiles—until they saw the blood-stained mess on Qiao Nan’s clothes.
Aunt Chen’s face changed.
“What happened? Why is there blood?”
“I picked up a stray dog on the way here—dog’s blood. Aunt Chen, can you cook dog food?”
Qiao Nan briefly explained the situation.
“I want to bring some to the hospital tomorrow.”
“I can. I’ll look up how to make it online.”
Seeing how messy he looked yet still concerned about the dog, Aunt Chen pushed him upstairs.
“Go shower and change clothes. I’ll handle the food.”
By the time Qiao Nan came back down, freshly showered, Aunt Chen was already following an online tutorial and making dog food like a pro.
Qiao Nan eagerly squeezed into the kitchen, insisting on helping despite Aunt Chen’s protests.
He had a great time fussing around.
By the time they finished making the food and packed it into storage containers for the fridge, it was close to midnight.
Qiao Nan tiptoed upstairs, quietly opened a bedroom door, and peeked inside to see if his brother had gone to bed.
If he had, Qiao Nan figured he’d just crash in his own room for the night.
“What are you sneaking around for?”
Pei Xu heard the noise and turned his head to look.
He was leaning against the headboard, holding a book—clearly waiting for Qiao Nan.
“Why are you still awake?”
Qiao Nan stepped inside.
Pei Xu didn’t answer.
He just patted the empty space beside him, giving him a meaningful look.
“Your pillow isn’t over here.”
Qiao Nan suddenly remembered—after their last fight, he had angrily moved back to his own room.
But that was old history now. He cleared his throat and said innocently, “Uncle Wang must’ve put it away. I’ll go ask him.”
He dashed back to his room, grabbed the pillow, and returned.
Setting the pillow next to Pei Xu, Qiao Nan climbed into bed.
But he was too excited to sleep.
After tossing and turning, he sat up again, hugged the pillow, and looked at Pei Xu with bright eyes.
“Brother, once the stray dog is better, let’s adopt it, okay?”
He had loved animals since he was a child.
His biggest childhood dream was to own a dog.
But their father always said cats and dogs were noisy and unhygienic, so he never allowed it.
Qiao Nan had always been obedient.
Though disappointed, he didn’t push.
Later, in high school, Pei Xu had wanted to get him a dog.
But Qiao Nan, worried he couldn’t take care of it because of school, declined.
“Mhm.” Pei Xu, naturally, wouldn’t refuse his request.
Qiao Nan started fantasizing about their future with the dog.
“When we bring it home, let’s give it a name!”
“Okay.”
“We can build a doghouse in the yard, and let it run around freely.”
“Okay.”
“When you’re off work, we can take it on walks together.”
“Okay.”
Pei Xu listened seriously, agreeing to everything.
Then Qiao Nan’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
He suddenly changed course, “So later, you move back in with me, and we’ll raise it together.”
“Hm?”
Pei Xu raised an eyebrow.
Seeing he didn’t fall into the trap, Qiao Nan changed tactics, sighing dramatically, “My birthday is coming soon, and you’re not even home. I guess I’m no longer your favorite brother…”
Even knowing he was being dramatic, Pei Xu couldn’t bring himself to refuse under the circumstances.
He closed his book, and under Qiao Nan’s hopeful gaze, said helplessly, “Just for this week.”
Qiao Nan instantly perked up and pounced on him in delight.
“You said it—you can’t go back on your word!”