IV Drip

Seeing Yan Yue again was at Changyue.

Jiang Lan had a wide social circle, and plenty of close connections. She had at least some contact in all kinds of industries. So when she found out that her friend was signing a contract with Changyue, even though she couldn’t be one hundred percent sure Yan Yue would definitely show up, she still found an excuse to go along.

She could have asked her friend directly who was signing the contract. But she didn’t; she was using business as a cover for her own selfish reasons, and that wasn’t exactly honorable. Besides, given the way things were, good and bad mixed together, she would rather keep a thread of hope all the way there. What if she really did get to see Yan Yue?

Her luck seemed pretty good. Jiang Lan did indeed see her.

In the spacious office, Yan Yue was discussing the details with someone. The two of them were getting on very well; that much was clear from how gradually relaxed their tones became.

Jiang Lan waited off to the side, quietly watching Yan Yue’s calm smile and easy conversation.

Yan Yue had changed a great deal. In Jiang Lan’s memory, Yan Yue had not yet taken power back then and didn’t talk much. She would occasionally smile at Jiang Lan, and it seemed she only ever smiled like that at her. Most of the time, Yan Yue was more like a hedgehog; a hedgehog without its spikes.

Now, after all she had been through, she carried the steadiness that comes from settling into one’s place, yet without losing any of her authority; like a sword still sheathed.

The sound of their conversation pulled Jiang Lan’s thoughts back.

“Then I wish us a successful collaboration.”

The two of them stood and shook hands with smiles.

Yan Yue said to the assistant beside her, “Take Chairman Zhao around the company first.”

The assistant made a proper inviting gesture. Chairman Zhao thanked Yan Yue, smiled at Jiang Lan, then left.

Only the two of them remained in the office.

“Do you... want some tea?” Yan Yue asked.

Steam rose almost invisibly from the tea. Yan Yue handled each step with practiced ease; on the final steep, she patiently poured the clear, warm tea into the cup and handed it to Jiang Lan.

Jiang Lan thanked her and took it.

The tea tasted light and plain, with a faint bitterness. It reminded her of a long time ago, when Yan Yue had caught a cold and brewed some medicine that smelled bitter even before she drank it. Jiang Lan had flatly refused to take it; adding sugar didn’t help. In the end, she would rather have an IV than take a single sip of that bowl of medicine.

And yet this tea was bitter too, wasn’t it?

Jiang Lan took another sip. There was no sweetness after the bitterness, or maybe she simply couldn’t taste it. This tea was still bitter.

By accident, her eyes fell on Yan Yue’s neck; after a brief pause, she looked away.

The top button of Yan Yue’s white shirt was undone, revealing beautiful collarbones. A silver necklace was especially eye-catching, with three letters hanging from it.

QQY... Qin Qingyan.

Jiang Lan drank another cup of tea. It was still bitter.

“I won’t disturb you anymore. Keep busy; I’m heading off first.” Jiang Lan smiled.

Yan Yue stood as well. “I’ll see you out.”

“No need.” Jiang Lan said. She gave Yan Yue a relieved smile and turned to leave.

Some people and some things, once missed, were just missed. If you forced it, you’d only lose what little dignity was left.

Qin Xun found Qin Qingyan again and asked her to have lunch together at noon. Qin Qingyan agreed, but when she got to the restaurant, she realized the person who had invited her wasn’t her father Qin Xun, but Qin Xun’s whole family.

The moment Qin Yu saw Qin Qingyan, her eyes lit up; she was practically about to call out. Even with a mask on, those eyes alone were enough to make someone lose themselves. She held back her excitement and straightened her clothes, terrified of embarrassing herself in front of her idol.

Xiao Yunlian smiled gently, looking at Qin Qingyan as if she were looking at her own daughter. Her voice was soft and warm. “Qingyan, Ah Xun used to mention you all the time. He’s looked for you for a long time too. At last, our family has managed to get together.”

After ordering, Qin Xun thought about how to get the conversation going and help Qingyan fit in with them as quickly as possible, but in the end he could only smile awkwardly; he didn’t even know what there was to say.

“Qingyan,” Xiao Yunlian said, “ever since Xiaoyu started adoring you, the walls of her room have been covered with your posters, all kinds of them, and her phone wallpaper is still your photo. Now that she knows you’re her sister, this silly girl is so happy she’s practically going crazy.”

Qin Xun chuckled at the right moment. “Yes, this girl’s chasing stars and ended up chasing one right back into her own family.”

Qin Yu felt so embarrassed she nearly sank into the floor. She sneaked a glance at Qin Qingyan, and when she saw that Qin Qingyan was smiling faintly too, she only grew more ashamed.

“I didn’t know you were all coming today. Otherwise I could have prepared some gifts for Xiaoyu in advance,” Qin Qingyan said with a smile.

Xiaoyu! Qin Yu pressed her lips together and held back the urge to scream. How many fans got to be called so affectionately by their idol? No, no; she couldn’t lose control. Stay calm, stay calm.

Xiao Yunlian seemed to need a few seconds to process that, then looked toward Qin Xun. She had thought he had already mentioned this to Qin Qingyan in advance. Qin Xun understood her gaze, but he had been afraid that if Qin Qingyan knew the whole family would be there, she wouldn’t come, so he had no choice but to do it this way.

“Qingyan, filming must be very hard, right?” Xiao Yunlian asked with concern.

Qin Qingyan said, “Work is work. It’s normal.”

Qin Xun jumped in. “Exactly, work has its bitter and sweet sides; it’s unavoidable to have a hard time. Xiaoyu, you have to study hard in the future, or with that tiny little frame of yours, you won’t be able to stand the slightest hardship.”

