Chapter 7: If You Comfort , The Pain Will Go Away
Zhi Qi, having no information about her midnight race for tickets with tens of thousands of people, simply waited for Jiang Ying’s ssage after returning to school.
After waiting for a few days without receiving any official announcent about the fan eting from the “Gazing at the Sky” drama group, a trending topic about Jiang Qi suddenly appeared on Weibo.
The headline was shocking for innocent bystanders:
#The Real Reason Behind Jiang Qi’s Imprisonnt? [Explosive]#
Zhi Qi’s heart skipped a beat, and she involuntarily furrowed her eyebrows, trembling as she clicked into the trending topic. No artist would buy such a trending topic. Jiang Qi’s situation was genuinely discovered by netizens, and the number of vile comnts inside was overwhelming.
At the top of the discussion was ‘Orange Entertainnt,’ which considered itself an exposé revealing the truth. The news article was filled with malice:
[Orange Entertainnt V: Jiang Qi, who debuted with the role of ‘Purple Microstar’ in Director Shen Lei’s movie, is he a real Purple Microstar or a deceitful black lotus? According to an informant, Jiang Qi had been imprisoned before entering the entertainnt industry, and after thorough investigation, it seems to be related to ‘peach-colored news’…]
A lengthy paragraph followed, practically insinuating that Jiang Qi had been imprisoned for ‘molesting girls,’ ‘sexual assault attempts,’ and other reasons.
Jiang Qi, with excellent personal conditions, unexpectedly erged in the entertainnt industry, blocking the path for countless others. Orange Entertainnt was willing to be the first bird to attract firepower. Once this news was released, it would naturally be reposted by various marketing accounts, and almost every Weibo post beca a battlefield without gunpowder.
Apart from Jiang Qi’s fans, almost no one was willing to verify the truth for concrete evidence. The bystanders joined forces to curse fiercely—perhaps, they hoped the news itself was true, eagerly venting their criticism from the moral high ground as keyboard warriors, feeling an unmatched glory.
After all, the entertainnt industry had been too dull for too long.
Jiang Qi’s appearance and the surrounding news around him were like a provocative card.
Watching the online rumors and discussions, Zhi Qi’s face turned pale. She couldn’t help but toss her phone fiercely. The usually gentle and delicate features seed to have a thin layer of ice, and she muttered coldly, “Nonsense.”
It was all f*cking nonsense. The young girl couldn’t help but curse in her mind, her slender fingers tightly clenched. ng Chunyu happened to co back with a bowl of sesa noodles. She pushed open the dormitory door and saw Zhi Qi’s icy deanor.
—She almost thought she had walked into the wrong room.
In the three years as roommates, ng Chunyu had never seen Zhi Qi, this little fairy, look so “cold and murderous.”
She couldn’t help but take a deep breath, walked over, and cautiously poked Zhi Qi’s shoulder, asking softly, “Qiqi, what’s, what’s wrong with you?”
Zhi Qi pursed her lips and remained silent, staring at her phone. Following her gaze, ng Chunyu looked over and, sowhat skeptical, picked up the phone. The result…
“Oh damn, so f*cking sensational!” Zhi Qi’s phone was still unlocked, and the lit screen displayed Jiang Qi’s ‘exclusive revelations.’ ng Chunyu’s eyes widened, and her voice stumbled, “This, this, is it… true? My goodness, can he really be whitewashed after this?”
Zhi Qi, like a cat with its tail stepped on, stood up without hesitation and said, “Of course, it’s fake! He didn’t do anything wrong, why should he be whitewashed?!”
…
ng Chunyu was stunned for a mont, then raised her eyebrows skeptically and looked at Zhi Qi, “How do you know? And why are you so sure?”
Although fan filters were a real thing, Zhi Qi’s recent appearance made it seem as if she really knew the truth. In fact, shouldn’t everyone still be guessing about this gossip? Why was Zhi Qi so confident?
ng Chunyu’s keenness made Zhi Qi pause for a mont. Biting her lip, she defended herself, “I… I just feel that he’s not that kind of person.”
.
The explanation seed a bit weak. If it’s just a ‘feeling,’ the tone shouldn’t be like it was just now.
“Qiqi, I always feel it’s strange how obsessed you are with Jiang Qi.” ng Chunyu herself was a very intelligent girl, adept at following leads and drawing conclusions. She thought for a mont, tilting her head as she probed, “What exactly attracts you to him?”
Zhi Qi lowered her head in silence. After a while, she took a deep breath and looked at ng Chunyu.
“I know him.”
“So… I understand what kind of person he is.”
Actually, telling ng Chunyu wasn’t a big deal because she didn’t want her own acquaintances, good friends, to have bias against Jiang Qi. She knew clearly why Jiang Qi ended up in that situation, and Zhi Qi knew one thing for sure—there should never be any scandal involving Jiang Qi.
Because she believed that, apart from herself, the young man wouldn’t like anyone.
*
In the sixth grade, Zhi Qi realized that her ‘protective instinct’ towards Jiang Qi had beco quite serious. At that ti, they had spent almost two years together in the sa school. As graduation approached, the little girl was naturally reluctant to part ways.
“Jiang Qi.” During lunch break, as usual, Zhi Qi ran over to bring lunch to the boy. The two ‘elentary school students’ huddled in a corner of the school playground, each holding a lunch box. While Jiang Qi was eating, Zhi Qi found it hard to eat.
