The Request at the Press Conference

Although Zheng Jingteng’s matter had quieted down online, people in the circle were still talking about it with relish.

While filming, Qin Qingyan had already overheard the discussion several times. When Su Yan came over for a drink of water, she leaned close and whispered, “Sister Qingyan, do you know what I just heard?”

“What is it?” Qin Qingyan asked, already guessing it was about Zheng Jingteng.

“People online are saying Zheng Jingteng was sent to a psychiatric hospital. There are all kinds of guesses about why. I just got a more reliable piece of news from one of the crew.” Her voice dropped even lower. “Xu Changlan had several men over at the villa; she didn’t leave until early the next morning. Then someone photographed Zheng Jingteng being carried into a car.”

When she finished, she nodded emphatically, as if to show that even she was shocked.

The outcome really did surprise Qin Qingyan. She had originally thought it was just like the rumors online—some hereditary illness or something similar. As expected, the entertainment industry’s scandals were never clean.

Xu Changlan... Qin Qingyan silently repeated the name. A woman like that was a venomous snake; if you weren’t careful, you’d get bitten. And if she remembered correctly, in just a few days, Yan Yue would be attending the same gala as her.

At the gala, Yan Yue and Yan Yicheng were undoubtedly the most eye-catching people there. Countless hungry gazes stirred in the shadows, but restrained by the occasion, everyone merely adjusted their sleeves and sat up straight, each one looking proper and composed.

Yan Yicheng knew Yan Yue’s alcohol tolerance was poor, so he watched her closely from beginning to end. If anyone came to toast her, he would step in before she could refuse. If it was truly impossible to turn down, he would drink in her place.

So even though the gala was already past the halfway point, she still hadn’t had a single drop.

When Xu Changlan came over to greet her, she said, “Thanks to Director Yan’s earlier guidance, the Xu family managed to avoid a setback. This glass is my way of thanking you.”

She drained it in one go.

After she finished, Yan Yue said, “No matter how well the words are said, they only matter if the person listening takes them in. So there’s no need to thank me.”

Xu Changlan’s gaze casually slid past Yan Yicheng beside her. After entering the venue, she had been searching for her target all along. Zheng Jingteng might not have been obedient, but she genuinely liked his face.

Without that face, life lost some of its flavor. Then she spotted Yan Yicheng. Young and promising, handsome, and though he was still young, he carried an air of steadiness and maturity. With just a few glances, she decided she absolutely had to try.

“Since Director Yan was willing to help me, that alone is worth my thanks, whether it ultimately helped or not,” Xu Changlan said.

Yan Yue took a small sip of orange juice and said nothing.

Xu Changlan had not exactly been idle regarding that land in the outskirts of Beijing. According to Yan Yicheng, she had invested several million there before finally running into a dead end and backing out. As for how much she had actually lost, only she knew.

Besides, during the few months Yan Yue had been away on business, she still remembered very clearly what Xu Changlan had done to Qin Qingyan.

“Recently, I’ve heard quite a few people talking about Ms. Xu’s nephew. I wonder what happened?” Yan Yue asked.

“That’s my fault too. About half a year ago, Jingteng already started showing signs. His moods would change in an instant, but I didn’t take it seriously, and that led to his mental breakdown today. Otherwise, he would definitely still be a very outstanding actor,” Xu Changlan said regretfully.

“I see. That is a pity,” Yan Yue said.

Xu Changlan smiled and shook her head at her.

“Looks like it’s better to ask things clearly. Otherwise, rumors passed around from hearsay always become too absurd,” Yan Yue said.

Xu Changlan asked, “What kind of hearsay?”

“Ms. Xu doesn’t know?” Yan Yue said.

“This... I really haven’t heard much about it,” Xu Changlan replied.

Yan Yue smiled. “Really? I thought Ms. Xu would be the first to know.”

“These days the company has been busy, and I’ve been so overwhelmed I can’t spare attention for anything else,” Xu Changlan said, rubbing her temple.

“There are all kinds of rumors, but the gist is that he was tortured until he lost his mind. There are quite a few photos online, some true and some false. But considering how much Ms. Xu cares for her nephew, something like that would never happen, would it?” Yan Yue said.

Xu Changlan’s heart gave a hard lurch. Her expression stiffened, then she quickly adjusted it. “They’re all baseless rumors. One day they say one thing, and the next day it becomes something else. They never run out of things to say.”

Finding an excuse, Xu Changlan left quickly. Yan Yue’s words had been aimed at her on purpose.

The gala still wasn’t over. Qin Qingyan was waiting outside in the car. She glanced at her watch and sent a message on her phone. Not long after, Yan Yue, in a black evening gown, walked gracefully toward her from afar. Qin Qingyan had only glanced over by accident, but her eyes lit up instantly. She stood there dazed for a long moment before hurriedly unbuckling her seat belt and running out to meet Yan Yue.

She took Yan Yue’s hand. Their eyes met; in them, there was only each other.

“Get in the car first,” Yan Yue said with a smile.

Qin Qingyan nodded and let Yan Yue lead her along.

The car moved through the busy avenue. The smile on Qin Qingyan’s face never faded; she kept sneaking glances at Yan Yue, her happiness overflowing.

“I was already planning to wait for you. Why did you come out so quickly?” Qin Qingyan asked.

“If you’d come ten or twenty minutes earlier, I could have come out then too. Whether I’m there or Yicheng is there, it’s pretty much the same,” Yan Yue said.

Qin Qingyan gave a silly smile and suddenly didn’t know what to say.

“What do you want to eat tonight?” Yan Yue asked, turning her head.

