Married in a Daze - Chapter 110
Chapter 110
Qin Zhenzhen's sniffles and sobs lasted until the wee hours of the morning. No matter how Lu Ruyun tried to coax her, she wouldn't listen, only falling asleep in the end when she had cried herself to exhaustion. Lu Ruyun patted her back, knowing she loved to act spoiled, but she truly hadn't known she could be such a crybaby.
Perhaps it wasn't about being a crybaby. It was just because she cared.
Lu Ruyun held Qin Zhenzhen close, planting a light kiss on her forehead. The images that had been swirling in her mind gradually dissipated, the figure before her eyes becoming clearer and clearer: exquisite features, a sleeping face still wet with tears, refusing to let go even in sleep, stubbornly clinging to her.
This position wasn't actually very comfortable, but Lu Ruyun felt incomparably at ease.
It was the first time she had spoken of that past completely and without omission. To say it wasn't painful would be a lie. But after speaking it out loud, it wasn't as agonizing as she had imagined it would be. Perhaps it was because she was telling it to Zhenzhen. She was willing.
Lu Ruyun couldn't help but hold her tighter, and tighter still.
The two were pressed close together, the rhythms of their two heartbeats gradually aligning.
The night was deep and quiet. The sound of breathing in the room gradually evened out, the atmosphere serene and sweet.
When Qin Zhenzhen woke up, her eyes were sore and achy. She squinted, they also felt a bit itchy. Just as she was about to rub them, her hand was grasped. A familiar voice sounded in her ear: "Don't move."
"Let me massage them for you."
Qin Zhenzhen glanced sideways to see Lu Ruyun sitting by the bed, holding a hard-boiled egg in her hand. Qin Zhenzhen obediently lay flat. Lu Ruyun first rolled the warm egg over her eyelids a few times, then pressed her fingertips against Qin Zhenzhen's eyes, massaging gently.
Lu Ruyun's head was bowed, her expression normal. Qin Zhenzhen lay still, her eyelids fluttering a few times. After a while, Lu Ruyun let go and asked, "Feel better?"
Qin Zhenzhen slowly opened her eyes. It felt much better.
She smiled. "Teacher Lu, is there anything you don't know how to do?"
Lu Ruyun lowered her gaze. Her long eyelashes fell into Qin Zhenzhen's line of sight. Qin Zhenzhen reached out and tapped them lightly, chuckling. Lu Ruyun grasped her hand, her face still calm. "I used to practice crying scenes. Often, I'd come back and secretly practice until midnight, and still have to shoot the next day. So I picked up a few simple tricks."
"Feel better now?"
Qin Zhenzhen blinked, feeling refreshed. "Much better."
As she spoke, she tried to sit up. Lu Ruyun pressed a hand on her shoulder. "Not sleeping a bit more?"
The two of them hadn't gotten to bed until the middle of the night last night, talking for a long time. They had hardly slept well. She thought Qin Zhenzhen would sleep until noon, never expecting her to wake up so early. Thankfully, she'd just checked the fridge. Aside from eggs, there were some noodles, and besides that, only drinks.
The freezer compartment was completely empty. She didn't even know if Qin Zhenzhen had ever used the freezer function.
Qin Zhenzhen blushed at her words. "I have used it!"
"When it was first bought, the delivery guy tested it."
Lu Ruyun: "..."
She looked helplessly at Qin Zhenzhen, placing the egg in her hand. "Apply it yourself for a bit. I'll go make some noodles first."
Qin Zhenzhen nodded, watching her busy figure. She wanted to check the time on her phone but then remembered she hadn't brought it over last night. She slipped on her slippers and got out of bed, holding the egg to one eye as she walked out the door.
Lu Ruyun was bustling about in the kitchen. She was still in her pajamas. Her home didn't have an apron, so Lu Ruyun had rolled her sleeves up high, revealing fair, slender arms. Even though it was just the simple task of making noodles, her movements were so adept it was as if she were creating a work of art. Qin Zhenzhen stood in the doorway watching for a good while before lowering her gaze and heading to her own room.
Her phone was on the coffee table. There was one unread message. Qin Zhenzhen looked: it was from Qin Ye.
—Zhenzhen, you forgot to take the dishes you prepared for your mom. Want to come back and get them today? Last night when Ruyun came over, I completely forgot about it.
Reading Qin Ye's words, Qin Zhenzhen felt an inexplicable warmth in her heart. She called Qin Ye.
