Chapter 122: Together

Ruan Yesheng’s heart went all soft because she was touched. When she looked at Xi Mo, her eyes looked dazed.

Xi Mo met her gaze and looked at her with focus.

Since Lu Qingming and Feng Tangtang were also there, Ruan Yesheng was afraid others would notice, so she couldn’t show anything obvious. She could only smile and say, “Thank you.”

Xi Mo heard her thank her, but instead felt a little strangely uneasy. Everything she was doing for Ruan Yesheng now came completely from the heart. It was like she couldn’t help but think for her. It wasn’t just for the sake of thank you.

She thought, if Ruan Yesheng could stop being so polite with her, she’d actually feel more comfortable.

“Tangtang, you can start taking the picture. Make it look natural,” Xi Mo said to Feng Tangtang.

Compared to posing, she liked natural candids more. She just sat there, eating her food slowly and properly, just like how she always did during meals.

Feng Tangtang followed her words and adjusted the camera. She said, “Mr. Lu is also in the shot. Is that okay? But it’s only part of him. You can see the suit but not the face.”

“It’s fine,” Xi Mo agreed. “My fans know him. As long as his face isn’t shown. The more people in the photo, the better.”

She always thought things through. She knew this wasn’t a normal photo posted for fans. This was to respond to the public discussion that was now trending at the top. Once the photo was posted, all kinds of eyes would be watching, and all kinds of voices would follow.

Putting Ruan Yesheng into the photo would no doubt bring her into the public spotlight. If her full face was shown, the pressure she'd face would be huge.

But if her look right now was made blurry, only showing part of her, then people wouldn’t focus too much on someone in the picture whose identity wasn’t clear. Plus, with Lu Qingming in the photo too, it would shift the focus. A lot of people would just think the picture caught two other people sitting at the same table by accident while taking a photo of Xi Mo. Lu Qingming’s presence could help distract attention.

This way, the fans who know Ruan Yesheng could feel relieved, but she could also avoid being pushed into the middle of the spotlight. It was the best balance Xi Mo could think of right now.

Feng Tangtang was good at taking photos. That’s one reason why Lu Qingming always had her take Xi Mo’s pictures.

She kept adjusting the camera angles and her own position, fiddling with her phone for a while. She took over a dozen shots, then picked a few that fit the requirements, and showed them to Xi Mo.

Xi Mo slid through the pictures, comparing them carefully. At last, she picked the one she liked best and handed the phone to Ruan Yesheng. “Take a look. How about posting this one?”

Ruan Yesheng looked at the picture. The focus of the shot was Xi Mo. She and Lu Qingming looked like they were caught in the frame by accident. Her own chin was shown, and Lu Qingming’s face wasn’t seen at all.

“This one is perfect,” Ruan Yesheng said with a smile.

“Okay, then we’ll post this one,” Xi Mo replied, feeling strangely happy all of a sudden.

She sent the photo to Lu Qingming and left the rest to him. Lu Qingming also thought the photo looked great. He uploaded it to the official studio Weibo page made for Xi Mo, added a short caption, and posted it with the photo.

“Sorry for worrying everyone. After the wrap-up party today, Xi Mo didn’t feel well and went to the hospital for treatment. It’s nothing serious, she’s resting and getting better. Thank you for your care.”

The photo below showed Xi Mo in a hospital gown, eating a meal. One hand held a bowl, and the other held chopsticks as she was about to pick up food. Her posture was straight. Even in such a simple everyday moment, she still looked elegant and calm.

The moment the post went out, the reposts, comments, and likes came flooding in. The numbers were rising too fast to even see clearly.

Of course, the first ones to show up were Xi Mo’s fans. There were lots of them, and they had been refreshing the page nonstop, hoping the studio would say something. Now that they finally got an update—and a photo too—they could tell right away that Xi Mo was okay. They got so excited.

The way they commented was warm and cute, or sweet and passionate. Their care and love were shown through many emoticons and exclamation marks.

“Goddess wuwuwuwuwu! I’m soooo glad to see you’re okay!!!!!!! Sending one hundred million hearts!!! Launch!!!”

