Chapter 20 Even he had things he couldn't get...

At the New Year's Eve dinner table, Yu Yue finally met her twin brother and sister.

The girl's name is Yu An, and she's the older sister. Her younger brother's name is Yu Le, and they're the youngest in the family. They're both in high school this year, fifteen or sixteen years old—the kind of age that even dogs wouldn't want to be around.

When Yu Yue returned home yesterday, she didn't see the two of them. She later learned that they had gone out to play with their classmates and didn't come home until late at night. By then, Yu Yue had already finished dinner and was getting ready for bed, so she didn't see them.

The next morning, when she got up to edit the video, she was still sleeping in. By noon, when they got up, Yu Yue had already gone out to walk the dog.

So much so that she had been back for two days before she finally saw her younger brother and sister.

If it weren't for the fact that we were having New Year's Eve dinner together tonight and celebrating the New Year together at home, she probably wouldn't have seen the two of them at all.

The last time Yu Yue saw her younger brother and sister was a long time ago. In the blink of an eye, they had grown up a lot and she almost didn't recognize them. Especially with their hip-hop style outfits, black nail polish, ripped jeans and shoes, and rows of earrings and studs, it was really hard to connect them with the little kids they used to be.

Of course, Yu An and Yu Le were the same; they didn't have much of an impression of their eldest sister, only knowing that she had been studying in their hometown and then went to a big city to attend university and work.

The two younger siblings grew up in H City and rarely returned to their hometown, so they naturally didn't see each other and were somewhat estranged. Not to mention, their older sister was dressed like a well-behaved girl with black-rimmed glasses, looking rather boring, so they had no desire to chat and pretended not to see her.

"You two finally know to come home, but you didn't even say hello to your sister. How rude!" Liu Yu shouted, banging on the table.

"Oh, hello sister." The two said in unison, their drawn-out, weak voices giving Liu Yu and Yu's father a headache.

Yu Yue smiled and nodded, not knowing what to say, and focused on eating her food.

At the dinner table, Ms. Liu kept nagging, while the twin siblings sat there with disdain, acting nonchalantly and not eating properly. After a short while, they started playing games on their phones.

It wasn't until Yu's father asked what Yu Yue had been doing and when she would look for a job again that the blame finally fell on her.

"What kind of bullshit blogger is this? Can you make money as a blogger? Even if you can, it's not stable. You still need to find a job." Mr. and Mrs. Yu frowned deeply. In their eyes, a child without a proper job is no different from a useless person. They would be ashamed to face people when they go out.

If she hadn't been so capable, bringing home a handsome and wealthy boyfriend this year, their tone of voice might be much harsher now.

"If it really doesn't work out, you should just get married sooner rather than later. You won't have to work and can focus on taking care of the family," Liu Yu advised.

In her eyes, marrying a rich and good man is more reliable than finding a civil service job. If they could get married, she would definitely throw a big wedding banquet, and all her girlfriends would probably be extremely envious.

Especially since that young man is not only handsome and has a good job, but he's also a top student, graduating from one of the best universities in the country. It's incredible! She almost woke up laughing in her dream last night.

Yu Yue didn't want to talk about this topic at all, not to mention that Gu Yunze wasn't her boyfriend, so she could only give a vague reply and continue eating.

The parents reacted strongly, but the siblings, who had been engrossed in playing games at the dinner table, suddenly perked up when they heard she was a pet blogger.

"Sis, you're a blogger now?" Yu Le, the lively younger brother, looked up from his game and asked curiously, "How many followers do you have? What's your account? Is it on Lizhi FM?"

The most popular self-media platform in China right now is Lizhi.com, which covers almost all the most popular cutting-edge content products, including social media, entertainment, novels, and videos. It is also the largest internet platform in China.

"Hmm." Yu Yue thought for a moment. There was nothing she couldn't tell them, and it would also stop her parents from nagging her. So she directly told them her account name: "Yu Meili and her best friend dog."

"What a ridiculous name!" Mr. Yu couldn't help but complain. In his opinion, young people these days don't know what they're doing. They don't work properly, they don't study properly, and they just mess around all day.

However, the next second, Yu Le jumped up and exclaimed, "Holy crap, sis, you're a huge internet celebrity! You have over 300,000 followers!!"

Even Yu An, the cool and aloof rebellious girl who didn't like to talk to anyone, couldn't help but widen her eyes. She had just searched as well, and as soon as she entered the character 'Yu', the corresponding search bar showed the keywords: Yu Meili and her best friend dog.

