Coming Clean

Yang Huayi was used to being surrounded by deference and flattery. Seeing Li Lan’s uncooperative, even mocking expression, the fire she had been holding back finally flared.

“Say it clearly. What exactly happened?” Yang Huayi’s voice was edged with anger.

Li Lan looked at her coolly. “Director Yang should ask the director.”

“You think I haven’t asked him already? The car had a problem, your schedule had a problem; everything had a problem.” Yang Huayi gave a cold laugh. “At first I thought you’d been in an accident, but after a little checking and a little thinking, are you really trying to tell me you knew nothing about any of this?”

Li Lan sneered. “What exactly is Director Yang trying to say?”

“That you were the one trying to do something!”

Yang Huayi exploded, staring fixedly at Li Lan. The pressure and authority of someone used to being in power filled the room with a suffocating heaviness.

“Li Lan, what exactly are you trying to do?”

How could Zhu Qing let Yang Huayi question Li Lan like this? She hurriedly stepped in front of her, angry and anxious. “What are you even arguing about? If Director Yang knows who plotted to hurt Li Lan, why not go find that person? Why come here and act so superior in front of the victim? Is Director Yang trying to protect them, or threaten Li Lan?”

Yang Huayi’s sharp, icy gaze instantly landed on Zhu Qing’s face. Zhu Qing shrank back slightly, but her voice was still hoarse and dry as she stubbornly went on, “Since we started filming this variety show, Li Lan and I have never taken the initiative to provoke anyone. Li Lan never had much popularity in the entertainment industry to begin with; we don’t get many shots, we don’t do anything flashy, and she’s been recording the show properly. Li Lan didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Fine, fine, fine.” Yang Huayi glared at Li Lan and said “fine” three times in a row. “You didn’t do anything wrong; I’ll go find the person who did!”

The conversation ended on a sour note. Only after Yang Huayi had gone far enough away did Zhu Qing finally relax and say, “What the hell was wrong with her? Why would she say something like that to you?”

Li Lan quietly watched the direction Yang Huayi had gone, and a guess gradually surfaced in her mind.

“Yang Huayi is an extremely shrewd old fox. She must have realized I deliberately walked into the trap,” Li Lan said softly. “Of course she has reason to be angry. If I hadn’t gone along and gotten into that car, the person who schemed against me would have failed to carry out the crime, and nothing would have happened.”

Zhu Qing spat in disgust. “So it still comes back to that Yu Ling. How can someone be this shameless!”

“One person is vicious and two-faced and goes after you; another is selfish, arrogant, and can’t tell right from wrong, and actually takes it out on you,” Zhu Qing said angrily, patting her chest to calm herself. “Let’s hurry up and finish filming, then get the hell out of here. Bad luck!”

Zhu Qing’s sighing and grumbling interrupted Li Lan’s thoughts. When she looked over and saw her scrunched-up little face, her mood inexplicably improved.

Even if she had no background and no backing, even if Yang Huayi intended to interfere and protect Yu Ling, Li Lan no longer felt aggrieved or angry.

As long as Zhu Qing stood on her side, that sense of satisfaction and steadiness inside her was incomparable to any other achievement.

Zhu Qing supported her. Zhu Qing felt she had done the right thing. Zhu Qing would stand by her side. Those facts made Li Lan unconsciously curl her lips into a gentle, composed smile.

“Why are you so upset?” Li Lan waved her over. “It’s still early. Come keep me company and sleep a little.”

It was only seven o’clock now. The doctor would come make rounds later; if they hurried, they could still get a little more sleep.

After venting, Zhu Qing did feel a little better. Seeing that it wasn’t late, she turned off the light and lay back down on the accompanying bed. It was a compact folding bed, one size smaller than normal. She hadn’t noticed while she was sleeping deeply just now, but now that she lay back down, she felt like she couldn’t stretch out her arms or legs at all.

Zhu Qing rolled over several times, and the bed creaked and groaned.

Li Lan said, “Come over here.”

Zhu Qing turned over and glanced at Li Lan’s bed.

A 1.5-meter single bed looked spacious and comfortable at a glance.

“No,” Zhu Qing said stubbornly. “If it’s just you, it’s roomy. Add me, and it gets crowded.”

“It won’t be crowded.” Li Lan’s eyes curved with a smile. The pale daylight made her already exquisite face look even better. With that face, she waved Zhu Qing over. “Sleep together.”

Zhu Qing stared for a long moment, stiff all over, then forced out a hard little sentence: “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t share a bed with me?”

Li Lan was momentarily speechless; only after two seconds did she remember Zhu Qing was talking about the first day they filmed the variety show.

Back then, Zhu Qing had clearly stated for the first time that she wanted to pursue her, and Li Lan had been caught off guard and had no idea how to handle it, so she could only temporarily put some distance between them.

