Troublesome – Chapter 1

Ambiguity

There’s something not quite right about your girlfriend.

Lu Zhenqiu¹ had just woken up when her phone buzzed with a “dudu” sound. She glanced at the screen; it was a message from a friend, an image—a screenshot concerning her girlfriend, Tang Yingxia².

Three minutes ago, Tang Yingxia had @-ed everyone in a small chat group for close friends and family, telling them that Yu Wen’s³ new book was out and asking anyone who liked it to help promote it.

Lu Zhenqiu entered the group and scrolled up, but she didn’t see this message, only Tang Yingxia’s recall record.

And a couple of sparse chat messages.

【???】

【Xiaxia⁴, you’re in the wrong group, right?】

Afterward, Tang Yingxia recalled that message and replied with a smiley face emoji in the group. Lu Zhenqiu stared at that smiley face emoji, her lips pressed together, her breath catching painfully. Her just-awakened mind snapped sharply awake, a lump forming in her throat, like a fishbone stuck there⁵.

A blush crept into the rims of her eyes, her eye sockets growing warm, her vision blurring. She closed her eyes, put down her phone, and a few seconds later, bit her lip. She used the alt account⁶ she had just applied for yesterday to join Tang Yingxia’s reader group.

Tang Yingxia was her girlfriend. They had been secretly dating for over two years but rarely met. They were in a long-distance relationship, and every time a holiday approached, various unexpected incidents would prevent them from meeting. As for why they hadn’t gone public, it was because Tang Yingxia said she didn’t like readers paying too much attention to her private life and didn’t want to be criticized⁷ by others over every little thing. Lu Zhenqiu respected her, so they had never gone public.

Now, looking at it, was that really the case?

Duu–

She was in the group.

Lu Zhenqiu had the illusion that a lifetime had passed. She used to be an admin⁸ for Tang Yingxia’s group. Later, after confirming her relationship with Tang Yingxia, she left the group to avoid suspicion. When she left, the group only had five hundred members; now it had two thousand, bustling with activity.

【Flower scattering! Flower scattering! Welcome, new sister! Share a voice clip, share a photo!⁹】

A stream of welcomes, much livelier than when she first joined.

Lu Zhenqiu replied with an emoji and scrolled up. Although there were many messages, she easily found the one from three minutes ago.

Shengxia¹⁰: @Everyone, Yu Wen’s new book is out! Remember to help promote it! 【Flying Kiss emoji】

【XiaWen SZD¹¹! XiaWen SZD! Sisters! I’m shipping it so hard¹²!】

【Got some sugar¹³! Promoting right away! Love Xiaxia, love Wenwen!】

【Double kitchen ecstasy¹⁴! Today is another day of getting sugar!】

After scrolling through several messages, a familiar person appeared.

Yu Wen: 【Everyone, please don’t spread rumors. There’s nothing going on.】

When did she join the group?

Tang Yingxia actually never mentioned it.

Lu Zhenqiu bit her lip. It felt as if a wound at the tip of her heart was being brutally torn open, blood streaming out, the pain causing her to curl up. The screen gradually blurred.

Her joining the group was just an insignificant little thing. All the readers started happily discussing the XiaWen CP¹⁵ again. Only Lu Zhenqiu repeatedly read those words.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea!

She threw off the blanket and ran barefoot to the bathroom, lifted the toilet lid, and vomited until the world seemed to spin. The words Tang Yingxia had just typed in the group flashed before her eyes.

Shengxia: 【Right, don’t spread rumors. What if someone misunderstands and this person can’t find a wife and blames me for it?】

Lu Zhenqiu felt like she was about to vomit up her bitter gall.

She sat by the toilet, her back against the cool tiles. The icy sensation seeped from her back to her heart, chilling her. Lu Zhenqiu got up, washed her face, and heard her phone ringing on the bed. She walked over; Tang Yingxia’s name flashed on the screen.

Lu Zhenqiu didn’t answer. She put the phone aside, got up, and turned on her computer. While it was booting up, she changed her clothes and put on light makeup. Her beautiful hair hung loosely behind her. Her features were delicate and pretty, her eyelashes naturally long, dense, and curled upwards. Her skin was fair, and her lipstick was a pale pink.

