Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The words of the newcomers immediately left everyone stunned.

Everyone's gaze turned in unison toward the group of uniformed individuals.

A dozen or so uniformed individuals stood out in the crowd, creating quite a spectacle.

Su Xingyao was the first to respond. Seeing that they were specifically looking for him, he stepped forward and approached the person at the front.

Su Xingyao politely extended his hand and said, "Hello, I'm Su Xingyao."

The other party clearly recognized him at first glance and immediately shook Su Xingyao's hand warmly, explaining their purpose.

"Hello, I am Wang Youwei, the head of the Market Supervision Bureau of Qingshan City."

"I am very sorry to disturb you and the entire film crew's shooting."

Director Wang Youwei's face showed a hint of apology as he continued to explain, "It's just that we've been looking for you for a while but couldn't reach you, so we had to wait here."

What Director Wang really wanted to say was that they couldn't find you, so they had to come here to find you.

But considering the crowd, he couldn't be entirely honest.

This wasn't entirely Director Wang's fault.

After all, all the contact information in Su Xingyao's public records online was provided by the celebrity side.

And the only phone number that could reach him had recently been changed.

Unaware of this situation, the person in charge of the Market Supervision Bureau had been trying to contact Su Xingyao since yesterday after seeing the video.

However, after a long search, they found that all the numbers they called were invalid.

Originally, everyone thought the banner they had bought overnight wouldn't be delivered.

Fortunately, today someone told them that the 'Let's Travel Together' program team was filming in this scenic area, and Su Xingyao was also there, but he would leave right after today's shoot.

Upon hearing this, the director quickly brought the Market Supervision Bureau team to the filming site to 'catch' him.

After hearing Wang Youwei's explanation, Su Xingyao suddenly understood.

Before he could speak, he found a banner quickly thrust into his hands by the enthusiastic Director Wang.

The other party thanked him solemnly, "Thank you, Mr. Su, for your oversight of the night market stalls and mobile vendors' ghost scales in our Qingshan City."

Feeling he hadn't done much, but with a banner suddenly thrust into his hands, Su Xingyao was startled by Director Wang's gesture.

"Thank... thank you, I actually didn't do much."

For the first time in his life receiving a banner, Su Xingyao, after thanking, looked down in surprise and curiosity.

Then he saw the banner, on which four striking golden characters were written in Song typeface—

Dedicated Citizen!

Dedicated Citizen Su Xingyao himself: o.o

The netizens in the live stream who were shocked by the banner: !!!!

"At first, seeing so many people in uniforms, I thought Su Xingyao had gotten into trouble."

"Who would have thought that Su Xingyao was chased by the bureau chief to the filming site to receive a banner of commendation."

"The bureau chief’s expression, like he was afraid Su Xingyao might vanish if he blinked, is hilarious."

"It's clear that Su Xingyao is really hard to find—look how anxious the bureau chief is."

"Yet, Su Xingyao, now holding the banner, is still totally baffled, haha."

"Haha, this live broadcast is totally unexpected—this scene is so funny, who else gets it?"

"Who knew that tuning into a variety show live would let me see the bureau chief personally handing a banner to a concerned citizen?"

While netizens were enjoying the interesting scene they caught on the live broadcast, Zhang Shanfeng suddenly realized and shouted to the director, "Quick, shut down the live broadcast!"

The production crew was also shocked by the banner presentation and didn’t notice the live broadcast issue. After Zhang Shanfeng's reminder, they quickly cut off all live broadcasts.

Instantly, viewers found their screens going dark.

"Wait, what? I was enjoying it—why’s it gone?"

"Zhang Shanfeng, are you serious?!!"

"You’re really not gonna show me such an interesting scene?"

"What happened next? What happened next??? Ugh, I need to know! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"

"Is my VIP status not good enough? Fine, I’ll upgrade to SVIP right now!"

While netizens were going crazy over the interrupted broadcast, Bureau Chief Wang and the market supervision bureau warmly invited Su Xingyao to take a commemorative photo with them.

After waiting forever for the broadcast to resume, eager netizens flocked to forums to share the incident with those who missed it.

In no time, the story of Su Xingyao being chased down by Qingshan City’s Market Supervision Bureau to receive a banner went viral. Some on-site viewers even uploaded photos of Su Xingyao holding the banner and taking a photo with Bureau Chief Wang.

Netizens couldn’t stop laughing when they saw it.

It was already wild that a star was cracking down on ghost scales, but getting a banner from the local market supervision bureau as a ‘concerned citizen’? Next level.

Soon, hashtags like #SuXingyaoChasedForBanner and #SuXingyaoConcernedCitizen were trending again, thanks to netizens.

"I didn’t expect it to be this hilarious before clicking in."