But as it turned out, distance was easy to shrink and hard to create. Before she knew it, Zhu Qing had already become intimate with her beyond measure.

Li Lan laughed. “Didn’t we end up on the same bed later anyway?”

“That’s not the same,” Zhu Qing said seriously. “The bed in the wooden cabin was the proper kind of bed a decent household would have. Sleeping together like that, arms against arms, legs against legs, and turning your head a little to brush against each other’s breathing—that’s the kind of bed a young couple should sleep in. But once we came to Africa, the hotel beds were all two meters wide. You could fit another Qian Cancan between you and me; how can that be the same thing?”

Li Lan said solemnly, “I do not allow you to let Qian Cancan onto our bed.”

Zhu Qing blinked. “Stop changing the subject. I’m not the kind of person you can kick off the bed and then call back with a wave.”

Li Lan sighed. “It was my fault.”

After that, Li Lan fell silent.

Zhu Qing perked up her ears, waiting to hear a few more words, but Li Lan really did stop talking.

That made her worry she had been too harsh. After all, Li Lan had only kindly invited her to lie down on the big bed because the accompanying bed looked uncomfortable.

Thinking of that, Zhu Qing felt even more useless. Li Lan hadn’t even defended herself yet, and Zhu Qing was already finding excuses for her.

Grumpily, Zhu Qing rolled over and turned her back to Li Lan. Fine, whatever.

Half a minute later, in the quiet room, Li Lan suddenly spoke.

“Ah——”

Zhu Qing startled awake.

“Hiss, my arm hurts,” Li Lan complained softly. “I must’ve twisted it when I turned over. My hand hurts too……”

Zhu Qing hurried over in her slippers, turned on the bedside lamp with a frown, and asked, “Where does it hurt?”

Li Lan drew in a small breath. “The whole arm.”

“What’s going on? Did it get dislocated?” Zhu Qing reached out to press the nurse-call bell.

Li Lan caught her forearm in midair, her voice carrying a touch of weakness. “It’s fine. I’ll just stop turning over.”

“You still need to be careful when you turn over,” Zhu Qing said worriedly. “If your arm hurts, then turn less. Sleep on your back.”

Li Lan said, “I can’t help it. Once I fall asleep, I like to turn over.”

Zhu Qing didn’t speak. She was still carefully checking Li Lan’s arm, gently pressing her joints to see if anything was wrong.

Li Lan sighed. “Go back. After I turn a few more times, it won’t hurt anymore.”

As she spoke, she turned her face aside, half of it buried in the pillow and half exposed. The corner of her eye swept over Zhu Qing as she thought: let’s see whether you still sleep over there.

As soon as Zhu Qing heard that, how could she possibly go back? She gritted her teeth. “Then you sleep. I won’t sleep; I’ll just stay here and watch you.”

Li Lan: …

“No. I can’t sleep with you sitting there.” Li Lan flatly rejected it.

Zhu Qing frowned. “Then I’ll go sit over there.”

With that, she was about to get up when Li Lan finally couldn’t hold back anymore. She sat up, wrapped an arm around Zhu Qing’s shoulder, and pulled her down.

Zhu Qing had been sitting sideways on the bed, her balance already unstable. She was yanked straight down onto the mattress.

The bedding was soft, and all she could hear by her ear was Li Lan’s light breathing.

Her heartbeat seemed to swell a hundredfold in that instant.

Zhu Qing’s cheek rested close to the steady beat of Li Lan’s heart, quietly pressed against her.

Li Lan’s uninjured hand stroked Zhu Qing’s hair gently.

“Before you came to film the variety show, you got hurt in the bathroom.”

“Once you got to the wooden cabin, you were bitten by mosquitoes all over.”

“When you went into the mountains to look for mushrooms, your palm got cut open by the sickle.”

“Before we left the cabin, Qi Yao shoved you again and made your head hit something; your knee was badly bruised.”

Li Lan’s fingers lightly lingered over the places Zhu Qing had been hurt before.

There were no marks left there anymore, but Li Lan could still feel the skin under her hand burning hot, so hot it made her heart ache.

“I found you a doctor; the best in the country. He’s successfully treated cases similar to yours before,” Li Lan coaxed softly. “When we get back to the country, we’ll go see the doctor, okay?”

Zhu Qing was completely immersed in that wonderful atmosphere. She didn’t even bother saying “okay” out loud, only nodded contentedly.

Noticing her response, Li Lan’s movements became even gentler.

“I won’t let Qi Yao get away with this,” Li Lan murmured. “And you’re not allowed to get hurt again.”

Zhu Qing rubbed her face against the soft skin beneath her cheek and let out a comfortable purring sound in her throat. Her voice was muffled and unclear. “You still have the nerve to say that to me.”

