Troublesome – Chapter 43

Dreaming

She just wants to hold Lu Zhenqiu.

True to the principle that patients deserve extra care, Lu Zhenqiu had arranged everything perfectly for Jin Shuilan. Lying on the sofa, Jin Shuilan called out, “Qiuqiu, I want some water.”

The cup on the coffee table was already empty. Lu Zhenqiu picked it up and said, “I’ll go get you some.”

She returned with a plate of sliced apples and handed it to Jin Shuilan. Jin Shuilan ate a few pieces, but her throat was burning so badly that she couldn’t taste much of anything. Still, a sweetness bloomed in her heart.

After a little while, she shifted her body and looked at Lu Zhenqiu.

A laptop was placed in front of Lu Zhenqiu. She was sitting on the floor below the coffee table, her back leaning against the sofa. Since there wasn’t a low enough stool, she had simply placed a cushion on the plush carpet. With the underfloor heating on, it wasn’t cold.

She was reading the script for a radio drama.

Jin Shuilan had told her to go read in her room, but seeing Jin Shuilan resting on the sofa, she worried she might need medicine for her fever in a timely manner, so she didn’t go back, thinking she should take extra care of her.

She was still so considerate.

A warmth surged in Jin Shuilan’s heart, and her gaze toward Lu Zhenqiu grew even more tender. She couldn’t help but call out, “Qiuqiu.”

Lu Zhenqiu hummed in response, the end of the sound rising in an unconscious acknowledgment as she turned her head. The light caught the crown of her head, casting a soft halo. Jin Shuilan asked, “You haven’t finished reading yet?”

“Not yet.” Lu Zhenqiu was taking notes as she read, the paper beside her covered in dense, tiny characters. She was serious and meticulous in her work. Now, hearing Jin Shuilan speak, she simply asked her, “Teacher Jin, for this part, would it be better for the emotion to be higher, or a bit lower?”

Teacher Jin propped herself up to look, her chin landing perfectly on Lu Zhenqiu’s shoulder. She was still running a fever, a walking personal warm baby¹. Lu Zhenqiu only felt a wave of heat travel from the side of her neck to her cheek, the skin warmed by it turning hot.

She subconsciously shifted a little to the side, putting some distance between herself and Jin Shuilan.

Sensing her movement, Jin Shuilan didn’t press forward again, instead looking at the screen and saying, “Is this the part about returning to the city?”

Lu Zhenqiu nodded. “Yes, this part.”

Jin Shuilan said, “A bit higher, then. Morale is low at this point, with spirits fluctuating. She needs to use her emotion to drive the morale of the soldiers.”

With that explanation, Lu Zhenqiu understood. She lowered her head and jotted down a few notes. Jin Shuilan said no more and, bored, scrolled through Weibo for a while. Her social feed was flooded with news about Tang Yingxia’s upcoming book signing event. Jin Shuilan wasn’t a fan of this kind of over-the-top promotion for every little thing. Shaking her head, she blocked the post, and her feed instantly became much quieter. Hua Luo’s post jumped out, exceptionally conspicuous.

Hua Luo: 【Good grief, are people not allowed to write about topics they’ve written about before these days?】

Curious, Jin Shuilan took a closer look. She knew that Hua Luo had started a new book—Lu Zhenqiu had mentioned it once—but what was this issue with a clashing topic? She clicked open the comment section.

【No one said you can’t write it, but it’s the same topic, one after the other. What’s wrong with someone giving a well-intentioned reminder?】

【Isn’t this the author who threw shade at our Wenwen before?】

【You’re both authors, don’t you know what a clashing topic means? Stop playing the innocent little rabbit. You dare say you didn’t choose this topic because you were jealous of someone else’s success?】

【Write it if you want. Clashing topics isn’t scary; whoever’s work is ugly is the one who gets embarrassed.】

Each of these comments had nearly two hundred replies; the fans from both sides had started fighting. And Hua Luo’s post had been up for less than an hour. It wasn’t that she was underestimating Hua Luo’s traffic, but someone was clearly stirring up trouble.

And they were trying to step on Hua Luo, using her as a stepping stone.

