Troublesome – Chapter 70

Car Accident

Teacher Jin got into a car accident.

Lu Zhenqiu clutched her phone and looked at the screen, her typing hands pausing for a moment. At first, she truly had only regarded Jin Shuilan as a senior, admiring her and respecting her. After that was pierced through by Jin Shuilan, this feeling underwent a subtle transformation. She began to pay attention unconsciously, began to overthink, and fell into a struggle.

She knew that Jin Shuilan was very special to her. When they first met, she was a special noble person¹, and now she had become a special person. It wasn’t that she had never experienced romantic feelings, nor that she didn’t know what it was to like someone. It was precisely because she knew that she was afraid.

Lu Zhenqiu’s typing hands slowly curled up. Just as she was about to close the dialogue box, a message came from the other side: 【Qiuqiu, are you awake?】

For a moment, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. After several seconds, Lu Zhenqiu replied: 【I’m awake. I’m outside.】

After sending it, Lu Zhenqiu bit her lip. Jin Shuilan hadn’t even asked where she was.

Jin Shuilan looked at the message, paused for two seconds, and directly called her. “You’re outside?”

Lu Zhenqiu hummed in affirmation. “I’m at another production team’s place. I’m going to sing the theme song.”

Jin Shuilan smiled. “Which production team?”

Lu Zhenqiu said, “Chang’an.”

Jin Shuilan nodded. “I’ve heard of it, but I’m not very familiar with it. Have you already signed the contract?”

“Just signed.” Lu Zhenqiu pinched the edge of her bag with one hand. “I think this is a pretty good opportunity.”

“It is indeed not bad.” Jin Shuilan thought for a moment. In their circle, Chang’an was considered an ace among the established names. Basically, anyone who stepped into the radio drama circle had heard of this name. For them to have sought out Lu Zhenqiu, Jin Shuilan commented, “That’s really amazing.”

Lu Zhenqiu’s face grew slightly hot, and the base of her ear pressed against the phone turned red. Just now, when Lili and the others were all praising her, she could still respond with a graceful smile. But when it came to Jin Shuilan, she didn’t know what to say.

Jin Shuilan spoke, “What time are you coming back? I still have some documents in the study.”

“Me?” Lu Zhenqiu said, “I’ll come back right away.”

Jin Shuilan smiled. “Then give me a call before you get home.”

Lu Zhenqiu said “oh” and hung up. Jin Shuilan turned her head to look at the disconnected phone, which showed Lu Zhenqiu’s name. What she had just said was: I’ll come back right away.

And not: Go in and get it yourself.

Jin Shuilan raised an eyebrow, turned off her computer, and leaned back in her chair. Ji Zibo sent a message: 【Should we go to a bar for your birthday? We haven’t been in a long time. We didn’t even have a proper drink after finishing up this time.】

【Hey, if you ask me, be a little bolder, drink some alcohol to bolster your courage, and just go up and confess.】

【Forget it, with your personality, you wouldn’t do something like that.】

【Hey, where are you?】

Jin Shuilan replied with a period. Ji Zibo: 【What are you doing? I’ve been talking for ages and got no response.】

Jin Shuilan: 【Have you ever seen anyone interrupt a machine·gun?】

Ji Zibo: 【……】

Ji Zibo: 【You’re done for. With a mouth like yours, you’ll never get a wife!】

In a good mood, Jin Shuilan didn’t bicker with her. She got up, went to the bathroom to wash her face, and then returned to her room to change. She changed three or four times but wasn’t satisfied with any outfit, so she just leaned against her bed and shopped online.

Thinking of the colors Lu Zhenqiu often wore, she selected a few casual outfits and down jackets in a similar color palette. Just after she finished buying them, Lu Zhenqiu sent her a message: 【Teacher Jin, I’m almost home.】

Jin Shuilan replied: 【Okay.】

Lu Zhenqiu clutched her phone. The cold wind was biting, feeling like a knife scraping against her face. She buried half her face in her collar, only her eyes showing. After getting out of the car, she saw Jin Shuilan at the entrance to the lobby.

Jin Shuilan was wearing a light blue down jacket and pale white woolen trousers. She was tall and thin, and even these non-slim-fitting pants made her legs look long and slender. The wind messed up both of their long hair. Jin Shuilan said to her, “You’re back.”

