Backed Up

Qi Yao’s face flushed bright red. It took him a few seconds to react before he snapped, furious, “Don’t make accusations without evidence! What does her accident have to do with me?!”

Zhu Qing rolled up her sleeves and glared at him, her momentum no weaker than his. “Bullshit!”

She bit down hard on the last two words, practically spitting them in Qi Yao’s face. Qi Yao was stunned by her force, and in his rage he stammered, “Y-you’re talking nonsense. Where’s the director? I didn’t do anything, and I don’t know anything! You’re saying I hurt someone—what evidence do you have?!”

Zhu Qing had just mentioned that he had once pushed her, so his denial sounded a little guilty. But Li Lan’s matter really had nothing to do with him!

“She was attacked by a lion; wasn’t that an accident? Why do you keep saying someone hurt her? Who’d have nothing better to do than go after her? It definitely wasn’t me!”

“You did it and won’t admit it? I spit on you! What kind of man are you!” Zhu Qing was so angry she looked around for something to throw. Xu Yuzhi saw it and hurried over to stop her. “Calm down, calm down. There are so many people here; don’t do anything rash.”

Li Lan threw off the blanket and got out of bed, taking Zhu Qing from Xu Yuzhi and pulling her into her arms.

She patted Zhu Qing’s back, as if smoothing down the fur of an angry cat, and coaxed her softly, “Don’t be mad. Watch for now; I’ll talk.”

Zhu Qing quieted in Li Lan’s embrace, but her whole body was still tense. Anyone could tell she was furious—absolutely furious.

Holding Zhu Qing in her arms, Li Lan looked up, her gaze passing over Zhu Qing’s shoulder as she calmly looked at Qi Yao. “Xiao Qing is a little upset. Don’t take it to heart.”

Just moments ago, Zhu Qing and Qi Yao had been evenly matched, hurling abuse at each other without either giving an inch. But the second Li Lan apologized, Qi Yao immediately went from guilty defiance to brazen arrogance.

“Look at what she’s saying. She calls me trash in front of so many people, and then tells me not to take it to heart? This isn’t over!”

Li Lan’s expression barely changed. Her voice was still cool and light, her gaze dark and deep as still water as it rested on Qi Yao.

“Fine. Go on.”

Qi Yao actually took a step back.

Li Lan hadn’t said much, but Qi Yao still felt a thick, unmistakable threat.

“If you want to make a scene, then I’ll make one with you properly,” Li Lan said, her words landing like a hammer. “Come on.”

Qi Yao retreated another half-step.

The assistant behind him grabbed him and said in a low voice, “It’s all a misunderstanding. It’s just a few words; don’t blow this up.”

With someone giving him a way out, Qi Yao snorted. “What bad luck, running into a lunatic when I went out today. Let’s go. This is disgusting.”

Hearing that Qi Yao still dared to mutter under his breath, Zhu Qing immediately wanted to chase after him again. Li Lan pressed her palm to the back of her head and stroked it once, then said to Qi Yao, “Get lost.”

Qi Yao: “You—”

The assistant hurriedly dragged him away. After Qi Yao left, the person standing opposite Li Lan became Yu Ling, who had been standing behind him all along.

Yu Ling showed just the right amount of concern. “Teacher Li, please take care of your health and be careful.”

Li Lan replied with a faint, almost mocking smile. “Thanks for your concern.”

Yu Ling looked like she still wanted to force out a few more words of concern, but her mental state was obviously terrible. She seemed dazed the entire time, repeatedly avoiding Li Lan’s gaze, and in the end said nothing.

The whole scene left everyone present awkward, especially the production team. Zhu Qing’s outburst had made two things crystal clear.

First, the two of them knew today’s accident was not an accident, but something man-made.

Second, they had no intention of letting it go.

The idea of making a big issue small, and a small issue disappear, simply wasn’t going to work.

After working with Li Lan through the season, the director had more or less figured out her personality too. He sighed and discussed it with her. “Let’s finish the final shoot after everyone rests for a day, then we’ll talk about this matter.”

Li Lan didn’t say much. “We’ll cooperate with normal filming, but as for everything outside filming, please have the program team pay more attention.”

The director sighed. “There’ll be an explanation.”

A crowd came in a rush, then left in a rush, and soon the hospital room was once again left with only Li Lan and Zhu Qing.

Zhu Qing said, “Why did you stop me? I’ve wanted to curse him out for ages!”

Li Lan smiled lazily. “It wasn’t him.”

