Against the Light - Chapter 144
Chapter 144: Inspection 2.0
Bai Yilan and Xia Chenxing were chatting happily. Gu Xinran sat quietly to the side, watching her with doting eyes, showing no strange expression at all.
Qu Qi glanced over, moved closer to Ye Nan, and whispered, “Strange, how come the jealousy expert isn’t feeling jealous today?”
When she heard no response, she looked up and saw that something was wrong with Ye Nan. A bead of sweat the size of a pea had formed on her forehead and splattered onto the ground with a soft plop.
Qu Qi followed the trajectory of the sweat drop and glanced down, stunned. “Sister Nan, what’s wrong with you?”
“Sister Nan?” Seeing no reaction, Qu Qi gently nudged her.
“What?” Ye Nan snapped back to reality.
“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly sweating? Are you not feeling well?”
Ye Nan raised a hand to her forehead. When she felt the sweat, she rolled her eyes at herself. Only one word, capitalized and bolded, filled her mind: “Coward!”
Watching Yilan chat so happily with her idol, Ye Nan had tried several times to interrupt their conversation without success. Helpless, she first stepped outside and made a call to the company.
“Hello? Sister Nan? What’s up?”
“Is Sister Qing still in a meeting?”
“No, the meeting is over. President Shi is in her office handling other matters now. Should I transfer you?”
“No, no, no, don’t. Uh, Xiao Li, go take her phone and put it somewhere far away. Don’t let her look at it.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, don’t ask so many questions, just go. Oh, and also, let me know in advance when she’s getting ready to come home.”
“Oh, okay.”
Just as Xiao Li hung up, she saw her boss’s hawk-like eyes staring at her from inside the glass-walled office, which made her jump in fright.
“Whose call was that?”
“It was… Sister Nan.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me to take your phone far away so you wouldn’t see it, and also to let her know in advance when you were about to head home.” Xiao Li, completely spineless, confessed everything.
Shi Qing nodded and obediently picked up her phone.
Ye Nan, thinking she had successfully handled Shi Qing, stopped rushing Yilan. It was a rare outing, so she should let her relax and have a good time.
Not long after, however, Xia Chenxing went to get her makeup done. Bai Yilan watched Director Zhao film for a while longer, studying his technique seriously.
Director Zhao Sheng knew a little about Yilan. After all, Director Bai had quite a reputation in the industry and was a standout among the younger generation. Seeing her visit the set with a pregnant belly, he had a rare moment of kindness and let Gu Xinran wrap up early for the day.
On the way home, Ye Nan made a special call to the office to check. Learning that Shi Qing hadn’t left work yet, she felt relieved and drove at a leisurely pace.
“Hey, you two, when we get back, you absolutely cannot mention that I took you out today. Especially you, Xinran. How you settle your accounts with her is your business, but don’t drag me into it. I want to live.” Ye Nan looked at the two in the back seat through the rearview mirror. Yilan was sitting upright, looking incredibly well-behaved. As for Gu Xinran, she had a faint, unreadable smile on her face.
Gu Xinran looked slightly astonished. “Mom doesn’t know? You guys snuck out!?”
Ye Nan was speechless. She cleared her throat. “Auntie has treated you well, hasn’t she?”
Gu Xinran smiled helplessly. “Alright, don’t worry. But, on Weibo…”
“It’s fine. She’s very busy today, no time to look at her phone.”
“Okay, then.” Gu Xinran frowned. Could they really hide this? Wasn’t that a bit naive?
Soon, Ye Nan drove the car into the underground garage, and they all took the elevator up.
As Ye Nan approached the door, she lightened her steps and gestured for the other two to stay put. She gently pulled the door open a crack, poked her head in, and carefully scanned the room. Seeing that no one was inside, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, opened the door, and let them in.
Seeing her cowardly behavior, Gu Xinran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. With guts like these, she still dared to stir up trouble?
“You two go rest. I need to hurry up and make dinner.” After speaking, Ye Nan took off her coat and immediately rushed into the kitchen to get busy.
