Jiang Xiao was even faster, using the grappling art his instructor had taught him during military training.
He instantly subdued the struggling middle-aged uncle.
“I’ll give you one last chance. Apologize to her, or else I’ll have to take you to the station for a cup of tea!”
“It was my fault! I apologize!”
Pinned down completely, the middle-aged uncle was visibly panicked and hurriedly apologized to Song Qiuyu.
The apology was devoid of any sincerity, filled only with a desire to escape.
Song Qiuyu looked at the middle-aged uncle with a cold expression, subconsciously clutching her skirt tighter. ‘This place can only be seen by Jiang Xiao!’
She glanced at the screen of the internet celebrity’s phone. ‘Maybe this middle-aged uncle will suffer some miserable consequences later, but he brought it on himself.’
A person living in this world must always pay the price for their actions. ‘Just like me.’
‘Perhaps I should be more concerned about whether this guy will retaliate against Jiang Xiao and me later…’
But it was also possible she was just overthinking.
The popularity of the internet celebrity’s live broadcast room skyrocketed, with a steady stream of newcomers joining.
Everyone was curious about the current situation.
The sharp-eyed ones had already spotted the issue and began to defend and feel sorry for Song Qiuyu.
The internet celebrity skillfully kept up with the momentum.
Jiang Xiao then looked at the middle-aged uncle’s phone, narrowed his eyes, and said coldly, “I suspect there’s quite a lot of things on this phone that shouldn’t be there, right?”
The middle-aged uncle suddenly looked guilty.
Everyone immediately understood; this man was likely a repeat offender.
The store manager moved quickly, arriving with the security guards responsible for maintaining order at the comic convention.
After a useless bout of arguing, the middle-aged uncle was taken away. Jiang Xiao immediately walked to Song Qiuyu’s side and patted her shoulder to comfort her.
Although he really wanted to give her a hug, he forced himself to hold back. As a girl encountering something like this, her mood must be terrible.
Fortunately, they stopped him in time. Nothing should have been filmed.
“I’m fine.”
Song Qiuyu shook her head gently and looked at Jiang Xiao with a faint smile.
“Thank you for stepping in to help! My good roommate!”
Jiang Xiao glanced at the situation in the internet celebrity’s live broadcast and said with a smile, “After all, I’m the knight protecting you today. It’s only right.”
The internet celebrity was stunned when she heard this.
‘Is this CP fanservice?’
The dispute had ended, but the numbers in the internet celebrity’s live broadcast room continued to surge.
She clearly saw a business opportunity and decided not to leave for a while.
She interacted back and forth with Song Qiuyu and the others, earning plenty of traffic before moving on to other people.
Only then did Song Qiuyu look at Jiang Xiao and say with a beaming smile, “Thanks a lot for just now!”
“Didn’t you already thank me?” Jiang Xiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Just now was a thank you from a Keqing coser. Now—” Song Qiuyu lowered her voice, “it’s a thank you from Song Qiuyu and Shen Su.”
“Well, in that case, it seems a simple thank you isn’t quite enough.” Jiang Xiao deliberately raised an eyebrow and spoke with a light laugh.
“Fine, fine. I need to earn drumsticks first. We’ll talk about your business when we get back!”
With that, Song Qiuyu withdrew her sweet and lovely smile, returning to the temperament of Keqing.
Work in progress!
By the time work ended for the day, Lin An and Xia Qi finally walked back, carrying two drumstick stickers. They then ruthlessly stuck all the drumsticks onto Song Qiuyu’s face.
“…”
Song Qiuyu didn’t say much. She just smiled and accepted all the drumsticks, then began to count them one by one with a look of pure joy.
Once finished, she looked at the Rukawa Kaede figurine in Xia Qi’s hand with the hope that she might break into the top ten of the Drumstick Leaderboard. Then, she knit her elegant brows in confusion.
‘Speaking of which, girls seem to prefer Rukawa Kaede… but I still think Hanamichi Sakuragi is cooler…’
But why was there only one figurine?
Noticing Song Qiuyu’s confused gaze, Xia Qi assumed she was wondering about the figurine and laughed, showing it off quite grandly.
“Lin An gave this to me!”
“Oh.”
Song Qiuyu glanced at Lin An, who had suddenly turned around to look at the neighboring stall, playing with a fox half-face mask. She hesitated to speak. ‘Is Haji Lin feeling embarrassed? Haha.’
