MQSP - Chapter 94
Chapter 94
In the morning, Xia Xiaozi had to wake the two of them up. They had been up so late the night before that they couldn't drag themselves out of bed.
"What were you two doing last night, sleeping in like this?" Xia Xiaozi asked as she set out the bowls and chopsticks, glancing at the pair who were yawning in perfect sync.
The two of them froze, exchanged a look, and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
Lin Yuqing secretly glanced at Gu Xinran beside her, then shot Xia Xiaozi a look, warning her not to bring up a sensitive topic.
Xia Xiaozi got Lin Yuqing's signal and obediently shut her mouth. She muttered to herself, her mind inevitably drifting to certain indescribable scenes. Her face flushed. Those two really couldn't keep their hands off each other for a second!
"Huh? Xinran, you don't look very energetic either. Didn't you sleep well?"
"...Xia Xiaozi! Just eat your breakfast!" Lin Yuqing shot her a harsh glare. Could she be any more clueless?
"Huh? Oh."
As they were eating in silence, a sudden, urgent knock sounded at the door. Lin Yuqing glanced up, an inexplicable sense of unease prickling at her.
"It's me, Fang Yi."
At the sound of her voice, Xia Xiaozi hurried to open the door, revealing a frantic-looking Fang Yi.
"What's wrong? Why are you in such a panic?"
Fang Yi entered the apartment, glanced at everyone, and fixed her gaze on Lin Yuqing. Understanding immediately, Lin Yuqing stood up, and the two of them went upstairs together.
"What happened?"
"Someone figured out that the Flower Witch is Xinran. The internet is in an uproar!"
Lin Yuqing was shocked. Netizens were truly omnipotent—how could they have possibly figured that out?
Taking Fang Yi's phone to look at the Weibo posts, Lin Yuqing understood. It wasn't just baseless speculation. Netizens had analyzed photos from the disaster relief effort showing her and Xinran practically inseparable. There were also pictures of Xinran leading their group when they first arrived in the disaster area. She was standing at the front, and the people behind her—every single one was a major figure in the industry: Xue Yuexian, Jiang Boyan, and Fang Yi, who was following close behind.
Anyone familiar with Xinran would know she used to be very close friends with these people. Many of them had even been implicated in the scandal surrounding her. Combining these new photos with the previously circulated ones of the Flower Witch bearing a striking resemblance to Gu Xinran, it wasn't difficult to compare and analyze them and deduce that the Flower Witch was, in fact, Gu Xinran.
"This is just speculation, right?"
"If it were just speculation, would I be this frantic? Look downstairs." Fang Yi pulled Lin Yuqing to the window and pointed.
Lin Yuqing glanced down and saw the entrance to the residential complex swarming with people. Some had even managed to slip past security and were now engaged in a heated chase with the guards.
"What's going on?" Lin Yuqing froze, her mind flashing back to when the anti-gay protesters had come to cause trouble at her home. But this scene was even worse. At least those people hadn't been so brazen. Now, the entrance to the complex was completely blocked, and it looked like there were several hundred of them.
"Are all these people… here for Xinran? What do they want? They've already forced her into this state. Isn't that enough for them?"
"Now you see why I was so desperate!"
"I'll go down and talk to them, see who they are," Lin Yuqing mused.
"Hey, wait, there are so many of them… What if they're really here to cause trouble? How are you supposed to negotiate? Why don't we wait and see? If it gets out of hand, we can just call the police. It looks like the security guards are managing for now." Fang Yi was more cautious.
"What's going on?"
The two were focused on the commotion downstairs when a voice suddenly sounded from behind them, making them both jump.
"Oh, Xinran, you walk so quietly!" Fang Yi clutched her chest. "It's nothing. A crowd gathered downstairs for some reason, and we were just watching the show."
Gu Xinran glanced at her, walked to the window, and frowned at the sight below. "Who are those people?"
"We don't know. We were just… discussing it."
"Stop discussing it. Let's go have breakfast."
"Ah, okay." Fang Yi nodded quickly. Just as they were about to leave, they heard the crowd below begin to chant.
"Lin Yuqing—Lin Yuqing—Lin Yuqing—"
Lin Yuqing was completely baffled. What on earth did these people want?
For a full ten minutes, the chanting from downstairs never ceased. A few other residents even opened their windows to shout curses at the crowd.
"This is a public disturbance," Xia Xiaozi said, pulling back the curtain to look. The people were still blocking the entrance, shouting, and had even trapped several cars that were trying to get in or out.
"I'm going down to take a look." Lin Yuqing stood and put on her jacket.
"I'll go with you," Baiye immediately chimed in.
"You shouldn't go. I'll go." Fang Yi held the younger woman back. "You stay here and look after your mother," she instructed in a low voice.
"But…"
"It's fine," Lin Yuqing said, patting her hand.
The young woman obediently helped straighten her clothes. "Be careful, then."