“I’ll help you.” Bai Yilan had intended to go back to the bedroom, but she suddenly sensed an unfriendly gaze from beside her. The foot she had lifted took a step back, and she was about to turn toward the kitchen.
“Ahem.” Gu Xinran coughed lightly, the word “threat” all but written on Yilan’s forehead.
Yilan’s expression was awkward. She forced a smile that was uglier than tears and was obediently dragged back to the bedroom by Xinran.
In the bedroom, Bai Yilan leaned back against the desk. Gu Xinran stood before her, trapping her in an embrace with her arms braced on the desk, her nose almost touching Bai Yilan’s.
“Did you have fun chasing your star today?” Xinran revealed a sweet smile.
“Ahem, a little, a little happy.” Bai Yilan was well aware of her current predicament. Even her voice softened, becoming incredibly docile.
Hearing her soft, sweet voice, Gu Xinran’s eyes curved into a smile. “I only have one question.”
“Hm?”
“Did you go to see me today, or to chase your star?” Gu Xinran looked into her eyes, their gazes meeting.
“Of course I went to see you. If I hadn’t gone to see you, I would have forgotten Chenxing was even in that crew.” Bai Yilan’s face was serious. This was the truth! Her original reason for going out was because she hadn’t been able to be clingy with Xinran for the past few days and missed her!
“Is that so?”
“Yes. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Xiao Ye.” Bai Yilan smiled and took Xinran’s hand, placing it on her own belly.
Gu Xinran’s resolve instantly crumbled, all her temper vanishing. “Alright, then I’ll ask my baby Xiao Ye.” With that, she knelt down, wrapped her arms around Yilan, and pressed her ear to her lower abdomen, closing her eyes to listen intently.
Bai Yilan stroked her head as if she were a child, patting it gently, her face beaming with a happy smile.
“Oh~ Is that so~” Gu Xinran nodded sagely, then looked up at her. “You’re a good girl.”
After speaking, she kissed Yilan’s belly again. “Baby is a good girl too.” Her eyes were filled with an undisguised doting love.
Bai Yilan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her antics. What a silly girl~~
Gu Xinran pulled out a chair and helped Yilan sit down. She took out a piece of paper from the drawer and stuffed a pen into Yilan’s hand.
“???” Looking at the familiar paper and pen, a rather unpleasant memory surfaced in Bai Yilan’s mind.
“That fan chant you said to Chenxing today, how did it go again?”
“…” Bai Yilan’s face stiffened. She had a feeling that not only was this matter not over, but it was just beginning…???
“Hm?” Gu Xinran prompted.
“Xinran~” Bai Yilan hummed, her tone full of coquettishness.
“When the morning star hasn’t set, what was it again? Who are you thinking of?” Gu Xinran kindly reminded her.
“Thinking of you, thinking of Gu Xinran, thinking of my wife, thinking of the mother of my child, muah~” Yilan’s survival instincts kicked in. After speaking, she wrapped her arms around her neck and gave her a loud kiss.
Gu Xinran was greatly pleased and nodded in satisfaction. “Mm, then write it down.”
“???? Write what?”
“‘When the morning star hasn’t set, I’m thinking of Xinran.’ Write it a hundred times.”
“Isn’t that too much…” Bai Yilan’s face immediately fell, and she pouted.
“If you don’t finish…” Gu Xinran paused, her eyes narrowing as her smile gradually turned mischievous.
“I’ll write it, I’ll write it.” Bai Yilan instantly surrendered, burying her head and starting to write.
Gu Xinran chuckled softly, kissed her on the corner of her forehead, then got up to change her clothes and go help Ye Nan prepare dinner in the kitchen.
Half an hour later, dinner was almost ready. Ye Nan checked the time, then looked at the sky outside. It was already dark, so why wasn’t she back yet?
With that thought, she called the office again. No one answered. She immediately dialed Shi Qing’s number. Still no answer.
Ye Nan started to feel uneasy, a vague sense of foreboding creeping in.
“You two, come eat first. I’m going to the company.” Ye Nan took off her apron and called them over for dinner.
