The night before Jiang Shun's birthday banquet.
Jiang Chiyan finished his work and went to pick up Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng dragged Jiang Chiyan around luxury stores several times but still couldn't find a suitable gift.
Yet Jiang Chiyan remained perfectly composed.
He looked as though he were enjoying the show.
Xiao Cheng was quite troubled. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that it was your third brother's birthday?"
Jiang Chiyan pinched the bridge of his nose, amusement in his voice. "It's not like you're meeting the parents. What are you nervous about?"
Xiao Cheng had never known the meaning of nervousness.
Even when walking an international red carpet,
he took it in stride.
So the bashfulness Xiao Cheng showed around him, and the importance he placed on his family,
made Jiang Chiyan all the happier.
Xiao Cheng shot him a look and asked, "What does your third brother do?"
Jiang Chiyan said, "He's a businessman. Makes a few small investments in the entertainment industry."
Xiao Cheng sighed in relief, but Jiang Chiyan added, "You've probably heard of him."
Xiao Cheng suddenly had a bad feeling. "Who?"
"Jiang Shun."
Xiao Cheng: "..." He completely turned to stone.
Jiang Shun, a financial heavyweight worth a hundred billion.
In Jiang Chiyan's words, he became someone making a few small investments...
He knew Jiang Chiyan's family had connections, but he hadn't expected them to be this terrifying.
Xiao Cheng hurriedly grabbed Jiang Chiyan's sleeve. "Then what you told me last time... about your eldest sister working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"
"My eldest sister is Jiang Zhuo."
Xiao Cheng closed his eyes and covered his face.
Jiang Zhuo, the spokesperson and iron-fisted diplomat.
Had been described as someone working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs...
Xiao Cheng stared hard at Jiang Chiyan. "And before that, you said your fourth brother drew pictures at a roadside stall..."
"My fourth brother is Jiang Yu. His pen name is Sauce Fish."
Sauce Fish, the master cartoonist renowned throughout the international comics world.
Had been described as someone drawing pictures at a roadside stall.
"And..."
This time, before Xiao Cheng could finish, Jiang Chiyan confessed of his own accord.
He raised both hands in surrender. "My second brother is Jiang Yao."
His second, third, and fourth brothers were named Yao, Shun, and Yu, respectively.
The three brothers bearing emperors' names were all leading figures in their respective fields.
Xiao Cheng: "..."
Jiang Yao, a guest on the financial channel and a renowned economist.
In Jiang Chiyan's words, he became someone running pyramid schemes.
Motherfucker!
Xiao Cheng wanted to swear.
With some very nasty swear words...
Once the identities of Jiang Chiyan's siblings were revealed, Xiao Cheng didn't sleep all night.
Right up until they were about to leave the next day.
He spent a long time covering his dark circles with makeup primer.
Jiang Shun's birthday reception.
The place was packed, filled with perfumed clothes and elegant coiffures.
Luxury cars of every kind lined both sides of the nearly hundred-meter red carpet outside the top-tier European-style hotel.
Inside the hotel.
Song Qiao followed beside Jiang Shun as his date, her nose in the air.
After the media photographed this scene and posted it online, Song Qiao's fans instantly grew excited.
They began whitewashing Song Qiao's attempt to climb into Xiao Cheng's bed and frame him.
___: "If Song Qiao can attend a financial heavyweight's birthday banquet, would she need to frame Xiao Cheng?"
___: "Does it sting, Oranges? Your idol is the one reaching above his station with Song Qiao."
___: "Xiao Cheng is bound to flop. So ordinary, yet so confident!!"
___: "Could you stop dragging Xiao Cheng into everything? Stop riding our Song Qiao's popularity."
Song Qiao smiled as she scrolled through the comments.
She also posed for several photos, deliberately getting Jiang Shun into the frame, then posted an ambiguous message on Weibo along with a nine-photo grid.
Song Qiao V: "Came along with my boyfriend."
___: "Holy shit! Babe, you have a boyfriend? Have I just had my heart broken??"
___: "That guy in Qiao's photos is the entertainment industry's financial heavyweight... Jiang Shun, right?"
___: "Qiao, your boyfriend is Jiang Shun?? @Song Qiao V"
Song Qiao browsed Weibo for a while, then looked up.
When she saw Xiao Cheng walk in, she froze.
Xiao Cheng wasn't on the guest list at all.
Who had let him in?
Did someone from a grassroots background even deserve to stand here??
A trace of malice and hatred flashed through Song Qiao's eyes.
