Han Feixu was stupefied by the scene that unfolded before her.

She stared at Jiang Lingyuan’s tear-stained face and swollen eyes with a dumbstruck gaze. The other party continued to cry and then stubbornly raised their own head to stare back at her with their peach-like eyes.

Han Feixu looked at the sorry state Jiang Linyuan was in and suddenly felt like she was some kind of scumbag.

Jiang Lingyuan stomped on the ground in frustration, her high heels making crisp sounds when it met the floor, “Han Feixu! The more you act like this, the less willing I am to give you up! Before, you were married and happy, so I agreed to never trouble you again, but now the situation has changed. I must make you fall in love with me! My goal is to have you apply for a marriage certificate with me immediately after you get your divorce certificate!”

Han Feixu: “…..”

Can she even refuse?

In this entertainment circle of celebrities, Jiang Lingyuan belongs to the category of low-key celebrities who never act out of line, but, when it comes to Han Feixu, she becomes a completely different person.

Jiang Lingyuan is about the same age as Han Feixu. The first time she saw Han Feixu was when she went to the premiere of Han Feixu and Ye Mingxin’s movie and saw her on the big screen. At the time, her mother was trying to play matchmaker between her and Ye Mingxin.

Before the marriage contract was established, Ye Mingxin and Jiang Lingyuan had a very common relationship with each other as acquaintances. They usually would engage in some small talk when they met each other, but that was it. After the two families established a marriage contract between the two, the two of them simply stopped seeing each other, and they both avoided the other.

To be honest, Jiang Lingyuan was looking forward to this marriage at first. Since young, she was blinded by the shining halo named Ye Mingxin and had long admired her as her big sister’s childhood friend. Deep down, she had a faint longing for Ye Mingxin, but when she heard Ye Mingxin had run away from home to avoid marrying her, that faint longing promptly drifted into the wind.

Their relations grew estranged. Although the two of them were not at the point where they couldn’t stand the sight of the other, one could say with certainty that the two of them would never fall in love with each other in this lifetime.

Her mother couldn’t understand her. Ye Mingxin has good looks, a good personality, and is a talented artist. Since her daughter likes women so much, why not like someone as amazing as Ye Mingxin? She thought it was because the two didn’t know each other well enough, so she dragged her daughter to the premiere of Ye Mingxin’s latest movie.

However she never would have thought that after this premiere, not only did Jiang Lingyuan’s feelings towards Ye Mingxin not change, but she had instead fallen in love with Han Feixu, who had become Ye Mingxin’s underground girlfriend at the time.

Whenever anyone mentions this moment from the past, Mother Jiang would beat her chest in regret and say that she wished she could go back in time and slap her stupid past self to death.

It is very common for fans to project their feelings for an actor’s character onto the actor themselves. Jiang Lingyuan liked the ‘Fan Rumeng’ Han Feixu had played in《Blossoming Dreams》so much that she watched the film at least a few dozen times because of that one character. After her umpteenth rewatch, she suddenly came to a realization. Although this world may not have a Fan Rumeng, there is still a Han Feixu.

Simply put, Second Young Miss Jiang is an obsessed fangirl.

The past Han Feixu understood that Jiang Lingyuan liked acting, not the actual ‘her’ but the character she had portrayed. In her opinion, Jiang Lingyuan was simply infatuated with the fictional character Fan Rumeng and had shifted her feelings for the character onto herself.

But the current Han Feixu doesn’t know this, and right now she thinks that Jiang Lingyuan really has been in love with her for many years.

While Jiang Lingyuan continued to talk, she suddenly felt something was wrong. Why wasn’t Han Feixu trying to persuade her? Every time they met, Han Feixu would brutally tell her some harsh facts until she was dizzy and forced to retreat.

Jiang Lingyuan’s red nose twitched and then she said in a thick, nasally tone, “You….”

Before she could finish her words, the bathroom door opened. Ye Mingxin walked in and frowned at the two of them. She closed the door behind her.

Jiang Lingyuan’s puzzled expression immediately changed to a nervous expression of an animal who spotted its natural enemy. She stood protectively in front of Han Feixu, “Why are you here? Can’t you see that we’re talking?”

