Chapter 607: Chapter 598: Shrimp Without Mercy

The term "mooching" used to be just a noun, but the landlady forcefully turned it into a verb—with visuals no less—making Shen Yi feel like her chest swelled with indignation.

How to put it, before Su Qing got together with Shen Yi, it was the landlady sleeping with Shen Yi. Just thinking about that racy widow, Su Qing half believed her claim that he too had ’mooched’ off Shen Yi.

The key was, he didn’t feel even a bit jealous, perhaps even a little excited. Frankly speaking, being with a weirdo for too long made him a bit weird himself. It’s a condition that needs correcting.

So, Su Qing discussed solutions with his secretly married wife, rumored girlfriend, and official girlfriend.

Finally, the official girlfriend said it wasn’t his problem, and he should just do whatever he needed to.

The rumored girlfriend said, ’No problem, she would handle it.’

As for the secret wife... she left the group chat to take care of the kids.

Anyway, the plan was to let the rumor of him and Tang Nan simmer a bit longer to overshadow this issue, and redirect everyone’s attention. Once the time was right, Tang Nan would come forward to clarify.

By then, clarification wouldn’t really be necessary. The problem would be resolved, and Tang Nan would gain a burst of popularity. For everyone involved, there was no loss, perhaps even a gain.

Take Su Qing, for instance. His follower count was skyrocketing; in just a day and a night, he gained a million followers.

You have to admit, this scandal is juicy and especially effective when the rumored partner is a popular actress—it’s a huge draw.

In the past, achieving a one-day gain of a million followers would require something big happening to him, like his ’Stock God’ phase blowing up, or "Wandering Earth" revealing him as an investor.

Otherwise, he didn’t have the influence to gain a million followers. After all, he was already a megastar influencer, at a point where he’s hit a bottleneck.

Just updating videos wasn’t growing followers quickly unless there was a breakout hit, something surprising, a real eye-catcher. Otherwise, maintaining the status quo was already quite good.

But a single rumor had the impact equivalent to a major event. Tsk tsk tsk, he now understood why so many celebrities are obsessed with stirring up scandals.

Because this doesn’t require any technical skills or acting, just a few photos suffice. The media and the public would run wild with imagination, instantly inserting rom-com plots, achieving a big win effortlessly.

The next morning at ten, Beijing City Public Security Bureau, Su Qing was leisurely sipping tea in an office.

"Ah~~~ Refreshing, Qiang, refill!" Su Qing handed his cup over, and Du Qiang quickly took it, wearing a fawning smile:

"No problem, I’ll fill it up for you. Come on, tell me, how did you and the big star Tang Nan start? Online I heard you played the hero rescuing the beauty—last year you saw Nan falling into the water and bravely saved her, after which the actress secretly fell for you, even though you refused her repeatedly, spurring Tang Nan’s competitive nature as a strong woman to win you over. She even appeared in your videos multiple times to boost your popularity. But as the saying goes, heroes fall for beauties, and in the end, you couldn’t resist her pursuit, is that right?"

Su Qing: ...

Staring at Du Qiang, Su Qing widened his eyes and his jaw dropped. What fantasy was this? The rumor crafting was outrageous, even filled with details.

What hero rescuing a beauty, and bravely saving a drowning actress—sure, it seemed logical, but arrived at through such faulty reasoning.

Seeing his expression, Du Qiang curiously asked, "No... isn’t that right?"

"Right my foot! Where did you hear such a ridiculous story? Who wrote this tale, making it so intriguing?"

Hearing this, Du Qiang thought for a moment and said something rather shocking: "I found out from fan fiction about you and Tang Nan."

"Wait, what did you say? Fan fiction?" Su Qing was startled, feeling an uneasy hunch.

Du Qiang didn’t hide it: "Yeah, your brother here doesn’t have many hobbies. In my spare time, I like reading novels. No wonder the buzz from your girlfriend scandal is so big, even the online literature community reacted.

Last night over ten fanfics about you and Tang Nan appeared on a certain platform. The one I read was called, hang on, let me check."

Saying that, Du Qiang took out his phone, tapped a bit, then slapped his thigh: "Found it! It’s called ’A Millionaire Influencer, Starting with Nan’s Pursuit.’ It’s really well written, I think the author must be an insider. Of course, I bookmarked a few others too, like ’My Rumored Girlfriend is Nan’ and ’My Relationship with Nan Laid Bare, What Do I Do?’ But they’re not long enough, so I’m waiting till they’re longer to read."

Su Qing: (￣口￣)!!

Feeling utterly speechless, he was paralyzed. He never expected his scandal to be written into fanfic, becoming someone else’s material. Who could he complain to?

"Damn it, you’re a cop. What cop uses novels as evidence for questioning someone?" Su Qing shouted.

In response, Du Qiang merely shrugged: "I never said it was true, just wanted to ask you, why are you so worked up? Could the author actually be an insider? Is what they wrote all true? Maybe this author is Nan’s assistant?"

"Oh damn, I..."

