Chapter 71
“What were you and your friend doing on the balcony? The paparazzi said you gave her a ring.”
“I did give her a ring.”
“Hiss—” Yi Huai gasped. “I didn’t realize you were such a scumbag. Dating one and proposing to another?”
“What!” Xu Ling’s head was about to explode. She quickly explained.
After listening, the other end let out another breath. “The paparazzi are negotiating a price with me. They’re asking for a lot, saying they can expose your sexuality. I think it’s fine if it’s released. Anyway, it’s just his own speculation. But I still want to see what you think.”
Xu Ling glanced at Qin Cong’an and said, “And I have a lot of friends at my house today. We were planning on posting photos later anyway. Wouldn’t that be a clarification? But Sister Huai, can I call you back later?”
The other end said she could. Xu Ling hung up the phone and told Qin Cong’an about it.
“Just as I told Sister Huai, it doesn’t matter if it’s released. What do you think?” Xu Ling didn’t want to make Qin Cong’an unhappy again. What if she got jealous again if that photo was released?
Qin Cong’an leaned back on the sofa, her body relaxed, her expression also relaxed. Knowing that Li Yan’s feelings for Xu Ling were one-sided and that Xu Ling had no feelings for her, she didn’t mind so much anymore.
No wonder Li Yan’s emotions had seemed so stable. She had been the calmest one when she had seen her come out of Xu Ling’s room. It seemed she had long since recognized the fact that Xu Ling’s heart had never wavered for her.
It really didn’t matter if it was released or not. Qin Cong’an nodded and asked casually, “Do you two look like a couple in the photo?”
“Huh? How would I know?” Xu Ling’s first reaction was that she hadn’t seen the photo.
The next second, she started to do a reading comprehension of Qin Cong’an’s words. Qin Cong’an also knew she hadn’t seen the photo. So to ask that, she wasn’t really asking about the photo, but about whether they had done something on the balcony that would make people misunderstand that they were a couple.
So Xu Ling quickly explained, “On the balcony, I just gave her the ring back and said a few words. She even told me to make it clear to you that she does like me, but…”
She was about to start talking non-stop again. Qin Cong’an’s hand pressed on her thigh, interrupting her. “Take a breath.”
Xu Ling paused, took a deep breath, and continued, “But I don’t like her. She could even tell that I only like you… by the way, she even wished us a long and happy life together!”
Qin Cong’an was a little puzzled. “How can she be so generous?”
“She’s just a very nice person…” As Xu Ling spoke, she suddenly shut her mouth and quickly glanced at her.
Oh no. Qin Cong’an thought, my impression in Xu Ling’s heart is about to become that of a petty person who won’t let her praise any other woman.
Qin Cong’an’s voice became very gentle. “Mhm, she sounds like a nice person. What else did you want to say? Continue.”
But Xu Ling was so scared by her that she swallowed hard. She hadn’t dared to say it just now, and now she was even more afraid. There must be a knife hidden in her gentleness
Seeing her reaction, it was really bad. For a moment, Qin Cong’an didn’t know what to say. This silence put more pressure on Xu Ling.
“It’s not really generosity. She doesn’t like me anymore. She’s had a girlfriend. She must have let go a long time ago,” Xu Ling said, trying to reassure her.
If she had let go, would she have asked her to pretend to be her girlfriend instead of someone else? If she had let go, would she have traveled all this way and taken leave to celebrate her movie?
But seeing Xu Ling so afraid of making her angry, Qin Cong’an didn’t want to dwell on this point anymore. She said, “Mhm, I see. As for whether this photo can be released, you should ask for her opinion too.”
“Oh, okay.” Xu Ling took out her phone and opened Li Yan’s WeChat. But then she thought, could this be a test from Qin Cong’an? She asked tentatively, “Can I call her? Or should I just send a message? Or maybe you can send it for her.”
Xu Ling held her phone out to Qin Cong’an and then asked, “But can you not delete her after you’re done? After all, she and I have been friends for many years and have many mutual friends. It would be very awkward if you deleted her. Although she doesn’t contact me either, really. You can check the chat history.”
Qin Cong’an was helpless. When had she ever said she wanted her to delete Li Yan? She had no choice but to make it clear to her. “You don’t have to be so cautious. I know you just see her as a friend. I won’t overthink it anymore. You can contact her. I’ll go make something to eat.”
Her tone put Xu Ling at ease. But she still followed her to the kitchen with her phone and called Li Yan on speaker.
After listening, Li Yan said, “I’m fine with it. I’m not in the country often, so it doesn’t affect me much. As long as you and her are okay with it.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“What for? Did you make it clear to her?”
“It’s clear,” Qin Cong’an answered, trying her best to keep any emotion out of her voice. “You’re a very nice person. By the way, thank you for the reminder about long-distance relationships.”