Jiang Lingyuan’s current appearance was a little bit funny. She had just cried a lot, so the tears on her face hadn’t dried yet, but she was showing such a fierce side to Ye Mingxin. Han Feixu, who was standing behind her, couldn’t help but be reminded of the tsundere cat she had raised when she was a child. Like Jiang Lingyuan, that cat would puff up its hair and growl when it was threatened or if someone rubbed its fur the wrong way.

Ye Mingxin’s mood spiraled downward with just a glance at Jiang Lingyuan, “Move out of the way. Have you already forgotten what your sister said?”

Half of Jiang Lingyuan’s confidence dried up immediately when she heard Ye Mingxin mention her sister. However, she remembered that the person in front of her was her rival and thus she raised her chin again and said domineeringly, “I have not forgotten, but I don’t listen to her anymore, I only listen to me!”

Ye Mingxin smiled, “Really? Alright, let me call her right now.”

“D-Don’t, don’t, don’t!” Jiang Lingyuan anxiously shouted. She was not afraid of anything in this world, but the face of her evil-smiling big sister. When she saw Ye Mingxin take out her phone, she immediately rushed forward to grab it.

She had a reckless temper ever since she was a child, and her current low-key personality was only ingrained into her due to her sister’s training. Her sister always said that if Jiang Lingyuan doesn’t act low-key, then she will surely cause trouble for the family.

Jiang Lingyuan’s movements were not light and she was focused only on grabbing the phone. Ye Mingxin didn’t like others touching her, especially Jiang Lingyuan who had just used her hands to wipe her dirty tears. So she avoided Jiang Lingyuan purely based on reflex, but Jiang Lingyuan reacted quickly and immediately turned around to chase after her. The bathroom was very small and Ye Mingxin retreated several steps to avoid Jiang Lingyuan. Suddenly Han Feixu called out to her, “Be careful! There are stairs behind you!”

It was too late as Ye Mingxin’s left foot stepped onto air and she promptly fell to the ground.

This bathroom is designed so the sinks were placed on a platform that were three steps above the base floor. The platform is waterproof and separates the dry and wet floors so that one wouldn’t accidentally slip, but no one would have expected that because of this design Ye Mingxin would fall off its ledge and hit the ground.

While Jiang Lingyuan stood there at a loss, Han Feixu ran over and helped Ye Mingxin up.

When she fell, Ye Mingxin instinctively tilted her body to the left. She had put her right hand in front of her, which saved the right half of her body, but the left side of the body was not spared from  the numbing pain that flared up when she collided with the ground.

The floor was made of marble tiles and her hip bone had fallen directly on the hard material. It hurt when she moved and when Han Feixu lifted her up, she sucked in a cold breath of air due to the pain, “D-Don’t touch me, I can’t move right now.”

When Han Feixu heard this, she said anxiously, “That serious? Go, we need to go to the hospital!”

She took out her phone to call Wei Xun who was waiting in the car outside, but Ye Mingxin stretched out her hand and stopped her, “No, I’m ok, just let me rest here for a while.”

Her fingers were trembling due to the pain, yet she endured the pain to comfort Han Feixu.

You call this ‘ok’ ?!!!! 

Han Feixu thought that Ye Mingxin was acting tough so as to not worry her. She replied stubbornly, “No, you’re badly injured so we must go to the hospital quickly! What if you broke a bone?”

Ye Mingxin sat halfway up on the ground, but she didn’t have the strength to get up and could only support herself up by leaning into Han Feixu’s arms. She had indeed fallen hard just now, but her bones were fine and she had only felt a momentary sharp pain when she first hit the floor. However, it was only momentary, and she was already feeling much better.

She had encountered much worse injuries than this while filming, so to Ye Mingxin, this could only be considered a small injury.

Her pain tolerance was much stronger than an average person’s. Except for some numbing pain in the first half-minute, she could endure the rest and could easily stand up if she wanted to.

But Han Feixu didn’t know this and in her eyes, Ye Mingxin was weaker than the average person.

Ye Mingxin leaned into Han Feixu’s arms and didn’t dare to move her left hand, as she used her right hand to grab the other’s dress. However, she seemed to have no strength as her arm gradually lowered. Han Feixu saw this and immediately took the initiative to hug her deeper into her arms and let Ye Mingxin use her as a support to lean on.

