Chapter 23 Part 2

She didn't know if she had caught a chill last night or if she had been infected.

She still needed to go to the competition organizer's office to submit some documents today. Xu Zhinan put on a mask and forced herself to take a car there.

However, after leaving the office, she felt even worse. The weather outside was unusually muggy, and her face felt hot.

The organizer's office was very close to the City People's Hospital, and it was also a shorter trip home from the hospital. Xu Zhinan decided not to go back to the university and went directly to the hospital.

After a series of check-ups, she had unfortunately caught it. It was also a viral cold, and she needed an injection.

After yesterday's "Here for the Song" fan meeting, the recording for a new episode followed immediately.

After the recording ended, everyone had a meal together.

Wang Qi walked over to his side with a wine glass, swirling it. "Have a drink?"

"I'm not drinking recently," Lin Qingye said.

Wang Qi raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"Can't drink."

"Why?" Wang Qi teased. "Did someone tell you not to?"

He went along with it. "Yeah."

Zhou Ji leaned in from the side. "He got a tattoo a few days ago. It almost got infected, so he can't drink."

Wang Qi was taken aback and looked him up and down. "What did you get tattooed?"

Zhou Ji blurted out, "His girlfriend's name, on his back."

Wang Qi glanced at Lin Qingye. For once, he wasn't drinking, his long, slender fingers holding a glass of plain water. He had actually just let it be, tacitly admitting it.

In the entertainment industry, no newly debuted young star would dare to do this, especially male stars. Creating a persona to attract fans was practically an unwritten rule. Many entertainment companies even explicitly stated that their artists couldn't be in a relationship for the first five years, all for the sake of those highly mobilized girlfriend and wife fans.

Wang Qi, of course, knew that with Lin Qingye's personality, he would never go down this path and had never deliberately created a persona to attract fans.

It was just that his face was a natural weapon. Since the show began airing, his fan count had grown rapidly, and he also generated the most buzz.

"Really?" Wang Qi asked, lowering his voice a bit.

He admitted it frankly. "Yeah."

"Have you thought about what will happen if your fans find out?"

"If they find out, they find out," Lin Qingye's expression didn't change. "I didn't get her full name, just a nickname. It won't be enough for them to dig up and affect her life."

"..."

Wang Qi finally understood. He was here worrying that a relationship reveal would cause him to lose fans and affect his career, while the person in question was only thinking about whether it would disturb his girlfriend's daily life.

But even though Lin Qingye naturally attracted traffic because of his face, he truly wasn't a traffic-driven star, so Wang Qi didn't have a suitable reason to stop him.

"I didn't realize you were so considerate towards girls," Wang Qi smiled. "Have you taken her to meet your parents?"

Lin Qingye sneered faintly, "What's there for them to see?"

Wang Qi wanted to say a few words of persuasion, but Lin Qingye's phone rang, so he gave up and didn't bother him further.

It was a message from Ji Yan.

[Ji Yan: Captain, I saw the Light of Pingchuan at the hospital.]

[Ji Yan: Seems like she's sick. She's in the infusion room, all by herself.]

There was also a photo.

Xu Zhinan was sitting alone in a corner of the infusion room, her head tilted to the side, resting against the edge of the adjacent tiles. The IV tube hung down long, and her face was flushed slightly red.

Lin Qingye narrowed his eyes, his gaze lingering on the photo for a moment longer.

[Lin Qingye: Where?]

[Ji Yan: City People's Hospital.]

Her number was called at the pharmacy, so Ji Yan went to pick up her medicine.

She had been teaching dance at a training center recently, and her leg had been hurting for several days without getting better, which was why she came to get an X-ray.

She happened to see Xu Zhinan by chance.

She remembered that night, hearing him call her name in his drunken sleep.

Ah Nan.

To be honest, Ji Yan had previously felt sympathy for Xu Zhinan.

She had also liked Lin Qingye before, but after seeing the reality of the situation, she hid her feelings and never expressed them.