The person on the other end of the line chuckled. “Are you sure you want to thank me? Are you sure that was just a reminder?”
“…”
Xu Ling glanced at Qin Cong’an’s face, and her own expression changed a little. What was Yanzi saying all of a sudden! Everything had been fine before. Why was she pulling this now that everything had calmed down?
The silence on this end made the laughter on the other end even more obvious. “Just kidding. Okay, I’m at the hotel. I have to go. Let’s meet up again when I find a girlfriend. Bye.”
“Mhm, mhm, bye-bye, Yanzi.” After hanging up, Xu Ling quickly repeated, “She was joking!”
Although Li Yan wasn’t one to joke around, Xu Ling didn’t say that.
Qin Cong’an nodded and didn’t speak. This was good. Just a short while ago, she had been thinking, how could Li Yan be so nice? So nice it wasn’t real. But this sentence, which she didn’t know if it was a joke or not, instantly made her seem less illusory. She knew she was a normal person, and she was no longer flustered.
Xu Ling tried very hard to make Qin Cong’an happy today. Even when she made a cake that was really a bit unpalatable, she closed her eyes and praised it.
Qin Cong’an didn’t taste it herself, but she knew the recipe by heart. This time, she had deliberately added much less of the ingredients. The taste was bland, and the baking effect was not good. It didn’t look delicious.
It seemed what Xu Ling had said was true. Even if she made a pile of something, she would still like it.
No matter how well Li Yan cooked, no matter how good her personality was, the only one Xu Ling liked was her.
Oh my, why was she in such a good mood?
“Okay, stop eating.” Qin Cong’an snatched it from Xu Ling’s hand, cleaned it up, and then pulled her to the sofa to watch TV, completely forgetting that just a short while ago, she had been disgusted by the other smells.
They hadn’t seen each other for a week, and their meeting had been disrupted by a group of friends. They had even less time to be close.
That paparazzi had already released the photos, and had even said it with great conviction, that Xu Ling had given her girlfriend a ring, and that Xu Ling had a shy expression. And there was even an insider to back it up, who said they were Xu Ling’s university classmates and that her sexual orientation was that she liked the same sex.
Qin Cong’an leaned on Xu Ling’s shoulder, looking at the related comments. She saw several that said “so compatible” and really wanted to give them a string of dislikes.
But most of the comments were:
[Who gives a ring so casually without even a box?]
[You know, I really do see the shyness, but what if she’s talking about our An An?]
[You scared me to death. I thought they had been photographed kissing. They didn’t even hug or hold hands. Stop spreading rumors. The only thing I believe in the whole article is that Ling Yu likes women.]
No one believed it.
Not long after, Meng Bai and the others all posted photos. Xu Ling carefully checked what everyone had posted, not even missing a punctuation mark. But there were no hints, not a single trace of Qin Cong’an’s existence. She didn’t have to worry about her friends not helping to cover for her. After all, Qingqing and Chuchu, who hadn’t come out to their families yet, were also well-hidden by everyone.
Xu Ling reposted or liked her friends’ posts, and in an instant, the paparazzi’s speculation seemed even less convincing. The sisters were having a party. What nonsense were they talking about? And who knew if the insider was made up?
But Xu Ling was still a little scared. Good thing Qin Cong’an hadn’t walked to the window or the balcony when she had come out. Otherwise, she might have been photographed.
Every time they went to each other’s houses, they were fully prepared to avoid being photographed. Probably because of their experience of being sneaky on set, it wasn’t difficult for them. It could be said that they had developed a good habit.
“We have to be more careful in the future,” Xu Ling said.
“Mhm,” Qin Cong’an agreed, but she felt a little uncomfortable in her heart.
Forget it. Let’s just kiss.
“Isn’t your lung capacity very good? Why are you like this?” Qin Cong’an asked the pink-faced Xu Ling. Seeing her breathing unevenly, like a pitiful little fish, just opening its mouth.
“…Does it have a relationship!” Xu Ling felt a little hypoxic. She propped herself up on Qin Cong’an’s shoulders and also asked her, “Didn’t you say you were tired from boxing yesterday? Why do you look not tired at all?”
“Boxing?”
“?” Seeing Qin Cong’an’s look of having forgotten, Xu Ling was shocked. She had thought she had misremembered. No, she had said boxing. “You didn’t practice?”
“Mhm.”
“You lied to me!” Xu Ling’s eyes widened. “Could it be that you actually saw the message I sent you?”
“Of course. Did you really think I don’t look at my phone? Even if I’m tired, I have to look at my phone and wait for your message.”