As soon as she entered the live stream room, a message popped up below: 【Aren’t you taking a break today?】

Lu Zhenqiu replied to Hua Luo¹⁶: 【It’s the last day. Let’s just get through it.】

Hua Luo: 【Did you see the message I sent you?】

Lu Zhenqiu: 【Mm.】

Hua Luo was the first to notice something was off between Tang Yingxia and Yu Wen. They were both authors on the same website. Tang Yingxia had been writing novels for seven or eight years but had always been mediocre¹⁷. Two years ago, when baihe¹⁸ works could be adapted into dramas, an investor took a liking to Tang Yingxia’s novels and bought two of them. After they were broadcast, they performed well, and Tang Yingxia became popular along with them.

Now she was a publicly acknowledged top-tier author¹⁹ in their circle.

As for Yu Wen, she was a newcomer who had just started writing in the last two years, very talented and spirited. Even Lu Zhenqiu, who didn’t write, had it recommended²⁰ to her a few times. But back then, she never imagined Yu Wen would get involved with Tang Yingxia.

The two had mutually followed each other on Weibo three months ago. Not long after, Hua Luo sent her a private message, telling her to pay attention to Tang Yingxia and Yu Wen, saying their relationship was too close. At that time, she was too busy²¹ with switching platforms to deal with it. By the time she was free, she already saw many readers shipping their CP.

Hua Luo: 【Qiuqiu²², do you know who the investor was that bought Tang Yingxia’s two novels before?】

Lu Zhenqiu frowned: 【Who was it?】

Hua Luo: 【No way? Tang Yingxia didn’t tell you?】

A bad premonition welled up in Lu Zhenqiu’s heart. Her stomach, which had just been emptied, churned violently²³ again. She hadn’t eaten three proper meals in days. Recently, when she weighed herself, her weight had plummeted.

Seeing she didn’t reply, Hua Luo directly sent: 【It’s Yu Wen’s family’s company. I thought Tang Yingxia had told you.】

Tang Yingxia hadn’t told her about this.

Lu Zhenqiu clenched her phone, closed her eyes lightly, and regulated her breath.

After a long while, she finally replied: 【No.】

Hua Luo typed a lot of words and then deleted them. Finally, she asked: 【Then, about those things between Tang Yingxia and Yu Wen, did you ask Tang Yingxia?】

Lu Zhenqiu’s fingertips turned white as she typed: 【No.】

Hua Luo: 【You don’t still believe Tang Yingxia’s bullsh#t²⁴, do you?】

What “don’t want readers to know I’m dating,” “don’t want too many people focusing on my private life,” “don’t want to be pointed at and judged”—just an author acting like a celebrity, being all secretive about a relationship. Hua Luo really didn’t understand.

But that was before. What’s going on with Yu Wen now?

This doesn’t need to be hidden?

Lu Zhenqiu didn’t reply. She stared at the computer for a rather long time. After a while, her phone buzzed “dudu” twice. She tilted her head and saw a message from Tang Yingxia: 【Wifey, are you awake?】

She clutched her phone, momentarily dazed.

There was a sound at the door. Lu Zhenqiu looked over. A Golden Retriever was sitting there. Seeing Lu Zhenqiu look over, the Golden Retriever wagged its tail, walked over, and leaned against Lu Zhenqiu, seemingly knowing she was in a bad mood.

Lu Zhenqiu patted the dog’s head, her voice slightly hoarse, “Maomao²⁵, go play.”

Maomao whimpered “wuwu” twice and stayed by her side.

Fans gradually entered the live stream room. This was a small platform. The entertainment section was managed by a friend of Tang Yingxia. Back then, the platform was just starting out, focusing its main efforts on the gaming section, spending heavily to acquire several well-known streamers. There weren’t many people in the entertainment section, so Lu Zhenqiu was scouted. Later, the platform ran into trouble, and those game streamers took their fans to other platforms. The fledgling platform collapsed just like that. However, Lu Zhenqiu had stayed because of Tang Yingxia’s friend. This year, her two-year contract was up, and the platform couldn’t afford to renew it, so Lu Zhenqiu had started looking for other platforms in advance.

Although the platform was small, Lu Zhenqiu still had some fans. When these fans saw Lu Zhenqiu start her live stream, they exclaimed “wawa” with joy!

【Qiuqiu! Didn’t you have a cold? Why are you still streaming?】

Lu Zhenqiu indeed had a cold these past two days. She hadn’t been able to sleep during her nap just now, so she decided to get up and stream for a while.

Anyway, it was the last day.

