Hello, Welcome to Merit Supermarket (SUPERMARKET)
Jiang Chenyi didn’t elaborate on where they were going.
As they were about to walk out of the passage, Huang Jue, no matter how curious she was, could only keep her questions to herself.
Jiang Chenyi stood behind her while wearing a black mask with his bright eyes visible beneath his black, tousled hair.
As soon as they stepped out, Huang Jue saw her fans densely packed at the end of the passage and holding signs to welcome her.
This scene made her stop abruptly.
Huang Jue knew very well that her return was a last-minute decision.
Apart from her manager and her parents, no one knew she would be coming home at this time.
Based on her understanding of her manager, it was impossible for them to arrange a fan reception at this moment, so...
Before, Huang Jue might not have associated this with her parents, but after Jiang Chenyi exposed how she had been brainwashed and deceived, she realized that her parents might not be as good as she had imagined.
"Xiao Yu! Xiao Yu!"
Xiao Yu was the affectionate nickname fans used for Huang Jue.
Seeing Huang Jue appear, the fans became extremely excited, and the airport barriers seemed unable to hold back the enthusiastic crowd.
Huang Jue sensed something was wrong and quickly removed her mask before shouting to the crowd, "Don’t push! Don’t push! Everyone, calm down!"
But her voice was too soft as it was instantly drowned out by the excited cries of the fans.
Just as they were about to rush forward, Jiang Chenyi raised a hand and snapped his fingers lightly.
With a soft "click," a clear bell-like sound rang in the ears of all the fans, including Huang Jue. It was like a bucket of ice water that instantly extinguishes the passion in their hearts.
The chaotic scene became eerily silent in just a few seconds.
"Any further and there might be a stampede. You wouldn’t want to get hurt here, would you?"
Jiang Chenyi’s calm and soothing voice rang out across the scene.
Many people, after calming down, suddenly realized how dangerous their actions had been just moments ago.
"I know you’re all Huang Jue’s fans, but she has something urgent to attend to right now. Please make way, thank you."
With one hand gently pushing Huang Jue’s back, they moved forward step by step, and the fans obediently cleared a path for them.
As they got closer, many fans noticed the lingering fear in Huang Jue’s eyes and her unusually pale face.
She looked fragile as if she might collapse at any moment.
This made the fans feel a pang of guilt. If they hadn’t calmed down and a stampede had occurred, the media would undoubtedly have blamed Huang Jue for it.
Even though it had little to do with her.
"I’m sorry for making you come to pick me up so late. Please head back now; the night is cold, and I don’t want you to catch a chill."
Huang Jue comforted her fans as she continued to move forward.
However, the unease in her heart grew stronger and stronger.
When she finally saw her parents standing at the very back, that unease reached its peak.
"Ah Jue! Look at all these fans who came to see you. Why don’t you chat with them a bit?" Her parents’ first words weren’t about her well-being but about the fans.
Huang Jue’s heart turned completely cold.
She was now certain that her parents had leaked the information about her return tonight.
She lowered her head, appearing utterly exhausted and weak.
But her parents still tightly held her hand and urged her not to waste the fans’ goodwill.
Just as the fans began to feel something was off, Huang Jue seemed to break down and asked, "So, was it you who sold the information about my return?"
She didn’t wait for her parents’ response but turned to a random fan and asked, "How much did you pay to know I was coming back tonight?"
The fan she addressed instantly grew nervous, stammering and unwilling to answer.
But she didn’t need to say anything because her expression alone revealed the truth.
Her parents’ faces stiffened.
They hadn’t expected their scheme of profiting off the fans to be exposed so quickly.
Seeing her parents’ reaction, Huang Jue understood everything.
She took a deep breath.
Even though it was summer, the air she inhaled felt so cold it seemed to freeze her insides.
"However much you paid, I’ll refund it to you now."
She couldn’t let this precedent stand, or her parents would continue to exploit her name for profit.
Huang Jue wasn’t afraid of today’s incident being made public. Even if the paparazzi found out, she was refunding the money, so the blame wouldn’t fall on her.
But if she didn’t refund it… how could she face her fans?
The fans were surprised that Huang Jue was offering to refund their money. They initially wanted to refuse, but seeing the determination in her eyes, they couldn’t bring themselves to speak.
As Huang Jue proceeded to refund each fan one by one, her parents’ faces turned a mix of green and purple, as if they had been slapped hard.
After transferring a five-figure sum, Huang Jue glared at her parents with reddened eyes.
She didn't care that this was in public and directly questioned her parents, "Didn't I give you money? Was it necessary to sell my information for a few thousand dollars?"
Without the organization of big fans and studios, it's extremely easy for fan gatherings to descend into chaos. If something really happened, how could she bear the responsibility?
Her parents were first stunned, then erupted in anger, "What we do is none of your business!"