“Going to the company so late?”
“Yeah, something came up.” Ye Nan didn’t dare say it was because Shi Qing was unreachable, afraid of worrying her.
“You two eat and go to bed early. Xinran, don’t go along with her crazy ideas.”
The two exchanged a look. “Why don’t I go with you? We’re worried about you running back and forth alone so late,” Gu Xinran said, getting up.
“That’s right. With Xinran accompanying you, I’ll feel more at ease,” Bai Yilan chimed in.
“Alright then, let’s go and come back quickly.” After speaking, Ye Nan turned and went back to her bedroom to change.
Gu Xinran was also about to head to her room when she suddenly heard a scream, and her body froze.
Bai Yilan was so startled she shivered, dropping her chopsticks.
Gu Xinran snapped back to her senses and rushed toward Ye Nan’s room. “Auntie Ye, what’s wrong with…” Gu Xinran had just reached the doorway when she froze. Inside the room, Shi Qing was sitting calmly by the desk, looking completely unruffled.
“??? Mom? You’re home?” Bai Yilan was also a bit stunned when she arrived.
“You… what are you doing sitting in my room without turning on the lights!! Are you trying to scare me to death!!” Ye Nan hadn’t recovered yet, clutching her pounding heart. She had nearly been scared to death.
Just now, when she returned to her room and turned on the light, she saw that person staring at her with two glowing eyes, which scared her so much she leaped back, practically flying out of the room.
Ye Nan let out a long breath, calming herself down a little.
“When did you get back?” Ye Nan asked, puzzled.
“Before you all did,” Shi Qing said with a faint smile.
“…” Ye Nan was about to retort when she froze, subconsciously glancing back at Yilan.
Bai Yilan silently swallowed and turned to leave without the slightest hesitation.
Gu Xinran pressed her lips together to hold back her laughter. She knew it. It was impossible for these two to pull a fast one. Well, now the plan had backfired!
“Ahem, Mom, uh, why don’t we eat first? We can settle any accounts after dinner.”
“…???” Ye Nan shot her a glare.
During dinner, Ye Nan frequently put food on Shi Qing’s plate, the word “fawning” written all over her face.
Shi Qing accepted all her offerings but showed no emotion on her face.
“Sister Qing, how’s the soup today?”
“Fine.”
“…”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were back early? I was so worried just now, I was about to go out and look for you.”
“Is that so?” Shi Qing’s movements paused slightly as she looked up at Gu Xinran.
“It’s true. Auntie Ye was very worried about you.”
Hearing Xinran speak up for her, Ye Nan was incredibly moved. She quickly placed some vegetables in her bowl to express her gratitude.
However, just as she put the vegetables in Xinran’s bowl, she felt a murderous gaze.
Ye Nan paused, then tentatively took the vegetables back. Mm, the murderous intent in her boss’s eyes was gone.
Seeing this, Gu Xinran and Bai Yilan tacitly lowered their heads and ate, afraid that their amusement would be too obvious for the other two to see.
Soon, they finished their meal. Gu Xinran took the initiative to handle the cleanup, watching as Shi Qing dragged Ye Nan into the bedroom.
In their room, Gu Xinran and Bai Yilan deliberately left their door wide open, hoping to hear what was going on with the other two. Unfortunately, they were very quiet, and no strange noises came from their room.
One day, while Xinran was filming on set, Qu Qi came to find her during a break.
“What’s up?”
“There’s a new talent show that came out recently. It just premiered yesterday and the response has been fantastic. Do you have any thoughts on it?” Qu Qi fiddled with her phone and showed Gu Xinran the information about the show.
Gu Xinran gave it a quick scan.
“The show held auditions all over the country and ultimately selected one hundred beautiful girls with potential. After multiple rounds of competition, seven will remain to debut as a group. With so many contestants, there’s bound to be a lot of buzz. From the momentum of yesterday’s premiere, I can tell this show is going to be a huge hit. And today, this show has seven or eight topics trending on Weibo. The popularity is very high.”
“Hmm?” Gu Xinran frowned. “What are you suggesting?”
