SG 50

After putting down the phone, Chu Baiyan felt a bit calmer. He turned around and looked at Yan Anqing, who was sleeping soundly, and he gently brushed his cheek with his fingers.

He hoped Yan Anqing would never find out about this. He only wanted him to wait until everything calmed down and then return to his quiet life. None of this was something Yan Anqing should have had to face.

Chu Baiyan’s T-shirt was too big on him. The collar was loose because of how he slept, and a part of his chest showed. Moonlight filtered through the curtains and shone dimly on his body. His messy hair looked soft, and the warm light glowed on his cheeks, collarbone, and chest.

“You sleep like a little pig.” Chu Baiyan leaned closer and whispered beside his ear.

Maybe because his ear felt itchy, Yan Anqing moved his hand unconsciously to scratch, and his wrist was caught. Chu Baiyan kissed the space between his brows, pulled him into his arms, and closed his eyes.

The next morning, while Yan Anqing shaped clay, Chu Baiyan used his own account to post the edited video. Lu Ran had reminded him clearly that the account had to be wiped clean of any personal trace. Chu Baiyan had only used that account to watch videos before and had never posted, but to be safe, he even unfollowed everyone.

“I’m going to the aquarium. Lock the shop door well. There’s food in the fridge. Cook a little for lunch. Don’t open the door before I come back.” Before leaving, Chu Baiyan repeated his instructions again.

“You said it many times already.” Yan Anqing had just finished shaping a bowl and set it on the rack. His hands were covered in clay. He walked over and stood on his toes to kiss Chu Baiyan on the lips to show that he understood.

When Chu Baiyan arrived at the staff lounge right on time, he had just walked in when a coworker called out.

“Xiao Chu, I just saw a clarification video online. Did you post it?” a coworker asked. She had been following the situation these days.

“About time. Too many people jumped in to spread that fake story. People online just love drama. Most don’t even know what actually happened, and they’re still stirring things up.” A male coworker clapped his hands in approval. “I already liked, commented, and reposted.”

“This angle’s different from the one you sent us before. Is it from another camera?” The coworker who had told him to wait before noticed that this wasn’t the same video he’d shown them earlier.

While everyone talked over each other, Chu Baiyan got confused. He had checked the video he posted while in the elevator earlier, and it had only two likes and one comment, no reposts. So where had they seen theirs?

“Show me. I did post one this morning, but it hasn’t gotten any views yet.” After saying that, he shared his version with each coworker.

When he opened the link his coworker sent him, he saw it was from the same incident. He watched it twice carefully. The camera seemed to be from the diagonal back side. Two vague figures came to mind, and he remembered the two guys who had come later and bought a bunch of things.

That video only showed the parts where the influencer asked for free stuff, broke the plate, and cursed. It didn’t include the later part, clearly out of consideration for privacy.

“This must have been filmed accidentally by the other two customers who were there that day.” Chu Baiyan put his phone down and explained to everyone.

“See? The truth can be late, but it always shows up. For every vile person, there’s a kind one. I’ll share both videos in my family and friends group and ask them to help spread them.”

“I already sent them to my close contacts. The girls I bought ceramics for last time will post them in their own group chats too.”

“This video’s perfect. It completely proves that influencer smeared the shop after failing to get free stuff. I’ll send it around too. The more people post it, the better chance one of them goes viral.”

“Thanks, everyone. Lunch is on me. Tell me what you want.” After days of pressure, Chu Baiyan finally felt a bit of relief. He opened the other clarification video and saw that it had been uploaded at eleven-thirty the previous night. Overnight, it had already gotten some likes, reposts, and comments.

He left a thank-you comment under it and reposted it to his own account.

At lunchtime, everyone checked their phones again to see the view count and started talking about it. Even though reposts had gone up, most were from small personal accounts, so traffic was limited. Some of the better-performing videos already had the influencer’s fans leaving comments, claiming the shop owner had hired bots to fake support.

Because of these clarification videos, the whole situation spread further instead of dying down. The golden week ended, but the online debate didn’t.

Jindu Ocean Park got ranked by netizens as the top place to watch the “mermaid show.” Searching for anything about it now showed “merman plate,” “Starfish Pottery,” the slanderous video, and the clarification videos together.

People trying to chase attention or find the truth kept coming. Even when the shop was closed during the day, there were always people peeking in and taking photos with their phones. At night, half the customers came with phones out to record their visit. Even someone as slow as Yan Anqing could feel that something was wrong.

On sunday morning after breakfast, the surrounding shops were still closed. Without the cicadas, the whole street was quiet. As usual, Yan Anqing turned his back and let Chu Baiyan tie his apron strings. After they were tied, he turned around and hugged Chu Baiyan’s waist, resting his head on his shoulder.

“I don’t like so many people coming every day to take pictures.”

“Then close the shop for a few days.” Chu Baiyan kissed his forehead. This situation was too cruel for Yan Anqing.

There were more people online questioning the influencer’s intentions, but that didn’t stop others from coming, and no one could tell who meant well or who didn’t.

Yan Anqing hummed softly, still feeling down, and stayed in Chu Baiyan’s arms without moving. The “Welcome” chime at the door rang, and they both turned their heads.

Grandma pushed open the glass door and stopped when she saw the two of them holding each other. She was about call “baby” but stopped in shock.

That morning, the housekeeper, Aunt Zhou, had shown her a video claiming that “Starfish Pottery” bullied customers, kicked them out, and even hit them. She clicked to watch and saw that it really was Yan Anqing, and the one throwing the punch was Chu Baiyan. How could that be possible?

Afraid she couldn’t sort things out over the phone, she had settled Grandpa at home and hurried over. But before she could even ask, something even more shocking appeared before her eyes.

“Grandma.” Yan Anqing straightened up and called out, his hands still around Chu Baiyan’s waist.

“Grandma.” Chu Baiyan also greeted her.

She looked at the two standing before her. Chu Baiyan’s arm was still around Yan Anqing’s back. When he realized she was watching, he let go, but only to hold Yan Anqing’s hand instead. Grandma’s heart skipped a beat. What kind of friends held each other like that and still held hands?