“…!” Xu Ling was about to die of anger. She immediately turned over and pressed Qin Cong’an underneath her, determined to turn this bad person into a pile of mud.
The stirred-up waves were like white foam, too humid, making both of them dizzy.
They moved to an even more humid place, letting the complex smells on their bodies disappear, leaving only the same fragrance.
Afterwards, they held a glass of red wine with a slightly sour fruit aroma, shared it, and then had a good sleep.
Xu Ling woke up late in the morning and left without even washing her face. After getting in the car, she reported to Qin Cong’an and then saw a message from Sun Anni last night.
Sun Anni: [Sister! I want to come to your house to watch a movie too. Can I?]
She had even included a very cute emoji of a kitten with wet, expectant eyes.
Xu Ling’s brain hadn’t fully woken up, but she remembered that Qin Cong’an didn’t seem to have a good impression of Sun Anni. Li Yan was her good friend, but Sun Anni wasn’t yet. And they didn’t have any mutual acquaintances. She couldn’t just let her come to her house alone.
Xu Ling: [No.]
She also included a sorry cat emoji.
The expression on the other end immediately became even more pitiful. She chatted about some other things, saying she wanted to go out to play together. Xu Ling said they would see when they had a chance.
A normal person would understand that it was a polite refusal. Sun Anni happened to be a normal person. After expressing her regret, she didn’t ask again.
Not long after, Qin Cong’an also woke up and sent a message: [So next Thursday, I can really order you around?]
Xu Ling replied angrily: [Originally, yes. But you lied to me, so it doesn’t count.]
Orange: [Bad signal. Didn’t receive the message. Goodbye. Work hard.]
Can’t you act a little better? Xu Ling sent a big eye-roll emoji, but in reality, she was very much looking forward to how she would be ordered around next Thursday. If she were to ask her to tie her up and do this and that, she would be willing. Okay, she was more likely to be the one tied up… no, just thinking about it was making her drool.
Xu Ling got an endorsement for a sports brand and had to take photos and shoot materials. But this wasn’t difficult for her. Her expressiveness was excellent, full of vitality, dynamism, confidence, and strength, not a single one lacking. When it was projected onto the big screen in the mall, it was very eye-catching.
On her way home from work this day, she passed by a mall and saw her endorsement photo. Around the corner was a certain car brand that Qin Cong’an endorsed, but there was no photo of Qin Cong’an.
But this was just too perfect for showing off.
Xu Ling got out of the car, secretly found a clever angle, and seemingly took a picture of her own big screen, but actually included a little of the side. She took a picture and posted it on Weibo.
Everyone understood what she meant, right?
The CP fans were indeed the best at imagining things. They immediately connected the two of them and started to scream in the comments.
Xu Ling was very moved. They were such a good batch to lead.
The next day, Xu Ling paid the price for showing off. But it had nothing to do with Qin Cong’an. She was just targeted by some fans of a competing product.
Yi Huai had fought for this brand endorsement. At first, the other party had been more inclined towards a certain young actress. Yi Huai had communicated with them for a long time and had finally decided on Xu Ling.
Of course, the brand had considered that Xu Ling was a better fit for the brand’s image, and her popularity was not inferior to that young actress’s recently. Another very important point was that Xu Ling’s side was more cooperative. This was a decision made after multiple considerations. But after the young actress’s fans heard about it, they were very dissatisfied with Xu Ling, feeling that she was deliberately showing off the spoils she had snatched.
They were all kinds of sarcastic towards Xu Ling, saying that besides the role of Jian Yu, Xu Ling was nothing, just a small-timer who was familiarizing her face on various variety shows.
“Tsk,” Yi Huai was angry. “Then at least you still have Jian Yu. At least the box office is a few hundred million. What does she have? Only popularity that is visible to fans. Every drama she’s in is a flop.”
“Sister, don’t be so agitated.”
“You’re so calm,” Yi Huai said in a bad mood.
“What these people are saying is a little bit reasonable. And didn’t you say it at the beginning, Sister? If I get flamed, I get flamed. As long as there’s buzz, it doesn’t matter.”
That was Yi Huai’s way of comforting her, and also to make her feel at ease and listen to her arrangements. This person had actually taken it to heart. Instead, she was the one who cared more about these negative comments.
But it was also a good thing that Xu Ling had a good mentality and wouldn’t be easily affected. In this industry, in the end, it all came down to mentality.
But Yi Huai had also dealt with the kind of artist who seemed not to care on the surface but was actually always thinking about it. She didn’t want the artist she was managing to have any more problems, so she said to her, “If you’re feeling down, you must tell me. I’ll take you to a professional to talk, to vent.”
“No need, Sister. I can vent by going home to find Qin Cong’an.”
“…” Look at that annoying smile! It was a waste to care about her. So annoying.
