014
Guan Han took out her phone, clenched her jaw slightly, and asked quietly, "What should it say?"
The versatile Assistant Guan passed through countless plans in her mind, one by one, considering the characters of Qin Yinong that she knew.
Qin Yinong's eyes were unhappy, her eyelids closed slightly, and said, "Whoever hit her, tell her to hit them back. I am very busy and I have no time to pay attention to such trivial things. Tell her to stop begging for help next time."
Guan Han was startled. With no time to carefully contemplate these words, she quickly lowered her head and typed.
While her fingers were flying across the keyboard, Qin Yinong stared at her movements, frowning, "Wait, delete everything from my busy schedule and change it to..."
Guan Han waited for her to continue.
"I will bear the consequences. Even if she pokes a hole in the sky, I can fill it back up."
Guan Han pressed backspace to delete, and then typed the new words--this time her movement was much slower.
As expected, halfway through the input, Qin Yinong processed her own sentence: "Wait."
Guan Han stopped.
Qin Yinong rubbed her eyebrows and said, "Is it better not to send the second sentence?"
Guan Han said vaguely: "This…” She wouldn't dare to carelessly express her opinion.
Qin Yinong made a decision on her own: "Don't use that sentence."
"Okay."
For two lines of text, Qin Yinong repeatedly changed the wording.
After Guan Han finished entering, she cautiously confirmed with Qin Yinong. Qin Yinong nodded. She pressed the send button and asked, "Anything else?"
Qin Yinong shook her head and stood up from the sofa. She was wearing slippers and, despite having only sat for a short time, her figure swayed a bit unsteadily. Guan Han stretched one hand out to her, and Qin Yinong stood firmly back against the sofa.
"Want some fruit?" Qin Yinong asked flatly, her attitude changed since the issue with Tang Ruoyao.
"I’ll just have water." Guan Han took a sip from the water cup with both hands.
Having Qin Yinong or her mother cut fruit for her personally, Guan Han was horrified just thinking about it.
"Alright." Qin Yinong didn't persuade her further. Her eyes drooped, and the joy of going home had evaporated. She walked upstairs unhappily and said, "I'll change my clothes, you can ask Aunt Fang if there's anything to do. "
Guan Han replied succinctly behind her: "Okay."
***
Meanwhile, Tang Ruoyao grabbed the phone the moment the screen turned on.
“Qin jie is very busy, she can’t take care of you for the time being, she said whoever hit you, hit them back, she will bear the consequences”
Tang Ruoyao was dumbfounded for a moment, then curled the corners of her lips and laughed mockingly.
Her cheeks turned red as feelings of embarrassment and humiliation came to her heart afterwards.
What did she do ten minutes ago? She put the picture of herself slapped in her private Moments in an attempt to get a little attention. (T/N: her privacy settings on the post were likely set to friends only) You can’t beat a dog in front of its owner. Even if the pet is bullied, Qin Yinong, the owner, should always care about the pet's injury, right? Maybe...she would come to see herself? At least she’d ask Guan Han to check on her, right?
She lowered her posture, as low as the ground, just to beg for Qin Yinong’s pity.
If she had just asked how her face got hurt or if her face was okay, Tang Ruoyao wouldn’t have found it so caustic.
The smile on the corner of her mouth was getting wilder and colder. Tang Ruoyao closed her eyes, clicked on her Moments post, and went to delete it.
The texts were blinding, as if every word was sharply reminding her of her own delusion, and her heart faintly hurt, much more painful than Ruan Qin's slap on her.
Tang Ruoyao long pressed the message box, and the delete option appeared. Her fingertips hovered above it, her eyes flashed and struggled, but she was not willing to delete in the end. “Hmph.”
Tang Ruoyao had the idea of hitting back with a backhand, but it was only at that moment on the spot. Things were all over now. To Ruan Qin, it wasn't that she was submissive, she just didn't care at all.
Tang Ruoyao's mother died young, and her father married another. She was sensible since young, had a good temperament, and didn't pay much attention to the words of others. Her father loved her, and at first, she tolerated the stepmother for her father’s sake. Later, her stepmother gave birth to another child, and Tang Ruoyao’s position in the family became awkward. Her father still loved her, but he poured the same love for the other child. The stepmother changed a lot, and while she didn’t explicitly target her, she knew the woman would talk behind her back.
Tang Ruoyao is from an ordinary family, you can only say that she isn’t poor. But for her who wanted to learn acting, performing art academies and schools are expensive, so the initial investment was steep. Father Tang worked alone, with four mouths to feed. One of them was a baby waiting to be fed. If supporting her cost more money, there'd be less for her stepmother and younger brother. Taking advantage of Tang’s father’s absence, the stepmother scolded Tang Ruoyao and bemoaned loudly that she married to a guy who still had to feed his previous wife's daughter. The neighbors could hear her; she hugged her baby child and cried and told him she's sorry that they could not even afford milk powder, watching the back of Tang Ruoyao who was silently doing housework, sighing and complaining about why she was married into this family.
In fact, Tang Ruoyao started doing part-time jobs very early. She went out to work during the winter and summer vacations. She could basically pay her own tuition and fees. Sometimes when there were surpluses, she would send them all back to the family.
She is used to listening to the harsh wind, and she has already developed the ability to not listen if she doesn't want to. When Ruan Qin ridiculed her, Tang Ruoyao seemed to be focused, but in truth, most of the time, she was in a blank state. Even if the words entered her ears, they would not enter her mind. She knows why Ruan Qin is doing it, she can even understand her, and is willing to let her vent her anger. Just let her say a few words, she will not lose anything. She also knows that Ruan Qin can't do anything under Qin Yinong's deterrence. The woman tried to make waves and failed, so she just let it go.
