Chapter 4: The Law of Attraction Between the Same Kind

The aftermath of talking too much that day was the appearance of a “copycat expert” in Li Zhiyi’s Moments.

The term “copycat expert,” requiring a certain level of internet-savvy vocabulary, was definitely not coined by Li Zhiyi but by Hu Tianhao.

Hu Tianhao cautiously asked, “Hey, don’t you feel a sort of prickling sensation down your spine lately when you scroll through Moments?”

“What kind of description is that?” Li Zhiyi didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids. “My back feels perfectly fine; there’s no discomfort for now.”

“But, but…” Hu Tianhao gestured with his hands. “Lately, every time I scroll through Moments, I see two of you.”

“Two of me?” Li Zhiyi smirked slightly. “If you have any issues with your vision, feel free to tell me directly. Out of moral obligation, I’ll cover all your medical expenses for treating your eye condition. Don’t worry; I definitely won’t leave you hanging.”

“Aiya, what I mean is, someone is imitating you!” Hu Tianhao hurriedly pulled out his phone to prove his point. “It’s absolutely true—my vision is 5.0, so there’s no way I’d see it wrong!”

Imitating? This word was intriguing, and Li Zhiyi’s interest was piqued.

“Go on.”

“Remember that little green tea… oh no, I mean Qiao Xingzhou, the one we saw a couple of days ago?”

“Qiao Xingzhou, I remember.” Li Zhiyi thought for a moment, still puzzled. “What does ‘little green tea’ mean?”

“It’s used to describe someone who seems innocent on the surface but is actually just pretending!” Hu Tianhao explained methodically. “Qiao Xingzhou is most likely like that.”

“Qiao Xingzhou doesn’t seem like that kind of person,” Li Zhiyi instinctively countered.

Hu Tianhao raised his eyebrow. “So if you don’t think he’s a green tea, then who is?”

Li Zhiyi fell silent. “No one comes to mind in that regard.”

“Exactly! This proves that you, Mr. Li, can’t tell who’s a green tea at all.” Hu Tianhao declared with satisfaction. “So, trust me on this, if I say Qiao Xingzhou is a green tea, then he is! Qiao Xingzhou is absolutely a top-grade ‘Mingqian Longjing’ level green tea, so green, so tea-like!”

“And how do you know he’s a green tea?”

“Of course, because I usually watch melodramatic… uh, wait, no, I can’t say that,” Hu Tianhao quickly caught himself.

An urban elite standing at 1.88 meters, reading melodramatic BL stories every day, it’s a bit damaging to his image.

“Ahem, anyway, I have my own theory.” Hu Tianhao cleared his throat, scrolling through Moments. “Let’s stick to the facts. Look closely, this person’s posts overlap with yours by 99%! If that’s not imitation, then what is it?”

Li Zhiyi took the phone and examined it carefully.

A couple of days ago, Li Zhiyi bought a new red shirt, wore it to a ribbon-cutting event, and posted about it in his work Moments.

Qiao Xingzhou commented below: “Brother, you look great in this shirt.”

“Look, look!” At this moment, Hu Tianhao was fiercely jabbing his finger at that comment.

“What about it?” Li Zhiyi was puzzled. “He complimented me. It’s just friendly, isn’t that a good thing?”

“The issue isn’t with him complimenting you.” Hu Tianhao pulled up Qiao Xingzhou’s Moments, showing a photo of him wearing the same shirt style, but in green. “The issue is that he went behind your back, got someone to order the same shirt globally, but in green. Green! Isn’t that a classic green tea move?!”

Li Zhiyi gently offered his perspective. “Basing it on color alone might be a bit hasty, don’t you think?”

“It’s not about the color! It’s about the fact that it’s the same shirt, the same style,” Hu Tianhao said, exasperated. “Mr. Li, would you go out of your way to buy the same shirt as me?”

Li Zhiyi answered without hesitation, “No, I wouldn’t.”

Hu Tianhao finally saw a glimmer of hope. “Exactly! And why wouldn’t you? Why would he?”

“I wouldn’t because I don’t have much faith in your fashion sense; he would, probably because he trusts mine,” Li Zhiyi replied, seemingly puzzled. “Hu Tianhao, aren’t you being a bit too sensitive?”

Hu Tianhao was practically spitting blood. “I’ve been going on about this for half a day, and you actually think I’m being sensitive?”

Li Zhiyi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Besides, it seems like he looks even better in that shirt than I do.”

