Chapter 46: A Red Truck Comes Crashing In Part 3

“How’d the meeting with the new agency go?”

She was nearly asleep but still worrying about her.

“Not bad.” Li Chunfeng said simply, then hugged her tighter, burying her face in Qiu Yiran’s neck.

“But the new agency wants me to pick a new name.”

“A new name?” Qiu Yiran yawned. “Why change your name?”

“They say it should be more memorable.” Li Chunfeng explained. “And I’m not that young anymore; I need to seize opportunities.”

“Li Chunfeng isn’t memorable? Who said that?” Qiu Yiran mumbled, probably with some morning grumpiness.

But she didn’t vent it on Li Chunfeng, directing it all at that agency she’d never seen.

“It’s such a warm name.”

Li Chunfeng smiled.

She loved how Qiu Yiran always defended her like this.

“I thought about it. You pick it for me.” Li Chunfeng hugged her and said softly.

“Like yours— all-in, no turning back until you hit the wall.”

She really liked the name Qiu Yiran.

If not Li Chunfeng, then something like it.

Qiu Yiran yawned again.

Then groggily patted her shoulder, unclear if she registered it as a task, her response airy.

“Okay.”

The word was soft, almost inaudible.

But with her face pressed to Qiu Yiran’s neck, Li Chunfeng easily felt—

The faint vibration of her vocal cords as she spoke.

That vibration reassured her.

But it also brought Lu Yun’s call back to mind. After pondering a while, she conservatively proposed her plan.

“Let’s head out to see the northern lights tomorrow.”

Li Chunfeng’s birthday was just three days away. In fact, Qiu Yiran had already been planning their Norway trip for the aurora—research done a month in advance, driving docs and visas ready.

Everything was nearly set; they just needed to go.

Auroras were rare in August, but they wanted to try.

The original plan was for Li Chunfeng’s birthday.

Qiu Yiran didn’t know why she wanted to change the date and blearily opened her eyes.

“Isn’t it supposed to be in three days?”

“That’s right.” Li Chunfeng hugged her tightly, lifted her chin, and pressed it against her chest, listening to her steady heartbeat.

“But I’m free these next few days. We can play around a bit more on the road. We might not even see the Northern Lights on the day we drive to Norway. If we go early, maybe we can catch them on my birthday?”

Li Chunfeng made the whole thing sound flawless.

She had concealed Lu Yun’s phone call from Qiu Yiran.

Because it was very likely that Lu Yun was just being overly startled, like before. But Li Chunfeng remained extremely cautious and planned to follow Lu Yun’s instructions by leaving Paris for the time being.

She calmly felt that the whole matter wasn’t as bad as she had imagined.

So she hadn’t told Qiu Yiran yet.

Because for now, she didn’t want Qiu Yiran to know that her mother, Lu Yun, was the kind of person who wasn’t entirely kind, someone whose free-spirited life often brought trouble upon herself.

And she, Li Chunfeng, had grown up in such an unstable environment from a young age.

Wasn’t it said that one would be subconsciously influenced by their surroundings?

Moreover, their relationship had started sensitively because of this very issue.

So Li Chunfeng had concealed part of the background.

Qiu Yiran thought it made perfect sense, so she seriously considered her recent schedule and found some flexibility. She readily agreed.

“Then let’s head out tomorrow!”

After she agreed,

Li Chunfeng seemed to let out a huge sigh of relief.

Her whole body wasn’t as tense anymore, though she still held her.

“Then let’s go to bed early tonight.”

“Okay.”

Qiu Yiran didn’t know why Li Chunfeng seemed a bit tense, but she didn’t ask.

She just kissed Li Chunfeng on the forehead.

Then, in the night, she gazed at the woman who slept somewhat restlessly for a good while, her eyes soft, and said,

“Good night.”

–

The next day, they got up early on time.

They prepared everything and packed their luggage.

During a non-peak time, they drove out in Qiu Yiran’s tiny, adorable convertible Mini Cooper—

This was the twenty-sixth birthday gift Qiu Yiran had given herself. It was a beautiful cream color, like cake and ice cream under the sun. She didn’t allow Olivia to drink beverages in it, but she alone permitted Li Chunfeng to eat crumbly Turmeric Little Person Biscuits in it. And she had named her beloved car Number Five because she thought everyone would find it cool.

Before getting in, Qiu Yiran, who had been heading to the driver’s seat, suddenly stopped. She looked at Li Chunfeng.

“Do you want to drive?”

Li Chunfeng had gotten her license a long time ago but had forgotten about it later.

So last year, she had started practicing again with Qiu Yiran. After Qiu Yiran bought Number Five, she often drove it around Paris to buy ice cream that Qiu Yiran loved.

So occasionally, she got photographed—

Spring boldly driving Ian’s car to visit the set.

This time, Li Chunfeng hesitated for a moment but took the keys. She thought that if she drove, she could take a slight detour, avoid their usual routes, and reduce the risk.

Because Li Chunfeng was driving,

Qiu Yiran was very relaxed in the passenger seat.

