Mad Dog

However, Qiu Mi’s illusion was not wrong; in the evening, Jiang Qi once again gloriously trended on social media.
In other words, he had been trending for a month without dropping off. Without the protection of a company and the manipulation of fans, Jiang Qi was basically being attacked by rival companies with vested interests, mercilessly criticized for twenty-four hours a day.
Those netizens, eager for gossip, unleashed their critiques in various forms.
For example, today, one of the ten or so media outlets surrounding the filming crew of “Pride and Prejudice” captured some photos and videos after the crew left the alley. Coincidentally, it featured Jiang Qi and Zhi Qi standing together, with the young girl feeding him medicine.
In the images, Zhi Qi had her back to the camera, showing only her delicate and agile silhouette. The girl wore a knee-length, pale yellow dress that accentuated her graceful figure. Her exposed shoulders and slender calves were almost glowing, and her waist was so slim it barely filled a hand.
Just from her back, one could tell she was a beauty.
Although Jiang Qi’s face was somewhat dirty in the shots, his superior features—sharp eyebrows and bright eyes—could not be concealed.
Most striking was his expression, which, contrary to his usual arrogant demeanor in front of the camera, showed an unguarded softness in the corners of his eyes and brows.
And there was affection; one cannot hide the gaze of someone in love.
But that feeling lasted only a moment; it didn’t stop them from continuing to chime in with their thoughts—
[= =: Didn’t I say long ago that Jiang Qi has a girlfriend outside the industry? Isn’t this just proof?]
[= =: Fans of Actor Jiang are craving for proof!]
[= =: Are Jiang Qi’s girlfriend fans okay? What kind of fan would like such a violent and notorious artist?]
[= =: Hahahaha, everyone has fans, right? At least Jiang Qi is handsome and somewhat charming.]
[= =: Are the fans of Actor Jiang up there? Handsome is irrelevant, character matters, okay? If you like Actor Jiang’s looks, you should hope Ning finds someone like that who can take a beating.]
[= =: Being angry is useless; there are still people who like him.]
[= =: True, Jiang Qi’s girlfriend has been exposed for a while now, right? That woman went with him when he was beating someone; they seem to be birds of a feather (.).]
[= =: After all, they aren’t family; not being family means that girl should be a beauty from the looks of her back.]
[= =: #Once a beauty, but blind to reality#.]
[= =: Don’t disparage the once-beautiful; would a beauty even look at someone like Actor Jiang?]
[= =: By the way, how many times has Actor Jiang been caught on camera now? Still too afraid to publicly acknowledge the relationship? Don’t worry, even if Ning admits it, no one will feel like the world is ending.]
[= =: Is this the legendary #the house collapses, but no one gets hurt#? Hahahaha]
……
After #Jiang Qi’s suspected mysterious girlfriend visits the set# trended, it sparked a wave of heated discussions.
The online haters were strange; they hated Jiang Qi and used vicious language to insult and mock him, yet they couldn’t help but keep their eyes on him. When there was no news about Jiang Qi, they seemed eager to mock him from every angle, as if they had some kind of twisted obsession.
Whenever Zhi Qi saw those haters relentlessly targeting Jiang Qi online, a question would float in her mind.
Does insulting Jiang Qi make their lives better? Or can they make Jiang Qi’s situation worse with their insults? If you truly hated someone, shouldn’t you ignore them entirely, not even bothering to glance at them?
At first, Zhi Qi felt anger when she saw these so-called “righteous” critics, but now she only found it amusing.
Even when she herself got dragged into the insults, she didn’t care, and even felt a bit of ‘refreshing’ relief—she had wanted to face the world together with Jiang Qi, and even if it meant being insulted together, it wasn’t such a bad thing.
But Jiang Qi felt differently.
He rarely looked at his phone. This time, after work, he got into the car with Zhi Qi, sent home by Qiu Mi. During the drive, he noticed Zhi Qi was busy fiddling with her phone, and when he glanced over, he caught sight of the headline “Jiang Qi’s suspected mysterious girlfriend visits the set,” which made him frown.
What do you mean “suspected mysterious girlfriend”? It’s clearly a mysterious girlfriend! The term “suspected” is completely inappropriate.
