Chapter 73
[What’s wrong with Little Ling Yu? She was in such a good state on the red carpet, she was practically glowing. How did she become like this after entering the venue?]
Not only were the fans concerned, but a marketing account from a certain company also quickly posted a comparison picture to chase the hot topic, which, as expected, also attracted discussion from fans of other artists.
[Tired? The performance of that person on stage was too boring. She couldn’t watch it anymore, so she had that expression. I feel like she already wants to get off work.]
[Don’t start a fight. Maybe she’s not feeling well.]
[No matter how unwell, you have to manage your expression at an event. Anyone who didn’t know would think someone in her family had died.]
After talking to Qin Cong’an on the phone, Yi Huai was dealing with the public opinion. Fortunately, Xu Ling’s performance wasn’t that out of control. It was just that the blow was probably too big. Xu Ling’s face was so pale it was visible even through the camera. Sometimes, when the camera panned over, you could also see that she was absent-minded.
Recently, Xu Ling had also made a powerful enemy because of “suspectedly” snatching a sports brand endorsement from a certain young actress. Now, they had finally caught a point worth attacking.
But some of the words were too harsh, and they involved family. Even Yi Huai couldn’t stand it. While continuing to monitor the public opinion, she discussed the post-event statement with the company’s public relations.
The performance continued. Joy and pain always go hand in hand in the world.
The rhythmic songs and dances on stage didn’t attract Xu Ling at all. When the camera wasn’t on her, Xu Ling would lower her head and use her phone to search for the consequences of a ruptured brain aneurysm and how to deal with it.
Just as her mother had said, it was useless for her to go to the hospital, and it was useless to look at these things. But being in a completely unknown situation was really worrying.
At that time, the doctor had said that there was only a 1% to 2% chance of rupture, a very low probability, and that regular check-ups would be enough.
The doctor had also said that if she was concerned, she could have surgery in advance to remove the risk. But her grandma had always had a good mentality and felt that something with such a low probability wouldn’t happen, so she hadn’t paid it any mind, eating, drinking, and traveling as she pleased. And every check-up had been fine.
But misfortune had still struck.
Min Yidan, at the side, asked her what was wrong. Xu Ling shook her head and said it was nothing, not wanting to affect the emotions of an unrelated person.
But Min Yidan saw the things on her phone and knew that something must have happened to her family. She started to comfort her.
“Thank you…” Just now, Xu Ling had only been uneasy. As soon as she was comforted, tears were about to well up in her eyes, but she forced them back. “It’s my grandma…”
Hearing her choked voice, Min Yidan also felt a little sad. She remembered seeing Xu Ling post photos of her with her family, and also a solo photo with her grandma. Their relationship must be very good. Min Yidan had also experienced the pain of an elderly family member being ill, and at this moment, she felt a deep empathy and heartache.
The performance finally ended, and the awards ceremony began.
Xu Ling also had a Breakthrough Artist of the Year award to accept on stage. After saying her thanks in her acceptance speech, she was at a loss for words and couldn’t say anything else. She bowed and waited for the host to finish before going off stage.
As soon as she got off stage, Yi Huai pulled her over and didn’t let her go back to her seat. She said in a calm tone, “You can go now. Take off the necklace and earrings. You can just wear the clothes and go. I’ll handle the rest. The car is arranged for you outside.”
“Thank you, Sister Huai.” Xu Ling immediately did as she was told, took off the jewelry on her body and handed it to Sister Huai, put on a coat, and got into the car.
After getting in the car, she immediately called her mother. The other end answered quickly. She immediately asked, “Mom, is Grandma out yet?”
“Not yet. She’s still in surgery.”
It had already been two or three hours. The difficulty of the surgery was imaginable. And her grandma was also old, so the risk was definitely higher. Although Xu Ling had just checked and found that even a successful surgery of this kind would take this long, she still had no confidence in her heart.
Hearing that Xu Ling didn’t speak, only the sound of her rapid, nasal breathing, her mother continued, “It’s okay. You have to believe in your grandma.”
At this time, any words of comfort were pale. Xu Ling just hoped to get to the hospital quickly, to hold her mother’s hand quickly. That way, she wouldn’t be so scared.