“Fine, fine! Luckily, I have a second piece of evidence.” Hu Tianhao held his breath, pulling up another post from Moments.

In Li Zhiyi’s Moments, he had shared his thoughts on a certain movie.

Qiao Xingzhou commented: “Is it good? I didn’t originally like this genre.”

Hu Tianhao looked at Li Zhiyi expectantly, clearly wanting him to react. Li Zhiyi obliged, saying, “Hmm, he’s just expressing his own preferences in the comment. There’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

“‘Nothing wrong’?” Hu Tianhao was utterly deflated. “He secretly arranged a late-night showing, wrote a review overnight, and look—three thousand words.”

After reading it, Li Zhiyi looked impressed. “It’s really well-written, much more thoughtful than mine, and quite eloquent. I wouldn’t have guessed that someone as gentle as him could write something with such impact.”

With that, he even used Hu Tianhao’s phone to give the post a like.

“I didn’t bring this up so you could become his pen pal!” Hu Tianhao tried to hold back, but he found he really couldn’t. “I wanted you to see that in every aspect—clothes, food, lifestyle—he’s secretly imitating you.”

“So?” Li Zhiyi listened, still unsure what Hu Tianhao was trying to convey.

Hu Tianhao hadn’t expected this reaction. “What do you mean, ‘so’? He’s imitating you! Aren’t you supposed to dislike him for that?”

“We’re not kids playing pretend anymore,” Li Zhiyi chuckled. “I have so many things to handle every day, why would I care what a young guy does? The fact that he’s imitating me just shows he admires me. It’s just a young person’s mindset. As long as he’s not disrupting my life, let him be.”

“But what if… he doesn’t just want to imitate you?” Hu Tianhao tried to hint at something more.

“What else would he want? Profit off imitating me, enter some kind of imitation contest?” Li Zhiyi laughed, dismissing the idea himself. “That’s too far-fetched. The Qiao family isn’t exactly starving for money.”

Brother, if he’s not after your money, can’t he be after you?!

But Hu Tianhao couldn’t say that out loud. After all, he was a dignified and well-dressed CEO, not some BL novel enthusiast!

—

As for how this situation developed, that depended on the “battle reports” coming from Qiao Xingzhou’s side.

“Xiao Zhou, how does it feel to attend a gathering with people your own age?”

As soon as he got home, Qiao Xingzhou’s older brother, who was decidedly overprotective, asked with a touch of grievance.

“Not bad, I met some interesting people.” Qiao Xingzhou sought his brother Qiao Minglang’s advice. “Big Brother, do you know how to get closer to someone?”

“That’s easy, give him a million,” Qiao Minglang replied bluntly.

“No, that won’t work.” Qiao Xingzhou rejected the suggestion. “He doesn’t seem like he needs a million.”

“Uh, if money won’t win him over, then try using feelings?” Qiao Minglang suggested again.

Qiao Xingzhou blinked. “That sounds like a good idea. How should I do it?”

“Now that you mention it, your big brother here has experience in this! I’ve used this method to get closer to plenty of people, it’s the Law of Attraction Between the Same Kind!”

Qiao Xingzhou was a bit skeptical. “What kind of law is this? I’ve never heard of it before.”

Qiao Minglang showed no trace of embarrassment. “Of course you haven’t heard of it, because it’s a law I invented myself.”

Somehow, that made it sound even less reliable.

Gritting his teeth, Qiao Xingzhou said, “Alright then, tell me, Brother… how does this… whatever law work?”

“Simply put, you start by understanding his lifestyle and daily interests, then casually show that you’re also interested in the same things. That way, you’ll naturally get closer, and you’ll have topics to talk about.” Qiao Minglang enthusiastically explained his law. “Whatever he likes, you like too, can’t go wrong with that. He’s bound to think you have great taste and feel like it’s a shame you didn’t meet sooner.”

“Big Brother, is this really how you get close to people?” Qiao Xingzhou was still a bit doubtful. “And if it doesn’t bring you closer, what do you do then?”

Qiao Minglang replied without hesitation, “Then it’s time to offer him ten million.”

Although Qiao Xingzhou found his brother’s approach hard to believe, he realized he didn’t have any better ideas for now. So he decided to give it a shot, hoping for the best.

“Alright, I’ll give it a try as you suggested. I’ll start by figuring out what to post on Moments.”

“Go on, go on,” Qiao Minglang waved his hand. “Oh, and remember to check your audience settings, I want to see it too!”

Big Brother, still as protective as ever in his overbearing big-brother style.