A Gift for You

Xiao Ming did not understand how long these handicrafts took to make, or how much effort and focus went into completing them. But when he compared it to a thesis he had stayed up several nights rushing to finish, one he had revised and polished several times, he could easily empathize with the craftsman on-screen, who looked both stunned and heartbroken.

Xiao Ming had not released any new work recently, and there had been another two-week gap between the first and third episodes. With modern people's notoriously short attention spans, his follower count had stayed at just over one million. He had once checked with an alt account and discovered that quite a few of them were Qu An's fans.

Qu An had over ninety million fans. He had worked diligently all these years without scandals or messy affairs, so even a tiny fraction of his fans spilling over to Xiao Ming could create the illusion that Xiao Ming's followers were growing quickly.

But Xiao Ming had specifically looked into it afterward. Most of those followers had only followed him after Qu An did, so they could not really be counted as his fans.

Xiao Ming continued watching the variety show. By then, Qu An had already discovered what Jiang Yuefeng had done and asked the craftsman about it. However, he first asked whether the craftsman had been hurt, then said that the handicraft was beautiful and asked whether they could buy it.

Qu An did not directly accuse anyone, leaving Jiang Yuefeng plenty of room to save face. Jiang Yuefeng was a little smarter this time and openly told the craftsman that he would buy it.

The craftsman was an honest-looking man in his fifties or sixties. He looked helpless and distressed, declined Qu An's offer, and did not say anything to Jiang Yuefeng.

Then, a hunter suddenly entered the area. Without even thinking, Jiang Yuefeng hid himself, acting as though his brain had completely stopped working as he pulled Qu An in front of him.

Putting aside the fact that Xiao Ming and Qu An were now friends, Xiao Ming could not bear to watch even just as Qu An's fan. Thankfully, Qu An reacted quickly.

Later, Jiang Yuefeng himself ran out of the mission area and was caught by another hunter instead.

Though it was probably not very moral of him, Xiao Ming felt relieved in that moment, with a faint sense of guilty satisfaction.

Xiao Ming was rather concerned about what happened to the craftsman's work afterward and could not resist sending Qu An a message.

[Xiao Ming: During your second episode, what happened to that broken piece of pottery in the end (+_+)?]

Qu An replied quickly. It looked like he was not working.

[Qu An: The production team discussed compensation with him. They probably contacted Jiang Yuefeng's manager as well.]

[Xiao Ming: Did you buy any? It looked like you said you wanted to on the show.]

He was purely curious. He also wanted to know whether the real thing was truly as beautiful as it had looked on the show.

[Qu An: I bought a few. If you like them, I'll give you one later.]

Qu An saw a meme Xiao Ming had sent over of himself, with his head enlarged, a faint smile on his face, and blush photoshopped onto his cheeks. The words on it read, "Oh, I'd feel so bad taking it."

He found it amusing. Xiao Ming was actually using memes instead of emoticons now, and it was even one of him. Where had he gotten it?

[Qu An: It's nothing. I'll bring one over for you later.]

Qu An had said he would bring it over, not mail it, but Xiao Ming did not notice. He had only impulsively thought of sending Qu An a meme. Once he came to his senses, he worried that Qu An might get angry and was about to recall it when he saw Qu An's reply.

He had stolen the meme from other fans in a fan group. The memes fans used were all adorable. While retaining Qu An's personal style, they added some exaggeration and edits, and Xiao Ming quite liked them.

This time, Xiao Ming did not send another Qu An meme. He used a saved set of cat memes instead, sent one of a cat rolling around, then typed out an okay and sent it over.

When Qu An saw the cat meme Xiao Ming had sent, he could not help associating it with Xiao Ming himself.

A kitten using kitten memes suited him quite well.

The doctor's words suddenly resurfaced in his mind. The smile at the corner of his lips faded as he fell into thought.

Two days earlier, shortly after arriving in the Capital City, he had gone home.

Both his parents were home. Yan Zhenshu was sitting at the dining table without having started dinner, apparently waiting for him. Qu Tingye, a cold and imposing CEO over six feet tall, was wearing a pink Hello Kitty apron Yan Zhenshu had bought and carrying a plate of food out of the kitchen.

The moment Yan Zhenshu saw Qu An enter, she went over to greet him. "An'an, you're home! Have you gotten used to being away these past few days?"