Her tone was calm and natural, and Lu Zhenqiu was instantly reminded of the past when she could push open the door and hear Jin Shuilan say, “You’re back.”

She nodded. “Yes, let’s go in.”

It was much warmer inside. The two of them entered and stood in the elevator, one in front of the other. Jin Shuilan watched as Lu Zhenqiu’s face emerged from her collar. She tidied her beautiful hair, tucking her bangs behind her ear, revealing a fair and full forehead. Lu Zhenqiu was also wearing makeup; the corners of her eyes were long and narrow, tilting up slightly, giving off a natural sense of languor.

Perhaps because she often bit her lip, only a faint crimson hue remained of the lipstick on her lips. When she smiled, her lips were red and her teeth were white.

Jin Shuilan’s gaze moved away from her lips and she said, “When are you recording?”

“In the next two days,” Lu Zhenqiu replied. “I can go record in the morning, it won’t delay the afternoon livestream.”

Jin Shuilan nodded.

The two got out of the elevator. Jin Shuilan stood behind her, and a cool, fragrant scent of perfume drifted over. Lu Zhenqiu fumbled with the door lock several times before it opened. Maomao squeezed out, very excited to see them return together. It rubbed against Lu Zhenqiu’s leg, wagging its bottom, then went over to lick Jin Shuilan. Jin Shuilan half-squatted down and rubbed its head. Lu Zhenqiu took off her coat, and watching their interaction, she thought of what Hua Luo and Xiao Yu had said.

Entrust Maomao to Teacher Jin.

Then her gaze darkened, and she shook her head.

Lu Zhenqiu walked inside and poured a glass of water for Jin Shuilan. Jin Shuilan raised a hand to take it and said, “Thank you.”

This was originally her home, yet she was being thanked. Lu Zhenqiu was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Teacher Jin, if you don’t have anything to do later, why don’t you eat here?”

There were still a lot of groceries in the fridge that she hadn’t touched yesterday. Jin Shuilan shook her head. “No, after I get my documents, I still have to go to the magazine publisher for a meeting.”

As she spoke, she stood up and walked toward the study. Lu Zhenqiu stood behind her. Seeing that Maomao wanted to follow, she called out, “Maomao.”

Maomao ran to her side. Jin Shuilan came out from inside with two file folders. She smiled. “Then I’ll be going. Are you coming over tomorrow night?”

Tomorrow night was her birthday. Lu Zhenqiu said, “Yes, Hua Luo and Xiao Yu will come too.”

“Okay.” Jin Shuilan walked to the door and turned back. “Do you want me to come pick you up?”

Lu Zhenqiu shook her head. “No need, I’ll take a taxi.”

Jin Shuilan didn’t insist. “Alright then, see you tomorrow night.”

Lu Zhenqiu held Maomao and watched her leave. When the door closed, she sat on the sofa. The whole house felt empty, and the whole house was filled with the scent of Jin Shuilan’s perfume from just now. Lu Zhenqiu buried her head in Maomao’s fur, feeling that Maomao’s body had also been imbued with Jin Shuilan’s cool, fragrant perfume.

She leaned against the sofa. Dinnertime arrived, but she didn’t get up to cook, only occasionally fiddling with her phone.

Lili quickly sent the collaboration news and @’d her on Weibo. Lu Zhenqiu pulled herself together, sat up straight, and reposted it, wishing for a happy collaboration. Her fans were overjoyed, all saying they would support her.

Jin Shuilan also saw Lu Zhenqiu’s Weibo post. The small group chat was still discussing it.

【Qiuqiu, Qiuqiu, did you accept the theme song for Chang’an? @Zhenqiu.】

【I told you so, Qiuqiu is going to be famous @Zhenqiu.】

【Awesome, Qiuqiu @Zhenqiu.】

【If you become rich and noble, do not forget us² @Zhenqiu.】

Lu Zhenqiu looked at Ji Zibo’s chat in the small group and smiled, embarrassed. Just as she was about to reply, she saw that Jin Shuilan had also copied the sentence above.

【If you become rich and noble, do not forget us @Zhenqiu.】

Suddenly, the meaning of these six characters began to feel different.

