Pei Kuang was stunned for a moment.
Why was little auntie doing this so early in the morning?
Suddenly sending him a 'good person card' out of the blue?
But when he met her worried, concerned gaze, Pei Kuang suddenly understood.
She already knew about it all.
Well, it wasn't that surprising that she found out, since it had caused quite a stir online.
Last night before going to bed, several negative hashtag trends about him suddenly popped up on Weibo, repeating the usual old claims - that he was unworthy of his position, had low education and poor acting skills, and bad character, etc.
In summary, that he was no good, unworthy of his top status or so many fans, and would crash and burn sooner or later.
As for who was behind it, it could have been rival agencies, or industry competitors.
Over the years, Pei Kuang had long grown used to this, and didn't take it too seriously. Li Dong would handle it.
No one else could judge whether he deserved it or not. He didn't need to prove anything to anyone, just focus on improving himself.
To some extent, that was simply the nature of the industry. If you couldn't change it, you just had to adapt. Pei Kuang had never had the habit of fretting over things pointlessly.
So, was Song Anan subtly trying to comfort him about the online drama?
Telling him directly: you're great, you really are great!
Little auntie's way of comforting was really clumsy yet direct.
It was kind of cute in a silly way.
Pei Kuang laughed softly and asked, "Am I really that good?"
Song Anan nodded heavily, completely serious.
Pei Kuang raised an eyebrow. "Compared to Song Linchuan?"
Song Anan was taken aback. Why was he suddenly bringing up Song Linchuan?
But she considered it carefully before replying, "I think you two are pretty evenly matched."
Evenly matched?
Pei Kuang laughed out loud.
Not bad water-carrying skills.
"Oh?" Pei Kuang continued asking. "How exactly are we 'evenly matched'?"
Song Anan was confused for a few seconds, then started counting off seriously on her fingers, "Specifically, you and Linchuan are both very outstanding and motivated, and good-looking too."
Outstanding, motivated, and handsome.
He didn't expect his standing to be so high in little auntie's eyes, on the same level as Song Linchuan.
Tsk, if Song Linchuan found out about this, he'd probably come hopping over on one leg.
Pei Kuang raised an eyebrow, feeling pleased. "Anything else?"
Song Anan frowned.
Anything else?
Wasn't that enough praise already?
"Uh...also, you're both very thoughtful!"
Seeing little auntie's completely earnest expression, Pei Kuang was overcome by a wave of amusement.
Thoughtful?
Alright, the feeling of déjà vu was getting stronger.
"Are you really being honest, or just trying to flatter me?" Pei Kuang laughed.
Song Anan didn't hesitate at all. "Of course it's true!"
Pei Kuang let out a meaningful "oh". "Then why don't you follow me?"
Song Anan was taken aback. "Huh?"
Follow what?
Pei Kuang smiled. "I mean, why do you only follow Linchuan on Weibo, and not me?"
Song Anan blinked blankly, not quite understanding.
Where did this suddenly come from?
Pei Kuang shrugged. "No choice, the netizens are all laughing at me."
Song Anan was still confused. "Laughing at what?"
Pei Kuang faltered.
What else could they laugh at, other than him being unfilial?
But he really couldn't bring himself to say the word 'filial' out loud.
Pei Kuang directly took out his phone and opened a page, then handed it to Song Anan.
"See for yourself."
Song Anan took the phone, baffled. When she saw the huge number of unread messages in his Weibo DMs, her eyes widened in shock.
It triggered her OCD.
What Song Anan didn't know was that her own Weibo DMs were also blowing up massively, she just hadn't noticed yet.
[Hahahaha, Pei Kuang you're hopeless. You're both auntie's nephews, yet she only follows Song Linchuan on Weibo and not you!]
[Still a long road ahead to succeed as auntie's nephew. Pei Kuang, you gotta work harder. Let's start with the small goal of getting auntie to follow your Weibo!]
[You know why auntie doesn't follow you right, tsk tsk, obviously because you're unfilial!]
...
Seeing the messages on Pei Kuang's phone, Song Anan strangely felt a little guilty. After all, she was the one who started this whole filial issue.
But if she said she didn't even follow Song Linchuan, would he believe her?
She barely paid any attention to Weibo in the first place. It was just for show.
As for why she followed Song Linchuan, it was because Jiang Han had set up the account for her and happened to follow him on her behalf.
"It's not too late if I follow you now, right?" Song Anan asked earnestly.
Maybe she could salvage his reputation for being unfilial a little?
Pei Kuang raised his eyebrows. "I think late is better than never."