“We can also ride this wave of talent shows and prepare a similar program. But instead of competing for a spot in a group, they’d be competing for a contract with Heart Entertainment. I want to use this method to gather some talent for the company.”
Gu Xinran’s mind raced. She nodded. If it was as she said, then the winners of this talent show would already come with a certain level of buzz. Bringing these people into the fold would be a significant gain for Heart Entertainment!
“That’s a good idea, but it needs to be planned out carefully.”
“Hey, filming for this movie is almost wrapped up. After it’s done, I want to take a break for a while to be with Yilan.”
“Sure, no problem. How many months along is she? Is she due soon?”
“Not that soon. Just over five months.” The moment Yilan and the baby were mentioned, a doting smile unconsciously appeared on Gu Xinran’s face, making Qu Qi grin.
“Alright, I’ll think more about this. You can get back to work.”
“Okay,” Gu Xinran replied, returning to her dressing room to rest.
Today was a rare day off.
Gu Xinran made a point of waking up early, but unexpectedly, her little darling wife had slept in again.
It was nearly noon when Bai Yilan finally woke up, stretching and rubbing her eyes as she came out of the bedroom.
“Hey, why didn’t you go to the set today?” Yilan was a bit surprised to see Xinran doing housework.
“Didn’t I tell you yesterday? I have the day off today.”
“Ah? Oh, I forgot.” Bai Yilan glanced at the wall clock. She had looked forward to this day off for so long, only to sleep through the entire morning.
“Where are Mom and Auntie Ye?”
“They knew I was staying home with you today, so they went to the company.”
“Oh? So it’s just the two of us at home today?”
“That’s right. Hmm? What’s with that expression? What nice things are you thinking about? Want to go out and play again? Not allowed!” Gu Xinran tweaked her ear in a preemptive strike.
Seeing Yilan pout, Gu Xinran couldn’t help but smile. Her little darling wife was getting cuter and cuter. It seemed being cooped up at home for this period had made her more and more skilled at acting spoiled and being clingy. If the people on set saw her like this, they would probably think they had mistaken her for someone else.
After lunch, the two went for a short walk, then curled up on the sofa to watch TV.
“This 【C Position Debut】 seems to be quite popular lately.” Gu Xinran was flipping through the channels with the remote and happened to land on the variety show Qu Qi had mentioned.
“Oh, I’ve seen this. The young girls in it are really pretty, and they’re all so talented. It’s quite good. There’s also one who looks so much like you, I almost mistook her at first glance,” Bai Yilan said.
“Hmm? Hmm? Mistaking your own wife, is that acceptable?”
“Well, it wasn’t a perfect match~” Bai Yilan leaned against her, perfectly embodying the meaning of the word “coquettish.”
Gu Xinran tapped her on the nose. Now that she mentioned it, she was a little curious just how much this person looked like her to make even Yilan mistake them.
“Which one are you talking about?” The screen happened to show a panoramic shot of all the contestants gathered together. Gu Xinran pressed the pause button and asked Yilan.
Bai Yilan scanned the screen, but before she could point her out, Xinran suddenly sat up straight, startling her.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing Xinran’s brow furrowed as she stared intently at the TV screen, Yilan immediately realized something was wrong.
Gu Xinran got up and walked to the television, her eyes fixed on a certain person in the frame.
The person’s features bore a thirty percent resemblance to her own, and she was intentionally imitating her in both hairstyle and clothing.
Gu Xinran’s lips thinned, and her eyes turned cold. It wasn’t because she felt she was being imitated, but because of who that person was.
“Gu Xinyuan,” Xinran said coldly.
“Who?” Bai Yilan was shocked and also got up and walked over.
“Gu Xinyuan is…?”
Xinran was silent for a long moment, closing her eyes as fragments of memories flashed through her mind.
It was herself as a child, being chased into a dead-end alley by Gu Xinyuan and a few other kids. They trapped her under a vegetable basket, stood on top of it, and mocked her mercilessly.
