Chapter 30 Part 2

In all the time she’d spent with Lu Qingxue lately, neither of them had deliberately brought up death. Hearing it now, so suddenly, Yun Chun couldn’t accept it.

Even though the very first time she’d seen Lu Qingxue, she’d been in her soul form.

Yun Chun murmured softly, “Just don’t say it.”

Catching the tremor in her voice, Lu Qingxue bent down to peer at her. “Is Little Darling about to cry?”

Yun Chun turned her head away, hiding her reddening eyes. “No.” She denied it fiercely, then muttered under her breath, “Even if I cry, you won’t come back to life.”

Lu Qingxue straightened up and stepped around to face her directly.

No tears. Just reddened eyes.

Ah, Lu Qingxue really was a bad person. Seeing Yun Chun’s eyes red on her account actually made her a little happy?

“Coming back to life would just mean dying again, wouldn’t it? Isn’t this better?”

Lu Qingxue pressed the pad of her thumb beneath Yun Chun’s eye, rubbing gently. “I can stay by your side forever.”

That ethereal sensation washed over her again.

Especially when the light shone straight through Lu Qingxue’s body to the floor. The glossy surface reflected only Yun Chun’s shadow—not even the steam rising from the coffee seemed as insubstantial. There was no trace of Lu Qingxue at all, and the feeling of grasping at nothing burned fiercer than the light itself.

Yun Chun ventured uncertainly, “Will you ever leave?”

Lu Qingxue’s thumb caressed the delicate skin beneath her eye, sidestepping the question. Instead, she said, “As long as you think of me, I’ll be here.”

After a moment’s thought, Lu Qingxue added, “As long as you think of me, I’m alive. In your heart, I’ll never die.”

Yun Chun pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth. “…Okay.”

She tilted her head up to meet Lu Qingxue’s gaze. “I’ll think of you as long as I live, so you…”

Stay with me that long.

“You won’t leave.”

Lu Qingxue murmured, “Mm.”

Just like that, Lu Qingxue coaxed away the redness in Yun Chun’s eyes. The next second, Yun Chun watched as she bent down, leaning slowly closer.

Her breath caught.

What was Lu Qingxue doing?

Kissing her?

Scratching an itch on her lips?

But that had only been a joke, right?

Lu Qingxue wasn’t the type to joke around, though.

She drew closer still.

Yun Chun’s mind spun in chaos. Should she push her away or accept it? If pushing, what pose? A straight shove might be rude—maybe block with her arm? If accepting, should she close her eyes?

In the midst of her frantic thoughts, Lu Qingxue pressed against Yun Chun’s left chest, ear to her heart, listening to the beat.

Something inside Yun Chun pulled taut.

She heard Lu Qingxue say, “Knowing there’s a place for me here from now on makes me so happy.”

Yun Chun looked down at the top of Lu Qingxue’s head. She wanted to say that there’d always been a place for her.

Ever since the day they met, Lu Qingxue had carved out a space in her heart. Because Yun Chun remembered her—remembered her name, Lu Qingxue.

Yun Chun pressed her lips together, holding the words back, and asked instead, “What about in your heart? Is there a place for me?”

Lu Qingxue looked up at her, then took Yun Chun’s hand and placed it over her own chest, her eyes curving in a smile. “Feel for yourself.”

Yun Chun’s fingertips sank into something cloud-soft. Her ears burned as she yanked her hand back. “Nothing there.”

No heartbeat at all.

Seeing Yun Chun snatch her hand away so quickly sent a spark of delight to Lu Qingxue’s eyes. She had been about to say it was because she was dead, so of course there was nothing—but the lingering red threads in Yun Chun’s eyes stopped her. Softly, she said, “If this ever starts beating someday, it’ll be for you.”

Yun Chun opened her mouth, hesitation plain on her face. Lu Qingxue saw it and swallowed countless words, her lips twitching, before finally saying, “You say I know how to coax people, but you’re even better at it.”

Lu Qingxue only smiled, saying nothing.

Mountains do not speak, but they convey their feelings through the subtlest shifts in the earth.