“Goddess, please take care of your body! Eat well, sleep well, be strong!!!!!!! After leaving the hospital, take good care of yourself, okay? No more hospital visits! No sickness! Pain pain fly away!”

“Never trusting those dumb marketing accounts again! They just stir things up for clicks! Xi Mo looks just fine in the photo. Those accounts were saying she was being rescued or something! Scared me to death! Thank you, studio!”

“Eat well, take care of yourself, love you forever.”

“I’m the piece of broccoli goddess is about to eat! Did you all see it?! Aaaaahhhh what an honor to be eaten by her!!!!”

“Upstairs, stop drinking fake wine. Go eat a peach and sober up. That broccoli was clearly me.”

One big fan asked: “May I ask why Xi Mo was sent to the hospital? There are so many rumors online right now. We’re not sure what’s true or how serious it is. If the company can say something, that would help. If not, it’s okay. Please take good care of her. She’s been to the hospital a few times this year already, and we’re really worried.”

This fan had spent both money and time to support Xi Mo. She was someone reliable in the fanbase. Lu Qingming had talked with her before, so he replied: “It was an allergic reaction from something she ate, but she’s okay now. No need to worry.”

The fan knew Xi Mo was allergic to seafood. Allergies could be serious, but if the symptoms were treated and gone, then it usually wasn’t a big issue as long as she was careful in the future. She felt more at ease now: “Thank you. Please help her watch her diet more closely next time, don’t let her get sick again. Filming is hard work, we’ll trouble the company to take care of her a little more.”

The fans, after reading Lu Qingming’s reply, finally understood what happened. That comment thread got buried under countless replies.

Marketing accounts didn’t miss this perfect chance to draw traffic either. They started analyzing the photo from every angle.

Even the same account that first claimed she was being “rescued” posted again. It used the same photo and said stuff like “Xi Mo has made it through after medical care” and added some fake-sounding well wishes. Like the post that caused a storm earlier had never existed.

But the comments under that post were full of angry fans:

“Get lost! You’re the one who told fans to prepare for the worst, and now you’re the one saying she’s doing fine? What kind of life-threatening emergency clears up so fast someone’s sitting there calmly eating dinner a few hours later? You didn’t see how okay she looks now? If it was really as bad as you said, would she recover this fast? Can you stop exaggerating for clicks?”

Of course, the haters came in too. They always loved throwing out conspiracy theories. With a sarcastic tone, they posted:

“Oh? Now it’s all the marketing accounts’ fault? Maybe Queen Xi teamed up with them to stage this whole show. Turn a small allergy into a big drama, then post a pic to clear the air. A little allergy and boom! She’s on the hot list. Really thirsty for attention, huh?”

The fans knew these were just trolls trying to stir up trouble. Arguing with them would only give them what they wanted. But still, some impulsive fans couldn’t help it and jumped in to fight, turning the whole comment section into a chaotic mess.

No one likes trolls.

But people also don’t like fans who just keep fighting with everyone.

After dinner, Xi Mo scrolled through the comments for a while. It gave her a headache, so she finally put her phone down.

Gu Qisong came late with food, apologizing to Ruan Yesheng, saying he didn’t know what to buy and went to several places, which delayed him. Ruan Yesheng smiled and said it was fine, letting him sit down to eat. After he finished, Feng Tangtang stayed behind to clean up. Lu Qingming got a phone call and left the room, and Gu Qisong went to stand guard outside the door.

Ruan Yesheng sat on the chair, staring at her phone the whole time. She was on a small account, watching the buzz under Xi Mo’s company post.

Besides fans and haters having a field day, regular people focused on different things.

“I have to say, Xi Mo’s temperament is really amazing. Just eating in a hospital and someone snaps a random photo, and she still looks flawless.”

“She’s the Xi family’s eldest daughter, okay? If you don’t know, go check out her dad, Xi Ji. Her background and manners aren’t something normal stars can compare with. If she didn’t become an actress, she would just go back and inherit the family business.”

