Because of what happened at lunch, Xie Yin was in a bad mood all afternoon.
When the other guests were still surfing at the beach, she made up an excuse halfway through and went back to the villa alone.
After returning to her room, Xie Yin didn't turn on the room's camera. The first thing she did was look at her agent's message on her phone.
Only after seeing that the negative trending topic about her being scolded had been taken down did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
After what happened at lunch, Xie Yin was immediately trended on social media, with people calling her things like a green tea b*tch, shady, and a hypocritical lotus flower.
Her agent had also called and lectured her for a long time, telling her not to confront Song Anan, and that Song Anan's popularity and hype were too high right now, so she should avoid provoking her.
Xie Yin understood this reasoning, but she was still unwilling to accept it.
Two years ago, in order to advance in the talent competition show she was participating in, she had gone to Pei Kuang, hoping to leverage his red hot popularity at the time to create some hype for herself and secure a spot to advance.
But he had rejected her without even thinking about it. Why was it okay for Song Anan to do it but not her?
She hated how everyone was focused on Song Anan, whether it was the livestream audience or the guests at the scene. They liked Song Anan simply because Song Anan had high popularity right now.
In Xie Yin's opinion, the only reason Song Anan had such high online popularity was entirely due to the popularity of top stars Song Linchuan and Pei Kuang.
The more she thought about it, the more unwilling she felt. She randomly clicked into Song Anan and Pei Kuang's livestream room.
At this time, Song Anan and Pei Kuang were playing with a cat in the living room.
[Hahaha, Pei Kuang is so bad, he's swung that cat toy until it was smoking, and the poor kitty is dizzy from it spinning around so much!]
[Little auntie, stop just laughing on the side, hurry and go save the child!]
[Wahhh, kitty is so cute, little auntie is even cuter~]
[This scene is too harmonious, two people and one cat, feels just like a family ahh]
A family?
Seeing the barrage comments in the livestream room, a trace of abnormal emotion flashed across Xie Yin's eyes.
Her agent was right. Nowadays netizens really ate up this type of familial pairing, especially fans of top stars like Song Linchuan and Pei Kuang.
Forget about Song Linchuan. After all Song Anan really was his aunt.
But why did Pei Kuang have to butt in and accompany Aunt Anan to participate in the show after Song Linchuan got injured, otherwise Aunt Anan would have already withdrawn from the recording.
Most importantly, in Xie Yin's opinion, even if Pei Kuang wanted to participate in this variety show, he should have come with her, not Song Anan.
After all, his mother had married into her Xie family, so in a way, she and Pei Kuang could be considered siblings.
At the very least that was more justified than his current pairing with Jiang Kai as so-called siblings.
Most importantly, Pei Kuang was much more popular than Jiang Kai.
Xie Yin had been spoiled growing up, so she really disliked her current lukewarm status in the entertainment industry.
She wanted to make it big, urgently so.
If her relationship with Pei Kuang was exposed now, wouldn't that...
No!
Xie Yin suddenly recalled Pei Kuang's warning to her two years ago, and immediately dropped that train of thought.
Just as she was lost in certain memories, the room door was opened from outside.
Jiang Kai walked in from outside.
"Yinyin, are you not feeling well? Why did you come back alone without telling me?" Jiang Kai walked to Xie Yin's side, looking concerned.
Xie Yin glanced at him, her attitude somewhat cold. "It's nothing."
Hmph!
Now he's here trying to curry favor, where was he earlier?
At lunch when Pei Kuang and Song Anan were interrogating her aggressively, she didn't see him stand up for her.
With so many people at the table back then, she was the only one made to feel ashamed. She had looked to Jiang Kai several times, but he had deliberately played dead, not saying a word.
Thinking of this, Xie Yin felt extremely resentful.
Of course, Jiang Kai could also tell that Xie Yin held some resentment towards him, but at that time he really had no choice.
To be honest, deep down he was actually quite intimidated by Pei Kuang.
How to put it, if it was against Song Linchuan, Jiang Kai dared to confront him openly, but with Pei Kuang, he didn't dare.
Pei Kuang was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
He seemed harmless on the surface, but actually had very deep schemes, and acted unpredictably, giving off a somewhat grey morality vibe.
