Chapter 16
This song was Jiang Ruzhi’s standard encore number. The theme was love, love without any restrictions, and all the fans knew how to sing it.
The stadium was filled more with the sound of everyone singing in unison. Jiang Ruzhi’s voice was very soft, guiding them.
After the song, she said, “I hope that the world can be tolerant of everyone. I hope that this world can be kind to every blade of grass and every tree. I hope that this world loves everyone.”
After this song ended, Gu Qi let go of Xu Ling’s hand and wiped her tears.
Xu Ling felt her right hand go empty, and her left hand immediately tightened, so much so that her forearm trembled, the veins popping out.
Could she not let go of this hand?
Never let go.
But just as Jiang Ruzhi had said, everything would end. To have these three minutes of holding hands was already a miracle.
And she had even stolen a kiss.
Xu Ling treated this letting go as a practice run. With one final, tight squeeze, she let go decisively. She pulled her hand back and handed a tissue to Gu Qi, who was crying her eyes out beside her.
The second encore song had already begun. This one was cheerful and passionate. Jiang Ruzhi ran around the stage, having a great time with her backup dancers.
It was already the end, yet she was still so energetic. Her stamina was extraordinary.
The song was four minutes long, and she jumped from beginning to end, her smile and voice infectious. At the end, she thanked everyone for coming, panting. But she ended up crying too, saying it was because she was too happy.
An announcement came over the speakers, asking everyone to leave in an orderly manner.
In the VIP section, they exited through the special passage and quickly got into the car, hitting the road before the traffic got too bad.
Gu Qi had stopped crying, but she was still very excited and had a lot to say to Xu Ling. “First time seeing her live, Jiang Jiang’s skills are amazing! Singing from beginning to end, it’s like she never gets tired.”
“Totally.” Xu Ling also thought Jiang Ruzhi’s skills were incredible. You could tell it was all live singing, with no backing track at all. Her voice wavered a bit when she was running around, and her breathing got heavier towards the end, but she didn’t slack off in the slightest.
But Xu Ling wasn’t as hyped as Gu Qi. In fact, she wanted some quiet right now and didn’t really want to respond to her.
Of course, Gu Qi noticed. After gushing a bit more about how infectious Jiang Jiang’s voice was, she stopped.
Gu Qi never expected that Qin Cong’an would actually strike up a conversation with her.
“What was the first encore song about?”
“Huh?” Gu Qi didn’t quite understand the question but answered anyway. “It’s about love. Her first encore is always that song. It’s about hoping for world peace, for the world to be full of love, and for all kinds of love to be accepted, that kind of feeling.”
“Oh.” Qin Cong’an asked again, “What about that other one, the one that goes…”
She started humming a melody.
Although she said she didn’t listen to music and didn’t seem to remember a single lyric, her humming was very pleasant.
And her pitch was perfect. Gu Qi, a ten-year fan, recognized it immediately. “Oh, oh, I know, I know! That one is about parting. It can be interpreted as a breakup, but it’s not limited to that. It can also be about family or friends leaving. Anyway, it’s about teaching everyone to accept parting.”
Gu Qi’s floodgates opened again. “Every time I listen to this song, I think of my ex. I cry every time. I’ve gotten a bit immune to it after listening so many times, but hearing it live, I just couldn’t hold it in. By the way, Xu Ling, thanks for the tissue just now!”
“Oh.” Qin Cong’an also looked at Xu Ling and asked, “Did you think of your ex too?”
Xu Ling: “…” What does she mean by that? What ex?
Xu Ling suspected that Qin Cong’an thought she was very experienced, assuming she had an ex. Last time, she had even asked if she had slept with Meng Bai.
Although that wasn’t the case at all, did this mean that sleeping with her was really comfortable and satisfying?
So comfortable that she was mistaken for being experienced, when in reality, she was just trying her best to please her. Especially after the first night, she had done a lot of research.
Xu Ling tried to suppress a smile. What am I imagining?
Gu Qi was also curious about this question. She had noticed that Xu Ling had cried during that song too, but looking at Xu Ling’s expression, it seemed like she didn’t want to answer.
At that moment, Xu Ling had naturally been thinking about their parting in two months, but how could she tell the truth?
So what should she say? Family? Friends?
Her family was all alive and well. Her parents were in excellent health, and her grandparents were still going strong, even planning to conquer the Five Great Mountains. She couldn’t even compare to them.
Although she had parted with friends, the emotional intensity wasn’t that strong, and it wasn’t like they could never see each other again.
She thought for a moment and only gave a vague answer. “There are so many partings in life.”
Xu Ling didn’t deny the ex thing. Let her misunderstand. After all, Qin Cong’an was the truly experienced one. Xu Ling didn’t want her to know that her first time was with her. It would make her seem so naive and foolish.
Gu Qi immediately agreed. “Exactly, exactly.”
There was still a hint of inquiry in Qin Cong’an’s eyes, but she didn’t ask any further.
Back at the hotel, they got out of the car.
In the elevator, Gu Qi typed on her phone and showed it to Xu Ling: Want to chat in your room later? Or should I come to yours?
Xu Ling glanced at Qin Cong’an and typed on her phone: I want to sleep first.
Gu Qi nodded.
Xu Ling was actually thinking that Qin Cong’an would probably come find her. She could tell she still had questions to ask.
If she came, Xu Ling planned to ask her why she had asked that.
And, Qin Cong’an must be curious about why she had kissed her hand. She would definitely come to reprimand her for doing that outside.
Xu Ling went into her room and waited by the door, rehearsing the possible conversations in her head. But after ten minutes, she still hadn’t come.
