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The next morning, when Zhu Qing got up, her head was splitting. It felt like she’d been beaten all over.

She thought back to last night. All she remembered was a room full of empty bottles and chatting nonsense with Qian Cancan; the more specific details were gone without a trace.

How had she gotten home? Who had brought her back, Qian Cancan?

Zhu Qing took out her phone and called Qian Cancan. Before the call even connected, someone knocked on the bedroom door.

“Are you awake?”

It was Li Lan’s voice.

Zhu Qing steadied herself and quickly checked her body. She was still wearing the long dress she’d gone out in yesterday; after sleeping in it all night, it was wrinkled into a twisted mess. Her makeup still hadn’t been removed either...

Oh my God, she must look terrible.

Zhu Qing hurriedly climbed out of bed. “I’m awake. Wait a second, I’ll be right out.”

She ran into the bathroom and came face to face with the hungover woman in the mirror.

Her face was fine; maybe Qian Cancan had done a good deed and taken the time to remove her makeup. Her skin was clean and bare, with only a little redness around her eyes and lips.

Hmm? Why was there a bit of swelling too?

Zhu Qing leaned closer to the mirror. Her eyelids were thin, so when she drank too much they tended to turn red; it would take a couple of days for that to go down. But why would they be swollen? Her eyelids only swelled when she had an allergy or after crying.

Did she drink fake liquor last night?

Her finger slid downward and accidentally touched her lips. “Hiss.”

Why were even her lips swollen too!?

Not only that, but there were small wounds around the edges of her lips, as if they’d been thoroughly tormented and left looking pitiful.

Such obvious allergic symptoms. Fake liquor. It had to be fake liquor!

Qian Cancan sent her a 【?】 in reply.

Zhu Qing held down the voice button and snapped, “What kind of alcohol did you order? You owe me my flawless bare-faced morning look!”

Qian Cancan replied with sixteen question marks.

Zhu Qing quickly washed up, changed clothes, and tied her long hair into a ponytail, exposing a smooth forehead with not a single stray strand left.

After tidying herself up neatly, Zhu Qing took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Li Lan was leaning against the kitchen island, with a delicate plate of pastries and a bowl of porridge beside her. When she saw Zhu Qing come out, she said, “Poria cake, pumpkin porridge. Since you’re awake, come eat something. It’s good for your stomach.”

Zhu Qing glanced at Li Lan. The other woman was wearing a white linen shirt paired with pale-blue high-waisted denim shorts; gold bracelets and a leather watch were stacked on her wrist, and she had that effortless air of upscale casualness about her.

After Zhu Qing secretly admired her for a while, she felt her head was still a little uncomfortable and shook it, puzzled. “I don’t get drunk like this very often. How much did Qian Cancan make me drink? Oh, right—did I disturb you when I came back last night? I thought Qian Cancan would take me to her place or get me a room. If I bothered you, I’m really sorry.”

Going out to drink late at night and staggering back drunk in the middle of the night—Zhu Qing, with her thick skin, still felt embarrassed.

Li Lan’s brows lifted slightly; she gave an unreadable “Mm.”

Zhu Qing picked up a piece of poria cake. The soft pastry brushed the corner of her mouth, and she carefully avoided the wound there, taking tiny bites.

Li Lan’s gaze paused for a moment, then she looked away and said quietly, “I have to go on a business trip today. I’m heading to Guangzhou for an exhibition, and I still have a cover shoot to do. I won’t be back until the day after tomorrow at the earliest.”

With her mouth full of cake, Zhu Qing smiled until her eyes curved. “Okay. I also want to find time to go to the kindergarten.”

Li Lan asked, “Aren’t you on medical leave?”

“Yes, I still have half a month left,” Zhu Qing said. “I just wanted to go take a look at where I work. I don’t have much to do anyway while I’m on leave.”

She took another sip of pumpkin porridge, then lightly flicked her tongue and collected a grain of millet from the corner of her mouth.

Li Lan narrowed her eyes and studied Zhu Qing, her hands braced on the counter; her middle finger tapped lightly as she suddenly asked, “Are you bored staying at home?”

Zhu Qing thought about it. She didn’t nod, and she didn’t shake her head. She was the sort of person who couldn’t sit still. If Li Lan was at home, that was fine; if Li Lan wasn’t, being cooped up alone in the house would absolutely drive her crazy.

But saying that honestly might lead to a misunderstanding, so Zhu Qing laughed it off. “A little, but it’s fine. I really can’t sit still, and you won’t let me go on variety shows with you anyway, haha.”

She meant it as a joke. Zhu Qing didn’t want to upset Li Lan again over variety shows, and she said it to put Li Lan at ease. Who would have thought that the next second, Li Lan would actually give in.