Struggling to suppress his displeasure, Jiang Qi snatched the girl’s phone from her.
“Hey?” Zhi Qi was startled and instinctively said, “Don’t look…”
As soon as she said it, she realized it sounded a bit off—if she didn’t want Jiang Qi to see it, didn’t that imply there was something wrong?
Before she could finish her thought, she bit her lip in annoyance.
But as expected, Jiang Qi’s brows furrowed tighter and his expression darkened as he looked at the phone.
Jiang Qi didn’t often check his phone, but he could glean from those around him that he had been criticized relentlessly. Yet he never cared about being insulted.
Because Jiang Qi knew what he had done; it would be strange if he wasn’t criticized.
However, this time, those “despicable” people had targeted Zhi Qi, and he couldn’t tolerate that.
“These people,” Jiang Qi’s long fingers tightened around the phone, knuckles turning white as he spat out each word, “must be bored out of their minds.”
They were like gossiping aunts, eager to pry into others’ private matters.
Qiu Mi, driving in front, shivered at his cold tone, thinking Jiang Qi was angry about the insults directed at him. He comforted him, “Bro, it’s because you’re popular; they can’t help but dig into your life. It’s fine; we just won’t look at those things.”
As Qiu Mi spoke, he felt a bit confused.
After all, he knew Jiang Qi never really paid attention to online evaluations, so why was he looking today?
“Jiang Qi, what Qiu said is right.” Zhi Qi tugged at his sleeve, snatching her phone back and gently comforting him, “Why do you care what they say? The internet is a playground for keyboard warriors; they are always fearless because they are ignorant.”
Jiang Qi’s chest visibly heaved with anger as he gritted his teeth, “They are insulting you.”
“Where are they insulting me?” Zhi Qi saw how worked up he was and couldn’t help but chuckle. The girl shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant to comfort him, “The media didn’t even capture my face; they don’t even know my name. How can they say they are insulting me?”
……
While what she said was true, Jiang Qi still felt angry, and his clenched fists remained tense.
“Alright, don’t be angry.” Seeing Jiang Qi this upset, Zhi Qi couldn’t help but feel her heart soften, realizing it was because of the “insults” directed at her online.
“You need to control your emotions, okay?” Zhi Qi disregarded Qiu Mi still being in the car, tossed her phone aside, and cupped Jiang Qi’s face with her small hands, tilting her head slightly to kiss his tense jaw and lips, saying, “Be good, don’t be angry, okay?”
With Zhi Qi’s coaxing methods, even if Jiang Qi was furious, he could be easily melted away; there was no way he could stay angry.
But just thinking about those comments like “how many times have they caught him on camera now, and still too afraid to publicly admit the relationship?” made him feel a surge of frustration inside.
It sounded as if he was avoiding acknowledging his relationship with Zhi Qi and denying her a name.
Afraid? He wasn’t afraid of those keyboard warriors online.
Jiang Qi bit down gently on the girl’s soft lip, releasing her when she winced in pain, then affectionately coaxed her with kisses before finally letting her go.
Then, with a stern expression, he reached for the phone he had set aside, opened the app store, downloaded the “Weibo” app, and logged into his long-dormant Weibo account that he hadn’t used in eight hundred years.
That comment he had been too afraid to publish was clearly just words, but it echoed like a haunting melody in his mind, fueling Jiang Qi’s growing anger.
As if he was trying to defy someone, once he logged into Weibo, he ignored the barrage of messages that popped up and took a long time to locate the “post a Weibo” button—he had actually posted before, but since he hadn’t used the app in so long, he had forgotten.
Without a second thought, Jiang Qi edited a post saying, “I have a girlfriend; there’s no reason to be afraid to make it public,” and sent it out, instantly feeling a wave of relief wash over him.
He should have thought of this long ago; he should have officially announced to everyone that Zhi Qi was his.
Hearing the girl beside him ask what he was doing, he couldn’t help but smile slightly, then tossed the phone aside, wrapping his arms around Zhi Qi
to continue the kiss they had started earlier.
He mumbled, “It’s the official announcement.”
Although he wasn’t the brightest, he had learned a new term online.
Official announcement, um, official announcement.