Going to the Market

Su Tingbai had not slept all night. After accidentally discovering that many people backstage were speaking disrespectfully about Shen Rui'an, he immediately posted an announcement.

He contacted the company's legal department to warn those who had disparaged Shen Rui'an in the livestream. Even if they had his fan badges, he would still go after them.

After finishing all that, he still had no sleepiness left. He only prayed that Shen Xiaoyao would not see the vile comments beneath his posts.

People's malice was always baseless. Before Su Tingbai became a major internet influencer, he had suffered several bouts of online harassment himself. But he did not care, so he had always ignored it. Besides, he rarely went through the comments backstage specifically, so he paid even less attention to them.

Among this carnival of online violence, some were antis, while others simply went online to find an outlet, venting their helpless rage from real life for no reason at all.

Su Tingbai had not cared before, but now he could not ignore it.

Seeing Shen Xiaoyao cursed at hurt even more than being cursed at himself.

Early in the morning, when the Su Household legal department saw the notice their boss had sent in the middle of the night, the corporate workhorses immediately got to work. Thankfully, overtime came with triple pay, or they would not have been able to keep doing this job for even a second!

Money was highly persuasive. In just one morning, all the malicious speculation and vicious insults aimed at Shen Rui'an in Su Tingbai's comment section vanished without a trace, leaving behind only kind words.

Early that morning, internet users who habitually woke up, grabbed their phones, and scrolled through videos saw Su Tingbai's announcement. They were equally amazed by his speed.

Some of Su Tingbai's longtime fans understood even more clearly just how important Shen An'an was to him.

Su Tingbai himself had never been swayed by gossip and rumors, so he rarely dealt with people who insulted him. After gaining more and more fans, even if he did nothing, someone would curse back on his behalf. Over time, fewer people dared to insult him as freely as they had before.

This was the first time Su Tingbai's longtime fans had seen him issue such an announcement. Meanwhile, Shen Rui'an's newly acquired looks fans had been arguing with antis who maliciously insulted him, only to discover halfway through that the other side had deleted their own comments.

Netizens slowly typed out a single "?"

For the first time, netizens witnessed what money-powered speed truly meant.

From then on, some people who were still dissatisfied with Shen Rui'an no longer dared to be so bold. They only dared to mutter quietly within their own small circles, no longer daring to spout nonsense on public platforms.

In the morning, Shen Rui'an was once again awakened by the scent of food. Remembering that Su Tingbai had promised to take him to the market today, he hurriedly washed up and went downstairs.

"Su Tingbai! You promised we'd go to the market today!"

His voice arrived before he did.

Shen Rui'an came running out of the elevator, panting. He happened to see Su Tingbai and his team gathered in front of their computers. Every one of them had dark circles under their eyes, making them look even more miserable beside Shen Rui'an's fair face, which did not have the slightest trace of under-eye shadows.

Su Tingbai's dark circles were the worst. He already looked intimidating, and now the shadows beneath his eyes seemed to cast a dark layer over him, making him appear somewhat gloomy—like a mafia boss.

Shen Rui'an stopped in his tracks, his face full of innocent ignorance. "What happened to you guys? Did you stay up all night gaming behind my back?"

The moment Su Tingbai heard his voice, he looked over. Seeing the completely oblivious Shen Rui'an, he felt guilty and blamed himself, his heart aching for him.

He felt that his team was still too small. He needed to hire more people to monitor shifts in online public opinion at all times. Something like before could never happen again.

Meng Meng and Ya-ya also felt somewhat guilty. They looked at Shen Rui'an with apology in their eyes. They were not professional enough, which was why Shen Rui'an had suffered so many rumors and insults.

Su Tingbai raised a hand to stop Meng Meng, who wanted to explain. Since Shen Xiaoyao did not know right now, there was no need to tell him. Explaining it would only make him unhappy.

