Chapter 22.1 – Overwhelming evidence

Editor: Xinghe

Proofreader: UM3

Yanyan hid in the stairwell at the corner. She casually stretched out her head to look around the corridor a few times then quickly retracted her head.

She patted her chest quietly.

She had previously arrived at the TV station more than ten minutes ago. When she heard from the staff that Xie Qing and the mysterious MC had already arrived and were at the lounge, she immediately quickened her pace and rushed over. Who knew that just as she was about to open the door, she heard the conversation coming from the lounge.

After listening to the contents, Yanyan felt a little confused.

Listening to what the mysterious MC said, was it really Xie Qing’s fault that the actor Yu Kaize became involved in a scandal and was arrested by the police? What did this mean? After thinking about it for a moment, Yanyan immediately thought of Xie Ling. In the past two days, she had also paid attention to the news between Xie Qing and Xie Ling. She even chatted about it with Gu Sanshun when she was free.

The two of them surprisingly had similar thoughts. They believed that Xie Qing and Xie Ling were probably related by blood. However, for some unknown reason, Xie Ling refused to admit that he had a younger brother.

And… If she remembered correctly, it was revealed a while back that Yu Kaize was Xie Ling’s ultimate licking dog. The two are exactly alike, so it would be reasonable for Xie Qing to hate Yu Kaize?

After thinking about it, Yanyan nodded at her own guesses. The next second, she heard footsteps approaching, so she ran away without saying a word.

After listening to such information, she felt a little guilty.

“Yanyan, why are you here?”

A voice coming from behind made her tremble. She turned around in confusion and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was Yu Shu. Her tense body relaxed as she leaned against the handrail of the stairs. Her shoulder slumped and she patted her chest to calm herself down. “It’s Director Yu. Why are you in the stairways?”

“I was just downstairs.” Yu Shu raised his eyebrows and continued, “Why are you acting like you have a guilty conscience?”

Yanyan smiled awkwardly at him, but she didn’t mention anything about what she had just overheard.

However, while heading back to the lounge with Yu Shu, Yanyan struggled for a long time before she finally couldn’t hold back anymore and asked Yu Shu in a low voice, “Director Yu, do you know anything about Xie-ge¹she calls XQ Xie-ge and Xie Ling? What do you think about them? Are they really brothers?”

One was Xie-ge to her and the other was Xie Ling.

What her attitude was towards the two had long been obvious.

Yu Shu unexpectedly smiled at her question but then showed a careless expression the next second, “I’m aware ah, they’re twins.”

After a pause, he lowered his voice and whispered next to Yanyan’s ear, “Why don’t I tell you a little secret? Yu Jun’s news mentioned that Xie Qing had gotten lost when he was a child. How do you think he got lost?”

Yanyan’s eyes widened. She seemed to vaguely guess that this question might be a big secret. But she couldn’t help but be curious. She was unable to control herself and soon heard herself ask in a hoarse voice, “How did he get lost?”

“Xie Ling took Xie Qing to an amusement park. But only Xie Ling came back.”

“…F*ck, doesn’t that mean he lost him?”

“Probably only Xie Qing and Xie Ling would know what exactly happened that day.” Yu Shu shrugged his shoulders. But he knew about it quite well. Because as early as last week, while the program was being recorded, he had accidentally stumbled upon the two brothers in the bathroom and learnt a shocking secret—

Xie Qing was knocked unconscious by Xie Ling and abandoned by him.

At the beginning, Yu Shu was a bit sceptical hearing this. After all, this sounded a bit ridiculous. Twenty years ago. How old was Xie Ling at that time? How could he have such dirty and vicious thoughts?

But two days ago, he learnt from Yu Jun that everyone in the circle knew that the Xie brothers went to the amusement park together when they were young, but only one brother returned in the end. A voice in Yu Shu’s heart told him:

What Xie Qing said in the bathroom that day was true.

It was really unimaginable.

Xie Ling usually maintained the persona of a wealthy and aristocratic son well in public, always greeting the camera with a smile and doing a lot of charity work. Who knew that his true face was actually like this?

Yu Shu felt a little emotional in his heart. He stretched out his hand to pat Yanyan on her shoulder and advised, “Every girl who is looking for a boyfriend must open their eyes and take a good look at their partner. Don’t just look at their faces.”

“… Okay”

Although Yu Shu didn’t say anything about what he knew, in Yanyan’s heart, Xie Ling had been completely classified as a villain by her. Taking out his younger brother and losing his younger brother might be regarded as an accident and unintentional. But why wouldn’t he admit the existence of his brother after so many years? It stands to reason that if he felt guilty about it, he should’ve been sorry for his actions.

