Chapter 8: Qin Lin Love Story
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5821232
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
"What is wrong with you, actually being stupid with this group of people?" When it came to fans pairing her with Lin Qingyi as a CP, Qin Shiyue was also really pissed off. It was as if her fans thought she couldn't get married, so they randomly paired her with that lotus bitch Lin Qingyi. This already made her really unhappy, and what was even worse was that Lin Qingyi's fans actually said she wasn't good enough for her.
Fang Xinhua really thought her baby Qin'er wasn't losing out by hyping a CP with Lin Qingyi. It was much better than constantly being discussed for divorce and being abandoned.
"It's fine, it's just temporary hype, it will blow over in a few days." Fang Xinhua comforted, knowing Qin Shiyue didn't want to be paired with her rival.
"How the hell am I not good enough for that fake, pretentious White Lotus?" Qin Shiyue felt a raging fire in her chest when she saw the comments that belittled her as worthless except for her face, while praising Lin Qingyi as a goddess.
"If they said you were a good match, would you still be angry?" Fang Xinhua asked with amusement, realizing that it wasn't about being paired together that made her angry, but rather the idea that she wasn't good enough.
"That would be even more disgusting. I don't want to be paired with that fake White Lotus!" Qin Shiyue said righteously.
"We've been bitten so much that it doesn't even hurt anymore. We're used to being mocked. But as for her, ever since her debut, she's been as pure as the snow lotus on Tianshan Mountains. Compared to you, she's the one who wouldn't want to be associated with us." Although she was the manager of Little Boss Qin, Fang Xinhua had to admit that, truth be told, when it came to being paired with Lin Qingyi, it was indeed their baby Qin'er who was "climbing up" to her.
"You think she doesn't want to be associated with us, right?" Qin Shiyue suddenly thought of how Lin Qingyi had deliberately disgusted and mocked her while dancing, and she wondered if she should take this chance to disgust her right back. At that moment, Qin Shiyue couldn't wait to smear the black mud on her own body onto Lin Qingyi, that fake, pretentious White Lotus, until she was just as dirty.
Heh, to hell with being kind and considerate!
"What else?" Fang Xinhua retorted. Pairing with Lin Qingyi for hype wasn't really a bad thing for her baby Qin'er. After all, as a vase with no works, she constantly needed attention and topics to stay relevant. Being paired with Lin Qingyi brought the most attention and discussion.
But for Lin Qingyi, it was a different story.
"Give me your phone." Qin Shiyue asked Fang Xinhua for her phone. Her official Weibo account was managed by Fang Xinhua, who usually didn't let Qin Shiyue post, repost, or like things randomly.
"What are you planning to do?" Fang Xinhua asked cautiously.
"Isn't she supposed to be gentle, kind, and considerate? Such a good 'sister' was willing to dance with me and comfort me. Shouldn't I express my gratitude? You said it yourself, we're so used to the bites that more won't matter. Pairing with her doesn't really hurt us." Qin Shiyue said with a sly smile.
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5821232
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
"There’s no real loss, but sticking to her like this might make people think we’re deliberately tying ourselves to her for hype." Fang Xinhua knew that her baby Qin'er naturally in the hot searches often, so it wasn’t really necessary to stir up hype with Lin Qingyi. It could easily invite scolding from the other side's fans, but since Little Boss Qin was used to being scolded, adding one more set of fans wouldn't make a difference. It seemed like the benefits outweighed the risks.
"I’m deliberately tying myself to her, to hype her up. I refuse to believe she can't be dyed black. Hmph!" Qin Shiyue wasn’t going to let that woman be the only one causing trouble for her. She was determined to return the favor and disgust her a little.
Fang Xinhua thought that Bai Wenxi would surely end up hating both her and Qin Shiyue.
"Alright then." Fang Xinhua handed her phone to Qin Shiyue, feeling a bit guilty for being so eager to watch the drama unfold. This wasn’t good at all.
Qin Shiyue logged into her official Weibo.
"A while ago, I was really down. Luckily, I ran into Sister Qingyi that day. With her comforting words, I felt so much better. Sister Qingyi is really as beautiful as a fairy, so gentle and considerate. It feels like my heart was healed by her. I really, really like Sister Qingyi!" Qin Shiyue looked at the nauseatingly sweet message she had typed, feeling a shiver spread across her skin, almost giving her goosebumps. She suppressed the feeling of disgust, found a photo online from that charity ball where Lin Qingyi had willingly gotten close to her during their dance, and posted it along with the message. She even tagged @Lin Qingyi in the post.