Under the scorching sun, she found herself standing behind the boy, shaded from the sun. Unconsciously, her gaze was fixed on the back of Jiang Qi’s head, and she murmured, “Which middle school will you go to?”
For so reason, Jiang Qi was taller than boys of the sa age. Zhi Qi rembered that two years ago, she was significantly shorter than him. Now, two years later, at the age of thirteen, Jiang Qi had grown a head taller than her—strange, weren’t girls supposed to grow taller first?
She mumbled sowhat disappointedly when she heard the boy’s calm voice, “I don’t know.”
“Oh,” Zhi Qi muttered in disappointnt. Her double ponytails, tied tightly, seed to droop along with her mood.
She looked like a pitiful and tender little rabbit. Jiang Qi wasn’t very good at discerning when Zhi Qi was playfully acting pitiful and when she was genuinely unhappy. He just felt at a loss when he saw the disappointed look on the girl’s face.
The boy’s slender fingers unconsciously tugged at his clothes. After pursing his lips for a while, he explained with difficulty, “I really don’t know.”
“My household registration might be moved to my uncle’s place, and I don’t know which school district I’ll be in.”
He was genuinely uncertain about his future, not trying to evade or pacify Zhi Qi.
“Oh,” but Zhi Qi didn’t feel happy hearing that—how could she be happy when she couldn’t find out where Jiang Qi would go?
The little girl could only sigh in a mature manner and tell him about her destination, “I might go to Eighth Middle School. How about you?”
…
Jiang Qi couldn’t make promises about such things.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” The girl, with her small and sharp chin resting on the lunchbox, blinked her eyes like black grapes, revealing undisguised anticipation, “Isn’t it good for us to be in the sa school?”
For the first ti in his life, soone looked at him with ‘expectation’ in their eyes. He couldn’t bear to refuse Zhi Qi’s request. Although not very expressive, in the two years of elentary school together, he rarely said no to the girl. For example, when Zhi Qi asked him to help with her howork, to eat together, or even to braid the girl’s hair that had accidentally co undone…
Jiang Qi had unconsciously beco quite adept at these things.
Perhaps Zhi Qi had grown accustod to having him in her life and didn’t want to experience the separation that graduation would bring. Similarly, Jiang Qi was reluctant to part with her.
Under Zhi Qi’s eager gaze, the boy nodded slowly, “I… I’ll ask.”
He still couldn’t directly commit because deciding where he wanted to go was never entirely up to him.
“That’s great! You must ask, okay?” Zhi Qi smiled, her big eyes forming crescents, and the obsidian-like pupils glittering, “I don’t want to be apart from you.”
What if soone bullied Jiang Qi again?
For the past two years, Zhi Qi had gotten used to following Jiang Qi like a little tail. Even senior boys who once thought about throwing punches at the boy would cleverly avoid her. Until they also reached the sixth grade and beca ‘senior’ students. The girl’s open attachnt made Jiang Qi unconsciously feel a flutter in his heart. His sapphire-colored pupils stared at Zhi Qi’s doll-like face. Jiang Qi heard his own voice gently asking—
“Why don’t you want to be apart from ?”
The abrupt question startled the girl, who had never considered this. Zhi Qi pouted her rosy lips, thought for a mont, and then shook her head, “No reason, I just don’t want to.”
The true answer in her heart was that she still wanted to be with him, not wanting the boy to be bullied and scarred. Zhi Qi still rembered a day in fifth grade when Jiang Qi didn’t co to school without notice. He arrived at school only at noon. The boy’s pale face showed distinct bruises, clearly indicating that he had been beaten. There was a long cut on his arm, still oozing blood.
The girl, not accustod to such a ‘bloody’ scene, burst into tears.
Even though Jiang Qi was naturally not good with words, he had to endure the pain and comfort her. Pretending to be gruff, he said, “Why are you crying?”
“What, what happened to you?” Zhi Qi’s fair face was now red-eyed. She cried breathlessly, as if she were the one who had been beaten and was bleeding, “Did soone hit you again?”
The word ‘again’ caused the boy’s slender body to stiffen. Jiang Qi felt sowhat embarrassed and awkwardly responded with a reluctant “Hmm.”
“Don’t fight anymore, okay?” Zhi Qi took out a few adhesive bandages, as if afraid he might be in pain, and clumsily applied them to Jiang Qi’s wounds. A layer of mist seed to have gathered on her long eyelashes as she timidly looked at him.
“Does it hurt a lot?” She really looked like a little rabbit.
Almost involuntarily, Jiang Qi said sothing he would never say according to his usual character, “If you comfort , it won’t hurt anymore.”
Zhi Qi clearly seed surprised.
“How should I comfort you?” The girl had never actively ‘comforted’ anyone before, except for the coquetry to please her parents. She thought earnestly for a mont and then smiled at Jiang Qi, “Don’t fight anymore, I’ll protect you, okay?”
In fact, Zhi Qi vaguely knew that there were many things wrong with Jiang Qi, but she still hoped she could protect him. And from the beginning to the end, she consistently carried out this clumsy protection.
At this mont, when the boy asked the question, “Why don’t you want to be apart from ?” Zhi Qi asked her still tender heart and quickly found an answer.
Because of her extre protective instinct towards Jiang Qi.
*
[We promised to be together from the age of thirteen.]
[Although the boy lied along the way, he wouldn’t like anyone else, right?]
[Jiang Qi, so I don’t believe any rumors about you.]
[DAY.35.]
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