Then there were people zooming in and analyzing the photo like they had a microscope.

“Interesting. There are three people in the photo. Besides Xi Mo, the other two didn’t show their full faces. One’s a guy in a suit, and the other’s a woman in a hospital gown too. Who are they?”

“That guy looks like Xi Mo’s manager. He shows up sometimes. As for the woman, well, someone who’s in the same hospital at this time, and close with Xi Mo… that’d be Ruan Yesheng, right? Didn’t someone say she was in the hospital too? Look close at that chin—so pretty. Compare it with Ruan Yesheng’s chin, it should be her.”

This photo stirred up so much discussion, and Ruan Yesheng’s fans had already been following Xi Mo’s updates to learn about her condition. The moment they saw this, the worry stuck in their throats finally eased up.

Their Ruanruan was awake, and she could eat normally. She must be okay.

Ruan Yesheng’s fans were super touched. Even though they thought she just happened to be caught in the shot, they still felt thankful and left comments like: “Thank you, Xi Mo. Hope you get well soon.”

Ruan Yesheng found a few familiar fan accounts and quietly liked their comments under the post.

And then a small group of people… actually started shipping them under the photo.

“I already shipped these two during the wrap-up party this morning. I didn’t expect them to show up together again tonight? Even when sick, they’re eating together. This relationship is something else. Xi Mo’s never been this nice to anyone before, right? Didn’t she always eat alone?”

“Sister! Same here! I shipped them too!”

“This ship is just too good. What kind of god-tier couple is this? When is *Sui Ting* airing? I want to watch it now!”

“It should be next summer break, I think.”

Their discussion didn’t go viral or anything. It stayed low-key.

But Ruan Yesheng noticed it. She used her small account to like every single one, and the smile at the corners of her lips just wouldn’t go away.

“What are you looking at?” Xi Mo saw how happy she was smiling and got curious. She walked over and asked.

Of course Ruan Yesheng wouldn’t tell her she was secretly liking comments. She just said, “I’m looking under your photo. Everyone’s saying how pretty you are.”

Xi Mo: “…”

“My fans saw it too.” Ruan Yesheng’s smile was bright. “I don’t even know how to thank you.”

“...No need, it was nothing.” Xi Mo actually didn’t like hearing Ruan Yesheng thank her, but she couldn’t say that out loud, so she just replied stiffly with a polite phrase.

The message notifications kept popping up. Xi Mo picked up her phone and saw they were messages from all kinds of friends, asking if she was okay. They must’ve seen the hot search and came to check on her.

Even though she always kept a bit of distance when making friends and didn’t get too close with others, she still kept in touch with many people in the entertainment circle. Building connections was a basic skill to survive in this industry.

Some of them really cared about her. Some just wanted to flatter her for future favors. No matter which kind, she still had to reply.

There were too many messages, so Xi Mo could only go through them slowly. Especially Yan Mu—he sent her a bunch of messages in a row and was super anxious. She had no choice but to reply to him more.

Ruan Yesheng also got some greetings. One of them was from Zhang Zhiyin. But what really surprised her was a message from Director Gu Ru: “I heard you’re in the hospital. Take good care of yourself. You’ll be joining the filming crew soon. Can’t do that if you’re not fully recovered.”

She was shocked and happy. She thought for a while, then carefully typed back: “Thank you, Director Gu. I’ll make sure to get better. I won’t delay filming.”

Gu Ru was busy and didn’t reply again.

Ruan Yesheng held her phone, smiling from ear to ear.

She was just feeling happy when Shen Qingbie suddenly sent a voice message out of nowhere—it was long too.

Ruan Yesheng: “…”

She quickly put on her earphones to keep others from hearing, and glanced at Xi Mo. Seeing that Xi Mo was still busy replying to messages, she walked a bit farther away and tapped to play Shen Qingbie’s message.

“Ruanruan! You’re awake, right? I just saw the trending topic. Are you really eating in the hospital with Xi Mo? How is she? Is she okay? And you? Why do you two always end up hospitalized together? Same thing last time. I really don’t get it. But that’s not the point—the important thing is your health! Right after the wrap-up party you both ended up in the hospital. Was it the food? Has anyone looked into it properly? I’m telling you, this can’t be brushed aside. Someone’s got to be held responsible! What kind of crappy hotel is that!”

