Married in a Daze - Chapter 127
Chapter 127
Zhang Yiyao learned that Duan Qiuhan had issued a statement in the afternoon. She paced restlessly in her hospital room, her expression uneasy. The nurse who came to change her dressings glanced at her several times. Zhang Yiyao, with acute sensitivity, noticed that the nurse's gaze was different from before. Nervously, she grabbed the nurse's hand and asked, "Do you believe what he said too?"
The nurse was taken aback, replying with a blank expression, "What?"
Zhang Yiyao seemed lost in her own world, continuing on her own, "You can't believe him. He's a liar! Yes, he's a liar. I need to get out."
"Let me out!"
Her sudden outburst startled the nurse, who immediately pressed the call button. Instantly, several people in white coats entered the room.
Although she had been recuperating all this time, Vice Dean Ding had specifically instructed them to keep an extra watch on her. Everyone had been alert, but Zhang Yiyao's previous behavior had been no different from a normal person's; she could even chat and laugh. So, everyone had let their guard down. No one expected her to have a sudden episode.
"Why are you holding me! Let me go!"
"I want to see Qiuhan."
"Yes, I can call him."
Zhang Yiyao pushed the people aside. Her strength was so great that several nurses close to her were forced to step back. Vice Dean Ding hurried over. Seeing him, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Vice Dean Ding nodded to the group, signaling for them to leave.
The room was instantly empty. Vice Dean Ding watched as Zhang Yiyao picked up her phone and dialed a number. Her phone wasn't on speaker, but the volume was loud enough for the sound to echo in the room.
The voice from the phone repeated over and over: Hello, the number you have dialed is currently engaged. Please try again later.
Frustrated, Zhang Yiyao hung up and continued dialing incessantly. The cold, mechanical prompt made her eyes bloodshot. Vice Dean Ding walked in, stood before her, and took the phone. "Yaoyao, stop calling."
Zhang Yiyao looked up. The redness in her eyes made her face look terrifying. She cried out unwillingly, "Why isn't he answering my call!"
"Why?"
Vice Dean Ding sighed. "And what about you? Why didn't you answer his calls a few days ago?"
Zhang Yiyao froze, taking a step back. "I..."
She had just wanted to sever ties with Duan Qiuhan, to play the victim, hoping that seeing her like this would make Ruyun come back, would make Ruyun comfort her.
Seeing her dazed expression, Vice Dean Ding patted her shoulder. "Qiuhan has told me everything."
Zhang Yiyao looked up. "What did he say?"
Vice Dean Ding looked at Zhang Yiyao, his heart unbearably heavy. His connection with Zhang Yiyao and Lu Ruyun ran deep. In Country J, he had been the attending physician for both of them. Originally, he hadn't advised them to interact, but after coming to City A, their relationship had grown closer and their conditions had stabilized. He had made an exception, allowing them to be in contact, hoping to see them recover together.
But that had only been his wishful thinking.
He had always thought Ruyun's condition was more severe, prone to relapses. But it was Zhang Yiyao whose condition had grown progressively worse. She was just too good at hiding it, not letting him see a single sign. Until now, when she could no longer suppress it and it erupted.
Vice Dean Ding's voice was low. "I shouldn't have let you and Ruyun be in contact back then."
Zhang Yiyao shook her head vehemently. "No, that's not it. Where is Ruyun? I want to see her."
Vice Dean Ding stared at her and said helplessly, "Yaoyao, I've already contacted a hospital in Country M. Perhaps a change of environment will be helpful for your condition."
"I don't want to." Zhang Yiyao shook her head frantically. "I don't want to leave. Qiuhan wouldn't want me to go. Yes, I need to see Qiuhan. Let me see him!"
Vice Dean Ding's expression was grave. "This decision was made by Qiuhan."
Zhang Yiyao shuddered at the sight of his serious face. This decision was made by Qiuhan.
She had no family, no friends. For so many years, many decisions had been made for her by Qiuhan. She never imagined that the final decision he would make for her was to send her abroad.
Zhang Yiyao stood rooted to the spot, a chill permeating her entire body. Her fingertips trembled, her body swaying slightly. She gritted her teeth, holding herself upright. Seeing her like this, Vice Dean Ding's eyes held deep regret. He sighed and left the room. Zhang Yiyao was no longer as frenzied as before; her emotions had stabilized somewhat. She turned on the TV and saw Duan Qiuhan on screen, wearing a crisp suit, his features sharp and defined. It had been a long, long time since she had really looked at that face. At this moment, it felt incredibly unfamiliar.
When Duan Qiuhan returned to the backstage from the interview platform, an assistant quickly approached him. The assistant had been replaced; it was now a very experienced older man, steady and reliable. Seeing Duan Qiuhan come down, he took two steps forward and said, "Mr. Duan, Miss Zhang has been calling my phone nonstop."
His phone number was still the one left by the previous assistant, unchanged, so Zhang Yiyao could still get through. Duan Qiuhan looked at his gaunt face and slender figure in the mirror. Without turning his head, he said, "Block it."
The assistant bowed his head and quickly replied, "Understood."
Zhang Yiyao was blocked. Whether she called Duan Qiuhan's number or his assistant's, she couldn't get through. She gritted her teeth hard, a wave of madness rising in her eyes. Her palms were sweaty, sticky and unpleasant. She immediately found the number of a journalist she often contacted.
"Reporter Xiao."
As soon as the call connected, the other side exclaimed, "Miss Zhang?"
