CHAPTER 12
Guan Han was about to dial the phone when Qin Yinong suddenly said, "Wait."
Guan Han's finger paused, and she sought clarification with her eyes.
Qin Yinong didn't even look up, continuing to flip through the script, and casually said, "Wear the earphones."
Guan Han: "???"
Qin Yinong maintained her indifferent demeanor and rubbed the corner of the A4 paper with her finger for a moment before saying, "Give me one."
Guan Han organized her thoughts and then understood. She responded quietly, "Okay."
She took out a pair of Bluetooth earphones from her bag, connected them, and handed one to Qin Yinong.
Qin Yinong put them on.
Guan Han dialed Tang Ruoyao's phone number.
After two rings, Tang Ruoyao answered, "Sister Guan Han, what's wrong?" Her tone was slightly cautious.
Guan Han pretended not to notice the slight furrow in Qin Yinong's brows for a moment and maintained her usual icy demeanor as she said, "You sent me a message and then retracted it. What was it about?"
Rather than saying Guan Han didn't know the meaning behind the message, it would be more accurate to say that she didn't see it at all. This way, there is more room for maneuvering based on Tang Ruoyao's response.
Tang Ruoyao was indeed surprised. Guan Han rarely called her proactively, and when she did, it usually meant something important needed to be discussed. Sometimes Qin Yinong would directly communicate with her as well.
With that subtle glimmer of hope, Tang Ruoyao's mind immediately disregarded Guan Han's question. After hesitating for a moment, she stammered, "Is... she the one who asked you to call?"
Guan Han denied it outright, "No."
Tang Ruoyao hesitated again and asked, "Is she with you right now?"
Qin Yinong, who was beside Guan Han, had a complicated expression in her eyes. She took off the earphone and handed it back to Guan Han.
Guan Han put both earphones on her own ears and coldly replied, "No." She added a hint of warning and said in a low voice, "Miss Yao, I'm busy. Please get to the point."
Qin Yinong's thin lips tightened slightly as she looked at Guan Han. It seemed like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't. She lowered her gaze.
The heart is something that can get used to being hurt a little too.
Upon hearing this response, Tang Ruoyao realized that she was surprisingly calm. She switched the ice pack to the other hand on her face and regained her composed and cold tone, saying, "It's nothing important, just a slip of the hand."
Guan Han glanced at Qin Yinong, who had her eyes closed, seemingly "resting," and spoke in a low voice to the other end of the phone, "So, is there anything urgent?"
Tang Ruoyao: "..."
Why did that sound strange?
Guan Han calmly added, unruffled, "I am her assistant. I can't always wait for her instructions before asking you about everything."
Guan Han was very capable and meticulous, which was why she became Qin Yinong's confidante. At the beginning, when she and Qin Yinong were, well, doing that, Guan Han even brought finger cots and lubricant. Tang Ruoyao felt her face heat up at the thought, eased her breath, and calmly replied, "I'm going back to school soon to prepare for my graduation defense."
"When specifically?"
"In two days, on May 22nd. The defense is on the 27th. I'll be staying in the dormitory for a while to catch up with my classmates."
"When is the graduation ceremony?" Guan Han asked.
Qin Yinong's ears twitched sensitively, and her eyelashes trembled slightly.
It was almost graduation time. Time really flies by quickly.
Guan Han provided a few more details, ended the call, and reported to Qin Yinong with a composed tone, "One week from now, Miss Yao will participate in the thesis defense at her school. The graduation ceremony is on June 20th."
"I see." Qin Yinong didn't open her eyes and responded indifferently.
Guan Han noticed the slight furrow in her brows and thought she might say something. However, after a moment, Qin Yinong half-lifted her eyelids, calmly looked out the window, and casually changed the topic, "How much longer until we arrive home?"
Guan Han, who had already checked if there were any arrangements for Qin Yinong on the day of her graduation ceremony, rarely made a miscalculation and silently took note of it as a lesson learned. She pulled up the map on her tablet and looked at the route displayed, saying, "Another 28 minutes."
"I'll take a nap then." Qin Yinong said.
Guan Han nodded and handed her a pillow, refraining from further conversation.
Qin Yinong couldn't fall asleep at night. Although the car was well soundproofed, the outside noise still seeped in. Moreover, it was nearing the scorching summer season, and the inherent heat and sultriness made it difficult to bear.
She just made an excuse and closed her eyes, trying not to think about Tang Ruoyao.
*****
Tang Ruoyao felt her face becoming numb from the cold ice pack, and she sighed with relief after looking at herself in the mirror. Aside from being slightly red, there was no major issue. It was expected to subside by tonight and wouldn't affect tomorrow's magazine shoot.
Fortunately, she didn't have any appointments today. Otherwise, going in front of the camera with this face would easily become a hot search topic.
Thinking about hot search topics, Tang Ruoyao casually opened Weibo.
She had a habit of browsing Weibo. Although Qin Yinong didn't post on Weibo frequently, there were often news and rumors about her online. Some were true, some were false, but it was better to know something rather than to know nothing, especially when there were pictures of Qin Yinong taken by passersby or fans. Tang Ruoyao could spend a whole day immersed in Qin Yinong's fan discussions. She usually used her alternate account to like the posts, and if she saved every picture, her storage would have been full a long time ago.
Fan clubs were basically dominated by popular celebrities, with familiar and unfamiliar faces occupying the top rankings. Low-key actors who focused on their acting skills usually didn’t even have a presence. Tang Ruoyao was a well-known young actress in the film industry. She was young, debuted late, and had a cold and elegant appearance, known as the "goddess" type. She had gained a large following of career fans, girlfriend fans, and mom fans. These fans, more or less influenced by the fan culture, enthusiastically supported her and propelled her to the top of the rankings on fan club.