Ruan Yesheng listened to the rant, ear full, and replied, “Xi Mo and I are both fine. We just ate dinner.”

Now that she was back in her own body, she didn’t have to type anymore. To reassure Shen Qingbie, she even replied with a voice message this time.

Hearing her voice, Shen Qingbie got excited: “Ruanruan, you actually sent me a voice message! I haven’t heard your voice in so long—I missed it. You always just typed before, so boring. Hey, can you video call me now? Let me see you?”

This time, Ruan Yesheng didn’t hesitate. She walked even farther from Xi Mo and started the video call.

Shen Qingbie’s face appeared on screen. She had just taken a shower, and her face looked dewy and fresh. Her hair was still wet, and she was rubbing it dry with a towel in one hand while holding the phone in the other. The towel messed her hair up.

Shen Qingbie saw her and got super excited. She didn't wipe her hair anymore, and her hair tips were dripping wet. "Finally I can see your face! Before you always said you were sleepy or putting on a facial mask. I kept thinking, how do you have so many masks to use? When will you get me a few boxes too?"

"Stop talking. Hurry up and dry your hair. Don't catch a cold," Ruan Yesheng told her.

"It's fine. I'll just wipe it," Shen Qingbie said. Then she started talking again like a machine gun, "Is Xi Mo beside you?"

"Mm-hmm, she's replying to messages."

"Does she know I'm video calling you?"

"No, she doesn't."

"Oh..." Shen Qingbie sounded a bit disappointed. "Then when will you come see me? Bring her with you too."

Ruan Yesheng was helpless. "Why do I have to bring her if I'm the one going to see you?"

"You don't want to bring her?" Shen Qingbie was confused. "You like her, right? Don’t people want to bring the one they like everywhere?"

Ruan Yesheng: "..."

She rubbed her forehead. "You've never dated. How do you even know all this? How do you know when you like someone, you want to bring them everywhere?"

"I read so many scripts. All the scripts say that," Shen Qingbie said proudly. "You're saying I don’t know, but have you dated before?"

Ruan Yesheng felt her heart get poked. She held back and said, "...No."

"You want to date Xi Mo, but you can't," Shen Qingbie sighed.

Ruan Yesheng got mad, but she was also too shy because Shen Qingbie hit the nail on the head. Her face turned red. "...”

“Isn't Xi Mo, like, the universe's straight girl? Can you really get her?” Shen Qingbie was super serious, worrying about her friend like eating radish and worrying for nothing. She said, “This is going to be really hard, right?”

This line sounded somewhat familiar. Ruan Yesheng felt it was weird: “How do you know she's the universe's straight girl?”

“Yan Mu told me.”

Ruan Yesheng remembered that in the Sui Ting crew, Yan Mu really did say something like that. She just didn’t expect he would also tell Shen Qingbie.

Shen Qingbie said, “So what are you gonna do now? Ruanruan, you're too unlucky. Xi Mo is the universe’s straight girl, A'Yu is a the galaxy's straight girl, and I'm the solar system’s straight girl. You're the only Earth’s lesbian, all alone. How will you survive?”

Ruan Yesheng: “…”

You really dare to say that.

“How do you know you're straight when you've never even dated anyone?” Ruan Yesheng said. “Also, how come you're solar system and Yu An is galaxy?”

“I just know, okay? It's a straight girl’s intuition!” Shen Qingbie explained: “The galaxy is bigger than the solar system. I think A'Yu is straighter than me. And Xi Mo is way beyond that. She's universe-level. No way she's not straight. This is too hard for you.”

After hearing all her babble—and every line stabbed like a knife—Ruan Yesheng also felt this really was hard.

Shen Qingbie was still talking when she heard a knock on the door. She said, “I'm gonna go open it, don't hang up.”

