She Wasn’t Wearing... Underwear

In the car, Bai Ruo gradually calmed down, and only then did Qin Qingyan ask her to explain what had happened. One hand on the steering wheel, she said nothing, flooring the accelerator as the car shot forward like an arrow along the road.

There weren’t many people at the airport. Before getting out, Bai Ruo put on a mask, pushed open the door, and ran unsteadily toward the terminal.

People came and went through the airport, everyone busy with their own affairs. No one noticed Bai Ruo frantically searching the crowd for someone, let alone recognized her.

Besides, she was dressed in simple loungewear now, plain and ordinary; she looked nothing like the dazzling Bai Ruo on the red carpet.

Qin Qingyan split up with her to search, keeping in touch by phone at all times.

But after searching everywhere, there was still no sign of Li Xian. Bai Ruo helplessly braced herself against a wall; her legs gave out little by little, and in the end she collapsed onto the floor, her vision blurring.

When Qin Qingyan turned and saw that scene, she stopped in her tracks; she couldn’t quite describe what she felt. Once, she had envied the relationship between Bai Ruo and Li Xian, imagining countless times that in the future she and Yan Yue could be like them too... The love she had longed for so much had now fallen into this kind of state.

She walked over, crouched in front of Bai Ruo, and gently pulled her into an embrace. Bai Ruo buried herself against Qin Qingyan’s shoulder, her whole body trembling, tears surging out in silence.

In the afternoon, with just over half an hour left before three o’clock, the reporters were basically all there already. They had been waiting early, afraid of missing the interview.

Qin Qingyan held her phone and looked at the contact list. Her conversation with Yan Yue lay quietly there; she had already read it countless times. The press conference half an hour later was bound to be full of traps, and she had to answer with the utmost care. Even though she had prepared everything, she still couldn’t predict what might happen.

She took a deep breath and missed Yan Yue again. If Yan Yue were here, she would definitely feel much more at ease; even if she were facing wolves and tigers, she would still meet them head-on without fear.

The agreed time still arrived. The moment Qin Qingyan appeared, there was a stir among the crowd below; cameras all turned to capture her, flashes going off one after another.

Qin Qingyan smiled at the many reporters below and adjusted the microphone. “Not long ago, the discussion about me online took up several hot search spots, and even now it’s still on the list. As an actor, being on the hot search seems pretty good; good or bad, at least it means people are paying attention.”

Her gaze swept over the reporters below, some familiar and some unfamiliar, as she continued, “I didn’t speak up before because I always thought that with time, it would eventually pass. As it turns out, that wasn’t the case.”

A wave of murmuring rose below.

“Experienced reporters probably already caught my meaning, right? Yes, ninety percent of those photos are real.” Qin Qingyan said.

This press conference was being livestreamed at the same time; by the time they heard that, the barrage of curses had already flooded in.

And on the other side of the ocean, Yan Yue was sitting at the airport, also watching this livestream that was meant to clarify, or explain.

Behind Qin Qingyan, the big screen displayed a series of photos, and the reporters hurried to take pictures.

“These are all real. The others, the ones I don’t know whether were edited or face-swapped, are not me.” Qin Qingyan turned back toward the reporters. “This boy is a childhood neighbor from my village. The photos were taken when we met again after nearly five years apart.”

She pressed the remote in her hand; on the big screen behind her was a video statement from Zhao Qian. Plenty of evidence showed that he had been busy filming all over the place before, or staying in the studio all day. The rumor-mongering copy was pure fabrication.

The smoke and gunpowder in the livestream room began to thin.

“As for these few,” Qin Qingyan said, “I have to say, the photographer put in a lot of effort. Very atmospheric.”

In the photos, she was either hugging or kissing another woman. In a short video clip, she was even acting spoiled and seeking comfort from the other person.

“So you have a sugar mommy?” someone in the crowd suddenly asked. Qin Qingyan looked toward the voice, but in the dense mass of people, she couldn’t tell who had asked.

“The person in the photos is my lover. We’ve known each other for almost six years, and it was only in the past two years that I finally managed to win her over. She’s much better than me, and much richer than me; if you want to say she’s a sugar mommy, I’m happy to admit it.” Qin Qingyan said with a smile.

Someone pressed her: “Then does Teacher Qin like women?”

Again, Qin Qingyan couldn’t find the reporter who had asked it. “If one day some irresistible force turned her into a man, then the person I love would be a man.”

While the reporters were still thinking it over, Qin Qingyan went on, “What I mean is, I just love this person; her gender determines my orientation. But since the first person I fell in love with was a girl, you could say it that way too.”

The livestream comments gradually took on a clear slant.

She had thought the reporters would ask her all kinds of difficult questions; in reality, no one made things too hard for her. She understood that Huanfeng Century must have spoken to the reporters in advance.

That was fine too; only then could the tension in her nerves finally loosen a little.

Question by question, she answered the reporters’ doubts carefully and responded seriously to every inquiry. It wasn’t until around six in the evening that this clarification press conference finally came to an end.

Qin Qingyan checked the online direction of the discussion; overall, things were much more optimistic than she had expected. Su Yan also found it surprising that her follower count had not dropped at all, but actually increased instead. That was a pleasant surprise.

At seven, Qin Qingyan went back to Jingsheng.

She glanced at her phone. All day today, Yan Yue hadn’t called her once, not even sent a single message. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed, especially today.