Once you click in, you'll see that the account doesn't have many videos, but almost every one of them has a lot of views. The two pinned videos, in particular, have exploded in traffic and received five-figure likes.

Who would have thought that my seemingly plain and uninteresting older sister is actually a minor internet celebrity?

You know, in the eyes of kids these days, having a following and being popular is the most enviable thing. At first, the two of them didn't like to talk to each other, but now they're both very enthusiastic, asking all sorts of questions and calling her "sister" this and "sister" that.

"Sister, can I take a picture with Meili Kaixin?"

"Sis, how much do you make per ad now? Are you making a lot of money?"

"Sis, my classmate said she knows you too. Can you be in the next video with her?"

"sister……"

Yu Yue was both amused and exasperated, never expecting that the reputation of an online influencer would be so effective in the eyes of children.

“Okay, but there’s one condition,” Yu Yue said.

"Go ahead!" the two said readily, appearing ready to grant any request.

"That means you'll all need to take the dog out for walks these few days while you're home," Yu Yue said. "Can you do that?"

Perfect timing, she also wanted to take a break. Two energetic dogs paired with two equally energetic kids, it couldn't be more perfect.

“If you do a good job, I’ll film a few videos just for you guys. You can bring your friends along if you want,” she said, expressing her thoughts.

A kid who's inexperienced and clumsy trying to walk the dog ends up exhausted – this kind of story might be quite interesting.

Recalling her past, Yu Yue shed tears of nostalgia.

Yu An and Yu Le, who hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the problem, were incredibly excited upon hearing this.

"No problem at all, we've got your back!" The thought of playing with the internet celebrity dog ​​and appearing on camera in videos, the traffic and attention he would receive, made him incredibly excited.

They couldn't even imagine how excited their classmates would be if they saw them on the video homepage. Not to mention, their older sister said that if they did well, they could bring their friends along for the video, which would be incredibly prestigious.

So the two sides reached a preliminary agreement very happily, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Yu at the dinner table somewhat stunned.

In the blink of an eye, these two difficult little ones submitted to their older sister's authority. Is being a pet blogger really such a big deal? Why am I so excited...?

"Is it really necessary for you two? Hurry up and eat, you still have to watch the Spring Festival Gala later," Mr. Yu said, frowning.

“You don’t understand, I’m a big star now.” Yu Le was still excited and unusually patient in explaining to her parents.

Thanks to the two little ones, the two men finally began to believe, albeit with some skepticism, that their daughter was doing quite well and earning a good amount of money. Although their views couldn't be changed overnight, they stopped opposing her as much.

“Your blogging career won’t last long; you should really think about the future.” After saying this, Mr. Yu didn’t mention it again.

"Mm," Yu Yue replied casually.

...

Time flew by, and it was already the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Firecrackers welcoming the God of Wealth had been going off intermittently since midnight until early morning. Unable to sleep anyway, Yu Yue got up early and decided to take the dog for a walk. She had a classmate reunion at noon today, so she wouldn't have time to walk the dog then.

"You're up so early today?" Ms. Liu glanced at the clock on the wall; it was only 7:30.

At home, the two high school students were still sleeping in, and you couldn't see them until the afternoon.

Of course, the main reason is that after I handed over the task of walking the dog to them these past two days, the chickens and dogs were running around in chaos for a while, and they were all exhausted.

As Meili and Kaixin grow up, and with such good food every day, they basically need to be walked three times a day to completely burn off their excessive energy. Even Xiaoxiao's older brother and sister can't keep up with them.

Yu Yue goes out for a walk once in the morning, and then leaves the other two walks to the two of them. She feels much more at ease now, as she can follow behind, film videos, and then go back to edit and upload them.

She had already edited the first video of her younger siblings walking the dog last night, and it could be uploaded today. If it weren't for this video, the two of them probably wouldn't have been able to keep going for even a day.

Owning dogs, especially two energetic dogs, is no easy task.

"I had a classmate reunion at noon, so I came early," Yu Yue said.

Liu Yu perked up immediately, her eyes lighting up as she asked, "Is it that handsome young man from last time?"

Yu Yue's lips twitched, she quickly nodded in agreement, and then led the two dogs out, giving the other party no chance to continue.

Liu Yu was disgruntled and could only shout towards the door, "Come back early and get dressed, or you'll be too late."

"I know." Yu Yue waved and ran off.

It was a cloudy day, and the overcast sky made it feel even colder. Yu Yue had put on a down jacket and wrapped a cashmere scarf when she went out, but even now, with her hands outside, she still felt a bit cold.