Early in the morning, she didn't know if Qin Ye had already gone out. It was very noisy around him. Qin Zhenzhen could only hear constant clamor on his end.
"Hurry up, hurry up, Old Qin, it's your turn to play a tile."
"Who's calling at this hour?"
Qin Zhenzhen heard Qin Ye's voice, filled with immense pride. "My daughter. Let me talk to her for a minute. Old Li, come play a couple rounds for me."
As soon as he finished, she heard several people's teasing laughter.
"Your daughter? Is it Zhenzhen? I heard from Old Han yesterday, this girl is getting more and more beautiful."
"Isn't that right? You haven't seen her in person. Even prettier than on TV. Old Qin, how did you get so lucky?"
"And her wife, she's called Lu Ruyun, right? Hey, my old lady still loves watching the dramas she used to act in..."
The intermittent voices gradually faded into the distance. Qin Zhenzhen heard the other end of the phone slowly quiet down. She laughed. "Dad, you're playing mahjong again."
Qin Ye cleared his throat lightly. "Calling so early, is something the matter?"
Qin Zhenzhen bit her lip. "No, nothing. Where's Mom?"
There was laughter and chatter behind Qin Ye. He responded to someone and then said to Qin Zhenzhen, "Went to your uncle's place first thing this morning."
Qin Zhenzhen gave an "Oh." Qin Ye asked, "When are you coming back next time? The food is still here at home, you haven't taken it. Your mom was saying last night she'd deliver it to you."
Qin Zhenzhen glanced towards the kitchen. Lu Ruyun wasn't finished yet. She thought for a moment. "Just keep it at home for now. When I have time, I'll come back with Ruyun."
"Alright then."
When Lu Ruyun finished making breakfast and went to call Qin Zhenzhen, she saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling with squinted eyes while on the phone. She usually only wore this expression when acting spoiled. Sure enough, before Lu Ruyun got close, she heard her soft voice saying, "Dad..."
She didn't know what the person on the other end said. She pouted. "Okay, got it."
Qin Zhenzhen hung up, placed the phone aside, and leaned back, her body falling heavily onto the bed. Lu Ruyun noticed her eyes were still slightly puffy. She pressed her lips together. "Going out today?"
"Don't feel like going out." Qin Zhenzhen sprawled lazily on the bed, turned over, and picked up her phone. "What about you?"
Lu Ruyun lowered her gaze. "I need to go to the hospital in a bit."
Qin Zhenzhen's hand, which had been opening WeChat, trembled, accidentally opening Weibo next to it. Her voice sounded slightly off. "Oh."
Lu Ruyun turned to look at her, sat beside her, and held her hand. "Zhenzhen, I just have a couple of things I want to say to Yaoyao. I'll be back very soon."
Qin Zhenzhen thought of what she had said last night and lowered her eyes. "I'll go with you."
Lu Ruyun was slightly taken aback. Meeting Qin Zhenzhen's clear gaze, she nodded. "Okay."
After they decided, Qin Zhenzhen went to the bathroom to freshen up. When she came out, Lu Ruyun had already served the noodles on the dining table. The TV in the living room was on, playing festive New Year's programming.
Qin Zhenzhen held her phone while eating noodles.
Cold Palace's ratings had clearly risen quite a bit. The night of the promotional event, it had already broken past 1%, climbing to first place. After that, it rose steadily, just as Lu Ruyun had predicted. Online, there were even discussions about whether Cold Palace might become the second Five United Cities.
Qin Zhenzhen knew this was seventy percent likely news released by the production team. Tie-in marketing was never a new trick. While not new, it was very practical, invisibly elevating Cold Palace several steps.
In recent years, many TV dramas had been released.
But Cold Palace was the first that could be compared to Five United Cities.
Because the early trajectories of the two were truly similar, many netizens were indeed buzzing about this topic. As for whether it could surpass it, or even become a second one, opinions varied.
In short, during the New Year period, Cold Palace's popularity showed no signs of waning. Instead, as the plot intensified, there were indications it was getting hotter.
Qin Zhenzhen picked at her noodles, ate several mouthfuls, and exited the official Weibo account for Cold Palace. The screen full of confessions had improved her mood considerably. Then she saw another name hanging on the hot search list.
Duan Qiuhan.