A faint, rustling sound came from the other end of the line, as if the phone had been handed to someone else.
Xu Ling thought it was her father who wanted to say something to her, but she didn’t expect that the voice that came from the other end was one she was all too familiar with. It was a voice as smooth and pleasant as an ever-flowing stream.
“It’s me.” This voice had a magical power to calm people down. “Don’t panic. You’re on your way now, right?”
“…Mhm.”
“I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
Xu Ling’s tears fell in an instant, but her breathing gradually stabilized. “Okay.”
After hanging up the phone, Qin Cong’an handed the phone back to Xu Ling’s mother. The woman with the pale lips raised the corners of her mouth, showing her resilience. “Thank you for your trouble, Little Qin.”
“No trouble. Then, Auntie, I’ll go downstairs to wait for her.” After saying that, Qin Cong’an bowed slightly, nodded to the relatives who seemed to have all arrived, and walked towards the elevator.
She had also come out in a hurry, just throwing on a hoodie. The temperature had dropped sharply in the autumn night, and it was a little cold. She put on her hood, hugged her arms, and waited for Xu Ling to appear.
In that phone call just now, Xu Ling’s two heavily nasal responses were simply heartbreaking, adding a gloom to Qin Cong’an that even the autumn wind couldn’t blow away.
Xu Ling ran over, holding her dress. Her tears had stopped, but seeing Qin Cong’an, they couldn’t help but flow again. She stood in front of Qin Cong’an, clearly a tall person, but her whole body was filled with helplessness.
The huge white building stood silently in the darkness. The light from inside was so bright it was pale. The smell of disinfectant and the earthy smell of the plants outside mixed in this junction but couldn’t blend.
The two small people stood at the door, also silent for a long while.
Qin Cong’an reached out and hugged Xu Ling. Xu Ling’s hands wrapped around her and tightened, like a drowning person clinging to a piece of driftwood.
After a short and long hug, Qin Cong’an said softly, “Let’s go. I’ll take you up.”
Qin Cong’an took Xu Ling’s hand and walked the correct route that she had just run in a panic, circling many times to find.
The hospital was very quiet at night. Everyone she met had a worried look on their face. Xu Ling didn’t even dare to look up, just lowered her head and walked behind Qin Cong’an, staring at her heels. She had actually come out in slippers. They made a slightly squeaky sound on the floor, a comical sound that strangely gave her a trace of comfort.
Arriving at the waiting area outside the operating room, Qin Cong’an let go of her hand. Xu Ling ran towards her mother and hugged her tightly.
Her mother’s hand gently patted her back. She looked at Qin Cong’an, who was watching them from not far away. Her brow was tightly furrowed, and her gaze never left Xu Ling for a single moment.
“It’s okay. A nurse came out just now and told us the general situation. She said it’s going relatively smoothly for now, but it will still take some time. She told us to wait patiently.”
Xu Ling understood the logic, but looking at the lit-up red light, her mind was full of the scene of her grandma lying on the operating table with a hole drilled in her brain.
Sitting on the long bench, Xu Ling had her mother repeat what the nurse had said without missing a word, and then asked how her grandma’s problem had started today, as if knowing these things would make her feel a little better. But her mother patiently told her the situation, which only added to the wrinkles between her brows.
Xu Ling’s tears kept falling, like a broken faucet. Her mother was helpless and looked at Qin Cong’an, beckoning to her.
Qin Cong’an walked over and sat next to Xu Ling.
Her mother had originally wanted to get up and let them sit here alone. A hug might make it better. With her here, the two of them would inevitably be restrained. But Xu Ling held her hand and didn’t let go, and her other hand also grabbed Qin Cong’an’s.
Xu Ling held her mother’s and her lover’s hands, and finally felt a little better.
Actually, Qin Cong’an also didn’t know how to comfort people. If she could, she would want to cry with her.
Qin Cong’an’s family elders had all passed away early, and her father had also died suddenly. For her, death was something that would inevitably come, and you never knew when.
Just as Woolf had written, death, loneliness, the grayish-green glow on the opposite wall, those empty seats—these were some of the components that made up life. That seemed to be describing the scene before her.
