On a winter evening, as the stars were about to brighten, vast swathes of sunset clouds burned on the horizon, layered upon layered, transitioning from deep to light purple before finally disappearing between the skyscrapers.
Song Yushi pulled her mask down slightly, breathing in the fresh air, and chatted idly with Ruan Xiangmeng.
The private hospital Zhong Yi had recommended had a pleasant environment. It lacked the usual misery of a hospital, and even the air felt much lighter.
“My dad called me on New Year’s Eve,” Ruan Xiangmeng said. “Guess what he said?”
Having both grown up in the Ruan family, children tended to see adults for who they really were sooner. Without a second thought, Song Yushi said, “He asked you for money.”
Ruan Xiangmeng burst out laughing, tears welling in her eyes. “My own flesh-and-blood father, asking his hospitalized daughter, who could die at any moment, for money, with the excuse that my mother was sick.”
“…What did you say?”
“I told him I’m not deaf, I could hear the sounds on his end.”
The sounds of a casino, which had been the ruin of so many people.
Song Yushi wanted to say something, but after a moment’s thought, she remained silent. The two of them walked aimlessly in circles in the courtyard, completely unaware that their every move was being faithfully recorded by a paparazzo’s lens.
That night, Song Yushi received a call from Sister Ming, who said that a well-known industry paparazzo had photographed her in a relationship and had called the company to ask if they wanted to buy the photos.
Song Yushi was stunned. “What relationship?”
“I haven’t seen the photos. I originally thought it was with Qi Ke, but Qi Ke was with me at the time.” Sister Ming was also puzzled. “He said he photographed you acting intimately with a man. That can’t be right. If anyone, it should have been a woman.”
Song Yushi: “…”
She seized on the key point. “Why was Qi Ke with you?”
“Mm, she came back from Chunxi City.” Sister Ming’s voice suddenly grew distant. “Hold on, he just sent the photos. I’ll forward them to you.”
“Ding.” Across the dining table, Qi Ke tapped her bowl with her chopsticks. She shot Sister Ming a look, signaling for her to send a copy of the photos.
Sister Ming sighed in resignation and sent them to her.
Almost simultaneously, Qi Ke and Song Yushi said in unison, “Oh, it’s Ruan Xiangmeng.”
Hearing it all, Sister Ming, who inexplicably felt like she was witnessing a ship-worthy moment, was speechless: “…” Did they have to be so in sync!
Sister Ming hummed in confusion. “That’s not right. I remember Xiangmeng being a very cute and young-looking girl, right? This person’s height… they look taller than Yushi, don’t they?”
Song Yushi: …
It felt like she’d just been subtly put down.
“And her hair is so short now? Does a heart condition require chemotherapy?”
Qi Ke: “…”
The paparazzo wasn’t close, so the picture was a bit blurry. You could only see Song Yushi and Ruan Xiangmeng walking closely together. Occasionally, Ruan Xiangmeng would hold her by the wrist, their expressions intimate, as if they were whispering or even kissing.
Qi Ke: “?”
She lost her appetite.
Sister Ming heard Song Yushi say over the phone, “Don’t spend the money. Just explain that she’s my sister.”
Across from her, Qi Ke took out a card, placed it on the table, and said through gritted teeth, “Buy it. I’ll pay.”
Sister Ming: “…” This pair was really hard to handle!
Sister Ming chose her words carefully. “If we clarify this, won’t they dig up your family background? You know that will attract a lot of criticism. Of course, it could also garner sympathy from fans.”
Song Yushi: “What do you think, Sister Ming?”
“Stirring up sympathy is what solidifies a fanbase.”
Song Yushi didn’t speak.
Sister Ming added, “You can think about it. I’ll respect your choice.”
Song Yushi said “Okay” and hung up.
Qi Ke immediately said, “Buy it. I’ll pay.”
Sister Ming asked, “She’s just her sister. Why are you so worked up?”
“She’s not her biological sister!” Qi Ke propped her phone upside down on the table. “Look at this. It’s so misleading. We might not be able to clarify it, and it could turn into a real scandal instead.”
Sister Ming fell silent, just looking at Qi Ke.
Qi Ke took back her phone and muttered, “I don’t want her to have scandals with other people.”
“Keke, be straight with me.” In the private room, Sister Ming seemed to have finally resolved to face the harsh reality, her tone laced with a barely suppressed, gritted-teeth frustration. “Do you still like Yushi?”
Qi Ke nodded. “I do.”
Her expression was completely matter-of-fact, showing none of the embarrassment one might expect from someone going back to an ex. She even spread her hands at the end. “Besides Song Yushi not knowing, I thought the whole world already knew.”
Sister Ming: “…!!!” That’s enough!