Either he wouldn't make a move, or if he did, he would definitely grab you by the throat. Back when they were in a group together, Jiang Kai had suffered badly at Pei Kuang's hands several times.
This was also why Pei Kuang had brought Song Anan to record the show, and Jiang Kai didn't dare make trouble in front of him.
Of course, there was another important reason. Jiang Kai was wary of the boss behind him, Sister Li.
If he openly defended Xie Yin on the show and his intentions were seen through, then it would be hard to resolve the situation later.
As for what intentions, yes, he truly did quite like Xie Yin.
Otherwise, after what happened with his sister, he wouldn't have taken the initiative to invite her to participate in this show.
After all, with Xie Yin's popularity, she couldn't possibly have gotten the resources for this show on her own.
No one would be willing to tag along with an old woman. Someone Jiang Kai's age would naturally prefer a beautiful, well-born young woman like Xie Yin.
When he had filmed with Xie Yin before, Jiang Kai had already inquired clearly that Xie Yin came from a business family, supposedly quite wealthy and well-known locally.
If he could pursue Xie Yin, it would be like climbing a high branch for Jiang Kai.
"Yinyin, I know you're angry with me for not speaking up for you at lunch, but I truly did it for your own good," Jiang Kai said.
Xie Yin glanced at him without speaking.
Jiang Kai sighed, putting on a dejected appearance. "You know what happened with my sister before. Now many people are quite hostile towards us siblings, especially when facing Song Anan, I simply can't gain any advantage."
"I don't care about myself, but I was afraid that speaking up for you would cause the audience to resent you, which would make things even more difficult for you."
Xie Yin was taken aback. She really hadn't considered this reasoning.
But what Jiang Kai said did make quite a bit of sense. The grievances between the Jiang siblings and Song family aunt and nephew were overwhelmingly favored towards the Song family online.
So in confronting Song Anan, if Jiang Kai rashly spoke up for her, it might backfire.
Moreover, although Xie Yin had come to participate in the show with Jiang Kai, she had always been very careful to avoid being associated with the Jiang siblings.
She absolutely didn't want to get implicated.
"Jiang Kai, you're overthinking. I'm not angry with you," Xie Yin said. "I just feel a bit guilty. I really didn't mean what happened at lunch."
Jiang Kai smoothly said, "I know, it's fine. This matter isn't hard to resolve either. Tonight at dinner, just sincerely apologize to Song Anan in front of everyone, and this matter will be written off."
Xie Yin lightly hmm-ed. She did indeed plan to do so.
Her agent had said the current circumstances were very disadvantageous to her. Although the negative trending topic had been temporarily taken down, the show was still filming. As long as she and Song Anan appeared on camera together, this matter wouldn't settle down in the short term.
Rather than let things drag on, she might as well sincerely apologize to the other party. As long as she appeared genuine, if the other side still held it against her after that, it would only make them look bad instead.
To be honest, deep down Xie Yin actually hoped that Song Anan wouldn't let it go so easily.
*
The few guest groups who went surfing at the beach really hit it off and ended up playing until nighttime before coming back.
After spending so long in the ocean, everyone needed to shower and clean up when they returned, and if they cooked dinner too it would drag on endlessly.
The director team simply ordered takeout from the resort hotel on the island for convenience.
Song Anan and Pei Kuang didn't need showers since they had come back earlier. Not long after, the other guest groups gradually returned as well, and everyone gathered in the living room to chat while waiting for the food.
Upon hearing that the two had really brought a cat back, Qi Mushi's childish curiosity was piqued, and so Song Anan went upstairs to bring Ball Ball down.
Ball Ball was a pet cat to begin with. Although it had wandered the island for a few days, it hadn't suffered any injuries, so it was still very friendly towards humans.
Cute little cats like this were catnip for women. Li Yu and Shi Qing fell for it instantly, fawning over it endlessly.
After hearing about Ball Ball's experiences, the two felt heartbroken and both said they could adopt it into their families.
Song Anan was a bit surprised. She had worried at first about not being able to find a good adopter for Ball Ball, but it turned out her worries were unnecessary.
She still told them truthfully that Pei Kuang had already adopted Ball Ball. Li Yu and Shi Qing could only express regret.