Zhu Qing’s brows nearly twisted into a knot. “If it wasn’t him, then who was it? He’s the one who can’t stand us. He was against us from the very start.”

Li Lan didn’t hide it either. “He wasn’t against me from the beginning. Before the variety show even started filming, we’d already had a conflict.”

Zhu Qing’s brows shot up so high they nearly flew off her face. “There was such a thing? Then it really must have been him! I shouldn’t have let him leave so easily. Doesn’t he care about face? If it were me, I should’ve cursed him out in front of everyone…”

Li Lan said with a smile, “It really wasn’t him.”

Zhu Qing asked, confused, “Then who was it?”

Li Lan only smiled and said nothing, the meaning in her eyes obvious; she was making Zhu Qing guess for herself.

Zhu Qing grew more and more puzzled as she thought it over.

“The only people who could have touched the vehicle would be from our production team. You probably didn’t provoke anyone else.”

“The people from the production team have no grudge against you. They may still be suspects, but let’s set them aside for now.”

“The remaining guests… Teacher Hu Xu and Teacher Liu Yini are both nationally recognized actors with a lot of standing; they’re also on good personal terms with you. It definitely wouldn’t be them.”

“Xu Yuzhi and Sun Qi are one Best Actress and one Best Actor. They don’t have any conflict of interest with you, so they have no motive at all to hurt you.”

“That leaves Yu Ling and Qi Yao. As for Qi Yao… his character is bad; he’s the type who’d use that kind of method. He has motive too. He’s the most suspicious.”

Li Lan still didn’t speak, only looked at her encouragingly.

Zhu Qing hesitated. “Then… Yu Ling?”

Li Lan’s smile deepened.

Zhu Qing frowned. “Yu Ling is an artist under He Guang Tong Chen. The variety show is her debut. Her looks are very distinctive; she has both the cool, delicate feel of a white lotus and the sweetness of the girl next door. That’s a pretty rare type in the entertainment industry. Her strong visuals won her a lot of fan support and a lot of buzz, but because of Qi Yao’s manipulation, the whole internet blacklisted her as a green-tea schemer. She lost a huge number of fans, and public opinion turned against her very quickly.”

Li Lan nodded. “Very good.”

Zhu Qing was even more confused. “But that’s her own business. What does it have to do with you?”

Li Lan guided her step by step. “Exactly. Then why would she want to hurt me?”

Zhu Qing’s little brain spun at top speed. The scenes from before surfaced one by one: Yu Ling’s deliberate closeness, Yu Ling’s watchful gaze toward Li Lan, wary and probing at the same time, Yu Ling’s jealousy…

There had to be a thread connecting all of this. Zhu Qing felt she was just missing that thread; once she found it, she could tie everything together. But what was it?

Her brain felt like it was about to grow hair when, at that moment, Li Lan’s phone screen suddenly lit up.

Zhu Qing looked over instinctively.

The phone was on silent, so there was no ringtone; the incoming call screen only showed two words: “Director Yang.”

Director Yang.

Suddenly, the song Li Lan had hummed in her mind.

That was Yang Huayi’s exclusive ringtone.

Yang Huayi…

Yang Huayi!

Zhu Qing abruptly lifted her head, eyes wide. “You mean Yu Ling is competing with you for resources?!”

Yang Huayi paid far too much attention to Li Lan. At the same time, Yu Ling was also an artist under He Guang Tong Chen, or more accurately, under Yang Huayi’s wing.

If public opinion damaged Yu Ling, the resources she lost might end up going to Li Lan instead!

Li Lan nodded approvingly. “That’s right.”

Zhu Qing was utterly shocked, frozen in place. It took her a while to react before she jerked slightly.

“You mean Yu Ling sabotaged the off-road vehicle you were riding in just to compete with you for resources, and nearly got you bitten by a lion!”

After saying that, Zhu Qing frowned. “But… you’re not an artist under He Guang Tong Chen. Yang Huayi isn’t your mother. How could Yu Ling be sure Yang Huayi would give all the resources to you? That doesn’t make sense.”

Li Lan tilted her head, the admiration in her eyes deepening. She pulled Zhu Qing down to sit. “You’re still the smart one. But when you’re in the middle of it, it’s hard to see clearly; Yu Ling doesn’t think that way.”

“If you hadn’t reminded me, I wouldn’t have realized Yu Ling was jealous of me. Greed, anger, and delusion—jealousy is a very twisted emotion,” Li Lan said lightly. “Jealousy makes people lose their reason. It makes them incapable of properly weighing gains and losses.”

As she spoke, the call from “Director Yang” had already disconnected.

