Night Berth on the Qinhuai

The trending topic was still fresh and hot.

It had already been hanging on the hot search list since last night, showing Wen Yuzhi standing under a tree, alone, utterly solitary.

The media really knew how to shoot.

The background was blurred, the subject highlighted, colors vivid and sharp.

Wen Yuzhi looked like a streak of color in the pitch-black night, and the red marks on her face were especially noticeable.

Some praised her beauty—saying even injured, she looked like she was wearing battle-damage makeup.

Others took pleasure in her misfortune, claiming that life in a wealthy family was harsh, that the Wen family’s daughter had suffered domestic violence and run away from home in the middle of the night.

Some were confused why Wen Yuzhi made the trending list more often than their favorite celebrity brother, who was a top traffic star.

They were already annoyed seeing her on the hot search again and again.

Qin Huairen’s little mouth never rested.

Even while eating cherries, she had to respond to every comment.

“This guy actually said domestic violence. Did you see it happen or what?”

“You’re making everything up with just your mouth. If you’re that good at storytelling, why not go write novels on Jinjiang?”

“If you’re annoyed then block it. Who forced you to look?”

“You think she wants to trend?”

“Even the tiniest thing gets dragged online for you all to point fingers at. You should be grateful she has a good temper and hasn’t sued you.”

Of course, the majority of comments were still praising Wen Yuzhi’s beauty—calling her stunning beyond words.

“How can someone be perfect?” Qin Huairen flipped through photo after photo, zooming in.

“There has to be at least some flaw, right?”

But the problem was—there really wasn’t any flaw.

If she had to nitpick, it would be the wind messing up her hair.

But those scattered strands only added a touch of messy beauty.

Qin Huairen had long known Wen Yuzhi was beautiful.

But maybe it had been too long since they last met.

Or maybe it was age.

The current Wen Yuzhi carried something more… special.

Perhaps it could be called mature charm.

A beautiful, mature woman naturally gained tens of thousands of fans.

In the past, even if Qin Huairen came across Wen Yuzhi online, she would force herself not to click.

Today, for some unknown reason, she entered Wen Yuzhi’s Weibo homepage.

The follower count had reached 14.68 million.

Qin Huairen clicked her tongue.

My God.

No wonder someone had said just now that she rivaled a top celebrity.

With so many people following Wen Yuzhi, what were their motives?

Wen Yuzhi’s most recent post was from the night of the school anniversary.

She had simply uploaded a few photos.

A water cup.

And in the shot, a slender, beautiful hand.

Wait… wasn’t that her cup?

Why was Wen Yuzhi photographing her cup?

Seriously.

The second photo—Qin Huairen thought she was mistaken.

But it really was the long dress she had splashed with red wine.

She hadn’t meant to spill it.

She had been holding the glass, emotional and fidgeting.

Only after the wine spilled did she realize it.

There was also a selfie of Wen Yuzhi.

A “death angle” close-up shot straight to the face.

But her visuals could carry it.

So the photo, objectively speaking, looked pretty good.

The comment section was even more outrageous.

A group of netizens were either calling her “wife” or “husband.”

Curious, Qin Huairen clicked into the fans’ profiles one by one.

After scrolling through, she frowned.

“Why are girls calling her both husband and wife?”

After browsing a few more, she roughly understood.

Wen Yuzhi had a mature and dignified side, but also a cold and arrogant side.

She appealed to both men and women.

Qin Huairen suddenly remembered what Xu Jianing had once said—about attracting both genders.

She frowned and scrolled further down.

Wen Yuzhi’s earlier photos were all in black and white.

Even the selfies.

Some netizens said black-and-white photos were beautiful but too serious.

Others thoughtfully asked, “Is your world only black and white? Why not take more colorful photos?”

But Wen Yuzhi didn’t seem to care.

For years, she posted like clockwork.

If she didn’t post, she wouldn’t at all.

But if she did, it would always be at 22:10 sharp.

Each time three photos.

The first two with uncertain themes.

The last one always a selfie.

Wen Yuzhi never smiled in her photos.

But each photo was different.

Because those lively eyes hid different emotions.

It would be a pity if she didn’t become an actress.

Qin Huairen had originally planned to sleep early.

But she kept scrolling until she reached the bottom of the page and realized she had actually gone through all of Wen Yuzhi’s Weibo posts.

Crazy.

She was truly idle.

In the end, she comforted herself—knowing your enemy and yourself ensures victory.

Then she began worrying about the violin.

How should she approach Wen Yuzhi?

How should she speak to her?

Qin Huairen even considered going straight to Huaxin Group and confronting Wen Yuzhi face-to-face.

No money to give.

Just one life.

She covered her head and sighed.