But deep down, Song Anan still hoped that Pei Kuang would keep Ball Ball.
That way, it would be more convenient for her to visit Ball Ball in the future, since Pei Kuang and Song Linchuan lived in the same complex.
While feeding Ball Ball a snack, Qi Mushishi curiously asked, "If Ball Ball is Uncle Pei's son, what should it call little auntie?"
Shi Qing glanced at her silly son and explained, "What else could it be, little aunty grandma of course."
This remark rendered everyone momentarily stunned, before bursting into laughter.
Sorry, they could laugh at these generational jokes for a long time.
As for this, Pei Kuang was quite helpless, but also powerless.
Song Anan scratched her head in confusion, somewhat at a loss.
How did she suddenly become a grandma generation?
[Hahaha I'm dying, little auntie's bewildered expression is too funny]
[Little auntie: I'm only 17, how did I become a grandma generation already?]
[Ball Ball: Whoops, careless, gotta investigate properly before recognizing a dad in the future, otherwise I'll end up someone's grandson!]
[Pei Kuang: Whoops, careless, gotta investigate properly before making friends in the future, otherwise I'll end up someone's grand-nephew]
Everyone chimed in with teasing remarks, having fun at their expense, while those being teased weren't annoyed either. The atmosphere was exceptionally harmonious.
However, just then, Jiang Kai and Xie Yin walked over.
The laughter in the living room instantly died down, and the smiles froze on everyone's faces.
[Damn, my awkwardness on others' behalf is acting up!]
[Ugh, these people are deliberately ostracizing our Yinyin who's a newbie!]
[Hmph, ostracizing the new guest? Trying to form cliques and factions while filming a variety show, speechless!]
【Um... I don't think it's about excluding them, everyone seemed to react subconsciously, no one intended to isolate them】
【Can't blame the others either, everyone came down early, but Xie Yin and Jiang Kai chose to hide in their room instead of actively integrating with everyone. Now it's awkward, who can we blame?】
【Let me meekly ask, am I the only one who feels like Jiang Kai and Xie Yin are completely redundant in this group?】
After a few seconds of silence, Li Yu was the first to speak up and break the awkward atmosphere: "You came down now, come over here and sit, we still have to wait a bit for dinner."
Xie Yin felt extremely awkward inside, but had to maintain composure on the surface.
"Alright, thank you sister Li Yu." Xie Yin said, "But first, I'd like to apologize to An'an."
She then walked over to Song An'an in a few steps, looking utterly sincere.
"An'an, I'm sorry about what happened at noon, I didn't mean it. Please don't be angry at me or avoid me anymore, okay?"
After saying that, Xie Yin even bowed to Song An'an, her attitude was exceptionally low.
Making everyone present a bit stunned.
【Wuwuwuwu, my heart aches for my darling Yin'yin, being excluded as a newcomer, and can only apologize and beg for forgiveness】
【Hug my Yin'yin tight, some people put up a facade of being simple and kind, but are rotten to the core】
【Yin'yin you don't have to be so compromising, you're the best, we'll always be with you】
Xie Yin's fans were the first to react in the bullet screen comments, crying grievance and selling misery in large amounts.
Although Xie Yin wasn't hugely popular, she had accumulated some loyal fans since the beginning of the show, plus she was quite good at maintaining relationships with fans. Over the past two years she also gained a batch of diehard fans.
But the audience in the livestream weren't naive fools either. People reacted very quickly.
【Yo Xie Yin, aren't you being a bit of a green tea here? What do you mean don't avoid her, making it sound like the girls isolated her】
【Right, Xie Yin's words are quite ambiguous, making it sound like the girls isolated her】
【Uh... Is Xie Yin sure she's apologizing, and not "forcing the palace"? Never seen an apology go like this before, truly an eye-opener】
As more and more doubts about Xie Yin emerged, her fans immediately became restless, and started flooding the livestream comments with unified wording, clearly an organized effort.
Livestream Audience: ???
【Wtf is going on above, is this the legendary fans controlling comments?! 】
【Pfft, impressive Xie Yin fans indeed, trying to shut everyone up】
【Truly disgusting, she's not popular, but has plenty of water armies, must be spending lots huh】
【Exactly, top stars like Pei Kuang and Song Linchuan had nonstop scoldings in livestreams before, but never saw their fans flood comments to censor】
...
