Yu Shuran’s Past
After Yan Huan left, Yu Shuran finally stepped forward and watched her retreating back.
“That actress from just now made me feel strangely familiar for a moment,” Yu Shuran said.
Qin Qingyan smiled. “Maybe you’ve seen her before. Huanhuan only really rose to prominence in the last few years, but she’s already acted in several productions.”
Yu Shuran shook her head. “I know exactly who she is. Just because I don’t act doesn’t mean I don’t go online. It’s just that when I saw her a moment ago, another person flashed through my mind. I couldn’t catch who it was.”
Qin Qingyan looked at Yu Shuran and smiled. “There are countless beauties in the industry. Pretty faces can look alike. Even I couldn’t tell a lot of senior actresses apart at first; I thought they all looked the same. That’s normal.”
Yu Shuran smiled back. Qin Qingyan didn’t want her to know the connection between Yan Huan and that woman in the wheelchair, so she’d just pretend not to know.
That night, there was a fight scene set in a rainy night. Qin Qingyan had prepared warm clothes, but she still couldn’t fight off the chill in her hands and feet.
Her rain boots had filled with water; her feet felt even colder than if they’d been exposed to the air.
The scene should have wrapped quickly, but a problem with the equipment forced them to reshoot three or four more takes before it finally ended. By the time they were done, Qin Qingyan’s lips had gone pale. When she leaned on Yu Shuran, even Yu Shuran felt a sudden shiver run through her whole body.
She immediately had her assistant take Qin Qingyan to change into warmer clothes.
Sitting beside the brazier for nearly ten minutes, Qin Qingyan’s body gradually warmed up again.
The director also hurried over to check on her and asked how she was feeling. Qin Qingyan smiled and shook her head, but Yu Shuran was already getting angry.
“Shouldn’t everything have been checked before filming started? This time it was the equipment; next time, what if it’s the wire rig? You can’t even guarantee the actors’ basic safety. Don’t you think so, Director Liu?”
Yu Shuran’s voice was soft and light, and there wasn’t even much anger on her face; but anyone who knew her understood that this was when she was truly furious.
And Director Liu happened to know her very well from working with her before.
“Yes, yes. I’ve already had people checking it carefully. There definitely won’t be a next time.”
After making that promise, Director Liu said a few more concerned words before leaving.
Qin Qingyan was one of Huanfeng Century’s most heavily promoted actresses; behind her was Huanfeng, and behind Huanfeng Century was Changyue, which in turn had close ties with Yan Group.
He couldn’t afford to offend any of them.
As for Yu Shuran... he remembered that when he had just entered the industry as a director, something happened once. A domineering top-tier actress humiliated Yu Shuran and even slapped her publicly.
The very next day, all kinds of private scandals about that actress flooded the hot search. Her company dropped her immediately, as if tossing away a hot potato. Even many fans who had tried to defend her had their accounts banned one by one.
Even now, years later, major platforms still didn’t dare hire her again.
After that, Yu Shuran’s career had gone smoothly; she rose all the way up and won multiple awards. Yet no one still knew who had been backing her.
Back at the hotel, Qin Qingyan started coughing. She boiled a kettle of hot water and bought some medicine with a delivery order. After taking it, she immediately felt much better.
Thinking of how Yu Shuran had looked after her earlier, Qin Qingyan sent another thank-you message on WeChat.
Yu Shuran replied quickly with a few lines, and in the end sent a smiling face emoji.
Qin Qingyan stared at the smile and suddenly laughed.
As expected of someone in the same age bracket as Yan Yue. It was clearly a death smile, so why did they all think it meant friendliness?
Still, there was a difference. Yan Yue had already learned the meaning after Qin Qingyan explained it to her, but sometimes she still liked to send it anyway; it was obviously deliberate.
[Yu Teacher, that expression doesn’t mean smiling.]
After a while.
[It doesn’t? No wonder the other person rarely replies after I send it.]
