Chapter 79

Wang Haining hadn't set foot in City B for three years. When she first got the news, she'd flown back from abroad, settled things in City B, and gone straight to Changning, never looking back.

She'd thought about returning someday—maybe in five years, maybe ten—once she could face the absurd mistakes of her past and gather the courage to step onto this land again.

Who would've thought it'd only take three years for her to stand here again?

The absurdities she'd once believed she'd never get over no longer mattered. Though she couldn't choose where her life began, she could choose where it was reborn. In a sense, Changning meant the same to her as Xiyan did.

It was the place that gave her a fresh start.

Dragging her luggage through the airport, Wang Haining scanned the shifting crowd and noise until her eyes landed on Kong Xiyan—masked, sunglasses on, wrapped up so tightly she looked like a different person. Wang Haining stepped forward and tapped her shoulder. "Xiyan."

Kong Xiyan spun around, then laughed softly when she saw Wang Haining. "Good thing you recognized me."

Dressed like this, she barely recognized herself in the mirror. Only Wang Haining had the eyesight to spot her in the crowd.

Wang Haining pointed at her black down jacket. "Don't you remember? That's the New Year gift I gave you the first year."

Kong Xiyan looked down at the coat and chuckled. She really had forgotten.

Lu Han had driven her to the airport, arranged by Chi Wanzhao. Once in the car, Kong Xiyan asked Wang Haining if there was anywhere she wanted to go—she'd cleared a week of leave to accompany her. Wang Haining smiled. "No. You work hard enough; use that week to rest at home."

Then she brought Kong Xiyan up to date on Changning's changes and played a video on her phone: the children wishing her a happy New Year.

Kong Xiyan watched, her eyes curving into crescents.

The festive atmosphere in Changning was far richer than in City B. Even in the video, you could see the bright red spring couplets on every door, the children's smiles against the red adding to the joy.

After the video ended, Wang Haining sighed. "It'll be better after the new year. The school's being renovated, so the kids will have a much nicer environment."

Kong Xiyan murmured an assent, wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes, and chatted idly with Wang Haining.

They didn't head straight to the apartment. Instead, they stopped at the supermarket. Kong Xiyan had planned to take Wang Haining to a restaurant to welcome her to City B, but Wang Haining disliked the restaurant atmosphere, and with New Year approaching, the crowds and queues were a hassle. Better to buy ingredients and cook at home.

Kong Xiyan agreed and asked Lu Han to drive to a supermarket near the apartment.

She led Wang Haining in with ease, heading for the fresh food section. As she picked out vegetables and stepped up to weigh them, she noticed the employee was the same woman who'd been gossiping about her not long ago. The woman was still chattering away to her coworker.

"Xiao Cheng? That guy—I knew he wasn't a good person the moment I saw him."

"Ha, don't believe me? Go dig up his old stuff yourself. I promise it'll shake you."

"And they still Stan him? No brains."

While weighing the produce, she was lecturing the young girl beside her. She handed Kong Xiyan her items without missing a beat. "I knew something like this would happen. I heard the male lead for 'Breaking the Cocoon' wasn't supposed to be him; who knows what back door he used to get the role."

"It just goes to show—whether an entertainer makes it big is really up to fate."

The girl, who'd been enduring the scolding, said listlessly, "Yeah, it really is fate."

The woman poked her forehead. "You said it. Look at Kong Xiyan—three years ago she held a fantastic hand and played it to pieces. Now? She's taken that mess of a hand and turned it into an undefeatable one. Now that's impressive—she's got real skill."

The girl beside her nodded in agreement. "Honestly, she was really unlucky in all this. She just happened to run into that pair of scumbags; otherwise her position in the industry would be the best right now."

The two chatted as if no one else were there. Kong Xiyan listened, her thoughts drifting, until someone behind her pressed in to weigh their items and snapped her back to reality.

A short distance away, Wang Haining was pushing a cart, watching her. "What's wrong?"

Kong Xiyan shook her head. "Nothing."

After paying, Kong Xiyan brought Wang Haining back to the apartment. Yanyan was sprawled on the sofa, but as soon as the door opened, the cat darted down and wove around Kong Xiyan's ankles, tilting her head up with soft meows.

Wang Haining tried to scoop her up, but Yanyan dodged and slipped away.

Kong Xiyan frowned and called out, "Yanyan!"

Only then did the cat trot over unwillingly, crouch in front of them, and let out a grumpy mrow.

Kong Xiyan pointed at Wang Haining. "What's gotten into you? You don't recognize her? We met in the countryside." As she spoke, she scooped up Yanyan, lifted one of her paws, and said, "Come on, say hello."

Yanyan bared her teeth. "Mrow!"

Wang Haining: ...

Watching Yanyan wriggle free and jump down, she commented, "This cat's pretty picky about people."

"Was she like this when you first met her?"

Kong Xiyan shook her head. "No."

From the moment she'd arrived, Yanyan had been affectionate—loving to be held, licked, and rubbed against her. It didn't seem like the cat had ever been selective.

Kong Xiyan frowned slightly, watching Yanyan as if deep in thought.

Then she shrugged it off. Maybe she just had a way with cats.

She didn't dwell on it. Noticing Wang Haining still standing there with her luggage, she took the bags and carried them upstairs. She gave Wang Haining a tour of the apartment, and when they reached the last room down the corridor, she spotted a locked door.

Not an ordinary lock, but a small silver padlock, palm-sized—dainty and intricate, almost cute.

