HPH - 10

Inside the TV station’s café, Jiang Beibei was fervently bowing her forehead against her laptop, banging it repeatedly as she struggled to draft next month’s program proposal.

Before the pain in her forehead had even subsided, she felt a sharp smack on the back of her head.

Furious, Jiang Beibei whipped around and glared at the tall woman behind her. “Jin Yuanbao, what do you think you’re doing?!”

“Sorry, I’m Huang.”

“Same color!” Jiang Beibei stubbornly insisted on changing her surname.

Huang Yuanbao was the chief editor of People Around Us , a flagship program on Channel Three known for its high ratings and excellent reputation. The show used interviews and conversations to introduce ordinary yet extraordinary people from various professions to the public.

“Let’s get serious,” Huang Yuanbao said, plopping down with her laptop and nudging Jiang Beibei conspiratorially. “You know that funeral home guy you mentioned before…”

“Yes, yes!” Jiang Beibei eagerly responded. “This is important. What I mean is, your team should reach out to the funeral home—not necessarily to interview my brother, but to feature their profession in an episode. It could be a meaningful death education piece. Who knows, this topic might even win a national award.”

Huang Yuanbao smirked insincerely. “We’ll make it, and we’ll make it good. But today, I’m here to talk about something else. As the saying goes, making programs shouldn’t stop me from using work for personal gain. So…”

Jiang Beibei grew wary. “What are you planning?”

“Beibei, didn’t you say you have five brothers?” Huang Yuanbao’s lips curled into a sly smile.

Jiang Beibei sighed. “...Just spit it out. What do you want?”

Huang Yuanbao: “I’ve heard they’re all career elites and pretty good-looking too?”

Jiang Beibei pouted. “...Well, beauty is subjective. Overall, they each have their own appeal.”

Huang Yuanbao grinned mischievously, pulling out her notebook and revealing a sheet titled Huang Yuanbao’s Pros and Cons of Blind Date Candidates . She clicked open her ballpoint pen and said, “Go ahead, tell me about them, and I’ll analyze their attributes. How old is your eldest brother? I heard he’s a doctor? Which hospital and department? What’s his position?”

“My eldest brother? Hmm… He’s ten years older than me, so he’s thirty-three this year. He’s an ophthalmologist at the Military General Hospital.”

Huang Yuanbao’s eyes lit up. “Wow! Did he graduate from a military academy?! This is great, great—points added, points added! And the age gap is perfect—I’m thirty, so the difference is just right! Military personnel also have good salaries and benefits! Does your eldest brother earn half a million a year?”

“What do you want? Are you looking for a blind date candidate?” Jiang Beibei sneered. “Let me warn you—don’t even think about my eldest brother. He already has someone.”

After three seconds of stunned silence, Huang Yuanbao gritted her teeth, reluctantly crossing out the eldest brother.

“What about your second brother? I heard he’s a SWAT officer? SWAT is fine too! How old is he?”

“Give up!” Jiang Beibei snapped. “You’d better forget about my eldest and second brothers—they’re both taken.”

“What about your third brother?”

Since Jiang Beibei wasn’t short on brothers, there were still three more options if the first two were off the table!

“The third brother I can introduce to you,” Jiang Beibei said, pointing to Huang Yuanbao’s pros-and-cons chart. “He’s a lawyer, thirty years old, probably tall, above-average looks… um, nearsighted. His annual income might range between five hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand yuan. He owns a house, a car, no pets. Ex-girlfriends… quite a few, maybe five or six.”

Huang Yuanbao frowned. “Damn, this one’s too much for me to handle. Pass, pass!”

“...” Jiang Beibei suggested, “How about I introduce you to my fourth brother? He’s twenty-nine, about the same age as you. He’s one meter ninety, started growing taller at twenty-three. Former national Sanda champion, retired special forces soldier. He was injured, but there are no lasting effects. He owns a house, a car, and even some storefront property. Look, his score’s maxed out!”