According to common sense, veteran actor like Qin Yinong, who have been in the industry for a long time and have less exposure, should be ranked around a hundred in the fan club. But she happened to be an exception, with fans and a large number of ordinary people flooding her fan club every day, causing a surge in comments and likes, and pushing her ranking higher.
Today's fan club ranking was a bit coincidental, with Tang Ruoyao at the top and Qin Yinong below, the two of them side by side. Tang Ruoyao's eyes softened, and she took a screenshot, involuntarily curling her lips and drawing a heart, carefully encircling the profile pictures of the two.
After exiting the fan club, Tang Ruoyao suddenly remembered the trending topic. She scrolled through it but couldn't find her name.
Tang Ruoyao: "???"
She glanced at the time at the top of her phone and realized that it was still a few minutes away from noon. In the morning, she was still the number one trending topic with a high search index. It didn't make sense for her to disappear during the peak period of online traffic at noon. She had a good sense of her popularity, especially after winning an award recently.
Tang Ruoyao pondered.
Did her company remove her from the trending topic? Or, just like before, did Qin Yinong ask someone to remove it for her?
She leaned towards the latter.
Tang Ruoyao spun her phone around, feeling conflicted, and sighed with her hand covering her eyes.
Sometimes, she really wished that Qin Yinong would just leave her alone. At least that would put an end to her constant thoughts and the way her heart fluttered every time Qin Yinong did something kind for her. Tang Ruoyao washed her face with cold water, looking at her reflection in the mirror with water droplets continuously dripping down her face. She told herself to stay calm and not overthink things. Qin Yinong's attitude towards her had always been the same, regardless of whether it was love or not. It was her own unruly thoughts that had created these unusual feelings.
Maybe it wasn't Qin Yinong at all? It must be the company!
Once it involved Qin Yinong, Tang Ruoyao couldn't stay calm at all. She took a few deep breaths in succession, leaning on the edge of the sink with her head lowered and trying to hypnotize herself.
The phone on the coffee table rang.
Tang Ruoyao grabbed a towel from the shelf, wiping her face and hands as she walked towards the living room.
It was Ruan Qin.
"Hey, Tang Tang," she greeted affectionately and then apologized with a soft voice, "I'm sorry. I was impulsive this morning... Is your face okay? Do you need me to bring you some medicine?"
Tang Ruoyao raised an eyebrow in confusion, not knowing what kind of medicine she was talking about.
Then she heard Ruan Qin's cautious tone, "You didn't tell Qin Yinong that I accidentally bumped into you, did you?" She played around with her wording.
Accidentally bumped into?
Tang Ruoyao couldn't help but find it amusing. It would be really quite a coincidence if Ruan Qin happened to forcefully bump her palm into her face. Her thoughts quickly connected, and she immediately understood. She asked coldly, "Did she remove me from the trending list?"
Only something related to Qin Yinong could cause such a drastic change in Ruan Qin's attitude.
Ruan Qin murmured an ambiguous "uh" and then asked anxiously, "You... You didn't tell her, did you?"
Tang Ruoyao remained silent.
Ruan Qin started to panic, afraid that she would receive an icy phone call in a moment. She hurriedly explained, one after another, "I really didn't mean it. I won't dare to do it again next time, and I won't disrespect you."
Tang Ruoyao listened to Ruan Qin's flustered defense on the other end of the line, her lips slightly curved. With cold determination, she uttered two clear words, "Who knows."
Afterward, she decisively hung up the phone.
She wouldn't go and complain to Qin Yinong, but those two words were enough to make Ruan Qin anxious and fearful for some time.
The phrase "borrowing the tiger's might" popped into Tang Ruoyao's mind, and she couldn't help but squint her eyes. She brought the nearby cushion into her embrace, rubbing it back and forth. Her mind was filled with thoughts of the "tiger," Qin Yinong, while she, the "fox," obediently nestled beside the tiger.
The cushion in her arms gradually transformed into Qin Yinong's soft and warm arm. Tang Ruoyao slowly rested her face on it and gently rubbed against it.
It had only been less than a day since they parted, and she was already thinking about the other person. Qin Yinong had been away for four to five months this time, and when she came back, she only spent less than four hours with her. She had a vague feeling that Qin Yinong was distancing herself from her, but when it came to acting, she was truly dedicated. Despite being busy, she even took the time to review her work with her, and they had spoken on the phone twice. She missed an awards ceremony due to an engagement, but she explained it afterward.
Tang Ruoyao silently suppressed this speculation. So why did she leave in such a hurry? Ultimately, it was because she said the wrong thing last night, right? It made her aware of her feelings.
What should she do? Would Qin Yinong never see her again in the future? She could explain herself and reenact the scene, but the prerequisite was that she had to see Qin Yinong.
Tang Ruoyao furrowed her brow, biting her lip as she retrieved a photo from the album taken by her assistant. It was taken right after she was slapped, with her fair and tender skin, swollen cheeks, stagnant bruises, and the vivid red fingerprint clearly visible, giving a shocking sight.
When Tang Ruoyao took this photo, she didn't have a specific plan in mind for its use. It was just a last resort in a desperate situation.
Tang Ruoyao opened her social media circle of friends, selected the photo, and made it visible only to Guan Han. She posted it.
She interlocked her fingers, propped her chin, tightly pursed her lips, and fixed her gaze on the phone screen that was facing up on the coffee table.
Not long after, the phone screen suddenly lit up.
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