Wang Haining glanced at it. "What's in there?"

Kong Xiyan shook her head. "No idea."

She rarely wandered this far down the corridor. If she hadn't been showing Wang Haining around today, she'd never have known there was a separate little room all the way back here.

Hearing she didn't know, Wang Haining dropped the question. They headed downstairs and into the kitchen to start cooking.

Back in the countryside, whenever it was meal prep time, Kong Xiyan could barely help—at most she'd stoke the fire. That wasn't needed here, so Wang Haining shooed her out of the kitchen and told her to rest in the living room.

As if Wang Haining were the guest who'd just arrived.

Seeing no way to help, Kong Xiyan bundled herself and Yanyan together on the sofa. As she drifted toward sleep, the conversation from the supermarket surfaced in her mind, and she pulled out her phone to check the latest trending posts on Weibo.

A headline caught her eye: "Xiao Cheng Caught in 3P Hookup Scandal."

Just past eleven last night, a reporter had photographed Xiao Cheng entering a hotel with his assistant. Not long after, two women arrived separately, and they didn't leave his room until around five in the morning.

The reporter had posted it to Weibo, sending Xiao Cheng's fans into a frenzy. They unleashed a flood of vitriol at the two women, heaping abuse on them.

Some fans even wanted to doxx them, dying to know who these shameless women were who'd thrown themselves at Xiao Cheng.

Naturally, a few more rational fans argued that while Xiao Cheng had done wrong, the media shouldn't have exposed it like that—it was going too far and already invading someone's privacy.

But their arguments were immediately shot down by netizens passing by. Hookups and 3Ps deserved exposure, and celebrities were by no means exempt—their influence was obvious. If they set the wrong example, only heaven knew what fans might do.

So they supported the media's decision to expose it!

Not only should it be exposed, some said, but they hoped the government would step in and take measures to regulate the entertainment industry—given He Wei and Wei Yan's recent 'badger game' scam, and now Xiao Cheng's scandal, this was serious and couldn't be ignored.

Once the topic caught fire, thousands of voices piled on. Xiao Cheng's diehard fans refused to back down, fighting tooth and nail against anyone who dared come for their idol.

About two hours later, one of the two women at the center of the storm posted on Weibo.

She said she was a fan of Xiao Cheng's and had been for over three years, and that she'd been chasing after him all that time. Last night, he'd suddenly asked to meet, and she'd gone. Only when she got there did she realize another girl was involved.

She admitted she should have left on the spot, but three years of feelings couldn't just be switched off, so she stayed.

She didn't elaborate on what happened next, but her meaning was clear.

The post quickly drew a flood of Xiao Cheng's fans, who refused to believe he was capable of such a thing. At last, the woman reached her limit and posted a screenshot of their chat. Her comment section fell dead silent.

Not long after, other accounts began surfacing, claiming Xiao Cheng's favorite hobby was sleeping with fans—and that he especially liked to book two at once. Why did they say that? Because their friend was a victim.

More and more of these "my friend," "my bestie" tales mixed into the chaos. By noon, Xiao Cheng hadn't said a single word.

Kong Xiyan found it amusing. Noticing that Wang Haining was almost done cooking, she put Yanyan down and went to help. In the kitchen, Wang Haining was chopping ribs, tossing the pieces into a pot, skimming the foam with a ladle, and repeating the process several times.

The kitchen soon filled with the rich aroma of meat.

In a casual tone, Wang Haining asked, "Xiyan, how are things between you and CEO Chi these days?"

Kong Xiyan hesitated. "Between us? Pretty good."

Wang Haining, seeing she didn't seem to catch on, suppressed a smile. "I remember you told me before that yours was just a contract marriage, right?"

Kong Xiyan's bright eyes lowered. "Yeah, and I'm still treating her illness."

She gestured toward Yanyan lounging on the sofa. "She's a cat fetishist."

"An incurable cat fetishist."

Wang Haining frowned in confusion, so Kong Xiyan gave her a brief rundown of the whole situation. As Wang Haining listened, her expression grew stiffer, until finally, after Kong Xiyan reached her conclusion, she sat there dumbfounded.

She looked at Kong Xiyan, thought of Chi Wanzhao's awkwardness, and said to herself, You two are really something.

Then she sighed, telling Xiyan to bring the soup to the table. Following behind, she sat down and said, "But Xiyan, you like her, don't you."

It was a statement, not a question.

Kong Xiyan looked up at her and denied it. "No, I don't."

Wang Haining chuckled. "Come on, I lived with you for three years. I know all your habits. I can tell the moment you speak whether you're lying—so don't bother trying to hide it."

Back when Kong Xiyan was in Changning, she'd merely had a bit of a crush on Chi Wanzhao. Now, it was full-blown infatuation.

Just the mention of her name sent a blush across her cheeks, and her eyes shimmered with a dewy glow, carrying a trace of shyness.

Seeing she'd been found out, Kong Xiyan slumped onto the sofa in defeat. After a pause, she said, "The thing is, I feel like she treats me differently too. But I'm scared it's just my imagination—and if I say it out loud and I'm wrong, things would be awkward whenever we meet."

Besides, they still had three years on the contract. If she confessed and Chi Wanzhao didn't feel the same, those three years would be agony.

Wang Haining nodded, mulling it over. "Xiyan, I've got an idea—want to give it a try?"

Kong Xiyan's eyes lit up with hope. "What idea?"

Wang Haining smiled. "You'll find out tonight."