The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 73

Sweetheart​¹

The two of them just stared at each other like that. For a moment, the world around them seemed to quiet down instantly; within the vast Lianxiang Lou, only the two people gazing at each other remained.

The moment she truly saw the person again, Chi Qianning looked at the clearly stunned Song Linlin, and all the questions she had prepared were thrown to the back of her mind. The jealousy that had been growing wildly in her heart was also soothed upon meeting those dark blue eyes. All negative emotions were smoothed away, and even her cold expression softened in an instant. The layer of frost in her eyes quickly melted, transforming into an indescribable emotion.

            

Just by seeing Song Linlin once, even though the other party hadn’t done anything yet, Chi Qianning was immediately beaten. This was truly a dangerous thing, and also a rare exception for her.

After staring at each other quietly for several seconds, Song Linlin gradually came to her senses. Only then did she realize she had been staring at a beautiful, unfamiliar woman for so long. In this era where unrelated boys and girls were not supposed to have direct contact​², this behavior was somewhat impolite.

She averted her gaze somewhat unnaturally. To cover up her abrupt behavior, Song Linlin lowered her head, raised her hand to pick up the teacup, and took a sip of water. Her throat had inexplicably started to feel dry. The warm tea slid down her throat, her laryngeal cartilage rolling slightly. She took a sip of water to calm herself.

            

Then Song Linlin raised her eyes again, looking at the unfamiliar yet excessively beautiful woman before her. The other party had remained standing in front of her, so she spoke politely:

“Miss, is there something you need?”

Hearing these words, especially this overly polite yet distant tone, Chi Qianning frowned slightly almost subconsciously after listening. She looked at Song Linlin with a questioning gaze, as if she hadn’t expected that upon meeting again, the first thing the other party would say would be such a sentence.

            

Just moments ago, she had imagined several things the other party might say, but none of them were like the current situation.

What was going on?

Chi Qianning sized up Song Linlin with a scrutinizing gaze: long black hair, crescent-moon eyebrows, a pair of dark blue eyes, even the small, light-colored mole on the bridge of her nose was in the exact same position. This mole was easily overlooked and could only be noticed up close. Even if two people looked extremely alike, it would be impossible for them to coincidentally match in such a small detail.

            

Moreover, the scent emanating from the person sitting opposite her was also identical to Song Linlin’s. Everyone’s scent is different; such a unique scent could not be faked.

So, the person sitting opposite her now was definitely Song Linlin herself, as real as could be.

But why would Song Linlin say such a thing? Her current appearance was just like those irresponsible, heartless people…

            

Chi Qianning was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

Song Linlin and Chi Qianning stared at each other, eyes wide. Song Linlin was a bit dumbfounded; an unfamiliar beautiful woman had inexplicably walked up to her, stood there without speaking, and the emotions in her eyes kept changing. This made Song Linlin somewhat uncertain. She hesitated and then spoke:

“Uh… excuse me, Miss, do we know each other? I’ve forgotten some things recently, so I don’t quite remember if I’ve met you.”

            

Hearing this, Chi Qianning’s eyebrows furrowed even more. She carefully observed Song Linlin’s expression. After speaking, the other party even blinked at her, looking very sincere, with a clear honesty in her eyes. It didn’t seem fake.

So… Song Linlin had amnesia, and just by sheer coincidence, she had forgotten her?!

Chi Qianning’s face darkened. Her feelings were complicated now, unsure whether to be relieved that Song Linlin merely had amnesia and wasn’t some heartless person pretending not to know her, or to be resentful that the other party had managed to forget her so completely.

            

After a few seconds of silence, Chi Qianning finally sighed. Regardless, as long as the person was still alive, that was enough. It was just amnesia, right? It wasn’t as if she couldn’t recover her past memories.

In the past, she had heard many rumors of people losing their memories due to various incidents, and these people later slowly recovered their memories.

Moreover, for Song Linlin to inexplicably lose her memory and wander here, she must have experienced some bad things at Luojiang Cliff. Forgetting might actually be a good thing.

            

Once Chi Qianning figured these things out, she wasn’t in a hurry to acknowledge the other party. Following Song Linlin’s question, she shook her head and said lightly, “No, we have not met before.”