"Concerned Citizen Su Xingyao—hahaha, he probably never saw this coming."

"Su Xingyao, maybe quit acting and stick to variety shows—I’ll stop hating on you, I swear."

"Just when I thought the ghost scale thing would blow over, a banner brings it back to life."

After checking out the trending topics and leaked photos, netizens were laughing all night.

Just when netizens thought the fun was over, something even crazier happened.

After tracking down Su Xingyao, the Qingshan City Market Supervision Bureau thanked him by @-ing him on their official blog and sharing the banner presentation.

Not only that, the officials openly addressed the issue of dishonest scales afterward, nor did they try to shut down the voices of netizens and residents. Instead, they carefully outlined their mistakes on their official social media and posted a genuine and practical plan for improvement.

Finally, the officials sincerely invited residents and online users to supervise them and the market of Qingshan City.

After hearing the officials' statement, netizens jumped into action, with many even participating in the supervision project on the same day.

Soon, netizens on various platforms shared their feedback right away that very night.

Everyone said that the issue of dishonest scales and other problems had been greatly improved.

But that wasn’t the real story.

The main point was that everyone who visited Qingshan City mentioned one thing.

That is, the local night market's specialty snacks are incredibly tasty!

Qingshan City had already been trending recently, and everything about them was closely watched by netizens.

Seeing that all the visitors from other cities who went there unanimously mentioned the local delicacies, many couldn’t resist the food’s allure.

Some even flew out immediately to personally check the truth...

And these investigators echoed what the earlier visitors had said.

It's really delicious!!

Thanks to all the buzz, overnight, Qingshan City, which had a struggling tourism industry, suddenly went viral online.

By the next day, hotels in Qingshan City were nearly sold out.

The locals of Qingshan City never expected that just because Su Xingyao inadvertently exposed a dishonest scale, it would indirectly give their local tourism a boost.

So more people wanted to give Su Xingyao commendations.

However, they couldn't find Su Xingyao himself, so they could only post online.

Netizens and major bloggers, seeing this unexpected development and outcome, couldn’t resist retracing the steps of Su Xingyao and Qingshan City's sudden popularity.

But no matter how they retraced, they felt that this series of events was strange and dramatic.

Yet, such an absurd thing just naturally happened.

While netizens were still trying to figure out what was going on, the local government had already accepted it very well.

The local official media directly released a video of Su Xingyao.

Various official social media accounts also appeared, all @ing Su Xingyao to praise him.

Later, the government specially invited Su Xingyao to record an interview, which was broadcast during the prime time on the most authoritative local TV station.

The reception was first-class.

This content was soon posted online.

Netizens immediately went to watch the video and found that Su Xingyao did not focus much on the issue of dishonest scales in the interview.

Instead, he humbly and thoroughly shared all the tips for picking vegetables that he hadn't fully disclosed in the previous program.

His reasoning was clear, and his explanations were straightforward and easy to follow. He even thoughtfully shared some tips on preparing and pairing everyday dishes.

This video was like a ready-made shopping guide for netizens who only order takeout and never set foot in a market.

As a result, many people who couldn’t cook instantly warmed up to Su Xingyao.

On his Weibo, which had previously been bombarded with over a million negative comments, a top comment titled "Thank you, Su Xingyao, for the tips" suddenly appeared.

Just from one variety show appearance, Su Xingyao managed to attract so much attention.

His haters were on edge after seeing what had happened over the past few days.

"Su Xingyao's new team is killing it; this comeback strategy is really impressive."

"I don’t get it. Isn’t this just a basic, everyday thing? Why’s it being made into such a big deal?"

"Su Xingyao's fans are acting like they’ve never seen the world, hyping him up as if he’s the only one who knows how to shop for groceries."

Su Xingyao's haters were relentless, always finding something to criticize.

But now, what he was doing actually mattered to everyday people, and his performance won over the public. So, a lot of people came to his defense.

"That’s hilarious. If it’s so simple, why didn’t you figure it out before?"

"Too bad Qingshan City is thanking Su Xingyao in multiple Weibo posts, not you bitter haters."

"Being good at grocery shopping is impressive. Su Xingyao not only knows how to shop but can also cook well. Can your faves do that?"

"Speaking of shopping, my mom watched this interview today and said Su Xingyao must have at least five years of experience to be this good."

"Same world, same mom. Mine said the same and told me to learn from Su Xingyao."

"Su Xingyao’s only 23, right? If he has five years of experience, does that mean he started cooking as a teen?"

"Not exactly. He mentioned in the interview that he picked up these skills from his sister when he was young."

"Wait... he has a sister who’s been so thrifty since childhood... I wonder if Su Xingyao’s family wasn’t doing well?"

"Why would you think that? Maybe his family was just naturally careful with money."