Otherwise, she could only consider this as Xie Ling’s guilty conscience.

He refused to admit that he had a younger brother because he hated his younger brother.

Apart from this, was there any other reason?

Yanyan felt that it was impossible for there to be other reasons.

…

Probably because of the information from Yu Shu, she felt a bit unhappy. So when all the MCs and guests finally gathered in the studio, Yanyan looked at Xie Ling with even more dislike. Of course, to her, that mysterious MC who had a good relationship with Xie Ling was also not pleasing to the eye.

When Yanyan was eavesdropping earlier, she had still been guessing who the mysterious MC was, but she suddenly realized who he was when she saw him.

Li Youbai, similar to Yu Jun, although the two were not part of the entertainment circle, their identities were relatively similar. So the two had more opportunities to show their faces in front of the media. Most importantly, there were still videos of Li Youbai pursuing Xie Ling and sending him flowers and luxury cars on the internet.

In the past, she also felt that this was the way wealthy families chased people. But now that she thought about it, she only felt that it was disgusting.

Trash is always stinky, that’s why it also likes the smell of other stinking trash.

Thinking about it this way, Xie Ling’s group of suitors, such as Yu Kaize, it’s understandable that they are all scum.

Tsk!

With such notions brewing in her mind, Yanyan, who was originally seated next to Li Youbai, silently moved her chair away from him and more towards Gu Sanshun’s side.

This small movement didn’t attract the attention of anyone else. The atmosphere at the scene was strange. Xie Ling expressionlessly sat on his chair. On his right was Li Youbai who had returned to normal. On his left was Yu Shu. With Xie Ling sitting at the centre, it was like they were divided into two factions.

Yu Shu continued to talk to Xie Qing with a smile. Zhao Jing also changed his previously indifferent appearance from the previous episodes and inserted a few words into the conversation from time to time.

Gu Sanshun could see everything happening in front of him. He just lowered his head and took a sip of water.

Small anchors like him shouldn’t meddle with those who are competing openly and secretly in the entertainment industry.

Saves oneself from getting into trouble.

They officially started filming and the process was no different from the previous episodes. The gourmet anchors who had experienced it from the previous episodes calmly followed the director’s directions. Today’s theme was a dish that you think was the most delicious. Firstly was the drawing of the lots as always. This time, Xie Qing got Yu Shu, Gu Sanshun got Xie Ling and Yanyan got Zhao Jing.

Now there was only Li Youbai left.

The task given to Li Youbai by the program team was to make him choose a guest himself.

Li Youbai’s eyes scanned the three of them. His half-smiling eyes then fell on Xie Qing. The young man in his eyes was leaning casually on the back of his chair. His slightly lowered eyes made his long eyelashes slightly cover his beautiful tear mole. But for some reason, it made Li Youbai feel a little ticklish in his heart.

He wanted to pinch Xie Qing’s chin and raise his head to make him look at him.

His Adam’s apple rolled unnaturally and under the gaze of the camera, he said, “I choose Xie Qing.”

The moment this name came out of Li Youbai’s mouth, everyone in the studio was stunned. Needless to say, Yanyan had also heard the confrontation between Li Youbai and Xie Qing a few moments ago. Now he was going to choose Xie Qing? Did he want to embarrass Xie Qing?

Yu Shu and the others didn’t think about it as much as she did.

Only Xie Ling.

The moment Li Youbai said Xie Qing’s name, Xie Ling suddenly turned his head to look at Li Youbai. The man in his eyes was smiling casually and only Xie Qing’s face was reflected in his eyes. At that moment, Xie Ling’s head buzzed. Even the most superficial thoughts in his mind turned into nothingness. Only the uneasiness in his heart silently amplified, almost occupying his entire heart.

Xie Ling would never forget the disgust he felt in his stomach when he heard Yu Kaize say that he and Li Youbai took Xie Qing as a stand-in for him.

Xie Ling hadn’t been in contact with Li Youbai for quite some time. It wasn’t until the public opinion on the internet reached an unstoppable level that he did.

Yu Jun, who had broken the news that he had a younger brother, Xie Ling had also heard about him. This person usually hated pretentious starlets the most. So when Xie Ling went to find him in person, he was ridiculed by him. The other party only replied with one sentence: ‘Are you the one in charge of the Xie family?’

Anyone part of the wealthy circle knew that Xie Ling no longer had any right to inherit anything.

After all, the one who comes forward for the Xie family now is Xie Cheng.

Xie Ling had no choice but to endure his nausea and find Li Youbai.

Xie Ling took a deep breath and bit the inner walls of his mouth in silence. On the contrary, Xie Qing looked at Li Youbai, with no change in his expression and asked, “Are you worthy²aww man look at the title drop here?”