My heart does not beat, so I can only speak its thoughts aloud.

~~~

Qin Xing had heard Yun Chun was participating in an upcoming fashion show, so she called to meet up.

At the restaurant table, Qin Xing picked at her food and asked Yun Chun, “Why’d he call you in?”

“To dangle a carrot, let me taste something sweet.” Yun Chun grinned before explaining, “He wants to renew my contract.”

Qin Xing was quick on the uptake. “Afraid the contract’s expiring and he can’t control you anymore? Worried you’ll leak that video?”

Yun Chun nodded.

Qin Xing snorted. “Pathetic.”

Yun Chun laughed and recounted the events of that day to Qin Xing, who responded first with, “Only fifteen grand? You should’ve bled him dry.”

Yun Chun said, “I was just after the cost of those two bottles of wine—who knew he’d throw in two more?”

Yun Chun thought of Mo Yue then and told Qin Xing, “But our Big Boss is solid. She had the store blacklist him—no more business with him ever again. It’s weird, though. I wonder if the Big Boss has some grudge against him too.”

“The grudge is with the Yi Family,” Qin Xing cut in. “A new plot opened up in South City recently, and the two sides are fighting over it.”

She went on, “I figure Li Gaoxuan didn’t just come for your contract renewal. He might’ve been sent by the Yi Family to stir trouble for Mo… for your Big Boss. Otherwise, with the two families battling over that land, how could the Yi Family not know he went to Shangding?”

Yun Chun listened, wide-eyed—especially at the news of Mo Yue and the Yi Family scrapping over land. “Whoa, Sister Xing, who knew you kept tabs on business stuff like that?”

Qin Xing paused, realizing she’d said too much. “Opening a company lately—gotta scout around for intel.”

Yun Chun didn’t dwell on it. “How’s the prep going?”

“Not bad. Venue’s locked in.”

“Where?”

“Gold Street.”

Yun Chun’s eyebrows shot up. “You sure? Rent there isn’t cheap. We’re just starting out—wouldn’t a cheaper spot make more sense?”

“Don’t worry about it. Focus on the fashion show instead.”

“No need to think. Nothing good’s waiting for me there.”

Her words turned out to be prophetic.

On the day of the fashion show, the event was put on by a fashion magazine to promote their latest issue and a lineup of partnered clothing brands.

The outfits were all provided by the brands.

Yun Chun didn’t need to bring anything. As she stepped out of Qin Xing’s car from the back seat, she spotted a crowd in front of the building, holding up signs with her name and photos of her printed on them.

Yun Chun and Qin Xing exchanged a glance. Qin Xing asked, “You this popular?”

Yun Chun hesitated. “If I were really that popular, wouldn’t they react now that I’m standing right here?”

Qin Xing’s smile didn’t reach her eyes.

Something was off.

They walked together toward the building. Yun Chun passed right in front of the crowd, but no one reacted. Someone in the throng finally recognized her and called out. Yun Chun turned with a smile and waved toward the voice.

As they headed inside, Qin Xing handed Yun Chun her phone. “I noticed this a couple days ago. Since then, people online have been saying you’re in this show. Lots of speculation about a comeback…”

Yun Chun skimmed it. She hadn’t checked Weibo in ages, so she had no idea what was buzzing online. She murmured an acknowledgment.

Qin Xing pocketed the phone again, keeping an eye on Yun Chun-related trends. Several marketing accounts had posted nearly identical copy—clearly bought promotions.

The articles varied in wording, but the core was the same.

YunChunComeback#

“Going to such great lengths to hype you up—what do you think he’s after?”

Yun Chun shrugged. “Who cares?”

Whatever scheme Li Gaoxuan cooked up, she’d deal with it as it came.

On the event floor, staff led them to the dressing room.

A few other models were already there, from her agency and elsewhere.

Some who knew Yun Chun from before greeted her. Yun Chun nodded back.

Someone quickly arranged a seat for Yun Chun and called over a makeup artist to work on her face. Meanwhile, the outfit she was slated to wear was hung nearby on a rack. Once her makeup was done, she changed into it and waited backstage for her cue to go on.

Qin Xing glanced at Yun Chun in the makeup chair before stepping outside for a smoke. She had come today precisely to see what Li Gaoxuan might pull, but by the time she returned from her break, the trouble had already started.

Yun Chun hadn’t arrived late, but by the time she sat down for makeup, all the models who had come before her had finished up and moved on to changing into their outfits.

When Yun Chun finally reached for her clothes, most of the people in the dressing room had already cleared out.

The moment she picked up the dress, she sensed something was off.

She called out for Qin Xing.

Qin Xing hurried over and saw that the garment in Yun Chun’s hands had been viciously snipped with scissors. There were cuts along the hem, across the chest, and around the waist.

A perfectly fine dress had been reduced to a beggar’s rags.

Qin Xing frowned. “So that’s their game.”

A damaged outfit could always be replaced or compensated for after the show. But if a model went out on stage in something like that during the event, it would offend both the organizers and the designers. Photos would flood the internet in no time. And if she refused to walk altogether, she’d be branded as a diva. Either way, Yun Chun’s reputation would be trashed. She wouldn’t just get blacklisted by Li Gaoxuan—her face might never be seen in the fashion world again.

Yun Chun’s phone buzzed with a new message: 【You know what to do, right?】

She hung the ruined dress back on the rack and tapped out a reply on the screen: 【Has President Li been to the hospital yet? Is your head on straight?】

With that, she pocketed her phone.

A few more messages followed from the sender, but Yun Chun ignored them. They weren’t anything she cared to read.

Right now, the priority was figuring out what to do about the dress.

This was a fashion magazine’s big show, so there were plenty of outfits to go around. Even with a packed roster of models, everyone was scheduled for three or four walks, meaning multiple changes per person.

Except for Yun Chun, who only had the one.

A single walk like that was reserved for the lightweights—either C-list celebrities tagging along or forgettable small-time models.

Yun Chun had been a hot name once, and now the internet was buzzing about her big comeback via this very show.

So they had slotted her right in the middle: the perfect spot for a once-famous star model clawing her way back.

Li Gaoxuan had propped her up on a pedestal, forcing her into a corner. If she didn’t bend, he’d make sure everyone watched her crash down from the heights.

He had orchestrated the whole scheme from afar, utterly convinced that Yun Chun would never turn him down. In the end, she had no choice but to give in.

If she rejected him this time, her career would be over for good. Judging by how she’d been scraping by on minor gigs for the past two years, Li Gaoxuan wasn’t worried about her burning every bridge in desperation. No, he was certain she’d cave.

That was why her response didn’t anger him at all. He simply set his phone aside and waited patiently for her next move.