Ye Mingxin’s cheek landed about two inches below Han Feixu’s collarbone, which basically was her chest. Today Han Feixu was wearing a low-cut dress and so when Ye Mingxin lowered her eyes she saw a beautiful scenery.

Jiang Lingyuan: ……why do I feel that something is not right????

Han Feixu let Ye Mingxin rest for a little bit before asking, “Can you move now? I’ll help you downstairs. We have to go to the hospital.”

But Ye Mingxin thought: I can’t go to the hospital, what should I do if they give me a check-up and she finds out that I am completely fine? 

Ye Mingxin’s voice was trembling, as if she was suffering from great pain, “We can’t go to the hospital. Did you forget that we are both famous actresses? You can take me home first and I’ll call Dr. He and ask her to give me a home visit.”

Dr. He used to work as Ye Mingxin’s family doctor. Even now she doesn’t work in a big hospital and instead runs a small clinic in the suburbs.

Han Feixu agreed to Ye Mingxin’s suggestion and hurriedly helped her up. She didn’t dare to exert much strength for fear that she would worsen Ye Mingin’s pain.

Ye Mingxin’s leg was bent slightly as she stood up very slowly. She held onto Han Feixu’s hands tightly, their hands were interlocked together and they were very close to each other. Just when Ye Mingxin was about to stand up, her left leg suddenly buckled and she staggered again. She almost fell again, but Han Feixu quickly wrapped an arm around her waist to support her and slowly helped her to stand.

Ye Mingxin’s face was pale, probably from exhaustion due to her using too much strength. She turned her head, her voice was calm but there was a trace of helplessness in it, “I can’t move my left leg.”

Han Feixu immediately replied, “It’s ok, I will support you.”

A light smile flashed across Ye Mingxin’s face. In this type of pitiful situation, that smile held a trace of a ‘white lotus struggling against the cold winds’ flavor to it. (T/N: white lotus = someone who is pure in appearance, but opposite inside. They tend to act pitifully on purpose to get what they want.)

Han Feixu reached the bathroom door and stretched out an arm to hold it open as she helped Ye Mingxin out of the bathroom.

Such a big fall naturally caused a lot of noise and an employee had walked over to see what was going on. As soon as she walked over, she saw the currently very popular Han Feixu supporting the Movie Queen Ye Mingxin.

The employee was dumbfounded, “T-This, what happened?”

“She accidentally fell,” Han Feixu replied quickly, and then as if remembering something, she added: “I will take Teacher Ye to find her assistant. You should clean up the bathroom, there is such a big puddle of water on the ground. What will you do if another person falls and they end up breaking a bone?”

The employee immediately started to panic, “We’re sorry, very sorry! I’ll go clean it up right away!”

While the employee hurriedly ran to get the mop, Han Feixu, who had just casually thrown the blame onto someone else, hurriedly supported Ye Mingxin and ran away.

Qi Yu was not here today, and Lan Zhu, like Wei Xun, was waiting outside. She borrowed a hat from Su Jue and put it on Ye Mingxin. After looking around like a thief carrying away the national treasure, she made sure that no cameras were trained onto them before running out.

Han Feixu directly called Wei Xun to bring Ye Mingxin home. Once they got into the car, Ye Mingxin called Lan Zhu to tell her she was going back in Wei Xun’s car and that Lan Zhu should drive the car she had come in earlier back home.

Ever since she fell in the bathroom, Han Feixu’s tolerance towards her had reached a new high. Even when she moved her hands and accidentally touched certain areas, Han Feixu did not seem to mind. Han Feixu was currently worried about how bad Ye Mingxin’s fall was just now and couldn’t spare any worry about other things.

If she had calmed down and taken a closer look, she should have found that Ye Mingxin was practically sticking onto her entire body and didn’t look like a wounded person at all.

Meanwhile, Ye Mingxin was enjoying this physical contact she had not felt for a long time. She happily put her arms around Han Feixu’s waist and asked, “Why did you tell the employee that there was water in there?”

Han Feixu replied absent-mindedly while calculating how long it would take to get home, “I was afraid she might misunderstand something so I had to let her leave quickly. Only then could I take you out without any trouble.”

Ye Mingxin chuckled lightly, her head leaning against Han Feixu’s shoulders. The smile on her face was much like a young maiden in love, “Actually, you didn’t have to do that. This KTV prides itself on customer confidentiality. Even if she misunderstands something, she wouldn’t dare say anything.”