“Your hair's like that and you're going to open the door?” Ruan Yesheng got worried: “You’re still at the crew’s hotel. Make sure no one sees you like that.”

“It’s fine, it’s gotta be A'Yu. I told her to come over and shower.” Shen Qingbie walked forward with her phone.

“She doesn’t have a bathroom in her own room? Why are you letting her shower in yours?” Ruan Yesheng felt a little weird.

“A’Yu said her shower has no hot water.” Shen Qingbie mumbled, “Her luck’s really bad. My room’s hot water works just fine.”

“Does Yu An know we’re good friends?” Ruan Yesheng suddenly thought of something and asked, “Weren’t you trying to hide it from her? And now you’re just going to open the door?”

“I thought about it carefully. There’s really nothing to hide. A’Yu is just worried I don’t know how to read people and might get tricked by someone in the industry who wants to use me to climb up. She’s always super cautious and tells me to be careful who I hang out with. But you’re such a good person—I think she’ll like you. So I plan to tell her tonight.”

“Hold on…” Ruan Yesheng saw Xi Mo already walking over and quickly said in a low voice, “The universe’s straight girl is coming. I’m hanging up. I’ll talk to you later.”

Shen Qingbie had no choice but to hang up the call. She turned the doorknob, and right there at the door stood the galaxy’s straight girl, Yu An, staring straight at her.

Yu An was holding a small suitcase. She walked in after closing the door, turned her head, and looked at Shen Qingbie: “Why didn’t you dry your hair?”

“I was just on a call,” Shen Qingbie quickly said.

Yu An went to get the hairdryer and motioned to Shen Qingbie: “Come here. I’ll dry it for you. Don’t catch a cold.”

Shen Qingbie grinned from ear to ear and happily scooted over. She sat properly on the chair, and Yu An began carefully blow-drying her hair.

Over on the other side, Xi Mo was replying to messages. She noticed Ruan Yesheng had moved farther away from her, like she was avoiding her on purpose while talking to someone. She even had earphones on.

Ruan Yesheng rarely wore earphones when taking calls before. She never seemed to mind if Xi Mo overheard.

But now Xi Mo felt like she was acting all secretive.

And the call lasted quite long. She looked like she really clicked with whoever it was. Even though Xi Mo couldn’t hear her, she could tell there was no end to what they were talking about. During the video part, Ruan Yesheng’s face kept changing—sometimes she looked annoyed, then her cheeks went red. Xi Mo had never seen her this happy talking to someone else. She couldn’t help it and walked over to check.

Ruan Yesheng put away her phone and earphones and said to Xi Mo, “What’s wrong?”

Xi Mo stared at her for a few seconds and said, “...Who were you just talking to?”

Ruan Yesheng was about to say it was a close friend, but Xi Mo’s expression looked even more uncomfortable after asking. She quickly changed her words and said, “You don’t have to tell me. I was just asking. I didn’t really mean I want to know.”

One look and Ruan Yesheng understood it clearly. She was pretending not to care, but deep down she was dying to know. She just didn’t want to lose face.

“...Was it Yan Mu?” Xi Mo asked after a pause.

That’s the only person she could think of. Lately, Ruan Yesheng had been talking to that guy quite a lot. Just earlier, she had chatted with Yan Mu herself and learned Ruan Yesheng had been using her name to talk with him about writing lyrics for the song he made. They’d been working on it for a while.

Xi Mo made up a reason, saying she was busy with variety shows and didn’t want to write anymore, and sent Yan Mu away.

In her heart, she felt lucky they switched back—now Yan Mu had no excuse to message Ruan Yesheng again.

“No.” Ruan Yesheng chuckled.

Ruan Yesheng said it wasn't, and Xi Mo believed her. She looked at her for a while, then finally let out a breath like she was relieved. She said, "Do you remember the doctor I told you about? I want to go ask her something now. Want to come with me?"

"Yes." Ruan Yesheng walked to her side, smiling even brighter. "Let's go together."

Author’s Note:

Wow, there are obviously four lesbians, how come there are three straight girls? Qingqing, you are not very good at counting, please count more carefully.

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