"The money you gave is your money, but why can't we earn money by our own means?"
Earn money by their own means? Didn't they find it ridiculous to say that themselves?
Huang Jue's eyes were filled with tears.
Although her heart was already cold, she still felt heartbroken by her parents' words.
The fans beside them had already fallen silent while watching the argument between Huang Jue and her parents with confusion in their eyes.
"If something happens to them, will you also pay for their treatment and compensation?" Huang Jue coldly stared at the middle-aged couple opposite her.
Her mother stretched her neck and snorted forcefully, "None of my business!"
"Wow!" Hearing this, the fans began to erupt in anger.
However, just as they were about to curse, everyone heard Huang Jue suddenly ask, "Since they're not your relatives, you don't care. But what about me? If something happens to me, will you also not care? When my younger sister was lost, you didn't care either. What exactly have you ever cared about?"
Anyone who became Huang Jue's fan knew that the pinned post on her Big-eye account was about searching for her younger sister.
And now, from Huang Jue's mouth, they seemed to hear some information that was different from the rumors.
The couple stiffened for a moment, then started cursing Huang Jue like mad, "You heartless thing, don't forget it was you who lost your sister."
"Indeed, I didn't watch her properly, but when my sister was taken away, she didn't make a sound. Isn't that a sign of someone familiar committing the crime? And, Dad! Why did you leave when you answered the phone? Why did you think an eight-year-old could take care of a three-year-old? Didn't you ever consider that the traffickers might take both me and my sister?"
Huang Jue blurted out a lot of words.
Her accent was clear and her voice loud as she actively exposed her family's shame.
The couple was so angry they couldn't speak and their fingers trembling as they pointed at her with a fierce look on their faces.
Seeing their expressions, Huang Jue felt somewhat ridiculous.
With so many loopholes, she had never doubted them before.
"And, I clearly remember, when my sister was lost, you only searched for three years and then stopped. When I wanted to search after I became an adult, you even stopped me."
Is this how normal parents who lost a child behave?
The more Huang Jue thought about it, the angrier she became and almost unable to catch her breath.
Fortunately, a hand gently patted her back that instantly calmed her breathing.
"Calm down, there's no need to argue with them."
From the moment Huang Jue started asking the fans how much they had spent, Jiang Chenyi had been observing her parents.
He even used the supermarket's bargain-hunting ability to find out everything he should and shouldn't know.
And the biggest thing he heard from this couple was money!
[Money, money, money, money, money]... They were really going crazy for money!
Jiang Chenyi's sudden voice caught everyone's attention.
Huang Jue was snapped back to reality by Jiang Chenyi's intervention.
She turned her head to the side to take deep, heavy breaths with her eyes red as if she were on the verge of tears.
"It's only nine o'clock now. You still have some time to make a decision. Are you ready to burn bridges?"
Jiang Chenyi's words sounded cryptic to others, but Huang Jue understood exactly what he meant.
She glanced up at her parents, only to see not a trace of guilt in their eyes, but rather a deep-seated resentment toward her.
Resentment? Ha!
Huang Jue let out a bitter laugh and her voice filled with endless sorrow. "There's nothing left to lose by burning bridges."
For so many years, she had given her parents her all, only to realize in the end that she was nothing more than a tool to them.
"What... should I do?" Huang Jue asked while feeling lost.
Jiang Chenyi gestured for her to extend her hand.
In front of everyone, he pulled out a compass, then pierced Huang Jue's finger and let her blood drip onto the needle.
"Let's go. We'll find your younger sister."
With that, he took Huang Jue by the hand and led her away.
The fans behind them exchanged confused glances—some silently followed, while others quietly left the airport.
Huang Jue's parents had no idea what Jiang Chenyi was planning, but an inexplicable sense of unease settled in their hearts.
As they reached the airport entrance, Jiang Chenyi suddenly asked, "Do you mind bringing the media along?"
Huang Jue was taken aback, then slowly shook her head.
Moments later, she saw Jiang Chenyi wave toward a corner, and soon two paparazzi with high-definition cameras emerged from that spot.
Huang Jue: ???
"Do you want to capture explosive news? If so, come with us."
Not only was Huang Jue stunned, but the two paparazzi were also bewildered.
To be caught in the act of sneaking photos, only to be invited along instead of being shooed away?]
"This is truly explosive news—the kind that will not only top the trending charts but also make it onto legal programs," Jiang Chenyi said softly as his words lured the paparazzi in.
At the mention of trending on social media, the paparazzi's hearts burned with excitement.
But when they heard it might also land them on legal programs, that excitement quickly fizzled out.
Yet, leaving now was no longer an option. Since Jiang Chenyi had called them over, he was determined to let this matter spread through third-party hands.
This was also to ensure that Huang Jue wouldn't face public backlash when she eventually burned bridges.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•