Song An'an blinked, also confused.
She looked at Xie Yin and said in earnest: "I didn't avoid you, this afternoon we went looking for cats."
Then Song An'an raised the furball in her hands as evidence.
She really didn't avoid Xie Yin ah, if anything, she was helping Pei Kuang avoid Qi Yao Bai.
"Also, I'm really not angry, you're overthinking."
Song An'an didn't want to guess Xie Yin's motives for this. She didn't have so many twists and turns in her heart, so she chose the simplest method.
To frankly express her attitude and thoughts is enough. As for how the other party would think, she didn't care too much.
After all, in Song An'an's heart, as long as her conscience is clear, then it's good.
Because of Xie Yin's interlude of apology, dinner was once again spent in an awkward atmosphere.
After the livestream ended that day, the guests didn't stay long either, returning to their respective rooms.
Halfway, Pei Kuang came out to pour some water for the furball, but was stopped by Xie Yin in the hallway.
"Brother Pei Kuang, let's talk." She said.
Pei Kuang glanced at her indifferently. "We've got nothing to talk about, move aside."
Seeing Pei Kuang's attitude towards her, Xie Yin felt extremely aggrieved inside. "Pei Kuang, you treating me like this, aren't you afraid it'd be hard for mom at the Xies?"
"Are you threatening me?" Pei Kuang seemed to have heard some colossal joke, "You think I'd care?"
Xie Yin choked.
He really wouldn't care, this was something Xie Yin knew better than anyone.
This Pei Kuang looked mild, but was utterly cold-blooded at the core. He could deny and disown even his own kin, let alone her.
"Xie Yin, I remember telling you guys two years ago, don't come provoke me. We could each mind our own business peacefully. Otherwise..." There was no smile on Pei Kuang's face, his gaze cold to the point of containing not a shred of warmth.
Xie Yin's voice shook a little. "Otherwise what?"
Pei Kuang lightly raised his brows, and chuckled.
His eyes were chilling, yet he was still smiling, strangely attractive, unable to tear one's gaze away.
Xie Yin watched, entranced. She had always known how alluring Pei Kuang's face was, yet would still be stunned every time.
Just like that afternoon many years ago, when she saw that teen at her own doorstep. He looked wretched and disheveled, yet his spine remained upright, arrogance to the point of being aloof still in his bones.
"Nothing much. As you all know, I'm always one to avenge grievances. Whoever makes me unhappy, I'll pay back double."
After saying that, Pei Kuang didn't even give her another glance, and left without looking back.
Xie Yin stared at his back, expression complicated and unclear.
Perhaps even she herself hadn't noticed, she now harbored some inexplicable feelings towards Pei Kuang.
Pei Kuang didn't return to his room directly. His mood wasn't great right now, afraid it'd affect Song An'an.
The little girl was quite perceptive in this aspect.
There was a very large lawn and garden behind the villa.
Pei Kuang wandered around randomly, arriving at a flower bush. Right then, his phone rang.
It was Li Dong.
He hit answer. "What's up?"
"Nothing much, just heard that I'm apparently a huge cat lover." Li Dong's voice came through.
He deliberately emphasized 'huge', clearly taking an interrogative stance.
"What, you don't like them?" Pei Kuang didn't seem guilty at all, asking lightly.
Li Dong asked in return: "Do I like them?"
Pei Kuang let out an indifferent "oh", "Then I remembered wrong."
Li Dong: "..."
Alright, this skill of redirecting the conversation, only Pei Kuang could make him resign himself to it.
"Then I guess I don't have to help take care of your cat overlord from now on huh." Li Dong said.
Pei Kuang placed a hand in his pocket, gazing into the night. "Come on, you didn't lose out this round. The little girl did you a huge favor today."
Indeed, Li Dong couldn't refute this.
What Song An'an said in praise of Pei Kuang during the livestream, directly responded to those "didn't graduate high school" and "low education, undeserving of so much popularity" malicious posts about him.
The little girl's words were logical and sincere, plus that final interaction with Song Linchuan, undoubtedly directly shot her onto hot search.