“As if,” Qin Yu muttered unhappily. If it weren’t for the fact that her idol was sitting right there and she had to maintain her image, she would have already thrown out several examples to refute him.

“Not being able to endure hardship isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and being able to endure it isn’t necessarily a good thing either. If things can go smoothly, then let them go smoothly. Staying safe and healthy is more important than anything,” Qin Qingyan said with a smile, looking at Qin Yu.

Qin Yu found her footing and let out a proud little snort, the end of the sound practically floating upward.

While they ate, Qin Qingyan looked at the family sitting together happily. Between them and her, it seemed there was an invisible barrier. That barrier came partly from their relationship and partly from her own choice.

She had no intention of integrating herself into it, and she was destined not to fit in.

More than ten years ago, when Qin Xun had left her alone to be shuttled around among relatives, she had watched their happy lives from the side with cautious envy. Later, after she had gone to live with Jiang Granny, even though Jiang Granny had treated her very well, Jiang Ruoxin was still her real granddaughter. So she was still an outsider.

Now, looking at the family of three in front of her, even though she was Qin Xun’s daughter too, even though when she was little he had doted on her so much, she still couldn’t get even her own father back now.

She smiled and watched the warm, harmonious family of three from beyond that invisible barrier.

After the meal, the Qin family invited her to go back with them, but she declined. She smiled lightly, neither sad nor happy. As Qin Xun was leaving, he looked at his daughter, who had grown into a beautiful, elegant young woman. In her features, one could still vaguely make out the likeness of her mother. At once, a fine, dense pain spread through his heart, endless and relentless.

He knew that this time, he had truly lost this daughter for good.

When she was filming in the afternoon, Qin Qingyan’s condition was very poor, and the whole crew could feel it. A scene that she would normally get in one take took more than ten and still wasn’t enough. When she finally managed a take that was barely passable, Qin Qingyan still insisted on doing it again. In her mind, that take wasn’t good enough.

The crew had worked with all kinds of actors before. Qin Qingyan had the least attitude of them all and was also extremely serious and professional; they respected her sincerely. So even though they had repeated things so many times this time and moved props back and forth, not a single person complained.

The director and Su Yan watched Qin Qingyan on the monitor, both sighing. No one knew what had happened to her. Su Yan had gone to ask, but Qin Qingyan had only smiled and said it was nothing.

Su Yan found time to step away for a bit and called Yan Yue.

By the time she returned, the crew had skipped that segment. The director told Qin Qingyan to rest well for a while and film the other actors’ parts first.

Qin Qingyan said nothing and went back to the trailer, sitting alone in silence. Su Yan could tell she had been bottling up her emotions the whole time. Those emotions had to be let out; keeping them in like this was definitely a problem.

Her phone vibrated.

It was Yan Yue. Su Yan hurried off the bus to answer, told her the location, and after waiting quite a while, finally saw Yan Yue coming over. She quickly waved to show her where they were, then went back to the crew to tidy things up, leaving the space to them alone.

Qin Qingyan lowered her gaze, thinking about things while trying her best to steady her emotions so she wouldn’t delay filming. But the spirit she had barely managed to summon was like a picture drawn in the sand; all it took was a gentle lick of seawater to erase it.

She really was trying.

So why was it still useless? Why did she still feel so upset inside? She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, when she heard hurried footsteps outside. She looked up and froze.

Her eyes suddenly filled with tears at a speed she herself could hardly believe.

Yan Yue was still slightly out of breath. The moment she saw Qin Qingyan, especially when she saw Qin Qingyan’s reddened eyes, all the worry she had been carrying along the way took shape right in front of her, and every question she had been holding back stuck in her chest.

“Qin Qingyan...” Yan Yue called her name softly. She came closer, took her hand, and crouched down in front of her.

Qin Qingyan’s gaze followed her the whole time.

Her eyes grew heavy; tears welled up, and all the emotions she had forced down broke through at once.

She leaned forward and wrapped Yan Yue tightly in her arms. She cried in silence; there was no sobbing, no shouted words, only her whole body trembling.

Yan Yue’s eyes were also a little red; her throat felt blocked. She gently patted Qin Qingyan’s back to comfort her.

After a long while, the trembling person in her arms gradually quieted down, leaving only heavy breathing. Even without looking, Yan Yue knew the shoulder she was leaning on must already be soaked through, and that only made her feel worse.

After another moment, there was no movement on her shoulder, as if Qin Qingyan had fallen asleep. Yan Yue kept the same posture, still softly patting her back.

“I only have myself now,” a hoarse voice said. “I don’t have a home anymore...”

Yan Yue waited patiently until she had finished, then said softly, “You still have me. You still have us.”

The arms around her tightened again. Yan Yue held Qin Qingyan even more tightly, giving her all the sense of safety she could possibly give.

Not long after they got home, Qin Qingyan came down with a low fever. She refused to go to the hospital, so Yan Yue fed her some medicine, but it didn’t help; instead, the fever only got worse.

Yan Yue had no choice but to forcibly take her to the hospital. After the doctor examined her and confirmed it was only a fever, he prescribed several bottles of IV fluid.

On the hospital bed, Qin Qingyan had already fallen asleep. Yan Yue stayed by her bedside, replying to work messages, and quickly finished dealing with them.

She helped smooth back the damp hair at Qin Qingyan’s forehead and felt her temperature; it was still very high.

It was already past five in the afternoon, and it was still bright outside. Taking advantage of the fact that Qin Qingyan was asleep, Yan Yue got up to buy some fruit she liked nearby so that if she woke up and wanted to eat, she could have it right away.