Fang Xinhua watched as her baby Qin'er sent out the Weibo post, thinking it wouldn't be long before this made it to the top of the hot searches.
"It smells a bit like green tea," Fang Xinhua mused as she read through the post word by word, thinking that her naïve Little Boss Qin had grown a bit. She could actually speak in such a tea-like manner now.
"I'm going to use magic to defeat magic!" Qin Shiyue declared with a smug expression. Since Lin Qingyi was a green tea bitch, she would disgust her using the same green tea tactics. The more she thought about it, the smarter she felt.
Fang Xinhua, who was drinking water at the time, nearly choked to death on Qin Shiyue's words, coughing uncontrollably. She thought to herself that Baby Qin'er was indeed a treasure.
After posting on Weibo, Qin Shiyue tossed the phone back to Fang Xinhua and started browsing Weibo with her alternate account. She accidentally stumbled upon a CP fan page dedicated to her and Lin Qingyi.
"Qin Lin Qing Shi!? Who came up with this? It’s so uncultured." Qin Lin History? Could they be any more blatant? These people were really good at making things up. She and Lin Qingyi had barely crossed paths before, and now all sorts of random edits were being pieced together, making it seem so convincing. As the person involved, she could confidently say—it was all fake! Fake! She couldn’t understand what CP shippers were thinking. What’s the point of shipping something fake?
"I think it's pretty nice, actually," Fang Xinhua said, thinking that Baby Qin'er and Lin Qingyi did make a pretty good CP. No wonder the fans were so enthusiastic.
"Don’t you think my fans are really lacking? They only gave me one character out of four, leaving two characters for Lin Qingyi. I suspect they might all be fake fans. Lin Qingyi’s real fans should be the ones who appreciate her," Qin Shiyue said, increasingly annoyed by those four characters. It felt like her position was being overshadowed, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being compared unfavorably to Lin Qingyi again.
"Think of it from another angle. Your surname Qin is in the first position, right in front of Lin’s name. Doesn’t it mean Lin Qingyi is being placed behind your surname? It immediately establishes you at the top position. Looking at it this way, doesn’t it seem better? Our fans are true fans, right?" Fang Xinhua said with a smile, finding her baby Qin'er’s way of thinking amusing and a bit skewed.
Qin Shiyue listened and felt much better, though she still felt something was a bit off.
"Stop spouting nonsense as if there’s really something between me and her. Anyway, I’ll grudgingly accept that fans see me as more dominant compared to her," Qin Shiyue said with a touch of pride. Although she was an older woman with no opportunities to be either a top or a bottom, and still didn’t know her own positioning, finding satisfaction in being seen as dominant seemed a bit beyond the norm. Maybe it was because she felt overshadowed by her rival everywhere, and being perceived as dominant at least made her feel like she could put Lin Qingyi in her place.
This was Qin Shiyue’s way of using the spiritual victory method.*
*aka Ah Q spirit, a derogatory method of self-comfort where one masks their own failures and shortcomings. The term was based on Lu Xun’s novella The True Story of Ah Q.
Meanwhile, Bai Wenxi was relieved that Lin Qingyi’s reputation and public image were strong enough. Although she had been associated with Qin Shiyue, she hadn’t been tainted too much and managed to exit unscathed. As the melon-eating crowds were about to get tired of the Qin-Lin topic after a few days of fermenting, Qin Shiyue’s latest Weibo post brought both her and Lin Qingyi back to the top of the hot searches.
Author's Note:
Qin Shiyue: Fans understand. Lin Qingyi has quickly taken the family name of her wife, establishing the roles and family status.
Lin Qingyi: I’ll give you face outside, but at home...
Qin Shiyue’s Fans: We haven't thought about Qin Lin's lovestory* yet. It seems the idol understand better.
*still Qin Lin Qing Shi, but used a different character for Qing. The CP name used 青 (Qīng) (the same character used for Lin Qingyi) so Qingshi meant historical records. While the second one is 情 (Qíng) which means love or affection, so Qingshi here means love story