Hearing her laugh, Han Feixu suddenly turned her head and looked at her face with a searching gaze, “Are you feeling better?”

The smile on Ye Mingxin’s face froze and two seconds later she nodded, but she nodded very slowly. Then when she moved her arm, a trace of pain flashed across her face as she grimaced before she smiled again, “A little bit.”

Who is she kidding?! Her pain is clearly much worse than before! (Han Feixu)

---

While they went home Jiang Lingyuan returned to the KTV’s private room where the party was being held. She sat on the sofa with doubts in her heart and thought about it for a long time, but couldn’t figure out what that feeling of ‘something’s wrong’ came from During this period, someone came up and talked to her, but she ignored them. She had initially stayed here in the first place for Han Feixu’s sake. If Han Feixu wasn’t here anymore, why should she bother with anyone else? Why is she still here for that matter? So she also left.

She came out and sat in her newly-purchased flaming red sports car. Jiang Lingyuan put her arm against the armrest of her seat and propped her chin as she furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation.

Ten minutes later, she finally understood where that sense of wrongness came from.

She had a front-row view of when Ye Mingxin fell. When the woman had fallen, it was her upper body that had hit the ground first, not her legs. Thus, it should be her upper body, not her lower, that should’ve been in the most pain. Her legs should be perfectly fine and not serious enough that she couldn’t move.

Hmph, she knew it! Ye Mingxin, that black-hearted lotus, was pretending to be a white lotus again!

---

When they got home, Han Feixu opened the car door and came out first. She stood there for a few minutes but found that Wei Xun was simply standing there and had no intention of helping her.

Han Feixu reminded him, “Come and help me.”

Wei Xun raised his eyes and saw the ‘if you dare come over, you die’ look in his employer’s (Ye Mingxin) eyes. He quickly lowered his head, “Madam, I want to take a half-day vacation tomorrow.”

“What for?”

“For a blind date.”

Han Feixu: “…..Ok.”

The corners of Wei Xun’s mouth twitched, “Thank you, Madam, then I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

“Ai? Wait….”

After finishing his words, Wei Xun promptly made use of his long legs and left without giving Han Feixu a chance to stop him.

Han Feixu could only watch helplessly as Wei Xun disappeared into the night in just a few steps. She was dumbfounded for quite a while before turning her head back. Ye Mingxin stared back at her with a pitiful and helpless expression as she stretched out her arms, “I’ll have to trouble you then.”

After half-carrying Ye Mingxin back to her room, Han Feixu glanced at the clock, “When will Doctor He arrive?”

Ye Mingxin took two sips from the cup of hot water Han Feixu had gotten her, “Probably not for another hour.”

Han Feixu was confused, “So long? She lives too far away.”

In the past, Dr. He did not live so far away. She had lived near Ye Mingxin’s old house and was the exclusive doctor for Ye Mingxin’s family. However, after Han Feixu went abroad, Ye Mingxin lived in China for half of the year and abroad for the rest of the year. Even when she did live in China, she would not live at home but stayed in the hotel with the film crew. Thus, this family doctor was not needed at all, and had instead decided to live in the suburbs and open up a small clinic.

After a long time had passed, Ye Mingxin had never once looked for her. Had she not received a call today, Dr. He would have thought that she had been laid off from her family doctor position a long time ago.

Dr. He rode her little moped all the way from Shunyi to the junction between the Dongcheng and Chaoyang districts. After much searching, she finally found Ye Mingxin and Han Feixu’s current home. When the doorbell rang and Auntie Li opened the door, she thought that Mei Chaofeng* had come. (T/N: A character from a famous wuxia novel and is known for having heavy eyebags, puffed up hair, and disorderly hair/clothing. Also, Shunyi, Dongcheng, and Chaoyang, are all districts of Beijing––there are 16 total)

Han Feixu tried hard not to laugh at Dr. He’s hair and took her up to the second floor, “I just took a look and saw that her waist has been bruised quite a bit, but she said she didn’t want to go to the hospital.”

Dr. He casually combed her hair back with her hand and didn’t even greet Ye Mingxin as she directly lifted her clothes to take a look at the bruise Han Feixu had mentioned.

Ye Mingxin pursed her lips slightly. She really didn’t like others touching her, except for Han Feixu of course.