“This is good, this is good!” Huang Yuanbao exclaimed. “What does he do now? Is he still in the military? Or did he transfer to a government office?”

“...Self-employed,” Jiang Beibei replied. “He runs a bubble tea shop.”

“Pass!” Huang Yuanbao said. “Though his financial situation sounds decent, it’s a bit sketchy in reality. Plus, one meter ninety is way too tall—it’s tiring to talk to someone that tall… Forget it, forget it. What about your fifth brother?”

Jiang Beibei flatly refused. “No.”

“What, does your fifth brother have someone too?”

“...Forget it, my fifth brother is a no-go. Don’t even think about putting his name on your stupid scoring chart.” Jiang Beibei warned. “And when you go for the interview, don’t you dare flirt with my Yao Ge!”

“You’ve reserved him?” Huang Yuanbao cackled. “Got it, got it—that Yao Ge!”

Jiang Beibei grinned in sync with her. “Honestly, if you’re serious about dating, I’d recommend my fourth brother to you.”

Huang Yuanbao’s face turned shamelessly cheeky. “No, no, I’m not serious. Right now, I just want to sleep with a capable, long-lasting guy with abs.”

She capped her pen and beckoned with her finger. “Come on, do you have pictures of your brothers? Last year, I wasn’t close enough to you to check them out, so I missed the golden opportunity to see your batch of brothers.”

Photos weren’t a problem to share. Jiang Beibei swiped through her phone and pulled up a few candid shots. “Here, look at this one. The guy in the plaid sweater on the left is my eldest brother. The one next to him flashing a peace sign is my second brother.”

“Wow!” Huang Yuanbao exclaimed. “Your second brother’s handsome! SWAT guys definitely have abs! Tell me, how likely is it that he’ll break up with his partner? Does he like girls like me?”

“Get lost—you’re dreaming.”

“Aww, I’m just joking. Show me the other two singles.”

“Alright, let me show you my third brother.” Jiang Beibei scrolled through several photos until she found one of Qin Yuan singing at a karaoke bar. In the photo, Qin Yuan wore a gray suit and a scarf, exuding a refined rogue vibe.

“No way, no way—he’s too much of a heartthrob,” Huang Yuanbao said. “Even though his income is tempting… I can’t handle a guy like that with a trail of romantic conquests. He’d make a good fling, though. Come on, give me his contact info.”

With that, Huang Yuanbao burst into laughter at her own joke.

“Go away, you perverted witch! I’m just letting you take a quick look at my third brother. If you seriously want a fling, forget it… If you really slept with him, every time I see him afterward, the background music in my head would be Abing’s Moon Reflected on Second Spring .” Jiang Beibei rolled her eyes. “Let me show you my fourth brother instead.”

Huang Yuanbao nearly laughed so hard she split her face. “Hahahaha, alright, alright. To be honest, that type isn’t my cup of tea—he seems a bit shallow.”

Jiang Beibei paused for a moment, then burst out laughing. She started scrolling through her photos but couldn’t find a single clear shot of her fourth brother’s face.

The reason? Every time she tried to photograph him, Song Dawang would excitedly jump into the frame, ruining the shot by either blurring it or making his expression look hilariously weird. The result was photos that seemed more like comedic memes than serious portraits.

The consequences of owning a Husky were truly endless.

“The dog’s pretty good!” Huang Yuanbao offered as a consolation.

Jiang Beibei frantically scrolled, determined to find a clearer photo. She genuinely believed Huang Yuanbao was a decent person—though loud and boisterous, she was upright and straightforward, with no hidden agendas. Introducing her to her fourth brother seemed perfectly reasonable.

Before she could find one, Huang Yuanbao suddenly shouted, “Wait! Scroll back two pictures—I just saw someone quite appetizing, with perfect facial proportions. My radar for handsome guys is going off like crazy…”

Jiang Beibei leapt up with her phone and ran.