"I'm used to it all. Mom, don't you have my schedule and recordings?" Qu An changed his shoes and exposed Yan Zhenshu as usual.

He had known since he reentered the entertainment industry at twelve that his mother knew every detail of his schedule. He had not had any objections to it over the years.

"Oh, come on. Isn't it more interesting hearing you tell me yourself?" Yan Zhenshu did not seem embarrassed at all. She simply did not continue the previous topic and casually asked, "So, now that you're back in the Capital City, has Xiao Ming gone home too?"

The moment Qu An heard that, he knew what Yan Zhenshu meant. There was also a ninety percent chance that she knew Xiao Ming was currently in the Capital City. "He's from the Capital City. He lives here."

"Oh? Then what does Xiao Ming's family do?"

Yan Zhenshu's way of asking about Xiao Ming was just like an elder asking about her child's romantic interest. Even Qu An's usual calmness faltered, and his voice carried an exasperation he did not notice himself. "Mom... we're just friends."

Yan Zhenshu was no naïve fool. She even ran an entertainment company herself now. If she wanted to know about Xiao Ming, she could investigate his background in minutes.

She had not started looking into Xiao Ming yet only out of respect for Qu An's friend. But if Qu An truly showed that he regarded Xiao Ming differently, Yan Zhenshu and the others would not possibly remain indifferent.

Of course, they would not use illegal means to investigate someone like in novels. At most, they would make normal inquiries, and they certainly would not stoop so low as to throw checks around.

The upper class valued dignity above all else, and Yan Zhenshu's personality alone meant she could never act like some wicked mother-in-law. If she looked into Xiao Ming later, it would probably be similar to a matchmaker telling the parents on both sides about each family's circumstances before arranging a blind date.

It was not that she had any opinion of Xiao Ming himself. It was simply the habitual, almost instinctive maternal curiosity ingrained in Chinese people. More importantly, Qu An's friends were mostly childhood companions from prominent families, people Yan Zhenshu already knew extremely well. That was why Xiao Ming's appearance now felt so novel to her.

Besides, given her son's condition, it was truly difficult for her not to be curious about Qu An's friends or anyone he was interested in.

"Just friends? That's fine too. Mom means no harm. I'm just curious and want to understand a little." Then she turned to Qu Tingye. "Darling, An'an has made a new friend, and he seems to like this new friend a lot. He's so protective of him~"

After being teased by Yan Zhenshu, Qu An did not argue back. He washed his hands and sat down at the table.

Most people knew that Yan Zhenshu had once been an award-winning Triple Crown actress and an international Best Actress. They knew she took acting seriously and was a workaholic, but few knew that her family circumstances were actually quite good. Her family was considered one of Yue City's prominent old families.

That was right, Yan Zhenshu was from Yue City, but she and Qu An's father, Qu Tingye, had actually been childhood sweethearts because Qu Tingye had lived with his maternal grandparents until before high school.

Qu An had known from a young age about his parents' devoted marriage and their endlessly retold story of childhood sweethearts becoming a couple. It was said that the two had barely ever argued from childhood to adulthood. The only time Qu An felt the atmosphere between them had been bad was because of him, when he was seven.

Qu Tingye pulled his wife into his arms and gently patted her waist. "Eat first."

Qu Tingye did not speak much and was rather serious. He resembled Qu An in appearance. Qu An's high nose bridge came from Yan Zhenshu, while his other features were almost identical to Qu Tingye's.

But Qu Tingye rarely smiled, whereas Qu An always wore a faint, easygoing smile.

Just like now, although Qu An had talked to Yan Zhenshu about all that after returning home, the smile on his face had not disappeared for even a second.

Not long after they began eating, Yan Zhenshu asked, "An'an, isn't your follow-up appointment tomorrow? It's been two months."

Over the years, whenever follow-up appointments were mentioned, Yan Zhenshu had always been cautious. She always felt she had wronged Qu An and blamed herself for it, though Qu An did not care in the slightest.

"Yes, Mom." Qu An did not deny it. He had come back this time to see the doctor.

Previously, he had not resisted follow-up appointments, but he never made a point of remembering them either. Yan Zhenshu would usually remind him that it was time for a checkup, and he would choose a day when he was free. But this time, he had specifically postponed work and returned first for the appointment.

He himself was curious about what had been happening to him lately.

Yan Zhenshu looked excited. "I knew it! You've been different from before. I hope there'll be good news this time."