Song Anan immediately understood. She turned and went back to her room to grab her phone.
Right in front of Pei Kuang, she clumsily navigated to his Weibo profile.
Then decisively tapped 'Follow'.
--
For this leg of the island show, the production team had made some adjustments compared to before.
For example, cameras were installed in the celebrities' suite living rooms instead of camera crew following them around.
At 7:30am, the cameras in each suite living room were remotely controlled to turn on by the broadcasting room.
The five suites became five livestream rooms, going live simultaneously.
Viewers who received notifications from the backstage rushed over excitedly.
But the celebrities woke up at different times, so some were already up while others still slept.
Song Anan and Pei Kuang had already gone out for a walk.
The Jia brothers had changed into workout clothes, preparing to go jogging.
In Jiang Kai and Xie Yin's livestream, Jiang Kai seemed to still be asleep.
But Xie Yin was already doing yoga in the living room.
[Ahhhh, our YinYin is so beautiful, what a great figure, love it!]
[Uwuwuwu, her skin is so nice too, super model-level bare face!]
[Um...isn't it kind of inappropriate for Xie Yin to wear that and do yoga in the living room? They're not real siblings after all.]
[Shut up! What era are you from? What's wrong with her yoga clothes?]
[Yeah! Get out with your nitpicking!]
[I feel like Xie Yin is being deliberately performative. She bothered to bring a yoga mat on a variety show? If you want to exercise, just go running outside or something.]
[Ha! Look who's acting all high and mighty just because they live by the beach. Mind your own business if she wants to do yoga!]
...
Li Yu and Guo Xiu, the married couple, were still asleep. Their livestream was empty.
The loyal viewers who always tuned in weren't surprised. These two were known for sleeping in late.
But there was one person whose behavior went against everyone's expectations - Qi MuShi.
As soon as his livestream started, the viewers saw him sitting properly at the living room table, a pen in hand, seeming to write something on paper.
From the looks of it, he had been up for a while already.
[Huh? Why is Qi MuShi up so early today? I thought he liked sleeping in late.]
[Frowning and chewing on his pen, don't tell me he's doing homework?]
[Whoa! It's raining cherry blossoms! How is this lousy student Qi MuShi studying so hard!]
[My guess is that it's the exercise book auntie gave him yesterday. I thought Qi MuShi just took it to be tactful at the time. He's actually doing it?]
[No need to speculate, lol. Qi MuShi didn't bring any homework on this trip after all.]
[Hahaha, I'm dying. Look at Qi MuShi's struggling expression. Those questions auntie picked must be really difficult.]
...
Oblivious to shocking so many people, Qi MuShi was indeed working on the exercise books Song Anan had given him yesterday.
After playing all day yesterday, he was filled with guilt before bedtime for letting down auntie's good intentions and trust in him.
In reality, even his own mother didn't take him seriously when he casually said he wanted to test for B University.
But Song Anan had laughed at him and even carefully chosen exercise books to help him.
No matter what, Qi MuShi didn't want to fail that trust. Even if he didn't make it into B University later, he was determined to finish all these books.
Half an hour later.
The door next door opened and Shi Qing walked out gracefully in elegant sleepwear, stifling an elegant yawn.
She had intended to go wake up Qi MuShi, but was taken aback when she passed the living room. "What are you writing?"
Without even lifting his head, Qi MuShi heaved a deep sigh. "Writing down auntie's intentions."
Shi Qing: "???"
What the heck!
[Qi MuShi is really a great kid. Calling it 'auntie's intentions' shows he has good upbringing.]
[Suddenly feeling moved by this little brat Qi MuShi.]
[He's playful but not badly behaved. Shi Qing and her husband raised him well.]
[Hahahaha, I'm dying. Shi Qing's gobsmacked expression is priceless, totally a mother's reaction!]
[Wait! Doesn't it seem like Shi Qing misunderstood? She looks unaware that auntie gave Qi MuShi exercise books.]
[Writing down auntie's intentions? Sounds a bit ambiguous. Don't tell me Shi Qing thinks Qi MuShi is writing a love letter to auntie!]
[Holy crap! That could be it judging by her expression!]
To some degree, the netizens were on the same wavelength as Shi Qing.
She stood frozen in the doorway, her mind full of the phrase 'writing down auntie's intentions'.
As Shi Qing looked at Qi MuShi, she still felt it was unbelievable.
This sudden development from a clueless brat to writing love letters?
And brazenly telling his own mother about it!
It was also a bit outrageous.
After thinking for a few seconds, Shi Qing still felt they should talk it out properly.