Even Meili and Kaixin were dressed in little cotton-padded jackets, one red and one green, which looked especially festive.

The ground was littered with the remains of firecrackers. Occasionally, groups of neighbors would gather around with smiles to see the two internet-famous dogs.

Indeed, the fact that she is now a very popular pet blogger online has spread to the neighborhood. Every time she goes out to walk her dog, everyone wants to come and take a look and pet it, just to join in the fun. Yu Yue is both amused and exasperated.

It was so cold today that while I was out for a walk, it suddenly started to snow lightly.

Yu Yue couldn't remember how long it had been since it snowed here. She opened her arms towards the sky, and a snowflake quietly landed in her palm.

It's beautiful.

It was the first time either of the dogs had seen snow, and their barks were filled with curiosity and excitement.

But Yu Yue still took them back; calculating the time, it would be too late if they were any later.

The class reunion was held in a shopping mall not far from her home. The meal was Western food, and when Yu Yue arrived, many classmates had already arrived.

As soon as they entered, the class monitor stood up to greet them.

"Ah, it's Yu Yue. You haven't changed much. I recognized you at a glance." The class monitor said with a smile, "I remember you used to be quiet in class, but you got along very well with Xiao Qi and Yun Ze, those two handsome guys. I wonder how many people envied you."

"Oh, is that so?" Yu Yue didn't know how to respond for a moment. "Maybe they just happened to be sitting behind me."

"Of course there are! Ask everyone if you don't believe me..."

The crowd immediately started teasing, "Yu Yue, stop pretending and just admit it, haha."

Just then, one of the parties involved walked in.

The moment everyone saw Gu Yunze, the atmosphere became even more lively.

"Genius, you've come at the perfect time! We were just saying that Yu Yue used to be closest to you and Xiao Qi, and didn't talk much to anyone else."

"I don't know much about her, but she and Xiao Qi are best friends," Gu Yunze said with a smile as he sat down, half-jokingly.

"Are you sure?" Yu Yue was practically rolling her eyes. "I'm at odds with that guy every day."

"Isn't this just flirting?" one of the girls muttered, and the scene immediately erupted into another uproar.

"Alright, stop teasing her," Gu Yunze said, trying to smooth things over. "Come and see what we're having to eat, instead of just chatting."

"Speaking of Xin Xiaoqi, he's really become a big star. His variety show is really popular lately, even my grandma watches it." While ordering food, everyone couldn't help but gossip about the big star from their class.

This whole mess was started because of him.

“I told my friends that this was my junior high school classmate, and they were all very excited.”

"Yeah, me too. She kept pestering me to gossip about what Xinqi was like in class before, and whether she had ever been in a relationship."

"No, although a lot of girls pursued him. Right, you genius, you were his deskmate back then, and you were best friends with him."

"Yes." Gu Yunze nodded with a smile.

"I knew it! Xiao Qi is so arrogant. He doesn't even look at those girls. How could he possibly be in a relationship?"

"Oh, that's because he has someone in his heart." Gu Yunze's casual remark instantly shocked the entire private room, leaving everyone, including Yu Yue, in a daze.

She stared at Gu Yunze in disbelief, just as her gaze met his, before looking away again.

"Holy crap, is this for real? We know each other, so why haven't we started dating?"

Everyone chimed in with their own words, excitedly looking at Gu Yunze.

"Yes, I know him. It's because he couldn't catch up with me." Gu Yunze said calmly, dropping a sentence that was enough to stun everyone.

"Damn, who is it?"

"Yeah, who is it?" Even Yu Yue asked gossipily, how come she didn't know?

Seeing her like this, some people subconsciously ruled out a certain possibility in their minds.

"I can't tell you that, who knows if he still likes her or not." Gu Yunze took a leisurely sip of tea. "But if he doesn't like her anymore, I'll have to take her away."

Everyone was stunned, their mouths agape, speechless.

This plot development seems a bit... overwhelming.

In an instant, everyone thought of the time in the second semester of the second year of junior high school when the two parted ways, which was probably because of this.

"Who on earth is it that has captured the hearts of two of our class's most handsome men at the same time?" someone asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

“It’s not necessarily someone from our class,” another person said.

"Is that the beautiful girl everyone in the grade knows?" As if testing Gu Yunze's reaction, everyone looked at him again.

But the other person just smiled slightly and said nothing.