Jin Shuilan’s finger tapped on the post. After a moment’s thought, she helped by reposting it with just four words: 【Congrats on the new story.】

Her entry into the fray was like a sudden bolt of lightning in a thundering sky. The first place to erupt was Jin Shuilan’s own Weibo, where readers swarmed to playfully chide her: 【Teacher Jin, how dare you congratulate someone else! Where’s your new story!】

【Congratulations to Teacher Jin on her upcoming new story!】

【Ooooh, my grandson told me my favorite author posted on Weibo. Let me find my reading glasses and see what she posted.】

【Our family’s Luoluo? Ahhhhhhh, Teacher Jin reads our Luoluo’s novels too?】

Jin Shuilan didn’t reply to any of them, merely switching back to Hua Luo’s Weibo. Many of her readers had followed the scent over, and upon seeing the issue of clashing topics in the comments, they couldn’t help but post a string of: ????

There were also many of Hua Luo’s readers under her reply, but none of Yu Wen’s readers. They seemed to be deliberately avoiding her reply, and even the tone of their own replies had subtly shifted.

Hua Luo was furious, currently chatting with Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu was scolding her, “You just can’t keep your cool. I’m telling you, Yu Wen is definitely going to ride this wave of you playing the victim, believe it or not. Do you really think the people sending you private messages are just readers?”

The more she said, the more Hua Luo regretted it. She’d been driven mad by those “readers” for the past few days and finally couldn’t hold back tonight, posting a complaint. Who knew the matter would be like tinder, catching fire instantly.

Xiao Yu called her a fool. This sudden, aggressive attack from the other side clearly meant they were just waiting for her to lose her temper.

Hua Luo said with remorse, “If I’d known, I would have called Qiuqiu first.”

Lu Zhenqiu had a dinner gathering tonight, so they hadn’t disturbed her and didn’t know if she was back yet. Just as Hua Luo was feeling miserable, Xiao Yu let out a sound of surprise. “Teacher Jin reposted your Weibo.”

Hua Luo did a carp flop. “What!”

Xiao Yu said, “I saw it on my main feed. Teacher Jin reposted your Weibo.”

Hua Luo quickly clicked into Weibo. A moment ago, she’d been so battered by the scolding that she was about to uninstall the app. Now, seeing Jin Shuilan’s repost, she was revived to full health², her eyes turning red. Although Jin Shuilan hadn’t said much, just “congrats on the new story,” it was a silent show of support for her. At this critical juncture, her willingness to repost made Hua Luo’s eyes burn in an instant.

In truth, this matter had been brewing for a few days. Some friends who heard about it said it was ridiculous, and some stood by her side in support, but quite a few had also deleted her. The most heart-stabbing was her own apprentice, who had said in the afternoon, “Clashing topics really isn’t great, and Wenwen is very popular right now. Should we maybe try to avoid it?”

It was like a basin of cold water poured over her head. Hua Luo’s heart went cold. She didn’t care about the bullshit of clashing topics being bad; it was that she had actually called her Wenwen.

Hua Luo suddenly recalled that when she was about to start this topic, Yu Wen had been writing about a different one and had even promoted it several times on Weibo. She really didn’t want to resort to conspiracy theories, but all signs indicated that her apprentice knew Yu Wen.

So was this clashing of topics intentional? Or unintentional?

Hua Luo didn’t confront her, only posting that Weibo message tonight after getting too angry, which led to the current mess.

But now, all of this mess came to a halt with Jin Shuilan’s comment. Ever since she left her reply, more and more normal readers had appeared under her post. Accusing someone of plagiarism based on a clashing topic was baseless to begin with; Yu Wen’s readers had no leg to stand on. They had swarmed in tonight hoping to stir up trouble in the chaos, and now they were lightly batted away by Jin Shuilan.

Yu Wen squinted at her phone, a fire burning in her heart. Finally, she tossed the phone aside, her face sinking into a gloomy expression.

Hua Luo, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. It took her a good half hour to recover before she excitedly sent a long message to Jin Shuilan, thanking her for the repost tonight. When she didn’t get a reply after a long time, Hua Luo grew anxious, wondering if she had said too much. Biting her lip, she contacted Lu Zhenqiu.

Lu Zhenqiu had just finished reading a large portion of the script. She had just looked up when her phone rang. It was Hua Luo.