Sister Ming pressed a hand to her forehead, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Ever since some group of ‘shipping experts’ had miraculously started shipping Qi Ke and Song Yushi’s CP, everything had gone haywire. First, the company proposed a strategy to market the CP. Of course, it could build group spirit and generate buzz, so why not? But who would have thought that Qi Ke and Song Yushi would come out to her directly?
That was one thing, but then the two former lovers reunited and went home for the New Year? Okay, she could treat that as marketing. But now?
Qi Ke was telling her that she still loved Song Yushi, and—
Qi Ke took a sip of juice and announced, “Getting back together is only a matter of time.”
Sister Ming: “…………”
Were these two sent from heaven to torture her???
Sister Ming’s vision went dark for a moment, and she quickly took a sip of wine to calm her nerves. But just then, Song Yushi called. Before Sister Ming could answer, Qi Ke quickly said, “I said to buy it. Don’t listen to her.”
Sister Ming picked up her phone and said casually, “I bet Yushi dumped you because you never consider her feelings, right?”
Qi Ke: “I was the one who dumped her…”
Sister Ming, who had just answered the call and nearly thrown the phone away, was speechless: “…?”
She shot Qi Ke a glare as Song Yushi’s voice came through the phone. “Sister Ming, I’ve thought it over. My family background isn’t a stain on my record. There’s no need to hide it. It’ll be dug up sooner or later, so it’s better if I reveal it myself. So don’t worry about the paparazzi. Let them publish it.”
Sister Ming said, “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”
Sister Ming hung up, grabbed her bag, and prepared to leave. Before she left, she said to Qi Ke, “I respect Yushi’s choice, and you shouldn’t underestimate my abilities. Just watch how beautifully I handle this marketing campaign!”
At first, Qi Ke didn’t see Sister Ming’s “beautiful” technique.
The relationship news was released at eight in the morning. A set of photos and GIFs, accompanied by assertive captions, sent “Song Yushi’s Relationship” straight to the top of the hot search list, marked with a “Boiling” tag.
When Zhong Yi saw it, she immediately sent a screenshot to Qi Ke: Fuck! You guys are so careless!!!!
Half a minute later. Zhong Yi: Fuck! It’s not you!!!!
Qi Ke: “…” She had done nothing and yet had suffered double the damage.
Qi Ke replied: Heh heh.
The eight o’clock timing was brilliant. It was right during the morning commute. Gossip-loving office workers, yawning on public transport and listlessly scrolling through Weibo, all cursed in unison and woke up when they saw the relationship news.
【The picture is a bit blurry, but they’re definitely intimate. If it’s not a relationship, they’re just playing around. I suggest the team just admit it.】
【Am I the only one who noticed the location is a hospital? I remember Song Yushi was photographed going to the hospital often before, supposedly with Qi Ke. Prenatal checkups? That’s pretty frequent.】
【Then Qi Ke and Song Yushi must be really good sisters. Song Yushi goes home with Qi Ke, then secretly comes back to date her boyfriend, tsk tsk tsk. What a cover. I’m shipping these good sisters too.】
【I’m very curious to see what the team will do. Also, I’d like to interview the Qi Yu CP fans. As long as I run fast enough, the collapse of my ship can’t catch me!】
Initially, people who shipped the Qi Yu CP were just doing it for fun, shipping them as strangers, as a tragic ending, or as friends with benefits. But as they shipped, they developed real feelings. The more they dug, the more real it seemed, and the more real it seemed, the more obsessed they became. After more than half a year, it had become a mature fandom.
All the high-and-mighty onlookers and rival fans who came to the Super Topic to watch the drama left disappointed.
The CP Super Topic had a unified message: If it’s real, we send our blessings. If it’s fake, we’ll pool our money to destroy the rumor-mongers.
The arguments raged on until almost ten o’clock, with all the marketing accounts and various independent media outlets creating a huge uproar. Then, Song Yushi posted on Weibo. Song Yushi: I hear this is my boyfriend? [Image]
The photo was a picture of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old Song Yushi and a twelve or thirteen-year-old Ruan Xiangmeng. Both had long, flowing hair. Ruan Xiangmeng was looking at the camera with a brilliant, sunny smile, while beside her, Song Yushi smiled reservedly with her lips pressed together.
A minute later, Song Yushi’s studio reposted the Weibo: Our boss’s sister is so pretty too.
Half a minute after that, a lawyer’s letter was issued.
Netizens: ??? I did not expect this turn of events.
Qi Ke, however, had expected it. She had tossed and turned all night, barely sleeping. Now, seeing netizens commenting on Song Yushi online was giving her a headache. She went to knock on Song Yushi’s door without even putting on makeup.
She rang the doorbell for nearly two minutes before the door was slowly opened.
Song Yushi stood in the doorway, wearing a wine-red silk slip nightgown that made her skin look even fairer. Her entire being exuded a lazy charm, a beauty that made it impossible to look away.