But Xu Zhinan was different. She didn't have a scheming bone in her body. When she liked someone, she would eagerly offer him her fervent heart to see.

In Ji Yan's eyes, she herself had already cut her losses in time and achieved enlightenment.

But Xu Zhinan was still foolishly indulging herself, and encountering a prodigal son like Lin Qingye, this behavior was truly stupid.

Until she heard the name Lin Qingye called out in his dream.

Ji Yan took her medicine and glanced again at Xu Zhinan in the infusion room next to her.

'Lin Qingye owes me a huge favor,' she thought.

Xu Zhinan was woken up by a voice.

She didn't even remember how she had fallen asleep. Her first reaction upon waking was to immediately look up to see if the saline drip was finished, but when she looked up, she saw the young man standing in front of her.

He was wearing a hat and a mask, the brim of the hat pulled down low. From Xu Zhinan's angle, she could still see his pair of pitch-black eyes.

A doctor in a white coat was standing beside him, who seemed to know Lin Qingye. He said to him, "There's an empty patient room over there. You can have your classmate go there."

Lin Qingye gave a faint "mm" in response, his gaze not leaving her face.

Although there weren't a ton of people in the infusion room, the TV was replaying the last episode of "Here for the Song," and now Lin Qingye was standing right in front of her.

Though his face was hidden by his gear, such a tall and slender young man was already enough to attract attention. Young women around them kept looking their way.

Having just woken up, Xu Zhinan couldn't help but become nervous. She couldn't speak, only raising a hand to pinch the nose clip of her medical mask.

Lin Qingye looked at her and spoke first, his voice a little hoarse, "Let's go. Go sleep in a patient room." After speaking, he took the IV bag off the stand and held it up high.

Xu Zhinan didn't move. "...I'm fine here."

"It's not comfortable to sleep here."

"I'm not sleeping anymore," she said stubbornly.

Lin Qingye was quiet for a moment, then said, "You still have another bag to go. A patient room will be quieter."

He didn't give Xu Zhinan another chance to refuse, bending down and grabbing her arm to pull her up.

With several pairs of eyes on them, Xu Zhinan didn't want people to recognize him as the Lin Qingye from TV, nor did she want to become a subject of public discussion because of it, so she had no choice but to let him pull her to her feet.

She took a small step back, avoiding his hand, and said softly with her eyes lowered, "I'll walk on my own."

The young woman's dark eyelashes were lowered. Her face was small and delicate, and there was a faint crease on her cheek from sleeping just now. Because of her illness, the corners of her eyes drooped.

Lin Qingye let go of her and walked towards the patient rooms, holding the IV bag.

After walking for a bit, once they were in the hallway, Xu Zhinan finally remembered a question—why was Lin Qingye here?

When they got to the patient room, he hung the IV bag back on the stand. Xu Zhinan sat on the edge of the bed, not lying down. She wanted to wait for him to leave, but after a moment of silence, he showed no intention of leaving.

"Why are you here?" Xu Zhinan asked.

"Ji Yan told me," he said, slowing down the IV drip regulator. "Why did you suddenly get sick? Weren't you fine when I saw you yesterday afternoon?"

He said it so matter-of-factly, as if they had arranged to meet yesterday afternoon.

But they had clearly only seen each other from a distance outside the stadium.

"I caught a chill," Xu Zhinan said in a low voice.

"Coming to get an IV all by yourself," Lin Qingye looked at her and asked, seemingly nonchalantly, "Where's your boyfriend?"

"..."

Talking about this topic with Lin Qingye was truly a bit awkward.

She didn't know why he was so keen on this topic.

Xu Zhinan paused, remembering the stank-face expression of his she had seen online. At that time, she and Xu Zhenfan had walked out together, and then to avoid suspicion, she had run over to Gu Congwang's side.

Xu Zhinan blinked and asked, "Which boyfriend are you talking about?"

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Lin Qingye didn't speak for a good while, then he let out a scoffing laugh. "You've really got some nerve now."

The author has something to say:

Ah Nan: I have two, which one are you asking about?