Shen Ting was still marveling when the mansion's front door suddenly flew open with a bang.
"Baby!"
"Young master!"
A woman in a royal-blue qipao and a white fringed shawl came running out.
She was clearly exceptionally well maintained. There wasn't a single fine line on her exquisite face, and her pores were so fine they were invisible.
A whole group of people followed behind her.
"Hi! Hello, everyone." Shen Ting didn't immediately connect the people before him with the memories in his head.
But adhering to the principle that if he wasn't embarrassed, everyone else would be, Shen Ting waved openly.
"Little Treasure!!! My Little Treasure! You've really suffered! Look at what those people online are saying about my Little Treasure. My Little Treasure's such a good boy." The woman pulled Shen Ting into her arms, tears spilling from her eyes on cue.
Shen Ting finally matched the woman before him to his memories. This was his mommy in this world. Mamma mia, indeed-what a beauty.
"M-Mom..."
"Oh no, you don't even know what to call me anymore. Little Treasure, you always called me Mommy." The woman lifted Shen Ting right off the ground and spun him around.
"Mommy! You're about to smother me!" Shen Ting struggled frantically.
"Sorry, sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I got too excited. Mostly because arguing with people online yesterday got my blood boiling, and my blood pressure still hasn't come down." His mother let go awkwardly and straightened her clothes.
Shen Ting's mouth twitched. The original novel hadn't devoted much ink to his mother, but it had described her as elegant and noble, gentle and virtuous, and naturally beautiful.
Wasn't this contrast a little too stark?
"Little Treasure, come inside. Your eldest brother's birthday present for you just arrived, too. See if you like it." His mother took his hand and rushed back into the house.
Shen Ting narrowed his eyes at the gift before him. How should he put it? He half liked it and half didn't.
If we're talking diamonds, this really hits all my favorite things. But what do you mean by arranging these diamonds into a giant portrait of Si Chen's head? Isn't this just disgusting my precious diamonds?
"Well? All sparkly." His mother nodded in satisfaction at the picture assembled from diamonds of all different colors.
Shen Ting sighed.
"Don't you like it, Little Treasure?" His mother covered her mouth in surprise.
"It's not that I don't like it. If he added one more step, I might like it even more." With that, Shen Ting turned and went to the tool room he remembered, bringing out the household's spare toolbox.
Shen Ting took a hammer from the toolbox and smashed it into the diamond picture, landing squarely on Si Chen's smug face.
Crack!!!
Quite a few diamonds began falling off as he lifted the hammer away.
"Oh! So you like crafts, Little Treasure." His mother knelt on the carpet and dutifully handed him a wrench.
Shen Ting pried off all the diamonds, put down the hammer in his right hand with satisfaction, and casually tossed aside the sheet of wastepaper before him with his left.
The old butler promptly came over and cleared away the wastepaper.
Looking at the small basket of diamonds before him, Shen Ting suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Mommy, did you just say lots of fans were talking about me online?"
"Yes." His mother nodded.
"Mommy, would you believe me if I said one more post from me would turn things around?" Shen Ting said mysteriously.
"Are you going to battle people online with me, Little Treasure?" his mother guessed.
"No, no, no. Watch me."
Shen Ting took out his phone and opened his account. The comment sections under his two most recent posts had blown up, with comments outnumbering likes by more than ten to one.
Curious, Shen Ting opened them for a look.
Shen Ting V: A fake who clings to Si Chen the moment he gets back to the country instead of going home to see his parents. Aren't you annoying? If I were you, I'd be too ashamed to come back.
Shen Ting V: I'm definitely going on this dating show. Su Yu, just you wait.
Shen Ting shook his head. Those posts were a little too immature.
Shen Ting opened the comments. Almost all the highly liked comments condemned him, and their posters were also fans of Si Chen and Su Yu. There might have been one or two comments from casual onlookers mixed into every twenty.
