Chapter Four: Family

Sang Yijia glanced at her vibrating phone on the coffee table, then at the caller ID, sensing the awkwardness between her parents. Pressing her lips together, she looked up and said, "Dad, Mom, I’m going to answer this call."

"Go ahead," Sang Zheng waved his hand.

Her mother, worried that Sang Yijia might have an urgent matter and wouldn't stay for dinner, quickly said, "Have dinner before you go back."

"Okay." Sang Yijia had no intention of leaving right away; she could at least stay for a meal. "Mom, I’ll go answer the call first."

Watching her daughter head out to the courtyard, Sang’s mother turned to her husband, "Jiajia said she won’t have anything to do with that Shen person anymore."

"Hmph, and you believe her just like that?" Sang Zheng turned his head away, though the corner of his eye couldn’t help but follow Sang Yijia’s figure in the distance.

Sang’s mother disliked his stubbornness and, with a cold snort, folded her arms and turned away as well. "If you don’t believe her, I do."

"Whatever my daughter says, I believe," she said firmly.

Sang Zheng was left speechless.

Meanwhile, Sang Yijia walked into the courtyard with her phone and finally answered, "What’s going on?"

"Jiajia, have you seen the trending topic on Weibo?" Mo Yani sounded anxious.

Sang Yijia frowned, "What happened?"

"If you haven’t, don’t check Weibo. Actually, don’t go online at all for the next few days." Hearing that Sang Yijia really didn’t know, Mo Yani let out a sigh of relief, worried that the young lady would get angry and start fighting with the trolls.

Judging from her manager’s tone, something big must have happened. Yet Sang Yijia remained composed, her brow furrowing slightly. "That’s not the point. Tell me clearly what’s happened."

Mo Yani gave a brief explanation. "There’s nothing we can do now, no matter what we say."

"Jiajia, please don’t act on impulse," Mo Yani pleaded, clearly frightened.

Sang Yijia hadn’t expected the incident at the supermarket to be used by someone with ill intent. After a moment’s silence, she spoke slowly, "No matter what, I’ll still apologize publicly."

"I’ll handle this myself." With that, Sang Yijia hung up. She preferred to deal with her own problems, not letting outsiders interfere.

On the other end, Mo Yani stared blankly at the ended call, utterly lost.

After the call, Sang Yijia opened Weibo. Sure enough, the top trending topic was her.

#SangYijiaComeback#

Beside it was a purple "hot" label.

Sang Yijia, who had never paid much attention to Weibo, didn’t realize the significance of this. Calmly, she scrolled through the comments below, which were unanimously scathing.

Frowning, Sang Yijia exited the comments section, drafted a message, sent it, and then logged out of Weibo, setting her phone aside.

When she returned inside, her mother noticed the worry clouding her brows and asked if something had happened.

"It’s nothing, Mom." Sang Yijia didn't know how to explain. At that moment, another call came in—it was from a ride-share driver.

Her mother saw this.

Sang Yijia knew it was the driver returning her forgotten fruit. "Mom, I left something in the car, I’m going to get it."

"Come back soon."

"I will." Sang’s mother watched her leave, sighing heavily as she gazed at her daughter’s retreating figure. "I wonder if we’ll even get to have dinner together tonight."

"What’s there to worry about? It’s just a meal. She’ll be back. Kids grow up and get busy with work," Sang Zheng was long used to this.

But Sang’s mother simply wanted her children to stay home, even if they did nothing at all.

—

After Sang Yijia’s trending topic, the second hot search was the official announcement of the romance show. When they tagged the participants, Sang Yijia’s name was first.

This completely thrust her into the spotlight.

But Sang Yijia was unaware and, even if she knew, she wouldn’t have cared.

Others, however, did care.

Shen Jin glared at the Weibo post, his expression dark. "Wasn’t it agreed that Lan Qing and I would be at the forefront?"

"Sang Yijia’s status is so big now?" He was clearly displeased. Even though he and Lan Qing were in the center of the promotional photos, netizens’ attention was all on Sang Yijia.

His manager was helpless, "The director’s team made a last-minute change. We weren’t informed."

"Besides, with this scandal, Sang Yijia probably won’t be able to participate in the show anymore." The manager knew his artist was fed up with Sang Yijia—if she didn’t show up, he’d be even happier.

Shen Jin was dissatisfied, his brows knit tightly. "If she doesn’t come, how am I supposed to highlight my special connection with Lan Qing?"

"How are fans supposed to ship us as a couple?"

The manager was at a loss. "The official announcement is out. All we can do is respond. At this point, just tag Lan Qing directly so fans know where you stand." Then he remembered something else. "I’ve also arranged the groupings for the show’s drawing lots."

"You’ll be paired with Lan Qing, guaranteed."

Shen Jin knew about these arrangements, but he was still unhappy. "Arrange something for Sang Yijia’s partner too—let her be with one of the non-celebrities."

"Understood," the manager agreed, glancing at Shen Jin’s face and trying to reassure him. "Don’t worry, once this program airs, Sang Yijia’s reputation will be finished, and you and Lan Qing will definitely be the stars."

Shen Jin curved his lips slightly, but didn’t reply.

The manager, however, couldn’t understand why Shen Jin was so obsessed with Lan Qing. Sang Yijia wasn’t bad herself—rumor even had it she was the princess of some corporation.

But those were just rumors. The manager didn’t know for sure and couldn’t find out.

—

After retrieving her fruit, Sang Yijia ran into the original host’s elder brother—Sang Qiwen.

"Little sister, just arrived?" Sang Qiwen noticed the fruit in her hand, his brow arching slightly, an incredulous glint in his eyes, though his expression remained impassive.

Sang Yijia shook her head. "No, I left something in the car and just came back to get it."

While speaking, Sang Yijia discreetly glanced at Sang Qiwen. The original host’s brother, twenty-eight, single, ran a new media company with two short-video platforms under his belt—not exactly top-tier, but well-known enough.

"I’ll take it," Sang Qiwen said, reaching for the fruit in her hand. It was quite heavy.

"Thank you, brother," Sang Yijia replied politely.

Sang Qiwen glanced at her, unconcerned. He assumed she was troubled by the trending Weibo topic. After a moment’s thought, he asked, "What do you want to do about the trending topic? Suppress it, or…?"

Suppressing it wouldn’t be a problem; it would just cost some money. What worried him was if Sang Yijia insisted on confronting it.

"Suppress it. It’s not good to keep occupying public resources." In the past, Sang Yijia only checked Weibo to see if anything major had happened, not to read endless gossip about who did what with whom.

She hardly knew any of these people.

Gradually, she had uninstalled Weibo altogether.

Sang Qiwen was a bit surprised by her decision. "Alright."

"Thank you, brother," Sang Yijia said sincerely.

"Don’t mention it. We’re family," Sang Qiwen thought she was still too polite. Patting her lightly on the head, he smiled, "You’re my sister. If I don’t help you, who will?"

Sang Yijia’s lips curved in a faint smile, but as she lowered her gaze, she couldn’t help recalling the fate of the original host’s family. The sorrow in her eyes deepened.