Huang Yuanbao immediately realized what had happened. The fleeting black-and-white profile shot she’d glimpsed must have been Yao Ge—the very man Jiang Beibei constantly raved about wanting to “sleep with to cure all sorrows.”

Fuming, Huang Yuanbao slammed the table. “Jiang Beibei! Confess honestly—did you hoard the best one for yourself?!”

“If you know, then don’t ask! Either way, my Yao Ge is off-limits to you.”

“I’ll be doing a feature on him sooner or later—I’ll lift his veil and get a good look at his true face!”

Jiang Beibei leaned against the doorway and shouted back, “Huang Yuanbao, if you dare set your sights on my Yao Ge, I’ll burn down the TV station and roast you alive atop the broadcast tower for three days and three nights with Samadhi True Fire!”

Huang Yuanbao’s laughter echoed through the room, almost shaking the entire TV tower.

She called out to Jiang Beibei’s retreating back, “Jiang Beibei, let’s set a date—I’ll interview all five of your brothers’ professions and make a special episode about you!”

Jiang Beibei turned back around, peeking her head in. “Give me a straight answer—do you have any interest in my third or fourth brother? Want to meet them?”

Huang Yuanbao shook her head. “After looking through everything, the only thing I’ve really taken a liking to is that Samoyed.”

Jiang Beibei: “You fool! Can’t you see black fur? That’s a Husky!”

Light snow began to fall, drifting down like ash.

After work, Jiang Beibei stepped out of the broadcasting building to find Third Brother Qin Yuan’s car parked by the roadside.

“Third Brother!” Jiang Beibei waved her hand, the round mittens with blue pom-poms drawing arcs in the air.

Qin Yuan leaned against the car door, glanced at his watch, and said, “Surprised? I’m here to pick you up. Get in quickly.”

“Did you happen to pass by, Third Brother?” Jiang Beibei ran over but stopped abruptly three meters away from him.

“A client lives nearby. After finishing my business, I thought I’d swing by and give you a ride home,” Qin Yuan explained. “Grandma’s back—did she tell you?”

“Yeah, she mentioned it this morning.” Jiang Beibei got into the car, took off her scarf, revealing her smooth chin, and rubbed her hands together.

Qin Yuan said, “Grandma mentioned wanting to learn how to drive?”

“I checked,” Jiang Beibei chuckled. “She’s exactly seventy this year. Who’s going to accept a seventy-year-old into driving school?”

“Why does she suddenly want to learn how to drive?”

“At a class reunion, she heard some elderly women with cars talk about how driving to the supermarket saves them from crowded buses and not having to ask for seats. It appealed to her.”

“...Beibei.”

“Yes, Third Brother?”

“Let me buy you a car.”

“Hahahaha... A model car?”

“I’m serious.” Qin Yuan turned to look at her. “Just nod, and tomorrow I’ll bring the car home.”

Jiang Beibei covered the lower half of her face with her gloves, leaving Qin Yuan unable to gauge her reaction.

After a while, she mumbled, “Third Brother, how can I possibly accept that? I can’t receive favors without merit—it’s too much for me. Even if I were to buy a car, I’d pay for it myself. How could I let you pay?”

Qin Yuan said softly, “Beibei, Third Brother likes you.”

And just like that, he said it so easily.

His confession was so effortless. Jiang Beibei thought to herself, why, after all these years of trying, could she still not say those words to the person she liked most?

Why was it so easy for others to express their feelings?

This world wasn’t fair.

The air grew heavy with silence, and Qin Yuan felt increasingly awkward.

After a long pause, Jiang Beibei smiled sweetly and said, “Of course you do! Everyone likes me.”

“Beibei...” Qin Yuan sighed deeply. “Do you... like Third Brother?”

“How could I not like any of my brothers?” Jiang Beibei replied lightly. “I like all of you.”

All of you.

See? She could say the word “like” so easily too.

But when it came to the person she loved most, she couldn’t utter a single word.

Because it was different.

She had always known—it was different.