Looking for Someone

Qian Chu was still wearing that old-fashioned shirt and trousers, but she moved with shocking boldness.

She walked straight up, cupped Qian Cancan’s face, and kissed her.

Quick and precise. There was no mistaking her target.

Zhu Qing barely saw a blur before Qian Cancan was firmly kissed on the mouth.

Qian Chu was two centimeters taller than Qian Cancan. Usually, it wasn’t obvious, but the moment they started kissing, those two centimeters gave Qian Chu a clear advantage.

From Zhu Qing’s angle, she could only see Qian Cancan’s profile and a sliver of one eye, but even that tiny glimpse was enough to show her eyes going wide in shock, her anger still not gone before it was shattered by disbelief.

Qian Cancan short-circuited on the spot.

Qian Chu was like someone testing a cat’s patience; one kiss was enough for her. She lifted her head and, still breathing a little hard, said, “I want to talk to you.”

Qian Cancan was still frozen.

Qian Chu said, “Can I come in?”

The room fell silent.

After a long moment, Qian Cancan suddenly snapped back to herself, shoved Qian Chu out with one slap of her hand, and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Qian Chu called from outside, “Cancan.”

Qian Cancan stared at the floor for two seconds, then yanked the door open again.

“Come in.”

“What the hell was that?” Qian Cancan finally found her voice. Her brows were tightly knit, her face full of confusion. “Explain yourself.”

Qian Chu looked at her. “I really came to apologize.”

“An apology from your family,” Qian Cancan said, pointing at her own mouth, “is delivered like that?”

Qian Chu said softly, “I’m sorry.”

“You’ve got a problem,” Qian Cancan said.

Zhu Qing nearly burst out laughing on the spot. She almost ran out of air in her chest and choked, unable to hold it in any longer; a laugh slipped out before she could stop it.

Qian Cancan turned her head blankly.

Zhu Qing, peeking out from behind the door with only half her face showing, met her gaze head-on.

Zhu Qing: “Hahahahahahaha.”

Qian Cancan: ...

Two minutes later, the three of them were sitting in the living room.

Zhu Qing had gotten a good bit of gossip out of this. She really hadn’t expected Qian Cancan and Qian Chu to have something going on; their personalities were so different, so how had those two even ended up together?

Suppressing the urge to tease them, Zhu Qing took on the role of peacemaker.

“What exactly are you two fighting about?” Zhu Qing sat with Qian Cancan on her left and Qian Chu on her right, looking back and forth between them. “You’re both in your twenties. Why are you acting like little kids? If you have something to say, just say it properly.”

Qian Cancan said, “Ask her.”

Qian Chu kept her head down. “I don’t really know how to say it. I seem to keep making her angry.”

“That I can understand,” Zhu Qing said, nodding naturally. “You do have a way of saying infuriating things.”

Qian Chu lowered her head even further.

“And you,” Zhu Qing said, tapping Qian Cancan, “usually have a pretty good temper. Why do you blow up every time you run into Qian Chu?”

Qian Cancan frowned. “Because she insults me every time.”

“I’m sorry. I may have overreacted,” Qian Chu said remorsefully. “I didn’t mean to say those unpleasant things.”

“See, that’s more like it,” Zhu Qing said. “People should be a little more honest.”

Then she changed tone. “But you really did say some things way too harshly, and you kissed my best friend. You have to take responsibility.”

Qian Cancan grabbed Zhu Qing’s wrist from behind and hissed through clenched teeth, “Shut up.”

Zhu Qing’s brows twitched. She frantically tried to signal Qian Cancan with her eyes: Qian Chu’s the type who retreats into herself if you don’t push her a little!

Qian Cancan glared back: She can retreat wherever she wants!

Qian Chu didn’t notice their silent battle. After Zhu Qing finished speaking, she fell into thought. After a long pause, she suddenly nodded. “I understand.”

Zhu Qing almost got strangled to death by Qian Cancan. “...Good. If you understand, then that’s fine. Cancan is pretty great; you two should get along properly.”

Qian Cancan said gloomily, “Like you and Li Lan?”

Zhu Qing hissed, “Don’t drag me into this.”

“I came here just to apologize.” Qian Chu suddenly lifted her head and met Qian Cancan’s eyes. “After our last argument, I realized for the first time that I’d done something wrong. I don’t make mistakes very often, so I’ve been thinking about that argument a lot. Can you forgive me?”

Qian Cancan froze, staring at the coffee table in front of her without saying anything.