"The food's served, it'll get cold if we don't eat it." Seeing that Gu Yunze was reluctant to talk, the class monitor tried to lighten the mood, "If only someone had Xin Xiaoqi's contact information, maybe we could invite him over for some fun. I've never seen a real big star before, I never expected to find one right next to me."

Everyone sighed again, "Even if they did, big stars might not be willing to come."

When he left, nobody knew, clearly he didn't want to have any contact with anyone.

"That's right, it's just us being enthusiastic. Besides, he's a rich young master, he looks down on us, we're not from the same world."

Everyone in the class knows how big the Xin family's business is. They are entrepreneurs who came from their small city, star companies, and the richest people. Now they are one of the leading companies in the food and catering industry. The Xin Group is well-known throughout the country.

“My friends were shocked when I told them how rich his family was.”

“Yes.” Another classmate immediately chimed in, “My best friend is a huge fan of his looks. She watches his variety shows every day and calls him ‘Brother Xin Qi’ all the time. She doesn’t even know that the hot pot seasoning she just bought is from his brand.”

"Doesn't he intend to inherit the family business?"

"Yes, I know. Maybe I just want to try my hand at the entertainment industry."

For a moment, everyone fell silent. It was fine if they didn't talk, but once they started talking, they realized that even though they were classmates, they were actually from completely different worlds, and they felt a sense of loss and disparity.

The students who were initially interested in boasting about their achievements suddenly lost interest.

Actually, Xinqi's family wasn't this powerful at the beginning, otherwise they wouldn't have become classmates. But it was precisely because they watched each other's brands grow bigger and bigger, and their companies become stronger and stronger, that they all felt a bit emotional.

Gu Yunze sat there silently, and when Yu Yue looked at him, he just smiled.

The meal was quickly finished, and the conversation had almost ended. Some students, not quite satisfied, made plans for a second round of karaoke.

The rest of them went home and made plans to meet again next time.

"Let me take you?" Gu Yunze said goodbye to the last classmate and quickly caught up with her.

Yu Yue was a little embarrassed and was about to speak when the other party opened the car parked on the side.

"Let's go, it's on the way."

So Yu Yue didn't stand on ceremony and got into his car.

"Actually, I'm quite jealous of him," Gu Yunze suddenly said.

This surprised Yu Yue, who hadn't thought of a good answer; it felt like a death trap.

"What, are you surprised?" He chuckled lightly, but there was no smile in his eyes.

The snow was falling heavier and heavier, making the road difficult to drive. Gu Yunze kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead as he spoke.

"It's alright, a little bit," Yu Yue admitted. "Everyone would be envious, right? Who wouldn't want to be a rich kid? I just didn't expect you, Gu Xueshen, to be like that too..."

He's tall, rich, and handsome—that brat Xin Qi has all three qualities. How can anyone not be jealous?

Gu Yunze chuckled upon hearing this, "I'm human too."

No one can escape it.

No matter how hard you work or how outstanding you are, it's not as good as someone who was born with it.

Sometimes when I think about it, it's really fucked up.

Even if you study finance and earn a million a year, you still can't compare to a big star, let alone a behemoth like his family's conglomerate.

Yu Yue didn't know how to comfort her, because she needed comforting too.

“However, seeing that he also has times of trouble and depression makes me feel better,” Gu Yunze said calmly. “Even he has things he desires but cannot obtain.”

...

The car quickly stopped near Yu Yue's house, and Gu Yunze gentlemanly got out and opened the car door for her.

"It's already snowed, be careful." He extended his hand and asked with a smile, "By the way, when are you going back to S City? Can we go together?"

"Thank you." Yu Yue's long coat made getting out of the car quite inconvenient, so she didn't stand on ceremony and reached out to help him up. He easily lifted her up with a gentle pull. "Not sure yet, we'll see later."

Yu Yue didn't rule it out completely; she was actually too embarrassed to trouble the other party any further.

"It's okay, I'll wait for your message." He reached out and shook his phone.

"Okay, thanks. Bye-bye..."

"Okay, bye-bye."

Gu Yunze got into the car and drove away. As the car turned the corner and prepared to make a U-turn, he caught a glimpse of a somewhat familiar, tall figure out of the corner of his eye, quietly watching him from the shadows.

Xiao Qi?

The two locked eyes, the eyes beneath the brim of the hat seemingly bloodshot, like a ravenous leopard lurking in the shadows, calmly watching its prey.

Gu Yunze chuckled softly inside the car, no longer looking at him, and focused on steering the wheel.

He quickly turned the car around, stepped on the gas, and drove away.