She went into the bathroom to shower, keeping an ear out for any sounds from outside. She finished showering, and still, she hadn’t come.
Xu Ling changed into long-sleeved pajamas, wrapped her half-dry hair in a towel, and went out of her room to knock on Gu Qi’s door.
Gu Qi was a little surprised to see her. “Didn’t you say you were going to sleep?”
“Couldn’t sleep, came to chat.” Xu Ling looked behind her and joked, “There’s no one else in your room, right?”
“Hahaha, no, no, come in.”
The two sat on the sofa and started talking about their feelings after the concert, while also scrolling through videos and comments online.
“Look, the atmosphere here is so good. On our side, it felt like only the two of us were hyped.”
“That didn’t stop you from crying like that.”
Gu Qi laughed out loud. “If I had been sitting with real fans, I probably would have cried myself unconscious.”
Xu Ling saw that someone had posted a photo online, saying they had seen Qin Cong’an.
[She was wearing a mask and hat the whole time, but it was definitely her. Aaaah, so excited, so excited. It’s a pity I was so far away 555]
Never mind seeing her in person, true fans could recognize her even from a blurry, enlarged figure in a photo. A little while later, a few internet celebrities who were in the VIP seats posted photos, and it was much clearer.
[Ah, did Jiang Jiang give her the tickets? They know each other? My two fandoms are colliding!]
[Looking at it this way, Anzi seems even less straight /doge]
[Who is the beautiful woman next to her?? Girlfriend??]
[I don’t think so. There were three of them. An is filming in Mist City, so she probably went with an actress from the set. The one next to her is the second female lead, right?]
[What second female lead? It’s dual female leads! Dual female leads!]
Although it was dual female leads, Xu Ling’s status was nowhere near Qin Cong’an’s. She was a nobody.
Xu Ling had only been moderately famous during her modeling days, and her main base was abroad, so not many people in the country knew her. The movie had only released some basic information so far, so it was normal that people didn’t recognize her.
Xu Ling saw a few comments speculating that she was Qin Cong’an’s girlfriend, and she couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from turning up.
Someone had also posted a photo taken when the two of them went backstage alone. Qin Cong’an happened to be holding Xu Ling’s arm, and they were very close.
[So tall. First time I’ve thought our Anzi is so small and cute.]
[Just standing there, they look so good together. What is this? I don’t care, I’m shipping it.]
[The movie isn’t finished yet, right? That means there’s no need for promotion yet. So them going to a concert together is…? Don’t blame me for shipping them first.]
[And it’s Jiang Jiang’s concert, just think about it.]
“What are you looking at that’s making you smile like that?” Gu Qi was curious.
“Just some funny comments.” Xu Ling laughed a couple of times and quickly went back to scrolling through content about the concert.
After brushing it off, Xu Ling continued to scroll through the discussions about Qin Cong’an, wanting to see if anyone had noticed her stealing a kiss on her hand during the encore. She didn’t see anyone mention it.
Of course not. Gu Qi hadn’t even noticed, let alone anyone else.
Even if someone had seen it, everyone was holding hands at that time, and it was impossible to take a photo. Without evidence, no one would believe it if they said anything.
Only the two of them knew.
“What are you smiling at now? Let me see, let me see.” Gu Qi was dying of curiosity and even tried to crane her neck to look at her phone.
Xu Ling made a run for it. No more chatting. She was going back to her room to sleep. She had to work early tomorrow.
Qin Cong’an didn’t come find her.
And she didn’t speak to her on set the next day either.
Again? The silent treatment again?
Xu Ling was speechless. What was it this time? Was it really because she had kissed her hand?
During breaks, Gu Qi kept coming to chat with Xu Ling. In a short amount of time, the two had gone from being complete strangers to being very close. Fellow fans always have a lot to talk about.
And seeing that Qin Cong’an was always looking down at her script, Xu Ling chatted even more enthusiastically with Gu Qi.
This was Gu Qi’s, who played Ku Ai, last week on the set of She and Her and the Knife. Her wrap was imminent.
Her last scene was with Qin Cong’an.
Wen Xi had been searching for information about the man who had killed Jian Yu’s parents for a long time. Finally, she discovered that Ku Ai knew the man.
She asked Ku Ai, but Ku Ai wouldn’t talk.
After several attempts, Wen Xi lost her patience and tied Ku Ai up at home, threatening to kill her if she didn’t talk.
Ku Ai just smiled and shook her head.
Wen Xi punched her in the face, again and again, but Ku Ai still showed no intention of talking.
“Why won’t you talk? Are you protecting him? What is your relationship with him?”
Ku Ai’s pupils seemed to have dilated. She was on the verge of losing consciousness. She spat out the blood in her mouth, but there was no desire to live in her eyes.
“I will really kill you.” Wen Xi pointed a gun at her.
In this line of work, you don’t really think about living that much. Death, it doesn’t matter.
Ku Ai gave Wen Xi one last smile. A gunshot rang out, and her life ended at that moment.
Chang Ning, watching from behind the monitor, shook her head and tsked. Wen Xi was too ruthless. Qin Cong’an’s actions were expressionless, but her eyes were filled with a viciousness that made her look like a madwoman.
At first, Gu Qi couldn’t keep up with the scene at all, but after a few adjustments, she performed well, looking very much in line with Ku Ai’s mental state of not wanting to live anymore.
Very good, very good. This was the feeling she wanted.
Gu Qi was a little scared. She almost thought Qin Cong’an really hated her and almost couldn’t smile.
Gu Qi had no doubt that if she were really Ku Ai, she would have peed her pants long ago. To still be able to smile, Ku Ai was truly a tough one.