"We weren't up all night gaming. There was just some unfinished work to wrap up, so we stayed late to work overtime. Are you hungry? I made breakfast. Come eat, and we'll go to the market afterward." Su Tingbai pulled out a chair for him and placed the breakfast he had just made in front of Shen Rui'an.

He had made beef noodles. He had gotten up especially early today to knead the dough, then made Lanzhou Beef Noodles—Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup.

The broth had been simmered from stock, with bright red chili oil, fresh green garlic shoots and cilantro, and several slices of braised beef. It looked quite tempting.

Because there were chilies, Shen Rui'an's eyes immediately lit up. He asked tentatively, a little uncertain, "Is this really for me? There are chilies in it!"

"It's fine to have some once in a while." Su Tingbai nodded. He had specially used the kind of chili oil that was fragrant but not spicy for Shen Rui'an, so he was not worried about him getting burned by it.

"Then I'm digging in!" Shen Rui'an said a pious little prayer before starting on the noodles.

But he had a habit: whenever he ate noodle soup, he had to take a sip of the broth first. Su Tingbai had already prepared a spoon for him. He picked it up, avoided the red oil, and scooped up a mouthful of soup. Bits of garlic shoots and cilantro floated in it, giving the broth a distinctive flavor.

He was not picky about such things. Unless it was something especially pungent like water celery or fennel greens, he could eat anything else.

One sip of clear broth immediately awakened Shen Rui'an's taste buds. Unable to resist, he drank another spoonful before slowly picking up some noodles to eat.

Su Tingbai had pulled the noodles until they were wonderfully springy. Soaked in the rich broth, they carried a layer of its savory flavor, and together with their chewy texture, they were hard to stop eating.

Shen Rui'an picked up another slice of braised beef.

Speaking of Lanzhou Beef Noodles, there was a joke about how the beef was sliced incredibly thin and served in tiny portions, so people jokingly said that one cow could last a shop for three years.

This even gave rise to jokes about exceptionally skilled knife work. Netizens would tease, "You should go work at a Lanzhou Beef Noodles shop tomorrow."

Shen Rui'an watched a lot of food streams, so he knew the joke. But the slice of beef he had picked up was not especially thin. At any rate, it was thicker and larger than the beef slices he had seen in some influencer restaurant review videos.

Remembering the Lanzhou Beef Noodles beef-slice joke, Shen Rui'an laughed. Holding the slice of beef, his eyes curved with amusement. "Su Tingbai, your beef slices are too big. Wouldn't you get fired if you worked at a Lanzhou Beef Noodles shop?"

The smile dispelled the gloom that had filled Su Tingbai's heart all night. Sitting across from him, he could not resist ruffling his hair as he said indulgently, "If I get fired, Young Master Shen can hire me. I can make all sorts of things. You won't lose out!"

Shen Rui'an gave a soft huff. "That depends on how you perform!"

"Alright."

The atmosphere between them was so thick and sweet that it was as though no one else existed around them.

Little Zhu and the others looked at one another, then lowered their heads and became even busier.

What was going on? Why had this job suddenly become so fun?

Shen Rui'an had not forgotten that they were going to the market today. He ate a little too quickly, afraid that the market would disperse if they waited too long.

He had heard that people going to the market always went early!

Shen Rui'an finished more than half of it, but he truly could not eat anymore. Leaving some soup behind, he wiped his mouth and urged Su Tingbai, "Are we leaving now?"

To go have fun at the market today, he had woken up an hour earlier than usual. It was only nine thirty now.

Su Tingbai cleared away his leftover dishes and nodded. "No rush. It's not far. I'll drive you there later—it'll be quick."

He was worried that Shen Rui'an's stomach would feel uncomfortable if they left right after he had eaten.

Shen Rui'an was somewhat reassured. He suppressed his excitement and followed behind Su Tingbai, bustling about without even knowing what he was busy with.

Finally, after a while, Su Tingbai drove over and took him to the market.