But out of respect for her son's privacy, she purposefully avoided looking directly as she walked over and sat down across from Qi MuShi.
However, if she had taken a look, the misunderstanding that followed would not have happened.
"Mu Shi, although your mother is very open-minded, you must understand one thing. The most powerless thing for a man is to meet a girl who wants to take care of him for life when he is at his most helpless age," Shi Qing said solemnly.
[Hahahaha, I'm really going to die of laughter, Shi Qing's mind is really different from ordinary people]
[Oh my God! What does meeting a girl who wants to take care of you for life when you are at your most helpless age mean? Shi Qing is so funny]
[I can't stop laughing, Shi Qing must have read too many youthful sentimental novels]
[Qi MuShi: Mom, are you okay?]
[Before watching this show, I always thought Shi Qing was an aloof fairy untainted by the mundane world, I didn't expect her to be so silly and funny in real life]
[Shi Qing: I can't help it, who told me to give birth to a troublesome son]
Qi MuShi lifted his head from the sea of exercise books, looking at Shi Qing with a face full of question marks.
What's going on here?
"Mom, I'm busy doing exercise books, if you haven't woken up properly you can go back to sleep."
Don't make it more confusing.
This question is really difficult.
Shi Qing: "???"
Doing exercise books?
Not writing love letters!
"You're doing exercise books?!" Shi Qing instinctively looked at the desk
She did see several exercise books on it.
Qi MuShi nodded, "Yes, what else?"
Shi Qing paused first, then couldn't help but roll her eyes.
What else could it be other than exercise books, why insist on saying 'writing my sister-in-law's feelings', causing misunderstandings.
Oh wait!
"Didn't you finish your homework already?" Shi Qing asked puzzledly.
She clearly remembered that Qi MuShi didn't bring any homework when he came this time.
Qi MuShi couldn't help but sigh, and told Shi Qing the whole story of Song Anan giving him the exercise books.
Shi Qing: "..."
Let him brag.
Serves him right!
Shi Qing flipped through the exercise books on the table, "You're not planning to do them all, are you?"
Qi MuShi replied, "Yes, my aunt specially went to select them for me, if I don't do them, wouldn't I be letting her down?"
Shi Qing nodded as well, "That makes sense, with Linchuan injured this time, Anan must have been busy, yet she still took the time to go to the bookstore and choose exercise books for you, you should do them properly."
Qi MuShi nodded heavily.
Seeing her son's diligence, Shi Qing felt a sense of gratification.
Just before leaving, she suddenly asked, "By the way, where did you get this pen?"
Qi MuShi replied, "I went next door to the villa to borrow it from the crew this morning."
Shi Qing: "..."
Is this still the brat who would yell that he couldn't do homework without a pen even if it wasn't handed to him!
You see, learning does require motivation.
*
Since everyone wakes up at different times, we agreed last night to have lunch and dinner together, and prepare breakfast on our own.
Because Song Anan really didn't sleep well, she was yawning hard enough to almost flip the sky when she went out for a walk with Pei Kuang this morning.
As soon as they got back to the villa, Pei Kuang sent her back to her room to sleep.
Although she returned to her room, Song Anan didn't actually fall asleep. She lay on the bed, her mind full of Pei Kuang and Xie Yin's affair.
Sigh, she had never been so distressed in this life.
No! Not even in her previous life.
Although Song Linchuan's situation looked more serious than Pei Kuang's at the time, she had a way to deal with it back then.
If Song Linchuan met Xie Yin, she just had to prevent them from meeting and pull the storyline apart.
But Pei Kuang's situation was clearly different! Their story had been going on for so long, it wasn't something she could pull him back from just by trying to give him a hand.
But if she did nothing, Song Anan felt bad about it too.
Let alone anything else, Pei Kuang was Song Linchuan's good friend and had treated her well too, she really couldn't just stand by and watch.
But if not standing by, then what should she do? Song Anan didn't have a clue.
Until Pei Kuang came to call her for breakfast, she still hadn't figured it out.
Seeing the breakfast on the table, Song Anan's heart sank a few more points.
Xie Yin had just said at dinner yesterday that she preferred Western food, and he had made sandwiches first thing in the morning today.
She looked gloomily at Pei Kuang.
Sigh, Li Sirui was right after all.
Affectionate people are often easily disappointed.
Pei Kuang was puzzled, but didn't think much of it, only assuming that she hadn't slept well.
But if he knew Song Anan's mental activity, he would definitely have laughed out loud on the spot.
It was someone last night who said she wanted sandwiches for breakfast!