So Qin Qingyan explained it all over again.
Yu Shuran frowned. So it had that meaning?
When she exited the chat, she looked at the contact pinned at the top of her list. After hesitating, she tapped in; the chat time showed it had been two years. She scrolled upward and found the old conversation about that “death smile.”
That person had said: This means appreciation and friendliness. Use it more.
[I know. It’s obvious.]
That person had replied: Mm, very good.
Yu Shuran read through the entire exchange from beginning to end. Many things suddenly felt as if they had happened only yesterday.
Until she reached the messages at the very bottom.
[Yu Shuran, I’m selfish? Is it me who’s selfish, or you who are so selfless that you can accept anyone’s kindness? Are you really that incapable of holding back?]
[Did you actually listen to a single explanation I gave you? Zeng Nian, in your eyes, am I really that unbearable of a person?]
[Heh. And if not?]
A week later.
[Zeng Nian, let’s break up.]
Another week later.
[Did I ever admit that you were my girlfriend?]
That one sentence severed those years she had spent with no status, no name. As for the word “love,” she still didn’t dare touch it again.
The next day, Qin Qingyan wasn’t in much of a state all morning. She forced herself to finish several scenes; Director Liu wanted her to rest first before continuing, but Qin Qingyan still insisted on finishing the shoot.
Yu Shuran knew Qin Qingyan was rushing back on purpose, rushing back to see the person she loved.
“You seem to have a bit of a fever,” Yu Shuran said, reaching a hand to Qin Qingyan’s forehead.
Qin Qingyan was packing up her things as she smiled. “It’s fine, Yu Teacher. I’m strong. I’ll be okay after I tough it out for a bit.”
“Don’t treat your body like it doesn’t matter. If you keep this up, your girlfriend will worry too.”
Who would have thought Qin Qingyan’s smile would only brighten? “That’s perfect. I’m just hoping she’ll worry about me.”
Yu Shuran froze slightly.
At the same time, another voice seemed to ring in her ears; that person had said exactly the same thing.
“Yu Teacher, I’m leaving first. If I’m any slower, I’m afraid I’ll really get better.”
Yu Shuran said, “Mm. Be careful on the road.”
Along the way, Qin Qingyan kept coughing from time to time. The driver glanced at her several times.
“Teacher Qingyan, there’s a pharmacy ahead. Should we stop and get some medicine first?”
Qin Qingyan instinctively shook her head. Her head felt heavier and heavier too; it hurt.
The driver sighed and could only speed up.
At a traffic light, the car stopped. Qin Qingyan rolled down the window to get some air.
In the lane beside them was another red car, its color bright and eye-catching. Inside sat a woman wearing sunglasses. Through the window, she looked at Qin Qingyan beside her. Only when the light turned green did the two cars drive off in their separate directions.
The woman made a phone call. “Even though she was wearing a mask, she looked decent. Her face was soft and delicate too. I didn’t expect that after all this time apart, Yu Shuran’s taste would change so much.”
The person on the other end said nothing and hung up.
By the time Qin Qingyan got home, her consciousness was already growing hazy. She had to try the fingerprint code several times before she managed it.
As soon as she pushed the door open, Yan Yue glanced toward the entrance. Hearing Qin Qingyan coughing, she frowned deeply.
Qin Qingyan walked unsteadily to the sofa without saying a word and lay straight down across Yan Yue’s lap.
“Qin Qingyan?” Yan Yue called to her. Only when she touched her did she realize how hot her body was.
She hurriedly tried to lift Qin Qingyan and carry her back to the room, and for a moment forgot that her legs were inconvenient. Yan Yue looked down at her own legs; self-mockery and sorrow filled her eyes.
There was only her in the room. Su Yan and the others had gone downstairs for quite a while already; who knew when they’d be back.
Her phone was on the coffee table, and Qin Qingyan was pressing down on her lap, making it hard for her to move. So she searched Qin Qingyan’s body, found her phone, unlocked it with the fingerprint, and Yan Yue froze.
