Married in a Daze - Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Lu Ruyun had a boyfriend.
To be more accurate, she had a rumored boyfriend.
Unlike Qin Zhenzhen, who managed to stir up a new CP pairing with every single drama she starred in, Lu Ruyun had only ever been involved in one scandalous rumor in her thirteen-year-long career. And she had never clarified it. Therefore, both within the industry and among the general public, it was tacitly accepted that Duan Qiuhan was her boyfriend.
Even her own fans would call Duan Qiuhan "Brother-in-law Yun."
It was said the two had connected six years ago during an idol drama, becoming the year's best on-screen couple. Later, whether it was during holidays or Lu Ruyun's birthdays, big or small, Duan Qiuhan was always the first to send his blessings. Whenever he came across interesting or fun places, he would tag Lu Ruyun, telling her to go check it out.
In the hearts of their CP fans, the way these two interacted was exactly like a real couple.
Although neither had ever openly admitted the relationship, they had also never clarified it either. This allowed their CP fans to feast on what they considered dog food, exclaiming with each interaction how unbearably sweet the pair was.
Qin Zhenzhen had met Duan Qiuhan before. Although Time in Full Bloom was a closed-set shoot, Duan Qiuhan had still come to visit the set a few times. They were on nodding acquaintance terms.
It was just that later, as she consciously began to ignore Lu Ruyun, she also ended up ignoring everyone and everything related to her.
So when she suddenly heard Ji Lu mention the words 'boyfriend', it took her a few dazed seconds to remember such a person existed.
Ji Lu watched her expression carefully, scratching her head. "Zhenzhen, what are you thinking about?"
Qin Zhenzhen sighed. "What time is it?"
Ji Lu glanced at her watch. "Eight-fifty. Are we still going in?"
Qin Zhenzhen sat in the car, peering through a crack in the window at the tall building not far away. The three characters for 'Civil Affairs Bureau' glared blindingly bright under the fierce sun. From time to time, newlywed couples walked out, faces full of sweetness. There were also those who had just finalized their divorces, their gazes toward each other dripping with disdain.
Ji Lu nudged her arm. "Zhenzhen?"
Qin Zhenzhen glanced sideways. "Hmm? Let's wait a bit longer."
Her expression was normal, giving nothing away. Only her phoenix eyes were narrowed slightly, fixed unblinkingly on the traffic coming and going outside.
It was almost time.
Lu Ruyun—she should come, right?
Before Ji Lu mentioned Duan Qiuhan, she was firmly convinced, based on her shallow understanding of Lu Ruyun, that she would definitely show up.
But after thinking about Duan Qiuhan, she wasn't so sure anymore.
Right at nine o'clock, a black sedan pulled up at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau. A woman with an elegant figure stepped out of the car. Although she wore a hat, a mask, and was wrapped tightly in a trench coat, the coat was thin and clung to her body, still revealing a lovely, well-proportioned figure.
Lu Ruyun stepped out in her high heels, tilting her head to speak to He Shuangshuang. "Is everything arranged?"
He Shuangshuang lowered her head, her eyes downcast as she answered with clear reluctance. "Yes."
"Ruyun, don't you think you're being too impulsive? We might be able to find another solution."
The sun was too fierce. Even with sunglasses on, Lu Ruyun found it blinding. She raised her head slightly, her delicate brows knitting together as she smiled at He Shuangshuang's complaint. "I think this is quite good, actually."
"Besides, wasn't going to the temple your and Yaoyao's idea? Why are you trying to talk me out of being superstitious now?"
He Shuangshuang wished she could slap herself twice upon hearing this. "But—!"
But she really didn't want to have the slightest connection with Qin Zhenzhen anymore!
They went to exorcise evil spirits! Not to invite them in!
The weather was already stiflingly hot, and He Shuangshuang had a bellyful of fire with nowhere to vent it. Her fair, pretty face flushed red with anger. Her gaze finally settled on the gray minivan not far away, and she couldn't help but mutter, "Persistent haunt."