Duan Qiuhan hadn't come down from the hot search list since yesterday. Various exposés emerged one after another. Some said he'd had affairs with crew members from the same production. Some said he cheated three years ago. Some said he had pursued Lu Ruyun back in the day. Opinions were divided. Netizens loved watching the drama and adding fuel to the fire. All sorts of "my friend," "my bestie" topics popped up, all pointing fingers at Duan Qiuhan.
There were even netizens digging up his past collaborations with actresses, gifting him a new nickname: City A's Cheating King.
Qin Zhenzhen recalled the few times she had interacted with Duan Qiuhan. She thought he was a decent guy, straightforward, quick to speak his mind, completely unlike the despicable figure portrayed online.
But she didn't know the inside story, so she couldn't judge rashly.
She just felt that Duan Qiuhan's current predicament was not an easy one to overcome.
Lu Ruyun finished her breakfast and saw Qin Zhenzhen still holding her phone, engrossed. She didn't rush her, just gazed at her steadily, her bright eyes dark and luminous, holding a tiny reflection.
Qin Zhenzhen, sensing her gaze, almost choked on her noodles. She put down her phone, straightened her posture, forced down several more mouthfuls, then put down her bowl. "I'll wash the dishes."
"I'll do it."
Lu Ruyun took the bowl and chopsticks from her hand, turned, and walked into the kitchen. Listening to the sound of running water, Qin Zhenzhen glanced back twice, then got up and returned to her room.
When she came out again, she was holding a set of clothes. Seeing Lu Ruyun walk over, she handed the clothes to her. "Mine. Make do with these for now."
Lu Ruyun looked down at the pink clothing, pressed her lips together, thought of saying something, but swallowed it back.
Qin Zhenzhen changed her clothes and sat on the sofa waiting for her. Hearing movement at the door, she tilted her head to look. Lu Ruyun was wearing a sweater and jeans inside, topped with a pink wool coat. Her long hair was tied in a ponytail, she wore light makeup, her pretty face even rosier than her coat.
For a moment, Qin Zhenzhen was stunned.
Lu Ruyun walked out somewhat awkwardly, lowering her eyes. "Does it look strange?"
Qin Zhenzhen, hearing her lack of confidence, laughed. "Not strange at all. Very pretty."
"Teacher Lu, you really should try different colors."
Hearing her words, the tense expression on Lu Ruyun's face eased considerably, her tightly furrowed brows relaxing. Though her expression still held a trace of discomfort, she lowered her head. "I should still change clothes."
"This is it!"
Qin Zhenzhen linked arms with Lu Ruyun, half pulling, half dragging her towards the door. Lu Ruyun had worn red stiletto heels yesterday, which didn't match this outfit at all. Her shoe size was about the same as Qin Zhenzhen's, so Qin Zhenzhen fetched her a different pair of shoes. After Lu Ruyun put them on, she saw Qin Zhenzhen hesitating over which boots to choose.
Lu Ruyun looked at her indecision, took a pair of light-colored boots from the cabinet, and handed them to her. "These."
Qin Zhenzhen looked. "Okay."
The boots had laces. Qin Zhenzhen was wearing a skirt, making bending over inconvenient. Lu Ruyun simply crouched down to help her put on the shoes. She held Qin Zhenzhen's foot, placed it in the boot. The warmth of her fingertips seeped through the stockings onto Qin Zhenzhen's skin. Qin Zhenzhen's pretty face flushed red.
Ji Lu stood downstairs, texting a friend.
—How do you comfort a couple that's had a fight? Please advise!
The friend sent back a flood of messages. Ji Lu read them, nodding along, thinking several could be useful. Full of fighting spirit, she pressed the elevator button, determined to follow the advice and properly comfort Qin Zhenzhen once upstairs.
The elevator doors opened.
Ji Lu blinked.
Before her, Qin Zhenzhen and Lu Ruyun were leaning close together. Qin Zhenzhen's face was slightly flushed, her eyes sparkling, her whole body radiating happiness.
Qin Zhenzhen obviously saw Ji Lu too. She smiled and greeted her. "Morning."
Ji Lu waved at her. "Morning, Zhenzhen. Are you going out with Teacher Lu?"
Qin Zhenzhen: "We have some things to take care of."
Ji Lu nodded understandingly. "Okay. Then I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning."
Qin Zhenzhen gave an affirmative sound. Ji Lu watched the elevator doors close, then picked up her phone indignantly, texting her friend again.
—How do you comfort a single dog? I beg for advice!!!
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