After unlocking the door with her fingerprint, she stepped inside to find the living room brightly lit. Qin Qingyan walked in tiredly and closed the door behind her, then suddenly froze. She had felt something was off just now; now she finally knew what it was.

All the furniture in the living room was smart-controlled. Normally, when she came home, the television would turn on automatically, but not today. She didn’t think the TV had broken.

Jingsheng’s security could be trusted, so it couldn’t be some other paparazzi or stalker fan either. A vague guess flashed through her mind, and even her breathing quickened.

Then she spotted Yan Yue’s black high heels on the floor. She remembered that they had not been there before.

She hurried inside, and the answer was already on the verge of breaking out in her heart.

In the distance, there was a familiar back in pink loungewear, hair tied up, sleeves rolled, chopping scallions and other ingredients in the kitchen. As if sensing something, Yan Yue’s movements paused. Before she could even turn around, a pair of strong hands wrapped tightly around her from behind, and a head buried itself in the crook of her neck.

The faint scent of shower gel, along with the perfume on her clothes, smelled especially nice.

Their auras blended together until it was impossible to tell who belonged to whom.

“Qin Qingyan.” Yan Yue said softly.

That familiar voice rang beside her ear; it was not from thousands of miles away, nor from a cold mechanical speaker. Soft, gentle, cotton-soft, it melted her heart.

How could a voice be so lovely?

Just those three words, and the hardship and grievance of nearly two hundred days of waiting vanished in an instant.

Yan Yue had garlic minced on her hands, so she let Qin Qingyan keep holding her. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she felt her breathing and her heartbeat.

She hadn’t finished watching the press conference, but judging from the result afterward, it might have gone pretty well.

After a long while, Yan Yue said, “Qin Qingyan, you’ve worked hard.”

Qin Qingyan made a muffled sound or two, indistinct; it sounded like acting spoiled, and also like grievance.

“Are you hungry?” Yan Yue asked.

“Mm...” Qin Qingyan said.

“Go sit on the sofa for a while. I’ll make you noodles.” Yan Yue said.

Qin Qingyan let out a low chuckle. Yan Yue knew why. She couldn’t help it; she only knew how to cook this.

Qin Qingyan didn’t go to rest. Instead, she kept holding Yan Yue and didn’t leave her side even half a step; the only change was that her hands loosened up a little. Her arms circled Yan Yue’s waist, and her steps always followed beside hers.

Yan Yue let her be. Only after the noodles were cooked and placed in a bowl did Qin Qingyan help carry them to the dining table. Then she hurried back, took over the work in Yan Yue’s hands, and cleaned off the countertop.

After everything was done, Yan Yue washed her hands and prepared to eat dinner. Qin Qingyan reached in to help wash her hands too. Once they were clean, she held both of Yan Yue’s hands in place and lowered her head to kiss her.

Yan Yue responded with feeling.

Because of that several-minute kiss, the noodles that followed seemed to lose their flavor; Qin Qingyan ate dinner with the taste of the food in her mouth, yet in her heart there was another kind of aftertaste, lingering endlessly.

After dinner, the two of them curled up on the sofa. The television played on its own while they talked about the months they had spent apart. Somehow, and inevitably, they ended up talking about Li Xian.

“Can a person’s heart really change that fast?” Qin Qingyan asked, resting against Yan Yue’s shoulder.

“Changes usually have long had signs; they just suddenly show themselves one day. Their relationship was always pretty good, even if the Li family strongly opposed it. So...” Yan Yue glanced at Qin Qingyan. “Either their relationship had already developed cracks in places we couldn’t see, or Li Xian had some other plan.”

Qin Qingyan said nothing. She didn’t know which situation Li Xian and the others belonged to. In the end, relationships were only between two people; as friends, all one could really do was observe and offer advice.

As for herself and Yan Yue, she actually knew that Yan Yue had always been loving her as much as possible, not truly taking the initiative to love. Maybe Yan Yue herself didn’t even know it, but Qin Qingyan could tell.

Qin Qingyan met Yan Yue’s gaze.

Since this was what she wanted, then she should give it her all. At the very least, compared with the way things were when they first met, they had already made huge progress, hadn’t they? Someday, she would surely reach Yan Yue’s love.

The thought moved her, and she kissed her again.

Unlike the gentle warmth before, this kiss carried a little force and possessiveness. It gave Yan Yue no chance to speak; all her words were blocked between their warm lips and teeth.

Yan Yue couldn’t get a sound out. The sliver of reason she had left, the one that wanted to ask something, gradually scattered; she sank into the kiss, tilting her body toward Qin Qingyan and wrapping her arms around her neck, giving the most genuine response.

Qin Qingyan’s breathing grew unsteady. She pulled back slightly from those reddened lips and looked into Yan Yue’s rippling eyes, which were filled with her, brimming with desire.

She pressed her lips back down, leaning forward and supporting Yan Yue’s shoulders to pin her against the sofa; their breathing mingled.

Qin Qingyan’s body ached with wanting something more. It was not just a kiss. Her hand slipped downward, landing at the hem of Yan Yue’s loungewear, and then groped its way upward inside, fingertips tracing over soft, smooth skin.

She didn’t stop; following instinct, she kept going, her movements already beyond her control.

The kiss also drifted from Yan Yue’s lips to her neck, then to her collarbone, exploring carefully and unhurriedly.

Suddenly, Yan Yue’s body shuddered; Qin Qingyan’s movements froze at once. From her neck all the way to her face, she turned beet red in an instant.

Yan Yue... wasn’t wearing... underwear.