Stay the Night

Su Yan followed her gaze in surprise and then froze too. The one driving was a beautiful, elegant woman. She searched her memory for the face, but couldn’t place it.

After confirming it was her, Yan Yue let out a quiet breath of relief and smiled at them. “Get in first?”

Su Yan was still processing it, but Qin Qingyan was already getting to her feet and walking over. Su Yan hurried after her.

Inside the car, the atmosphere was unusually quiet.

Yan Yue adjusted the rearview mirror slightly, angling it toward Qin Qingyan. Of course the two in the back noticed. Qin Qingyan only blinked, but Su Yan immediately started overthinking.

No way, no way. Could the new actress she’d casually helped actually be some extraordinary big shot? A fallen heiress? A real-life princess in hiding? Or maybe a kept beauty, spoiled by some wealthy patron?!

She glanced at Yan Yue again. If all the female sugar mommies looked this good, then maybe that wasn’t impossible after all. Thinking of that, she almost laughed out loud.

“Want to come to my place for a bit?” Yan Yue asked.

“No... The place we rented is a bit far from here, and it’s already late,” Qin Qingyan said.

Yan Yue hesitated for a moment, then said, “If you’re planning to build your careers in the entertainment industry, wouldn’t it be more convenient to live somewhere closer to Hengdian?”

There was a brief silence in the back.

“We don’t have any income right now. We’re still living off the money from the jobs we filmed before. The apartments near Hengdian are pretty expensive,” Qin Qingyan said honestly.

Listening to the exchange between them, the fantasy in Su Yan’s head slowly shattered. Not a rich young lady, not a princess, not a kept beauty...

Yan Yue caught onto something and asked, “I saw your performances. Your parts in those three dramas were all small. Was that enough money to keep you going this long?”

Through the rearview mirror, she saw Qin Qingyan lower her eyes, looking preoccupied.

Su Yan answered for her. “We actually filmed a lot, but when the dramas aired, everything got cut. Those three... maybe the cuts just weren’t quite complete.”

That answer made Yan Yue slightly startled. It was completely different from what Nie Cong and Zheng Chong had told her.

She fell silent, thinking it over, and neither Qin Qingyan nor Su Yan disturbed her.

After a while, she glanced at the rearview mirror again. Qin Qingyan really had changed somewhat. More than a year had passed, and the childishness from back then had faded; her features were sharper now.

“If you don’t mind, how about staying at my place tonight?” Yan Yue asked.

They were first shocked, then hesitant, their expressions tangled and complicated.

“Don’t worry. There’s a supermarket not far from the neighborhood. Whatever you need, I can provide it.”

After thinking it over, Qin Qingyan said, “No. Staying for just one night would be too much trouble for you, and we’re more used to our own place.”

“Actually, this isn’t just a simple invitation from a friend. I’d like a chance to sit down and talk properly with you both. If possible, I’ll help solve as many of your problems as I can within my ability; that may be useful to you.”

So it really was just a friend after all. Su Yan deflated for a moment, then perked up again and asked excitedly, “May I ask your name?”

“Yan Yue.”

The hand typing on Baidu trembled slightly. That name sounded familiar. She searched quickly, and soon some information came up.

Su Yan’s eyes widened in shock.

The founder of Changyue!

She still remembered when she first arrived in Nanjing City; she had gone to apply for a cleaning job at Changyue, for no other reason than the monthly salary of seven or eight thousand yuan.

After learning they weren’t hiring, she had left in frustration, trying to console herself. Seven or eight thousand? Impossible. There was no way it would be that much; three or four thousand would already be generous.

Carefully, she asked, “At your place... does cleaning really pay seven or eight thousand?”

“Hm?” Yan Yue hadn’t expected that question. “Maybe. Even if it doesn’t, with holiday bonuses and year-end benefits, the average probably comes out to about the same.”

Those words struck Su Yan’s already fragile heart like a blade.

She poked Qin Qingyan’s shoulder. “Go. The range of ability is huge.”

After all, one-third of the artists in the entertainment industry came from Huanfeng Century, and Huanfeng Century was only a subsidiary of Changyue. Only a subsidiary, that was all.

So they agreed.

After buying the basic necessities, they followed Yan Yue into the neighborhood where she lived. At the gate stood the brightly lit word “Jingsheng”; it was said to have been written by a renowned calligrapher.

Su Yan carried the bags, her eyes darting everywhere. It was really spacious; she couldn’t stop marveling.

“This neighborhood is really striking,” Su Yan said. “Even the security guard at the gate looks kind of defiant.” She liked it a lot.

When they entered the elevator, there were no buttons, only a display screen.

Yan Yue pressed her fingerprint against it. The screen showed the corresponding floor, and only then did the elevator start rising.

They even had this? Su Yan’s world was expanded yet again. She looked at Qin Qingyan, but saw no surprise on her face, so she asked curiously, “Qingyan-jie, why are you so calm?”

“Am I? I’m very surprised too,” Qin Qingyan said seriously.

Su Yan shook her head. She really couldn’t tell.

After they entered the living room, Su Yan let out another round of exclamations. She sighed once more that being rich really was good; she couldn’t even imagine how much more cheerful she’d be if she could live in a place like this for a year.

“You two sit down first. Feel free to look around. I’m going upstairs to change,” Yan Yue said, then headed up.