Zhu Qing pricked up her ears and made herself as small as possible.

“Fine,” Qian Cancan finally said. “We’re adults. What’s there to forgive or not forgive? Let’s just leave it at that.”

From Qian Cancan’s words, Qian Chu could tell she wanted to let it go. Her expression relaxed.

Zhu Qing said, “You’ve been forgiven. So what happens next?”

Qian Chu looked up in confusion. “What do you mean, next?”

Zhu Qing pointed at Qian Cancan. “You and her.”

Qian Chu was still confused. After a long while, she asked, “Do I still need to keep apologizing?”

“You came here just to apologize?” Zhu Qing was getting anxious. Why wasn’t this woman getting it!

Qian Chu blinked. “Yes.”

Zhu Qing: !!

“You came all this way just to apologize!? Then why did you kiss her!”

Only then did Zhu Qing suddenly realize she had actually figured out Qian Chu’s train of thought very quickly.

As someone who had always held herself to strict standards since childhood, the moment she realized she’d done something wrong, her first instinct was to apologize and make things right, to correct her “mistake.” A person like Qian Chu had to be proper from head to toe, with no loopholes.

That was all.

Qian Cancan’s expression had already changed. “Speak.”

Qian Chu looked at her and then at Zhu Qing, then answered honestly, “I thought she would like that.”

Bang—

Qian Cancan threw both Qian Chu and her bag straight out.

This time Zhu Qing didn’t even try to stop her.

You thought what?

You thought Qian Cancan liked being kissed by you?

So if you kissed her, she wouldn’t be angry?!

And the real question is, are the two of you even in that kind of relationship!!!

What Qian Chu had just said was already beyond anything that could be explained as “harsh.”

What did she mean, Qian Cancan liked being kissed by her? Was that something you could just say?

It didn’t just drag Qian Cancan’s feelings through the mud; it also trampled on her dignity, making her sound frivolous and cheap.

Zhu Qing almost didn’t dare face Qian Cancan again.

She had thought Qian Chu was smart, just not very good at reading herself, so in front of Zhu Qing she said whatever came to mind and didn’t bother hiding how unpleasant she could be.

She hadn’t expected her to be like this with Qian Cancan too.

The thought that Qian Chu’s attitude toward Qian Cancan might have been influenced by her made Zhu Qing feel a little unable to take it.

She took out her phone and pulled Li Lan’s number out of the blacklist.

“What on earth is she talking about!”

Zhu Qing summed it up in a few short sentences, then turned her anger on Li Lan. “It’s one thing if she looks down on me. Fine, I won’t argue with her. I’m not the one spending my life with her anyway. But what right does she have to treat Cancan like that? What did Cancan ever do to her for her to talk like this!”

Li Lan had thought Zhu Qing had calmed down; she hadn’t expected her temper to flare even higher.

“I’ll ask her. Don’t get worked up yet. I don’t think that’s what she meant,” Li Lan said, pressing her fingers to her brow. “She likes to speak in conclusions, and from what I know of her, she’s pretty conservative. Since she already kissed her, there has to be some interest there.”

“Forget it,” Zhu Qing said, glancing at Qian Cancan’s tightly shut bedroom door, her chest tightening. She covered the phone and lowered her voice. “Cancan’s liked high-IQ older women like Qian Chu since she was little. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she likes Qian Chu, but you’d better ask Qian Chu exactly what she’s thinking. If she doesn’t mean anything by it, she absolutely must not come mess with Cancan.”

Qian Cancan’s life probably wouldn’t have many real troubles; the only possible one was heartbreak. Zhu Qing really didn’t want her best friend to have to swallow that kind of messy, pointless pain.

Li Lan’s voice stayed steady, carrying a reassuring strength. “Don’t worry. I’ll ask clearly.”

Zhu Qing said, “I’m hanging up.”

“Wait,” Li Lan stopped her, sounding a little helpless. “Have you made an appointment for your checkup?”

“Not yet.”

“Which hospital are you going to? I’ll book it for you,” Li Lan said. “It’s better if you go this afternoon; some of the results won’t be ready until tomorrow.”

Zhu Qing refused. “No, I’m going to the hospital by Cancan’s place. I don’t need an appointment.”

“Go to a public hospital,” Li Lan said evenly. “Private ones aren’t reliable.”

Zhu Qing used to really like the way Li Lan handled her. Now she still didn’t hate it, but it was a little awkward.

After a while, she said, “Oh. Then you book it. Municipal People’s Hospital.”

