As the car hummed softly around them, Yunying toyed with her phone, glancing sideways at Jinxing. The sapphire on her finger caught the light, winking at her like it was in on the mischief she was about to pull.
"Do you have a Weibo account?" she asked suddenly.
Jinxing raised a brow at her tone. "Yes."
She smirked. "Good. Give me your phone."
Without a fuss, he unlocked it and handed it over. Yunying scrolled quickly, opening the app and blinked. His profile was clean, almost sterile. Hardly any posts, but the numbers at the top made her pause.
"Hundreds of thousands of followers?" she muttered, giving him a sidelong look. "And you don't even post. Let me guess, someone else manages it for you?"
He didn't deny it. "Probably. I have some business posts there I think.."
She shook her head, clicking her tongue. "Of course. Handsome face, successful background… no wonder."
With her own phone balanced in her other hand, she leaned closer to him, snapped a quick selfie of the two of them together, their rings subtly in view. Just in case. If the media tried to call it fake later, she'd have receipts.
Her eyes flicked back to her own account, where her meager follower count stared back at her. Less than a hundred. Pathetic compared to Jinxing's army of fans. But today? Oh, today was about to change everything.
Tapping the image, she typed out the caption with deliberate strokes, a wicked gleam in her gaze.
"Guess who got hitched, bitches.."
One last glance at Jinxing's tagged username, then she hit post.
Her grin widened as the screen refreshed, the bold announcement now public.
"Great." she murmured, leaning back in her seat, satisfaction radiating from every pore.
At first, the reactions were mild, even dismissive.
@DiscountLVQueen: "Xu Yunying? Who? Never even heard of an eldest Miss Xu. Isn't Xu Xiao Lian the one supposed to marry President Qian?"
@BlindBat_007: "Lol this is fake. Everyone knows Qian Jinxing is with Xu Xiao Lian. Don't try to stir up trouble!."
@StreetFood4Life: "Why is she embarrassing herself online? If you want fame, at least Photoshop properly."
@ClawMachineKing: "Eldest daughter? Xu family never mentioned her. Probably some cousin with a death wish."
Yunying only smirked as she scrolled. They were too predictable.
Then came the kill shot: the photo she uploaded from Jinxing's account. Their hands together, the rings gleaming, his unmistakable face beside hers.
The disbelief shattered. The second wave hit and it was lethal.
@CrazyPorkBun: "Wait… wait… WAIT. This is on his account?? You're telling me this girl is real??"
@BubbleTeaBrainrot: "Oh my god, Xu Yunying exists. And she's married to HIM? I thought Xu Xiao Lian was the fiancée??"
@DramaAddict666: "Lmfaoooo. This plot twist is better than idol dramas. Eldest miss hiding in the shadows then BOOM, comes out with the marriage certificate."
@GucciPigFeet: "That ring isn't cheap either. Sapphire that size? She's no joke."
@SourGrapesClub: "Ok but… ngl, she's prettier than Xu Xiao Lian. Like, way prettier."
The shock gave way to division. Xu Xiao Lian's loyalists flooded in, teeth bared.
@ForeverLianStan: "So shameless! Husband snatcher, how dare you steal what belongs to our goddess!"
@PrettyInPink88: "Everyone knows President Qian and Xiao Lian were a match made in heaven. This Xu Yunying climbed the bed behind her sister's back."
@KeyboardWarrior69: "Disgusting. Throwing yourself at a man who was already promised to another. Where's your shame?"
But not everyone was buying that narrative. The defenders came just as quickly.
@ShrimpOnSteroids: "Steal?? Lmao, you can't steal what never belonged to you. President Qian chose himself, babes."
@PickledRadish99: "If he really wanted Xu Xiao Lian, why'd he marry Yunying then? Think about it."
@ColdNoodleSupremacy: "Yunying looks like a queen. Xiao Lian? Sorry, she's giving bargain-bin influencer at best."
And then came the haters, the vultures circling to tear Xu Xiao Lian apart.
@SaltedDuckEgg: "AHAHAHAHAHA. After all the bragging, all the social climbing, he still married someone else. And prettier too. Must hurt."
@LeftoverHotPot: "Face slap of the year. Our dear Xu Xiao Lian must be crying her eyelash extensions off right now."
@WatermelonWithVodka: "Didn't she say over and over she was the future Mrs. Qian? Future my ass. Yunying said 'surprise, bitch.'"
@RottenLychee: "Her face was never all that anyway. Guess Jinxing thought so too."
By the time Yunying refreshed the page again, the internet was a warzone. Hashtags were already climbing onto the hot search list:
#QianJinxingMarried #WhoIsXuYunying #XiaoLianFaceSlap
"Having fun? Want to get something to eat? With the buzz you've created, we should go to somewhere quiet.." Jinxing didn't look at her when he said it, as he turned into a bend.
"Okay! Let's have some dim sums.."
The internet was buzzing after Jinxing's post confirmed it wasn't Xiao Lian but Xu Yunying who became Mrs. Qian. Still, many weren't convinced.
That was when one account dropped the thread that changed everything.
@AuthorIsGod (OP):
"Everyone's confused about who Xu Yunying even is? Don't worry, I did some digging. Let's talk about the 'eldest miss' the Xu family tried to keep invisible."
[thread:1/12]
The first picture attached was a blurry family banquet photo from three years ago. Xu Xiao Lian shone at the center in designer clothes, smiling with a glass of wine. Behind her, half-cropped by the camera, stood Yunying. Her outfit was plain, her posture withdrawn, her expression muted as though she was just trying not to exist.
The comments went wild.
@FriedTofuSkin: "Wait wait wait… THAT'S Yunying? The one hiding in the corner??"
@LopsidedBun: "She looks like a background character in her own family [crying emoji]"
@ScreamingDuckling: "I don't even blame people for forgetting she existed. She looks like she was always overshadowed."
Then came the second post.
@AuthorIsGod (OP):
"Notice the difference? Xiao Lian always took center stage, dripping in brands. Yunying… she barely had decent clothes. Same banquet, but look at the gap."
[Attached: another photo, Xiao Lian in Chanel, Yunying in a shapeless blouse and skirt that looked like it came from the clearance rack.]
[2/12]
@ClammyHands: "The disrespect. They couldn't even give her one good dress??"
@NoodleSlurpQueen: "She looks worst than someone's assistant, not the Xu family's eldest daughter. And I'm a assistant, I know how bad our fashion can get!…"
@OvercookedShrimp:"I'm actually angry, what kind of family does this??"
Post three hit harder.
@AuthorIsGod (OP):
"It wasn't just clothing. In every single photo I found, Xiao Lian's in front, smiling, perfect hair, perfect makeup. Yunying? Always in the back, cropped out, or blurred. Almost like they didn't want people to notice her at all."
[Attached: collage of Xu family event pictures, where Yunying was either turned away, looking down, or pushed to the edges.]