Strangely, compared to their usual efforts in deleting hot search posts and sending out manuscripts to clear searches, netizens seemed more willing to buy it this time.
To quote a netizen's commentary: If it were someone else saying this, I wouldn't really believe it, but for some reason, hearing it from this little girl Song An'an, I just believed it somehow.
Indeed, Song An'an really did have some element of metaphysics about her.
In just one night, Pei Kuang's reputation had improved significantly. At least people were now willing to get to know him, rather than blindly believing the words of antis.
It was the same with Song Linchuan before, and now Pei Kuang too.
One show helped clear the names of two top stars, this was absolutely the entertainment world's reputation cleansing artifact!
Pei Kuang continuing this show to help Song Linchuan, this was something Li Dong would never have imagined, and it even came with this unexpected benefit!
It could be said to have solved the urgent need for positive public opinion, which was still very important for Pei Kuang who was currently undergoing his transition.
After all, excessive malicious rumors, again and again, those people were tirelessly finding ways to attack him. His fans had long stopped buying into it all.
So what was their aim in doing this? Wasn't it to ruin the artist's reputation among the general public?
If an artist had poor public reputation, it would become an important criterion for some major productions and films too. After all, no one wished for the collective fruits of so much hard work to end up boycotted during release right.
"Oh right, wasn't it the little girl helping you instead?" Li Dong suddenly realized.
Pei Kuang lowered his eyes. "She helped me, but who was the anxious one?"
Li Dong choked.
Alright, he couldn't refute this either.
The artist and agent relied on each other. Interests were also interlinked.
Although Li Dong couldn't completely see through Pei Kuang, his evaluation was that he was a great boss. He knew how to utilize people, giving ample benefits and trust, achieving cooperation and mutual benefit.
All these years Li Dong had wanted to do some clarification marketing, but the various attempts showed little effect.
Everyone around Pei Kuang knew his capabilities far exceeded what his education represented.
As his agent, he was even clearer on Pei Kuang's efforts and unknown achievements over the years.
Moreover, there were reasons he entered the industry so young back then.
Li Dong called now to ask if they should take this opportunity to do some marketing.
Pei Kuang thought for a moment. "No need, too much could be detrimental."
Of course, he didn't want anyone accusing Song An'an of deliberately building his public image either.
Li Dong agreed after thinking it through.
"Keep to what we discussed before, control public opinion." Pei Kuang added.
Li Dong was stunned for a second before he understood what Pei Kuang meant by controlling public opinion.
No CP, they could appropriately guide to a niece-uncle relationship.
Song An'an was still a minor. It would be bad for their side to push it. Pei Kuang didn't emphasize this, but Li Dong would still be prudent.
Li Dong said: "Don't worry, I've had people keeping watch."
Then he laughed and said: "You've got quite a capable little auntie, netizens are all joking you can officially recognize the relationship now. So you've got to treat her as a close little auntie and be filial to her in the future."
Pei Kuang: "..."
*
After hanging up, Pei Kuang felt his mood had stabilized somewhat, so he didn't linger and turned back towards the villa.
As he thought about Little Sister-in-law still waiting in the room for him to fetch water and feed the cat, he couldn't help but walk a little faster.
The villa's yard was quite big, and he had unknowingly wandered quite far just now.
Pei Kuang directly circled back via a small path.
However, when he was passing by a corner, he suddenly heard Jiang Kai's voice, and his footsteps involuntarily halted.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I've already scouted a good location, and I'm standing right here watching - there definitely aren't any security cameras, we won't get caught. I can handle Sis Li's side, this will definitely go off without a hitch."
"Yeah, I'm planning to do it tomorrow. It's getting late, Xie Yin is just a spoiled young miss, confessing to her first will stroke her vanity."
"Women like sweet nothings and being pursued, I don't expect her to agree right away. I'll have to ardently chase her for a while after, then suddenly act cold to string her along for a bit. Don't worry, I'm more experienced with chasing women than you..."
In the night, the corners of Pei Kuang's mouth raised slightly.
Alright, he had clearly overestimated Jiang Kai. It looked like he didn't need to frame him after all.
Before leaving, Pei Kuang took one more look at the corner where Jiang Kai was.
No security cameras huh...