“I performed poorly today and only made three shots, but this guy Lin An made all ten shots steadily!” Xia Qi sighed. “If it didn’t cost fifty dollars to participate once, I’d really want to try again.”
“Well, this comic convention is still going on for two more days. I just happened to earn some money from my part-time job, so I’ll try again tomorrow. My treat!” Song Qiuyu said with a smile.
“Consider it thanks for treating me to food earlier.”
As soon as she said this, Xia Qi pursed her lips, so guilty she began to stammer, unable to speak.
Could she even say thank you? Song Qiuyu, you’re eating your own bride price money!
Afterward, Song Qiuyu removed her makeup, changed back into her original clothes, and walked back along the same path with her companions, chatting and laughing.
Since the atmosphere between Lin An and Xia Qi had clearly improved, Song Qiuyu still tried to persuade them to go home.
Of course, she wasn’t going to let them leave tomorrow or the day after.
Drumsticks!
Song Qiuyu’s eyes were filled with a longing for money. She wanted both of their drumsticks!
“No way, Lin An hasn’t agreed to do it with me yet! Unless you guys help me convince him!” Xia Qi said firmly.
“Lao Lin…” Song Qiuyu looked at Lin An, who was smiling at his phone for some reason.
“Then let me reiterate once more: I believe in pre-marital celibacy.” Lin An adjusted his glasses and said.
That one sentence silenced the other three.
“Children, long time no see.”
Just as Song Qiuyu began to reflect on whether her progress with Jiang Xiao was moving too fast, a familiar voice drifted into her ears.
She turned her head, and the first thing that entered her field of vision was two strands of white hair sticking up from the top of a head like cockroach antennae.
“Lao Xie?” Song Qiuyu was stunned.
“It’s me.” Xie Zhuran nodded.
“…”
Song Qiuyu looked closely, and her heart skipped a beat. They say a day apart feels like three autumns, but it had only been a few days. How had Lao Xie suddenly aged fifty years? Plus, this guy had dyed his hair white, which made him look even more haggard.
“Lao Xie, did something happen to you?” Song Qiuyu spoke up bravely.
“Nothing really happened. It’s just that after I went home, I was dragged by my mom to go on blind dates with the daughters of several aunts and great-aunts.” Xie Zhuran rubbed his head, his voice filled with exhaustion, making him look like a completely different person from his former silly self.
With that, he looked at Lin An, treating him as the savior who had pulled him out of hell, his eyes full of gratitude.
He looked up at the sky and continued, “Is there a high-end barbershop nearby? I want to get a haircut. I’m going to change my look, breaking down the person known as Xie Zhuran from the inside out…”
He sighed, appearing even more weary and powerless. “Until his original form is unrecognizable.”
“I always feel like everyone around me is so handsome, and even if they aren’t, they’re very pretty. Everyone has someone who likes them. I want someone to like me too.”
“…”
Song Qiuyu was choked up for a moment but immediately retorted, “Lao Xie, people do like you! After every short video is uploaded, there are plenty of netizens who like you! Don’t belittle yourself, you jerk!”
“That’s right. Don’t let other people’s evaluations shake your own value!” Jiang Xiao added.
Xie Zhuran fell silent.
Anyone could tell that this person had definitely been told some very nasty things to his face by those girls during his blind dates.
Consequently, the man’s self-esteem had taken a massive hit.
To put it simply—he had been smoothed out by the blind dates.
Even Lin An couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
Those girls really didn’t know a good thing when they saw it.
As silly as Lao Xie was, he was definitely a good man.
“Before I change my look, I probably won’t be able to go home. Lao Jiang, can you put me up for a few days?” After another long silence, Xie Zhuran finally spoke.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu patted Xie Zhuran’s shoulder without a second thought and said with a smile, “Say no more, Lao Xie. Stay with us!”
“My place isn’t big, but it’s no problem putting up two or three people.” Seeing her brother in such a miserable state, she really couldn’t bring herself to refuse him.
She felt that if she did, he might actually end up wandering the streets.
“Let’s go. If there’s anything else, we’ll talk once we get home.” Jiang Xiao also patted Xie Zhuran’s shoulder, his tone heavy.
The current Xie Zhuran reminded him a bit of his past self.