She put down her pen and answered the call. “Hello.”

Hua Luo’s voice was slightly hoarse. “Qiuqiu, is Teacher Jin resting?”

Lu Zhenqiu turned her head and saw that Jin Shuilan had already fallen asleep on the sofa, her phone still clutched in her hand. She had probably fallen asleep while playing on her phone. She hummed in affirmation. Hua Luo said, “That’s good…”

Her voice still held the dry rasp of someone who had been crying. Lu Zhenqiu heard the wrongness in her tone and frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

Hua Luo forced a laugh. “I’m fine. What are you up to?”

Lu Zhenqiu said, “I was just reading the script.”

Hua Luo: “Then you keep reading. I’m going to take a shower.”

Lu Zhenqiu agreed. After hanging up, she immediately contacted Xiao Yu, who told her to go on Weibo. She logged in and saw Hua Luo’s post and Jin Shuilan’s repost, and instantly understood some of what had happened.

Xiao Yu sent her a message: 【Don’t you get angry either. Yu Wen’s methods are very dirty. The angrier you guys get, the more you’ll fall into her trap.】

Just like Jin Shuilan did tonight. She didn’t mention a thing, just lightly brushed it aside with a “congrats on the new story,” which was more satisfying than a direct confrontation that would slap Yu Wen in the face.

Lu Zhenqiu took a deep breath. Although she was very angry, she didn’t act rashly. Yu Wen was stirring up all this trouble just to generate heat for her new story. Lu Zhenqiu thought for a moment, then reposted Hua Luo’s new story announcement and started a prize giveaway. Her popularity was much greater than before, and the giveaway post immediately heated up. Ji Zibo even joined in on the fun and reposted it. With her repost, plus Jin Shuilan’s earlier one, many authors who had been hesitant now took that step. In the time it took Hua Luo to take a shower, her post had already been reposted over two thousand times, mostly by authors within the circle, many of whom had collaborated with Ji Zibo and whom Yu Wen couldn’t possibly afford to offend.

Seeing this, Yu Wen’s readers very tactfully deleted their comments under Hua Luo’s latest post. Now, they were the ones who looked like they had been bumping porcelain³.

Only after watching the comments disappear one by one did Lu Zhenqiu let out a breath of relief. She closed her laptop and turned to look at Jin Shuilan. Lying on the sofa definitely wouldn’t do. She called out softly, “Teacher Jin?”

Jin Shuilan didn’t react. She gently nudged her, only pulling her hand back when she saw the other woman’s eyelashes flutter.

Jin Shuilan’s eyes ached. She squinted them open blearily. Her throat was dry and sore. She coughed twice while lying on her stomach, and Lu Zhenqiu patted her on the back, handing her a cup of warm water. Jin Shuilan drank the water, guided by Lu Zhenqiu’s hand, and instantly felt much better.

The light was glaring, and she couldn’t fully open her eyes. Lu Zhenqiu asked her, “Do you want more water?”

Her voice was gentle, the pats on her back very light. Jin Shuilan thought, Am I dreaming?

Dreams were so wonderful. Right now, she didn’t want to drink water. She just wanted to hold Lu Zhenqiu.

Lu Zhenqiu turned to put the cup down. From behind, Jin Shuilan wrapped both arms around her waist, pressing her cheek against her back. Lu Zhenqiu froze completely, unable to move. Her voice changed in astonishment. “Teacher Jin?”

Teacher Jin?

The Lu Zhenqiu in her dreams would never call her Teacher Jin.

This isn’t a dream?

A jolt shot through Jin Shuilan, and she became wide awake. She was still hugging Lu Zhenqiu, her hands pressed against her lower abdomen, the warmth penetrating her pajamas. It felt as if her hands were on Lu Zhenqiu’s skin, and a searing heat shot from her palms into her body. Jin Shuilan’s movements only stiffened for two seconds. She continued to hug Lu Zhenqiu, nuzzling her face against her back and mumbling softly, “Mom… don’t go…”

---

The author has something to say:

Thirty red envelopes, mwah.

Lu Zhenqiu: Mom?

Jin Shuilan: Whoever feeds me is my mother.

Lu Zhenqiu: …

---

---