“This is why you should never try to cross class boundaries.”

In the past, she had been immature and wanted to compete with Wen Yuzhi.

Now that she had returned to Jingzhou, although she appeared confrontational, deep down she thought: less trouble is better.

Take the violin matter, for example.

Such an expensive violin.

Even if she sold herself, she couldn’t afford the compensation.

She built herself up mentally.

If all else failed, she would swallow her pride and beg Wen Yuzhi to let Xu Jianing off once.

After that, the three of them must never appear together again.

With that, Qin Huairen exited Wen Yuzhi’s homepage.

The hot search had updated.

It was still about Wen Yuzhi.

She had been photographed at the biggest nightclub in Jingzhou.

Just reading the headline made Qin Huairen frown.

“Wen Yuzhi makes a low-key appearance at a nightclub.”

Even injured, she still went out to have fun.

How dedicated.

She was about to exit when she noticed a familiar face in the corner of one photo.

At first she thought she was mistaken.

But when she zoomed in, it really was Xu Jianing.

The image was blurry.

But Xu Jianing was smiling.

A man had his arm around her.

From the side profile, he looked like Lin Zhixun.

The facial outline of the person across from them also seemed familiar.

But it was too blurry to confirm.

Qin Huairen stared blankly for a long while, feeling helpless.

She had thought Xu Jianing would be anxious and distressed.

It seemed she had been wrong.

She tossed her phone aside and prepared to sleep.

But she simply couldn’t.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw either Wen Yuzhi or Xu Jianing.

In the end, she opened her laptop and logged into the Wenwu Shuo app.

Her fans were unusually excited when they saw her online.

Some greeted her.

Some confessed their love.

Some asked if she had insomnia.

A small group asked about that night.

Someone named “Lilies of the Hometown” kept sending mischievous laughing stickers.

She had almost forgotten about that night.

Now reminded, she quickly asked, “Did you hear anything that night?”

She shouldn’t have asked.

Because once she did, the screen filled with mischievous emojis.

Completely confused, she eventually received a private message from the administrator with a screen recording.

The admin added: “Don’t worry. It hasn’t spread. Only some internal fans have it.”

She clicked play.

At first the volume was low.

She kept turning it up.

Then the sound began to feel… off.

Startled, Qin Huairen hurriedly lowered the volume.

As if someone else in the small space might overhear.

Afraid fans would misunderstand, she explained separately.

A friend had come over that night.

The friend wasn’t feeling well.

She had been flustered, trying to help by patting her back and chest to ease her breathing.

But maybe her technique wasn’t professional.

“In short, that night was about saving someone. It wasn’t what you’re thinking.”

She spoke righteously.

The fans replied: Whatever baby says is right.

But a portion of mischievous fans remained curious.

Questions kept coming.

“Was the one who came that night W? Came specially to apologize to you, in the middle of the night?”

“You two seem really close. She called you something like A-Ren? Couldn’t hear clearly, but she sounded so affectionate.”

“W’s voice sounds so good. Her future partner will be so lucky.”

“….”

Qin Huairen was speechless.

What nonsense were they saying?

Some fans admitted they were secretly shipping her with W.

Because it sounded very passionate and chaotic.

They had listened to it countless times.

Qin Huairen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“What kind of taste do you all have? You’re even shipping me with my friend? We’re both straight women.”

The fans replied: Straight women are even more exciting.

This world seemed to have gone mad.

Some fans even told her that a super-topic had been created just for her and the mysterious friend.

Its name: Night Berth on the Qinhuai.

Curiosity got the better of her.

She clicked in and saw a highly liked fanfiction.

Title: “Me and the Unspeakable W.”

The name sounded artistic.

She clicked in.

The first sentence read: “W slept with me for three days and three nights.”

Qin Huairen was so shocked she dropped her phone.

What kind of outrageous words were those?

Had she been isolated from the world?

Had the outside world gone crazy?

Muttering “Oh my God” repeatedly, she went to the bathroom to spray medicine on her back.

She had looked in the mirror to check her back.

Instead, she caught sight of her flushed face.

“Why is my face so red?”

She comforted herself.

“This isn’t embarrassment. Anyone would react like this after such a shock.”

But weren’t these fans following her for cultural relics?

Oh, and for her voice.

How did it develop into writing fanfiction?

“Wait…”

Halfway through spraying medicine, she suddenly realized something was wrong.

Hands on her hips, she fumed.

“Why is it that she slept with me? Why?!”

After applying the medicine, the indignant Qin Huairen lay on her bed, still dissatisfied.

She picked up her phone again and reopened the fanfiction.

She read for a while, tossed the phone aside.

Then couldn’t help picking it up again.

In the end her face turned red beyond measure.