Song Yushi seemed to have just woken up. Ignoring Qi Ke, who was standing there dumbfounded, she opened the door and turned to walk towards the bar counter.
A glass clinked softly as it was placed on the counter, followed by the clear sound of running water.
Qi Ke came to her senses, closed the door, and asked, “You went back to sleep?”
Song Yushi took a sip of water, her gaze vacant as she stared at a random spot. After a moment, she shook her head. “Just woke up.” Her voice was a little nasal, as if she were about to get sick.
Qi Ke understood at once. Sister Ming must have posted on Weibo. Song Yushi had completely left it for Sister Ming to handle, and only she, an outsider, was getting anxious.
Only then did Song Yushi remember to ask her, “Why are you back?”
“Oh, my schedule is tight after the New Year, so I came back early to prepare.” Qi Ke rubbed her nose, deciding not to mention that after Song Yushi left, her grandfather thought she had made someone angry and told her to come and chase after her.
Song Yushi nodded, turned to open the fridge, and took out a bag of frozen wontons.
“Where’s Candy?”
“At Meng Ying’s place.”
“Are you sick?”
“Mm, a bit of a cold.”
“Have you taken any medicine?”
“…Not yet.”
“I mean,” Qi Ke sat down opposite the bar counter, watching Song Yushi pour the wontons into the nearly boiling water, “how can you not be anxious at all?”
Without turning her head, Song Yushi replied, “What’s there to be anxious about?”
“Your hot search topic exploded on Weibo.”
“Mmm, it’s fake.”
Qi Ke felt a lump in her throat and anxiously opened the social media platform again. “Song Yushi’s Relationship” was still number one on the hot search. The sight of it made her heart ache, so she skipped it and scrolled down, looking for keywords. Suddenly, her finger paused. New hot searches: 【Song Yushi’s Family Background】, 【Crying My Eyes Out】, 【Heartbreak for Song Yushi】
Qi Ke clicked on one. The top post was a long image, written in the voice of one of Song Yushi’s schoolmates, laying out Song Yushi’s life story for everyone to see.
An abandoned childhood, loneliness after being adopted, the family’s misfortune, being ostracized, slandered, and insulted, and later, acing the company interview and being selected as a trainee with the top score.
And then— Debuting in a group, the all-rounder captain. Transitioning to acting, the Hundred Flowers Best Actress.
Born under the vast sky, a one-of-a-kind rose that bloomed against the wind.
The aroma of wontons wafted over. They were served in a porcelain bowl, with a few green scallions floating in the shimmering broth. Song Yushi placed the bowl on the counter and tossed a spoon in. “Make do with this.”
She looked up, and their eyes met. Song Yushi was taken aback. “…What are you crying about?”
Qi Ke’s eyes were red-rimmed and glistening. She blinked, and a hot tear plopped down, her voice filled with utter grievance. “Captain…”
Song Yushi was baffled. “Use your words. Crying won’t solve anything.”
Qi Ke cried even harder.
Song Yushi: “…”
She frowned, glanced at the wontons on the counter, then back at Qi Ke, and asked uncertainly, “…You don’t like wontons?”
Qi Ke: “…” Huh?
Song Yushi pressed her lips together, looking troubled. “There’s no meat or flour at home, so I can’t make dumplings right now. If you really don’t like wontons, you can have some crackers to tide you over.”
Qi Ke: “?”
Though still bewildered, her eyes remained teary, a picture-perfect image of a beauty in tears that would soften anyone’s heart. “Alright.” Song Yushi compromised again. “Make do for now. We’ll have dumplings for lunch.”
Qi Ke wiped her tears. “Okay.”
Song Yushi: “?”
Tears were still on Qi Ke’s face, but she gave Song Yushi a brilliant smile—crying couldn’t solve problems, but it could solve the Captain.
Qi Ke finished the wontons under Song Yushi’s dark expression before daring to tell her why she had been crying. After explaining, she immediately added, “You just promised me we’d make dumplings. You can’t go back on your word.”
Song Yushi gritted her teeth. “…”
She didn’t care about the public opinion online, but she couldn’t stop Qi Ke from constantly scrolling. She asked, “What are they saying online?”
“The fans all feel heartbroken for you. Your name’s public square is a sea of tears.”
At the mention of her fans, a faint smile appeared in Song Yushi’s eyes. She hadn’t talked about her past before because Sister Fei thought it was a stain that would affect the public image she was building for Song Yushi. But Song Yushi simply didn’t want her fans to worry about her. They loved her so much; it was enough for them to see her smiling side. If not for these special circumstances, she would have preferred they never knew.
Qi Ke waved her phone. “Want to see? Or should I read them to you?”
“…You read.”
