A Stranger to Li Xian

Qin Qingyan’s eyes were bright as she stared unblinkingly at Yan Yue on the other end of the video call.

“Today I passed by a shop and bought you a little something. I’ll have someone bring it back home to you later.”

A plush parrot appeared in the frame; its back was green, its belly red and yellow. It was very pretty.

“What kind of bird is this?” Qin Qingyan asked happily.

“A parrot, a sun conure,” Yan Yue said.

Qin Qingyan’s gaze shifted from the toy to Yan Yue’s face. In a muffled voice, she said, “Don’t have someone else bring it. Bring it to me yourself when you come back.”

Yan Yue smiled and agreed.

The two of them chatted about what had been happening lately; all of it was just ordinary little things.

Yan Yue looked into her eyes and listened carefully. After Qin Qingyan finished, Yan Yue suddenly asked, “Qin Qingyan, after all this time, why haven’t you asked me when I’m coming back?”

Ask? Of course she wanted to ask. She even wished she could ask every day. But she wanted Yan Yue to be able to handle her work without distraction.

Qin Qingyan smiled lightly. “Once things are taken care of, you’ll come back eventually. If they’re not settled yet, asking won’t make anything go faster. Besides, having a call like this every day is pretty nice.”

When Yan Yue left, she had said it would take several months, at most half a year. Now July had already passed; maybe the matter was tricky, but a year should probably be enough, right?

Yan Yue thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded. She had originally wanted to give her a surprise and return to the country in a few days, but seeing Qin Qingyan being so stubborn now, forget it; whether she told her or not, it would still be a surprise in the end.

Qin Qingyan held her phone, rolled over, and leaned against a pillow. “I don’t really have much going on, but Li Xian has been acting strange lately. It’s like she’s become a different person. Not just toward me and Su Su, but toward Bai Ruo too; she’s been a lot colder.”

“Li Xian?” Yan Yue frowned. “All of a sudden?”

Qin Qingyan nodded. “I even wondered if Li Xian’s family had forced her to leave Bai Ruo, but it doesn’t seem like that. It feels like she really has changed.”

She thought back to a few days ago, when Bai Ruo had come to her and Su Yan in tears, saying that Li Xian had moved everything out. After only a few sentences, Bai Ruo had broken down and cried. So they had gone with her to look for Li Xian. Li Xian opened the door, but the only thing in her eyes when she looked at them was impatience; that expression even made Qin Qingyan wonder whether the person in front of her was really Li Xian.

Li Xian let Su Yan scold her for a long time. In the end, she only tossed out one casual line: if there was nothing important, don’t bother her again.

Qin Qingyan had been stunned. Her mind was full of disbelief, and even after that door slammed shut, she still could not accept it. Those few minutes of opening and closing the door felt like nothing more than a dream.

But not long after, she and Su Yan ran into Li Xian again. In a restaurant, she was laughing and talking with a young man, acting intimate with him. They forced themselves to trust what they had seen, but somehow, Bai Ruo still found out in the end...

The weather had turned cooler, but Bai Ruo was still wearing a thin shirt as she wandered aimlessly down the street. She had gone to look for Li Xian again just now; every time before this, Li Xian had been the one to impatiently drive her away. Today, from a distance, she had seen Li Xian’s family getting along harmoniously with a strange man. Everyone looked so happy. Li Xian did too.

She hid at the corner and no longer had the courage to step forward. Could a person really change this completely? In just one day—just that one day—Li Xian had become an entirely different person.

When Li Xian went to the restroom, Bai Ruo couldn’t hold back and stepped forward to stop her.

Li Xian didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was; her hand trembled slightly. She curved her lips and put on a careless expression. “This is the thirteenth time. You’re still this persistent? An actress’s time should be very precious, shouldn’t it?”

“Why?” Bai Ruo said. “I just want to know... why did you become like this?”

“There’s no why. I’ve said it more than once; you just won’t listen. Human hearts are the easiest things to change. Don’t you know that?” Li Xian said coldly.

She turned to pull her hand away and leave, but the grip only tightened.

“I want a reason. Give me one, and I’ll go,” Bai Ruo said, lowering her head and not looking at her.

“I said there isn’t one, so there isn’t one. What, I can’t just be fickle?” Li Xian said impatiently.

Bai Ruo’s heart ached in waves, as if something were being ripped raw from it; even breathing became difficult.

“I want a reason,” Bai Ruo said stubbornly.

A flicker of pain flashed through Li Xian’s eyes, but the words she spoke were full of needles. “Fine, I’ll tell you. That day you got drunk at the KTV, why did you call Su Yan? You two stayed together for five or six hours. What happened during that time? Why were you hugging when I got there? I don’t think I need to say more than that.”

She questioned every word. Bai Ruo stared at Li Xian in disbelief, tears slipping down on their own.

Li Xian gave a cold laugh, then said lightly, “But no matter what you did, when I got back I was so angry that I slept with someone. A man. That’s when I realized the feeling was completely different. You should try it too; maybe you’ll—”

Smack!

The loud slap landed on Li Xian’s face. Li Xian tilted her head, her expression unchanged.

Bai Ruo shook her head, tears pouring out uncontrollably, and finally ran off in disappointment.

Li Xian still kept the posture of having been slapped. Her eyes were like a dead pond; something salty kept welling up, sliding down her cheek and leaving a distinct tear track.