“Oh, I see…”

Song Linlin nodded. She had thought for a moment that the other person was someone she had met before, but because she seemed to have lost some memories, she couldn’t recognize her. So, they had never met at all!

            

Thinking about it, this made some sense. After all, the person opposite her was so good-looking, with such unique features—silver hair and red eyes—Song Linlin had only ever seen such an appearance in anime. In reality, even if she had only seen her from a distance once, she would surely have some impression; there was no way she wouldn’t remember.

The person opposite her was still looking at her, showing no intention of leaving. Song Linlin had no choice but to find a topic and introduced herself:

“My name is Song Linlin.”

            

“Mm.”

Chi Qianning nodded. Of course, she knew Song Linlin’s name. Staring at the person opposite her, a smile suddenly curved her lips, and she said with a light laugh, “Lin Qianqian.”

“Lin Qianqian?” Song Linlin repeated in a low voice.

            

Looking at this name alone, there wasn’t anything wrong with it, but why did it always feel a bit strange when it appeared together with her own name?

It must be her imagination…

Song Linlin shook her head, casting aside those strange thoughts, and asked doubtfully, “Hmm… Miss Lin, what are you doing here at Lianxiang Lou? Is there something you need?”

            

For a young woman who wasn’t one of the brothel’s girls to appear in a brothel was very strange. Song Linlin was very curious about her purpose, especially since she was so beautiful. If she was here looking for someone, that would be too outrageous!

That person must have something wrong with their head to leave such a beautiful person at home and still come to a brothel.

“Just call me Lin Qianqian.”

            

Noticing the unfamiliarity in Song Linlin’s tone, Chi Qianning first said this, and then answered specifically, “I came here to find someone.”

She really was here to find someone!

Song Linlin was shocked. It was hard to imagine such a thing actually happening. However, to prevent any misunderstanding, Song Linlin spoke cautiously, asking for details:

            

“Miss Lin… Lin Qianqian, you came here to find?”

“To find my sweetheart.”

Chi Qianning looked at Song Linlin, her answer this time extremely firm. Almost as soon as the other party finished asking, she immediately replied, without a trace of hesitation.

            

But the Song Linlin opposite her felt sorry for Lin Qianqian. Sure enough, it was just as she thought…

This was truly not appreciating the good fortune one has. To have such a partner and still heartlessly visit a brothel, it was truly detestable.

Song Linlin couldn’t stand to see such things happen. She immediately stood up, deciding to act bravely for a just cause, and she absolutely had to help the other party drag out that detestable, heartless man.

            

So, with a righteous expression, Song Linlin volunteered, “Lin Qianqian, it’s too inconvenient for a young lady like you to be here alone. What if you run into bad people? It’s better if I accompany you to look!”

Chi Qianning wore a pleasantly surprised expression and very naturally reached out to take Song Linlin’s arm, her tone surprised, “Really? Would that be too much trouble for you?”

As she spoke, Chi Qianning lowered her head, the smile on her lips somewhat helpless, and said understandingly, “After all, this is just my own business. Actually, it’s fine if I go alone.”

            

But in Song Linlin’s eyes, Chi Qianning’s appearance was entirely that of someone still heartbroken over a faithless lover, while also being too embarrassed to trouble others. So, she immediately said, “How could it be? It’s no trouble at all! Lin Qianqian, I’ll go with you to find him!”

Song Linlin only noticed these superficial things, completely ignoring that this Lin Qianqian, while saying it was fine, had actually reached out and firmly taken her arm.

“In that case, I’ll have to trouble you.”

            

Chi Qianning, holding Song Linlin’s arm, gave Song Linlin a gentle smile. Completely captivated by the smile on that face, Song Linlin didn’t notice anything amiss. She even felt indignant on the other’s behalf, deciding that after catching that heartless man, she would definitely teach him a good lesson for Lin Qianqian, preferably by giving him a good beating, so that this bastard would never dare come to a brothel again!

Highly motivated, Song Linlin led the person up the stairs at the side. She knew that these overnight guests all stayed on the third floor and above. It was just that going into the rooms to catch people would very likely lead to seeing things one shouldn’t see. Song Linlin didn’t plan to go in herself; there was a high chance it would offend her eyes.