Song Yushi poured milk into a glass and sat by the window, looking at the street scene below the tall buildings. Qi Ke’s voice was beautiful, a distinctive tone that, when gentle, could make you feel like you were drowning in it.
“Yushi, I like you, do you hear me? If it were to see you, I would run to you at 20 times the speed.”
“Our little Captain, you went through so much when I didn’t know, yet you could still keep smiling. It’s okay, Yushi. When you’re sad, don’t force yourself to be strong. Look back, you still have Sweet Day, and you still have us!”
“Fight for you, never surrender. Song Yushi.”
“It’s that song.” Qi Ke looked up and hummed, “It’s loving you that makes me stronger, fighting for you, never surrendering, let me take care of you, I want to make the rain stop and the sun come out… Fuck!”
“…” Song Yushi was speechless. “Don’t swear.” Then she asked, “What’s wrong?”
Qi Ke: “N-nothing!”
She said it was nothing, but a vein in her temple was throbbing. She had just unintentionally clicked on the number one hot search and saw that a top marketing account had screenshotted comments from some fans and passersby—
“Ah, shipping her with her sister is pretty good too. She’s not her biological sister, so it’s okay if I ship this pseudo-incest, right?” “Childhood Sweethearts, I’m shipping it.” “The picture is blurry, but the sister is pretty.” “The sister is so good to Yushi, sob sob sob, it must be a story of mutual salvation growing up together!”
The marketing account declared: I’m shipping it.
Qi Ke: “…” How can these people ship any old random thing!!! This is obviously fake, what’s there to ship???
She scrolled to another one: “Sorry Keke, let me jump ship and ship the sister and older sister for a bit. I’ll be back later.”
Qi Ke: “?” Don’t hold her back! She was going to the hospital to secretly assassinate Ruan Xiangmeng right now!!!
Sister Ming’s professional skills were strong. Her marketing didn’t put others down or spread rumors. She took over the battlefield the paparazzi had given her, slapping the facts in the faces of the onlookers, taking the paparazzi’s path and leaving them nowhere to go. She had both garnered fan sympathy and won a wave of goodwill from the public.
Meanwhile, Song Yushi was busy with studio matters. After an interview, she paid no more attention to it.
Her next public appearance was a week later on 《Happy Star Show》. Now that she and Qi Ke had the same manager, travel was more convenient. They booked the same flight to the city where the show was being filmed.
From the moment they met, Song Yushi felt that Qi Ke was acting strangely, holding her phone, wearing headphones, and muttering mysteriously about something.
Especially when they arrived at the airport and were greeted by fans, Qi Ke directly took Song Yushi’s hand.
Song Yushi: “?”
Sister Ming, who had come along, had an expression that said she couldn’t bear to watch. How was she supposed to tell Song Yushi that ever since that day when she saw people were actually shipping Song Yushi and Ruan Xiangmeng’s CP, Qi Ke, as the “official pairing,” felt offended and had sworn to defend the dignity of the official ship, leaving no possibility for CP fans to jump to a “heretical” one.
Such ridiculous pride!!! With her left hand held by Qi Ke, Song Yushi used her right hand to accept letters from fans and greet them. The solo stans’ gazes were like knives, wishing they could pry their joined hands apart, while the CP fans wore doting smiles, as if watching a new couple walk down the aisle, ready to say “I do” to their vows.
CP fans: Aaaah! Keke is carrying the flag! I’m shipping this so hard my head is falling off!
Sweet Day had recorded 《Happy Star Show》 before, and after they disbanded, the individual members had also been on it a few times, so they were very familiar with the procedures. The guests invited this time were all from 《30 Days of Cohabitation Life》, to promote the variety show.
The first day was for rehearsal, the second for the official recording.
Everything went according to plan. Qi Ke and Song Yushi performed as usual, feeding the fans in attendance a huge dose of sugar. At the time, the CP fans thought that day’s sugar was enough to last them five hundred years, until Qi Yu publicly registered their marriage, but they never expected there was something even bigger to come.
The host cued the next segment: “Let’s play a game called Two Truths, One Lie.”
Game rules: A guest says three sentences to a designated person. Two are true, and one is false.
It started with Song Yushi, and her target was Qi Ke.
Song Yushi held the microphone, looked at Qi Ke, and thought for a moment before speaking. “I like to eat cherries.”
A truth.
“I like acting.”
Also a truth.
“I—”
“Fan service!” Sister Ming’s voice came through the earpiece, reminding her to engage in fan service. That’s right, Sister Ming had changed her strategy. She believed that the more obvious the fan service, the more people would think it was manufactured sugar, and manufactured sugar was fake!
Song Yushi looked at Qi Ke and finished her interrupted sentence: “I hate you.”
Two truths, one lie. This statement was the lie.
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