The moment Su Yan saw the view from the balcony, she was drawn straight over and ran up to it. “Qingyan-jie, come look at this. It’s so pretty.”

Beyond the balcony, the view opened up dramatically. In the distance, several yachts were moving slowly across the river; even from so far away, it almost seemed possible to hear the singing and dancing coming from them.

The streets across the river were even more dazzling, bright as a line, like a strip of radiant sunset glow. The lights of the taller buildings were scattered at different heights, too. Every bit of it was captivating, impossible not to admire.

“I finally get what happiness looks like for rich people,” Su Yan said contentedly.

Qin Qingyan looked at the distant scenery, but her mind went back to that afternoon in Qingyi Village, when she had sat on a small hillside and looked at layer upon layer of mountains.

Now she had come out of that place; she was standing in a place that most people could never reach. Yet after the initial shock, she actually felt a very faint sadness.

Become an actress; become famous overnight; earn a considerable fortune; then buy her own home like this, stand on a balcony like this and look out—then what?

She hesitated.

Just as she was thinking, footsteps sounded behind her. Looking back, she saw Yan Yue had changed into a plain pink set of loungewear, making her whole presence seem softer and more approachable.

“The view in Jingsheng really is nice,” Yan Yue said with a smile. “It’s chilly outside. Come in and warm yourselves up.”

Su Yan and Qin Qingyan exchanged a glance, knowing Yan Yue was about to talk business. They closed the door and sat together on the sofa.

There were fruit and snacks on the coffee table.

“Not long ago, I had dinner with a few friends, and your name came up by chance,” Yan Yue said, looking at Qin Qingyan. “Can I ask about some of the things that happened after you entered the entertainment industry?”

Qin Qingyan and Su Yan roughly guessed who Yan Yue had talked to, and what those people must have said about her was easy to imagine. But since Yan Yue hadn’t taken those words as final, and since this was an opportunity to clear things up, Qin Qingyan would answer truthfully.

So she told her everything, from beginning to end, exactly as it had happened.

“...And then tonight, we ran into you,” Qin Qingyan said.

Yan Yue fell silent. Just as she had guessed, there were two completely different accounts. As for which side was trustworthy... for now, she wasn’t planning to doubt Qin Qingyan.

And while Qin Qingyan was speaking, she deliberately avoided mentioning her suspicions about Zheng Chong, as well as the things Zheng Chong had done before.

She was grateful to Yan Yue and knew Yan Yue had been good to her. But after all, Yan Yue was also one of Huanfeng’s top decision-makers. Since she wasn’t that familiar with her yet, caution came first.

Besides, even if she said it, she had no direct evidence for any of it. If Zheng Chong stirred things up from the side, it might even make her relationship with Yan Yue distant.

So even though Su Yan had repeatedly signaled her just now, she still chose not to bring it up.

“It wasn’t only you who went into a male actor’s room. Why didn’t you explain when Director Nie asked?” Yan Yue asked.

Qin Qingyan was silent.

Back then, Director Nie’s expression had been ugly as he questioned her sharply.

“Qin Qingyan, let me ask you: did you really go looking for Zheng Jingteng in the middle of the night?”

“Yes.”

“And you really hit him?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Very good!”

After that, Director Nie had thrown up his hands and left.

Why hadn’t she explained then? She only remembered that when Nie Cong asked the first question, it felt as though she had fallen into a swamp; struggling would only sink her deeper.

She understood that rather than coming to verify the truth, Nie Cong was more like he had come to confirm it.

Whatever he asked, she answered honestly, with a kind of self-abandoning weariness.

Now Yan Yue was asking the same question, and she still didn’t want to explain.

She hadn’t done those things; there was no need for her to wear a filthy hat just to prove anything to anyone.

Su Yan sat nearby, looking from Qin Qingyan to Yan Yue, genuinely anxious for her. If she didn’t speak soon, she might miss the chance to explain herself.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine,” Yan Yue said. “But once you have a certain fan base later on, anything that needs explaining has to be explained. By then, you won’t just represent yourself.”

Qin Qingyan looked at her in surprise. Was she... teaching her?

“Thank you,” Qin Qingyan said.

“As for hitting the male actor...” Yan Yue said.

Afraid Qin Qingyan would refuse to explain again and leave Yan Yue with a worse impression of her, Su Yan quickly said, “President Yan, I know Qingyan-jie acted on impulse. It was wrong of us to hit someone, but he insulted us first, and we just couldn’t swallow it.”

Yan Yue nodded. “Hitting someone was indeed wrong, and it was indeed impulsive.”

Qin Qingyan drew in a deep breath and looked away toward the balcony, her face tight.

Yan Yue glanced at her and understood she was dissatisfied, so she smiled. “Legally speaking, the side that strikes first is always at a disadvantage. Fortunately, that male actor doesn’t seem very good at this sort of thing; otherwise, if he pretended to be in pain or used some trick to make the injuries seem worse, once the police got involved, that would forever become a weapon for anyone targeting you.”

Qin Qingyan froze. She really hadn’t considered that. Looking back at Yan Yue, there was apology in her eyes.

Listening to them, Su Yan could tell Yan Yue was even more approachable than she had imagined; she was fair-minded and really was considering Qin Qingyan’s interests. Unable to help herself, she quietly poked Qin Qingyan’s arm and mouthed two words: Zheng Chong.

Qin Qingyan understood what she meant, but still said nothing.