Chapter 31: Little Aunt.031

Chapter 31

Pei Kuang bro.

Long time no see.

This form of address, this opening line, really makes one wonder.

The gossip vibe was strong, and the livestream chat exploded instantly.

【Holy crap! Why does this seem like two ex-lovers meeting again?】

【What's going on here? Could there be something between Pei Kuang and Xie Yin?】

【Tsk tsk, I'm getting a strong whiff of juicy gossip here】

【Ahhhhh, why is it Xie Yin again!!!】 Fôllôw new stories at novelhall.com

【Xie Yin go away! So pretentious, just looking at you is annoying】

【Xie Yin again? She really latches on whenever there's a chance, tsk, clinging to fame when she's not even popular!】

【Just what exactly happened here? Judging from Pei Kuang fans' reactions there's definitely drama here】

【Ahhhhh what to do, I really wanna know the gossip, someone who knows please explain!】

【Pei Kuang fans, instead of just getting angry, come tell us what's going on here?】

【I can't take it, I'm too curious, I'm exiting the stream to go search online, I need to get to the bottom of this gossip】

【Sisters upstairs, we'll wait for you, once you get the gossip come back and share with everyone in stream】

【Waiting for the gossip+1】

【Waiting for the gossip+10086】

...

The livestream chat was blowing up with gossip talk, and the studio atmosphere was equally intense.

Song Anan's eyes were wide, her gaze shifting back and forth between Pei Kuang and Xie Yin.

The other guests were also deep in thought.

Especially Li Yu and Shi Qing, the two women exchanged a look, both detecting strong gossip vibes from each other.

As expected, everyone loves gossip.

All focus was centered on the two involved.

Pei Kuang glanced at Xie Yin, an ambiguous smile playing on his lips. "It has been a while."

Xie Yin's eyes lit up, looking at Pei Kuang as if she wanted to say something but held back.

Just as she was about to speak, she heard Pei Kuang's indifferent voice. "But it seems we haven't met more than a few times."

His words seemed to be muttering to himself, but when spoken had instantly set off a storm.

Xie Yin's expression froze as she stood stunned, clearly not expecting this response from Pei Kuang.

The atmosphere instantly turned rigid.

Yet Pei Kuang looked completely unfazed, the detached smile mixed with obvious aloofness still on his face.

【Dang, after following this show so long, the last time it was this awkward and someone got slapped in the face was Jiang Kai's 'sibling duo', this is dangerous】

【Wow Mama, this is intense, isn't this Pei Kuang openly slapping her face?】

【Yeah...how is it not?】

【Hahahaha, too satisfying, this is what happens when some people shamelessly latch on, serves them right!】

【Um...isn't Pei Kuang being a bit ungentlemanly here? No matter what, she's a female guest, even if she greeted him, he shouldn't make her lose face like this】

【I always thought Pei Kuang was really mild-mannered from watching him on shows, his public image is of someone with high EQ too. There must be a reason for him to act like this】

【Sigh, all the recent drama and gossip has been full of reversals, without knowing the full context I won't judge】

【Yeah yeah, with all the online gossip lately I really have ptsd, better not jump to conclusions】

Jiang Kai stepped forward to stand in front of Xie Yin, tone unfriendly. "Pei Kuang, aren't you going overboard!"

"Overboard?" Pei Kuang raised a brow, an expression of incomprehension. "Explaining something to avoid misunderstanding is going overboard? Should I have let them misunderstand instead, is that not overboard?"

Jiang Kai tried to argue. "It was just a normal greeting, what's there to misunderstand?"

Pei Kuang let out a meaningful "Oh", "And I simply told the truth, how is that overboard?"

【Pei Kuang has a point, if there's a misunderstanding and he doesn't explain it, does he have to let a scandal break out before explaining?】

【Pfft, Jiang Kai is deliberately feigning ignorance here. A normal greeting he says, does he himself believe that?】

【When dealing with Jiang Kai, Pei Kuang's approach is clearly the only way. You pretend to be oblivious, then I'll pretend to be oblivious, let's see who can keep it up】

Jiang Kai was rendered speechless, only able to glare angrily at Pei Kuang.

Li Sirui: "Wahhh Sis Anan, please please protect our Pei Pei, don't let Xie Yin get close to him!"

Song Anan was confused. "Why?"