Tang Ruoyao held her forehead with her hand. Her mind was messy, and she pinched her eyebrows hard to get rid of her memory.
She went to the kitchen and made a simple low-calorie lunch for herself, turned on the TV, and turned to the documentary channel to watch--this was Qin Yinong's habit, which she unconsciously adopted. Qin Yinong entered the entertainment circle on her own, without any professional training. She had many unique insights and methods in her performances that could neither be taught nor learned from any academy.
The curtains in the living room were all closed, only the TV screen was bright. Tang Ruoyao's eyes were focused, her face was illuminated for a while, and then engulfed by darkness.
***
Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Guan Han raised her head. Qin Yinong had changed into a casual home dress, with long hair draped loosely behind her, a loose long T-shirt, white shorts, and slippers. Because of her tall stature, the shorts could only cover the base of her legs, and at first glance they blended in with her legs because of how pale they are.
Guan Han glanced at her long legs, then withdrew her gaze, and habitually looked at the time on her left hand watch.
Took less than five minutes.
Guan Han squinted without a trace. Thinking that Qin Yinong might have something to say, she straightened up.
"Is there any left of the ointment I used last time?" Qin Yinong walked to her and said something out of nowhere.
Guan Han turned her mind around, understood, and asked, "Is it the one you used when filming ‘Crossing the River’?" That movie had a slap scene. Qin Yinong was the one who was slapped, and the one who acted with her was an old man. The two really beat each other, and Qin Yinong's face was swollen. Who knew where Guan Han found such an efficient ointment, and the bruise disappeared after a short while.
Qin Yinong nodded: "That's the one."
"Yes there is." Guan Han frowned slightly, "But I didn't bring it."
However careful and thoughtful she was, it does not mean that she would constantly carry a swelling ointment with her. Never mind the time period before, but now those who dare to slap Qin Yinong's face is clearly tired of living and seek an early death.
Qin Yinong twisted her eyebrows almost imperceptibly, and asked, "Where?"
Guan Han answered honestly: "At my house."
After saying this, Guan Han suddenly felt a ray of bad intuition.
Qin Yinong just looked at her quietly and said nothing.
The clever Assistant Guan understood her unfinished words, and mentally shed a handful of bitter tears for herself.
"Then I will go back and get it now." Guan Han said. She hadn't even eaten lunch yet.
"You haven't eaten lunch yet." Qin Yinong said as if she heard what was in her heart.
Guan Han's eyes lit up inevitably.
She had been sitting in the living room for so long, and she had already smelled the aroma from the kitchen. Ji Shulan's exquisite cooking skills, the stewed black-bone chicken soup had a strong fragrance, and it aroused all the gluttons in her stomach.
Then she saw Qin Yinong bending over to take a big red apple from the fruit plate on the coffee table and stuff it into her hand.
Guan Han: "……"
Didn't she say to treat her like a guest!
Qin Yinong knew that she was wrong, and a suspicious blush appeared on her white cheeks. She raised her hand uncomfortably and tucked the long hair around her ear, avoiding her look, and said indifferently: "Hurry up."
Guan Han took the apple and left.
Ji Shulan came out of the kitchen. There was a BBC documentary on the TV in the living room. She saw Qin Yinong alone on the sofa and said in surprise: "Where is Xiao Guan?" (T/N: Xiao Guan 小关 is used by Aunt Fang to refer to Guan Han. She can say this because they are similar in status and she is much older than Guan Han.)
Qin Yinong said without changing her face, "She left beforehand."
Ji Shulan took some stuff and walked back without much thought. As she walked, she murmured, "It’s lunch. What's so urgent that she had to rush home?"
Qin Yinong listened to Ji Shulan's words completely, with half-drafted eyelids and uncontrollably hot ears.
She coughed and choked on a sip of water, forcing herself to focus on the TV in front of her.
The Qin family was small, and it was just Ji Shulan and Qin Yinong together for the meal. Qin Yinong went outside and pulled Aunt Fang in. Aunt Fang refused in every possible way. Qin Yinong held her shoulders firmly with both hands and locked her in the seat.
Aunt Fang was still struggling.
Ji Shulan said: "Just stay with us."
Aunt Fang moved her lips, wanting to say something, and took a deep look at Ji Shulan, who gave her a soothing look.
Aunt Fang sat down peacefully.
Aunt Fang used to be neighbors with Ji Shulan. Her husband died early, and her daughters were married. She lived alone, and she had been in contact. After Qin Yinong placed Ji Shulan here, she hired Aunt Fang as a caretaker and as someone to keep Ji Shulan company.
Before Aunt Fang could react, Qin Yinong quickly prepared the meals for the three of them, and smiled triumphantly.
The table was silent.
For a female artist who needs to strictly manage her figure, there is only the concept of being more hungry and less hungry--there is no concept of being full. Qin Yinong felt that she was five points full, so she put down her chopsticks and asked Ji Shulan with concern: "Is Ningning adjusting to kindergarten?"
Insert bookmark
The author has something to say:
small theater:
Guan Han (holding an apple tremblingly): I didn't even eat Qin's lunch, my chicken soup
Tang Ruoyao (sighs): I've never eaten it before, anyhow you have eaten it before
Guan Han (eyes rolled): But you can eat your sister
Thanks to the little angel who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angel who cast [Deepwater Torpedo]: 1 from now on;
Thanks to the little angels who cast [Rocket Launcher]: from now on 6; Xuanhu 2;
Thanks to the little angels who cast [Grenade]: Murong Yunsheng 4; I am the future star 3; Tomato scrambled eggs to be salty, nillll, Huaci tears 1;
Thanks for the little angels who cast [land mines]: [Long list of names]
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
translated by drew and edited by mooie