“Whatever you want to eat, I’ll make,” Qin Qingyan said.

Yan Yue thought about it seriously. There had been plenty of food at the gala, and while it tasted decent, most of it had been light. She wanted something spicy.

“Hot pot. I want hot pot,” Yan Yue said.

So the two of them went home, changed into comfortable clothes, and went downstairs together to buy ingredients at the supermarket. For them, grocery shopping counted as rare downtime, so they pushed the cart slowly, browsing at their leisure.

“Let’s get some tofu too. It gets nice and soft when it’s cooked; it’s delicious,” Qin Qingyan said.

“You like tofu?” Yan Yue said meaningfully.

“Mm. I like dried tofu too. It’s delicious however you make it,” Qin Qingyan said.

When she met Yan Yue’s half-smiling gaze, Qin Qingyan immediately realized what she meant. Her cheeks heated up unhelpfully, and she looked away. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I. Someone else was the one thinking too far,” Yan Yue said.

Qin Qingyan pushed the cart a little faster.

After paying, Qin Qingyan carried one bag in one hand and held Yan Yue’s hand with the other.

“Let’s carry it together. It’s a bit heavy,” Yan Yue said.

Qin Qingyan dodged her. “No. If we carry it together, I won’t be able to hold your hand properly. Besides, I’m strong. This little bit of weight is nothing.”

The hot pot ingredients were laid out across the table. Qin Qingyan washed the vegetables, set out the bowls and plates, mixed the dipping sauce, and put the drinks on the corner of the table. The two of them sat down, picked a movie, and waited for the pot to start steaming.

“Are you hungry?” Qin Qingyan asked.

“A little,” Yan Yue said.

“I am too, so I prepared some pre-meal dessert in advance.” Qin Qingyan mysteriously took out a gift box. Inside was a pastry, with the character for “love” written on top.

The writing was a little crooked. Yan Yue seemed to think of something and looked at it carefully for a few moments before confirming, “You made this yourself?”

Qin Qingyan nodded shyly. “Mm. I just learned.”

Yan Yue picked it up carefully and turned it over in her hands. “Eat it in one bite?”

“Mm. It’s not big, so you can finish it. I deliberately made it small,” Qin Qingyan said.

“Is there only this one?” Yan Yue asked.

“There were five at first, but the other four were too ugly. In the end, I only kept this one, since it looked okay,” Qin Qingyan said.

“I’ll share half with you,” Yan Yue said, reaching out, but Qin Qingyan hurriedly stopped her.

“Love can’t be split,” Qin Qingyan said seriously.

Looking at the crooked but earnest “love” character on the pastry, Yan Yue’s heart softened. She bit off one side, then leaned over and raised her brows at Qin Qingyan, signaling her.

Qin Qingyan understood at once. She had seen scenes like this in TV dramas. Leaning forward, she bit the other half. When her lips brushed Yan Yue’s, a faint tingling warmth spread through her. She swallowed the pastry in a hurry, then kissed Yan Yue for several seconds.

When she pulled away, she was still unsatisfied.

Sweet.

“Eat hot pot,” Qin Qingyan said, her voice light and floating.

In May of the following year, a large batch of films was released one after another. At that point, nearly all of them were competing for the Golden Ro Award. The film Qin Qingyan had made with Nie Cong stood out from the crowd and received glowing reviews; compared with the other films in the same release window, it was almost on a completely different level. Qin Qingyan’s personal commercial value kept rising as well, and international endorsement deals came in so fast she could barely keep up.

The internet also began to assume the Golden Ro Award would go to Qin Qingyan. Her fans understood that trees that grow tall draw the wind, so they mentioned the Golden Ro Award even less and instead put all their energy into promoting and supporting the film that had already been released.

One female fan was the boss of a company. On the day the film was released, she gave all her employees a day off to go to the cinema and watch it, and they were even allowed to bring their families; the number of people didn’t matter. This matter stayed on the hot search for several days.

At the press conference that day, Qin Qingyan wore a black suit with a simple white crew-neck top underneath. Sitting in her chair, she answered the questions from below the stage together with the other actors.

“Teacher Qin, I want to ask: the film’s box office is doing so well. Is there any benefit for us?” a fan asked.

Qin Qingyan thought for a moment, then picked up the microphone. “What do you want?”

A stir spread below the stage as people discussed which ideas might actually work.

“We want to see Teacher Qin’s daily life vlog. Is that okay?” someone blurted out, immediately followed by a wave of agreement.

The reason was simple: Qin Qingyan was far too mysterious to them. Aside from her films, the only times they saw her were at press conferences or in occasional chance encounters. And when they did run into her, they were too embarrassingly shy to go up and disturb her. Most of the time, the photos the Little Qing Tuan posted on Weibo were just Qin Qingyan’s head filling half the frame, with Qin Qingyan herself far away in the distance.

Over the years, aside from Our Life, she had not taken part in any other variety show. To Qin Qingyan, outsiders were curious; her fans were curious too.

Seeing Qin Qingyan seriously considering it, the expectant looks below seemed to spill out of their eyes, as if they wanted to answer for her themselves.

“Teacher Qin, our Little Qing Tuan are all very well-behaved,” voices rose one after another, as if copied and pasted.

The host also chimed in at the right moment. “Setting everything else aside, on this point I absolutely agree. As everyone knows, among all fans, the Little Qing Tuan are the most obedient and sensible. Crying children get candy; our sensible Little Qing Tuan should get some too, right?”

“Yes!!!”

So Qin Qingyan smiled and agreed.