It wasn't like Xie Yin was some ferocious beast, even if she was the original book's female lead, and Pei Kuang wasn't a cannon fodder side character like Song Linchuan, so there shouldn't be an issue right?

Plus Li Sirui didn't even know Xie Yin was the original female lead.

Li Sirui's reply this time came slowly. At first Song Anan found it odd, but upon seeing the essay-length message understood immediately.

Typing so much would of course take some time.

But from this essay, Song Anan learned the whole story.

So Pei Kuang and Xie Yin had been involved in a scandal before!

Two years ago, Xie Yin had been participating in an idol talent competition. Back then her singing and dancing were average, with just her looks considered passable enough for her to make the top 10.

But relying solely on looks, she was completely lacking in skills and unable to make the cut. She could only stop at top 10.

But right when Xie Yin was about to face elimination, a scandal suddenly broke out about her and Pei Kuang. The two had been photographed by paparazzi appearing at the same private kitchen restaurant.

From the photos exposed by the paparazzi, Pei Kuang had left the restaurant first, and Xie Yin rushed out after him. The two seemed to be pulling at each other quite intimately.

To take advantage of the hype and headlines, the show miraculously kept Xie Yin until the final 5.

Then, in subsequent interviews, Xie Yin openly admitted to the camera that she knew Pei Kuang, and claimed that there were some connections between the two. But she refused to elaborate on what kind of connection it was.

This ambiguous response instantly sparked a wave of high interest online.

Plus, both Xie Yin and Pei Kuang were from T City, so all kinds of versions of love affairs filled the internet, such as childhood sweethearts, reuniting after initially breaking up, and so on.

Although Pei Kuang's team quickly denied the relationship and clearly stated that there was not and would never be anything between them, past or future, they did not explain what the connection was either.

Although Xie Yin never mentioned this again after that, and didn't even bring up Pei Kuang in public, the exposure she gained from this was tremendous.

So naturally, Pei Kuang's fans deeply resented Xie Yin, feeling that she had deliberately ridden on Pei Kuang's popularity to gain attention.

Shameless!

After reading Li Sirui's message, Song Anan was instantly confused.

How come this was never mentioned in the original book? How strange.

But she soon felt at ease again.

There were also many inconsistencies regarding Song Linchuan's character in the original book, so it was nothing major for Pei Kuang's story arc to have this plot hole.

Just as Song Anan was about to put down her phone and take a nap, Li Sirui sent another message.

"Also, friendly reminder, even though you guys are both my nephews, I don't expect you to be biased towards my Pei Kuang, but you have to be fair."

Song Anan: "???"

What does she mean?

Li Sirui immediately replied: "Go check the hot search, you'll understand after reading it."

So Song Anan exited WeChat with a confused look, and clicked into Weibo.

The hashtag "#Little aunt gains a new nephew, Song Linchuan's status threatened#" was prominently displayed in the hot search.

The first Weibo she saw after clicking in was Song Linchuan's.

@SongLinchuan: Hmph, my status feels threatened? How contemptible. [photo]

The first reply in his comments was unexpectedly from Pei Kuang.

- @PeiKuang: Raring to go. [photo]

Then, Song Linchuan replied to him in the comments.

- @SongLinchuan: Whetting my knife. [photo]

Then, the two of them started bickering with each other using reaction memes.

Looking at their exchanges, Song Anan was somewhat exasperated.

It was one thing for Song Linchuan to be childish, but for Pei Kuang to play along with him too...

And did they think she didn't know that despite acknowledging their aunt-nephew relationship, Pei Kuang didn't actually see her as an elder at all, clearly still treating her like a kid.

Hmph!

The more she thought about it, the more upset she felt, so Song Anan decided to find an opportunity to get back at them.

This Weibo account was created earlier by Jiang Han, who said fans were urging her to make one. Song Anan didn't see the point but agreed anyway.

When verifying the account, the name 'Song Anan' was already taken by someone else, so they ended up going with 'Little Auntie Song Anan'.

However, she really had no habit of posting on Weibo, and didn't even read it regularly, so the account had gone unused.

She went straight to Song Linchuan's Weibo post and found a fan comment: @FirstRowMelonEatingGirl: Stop arguing, let me ask the little aunt first - what's your standard for favorite nephew? You guys work hard.

@LittleAuntieSongAnan: I like the filial ones!