“I won’t get hurt either,” Li Lan said, lowering her head to kiss Zhu Qing’s forehead. Under her palm was Zhu Qing’s soft hair; it felt fluffy, yet springy and resilient, just like the feeling Zhu Qing gave people. “I promise you.”

Only then did Zhu Qing relax completely. She lifted her head, rested her chin against Li Lan’s collarbone, and kissed the corner of her lips.

“Then…… let’s see how you do.”

Li Lan answered with a quiet “Mm,” then lowered her head to kiss Zhu Qing deeply, holding her close as they fell asleep together in intimacy.

-

In a private hotel suite somewhere in Nairobi, Yu Ling clicked a lighter to life and respectfully held it to Yang Huayi’s lips.

Yang Huayi’s brows and eyes were frosted with chill. She turned her head slightly to avoid it.

Yu Ling took the cigarette from between her lips. The smell of nicotine from the ember steadied her a little.

“Director Yang, wasn’t your flight exhausting just now?” Yu Ling looked at her with sparkling eyes. “Do you want to rest a bit first?”

Yang Huayi said coldly, “How did you know I was coming?”

Yu Ling froze.

Yang Huayi said, “And you were waiting so early. You’ve been digging up quite a lot of information about the company, and about me personally, haven’t you?”

Yu Ling looked a little nervous. “Director Yang, I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I don’t care if you have ambition,” Yang Huayi said, flicking the cigarette away with two fingers. Her tone was casual, yet every word still carried pressure. “But you can’t be stupid.”

Yu Ling’s face stiffened. “Director Yang, what are you talking about?”

“No need to play dumb in front of me.” Yang Huayi’s tone was expressionless. “You really think your tricks were that clean? The lifting rig on top of the car, the lion urine spread over the vehicle; the production team already checked everything out yesterday.”

Yu Ling stood there calmly, showing no sign at all that anything had been exposed. “How scary. Then the production team really should find evidence.”

“Evidence? You want to say you were so flawless that no one can find any?” Yang Huayi shot back.

Yu Ling said earnestly, “Director Yang, the area around the off-road vehicle was all wilderness. There were no cameras from the back door of the hotel to the wilderness.”

Yang Huayi stared at her as if she were an idiot. “At this point, your focus is still on whether there were cameras.”

Yu Ling’s tone turned a little urgent. “Isn’t that right? Director Yang, I said I wouldn’t cause you trouble. I can do things very well. Are you this angry right now because Li Lan was injured?”

Yang Huayi narrowed her eyes; her voice sank. “Are you questioning me?”

Yu Ling lowered her head obediently. “No. I just want to tell you that there’s no need for you to worry about what happened here.”

Yang Huayi snorted. “No need for me to worry? Idiot, you think Li Lan is just anybody? You think your little tricks could fool her?”

“So she’s special?” Yu Ling’s expression was pure and innocent. “Maybe she is. But it really wasn’t me, and Director Yang shouldn’t come question me either. After all, I’m the one on your side. How can you side with an outsider and interrogate me?”

“Did Li Lan say bad things about me in front of you? You shouldn’t believe her.”

Yang Huayi’s cold gaze moved slowly over her, inch by inch.

That gaze held scrutiny and judgment, as though she were playing chess, weighing the piece in her hand and assessing the board in front of her.

After considering it for a moment, her gaze suddenly went flat, as if she had lost all interest.

“What you said is right; you are mine,” Yang Huayi said as she stood, stepping on the cigarette Yu Ling had offered and grinding it out lightly. “But you really shouldn’t have touched Li Lan.”

Yu Ling froze. Her expression went blank for an instant.

Yang Huayi lowered her voice. “You thought that was why Zhu Qing didn’t take part in filming yesterday? You’ve caused a huge mess, and I’m waiting to see how you make sure I ‘don’t have to worry.’”

Yu Ling blinked. Her face quickly turned ugly.

Yang Huayi patted Yu Ling’s pretty, damp cheek and walked out without expression, opening the door.

Inside the room, Yu Ling stood rigidly in place. Her face had gone pale and green, and her expression kept changing.

Why hadn’t Zhu Qing participated in filming? The director had said it was because she’d gotten sick from not being used to the environment.

Why had Director Yang brought that up?

Could it be Zhu Qing’s illness had not been an accident, but deliberate?

Deliberately getting sick to avoid what? To avoid yesterday’s accident?

How did they know there would be an accident yesterday? Had Li Lan known all of this all along!?

Yu Ling stumbled out the door and, almost madly, chased downstairs. Before Yang Huayi’s car could drive away, she slapped a hand against the window.

Panting, Yu Ling asked, “Director Yang, what does Li Lan know? Did she know in advance?”

Yang Huayi’s face had already gone completely blank. “Drive.”