Lu Ruyun followed her gaze. The door of the gray minivan opened, and a pair of pink high heels emerged, a silver chain adorning the ankle that glittered brilliantly under the blazing sun. Then, a pair of flawlessly slender, pale, long legs came into view.
After getting out of the car, Qin Zhenzhen saw Lu Ruyun standing at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau. She took a few quick steps forward, adjusted the sunglasses on the bridge of her nose, and parted her red lips. "Let's go."
Lu Ruyun gave a slight nod and followed behind her.
He Shuangshuang clearly still wanted to say something, but a look from Lu Ruyun stopped her. She snorted heavily and strode after them.
Ji Lu blinked her bewildered eyes, lowered her head, and also entered.
Unlike the heat outside, the interior was comfortable and cool. Air conditioning blew down from the ceiling, soothing the irritation in Qin Zhenzhen's heart.
At the moment, they were sitting in an office waiting for the lawyers.
They sat facing each other across a not-very-long table. Qin Zhenzhen leaned back in her chair, her bright eyes—now free of sunglasses—clear and luminous. She tapped a finger on the table, speaking slowly. "So what you're saying is, you've broken up?"
A look of surprise flashed across Lu Ruyun's habitually steady expression. She shook her head. "Qiuhan and I are not that kind of relationship."
Qin Zhenzhen let out a mental tsk, inwardly mocking this all-purpose, non-committal phrase. Not that kind of relationship? Able to maintain an ambiguous connection for six years without clarifying?
Even if it wasn't that kind of relationship, it was probably close. Or perhaps, she was just keeping him around as a backup option.
This wasn't unusual in the industry. Appearing kind to everyone on the surface, but actually just being a central air conditioner—blowing warm air everywhere.
But none of this had anything to do with her. After all, she wasn't marrying Lu Ruyun out of mutual affection. She really had no spare energy to investigate Lu Ruyun's harem. As long as this curse was broken, they could go their separate ways immediately. That would be for the best.
As for whether Lu Ruyun wanted to walk hand-in-hand with Duan Qiuhan into the future or continue keeping him as a backup, it had absolutely nothing to do with her.
But for now.
It still did matter.
She didn't want to inexplicably become a homewrecker. She was getting married to break a curse, not to dig up black material on herself.
If Lu Ruyun and Duan Qiuhan were truly in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, then she would have to reconsider the feasibility of this cooperation.
Fortunately.
They were not.
She believed Lu Ruyun wouldn't lie to her about this. There was simply no need.
Qin Zhenzhen's heart settled slightly.
A moment of silence fell over the office. Neither of the two women sitting opposite each other spoke. The clock on the wall ticked away unhurriedly, the seconds passing one by one. Lu Ruyun took a sip of tea, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings for an instant as she lowered her gaze.
Watching her movement, Qin Zhenzhen unconsciously picked up the cup in front of her and also took a sip of tea.
Just as she collected herself, the door knocked. Ji Lu and He Shuangshuang led several men in well-pressed suits inside. They each sat down beside Lu Ruyun and Qin Zhenzhen, nodding in greeting.
Lu Ruyun and Qin Zhenzhen exchanged a glance. With a composed and leisurely air, Lu Ruyun said, "Let's begin."
Weibo and Tianya had always been great places for gossip. Many big scoops were painstakingly uncovered layer by layer on these platforms. On the fourth day after the 'assault' scandal broke, a new post appeared on Tianya—Conclusive Evidence Photo of Qin Zhenzhen Hitting Lu Ruyun!
Over the past few days, countless posts claiming to have 'conclusive evidence' had popped up. The number of people claiming to have inside information had gradually increased, but without a shred of proof, they were clearly just riding the wave for traffic and clout. Netizens had gone from casual melon-eating bystanders to raging critics, directly blasting any false information, with curses involving ancestors up to eighteen generations flying everywhere.
Therefore, when netizens saw this new post, their first reaction was to doubt its authenticity.