Qin Cong’an had always been very calm about death. Even when facing her own death, she didn’t have much of a fluctuation, just as she couldn’t swim, but when filming a scene of saving someone underwater, she had slipped and fallen into the water and choked several times, but had never felt fear.
But she didn’t know if it was because Xu Ling was holding her hand so tightly, if her fear was being transmitted to her heart through their physical connection. Qin Cong’an felt herself enveloped in a bone-chilling cold. Her “indifference” was broken at this moment.
She knew that Xu Ling must be feeling even worse than her. She also held her hand back tightly, and then reached out to wipe the tears from the corner of her eye, not caring that her family was watching from the side.
After a while, her father came over with a bag. “Eat something, Little Bao. You probably haven’t eaten anything yet.”
Xu Ling looked up and shook her head. She had no appetite.
“Then just put it here for now. You can have it when you want to eat.” Her father put the things aside and patted Xu Ling’s head.
Seeing that Xu Ling’s tears were about to fall again, her father took out a large pack of tissues, looked at the person sitting next to her, and handed it to Qin Cong’an.
Qin Cong’an was stunned for a moment, as if she had been given a super important task. She nodded and took out two tissues to be ready.
Xu Ling was also stunned for a moment, then suddenly introduced her to her parents and relatives. “This is, my, girl, friend.” She would hiccup after every two words, speaking intermittently.
“I know.” Her mother patted her hand. Her daughter was so easy to understand. And seeing Qin Cong’an rush over and busy herself with this and that, how could she not understand what it meant? “You can introduce her to your grandma properly later. She saw your movie and often said that you two are very suitable.”
Xu Ling nodded. Her mind was no longer filled with the scene of her grandma suffering on the operating table, but of her grandma waking up, cracking melon seeds, and looking at them with her usual smiling expression, saying, “Oh my! I knew there was something between you two!”
After an unknown amount of time, the door to the operating room finally opened. The attending doctor came out, his face tired, but his words were reassuring. “The surgery was very successful. The aneurysm was successfully clipped, and there’s no more bleeding. It was quite timely, and it was handled very thoroughly. She needs to go to the ICU for observation now, to get through the risk of the swelling period. If there are no surprises, tomorrow, she should be able to wake up.”
The waiting family members all let out a long sigh of relief and went to the ward together, looking at the intubated grandma through the glass.
Xu Ling pouted. It was so hard to see her usually lively grandma like this. Good thing the surgery was successful. She hoped the recovery would also be smooth.
A warm hand rested on her shoulder. Xu Ling sniffled, turned her head to look at Qin Cong’an, and said with a smile, “Qin Cong’an, don’t look at my grandma like this now. She’s usually so fierce. She can climb a 2,000-meter mountain without stopping. She’s much stronger than me.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Yeah. When she wakes up, I’ll introduce you to her. She’ll definitely ask you a lot of questions,” Xu Ling’s tone was full of ease, but it seemed a little deliberate. “Are you confident you can handle it?”
Qin Cong’an looked at her and nodded. “I am. What about you? Can you handle it now?”
Xu Ling was quiet for a while, only her nostrils flaring. She finally shook her head. She couldn’t handle it at all. She just wanted to quickly put on a steam eye mask and sleep until the world turned dark, and then wake up to the news that her grandma had woken up.
After saying goodbye to her family, the two of them walked downstairs, holding hands.
Xu Ling looked at Qin Cong’an’s slippers and pulled her hand. “I never thought you would come.”
“Mhm. I’m here.” Qin Cong’an didn’t know if she was better with her here. All she knew was that she wanted to be by her side.
Xu Ling bit the dead skin on her dry lips, a little choked up. “Thank you, Qin Cong’an.”
“You’re welcome.” Qin Cong’an shook her hand and said softly, “I’ll be with you through all your emotions, not just your happiness, but also your sadness, your relief… It’s so good that your grandma is okay. Let’s go. Go home and have a good sleep. I’ll come with you again tomorrow.”
Xu Ling wiped her tears. What kind of emotion was she feeling now? It was probably the feeling that it was so good to have Qin Cong’an, that she was so happy. Even her tears seemed to be flowing from happiness. “Mhm, let’s go home.”