She walked over to Xiao Cheng and deliberately tilted sideways, dropping her Louis Vuitton handbag at his feet.
The cosmetics and personal belongings inside spilled all over the floor.
"Mr. Xiao Cheng," Song Qiao began. "It's inconvenient for me in these heels. Could you help me pick..."
Before Song Qiao could finish.
Xiao Cheng walked past with his eyes straight ahead, as though he hadn't heard her.
His brand-new leather shoe stepped onto Song Qiao's handbag.
Song Qiao's face burned painfully.
As though that foot had stepped not on her bag, but on her face.
"Stop!!" Song Qiao flew into a rage, her voice rising. "Xiao Cheng, do you have an invitation?"
Xiao Cheng turned his head indifferently.
He said, word by word, "Of course not."
He looked as though it were perfectly natural.
As though Jiang Chiyan had possessed him.
Song Qiao scoffed. "If you don't have an invitation, then I'm sorry. Please leave right now."
She waved a hand and summoned two security guards.
Just then.
Having heard the commotion, Jiang Shun walked over, surrounded by a crowd like a moon among stars.
"What happened?" Jiang Shun frowned.
Song Qiao's disdain instantly turned to bashfulness.
"Master Shun... this gentleman doesn't have an invitation. I can only follow the rules and ask him to leave."
Jiang Shun looked in the direction Song Qiao was pointing.
The moment he saw Xiao Cheng, he froze.
Wasn't that...
Jiang Chiyan's girlfriend?
His future sister-in-law??
Having long occupied a position of authority, Jiang Shun's gaze carried a scrutinizing edge.
Xiao Cheng met his gaze without servility or arrogance and nodded. "Master Shun..."
Jiang Shun waved his hand. "Call me third brother."
Song Qiao: "..."
Everyone present: "..."
In the entire entertainment industry, and even the whole Demon Capital, the people who dared call Jiang Shun "third brother" could be counted on one hand.
Even Jiang Shun's date didn't receive such treatment.
The media moved quickly.
Within mere minutes, Jiang Shun's "Call me third brother" had gone viral across the internet.
Song Qiao's fans fell silent.
The Oranges rose again.
___: "Xiao Cheng is a man far beyond your reach. @Song Qiao V"
___: "Auntie Song Qiao, stop chasing clout. Jiang Shun changes women more often than clothes, but he's never admitted to having a girlfriend."
___: "Auntie Song even rode an Olympic champion's popularity during last month's Olympic Games. Her standards are lower than the Mariana Trench."
___: "Change your name to Song Cloutchaser. @Song Qiao V"
Song Cloutchaser herself stood at the reception, so embarrassed she could almost dig out a castle with her toes.
She looked at Jiang Shun in disbelief. "Master Shun, you know him?"
Jiang Shun withdrew his gaze and said casually, "Yes. A friend."
The entire room instantly became quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
Master Shun's friend...
As though afraid the matter wasn't big enough, or Song Qiao's face didn't hurt enough.
Jiang Shun looked at Xiao Cheng and added another sentence.
"I'm only a few years older than you. If you're not used to calling me third brother, Jiang Shun is fine too."
In Jiang Shun's eyes.
Since Xiao Cheng was the person his younger brother had chosen.
Then he was part of the Jiang family.
Gender and status had never been obstacles.
"Third brother," Xiao Cheng called him.
Seeing Song Qiao's twisted expression, he curled his lips.
"Third brother, I may have had some... unpleasantness with third sister-in-law."
Jiang Shun lifted his eyelids. "You don't have a third sister-in-law."
Standing beside Jiang Shun, Song Qiao trembled all over, her mind blank.
How could this be...
She had always proclaimed herself Jiang Shun's girlfriend before.
Jiang Shun was sparing with words and had never bothered to refute her or care about what she said.
Why was this time different?
Song Qiao bit her lip, wanting to salvage some dignity.
She smiled and said, "Master Shun, that wasn't what you said yesterday when you gave me such an expensive necklace."
Meanwhile, Jiang Chiyan had just walked through the entrance when he heard Song Qiao's words.
He smiled casually and drove the knife straight in. "Miss Song, do you know the difference between a date and a girlfriend?"
"..." Song Qiao was afraid of Jiang Chiyan. She shrank back and didn't dare respond.
Jiang Chiyan's smile was quite elegant.
But his words cut viciously.
"A date is kept in a cage to play with as a pet."
"A girlfriend is held in the palm of your hand and treated like a little ancestor."
After speaking, Jiang Chiyan turned and mouthed three words to Xiao Cheng.
"My."
"Little."
"Ancestor."