[Holy shit, I'm going to puke. What kind of fit is that cancer Shen Ting throwing now?] 80k likes
[What rotten luck. Taking our Si Chen away from this. Don't drag him into it, thanks.] 50k likes
[Taking our baby Su Yu away. He only just entered the entertainment industry, and a lunatic's already latched onto him.] 20k likes
[What fake? Our baby Su Yu is the Su family's eldest young master.] 100k likes
[Exactly. I think Shen Ting's just jealous. Su Yu earned Emperor Si's appreciation the very first time they worked together. And Shen Ting? He shamelessly tagged along with all those production crews, and now Emperor Si gets annoyed just seeing him.] 200k likes
[Su Yu really did act pretty well in this drama. Shen Ting, stop humiliating yourself. Looking back at your performance, I feel like my eyes need washing.] 50k likes
[The person above is still being polite. Washing won't fix my violated eyes anymore.] 30k likes
Shen Ting's lips curved as he read the comments, his fingers busily tapping like.
He picked the two comments with the most likes and replied beneath them.
Shen Ting V: A fake is a fake. Praise him all you like, he's still a fake.
Shen Ting V: I'm nowhere near as thick-skinned as your idol. His skin's practically thicker than the universe. You probably haven't seen your idol when his belly was expanding sideways. Here, have a look. No need to thank me. [Greasy Si Chen meme]
In an instant, a trending topic titled "Shen Ting likes comments, apparently gone mad" shot up the trending list.
[Aaah! Shen Ting, you've gone too far! How could you Photoshop our Mr. Si to look so ugly?]
[To be fair to the person above, this picture really hasn't been Photoshopped much. It just has a few decorations added.]
[I remember this picture got suppressed within half a day of coming out.]
[Who's getting worked up? I won't say... shh (◍╹ｘ╹◍)]
[Can Shen Ting get out of the entertainment industry? Seeing him makes me wanna puke!]
After liking and commenting, Shen Ting exited the app, opened his camera, and took a picture of the small basket of diamonds before him.
Then he posted the photo to his account and launched an online giveaway.
Shen Ting V: Today's a good day! Your handsome Mr. Shen, blessed with looks and talent, dashing, debonair, and charming, is here with a giveaway.
Giveaway link.
To enter, repost and comment "Shen Ting is super handsome."
(P.S. Fans of a certain Si and a certain Su, please don't enter. Even if you win, I won't send you anything. Hahaha.)
In just ten seconds, the comment section exploded.
[Holy crap, those are real diamonds, guys. This really is a windfall from heaven.]
[That cancer Shen Ting must have something wrong with his head.]
[Has Shen Ting actually gone crazy? That pink diamond in the middle of the box practically blinded me. Can you really just give something like that away?]
[As the king of casual onlookers, I can't hide my identity any longer. If I get that pink diamond, I won't have to work hard in my next life.]
[Everyone, don't be tempted by these material possessions. That cancer Shen Ting is doing this on purpose. Don't fall for it!]
[I'm so glad. I was just wondering whether to become someone else's fan, but this surprise counterattack from Shen Ting successfully stopped me in my tracks. Reposted and commented. May the god of fate smile on me.]
The number of entrants rose from ten thousand to a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, and finally reached a staggering ten million.
In the villa next door, Yan Yi was curled up in the doghouse, holding his beloved dog Knight Husky and scrolling on his phone. When he saw the giveaway link, he tapped to enter without hesitation.
At the doghouse entrance, his mother sat knitting beside it with a parrot perched on her head.
"Son, take this dating show seriously and try to bring someone home for your old mother, all right?"
"Your old mother isn't picky. Man or woman, I can accept either. As long as they're human."
"Squawk-chirp-chirp-" the little parrot called merrily.
A vein bulged on his mother's forehead as she snatched the parrot off her head.
"Squawk-chirp-" The parrot meekly tucked in its wings.
"ε=(´ο｀*))) Sigh."
Before you continue