Chapter 20: Qi Ze Peels Shrimp for Me

On Monday morning, during the reading session, Jiang Mingyue was dozing off at her desk.

In a half-asleep state, she vaguely heard Chen Xiangyi and her deskmate discussing the news about a big celebrity from the entertainment industry, who had kept her marriage and child a secret until now.

Chen Xiangyi: “It can’t be true… Isn’t the high-cold and stunning Goddess always single?”

Zhou Qianqian: “I don’t really believe it either… Hey, look at these photos…”

The voices of the two seemed to reach her ears as if coming through water.

She turned over and covered her ears, continuing to sleep.

“Hey, doesn’t this girl look a lot like Jiang Mingyue?” Chen Xiangyi enlarged the photo on her phone and carefully examined it.

Zhou Qianqian: “This must be Yueyue.”

“Mingyue, wake up, quickly look, is this you?”

Chen Xiangyi, with a gossiping and excited expression, shook Jiang Mingyue’s arm.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

Jiang Mingyue had just dreamed about having a big meal with Qi Ze. Just as she was about to take a bite, she felt a sudden shake and woke up.

Jiang Mingyue rubbed her eyes and sat up.

Chen Xiangyi held her phone up to her face: “Quick, take a look, is this you?”

Jiang Mingyue took the phone and immediately recognized herself in the photo.

In the photo, she was standing at the entrance of a residential complex, with a car parked next to her. Yu Beibei stood beside the car, looking at her.

The lights next to the complex were bright. Although the picture was a bit blurry since it was taken at night, her features were still easy to distinguish.

She had been secretly photographed last night.

Chen Xiangyi kept asking: “Mingyue, is this really you?”

“Wait a minute, let me take another look.” Jiang Mingyue clicked on the news for more details.

The news article revealed that a popular and high-cold actress had secretly married and had a child in the past, only to divorce less than two years later. She had denied the rumors for a long time, but yesterday, paparazzi caught her spending time with her daughter.

There were several photos attached at the bottom.

Jiang Mingyue, having just arrived in this world, had never paid much attention to the entertainment industry or learned about Yu Beibei’s status in it. But upon seeing this, she realized Yu Beibei was quite famous.

“Are you really Yu Beibei’s daughter?”

Chen Xiangyi’s curiosity was burning, and she eagerly asked Jiang Mingyue.

Jiang Mingyue returned the phone to her. “That person is me.”

There was no way to deny it.

“Ah, so you really are Yu Beibei’s daughter?”

Chen Xiangyi’s eyes widened in excitement.

“How are you so sure I’m her daughter? Just because we were photographed together? That’s a bit of a stretch.”

Jiang Mingyue wasn’t sure whether to admit this or not.

“Hmm… it does seem a bit far-fetched, but…”

Chen Xiangyi looked directly into Jiang Mingyue’s eyes, scanned her face, and slowly spoke.

“But I just realized today that you really look a lot like Yu Beibei, especially your eyes. If you two were standing together, no one would doubt you were mother and daughter.”

Jiang Mingyue: “…”

Just as she was unsure of how to respond, her deskmate Zhou Qianqian timely intervened.

Zhou Qianqian: “Yu Beibei released a statement, you guys should look.”

“What statement?”

Chen Xiangyi quickly began scrolling through her phone, while Jiang Mingyue also took out her phone. No need to search—she could directly see it on the trending topics.

Jiang Mingyue clicked on the trending topic 【Yu Beibei’s Statement】.

The statement was very simple: it directly denied having a daughter, clearly stating that the paparazzi’s claims were mere speculation, and the two people in the photo were only relatives.

The comments below were almost entirely in support of Yu Beibei.

Chen Xiangyi: “So you guys are relatives?”

“Yep, we’re relatives.”

Just at that moment, Jiang Mingyue also didn’t know how to answer, so this worked perfectly.

Chen Xiangyi: “You look so much alike, what kind of relatives are you?”