Zhang Yiyao's expression relaxed slightly. "It's me. I want to—"
Reporter Xiao quickly cut her off, speaking rapidly. "Oh, my dear lady, I'm telling you, if you don't have any real information, please stop feeding us bogus leads! Mr. Duan is already preparing to sue us. The boss is still figuring out how to handle this. If you're sick, just focus on getting better, alright!"
He hung up immediately after finishing. When Zhang Yiyao tried to call back, the phone was already switched off.
Angry, Zhang Yiyao tried contacting another one.
But no matter who she tried to reach, no one dared to take her calls. Everyone avoided her as if she were the plague.
She slumped onto the floor, a heart-piercing chill setting in.
Under the same moonlight, in two different worlds. Lu Ruyun stayed at He Shuangshuang's apartment until evening. Dinner was takeout ordered by He Shuangshuang. The two sat at the dining table. He Shuangshuang wanted to watch the interview; Lu Ruyun offered no objection, lowering her head to eat.
Watching Duan Qiuhan on TV, impeccably dressed in a suit, composed and calm—completely different from the despondent man of a few days ago—He Shuangshuang felt a surge of emotion. With a click, she turned off the TV.
"Not watching anymore?" Lu Ruyun asked, seeing her turn off the TV, her red lips parting slightly.
He Shuangshuang lowered her head to eat. "Nothing worth seeing."
Lu Ruyun gave a soft "Mm" and continued with her dinner.
After dinner, she said goodbye to He Shuangshuang. She received a message from Duan Qiuhan, telling her he planned to transfer Zhang Yiyao abroad. Lu Ruyun stared at her phone for a long moment before replying with a single word: Okay.
It was just past nine when she returned to the apartment. The apartment was empty, no one there. Lu Ruyun stood at the entrance, her gaze resting on the sofa. Qin Zhenzhen loved lying there to read scripts and scroll through Weibo. When she came across something funny, she would use her toes to nudge Lu Ruyun. Unconsciously, Lu Ruyun's eyes softened. She walked into the apartment.
After her shower, she texted Qin Zhenzhen, proactively reporting her whereabouts.
Qin Zhenzhen had just finished a promotional event and was sitting in the car. Seeing Lu Ruyun's message, she pursed her lips into a smile and replied: Teacher Lu, are you alone in the apartment?
Lu Ruyun: Mm [attached picture].
Qin Zhenzhen's smile deepened: Do you miss me?
Lu Ruyun replied after a long pause: Yes. Miss you very much.
Seeing such an honest answer, Qin Zhenzhen's face immediately flushed. She coughed lightly and put down her phone. Ji Lu beside her exclaimed, "Zhenzhen, have you seen Director Duan's exclusive interview?"
"What exclusive interview?" Qin Zhenzhen turned her head to look and saw a video playing on Ji Lu's phone.
She had caught a flight early this morning to get here and had just finished the promotional event. Apart from having lunch in between, she hadn't had any rest, so naturally, she didn't know what had happened online.
Now, seeing Duan Qiuhan's exclusive interview, she instinctively thought of that unshaven man.
Fortunately, the Duan Qiuhan in the video was meticulously groomed, showing no trace of his previous despondency. His long silence had already piqued countless people's curiosity. This exclusive interview was his first public appearance since the incident, so a lot of people were paying attention.
He first apologized for causing such a huge uproar online, admitting that his absence all these days was indeed him avoiding the issue. But avoidance was ultimately not a solution. Seeing his fans and friends who supported him being abused because of this matter, his conscience was uneasy, so he decided to step forward and tell the truth.
Of course, netizens wouldn't readily buy his official statement. But the evidence he presented made them shut up. Ironclad proof of his assistant conspiring with Zhang Yiyao, ironclad proof of Zhang Yiyao contacting journalists to fabricate the leak. Watching Duan Qiuhan in the video, Qin Zhenzhen suddenly thought of a saying: The person who knows you best is always the one closest to you.
This evidence of his was undoubtedly knives plunged into Zhang Yiyao's body, each one fatal.
The "City A Cheating King" incident had been perfectly reversed after a week, just like the incident between her and Zheng Shaoyuan back then. Daijing Entertainment once again became famous for its exposé. Countless posts and topics sprang up. Duan Qiuhan's fans, suppressed for so long, finally began their counterattack.
Netizens who had originally sympathized with Zhang Yiyao deleted their comments, their Weibo posts, their reposts. Zhang Yiyao transformed from her initial victim position into the perpetrator. Countless netizens directly called her a drama queen. Of course, there were also those who didn't believe Duan Qiuhan, thinking this evidence was fabricated. But such voices were clearly in the minority, because Daijing Entertainment must have verified these materials before daring to release them.
The two sides on Weibo were arguing fiercely. Qin Zhenzhen knew that Duan Qiuhan ultimately hadn't gone to the extreme. He hadn't revealed that Zhang Yiyao was ill. Clearly, that would have been the most advantageous for him, the thing that could most push Zhang Yiyao into the abyss. But he hadn't. He had softened. He couldn't bear to.
Ji Lu glanced at Qin Zhenzhen, noticing she had taken out her phone. She deliberately moved a little further away, tactfully looking at her own phone.
Before her eyes was Duan Qiuhan in his suit, but what she couldn't shake from her mind was the him she had seen at the hospital last time—emaciated, listless, reeking of alcohol. After hearing those hurtful words, he had just endured silently by the door, his body trembling but refusing to make a sound, finally leaving in dejected defeat.
Thinking of that scene, Ji Lu lowered her gaze, instinctively thinking of another person. She glanced at Qin Zhenzhen out of the corner of her eye, saw she was sending a message, and also closed Weibo. She opened WeChat, hesitated for a long time after finding a name, thought left and right, and finally sent a message.
—He Shuangshuang, are you okay?
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