The scene shifted. She was fifteen or sixteen, her features had blossomed beautifully, but she was dressed in rags every day and still had to endure bullying from Gu Xinyuan and the others.
That day, the final exam results were released. Her grades were excellent, while Gu Xinyuan was last in the class. The teacher specifically compared the two of them, which made Gu Xinyuan extremely jealous. After school, Gu Xinran deliberately stayed late, but Gu Xinyuan still cornered her at the school gate. That was the day they had a fierce conflict. Gu Xinran tried to fight back but was pushed down by Gu Xinyuan. Her back slammed into a protrusion on the school’s iron gate, and she started bleeding profusely on the spot!
Gu Xinyuan was terrified and ran away, leaving Xinran alone, sitting helplessly at the gate.
If the security guard hadn’t returned that day and seen Xinran lying in a pool of blood, getting her to the hospital in time, Xinran might have…
It was after that incident that she was left with a hideous scar on her back.
After hearing Xinran’s story, Bai Yilan was trembling with anger. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly let out a soft cry, “Ouch…”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. This little one just kicked me.” Bai Yilan rubbed her belly, and the little one’s movement instantly diluted much of her anger.
Gu Xinran looked at her lower abdomen and gently stroked it, her brow furrowed slightly.
There was one more thing she hadn’t told Yilan.
Yilan didn’t know that in their past life, there was also a Gu Xinyuan, who was also her half-sister.
In their past life, after Yilan passed away, she had wanted nothing but to die. Before committing suicide, she entrusted their child to her dear friend Lin Yuqing. But unexpectedly, the Gu Xinyuan of that world had taken Xiao Ye first, using threats, inducements, and abuse, all to make the child give up her inheritance rights.
The very thought of it made Gu Xinran’s heart tremble.
Gu Xinran helped Yilan back to the sofa, letting her lean against her as she stroked her belly.
Bai Yilan glanced at the TV again, growing even more furious. “She’s imitating you.”
“Mm, I can see that.”
“What is she trying to do? Is she trying to get famous by riding on your popularity?” Bai Yilan didn’t understand.
“I don’t know. In my memory, she’s a very jealous person. She looked down on me, so she probably wouldn’t want to use my popularity. What I find strange is that her gaze has become very gentle, completely different from my impression of her. I don’t know if she’s really changed or if she’s deliberately putting on an act.”
As Gu Xinran spoke, she took out her phone, opened Weibo, and did a search. She hadn’t even changed her name for her debut. Her Weibo already had over 800,000 followers, and people in the comments were already mentioning Gu Xinran, even putting their photos side by side and remarking how every so often, a pair of look-alike artists would appear in the entertainment industry, saying the two of them looked just like sisters.
Gu Xinran felt a wave of disgust as she read it.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. I’ll have Qu Qi keep an eye on it. You just focus on your pregnancy and don’t think too much.” Seeing Yilan’s brow constantly furrowed, Gu Xinran reached out to smooth it, comforting her in a gentle voice.
Bai Yilan caressed her belly. For some reason, after hearing Xinran’s story about her and Gu Xinyuan, her heart felt unsettled and restless. And recalling Xinran’s expression just now, it was clear she was holding something back, as if she were hiding something from her.
Gu Xinran placed her hands on Bai Yilan’s temples and massaged them for a while. “There, relax. In the industry now, I’m considered a senior, you could say. How could a newcomer like her easily shake me?”
“Are you hiding something else from me?”
“Huh? No, of course not.” Gu Xinran shook her head decisively. She didn’t want to tell Yilan about Gu Xinyuan from their past life. If Yilan knew that Xiao Ye had been abused, she would surely blame herself.
Yilan stared at her for a moment but didn’t see anything unusual, so she let it go for the time being.
Gu Xinran picked up the remote, changed the channel, and specifically chose a cartoon.
“I don’t want to watch this,” Yilan pouted.
“Be good. It’s not for you, it’s for Xiao Ye. I rarely watched cartoons with her before. This time, I’ll make up for it from the beginning.”
Bai Yilan was immediately amused by her. Silly girl.
Comments
Post a Comment