They no longer avoided this subject in recent years and could discuss it calmly whenever it came up. Qu An had technically always been like this before, but as his mother, Yan Zhenshu naturally noticed what was different right away.

In a much better mood, Yan Zhenshu ate a little more and did not forget to praise Qu Tingye. "Darling, the food you made today is delicious."

Looking at the corn and pork rib soup on the table, Qu An suddenly remembered teaching Xiao Ming how to cook before. The smile on his lips deepened, and he began eating in larger bites.

After watching the second episode of Full Speed Ahead!, Xiao Ming had only one thought: aside from Qu An, everyone else had performed terribly. The others moved too slowly and seemed unable to understand the mission requirements, directly resulting in unfinished tasks.

Qu An was the only Acceleration King at the end of the second episode. The others had basically been caught early on. The most dramatic part was that, with five minutes remaining, Qu An was the only person left on the field while six hunters were pursuing him.

Qu An completed the final mission alone, then found somewhere to hide and did not appear again for the rest of the episode. As a result, there was even a full minute of footage later where the cameras could not capture him at all.

After finishing the episode, Xiao Ming took out his phone and browsed Weibo. Discussions about the second episode of Full Speed Ahead! were already exploding online.

#Jiang Yuefeng Holds Everyone Back#

#Jiang Yuefeng Breaks Pottery#

#Jiang Yuefeng Qu An#

Clicking on any of these trending topics related to Jiang Yuefeng revealed crowds of people criticizing him.

[Jiang Yuefeng is seriously awful. Why doesn't he just focus on his own tasks instead of constantly clinging to other people?]

[Fengfeng just isn't very good at games, okay? And he didn't do it on purpose.]

[Seriously, brainless fans really exist everywhere. Jiang Yuefeng's fans have had enough.]

[Qu An himself didn't say anything. Why are you all making such a big deal out of it?]

[Jiang Yuefeng, the fairy of the human world, Jiang Yuefeng, talented in singing and dancing, his latest work xxx is coming soon. See you on September 22.]

[I'm seriously sick of fans flooding the comments. It's irritating just looking at it. I'm going on a killing spree.]

[Can Jiang Yuefeng's fans use their brains? Their idol is already enough of an idiot.]

[Is someone jealous of Fengfeng? Why are there so many negative trending topics today!]

[Could it be that your Fengfeng brought it on himself?]

[I really feel bad for that craftsman. He worked so hard to finish it, only for someone to ruin it, and all he got was one flimsy apology.]

[I can't speak for anything else, but I really can't stand how he disrespected other people's work.]

The #Jiang Yuefeng Qu An# trending topic had actually been bought by Jiang Yuefeng himself. At first, he had paid for promotional articles loudly praising how well the two suited each other, but then... Jiang Yuefeng completely ruined his own reputation.

The main reason was that many working people saw Jiang Yuefeng ruin the craftsman's work and offer only a casual, insincere apology. After entertainment accounts stirred things up, they began relating it to themselves. The more they thought about it, the angrier and more stifled they felt.

Besides Jiang Yuefeng bringing it upon himself, another very important reason he had trended was Qu An's involvement. But Qu An had only asked Zhu Fei to give things a little push.

And aside from Jiang Yuefeng buying a trending topic pairing himself with Qu An, there were also things Jiang Yuefeng had said comparing himself with Xiao Ming and putting Xiao Ming down.

Jiang Yuefeng had originally been happily waiting for people online to praise him. He never expected that not long after his bought trending topic went up, negative trends would keep climbing. By the time his manager called him, he finally realized what was happening.

"Jiang Yuefeng, I'm telling you, rein in all those little schemes of yours. President Wu already knows about this. If you don't want to be abandoned, behave yourself from now on and stop causing trouble."

Most of the time, Jiang Yuefeng's manager indulged him, but he was ultimately someone who put profit first. If something truly went wrong, he would not consider Jiang Yuefeng's feelings at all.

Jiang Yuefeng agreed on the surface, but his expression on this end of the call was incredibly gloomy, dark enough to drip ink.

"President Wu wants to see you tonight. There's a dinner party. Get dressed up."

His manager on the other end seemed unwilling to continue talking to him and ignored him after throwing out those words. After hanging up, something about Jiang Yuefeng's entire demeanor changed. Holding a fruit knife, he continuously slashed at a throw pillow as though he hated it to the extreme.