In the days that followed, Bai Ruo never went looking for Li Xian again. Qin Qingyan and Su Yan also rarely heard anything about her, as if Li Xian had suddenly disappeared from Nanjing City.

A Weibo hot search shot up rapidly and soon reached the top of the trending list.

【Qin Qingyan’s backer exposed!!!】

There were pictures, there were videos, and there were long, vividly written posts from netizens. Soon after, many others chimed in, saying they had seen Qin Qingyan in person offline, with a woman beside her nine times out of ten.

Most of the pictures and videos on Weibo were shot from behind. In one or two clips, Qin Qingyan’s eyes could be seen clearly, and sharp-eyed netizens compared them and quickly confirmed her identity.

In the most-viewed and most conclusive video, Qin Qingyan leaned forward, the smile and affection in her eyes spilling out without the slightest concealment. The woman beside her helped brush the stray hair from her forehead, then put her hat back on for her; after that, the two of them left the frame hand in hand.

The camera angle was slightly high, so Qin Qingyan was captured clearly, but the other woman had her back to the lens; no one could tell who she was. Only her age could be vaguely guessed as not very old.

【This... the Qin Qingyan I had in mind was pretty aloof. My cold goddess, I’m crying myself to death!】

【Money can make even the devil grind corn; money can make an iceberg smile.】

【I said her resources were way too good, didn’t I? Now the truth is out.】

【Can everyone stop guessing wildly? Family and friends are also possible, okay? And does it have to be a backer? Can’t it be true love?】

Given Qin Qingyan’s rising attention over the past year or two, among the crowd of gossip-hungry netizens there were bloggers eager to ride the wave and maliciously spread the rumor. Since no one could be punished for joining in, more and more bloggers got involved.

The already ambiguous information became even more chaotic; public opinion tipped overwhelmingly into a flood of abuse.

Su Yan protected Qin Qingyan as they left the building; outside, cameras and microphones had long been waiting. The shutter clicks never stopped, the questions kept coming, and everyone pushed forward desperately. A male reporter was strong enough to shove Su Yan aside. Her foot twisted, and she couldn’t hold herself up, collapsing straight down.

Qin Qingyan hurried to help her up. Seeing how chaotic things were, the bodyguards had no time to worry about propriety; they simply reached out and pushed the mass of reporters back, carving out a path.

Su Yan’s ankle swelled up badly and felt hot. Since Qin Qingyan couldn’t go out easily right now, she had Bai Ruo help take Su Yan to the hospital.

The examination showed the bone wasn’t injured; they prescribed some medicine and sent her home to rest.

The internet was full of abuse. A small number of netizens spoke up for her, but they were quickly drowned out by the endless cursing and mockery.

And Qin Qingyan’s studio never responded at all from beginning to end.

Several hours after the public opinion had fully fermented, someone else posted a few photos, as if to prove that Qin Qingyan’s private life was a mess. This time, the photos showed both women and men with her; from the hairstyles alone, it was clear they were not the same person each time.

After causing a stir, the original poster deleted the account.

In the ward, Su Yan was cursing as she scrolled through the comments. Bai Ruo wasn’t as agitated as she was, but she was frowning too. Qin Qingyan wasn’t that kind of person. If the earlier photos had been taken by paparazzi stalking her, then the later ones were probably deliberately edited in Photoshop.

That was what Bai Ruo thought, and some fans tried their hardest to defend her for the same reason.

Not long after, another photo was exposed, accompanied by a two- or three-second short video.

Amid the crowd coming and going, Qin Qingyan was seen embracing a man warmly. The person who posted the video also wrote: the video has absolutely no edits and can accept any verification.

Afterward, many editing bloggers repeatedly confirmed the video’s authenticity, effectively nailing the matter down with no room for defense.

Su Yan wanted to call Qin Qingyan. Since her debut until now, there had never been an online mobbing this overwhelming. Her phone stayed on the dial screen as she hesitated.

She said to Bai Ruo, “My foot’s fine. Go check on Qingyan-jie. I’m afraid she won’t be able to take this.”

Bai Ruo sighed. “Of course I know that; I’m worried about her too. But if I go looking for her now, wouldn’t that be the same as exposing Qingyan’s address to the media?”

Su Yan deflated, helplessness flooding through her. Right now, not only did the netizens not understand the truth; even they themselves didn’t know how these photos and videos had appeared.

She had followed Qin Qingyan for so many years and trusted her completely. Even if the photos were all real, there had to be a reason. But where were they supposed to find a video that could explain the whole chain of events? A bare, empty clarification spoken without proof; even if it were the truth, no one would believe it.

Just as she was worrying, a fully disguised figure walked into the ward. Su Yan recognized her at a glance and didn’t dare shout aloud. God knew how excited she was to see a perfectly fine Qin Qingyan right now.

Qin Qingyan removed her gear and let out a long breath.

“At a time like this, why did you come here? Aren’t you afraid the paparazzi outside will find you?” Bai Ruo asked.

Qin Qingyan shook her head. “They found me.”

The other two were both startled, then turned toward the door in unison, their expressions tense, as if a great horde of demons and monsters would burst in the next second.

“It’s fine. Someone helped me lead them away,” Qin Qingyan said with a soft laugh, looking at their expressions.