The screen still showed the chat interface from last night with Yu Shuran.
Yan Yue ended up, partly unwillingly and partly voluntarily, reading the entire conversation.
When Qin Qingyan woke, her head was still foggy, though she felt much better, and the fever was no longer so intense. Seeing the medicine left beside the bed, Qin Qingyan immediately felt warm and happy inside.
But then she thought of it again: Yan Yue wasn’t convenient now, so it could only have been someone else who fed her the medicine. Her mood immediately became less wonderful.
Just then, Su Yan passed by. “Sister Qingyan, you’re finally awake. You’ve been asleep for more than three hours.”
That long?
She wanted to check the time on her phone, only to realize it wasn’t in her pocket.
“Where’s my phone?” Had she left it in the car?
“It’s with Yan-zong. As soon as you got back, you fell asleep on Yan-zong’s lap. No matter how we called you, you wouldn’t wake up, and she couldn’t move at all. In the end, she had to use your phone to call us,” Su Yan said.
Qin Qingyan seemed to have a little memory of it, but not very clearly. She put on her slippers and went to the living room, where Li Xian was helping Yan Yue move her legs.
She walked over and sat beside them, her face full of smiles, though no one knew what exactly she was smiling at.
Yan Yue lifted her eyes and glanced at her. Seeing that grin, she nodded toward the phone on the coffee table.
“I’m not playing on my phone,” Qin Qingyan said.
Li Xian smiled. “Qingyan, you actually don’t have to rush back every day. I’m here.”
“The film crew isn’t far away anyway. It’s no trouble.”
“I mean all this back-and-forth every day is exhausting. I’m a doctor; leave these things to me. You don’t trust me?”
Qin Qingyan hurriedly said, “Of course I do. Besides, I’d just be sitting around at the film crew anyway. Coming back to have a look doesn’t delay anything.”
She looked at Yan Yue. Yan Yue was absentmindedly staring at her legs, which were sometimes straight and sometimes bent, as if lost in thought.
“Are you not leaving tonight?” Li Xian asked, lifting Yan Yue’s legs flat and pulling the trouser legs down.
Qin Qingyan said, “Of course not. It’s rare that I get to stay home for a night.”
Li Xian rotated her neck; it felt a little sore.
“I’ll do it.” Qin Qingyan stood and went around behind Li Xian. “Let me rub it for you. Doctor Li has worked hard lately.”
As she spoke, she raised an eyebrow at Su Yan. Su Yan instantly understood and pulled Bai Ruo out of the room, where she had been playing on her phone. Bai Ruo was pushed out the door for no apparent reason.
“Opportunities like this don’t come twice,” Su Yan said softly.
After understanding what she meant, Bai Ruo still looked unwilling, but she obediently went to the back of the sofa. Qin Qingyan then quietly let go.
Li Xian noticed it; those hands were clearly much colder. But she pretended not to.
She tilted her head slightly. “This side.”
Bai Ruo frowned, but her hands didn’t stop moving.
Yan Yue and Li Xian exchanged a look, then both smiled.
Qin Qingyan moved to Yan Yue’s side, folded her legs under her, and leaned against Yan Yue’s shoulder. “I’m going to sleep.”
“Go sleep in the bedroom if you want to sleep. Don’t make the cold get worse later,” Yan Yue said softly, turning her head slightly.
“No. I just want to nap a little. I’m not going back to the room.”
Yan Yue leaned back and wrapped one arm around Qin Qingyan’s waist, then pulled the blanket over her lap and covered Qin Qingyan with it.
“This is nice,” Li Xian said, watching the scene.
Bai Ruo also smiled and, without thinking, agreed, “Mm.”
But then she suddenly realized something was off. Qin Qingyan was right there, and Li Xian clearly knew too. In other words, she had been pressing her hands for half the day, and Li Xian had known all along?