She connected to Bluetooth and played the upbeat, mood-lifting Mamma Mia! in the car. Wearing sunglasses, she lazily squinted her eyes and felt the warm sun on her face.

Meanwhile, Li Chunfeng in the driver’s seat

seemed tense the entire morning. Only after they drove out of their familiar main district did she relax a little.

When they hit a red light, she cautiously stopped the car. Only then did she glance at Qiu Yiran—

And discovered

that Qiu Yiran seemed utterly exhausted from waking up early, slumping listlessly.

But she was adorable.

Like a puddle of cat melted into the passenger seat.

She wore cool sunglasses, but her drowsiness made her look obedient.

Li Chunfeng couldn’t help but smile.

Qiu Yiran was woken by her laugh and opened her sleepy eyes. “Have the Northern Lights come?”

Li Chunfeng also wore sunglasses, her eyes curving behind them. “Sleep a bit more. If all goes smoothly, the next time you open your eyes, you’ll see the Northern Lights.”

The weather was great that day, the sun so blinding it felt like she could reach out and touch it.

Hearing Li Chunfeng say it on purpose like that, Qiu Yiran nodded vigorously, peeking at her through the gap in her sunglasses.

But she got stabbed by the light again.

So she grimaced, closed her eyes, yawned, and sounded still very sleepy.

“Does that mean I have to sleep for dozens of hours then…”

As she spoke,

the light turned green.

Li Chunfeng turned her head to look at the road. Sunlight pierced her eyes through the gap in her sunglasses.

She instinctively turned her face slightly.

After a moment, Qiu Yiran squinted her eyes, reached over, and touched her face.

A honk urged from behind.

Li Chunfeng smiled at Qiu Yiran.

Her gaze returned to the main road, and at that moment, she accelerated straight into the intersection.

It was in that one second—

Suddenly, a noisy sports car sped out from the left intersection, heading straight toward them.

Li Chunfeng reacted decisively.

She yanked the steering wheel hard to the right.

In that instant, the tires screeched violently on the sun-heated asphalt.

But she successfully dodged the speeding sports car.

Li Chunfeng’s heart raced.

Her sunglasses clattered off her face. She had no time for that; pale-faced, she checked on Qiu Yiran.

In that split second, due to inertia—

Their car had swung in a huge arc in a very short time, the tires emitting a piercing screech.

But it still didn’t stop.

Qiu Yiran bewilderedly took off her sunglasses and slowly looked toward Li Chunfeng amid the intense noise and wind.

She didn’t know what had just happened.

Nor did she know that behind her, a massive Red Truck was barreling toward them at an unavoidable speed.

She could only see—

Li Chunfeng in the driver’s seat suddenly look terrified, yanking the steering wheel as if in slow motion.

Still not fully awake, Qiu Yiran’s thoughts and actions were sluggish. She didn’t know why it had suddenly gotten so noisy; her mind was still lingering on Li Chunfeng’s joke about “opening your eyes to see the Northern Lights.”

So she didn’t understand why Li Chunfeng had looked at her with such horror.

But in that split-second flash—

Qiu Yiran suddenly sat up and hugged Li Chunfeng.

It was an extremely brief moment, but she hugged with all her strength, as if trying to crush her entirely.

As if, in that instant, she had a powerful premonition that she might lose her afterward.

In other words,

Even without seeing that Red Truck, and without knowing what was happening, Qiu Yiran had used her fastest speed to place her not-so-strong body between Li Chunfeng and the truck.

As if it came entirely from…

instinct.

Much later—until she learned Lu Yun had terminal cancer, Li Wuhui still couldn’t stop blaming that phone call.

She relived this day repeatedly in her dreams.

After countless simulations, she reached the only conclusion that could be verified—

This incident was far from purely accidental; it was a chain of events that had locked her into that outcome.

Not a single link in the whole affair was unrelated to her.

On Christmas Eve 2019, amid a snowfall, she fell in love with Qiu Yiran. Lu Yun had long said they weren’t from the same world, but she didn’t listen. She told Qiu Yiran her birthday wish was to see the Northern Lights.

Then Lu Yun suddenly called her, and after deep thought, she decided to tell Qiu Yiran they should go see the Northern Lights early.

On the day they went to see the Northern Lights, she thought she was being cautious by switching places.

She took a road she wouldn’t normally take but relaxed her vigilance after leaving the city and made that final turn of the wheel.

The sports car driver didn’t know Lu Yun and denied any deliberate intent. Before going to prison, she said she had just been drinking and wanted to go for a joyride, never imagining it would cause this…

“Bang!”—

The Red Truck crashed in.

Qiu Yiran lunged to hug Li Chunfeng.

Qiu Yiran’s twenty-sixth birthday gift shattered into pieces.

Li Chunfeng in the driver’s seat had three screws put in her lumbar spine; Qiu Yiran in the passenger seat lost her lower leg.

It was her overconfidence in her cleverness that brought the disaster to Qiu Yiran.