Chapter 26 – Intercept
Qiao Huaiyao didn’t open the comments but waited for Bai Jinyan to finish forwarding, and then left a comment with a raised paw emoji.
After the comment was posted, the interface automatically refreshed, and his comment was submerged in the sea of comments.
Bai Jinyan’s comment section was updating too quickly, and each time it refreshed, the latest comment at the top was different.
Qiao Huaiyao didn’t mind that his comment disappeared; it was just their interaction with Bai Jinyan that mattered.
However, when Qiao Huaiyao switched out of the comment section, he noticed a significant increase in likes and comments on his post.
Qiao Huaiyao: “?”
Upon clicking into it, he found that it was Bai Jinyan’s latest comment section. His raised paw emoji was pinned as the top comment, and Bai Jinyan replied with a head pat emoji seconds after the raised paw emoji. Fans were seeing Bai Jinyan pinning a comment in the comment section for the first time.
[Wow, he replied so quickly! I didn’t even notice when Qiao Qiao commented.]
[Before, he wouldn’t care about managing the comment section even if haters were cursing. Now, suddenly, he’s taking care of it after his wife came into the picture?]
[Tsk, tsk, tsk, he ignores fan comments and insults but gives likes, pins Qiao Qiao’s comment, and replies. Okay, we get it, he’s got a wife now.]
[While Bai Jinyan is distracted, I’ll make a 100-meter sprint and snatch his wife.]
… So many comments, Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t keep up. Luckily, Bai Jinyan sent him a message, and he logged off Weibo.
On the other side, Bai Jinyan got out of the car and entered the restaurant. “The compressed files will be ready after the variety show recording. The teaser will be released at 11 am.”
He paused and added, “It seems like it’s already released. Check the official account of the variety show when you have time.”
“Okay.” Qiao Huaiyao transferred the compressed files to his computer and started to unzip them.
Bai Jinyan noticed, “Are you going to sleep?”
“I’m full.” Qiao Huaiyao finished adding a shrimp to his mouth and put down his chopsticks. “The portion is just right, prepared according to my appetite. Maybe I’m not that hungry after the evening training.”
He closed the container and planned to leave it outside the room. It was cold at night, and the food wouldn’t spoil. He could warm it up in the microwave tomorrow morning.
Thinking that Bai Jinyan still had a lot of work to do tomorrow, Qiao Huaiyao said, “Brother, get some rest early.”
“Yeah.”
Just after ending the video call, the door of the dormitory opened. Qiu Shufeng and Yu Luofan came in, looking exhausted.
Qiu Shufeng sighed, “Skipping dinner was right. At this time, the canteen is either full of people or long lines. Buying food is more exhausting than standing in military posture all night.”
Yu Luofan chimed in, “If it weren’t for the counter in front of the food server, the canteen lady might have been submerged by the crowd.”
Qiao Huaiyao connected his phone via Bluetooth, transferred the unpacked files and videos, and asked, “Did you guys buy dinner? If not, I have some snacks you can have.”
“No need, we already bought it.” Qiu Shufeng shook his head. “It’s just Wang Zhan who was unlucky. He bought fried rice, and the plastic bag burst while he was waiting. The rice didn’t fall on the ground; we don’t know where it went. He had to buy another portion.”
Squeezing in and out, those whose food remained intact were just lucky.
Qiu Shufeng offered some of his food to Qiao Huaiyao, saying, “Want some? This is a forum-recommended military training dining area. It ranks third on the big gourmet list and is tough to get. I fought hard to get it.”
“No, I already had dinner.” Qiao Huaiyao poured a cup of warm water. “My brother brought me food.”
Qiu Shufeng opened the lunchbox and laughed, “Your relationship with your brother is excellent.”
From what he knew online about Bai Jinyan’s temperament, it was apparent that he cared a lot about Qiao Huaiyao. Stars sometimes worked day and night without even having time for meals, not to mention eating takeout. But Bai Jinyan came all the way to deliver food at night, showing how much he valued Qiao Huaiyao.
Qiu Shufeng shook his head, realizing that online evaluations of a person were not always accurate. Bai Jinyan wasn’t as bad-tempered as they claimed.
After copying the files to his phone, Qiao Huaiyao decided to lie down on the bed without opening the blankets. The files were too big, and even when downloaded, they took a lot of time to read. While waiting for the files, he glanced at Bai Jinyan’s teaser video online.
It was the question recorded during the live broadcast when they visited Bai Jinyan’s set.
He was curious about what Bai Jinyan had said. Embarrassed to ask him face to face, seeing that the video was released, he could watch it himself.
After a while, he heard Bai Jinyan saying in the video, “We’ve been together since we were kids. We’re family.”
Qiao Huaiyao’s eyes widened. It was true that they were family, but…
In the future, their relationship might be even better, building on the foundation of family. His face warmed up, and his heart raced uncontrollably. His breathing seemed to stop for a moment, and his hand holding the phone tightened until the screen turned white.
As the progress bar moved, the host asked Bai Jinyan how he felt about Qiao Huaiyao’s unique appearance.
Bai Jinyan explained, “It’s not particularly unique; it’s just usual.”
Qiao Huaiyao’s eyes widened suddenly, hearing an unexpected answer. The warmth spread from behind his ears, and his heart was racing at an unimaginable speed. He couldn’t even breathe properly. His grip on the phone tightened, and his fingertips turned white.
The progress bar quickly moved to the later part of the video. Qiao Huaiyao hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help but rewind the video back to the beginning.
He edited the part he liked, downloaded it, and saved it in his album, including the video recording. The edited clip was pinned as a favorite in his phone.
Bai Jinyan’s tone was casual, but his expression was unusually serious. With a nonchalant attitude, he dropped a bombshell, making it sound like an ordinary and unremarkable thing. It gave people the impression that he had always been this way.
The video played without him realizing, automatically switching to the next one.
Qiao Huaiyao’s attention was focused on the edited clip, and he was about to close the video, but then he noticed that it was Bai Jinyan’s solo part.