He couldn’t deny, being fictionalized into fanfic completely left him defenseless, knowing without looking how absurd the content would be.

"What are you ’oh damn’ing? Quit while you’re ahead, tsk tsk tsk. I never guessed you’d end up in rumors with a big star, impressive!"

Just then, Li Zijun, dressed in a police uniform, walked in, a smile on her lips, clearly in a good mood.

```

"Sister Jun, why are you also..."

"Why what? Right now, your business is spreading like wildfire; who doesn’t know? How could I be left out?" Li Zijun rolled her eyes and spat.

Regarding this matter, she could tell at a glance it was fake. If nothing else, Su Qing—how could she not know what kind of person he is?

Moreover, how could a big celebrity suddenly want him as a boyfriend for no reason at all? It’s obviously a rumor. But one must admit, her brother indeed knows the so-called big star, and their relationship is not ordinary.

"Spill it, what’s going on? I saw news yesterday about you being secretly married and having a kid, but by the afternoon it turned into gossip with a female celebrity." Li Zijun took off her coat, sat in a chair, sipped some water, and asked with interest.

Su Qing didn’t hold back; none of them were outsiders. He went on to explain the situation roughly.

"The girl in the video is my friend’s daughter. My friend, also my previous landlord, is a single mom with plenty of money at home. But the child grew up without a father, and because of Big Yellow, she always calls me Dad. Plus, I cooperated with my friend’s brother on a real estate project last year and got along well with their family. So, my friend asked me to take some photos with her daughter.

It’s my fault for being stupid, uploading the video and causing all this chaos. The rumors aren’t too bad for me, but my friend’s family in Jiang City is quite prominent, so we’ve got to think of a way. Coincidentally, we all know Tang Nan, and our relationship is decent, so we diverted everyone’s attention."

Upon hearing his explanation, Du Qiang and Li Zijun were dumbfounded. Public opinion could actually be played this way. The key realization was that this was their first time experiencing how buying trending topics in the entertainment circle actually works—impressive, to say the least.

However, what truly disappointed them was that the real situation was vastly different from the online rumors, not thrilling at all.

As for that special friend of his, neither Li Zijun nor Du Qiang asked much. As police officers, they knew when to hold back.

Although the police station dealt with work every day recently, there hadn’t been any major cases, so things were quite calm. Old Lin was at home with his kids, having no time to come by.

At noon, in the police station cafeteria, Li Zijun spoke up, "Tomorrow’s the Lantern Festival, heading home?"

Su Qing nodded, "Sister Jun, are you off tomorrow too?"

"Of course, it’s not my shift tomorrow. My mom already called, saying you all should come to our place for a gathering this year. Come early, did you hear me? And no drinking with my dad!"

Su Qing: ...

Hearing this, he nodded repeatedly, determined to remember this time. Otherwise, if Big Brother and Third Brother invited him again, he might not live to see next year.

Du Qiang was feeling miserable on the side. He had a day shift tomorrow, but fortunately, he didn’t have a night shift, so he could still make it to the family dinner.

Just then, a figure appeared beside the three of them and sat down, placing their tray on the table.

"Sister Li, Little Su, long time no see!" Zhu Lili greeted cheerfully, instinctively ignoring Du Qiang, or rather she didn’t even consider him.

"Oh, Little Zhu, you’re back? How is it, made up yet?" Du Qiang asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Lili raised her little fist, pouting, "Don’t call me Little Zhu, or I’ll punch you!"

Seeing this, he and Li Zijun exchanged a glance, sensing something was up. He couldn’t help but ask, "What’s going on? You seem in good spirits—something good happen?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Du Qiang quickly interjected, "I know, I know! Lili went to the hospital to visit her ex-boyfriend. Looking at her like this, there’s a big chance they’ll reconcile. How about it, made up yet?"

Upon hearing this, Su Qing and Li Zijun immediately adopted a gossip mode, gazing at Zhu Lili.

Seeing everyone’s eyes on her, Zhu Lili’s face turned crimson, "Of course not!"

"What’s the story, tell us!" Li Zijun couldn’t resist some gossiping.

With this, Zhu Lili sighed helplessly, "Actually, my boyfriend and I have been separated for three years. Yesterday, I found out that he was hospitalized after being beaten by his girlfriend’s husband. When I went to see him at the hospital this morning, he lay there in bed with his legs in casts, asking if I was there to gloat at him.

Honestly, I was flustered. I didn’t expect him to still be so clever, hehe!"

With that, Zhu Lili grinned, revealing two rows of sparkling white teeth, her expression somewhat cheeky.

The three of them: ...

What a clever one indeed.

Moreover, Zhu Lili’s ex-boyfriend, whom she broke up with three years ago, got himself beaten up and hospitalized by his girlfriend’s husband? Sounds like messing around with a married woman and getting a thrashing, doesn’t it? Why make it so complicated?

The most intriguing part is a girlfriend from three years ago coming to visit—it’s gotta be some grudging affection, right?

Shrimp and pig’s heart

...

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