In the Shen family mansion, Wen Ningshu, fresh from dinner, also watched the video.

On her phone screen, the host was eagerly interviewing Su Xingyao.

Host: "Xing Yao, could you share how you picked up so many grocery shopping tips at such a young age?"

Su Xingyao smiled softly, as if remembering something happy, and replied with a touch of pride, "My sister taught me."

"When I was little, I liked to stick close to my sister and often went to the market with her. I learned by watching her."

"Even the issue of short-weighting was something my sister taught me. She's better at estimating the weight of food than I am."

In the video, Su Xingyao’s eyes softened as he spoke about his sister.

Wen Ningshu paused the video and stared at Su Xingyao's expression for a long time.

Over the years, she had rarely seen such an expression on her son's face...

In her memory, he had always been reserved, quiet, and rarely smiled or acted spoiled in front of her...

So when Su Xingyao talked about his sister with that slightly proud expression, Wen Ningshu never imagined he could make such an expression.

Thinking about this, Wen Ningshu couldn't quite put her feelings into words, so she simply opened the comments and began scrolling through the netizens' posts.

Soon she found that, apart from praising Su Xingyao, the netizens also began to speculate about his family background due to his answer about cooking from a young age.

Most people assumed Su Xingyao was the kind of child from a poor family who had to mature early.

It must be said that netizens' intuition is sometimes really accurate.

They could infer Su Xingyao's childhood living conditions from just a few words.

However, as a mother, Wen Ningshu only became aware of this issue after reading these comments.

Not only that, but she also just learned from the video that Su Xingyao could buy groceries and cook from such a young age...

She had no idea her son possessed these skills.

In the past, she hadn't even considered asking about his life before the orphanage.

The child's disappearance had always been a burden on her heart.

Su Xingyao had been out there on his own for seventeen years, and she had been avoiding this issue, lacking the courage to ask in detail about how he had been living all these years.

When they first identified Su Xingyao, the orphanage had informed them that due to certain special circumstances, Su Xingyao's previous records were confidential, and they didn't have them either, so she felt it was reasonable not to delve further into her son's past experiences.

She had a vague sense that the child must have led a very unfortunate life.

But if that were true, the overwhelming guilt would make it even more difficult for her to face the child.

So she could only convince herself that the child must have been very happy before the orphanage.

However, this video brutally ripped away that veil of self-deception.

The netizens didn't know how far back the "childhood" Su Xingyao mentioned was.

But she knew he had entered the orphanage at the age of twelve.

So before the age of twelve, when Shen Huaixi was still throwing morning fits, Su Xingyao had already learned to budget and cook on his own...

Thinking about this, Wen Ningshu felt a bit too afraid to keep watching.

For the first time, realizing so directly how much she had neglected her child out of fear of facing the truth, Wen Ningshu's hands trembled uncontrollably, and her phone slipped to the floor.

"Sweetheart, what's the matter?"

Shen Liangyu picked up the phone for her and handed it back to her.

The phone had already locked itself when it fell.

But since it had just locked, the screen was still on.

So when Wen Ningshu looked down at her phone again, she saw the screen saver of Shen Huaixi smiling brightly at the camera.

Wen Ningshu suddenly found this smile a bit too bright and quickly turned off the phone.

She looked at Shen Liangyu and said softly, "I saw Xingyao's video..."

Shen Liangyu, who had been smiling gently, immediately lost his smile upon hearing these words.

"Why bother paying attention to someone who's aimless and never comes home."

Wen Ningshu opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words.

She had also been upset about Su Xingyao's determination to join the entertainment industry.

But now, hearing her husband mention it, she suddenly felt too drained to even be angry.

Her heart felt like it was being wrung, and Wen Ningshu was so distressed that she misspoke.

"I saw the comments under the video; everyone says Xing Yao comes from a poor family."

Wen Ningshu didn't explain clearly, causing Shen Liangyu, who hadn't seen the video, to misunderstand.

He was at a loss for words, "He's the eldest son of the Shen family; how could his family background be poor?"

Wen Ningshu quickly came to Su Xingyao's defense, "Xing Yao has never brought it up with anyone."

Hearing Wen Ningshu's words, Shen Liangyu recalled that since joining the entertainment industry, Su Xingyao had indeed never mentioned being the eldest son of the Shen family...

Wen Ningshu went on, "And he really didn't have an easy life before."

Shen Liangyu assumed his wife was referring to Su Xingyao's time in the orphanage and cut her off impatiently.

"I know that."

"That's not what I meant... it's that before he went to the orphanage, he likely didn't have a good life with his foster parents either."

Wen Ningshu looked at Shen Liangyu, "Shouldn't we..."

Before Wen Ningshu could finish, Shen Huaixi's voice came from the doorway.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!"