With her free hand, she beckoned to the attendant behind her. Song Linlin said, “Attendant, follow us! Later, you go in and drag out the people in the rooms one by one. Don’t go easy on them. Except for the girls of the house, don’t let a single one of the others go!”

            

The attendant following behind could only fret anxiously. Why was it that if that Miss Lin wanted to find someone, fine, but why was this one so eager to help?

He didn’t dare to provoke a Golden Core Stage cultivator. Now that Song Linlin was proactively helping to catch an adulterer, how could the attendant dare to disobey? Moreover, his throat was still hoarse; no matter what, he had to follow the two people in front.

The three of them went upstairs. Song Linlin and Chi Qianning walked side by side, while the attendant respectfully followed behind them, not daring to block them from approaching the guest rooms.

            

Soon, Song Linlin reached the first room and, pointing at the door, said, “Attendant, go in and drag the person inside out!”

The attendant walked to the door, pushed it, but realized it was locked from the inside. He couldn’t open it at all.

Unfortunately, the attendant couldn’t speak right now. He could only turn around, gesturing with his fingers, trying to make Song Linlin understand the situation inside using sign language.

            

Song Linlin, however, was completely bewildered, unable to understand what the attendant was wildly gesturing about. She frowned and said in confusion, “What’s this? Can’t you just speak? It’s not like you’re mute.”

The two were like a chicken talking to a duck​³. Just as the attendant was about to nod and indicate that he really had become mute, and that it was the woman beside her who did it, the restriction in his throat suddenly disappeared, and he could make sounds again.

This surprising discovery made the attendant subconsciously turn his head to look at Chi Qianning. As a result, he saw her squinting at him, the threat in her eyes self-evident.

            

Her current appearance was worlds apart from the understanding demeanor she had just now. Chi Qianning’s dangerous gaze startled the attendant, and he quickly swallowed the words of complaint he was about to voice.

“What are you looking at?”

Song Linlin noticed the attendant’s unusual behavior and followed his gaze to look at Chi Qianning. The moment she turned her head, Chi Qianning immediately concealed her emotions, once again appearing harmless.

            

Song Linlin didn’t see anything amiss. When she turned back, Chi Qianning beside her even smiled at her.

“Nothing!”

The attendant didn’t dare to dwell on this matter too much. He immediately started to change the subject, pointing at the door, “Madam, this door is locked from the inside. It can’t be pushed open directly from the outside.”

            

“Oh? Is that so?”

Song Linlin’s attention was indeed diverted, and she no longer pursued the previous issue. She waved the attendant aside and then lifted her foot to kick heavily at the wooden door.

With a loud bang, the lock inside the door was directly kicked broken. Song Linlin easily kicked the door open. The people inside were startled awake by the huge commotion, and a few angry curses immediately came from the room, extremely dissatisfied at being woken up so early in the morning.

            

Song Linlin, however, didn’t care about their curses at all. She said to the attendant, “Alright, you go in, tell the people inside to get dressed, and then roll out to see me.”

“Yes, yes!”

The attendant was stunned by her actions, afraid that if he displeased Song Linlin, the next kick would land on his waist. He immediately obeyed and walked into the room. Disregarding the man’s wishes inside, he forcefully grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out.

            

The one dragged out was a young dandy. On the way, he was still cursing incessantly, furious that a mere underling in a brothel dared to be so bold as to kick open his door and drag him out of his room.

But when he saw the two women standing outside the door, his incessant angry curses immediately stopped. First, of course, he was shocked that such a beautiful woman was standing outside his door, and only then did he see Song Linlin.

He had seen the scene where Song Linlin previously drove away the troublemaking ruffians and knew that the other party was a Golden Core Stage cultivator. He, a mere mortal, couldn’t possibly defeat someone at the Golden Core Stage.

            

“Is it him?” Song Linlin couldn’t be bothered to explain the cause of the matter, directly pointing at the man and turning to ask Chi Qianning.

Chi Qianning shook her head, “No.”

“Alright then, attendant, let the man go. We’re going to the next room!”

            

Song Linlin left with her companion without looking back, leaving the man standing there in a daze, and began to kick down doors and grab people in sequence.

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The author has something to say:

A little green tea act​⁴~ Although it’s a bit late to say it now, I still wish everyone a happy and healthy Dragon Boat Festival​⁵!

            

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