“Uh… she’s my aunt.” Jiang Mingyue could only make up an excuse.

“Wow, that’s amazing! Can you get me an autographed photo of your aunt? I really like her.”

Chen Xiangyi looked at her excitedly.

Zhou Qianqian also looked at her with excitement: “Can you get one for me too?”

“…Okay, I’ll ask for one next time I see her. But I don’t see her often, so I don’t know when I’ll see her next.”

Chen Xiangyi: “It’s fine, if it’s convenient for you, please get one for me. If not, it’s okay.”

“Mm-hmm.”

They continued chatting about other gossip.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

At lunch in the cafeteria, Jiang Mingyue felt as though many eyes were on her, though she couldn’t quite tell whether they were obvious or not.

People around her were whispering.

“Do you think she’s really Yu Beibei’s daughter?”

“But didn’t she release a statement denying it?”

“In this day and age, who believes in statements? I think it might be true. Just look at how much she looks like Yu Beibei.”

Jiang Mingyue glanced over in the direction of the voices, and the group immediately fell silent.

She didn’t pay it any further attention and focused on the shrimp in her hand.

Qi Ze: “Are they talking about you?”

Qi Ze had also noticed the gazes from the people around her.

Jiang Mingyue casually nodded: “They probably are, but we don’t need to pay attention to them.”

Seeing her calm expression, Qi Ze didn’t say anything else.

The taste of the oil-braised shrimp was very good, but she didn’t quite want to peel them.

If she put them directly into her mouth, they didn’t taste as good.

“Qi Ze, do you want some shrimp?”

Jiang Mingyue picked up a piece of oil-braised shrimp and asked him. When she saw he didn’t object, she carefully placed it on the edge of his plate.

“Try it, it’s really delicious.”

Qi Ze put down his chopsticks after taking a bite of rice and extended his long fingers.

His fingers were fair, with blue veins clearly visible under the skin. His nails were neatly trimmed, rounded, and had a healthy pinkish hue.

Qi Ze picked up the large shrimp, removed the head, peeled off the shell, and slowly placed the shrimp meat into his mouth, chewing leisurely.

“Is it good?” Jiang Mingyue asked, biting on her chopsticks.

Qi Ze nodded and swallowed the food in his mouth. “It’s not bad.”

He then reached for a napkin to wipe his hands, but Jiang Mingyue quickly stopped him.

“Wait, I’ll give you more.” Jiang Mingyue waved her chopsticks and added all the shrimp from her plate to his.

“…”

Qi Ze looked at the chopsticks that had just been in her mouth and then at the shrimp on the plate.

When she was about to pick up the last shrimp, Qi Ze stopped her chopsticks.

Qi Ze: “Why aren’t you eating?”

“I… I’m eating! Well, this one’s for me, then.”

Jiang Mingyue smoothly took the last shrimp, placed it in her mouth, bit off the shrimp’s head, and then struggled to extract the shrimp meat with her teeth.

She spit out the mangled shrimp shell.

Qi Ze: “…”

He continued reaching for the shrimp, peeling it to reveal a complete piece of shrimp meat, and then placed it on Jiang Mingyue’s plate.

Jiang Mingyue was delighted: “Wow, for me? Thank you!”

She ate it in one bite.

Then, the second piece of shrimp meat was placed into her plate.

Jiang Mingyue: “You don’t have to give me any more, just eat it yourself.”

Qi Ze continued his actions: “I’m good.”

Jiang Mingyue: “Huh? Why not? Didn’t you say it was really good?”

Qi Ze: “Because it’s been touched by your saliva.”

Jiang Mingyue: “…”

Was this a rejection? But didn’t he just eat one earlier?

Jiang Mingyue felt a bit displeased, but when she saw him continue placing peeled shrimp into her plate, that little annoyance disappeared.

Who wouldn’t be happy with someone peeling shrimp for them?

Jiang Mingyue: “Since you’re peeling shrimp for me, I’ll let it go this time.”

Qi Ze: “Heh.”