Lu Zhenqiu sent a sticker. When everyone saw her appear, they teased her in various ways. Jin Shuilan never appeared again. Lu Zhenqiu didn’t know if she had gone to her meeting or if she was lurking and reading the chat. The thought that she might be watching her chat with others brought a strange sense of shame.

Jin Shuilan watched for a while before going to her meeting. The magazine publisher had set a new promotional plan for her and called her in for a discussion. With the end of the year approaching, there were many things to do. After the meeting, Jin Shuilan went to the production studio for a bit. Running back and forth, it was already the middle of the night when she got home. After washing up, she lay in bed and pulled up the group chat to take a look. In the past, she would have muted the notifications, but now she was actually reading it with great interest.

Lu Zhenqiu had chatted quite a bit in the group this afternoon; she was clearly in a good mood. Jin Shuilan looked at the cute stickers she sent and pictured them with her face, and immediately felt that Lu Zhenqiu was even cuter. So cute that she wanted to see her right now.

Jin Shuilan suppressed the impulse to go see Lu Zhenqiu and forced herself to sleep, but she tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. While fiddling with the audio files on her phone, she tapped on Lu Zhenqiu’s recording. As soon as some of it played, her face flushed hot.

She didn’t sleep well all night. Jin Shuilan only started to catch up on sleep in the morning. At noon, Ji Zibo called her, disturbing her sweet dream. Jin Shuilan’s tone was impatient, “What is it?”

Ji Zibo took a breath. “So fierce? What are you doing?”

Jin Shuilan said lightly, “Having a spring·dream³.”

Ji Zibo: ……

My apologies for interrupting, no wonder she’s so fierce. She suppressed a laugh. “You still haven’t decided on a place from yesterday.”

Jin Shuilan pressed her aching head and sat up. “Where do you guys want to go?”

“Anywhere is fine. Shouldn’t the birthday girl have the final say?” Ji Zibo asked, “How about that bar I mentioned yesterday?”

Jin Shuilan said, “Fine. Then you send them the address.”

Ji Zibo replied with an “OK” and asked her, “Can you still continue your dream?”

Jin Shuilan: ……

Ignoring her, Jin Shuilan lifted the covers and got out of bed. When she looked downstairs, she saw a person walking a dog by the community flowerbeds. It was Lu Zhenqiu walking her dog. Jin Shuilan smiled, went to the bathroom to wash up, and when she came out again, Lu Zhenqiu was already gone.

She sat in the study, her computer on. There were countless private messages, all wishing her a happy birthday. Ji Zibo had even made a special birthday video for her this year, recorded by all the production teams and voice actors she had worked with before. Jin Shuilan listened while opening a document to edit her manuscript. At the end of the video was a familiar voice.

“Teacher Jin, happy birthday.”

She turned her head and listened to that part on repeat several times before finally reposting it on Weibo with a “thank you” sticker.

Lu Zhenqiu saw Jin Shuilan’s Weibo post and gave it a like. Ji Zibo sent her a message, saying she would send her the location in a bit and telling her to come early. It was a quiet bar⁴, so they could chat for the afternoon. Lu Zhenqiu was on her day off, so time was not an issue. After forwarding the address to Xiao Yu and Hua Luo, she took a taxi to the bar.

When she arrived, she saw Ji Zibo standing there from a distance. She walked over, and Ji Zibo said, “If you’re cold, go on in. It’s table number thirteen.”

Lu Zhenqiu nodded slightly and replied, “I’ll wait here with you.”

After a short while, Xiao Yu and Hua Luo arrived, along with Bai Mao. After she arrived, Xiao Yu and Hua Luo smilingly went inside with her. The three had just entered the quiet bar when Ji Zibo’s phone rang. She answered the call, “Hello, where are you? We’re just waiting for you.”

The person on the other end said something, and Ji Zibo’s brows furrowed. Seeing her expression, Lu Zhenqiu asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ji Zibo glanced at her, thought for two seconds, and said, “Teacher Jin got into a car accident.”

Lu Zhenqiu’s face instantly turned pale.

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The author has something to say:

Thirty red packets, memeda.

Jin Shuilan: Qiuqiu, are you my birthday present?

Lu Zhenqiu: ……

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