"I will."
Lin Yuqing nodded and led Fang Yi away. Baiye watched them leave, then sat beside Gu Xinran and instinctively wrapped her arms around her mother's. Only then did she notice that her mother's hands were gripping the fabric of her pants tightly.
"Mother? Mother, what's wrong?"
"They're here for me."
"What? For you?"
Meanwhile, Lin Yuqing led Fang Yi out of the elevator with purposeful strides.
"Hey, can you try to look a little more composed? Don't look so scared," Lin Yuqing said, glancing back at Fang Yi.
"I… I'm not!" Fang Yi lifted her chin and puffed out her chest, her neck stiff.
"Good, that's better."
The two of them strode confidently to the complex entrance, where security guards had linked arms to form a human wall, holding the crowd at bay.
When the crowd saw Lin Yuqing emerge, a small ripple of excitement went through them.
"You've found my home. What do you want?" Lin Yuqing didn't waste any words, getting straight to the point.
As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Yuqing tilted her head, listening to the cacophony of voices erupting from the crowd.
Finally, someone who appeared to be the leader stepped forward and waved her hands, silencing the chatter.
"Let her through," Lin Yuqing said to the guards after a moment, sizing up the young woman who had stepped forward. She looked to be in her late twenties.
"Are you their representative? What are you all here for?"
"We're here to see Gu Xinran!"
Lin Yuqing frowned and exchanged a look with Fang Yi. "Gu Xinran passed away fourteen years ago. Why would you come to my home looking for her?" she asked with a small smile.
"But that Flower Witch is with you, isn't she? The one from Mount Kema!"
"The Flower Witch is just an ordinary gardener. It's not appropriate for so many of you to come looking for her. Besides, she's already returned to Mount Kema. She was injured during the disaster relief, so we brought her here to recover in the hospital. Now that she's better, she's gone home. She isn't with me anymore."
"Why were you so close with her? Is she Gu Xinran?"
Lin Yuqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Who I associate with is my own business. I enjoy making friends, and I happened to meet her while I was living in seclusion on Mount Kema. There's no other reason. I'd ask you all to please stop speculating."
"But does this Flower Witch look like Gu Xinran? Please don't misunderstand. We're all fans of Gu Xinran. We've missed her so much over the years. When we heard there was someone who looked just like her, we really wanted to meet her. Please, just let us see her!"
"Yes, let us see her!"
The crowd grew noisy again.
Lin Yuqing fell silent for a moment, breathing an inward sigh of relief. So they were Xinran's fans, not troublemakers. That was good. At the same time, she felt a wave of emotion. It was wonderful that people still remembered Xinran, and that they still dared to call themselves her fans.
"Everyone, please be quiet." Fang Yi stepped forward and raised a hand to placate the restless crowd. "I was Gu Xinran's manager. My name is Fang Yi. If you're truly her fans, you should know who I am. Xinran has been gone for fourteen years now. Like all of you, not a moment goes by that I don't miss her."
"I've met this Flower Witch. She's just an ordinary gardener. She is not Xinran. She has her own life, and we shouldn't disturb it."
"Xinran was always someone who hated to trouble others. If you harass this woman just because she bears a slight resemblance to her, I don't think that's something Xinran would have wanted."
"Please, just keep Xinran's memory safe in your hearts. Remember her for the life she lived."
"Gu Xinran—"
"Gu Xinran—Gu Xinran—Gu Xinran…"
Fang Yi's words seemed to have the opposite effect. Her speech only stirred up everyone's memories, making their desire to see the Flower Witch even more urgent. They began to chant Gu Xinran's name in unison.
"Shouting here won't do any good—" Fang Yi tried to stop them, but her voice was completely drowned out by the chanting. No one was listening to her at all.
"What do we do now?" Fang Yi asked Lin Yuqing, covering her ears.
Lin Yuqing covered one of her own ears. Her own fans' cheering had never been this loud!
The security guards were at their limit and began to pressure Lin Yuqing.
The scene descended into chaos.
Suddenly, the chanting came to an abrupt halt. The scene fell eerily silent. Lin Yuqing and Fang Yi were both stunned. They exchanged a look, and in their peripheral vision, they caught sight of two figures approaching from behind them.
Xinran's back was slightly stooped. Wearing a face mask, she walked over slowly, supported by Baiye.
"Why did you two come out?" Lin Yuqing said reproachfully, rushing to meet them.
"Mother said you couldn't handle this, that she had to step forward," Baiye answered in a small voice.
Lin Yuqing glanced at Xinran. Nothing ever escaped her notice.
As for Xinran's fans, they began to whisper among themselves. Now that they were actually seeing the Flower Witch in person, they hesitated to recognize her. It was understandable. After years of bending over to tend her flowers, her posture was no longer ramrod straight, and her gait was slightly aged. It was truly difficult to reconcile this figure with the memory of that spirited, ethereal young woman.
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