Dr. He knew about Ye Mingxin’s annoying cleanliness problem, but she was too lazy to care. She directly pressed against the bruise and immediately Ye Mignxin shrank back on reflex. It was like her entire body was frozen. After a second, she relaxed again as if the pain just now was a momentary illusion.

Meanwhile, Han Feixu stood next to them and didn’t dare say a word as she looked at them nervously.

Dr. He and Ye Mingxin looked at each other and both saw the contempt for the other person reflected in their eyes.

Dr. He: Last time when you had a fracture there wasn’t such a big reaction. This time you were only knocked around lightly yet became so sensitive. If I didn’t know you so well, even I might have believed it!

Ye Mingxin: Why did you arrive so quickly? If you had come a little later, I might have been able to trick Han Feixu into bed with me!

With just one look, countless pieces of information were exchanged between the two. Doctor He was silent for three seconds and then straightened up, “It’s not serious.”

Ye Mingxin immediately smiled, “But I still feel pain, Doctor He, what’s wrong with me?”

She deliberately stretched out her tone on the last few words to get her meaning across.

With her back facing Han Feixu, He Yanran didn’t even try to hide as she rolled her eyes and then added, “Although it’s not serious, there is a lot of blood congestion under the skin so it’s normal to feel pain. Take a good rest for the next two days and apply some Yunnan Baiyao* and a hot compress on it. You should be fine in a few days.” (*T/N: Yunnan Baiyao is a traditional Chinese Medicine paste used for  wound healing and as a pain reliever.) 

Han Feixu listened carefully and took notes.

Ye Mingxin sat up a bit and looked at He Yanran eagerly, “Anything else?”

“…..”

He Yanran understood that the other was trying to use this opportunity to act pitiful and win back her wife and reluctantly added, “You should have someone watch over you at night for the next two days. You can lie on your back or on your right side, but you can’t lie on your left side. If you press your weight on the injured area, it won’t get better with just a few days and it might even leave a few large scars on your skin.”

“So serious?” Han Feixu’s eyes widened. As an actress, it is inevitable for Ye Mingxin to show the skin on her waist so if it really leaves scars, it would be bad for her career.

He Yanran turned around to face her, “Of course, she has a physique that is quite susceptible to scarring so it’s easy to leave marks on her. You are her wife, why don’t you know this?”

Han Feixu looked at her in confusion and then her face blushed red in embarrassment.

After she had successfully deceived Han Feixu, He Yanran took out the keys to her Moped and was ready to leave again when she said a few more words that only Ye Mingxin could hear, “Don’t call me for this type of little injury in the future. Do you know how long it takes to ride from Shunyi to here? Why wait for me when you can go directly to the hospital? Xingyang Hospital belongs to your family after all.”

Ye Mignxin smiled faintly, “Force of habit.”

He Yanran’s movements stopped and she scoffed lightly, “Habits may seem hard to change but they can actually change very fast. Just look at me, I’m a living example.”

After saying this, He Yanran turned around, nodded to Han Feixu, and then went out. Han Feixu wanted to send her off, but she waved her hand to stop her.

Han Feixu went back into the room, still pondering over He Yanran’s words. She asked Ye Mingxin: “What did she mean with those words earlier?”

Why does she feel like there was another meaning behind the doctor’s words?

“That’s just how she speaks,” Ye Mingxin patted the position next to her, “You can sleep here today, after all, you heard what the doctor said.”

Her expression looked apologetic and Han Feixu was the type who was soft against the weak but hard against the strong. Once her protective feelings are triggered, she could only open her mouth and agree. She didn’t think much of it as she used to share a bed with other girls during orchestra performances. When they traveled to different places to perform, they had to stay in a hotel and share a bed together. Not to mention, most girls are pretty well-behaved when they sleep. When they fall asleep in a certain position, they would wake up in the same position the next morning.

With this type of experience under her belt, it was hard for Han Feixu to even think about the possibility of others having evil intentions when inviting her to bed.

She grabbed a pillow and another two blankets from another room. Ye Mingxin happily waited for her to return, but when the person came back she was faced with a mountain of long blankets.

The blankets were both thick and big. They were made for the winter weather and could cover her entire body. Han Feixu threw the blankets on the bed and took out a lighter summer quilt. Then she knelt on the bed and carefully arranged the thick winter blankets.