“Director Yang, you can’t leave. Help me,” Yu Ling clung to the window and ran beside the car, crying out miserably. “You can’t not save me just because of Li Lan!!”

The car suddenly accelerated, and Yu Ling was violently thrown to the ground.

Exhaust washed across her face. Panic and resentment flashed in Yu Ling’s eyes, and her lovely features twisted into something ferocious.

Li Lan. It was Li Lan again.

For Li Lan, Yang Huayi would fly all the way to Africa the moment she said so; had she ever been this anxious over her?

As soon as Li Lan was injured, she rushed over in a panic to see her. Why? On what grounds!

No, if Li Lan really wanted to do something, would Director Yang give her up for Li Lan?

She was someone who moved in harmony with the light and the dust; Director Yang would not give up on her. She wouldn’t……

On the other side, Li Lan, who had slipped out of the hospital and planned to take Zhu Qing out to try a good restaurant, stared at the car blocking their way and at Yang Huayi’s cold, stern face inside it. She was just as full of questions.

What exactly are you trying to do?

Yang Huayi coldly ordered, “Get in.”

Three cars followed behind her; they were probably all full of bodyguards built like tanks. Li Lan patted Zhu Qing and said carefully, “You go to the front passenger seat.”

Zhu Qing grabbed her hand anxiously. “Why don’t you go to the front passenger seat?”

“Do you think I’m giving my seat to an elder?” Yang Huayi sneered. “What, you think I’m going to eat her?”

Li Lan ignored Yang Huayi, gave Zhu Qing a reassuring smile, and said, “It’s fine. You get in first.”

After the two of them got in, the car drove steadily forward. Li Lan couldn’t be bothered to speak; Yang Huayi wore an unreadable, dark expression and didn’t know what she was thinking, so she also said nothing. The atmosphere inside the car was oppressive.

After a while, Yang Huayi suddenly spoke. “I asked Yu Ling. She said there were no cameras, but I think you have evidence.”

This time, Yang Huayi didn’t beat around the bush at all. She laid everything out plainly, her piercing gaze fixed straight on Li Lan. “Do you?”

Li Lan’s gaze paused slightly, but her expression didn’t change.

She turned her head and smiled casually.

“Director Yang, after Yu Ling hurt me like this, if I had evidence, do you think I’d hand it over?”

Her tone wasn’t sharp at all. On the contrary, Li Lan spoke gently and obediently; but it was precisely that soft, yielding attitude that made her impossible to attack.

Yang Huayi frowned. She wasn’t angry, and she wasn’t irritated. “Why would I need you to hand it over?”

Li Lan let out a light laugh. “You came here, didn’t you, to clean up Yu Ling’s mess?”

The tension in Yang Huayi’s expression loosened. “She’s not worth that.”

Li Lan caught the look on her face and laughed exaggeratedly. “Then aren’t you here to mediate? If not, what did Director Yang come here for, sightseeing?”

Yang Huayi said coolly, “What is the evidence?”

Li Lan replied indifferently, “I already said I’m not telling you.”

“Then let me ask another way,” Yang Huayi said. “What do you want to exchange that evidence for?”

Yang Huayi watched Li Lan’s eyes without blinking.

“For Yu Ling’s complete ruin? For the show to be unable to air normally? For the work I’ve poured my effort into for the past two years to go to waste?” Yang Huayi carefully observed every shift in Li Lan’s expression. “Or for…… film and television resources?”

The fingers of Li Lan’s hand resting on her knee twitched reflexively.

Yang Huayi narrowed her eyes, quick to catch it. “The last one.”

Li Lan said nothing.

Yang Huayi stared at Li Lan for a long while, then leaned back.

She seemed to relax; the cold, tense aura around her gradually faded, and she slowly returned to her usual lazy, elegant air of someone in power.

“I’ll give you that Republican-era film,” Yang Huayi said with a faint smile. “I’ll have Yu Ling switch to another production.”

Li Lan lifted her head, but her expression was not one of pleasant surprise or fulfilled wishes.

Yang Huayi raised a brow, speaking as though she were indulging a younger generation. “Still not enough? What else do you want? Say it.”

Li Lan’s sidelong glance drifted toward the front passenger seat.

Zhu Qing was sitting up straight, nervously watching every move from the back.

She looked like a little rabbit, afraid a monster would suddenly leap out from the front and eat them, and afraid the monster in the back would eat Li Lan instead, so she was on high alert, fully braced.

Li Lan’s mood once again improved in that strange, inexplicable way.

She smiled too.

And then she spoke with ringing certainty.

————————

Thinking back to someone earlier saying Yang Huayi was Li Lan’s mother, the author laughed.

Zhu Qing: I don’t want this kind of mother-in-law, ah.

Li Lan: I don’t want one either…… mother-in-law, thank you.