She explained with a faint smile in the live stream room. Her fans were concerned about her health, and two or three of them asked: 【Qiuqiu, which platform are you going to?】

Lu Zhenqiu smiled, “It’s not completely decided yet.”

The fans were tactful and changed the topic. Lu Zhenqiu usually sang songs, but her throat wasn’t good these two days, so she just chatted with her fans. As they chatted, the conversation turned to a recent baihe drama, an adaptation of Tang Yingxia’s novel.

【I love the casting! I love the novel too! Qiuqiu, have you heard of Shengxia?】

Lu Zhenqiu’s action of drinking water paused.

Fans were already spamming the bullet comments²⁶.

【Of course, she knows her! Qiuqiu and Xiaxia have collaborated before!】

【Yes! Qiuqiu voiced a character in the audio drama for Xiaxia’s novel!】

Lu Zhenqiu lowered her eyes and sipped some warm water. The bullet comments were already buzzing with conversation. She didn’t speak, just watched the comments, seeing them move from the new drama to Tang Yingxia, and then to Tang Yingxia and Yu Wen.

【Xiaxia is really different towards Wenwen. She even helped promote her new work this time.】

【I also think Xiaxia and Wenwen are so shippable, it’s killing me with sweetness.】

A drop of scorching oil fell onto the tip of Lu Zhenqiu’s heart, burning one hole after another into it. Her face turned pale, her hand tightening around the cup. After telling her fans she wasn’t feeling well, she ended the live stream.

Hua Luo’s message arrived immediately: 【Qiuqiu, are you okay?】

Lu Zhenqiu felt dizzy. She wanted to reply to Hua Luo that she was fine, but her hand quickly tapped into Tang Yingxia’s chat window.

She pondered for a few seconds and sent to Tang Yingxia: 【Tang Yingxia, Maomao is missing.】

Tang Yingxia was currently chatting with Yu Wen about the new novel. Seeing Lu Zhenqiu’s profile picture pop up, she frowned for a few seconds: 【How did it go missing?】

Lu Zhenqiu stared at her phone, her gaze heavy, her typing hand feeling as if it weighed a thousand jin²⁷: 【I just opened the door to get a package, and Maomao saw the door open and rushed out.】

Such a clumsy lie, would Tang Yingxia see through it? Maomao’s temperament was so gentle; it would never rush out recklessly. Besides, deliveries in this residential complex weren’t brought upstairs; Tang Yingxia had told her that.

But Tang Yingxia didn’t notice.

Tang Yingxia sent: 【Did you go downstairs to look? It must be just downstairs, it couldn’t have run far. Go look downstairs.】

Not a single phone call came.

Lu Zhenqiu’s breath hitched, her throat bitter and astringent. She typed: 【Got it.】

Just as she sent it, she saw a Weibo push notification at the top of her screen.

Yu Wen: New book is out! Hope you all like it. Lastly, a special thanks to Xia Shen²⁸. You connected with me via voice chat²⁹ so many times late at night to help me revise my manuscript. When the new book makes money, I’ll treat you to a hot spring @Shengxia.

Lu Zhenqiu clicked on the comments, a familiar and glaring name.

Shengxia: Get your swimsuit ready @Yu Wen.

The comment was from one minute ago.

And one minute ago, she had just told Tang Yingxia that the dog had run off and was missing.

Lu Zhenqiu’s last shred of hope shattered. She curled up on the sofa, clutching her phone to her chest, in too much pain to make a sound. Until evening, Tang Yingxia didn’t send Lu Zhenqiu a single message, nor did she ask if the dog had returned. Lu Zhenqiu leaned against the sofa, resting against Maomao. After thinking for a long time, she finally sent a message to Hua Luo.

Lu Zhenqiu: 【Are you there?】

Hua Luo: 【Here, here, here! What’s wrong?】

Lu Zhenqiu: 【You mentioned last time that a friend of yours had a house for rent. Has it been rented out?】

Hua Luo: 【Let me ask for you.】

Then, Hua Luo found Jin Shuilan³⁰ in her contacts, nervously moistened her lips, composed her message, and sent it.

Jin Shuilan was sitting by the window, looking down at a script. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on her high-bridged nose. The crystal lamp illuminated her profile, highlighting her sharp, well-defined features. Her phone screen lit up. Jin Shuilan took off her glasses, pinched the bridge of her nose, picked up her phone with one hand, and saw a message: 【Teacher Jin³¹, you mentioned in your Moments³² before that you have a house for rent. Has it been rented out yet?】

---

---