*Pfft—*

Yu Shu, who had just picked up his paper cup and took a sip of water, suddenly heard these three words. He immediately spat everything out.

Although Zhao Jing and the rest didn’t act as exaggeratedly as Yu Shu, they couldn’t hide the expressions on their faces.

The expression on Li Youbai’s face froze for a moment. But he had just been ridiculed by Xie Qing not long ago, so he was able to react quickly now. He still had a smile on his face, but his voice had lowered a bit. “Didn’t the director tell you that you shouldn’t bring personal feelings with you when you came to this show? I just asked you to cook for me like you’re going to do for Director Yu, that’s all. If you have anything you are unsatisfied with, we can talk after the filming.”

“Personal feelings?” Xie Qing didn’t shy away from the other people present at the scene. “If I had brought my own personal feelings, you’d be lying on a hospital bed right now and wouldn’t be able to stand up like a cripple. If your sweetheart is willing, I wouldn’t mind letting him accompany you in the hospital as well.”

“Xie Qing!”

With an angry roar, Xie Ling suddenly stood up from his chair and slammed his hand on the table.

Xie Ling had never been so angry before. The unhappiness caused by public opinion for the past two days finally reached its peak at this moment with Xie Qing’s sarcasm. His eyes were red as he stared at Xie Qing and yelled, “You’ve gone too far!”

No one expected that the first person to snap wouldn’t be Xie Qing or Li Youbai, but instead Xie Ling.

The Director, He Jing, raised his eyebrows in shock when he saw this scene. The crew beside him looked at each other in dismay and then looked at He Jing involuntarily. But when they saw He Jing’s expression, they couldn’t understand why he looked so excited.

Director! You’re the director!

This is your show! You should be worried!

How can you look like you’re about to applaud?!

The atmosphere at the scene became increasingly tense. Yanyan silently picked up her cup of water and took a sip. But her movements seemed to be extremely careful, as if she was afraid that any movement she made would break the tight atmosphere.

But it was also then that a chuckle sounded out. Xie Qing looked at Xie Ling with his long and narrow eyes, asking with a smile on his lips, “Why are you so agitated? Was I talking about you?”

Xie Ling was dumbfounded by this.

How could it not be him? Everyone knew who Li Youbai’s sweetheart was. But saying that he was going too far was just too much because Xie Qing never even mentioned his name.

Xie Ling gritted his teeth in anger. “You…”

“Don’t be so nervous, big celebrity Xie³Hey guys. Lemme just put this here. IF. LET’S SAY IF. IF THEIR SURNAME WAS ACTUALLY PAI INSTEAD OF XIE. IT WOULD BE PAI DA MINGXING. IF YOU REMOVE THE MING, IT TURNS TO PAI DA XING WHICH IS ACTUALLY PATRICK STAR!! LMAO I’M DYING OF LAUGHTER WHILE TRANSLATING THIS PART.” Xie Qing’s lips curled up in a smile as he said in a low voice, “It’s not the time yet.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It wouldn’t be interesting.”

Seeing that another quarrel was about to start, He Jing finally played the role of a director and stopped it. “Alright, you two. Let’s record first, okay?”

Xie Qing smiled. “Of course.”

After he finished speaking, Zhao Jing, who was seated next to Xie Qing, glanced at him and then glanced at Xie Ling with a bit of sympathy. Xie Ling raised his head in silence and happened to meet Zhao Jing’s eyes. At that moment, the uneasiness that he felt in his heart was like a beast that was about to escape from a cage. There was violence written all over his body.

The filming went on smoothly. Li Youbai didn’t make any more disgusting proposals. Xie Qing, who only made a plate of sweet and sour pork ribs for Yu Shu, was full of laziness. Two hours passed by in the blink of an eye.

The moment Xie Qing stood up from his chair, his thin lips curled up slightly as a meaningful smile appeared on his pale face. “I wish you good luck, my dear, gege.” 

He didn’t shy away from anything and just said it in front of the crowd. Those two words that Xie Ling hated the most. 

The staff standing on the side looked at each other and suppressed their inner excitement.

Damn—

The secret is revealed! Xie Ling and Xie Qing are actually brothers!

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• 1
  she calls XQ Xie-ge
• 2
  aww man look at the title drop here
• 3
  Hey guys. Lemme just put this here. IF. LET’S SAY IF. IF THEIR SURNAME WAS ACTUALLY PAI INSTEAD OF XIE. IT WOULD BE PAI DA MINGXING. IF YOU REMOVE THE MING, IT TURNS TO PAI DA XING WHICH IS ACTUALLY PATRICK STAR!! LMAO I’M DYING OF LAUGHTER WHILE TRANSLATING THIS PART