“The variety show. If you want to go, then go.”

Li Lan straightened up and took a piece of cake from Zhu Qing’s plate, examining it as she added, “Pretend I never said those things.”

Zhu Qing was extremely surprised. After confirming that Li Lan wasn’t joking, she kept pressing her with questions. “Really? Why did you change your mind? When does filming start? What do I need to prepare?”

“Filming starts next week,” Li Lan said after taking a bite of poria cake and finding it not especially good. “Shooting lasts ten days; that’ll just finish out your medical leave. Qian Chu will prepare whatever needs preparing. I’ll tell you the rest before filming starts.”

Zhu Qing nodded happily. “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”

Li Lan didn’t say anything else.

Why had she changed her mind? The answer was obvious.

Last night she’d kissed the woman until she was dizzy, so dizzy she couldn’t even recognize people anymore, and yet Zhu Qing still remembered to worry about that six-hundred-thousand-yuan penalty fee.

Li Lan was almost laughing from anger. She had never shortchanged her own people when it came to money, so why had this woman turned into a little miser the moment she lost her memory?

But the more important reason was that Zhu Qing had touched Li Lan’s most sensitive nerve.

Li Lan couldn’t even bear to imagine Zhu Qing with other women.

With her memory gone, it was as if Zhu Qing had become a kite with its string cut; she was no longer as restrained and cautious as before, and had grown lively and open. That would have been a good thing, except when that liveliness drifted to other women, it became unbearable.

Before she lost her memory, Zhu Qing had kept things hidden and refused to go public with her. Li Lan had originally wanted to respect Zhu Qing’s wishes.

Who would have thought this woman couldn’t stay tied to her side for even a single day without causing trouble.

In that case, they might as well make it public now. Even if Zhu Qing regretted it after regaining her memory, Li Lan would just bear the consequences herself.

After Zhu Qing finished all the pastries and porridge, Li Lan walked over and pulled out a suitcase. “I’m leaving.”

Zhu Qing blinked. So Li Lan had already packed and had just been waiting for her to come out and finish eating before leaving?

Zhu Qing felt a little warm inside.

“I’ll see you off.” Zhu Qing snatched the suitcase away and insisted on taking Li Lan downstairs.

Just before she left, Li Lan suddenly rolled down the car window and said hesitantly, “There’s one more thing. Xiao Bao might come looking for you.”

Xiao Bao?

Zhu Qing was full of question marks. After freezing for two seconds, she suddenly understood. “Oh, Xiao Bao. I remember now—your daughter.”

The little girl who had been holding one hand of Zhu Qing and one hand of Li Lan in the wedding photos.

“She was supposed to be in Northern Europe this month for an educational program, but a few days ago she heard about your injury and threw a fit, insisting on coming back,” Li Lan said, already looking like she had a headache. “The homeroom teacher couldn’t talk her down, so they’ve already arranged to send her back on a flight home.”

Zhu Qing felt rather flattered. “Ah, she’s coming because of me?”

Li Lan looked exhausted. “She has an aunt taking care of her, so you don’t need to worry about anything else. But if she comes looking for you, I’ll have to trouble you to keep her company... Xiao Bao is, um, rather attached to you.”

Zhu Qing nodded. “Okay.”

After Li Lan’s car left, Zhu Qing was still thinking over what she’d said.

She didn’t really understand why Xiao Bao, as Li Lan’s daughter, would be so attached to her; after hearing that Zhu Qing was injured and hospitalized, she had even dropped the educational trip she was taking with the other children and insisted on rushing back to find her.

But very quickly, she had no mind to pay attention to Xiao Bao anymore.

The post Li Lan had made yesterday had climbed to the trending list: [Li Lan’s high-end photo shoot enrages fans]

The comment section was full of fans cursing out the photographer.

“No matter how good the composition and lighting are, what’s the point? The photographer clearly doesn’t understand what suits my sister! Strongly request a replacement!”

“Heh, does the photographer think that if something isn’t sexy, it isn’t photography? My sister’s classical beauty has been ruined by you! #RejectObjectification#”

“What kind of hellish taste does this photographer have?? #TrashPhotographerGetOutOfTheIndustry#”

“Fans aren’t blindly praising her; this kind of style really doesn’t match my sister’s level, okay?”

“Good photos ≠ right photos! Can the photographer stop with that greasy routine? My sister really doesn’t do the sexy style!”

Looking at the screen full of “photographer get out of the industry,” “photographer deserves a beating,” and even the even more intolerable “the photographer is such a gross creep,” Zhu Qing was so furious that her vision went black; all the blood in her body rushed straight to her head!