After two in the afternoon, Zhu Qing packed up and headed to the hospital.

Just as she was leaving, Qian Cancan came out and said she’d drive her there.

Zhu Qing glanced at her carefully. “I can take a taxi.”

“Taxis smell bad,” Qian Cancan said. “Let’s go.”

On the way, Zhu Qing kept studying Qian Cancan.

“Sorry,” Zhu Qing said. “I didn’t expect Qian Chu to say something like that.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me. Who does she think she is, making you apologize?” Qian Cancan scoffed. “Besides, I already saw her true colors. She looks down on me; why should I keep clinging to her? Am I cheap?”

“Qian Cancan,” Zhu Qing said, a little anxiously, then sternly, “don’t talk like that.”

Qian Cancan answered perfunctorily, “Alright, alright. Not cheap, not cheap.”

“Are you really okay?” Zhu Qing asked. “If something’s wrong, don’t just bottle it up. I’ll help you curse her out.”

“Really,” Qian Cancan said, grinning at her. “There are so many older sisters and younger sisters around me; way more attractive than her. She’s only got that face going for her. Does she really think I like her that much?”

Zhu Qing listened and felt uneasy.

She knew Qian Cancan wasn’t the sentimental type. She treated the people she casually fooled around with very differently from the friends around her.

Zhu Qing knew she considered Qian Chu a friend; being spoken to like that by a friend had to hurt.

Not to mention if there were feelings involved.

Qian Chu had never been good with words. Every time she opened her mouth, it sounded like a lecture, and Qian Cancan could barely stand that; let alone this kind of vague misunderstanding, which was basically a loud, public slap in the face.

But Qian Cancan clearly didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and Zhu Qing didn’t want to reopen the wound. The rest of the trip to the hospital was silent.

The appointment Li Lan made for Zhu Qing was very early. The International Medical Department was quiet and uncrowded, and they even arranged for someone to escort her. Everything went smoothly; in less than two hours, all the tests were done. Some results could be picked up today, while the rest would have to wait until tomorrow.

“Hey, look. Is that Zhu Qing?”

Zhu Qing was looking at her brain MRI when she heard whispers beside her.

She turned back in confusion and happened to meet a few people’s evasive gazes.

They were standing not far from her, covering their mouths as they spoke quietly. When Zhu Qing looked over, their expressions immediately turned excited.

“Aaaah, she looked at me!”

“Zhu Qing came to the hospital; does that mean Li Lan came too?”

“Of course. Her wife has to come with her!!”

“Wait, look, someone’s walking over to her!”

Qian Cancan was wearing a mask and a baseball cap. She had just gone to pick up the blood test results and was about to hand them to Zhu Qing when she saw Zhu Qing frantically giving her the eye.

Qian Cancan looked over at the fans and immediately got another chorus of gasps.

“Isn’t that Li Lan!!”

“No way, Li Lan is taller.”

“Maybe her reported height was fake. I think she looks really similar!”

Qian Cancan frowned and said irritably, “What are you looking at!”

The fans froze for a second, then all covered their mouths and hurried away.

She was already annoyed, so although Qian Cancan was willing to patiently accompany Zhu Qing to the hospital, she really couldn’t be bothered with all these stares.

Zhu Qing said, “Give me the hat.”

Qian Cancan took off her cap and handed it over. Once Zhu Qing put it on, she felt a little safer. It also gave her a clearer sense of how popular she and Li Lan really were, reminding her that she’d better disguise herself when going out from now on.

After all, this was a highly watched variety show, and it had only just started airing; the buzz was still high, so being recognized was completely normal.

“You actually remembered to wear a hat.” Zhu Qing had worn a mask to the hospital, but as for a hat, she had completely forgotten about that.

Qian Cancan said, “Obviously. I didn’t wash my hair. Anything else? If not, let’s go home.”

Zhu Qing thought about it. She could come back tomorrow for the rest. She stood up and said, “Then let’s go. I’ll treat you to a big meal.”

The two of them headed outside. Along the way, people still kept glancing over. Zhu Qing felt the crowd around them growing more and more restless.

“Ahh—look!”

Zhu Qing heard a shriek from ahead.

The next moment, the crowd erupted into cries.

“Li Lan, is that the model Li Lan!”

“Li Lan is here!!!!”

————————

Zhu Qing’s complaint: ...So you’re the one showing off!!

Li Lan, aggrieved: I... I’m fully armed...

(The overworked author, while dealing with her period, managed to grind out a chapter. Let Qian Chu get beaten up for a little while first...)