She shook her head.

“This is terrifying. They’re not even that old. How do they know so much?”

Before sleeping, the indignant one logged into her alternate account and left a comment under the fanfiction.

“From what I know of her, if anyone’s doing the sleeping, it would be her sleeping W. No one else gets to sleep her.”

She threw her phone aside again and lay on her stomach.

Clearly exhausted.

Yet sleep was far away.

Ever since returning to Jingzhou, her good sleep had disappeared.

Before, even in harsh conditions, she could sleep soundly.

Now with a soft bed and warm blanket, she suffered insomnia.

In the quiet surroundings, her thoughts ran wild.

Soon drifting back to that unhealthy fanfiction world.

She forcibly redirected her thoughts.

But then they turned to the morning’s nightmare.

Wen Yuzhi slapping her.

Though it was only a dream, she was still angry.

She turned over in frustration.

Her gaze fell on the shopping bag by the wall.

Ah…

She suddenly remembered something.

She got out of bed and took out the photo frame inside the bag.

The wooden fragrance of the frame was one she liked.

She inhaled it.

Her mood seemed to ease.

Two photos were placed side by side on the desk.

A photo of her and her.

She lowered her head and looked at it for a long while.

During the years they were apart, she had always thought they would never meet again.

But the gears of fate crushed forward, and they reunited in Jingzhou.

Sometimes Wen Yuzhi was like the wind.

She avoided her, yet never knew at which next corner they would meet.

Qin Huairen flipped the photo face-down.

She moved closer to the desk, finding a comfortable position to lie down.

After breathing in that familiar wooden scent for a while, she gradually fell asleep.

In her dream, Wen Yuzhi was as described in those fanfictions.

Brave and sincere.

She stripped away all obstacles between them.

They embraced.

They entwined endlessly.

They possessed each other.

She whispered in her ear, “A-Ren, I’ve loved you for a very, very long time. Do you know that?”

Qin Huairen had so many things she wanted to say.

Yet she couldn’t make a sound.

Anxious to the point of tears, she woke from the dream.

The suffocating feeling in her throat made it hard to breathe.

She slowly sat up and rubbed her chest.

It must be her sleeping posture.

Her phone vibrated.

She glanced at the number.

It wasn’t saved.

But she recognized the last digits.

It was from Wen Yuzhi.

The next second, the phone buzzed again.

Wen Yuzhi was calling.

Qin Huairen took a deep breath, brows tightly knit, and answered.

The sound of rushing wind came from the other end.

Clearly, Wen Yuzhi was outside.

Suddenly Qin Huairen remembered—wasn’t Wen Yuzhi drinking at the nightclub?

Why was she outside now?

Did she run out alone in the middle of the night?

“Hello? Hello?” Wen Yuzhi seemed to realize the call had connected.

When Qin Huairen didn’t speak, she kept calling out.

Hearing her soft and muddled voice, Qin Huairen knew she had drunk a lot.

Coldly she asked, “Do you know what time it is?”

“A-Ren, A-Ren.” Wen Yuzhi started laughing.

“Wait a second.”

Drunk people loved repeating words.

Childish to death.

Qin Huairen waited patiently.

Though she didn’t know what she was waiting for.

The wind drowned out Wen Yuzhi’s murmurs.

Just as her patience ran out, Wen Yuzhi suddenly shouted her name loudly.

She inhaled sharply.

“If you have something to say, say it. Don’t just call my name.”

“It’s 2:45 now. Oh, no. 2:46.”

Wen Yuzhi answered seriously.

“A-Ren, it’s 2:46.”

“….”

Qin Huairen was speechless.

Was she asking for the time?

If Wen Yuzhi weren’t drunk, she would think she was pretending to be foolish on purpose.

She almost admired her own patience.

Being woken up… well, not exactly woken up.

Anyway, she felt she was too kind, answering Wen Yuzhi’s call in the middle of the night.

“So, why are you calling at this hour?”

Wen Yuzhi hummed, dragging out the sound, as if trying to recall something.

It was so long that Qin Huairen thought the call had disconnected.

She glanced at the screen.

Still connected.

Finally, a slow and low sentence came from the other end.

“Can we… can we get to know each other again?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I mean…”

The wind rushed through the phone.

Qin Huairen instinctively pressed closer to hear clearly.

She distinctly heard Wen Yuzhi’s voice—smiling yet trembling with a sob.

“Hello. My name is Wen Yuzhi.”

Qin Huairen’s heart was instantly struck by a bullet of memory.

The next words came just as she expected.

Just as she had once said years ago.

“What’s your name? You’re really beautiful.”

It turned out she wasn’t the only one trapped in the past, unable to escape.

The question was—could life truly start over?