Ye Mingxin stared blankly, “What are you doing?”

“Building a fort for you.” Han Feixu put the blankets next to Ye Mingxin’s pillow, “So you won’t turn over here accidentally when you sleep. Even if you turn over, the blankets will cushion your wound.”

While she finished arranging it, Han Feixu raised her head and smiled brightly, “Aren’t I smart?”

….very smart.

Ye Mingxin saw that her plan to sleep with her was in vain. She had no choice but to admit defeat. At least Han Feixu didn’t leave. If she did, she would probably spew a pot of blood in regret tonight.

Ye Mingxin usually goes to bed around eleven o’clock, but Han Feixu sleeps even later than her. Usually, Han Feixu played on her phone until roughly 1 am in the morning but since there was someone next to him, she didn’t plan on playing on her phone tonight.

“Are you filming tomorrow?”

The filming location for Ye Mingxin’s next film was in Huairou, which was not too far away, “I won’t leave until later in the afternoon. There’s an opening ceremony in the morning, but since I’m not the leading role I don’t need to go.”

Although she is not the leading role, she is one of the most important supporting roles. The company negotiated with her for three months before they finally got Ye Mingxin to agree to the role. If she didn’t go to the most important opening ceremony tomorrow, one can imagine how depressed the producer who receives the call tomorrow morning will be.

Han Feixu placed her head on her arms and tilted her head to look at her, “It’s a spy movie* right? Will you be playing as an agent for the Nationalist Party or for our party?”(T/N: most spy movies in China revolve around the time period when the Kuomintang and CCP were in a civil war. ) 

“Neither, I’m playing a traitor.”

Han Feixu: “…..”

She couldn’t imagine Ye Mingxin as a traitor. How could a good-looking person possibly betray someone!

Look, look, a face-con* is so unreasonable~ (*T/N: 颜控, or “face-con” is someone who is attracted only to beauty/looks, kinda like how a bro-con is only attracted to their brother)

Ye Mingxin didn’t really want to talk to Han Feixu about work. She felt a little hot, and so stretched out her hand to grab the remote control for the air conditioner. Han Feixu watched as Ye Mingxin’s white and fair arm passed under her eyes, and Han Feixu’s gaze fell on the jade bracelet Ye Mingxin was wearing on her right wrist.

She was and, still is, a fan of Ye Mingxin so she recognized the bracelet at a glance. This was the jade bracelet Ye Mingxin often wore, “Wow, it’s already been ten years yet you’re still wearing this. Is it some kind of family heirloom?”

Ye Mingxin followed her gaze and found that the object of her surprise was her jade bracelet. Ye Mingxin retracted her hand and touched the bracelet, “No, this was given to me by someone.”

Since Ye Mingxin’s debut, except for when filming, almost all photos of Ye Mingxin had this bracelet of hers in it. Once in a talk show, Ye Mingxin was asked why she wore this jade bracelet so often and her answer was because she had become accustomed to wearing it after so many years.

The word “someone” was vague and evasive. If it was simply an elder or someone not important to her, Ye Mingxin would have just told her without hesitation. Instead, she used a more general term that aroused Han Feixu’s curiosity and suspicion.

When she was younger, she lived for a while at her maternal grandmother’s house. Her grandmother liked to collect jade and Han Feixu was influenced by her. She learned how to differentiate between different types of jade and she could tell that Ye Mingxin’s jade was made of the best quality Hetian jade. The jade is transparent, soft, and dignified, and it was carved from a single piece of jade into three separate rope patterns. This type of looping and twisting pattern is the most difficult type and tests the skill of the craftsman. With the craftsmanship of the jade alone it could sell for hundreds of thousands but if you add on the material of the jade, even millions of yuan might not be enough.

This type of jade is priceless and one must have a really good relationship with the other to simply give it away.

From the beginning of her debut to the current present, even when she fell down, Ye Mingxin subconsciously protected this jade bracelet. Han Feixu blinked and suddenly thought of one possibility.

This jade couldn’t possibly be from Ye Mingxin’s first love, could it?!!

---

T/N:

I don’t have an exact picture of the bathroom design where Ye Mingxin slipped, but here’s a good approximation:

Like ouch, even slipping off a tiny ledge can hurt A LOT. (speaking from experience)