Less than half a minute later, the screen lit up again.

Zhu Qing came back to herself and pointed at the phone. “Do you want to answer it?”

Li Lan picked up the phone and carefully observed Zhu Qing’s expression. “You won’t get jealous, will you?”

Zhu Qing: “...I don’t have the relevant memories right now, so I don’t have the basis for jealousy. But if you insist on making me jealous, I can be jealous.”

Li Lan shut her mouth and answered the call.

“I’ll be in Nairobi tomorrow morning,” Yang Huayi’s voice came through. “Keep tomorrow free. I want to talk to you.”

Li Lan was a little surprised. “You’re coming to Africa? For what?”

Yang Huayi said in a low voice, “I suspect your injury wasn’t an accident.”

Li Lan was even more surprised. “Huh???”

Of course it wasn’t an accident, but what did that have to do with Yang Huayi coming to Africa? Li Lan didn’t think Yang Huayi would make such a fuss for her sake. But if Yang Huayi was coming to back Yu Ling up, then this would be harder to handle.

Yang Huayi said, “We’ll talk when we meet tomorrow.”

“We’ll see,” Li Lan’s tone was much more casual than before. “I’m a patient.”

“I’ll come see you at the hospital,” Yang Huayi said, her voice restrained, every word pressed down. “That’s all.”

Li Lan frowned. “I don’t really understand you.”

Yang Huayi sneered coldly. “I don’t really understand you either, Li Lan. I have plenty to say to you about this matter, so you’d better give me a reasonable explanation.”

Li Lan said nothing.

Yang Huayi hung up directly.

Zhu Qing asked anxiously, “What did that last line mean? Is she coming to cause trouble for you?”

Li Lan shook her head with a frown. “Not sure.”

Zhu Qing said, “If you’re not sure either, do we still need to meet her? Is she coming here to back Yu Ling up?”

Li Lan told her not to worry and soothed her. “Let’s see when she gets here tomorrow. Then you can listen in too.”

Zhu Qing’s anxiety lasted all the way until the next morning. Before six o’clock, the hospital room door was pushed open from outside.

Zhu Qing had been sleeping soundly in the bedside cot; the sudden opening almost made her bolt upright.

“Who is it?!”

With a sharp click, the overhead lights suddenly came on at full brightness. The blinding light made Li Lan and Zhu Qing both dizzy.

The sound of Yang Huayi’s leather shoes rang out, step by step.

“You have three minutes to get yourselves together.”

Li Lan looked terrible. She had low blood sugar; after finally forcing back the wave of dizziness and discomfort, she said in a low voice, “Director Yang, please step outside first.”

Yang Huayi’s gaze fell on the bandage wrapped around Li Lan’s forearm, and a trace of dazedness flashed through her eyes.

“What happened to your arm? Didn’t the doctor say you weren’t injured?”

Zhu Qing had already thrown on her coat in a flash and handed Li Lan a cup of sugar water. “Drink some first, then talk.”

Li Lan lowered her head and drank, angry enough that she ignored Yang Huayi.

Zhu Qing straightened and said to Yang Huayi, “Director Yang, Li Lan has low blood sugar. Since you just got off the plane, shouldn’t you have rested a bit and arranged to meet after Li Lan woke up?”

Yang Huayi said coldly, “Are you teaching me how to do my job?”

“Of course you know how to do your job. You just look down on us and don’t want to,” Zhu Qing said coolly. “Since you don’t want to treat us with respect, there’s no need for us to be polite either. Please leave now.”

Yang Huayi laughed in anger. “Li Lan, is this your person?”

After drinking the sugar water, Li Lan’s complexion improved a little, though her lips were still pale. She said expressionlessly, “Director Yang is making such a grand entrance. Are you here to back Yu Ling up and give us, the victims, a show of force first?”

The moment the name “Yu Ling” came out, Yang Huayi’s pupils shrank sharply. Something extremely complicated flashed through her eyes.

Lowering her voice, Yang Huayi enunciated each word. “So you really do know it was her.”

That “really do know” made Li Lan realize as well that Yang Huayi already knew the truth.

Then her sudden trip here was very likely to back Yu Ling up.

Zhu Qing said angrily, “Your artist did something like that to Li Lan, and you still dare to come here so aggressively.”

Yang Huayi said coldly, “This has nothing to do with you!”

Li Lan’s gaze turned equally cold. “Xiao Qing, see the guest out.”

Yang Huayi and Li Lan met each other’s eyes; both saw sparks of anger in the other’s gaze.

————————

The weekend just flew by...............................................................