Soon, however, they discovered that this time, the 'conclusive evidence' seemed to be real.
Because the people in the video were indeed Qin Zhenzhen and Lu Ruyun.
The video was short, only about ten seconds long.
In a corridor, under warm yellow lighting, Qin Zhenzhen walked quickly towards Lu Ruyun. Before she even reached her, she raised her hand and swung it down. Then the screen went black, and the video ended.
What happened next was self-evident. After the video surfaced, netizens on Tianya erupted.
—Holy shit, she really did hit her! Did you see Qin Zhenzhen's expression? So vicious!
—Ahhhhh! She actually hit my Cloud Fairy!
—For fuck's sake! I kept saying before to calm down, that there must be a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding my ass! Qin Zhenzhen, come out and apologize!
—I've reposted it to Weibo and tagged Qin Zhenzhen. Guess what, will she play dead again?
—What did her fans say before? A fading star trying to leech off a popular artist? Who the hell leeches by shoving their own face forward?
In no time, the post blew up. Qin Zhenzhen's fans caught wind of it and came. After watching the video, most of her fans chose to remain silent, while a small minority still jumped out to defend her. They felt such an incomplete video couldn't possibly serve as evidence, and that someone was deliberately steering the narrative.
A new round of flame wars began.
Even previously neutral bystanders began leaning towards supporting Lu Ruyun, their words laced with sarcasm aimed at Qin Zhenzhen for disrespecting her senior, throwing her weight around, and lacking professional ethics.
The black material about her spread like wildfire!
Weibo was in an uproar!
Qin Zhenzhen walked out of the office, clutching a little red booklet in her hand. On its cover were two gold-stamped words: Marriage Certificate.
Lu Ruyun followed behind her. Seeing He Shuangshuang walking towards her from not far away, she lowered her head and asked, "When do you plan to go public?"
Qin Zhenzhen kept her head down, hesitating for a few seconds.
With a sidelong glance, Lu Ruyun caught sight of Qin Zhenzhen's profile, as if carved by a master. Her long eyelashes cast a small shadow on her eyelids. Her bright eyes were lowered, her nose delicate and slightly upturned. When not smiling, her lips were pressed tightly together, as if deep in thought.
Before she could get Qin Zhenzhen's reply, Ji Lu jogged over, leaned close to her ear, and whispered a few sentences. Qin Zhenzhen looked up at Ji Lu, her delicate brows drawing together. "When did this happen?"
Ji Lu's expression wasn't good. "Two hours ago."
Qin Zhenzhen gave a slight nod, then glanced sideways at Lu Ruyun. The lips that had been pressed tight moments ago curved into a lovely arc. She opened her mouth and said, "Let's go public now."
The afternoon sun was blazing. Invisible flames seemed to be licking the air wantonly. Entering a white-hot phase along with City A was the Weibo trending topic. The video evidence conclusively showing Qin Zhenzhen hitting someone was instantly reposted hundreds of thousands of times, with view counts reaching tens of millions. Many self-appointed knights of justice had already voluntarily swarmed under her Weibo, hammering away at their keyboards.
—Qin Zhenzhen, apologize.
—Please explain the situation!
—Why did you hit my Cloud Fairy? Do you think you're all that?
Within two hours, Qin Zhenzhen's Weibo comments section was overrun with malicious remarks. Her fans, mixed in among them, tried to fight back fiercely, but they were vastly outnumbered and quickly buried.
At noon, just when everyone thought Qin Zhenzhen would continue to play dead, she posted a Weibo.
@TrulyZhen: The weather is quite lovely today, perfect for doing something crazy. @Lu Ruyun
Less than a minute after she posted, before many netizens could even finish editing their scathing comments, Lu Ruyun replied to her.
@Lu Ruyun: Let's get married. @Qin Zhenzhen
The many enraged netizens stared in disbelief, deleting their carefully crafted criticisms word by word from their phones, and let out shocked exclamations: Holy shit?????
Comments
Post a Comment