Her Wild Rose - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Heartbeat

“Lost and found?”

Tang Tang blinked, momentarily dazed as she stared blankly at Su Qian, as if stunned. The stage lights reflected in her widened pupils, making her look a little out of it.

“You… mean it?” She bit her lip lightly, her voice tinged with disbelief. She looked just like a student who needed to confirm her answer over and over again. After a few seconds of silence, she asked again, “You mean… I’m your ‘lost and found’?”

Maybe it was because those four words felt so overwhelmingly heavy that just saying them made Tang Tang feel like all her strength had been drained.

“Yes. Lost and found.”

Tang Tang’s slightly silly expression made Su Qian’s heart ache a little.

So it turned out, all these years they’d missed each other… it had hurt both of them.

Su Qian’s heart softened completely. The laziness that usually colored her features had been replaced by something deeper—tenderness. She reached out to gently pat Tang Tang’s head, her voice low and coaxing. “Tang Tang, I’ve never lied to you.”

Her heartfelt words were drowned out by the surrounding noise. Tang Tang blinked, only feeling the warmth of the palm on her head.

“What did you just say?”

Tang Tang looked up and cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone.
“I didn’t hear you.”

“I said…”

Just as Su Qian was about to lean closer and whisper it into Tang Tang’s ear again, Shen Jia, who had just finished greeting people while surrounded by other artists, suddenly turned around and shoved a big bouquet of flowers into their arms.

“Everyone’s on stage for curtain call—what are you two doing hiding back here?”

She asked so directly, completely unaware of the awkward flush on their faces.
“Come on, hurry up. You two are the stars of tonight. I even called in a bunch of top media outlets for you…”

“Noisy.”
Su Qian took the bouquet, clearly not pleased, and shot a glare at Shen Jia before silently pulling Tang Tang with her back into the crowd.

Shen Jia was good at many things—except reading the room.

Su Qian made a mental note to file a complaint with the boss lady at Red Star Entertainment once the show was over. Shen Jia wasn’t afraid of anything… except her own wife.

“I’ll tell you after the interviews.”

Su Qian and Tang Tang walked side by side to the front of the cameras. Countless flashes lit up in front of them, and Su Qian reached out to shield Tang Tang from the sudden glare.

“Focus on the interview. Don’t overthink.”

This was her—Su Qian, just as Tang Tang remembered.

With Su Qian standing half a step in front of her, blocking the harsh light, everything suddenly felt a little gentler. Tang Tang smiled with happiness.

As if, just by standing together like this, every second of waiting had been worth it.

“Ahhh they’re so sweet! Su Qian just grabbed Tang Tang’s hand!”
“Yes! And Tang Tang didn’t pull away!”
“Petition for the show to release the footage from the other camera angle—I swear Su Qian was confessing just now.”
“You’re not alone, sis!”
“+1,000,086 signatures!”
“Mom finally sees her two precious babies happy! I’m crying…”
“Where’s the donation link? I want to send them wedding money.”
“Count me in. +1”
“+1 plus my ID number LOL”

The charity performance finally came to an end. When Tang Tang and Su Qian finished their interviews, it was already the early hours of the next morning.

This time, the production team surprisingly didn’t torture everyone any further. They just posted a big “Thank You” on the show’s official account and announced that the recording for the Feng County trip was nearly finished. The cast was free to plan their own schedules for the day.

Maybe it was the hand-holding at the performance, but now there was an odd, indescribable tension between Tang Tang and Su Qian, like a thin veil they couldn’t quite lift.

“Sigh…”

Tang Tang lay on the hotel bed, sighing for the umpteenth time. She stared at her phone screen as the day slipped into the afternoon, and her mind couldn’t help wandering.

By now, Su Qian should definitely be awake.

The sun was about to clock out—no way that woman could still be sleeping.

Tang Tang frowned, curling herself into a little cocoon under the blanket.

A WeChat notification chimed. She eagerly opened it—only to find a screenshot from her studio team showing she was trending.

“Tang Tang-jie, you’re amazing! The top keywords linked to Besties these past few days are all about you.”
“Keep it up!”

Another buzz—this time, a message from her boss, Shen Jia, praising her too.

Even people stuck in transit were awake… but Su Qian still hadn’t replied.

Tang Tang lay listlessly, phone balanced on her face. Not even auto-replies from Su Qian. What kind of “smartphone” was this?

She grumbled to herself but ended up editing a message anyway.

“It’s the weekend. Want to check out the stone carvings while we’ve got time?”

Hmm. That looked formal and distant enough.

After a few more tweaks, she finally sent it out.

Meanwhile, Su Qian was in the middle of a video conference with her team. The moment she saw Tang Tang’s name pop up, she immediately understood what was going on.

Smiling, she paused the meeting and sent a voice reply:
“Give me a sec. I’ll come to you.”

“Sorry, something personal came up,” she told the stunned faces on the screen.
“Let’s end the meeting here for now. I’ll let you know when we’re rescheduling.”

With that, Su Qian casually ditched a bunch of shell-shocked employees, dabbed on some light makeup, and knocked on the door across the hall.

“You… came so fast?”

Tang Tang stood frozen at the door, staring at the already dressed Su Qian. A flicker of joy rose quietly in her heart.

Had she… been waiting for this invitation?

She couldn’t help thinking it—and then she asked it out loud while they sat in the taxi together.

Su Qian had a tablet on her lap, still working.
“Were you… waiting for me to ask you?”

Tang Tang sounded nervous. She tilted her head slightly, big doe eyes staring intently at Su Qian through the rearview mirror.

“Yeah.”
Su Qian chuckled at her seriousness. As the taxi slowed to a stop, she quickly stowed the tablet back into her bag.

“This place… looks different than before.”

The moment they stepped out of the cab, they were nearly swept away by a wave of tourists. Tang Tang stared wide-eyed at the crowd.
“They’re all here for the stone carvings?”

The answer, of course, was yes.

Even Su Qian, usually unshakable, looked stunned for once. She pulled Tang Tang a bit closer to the entrance, only to realize…

They couldn’t get in.

“Maybe we should just walk around the area,” Tang Tang suggested, not too fussed. She pulled Su Qian along as they strolled outside the site, watching the crowd surge forward.

A group of elementary schoolers in red scarves had just gotten off a tour bus. They lined up under a teacher’s guidance.

“We really did something good,” Tang Tang said, eyes shining as she looked up at Su Qian.
“Before, no one paid attention to these stones. Now it’s become a hot tourist spot.”

“That’s not just any old stone,” a serious third-grader piped up from the line, correcting her with textbook precision.
“It’s a historical site. A form of cultural heritage.”

The teacher gave them a polite smile. Su Qian, amused, let a rare smile touch her lips.

“Yeah. It really was a good thing,” she said, turning to look at Tang Tang, her eyes full of affection.
“When I’m 80, I’ll probably still be bragging about this to other old folks.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Tang Tang held her hand tighter, her nails lightly scratching Su Qian’s palm.
“By the way… what was it you wanted to say yesterday?”

“Hmm, I’ll tell you in a bit.”

Su Qian spotted a sausage stall nearby. She vaguely remembered Tang Tang liking those, so she pulled her over and bought two.

“Uncle, how’s business been lately?” Tang Tang recognized the vendor—it was the same one from the bread stall last time.
“Seems like there are way more people now.”

“Sure are. All thanks to that celebrity, what’s her name—Tang Tang! She really helped us out.”

The old man’s familiar accent made the two girls smile at each other. Hand in hand, they walked slowly away from the site.

This place really had changed for the better because of the charity event.
As for the future…

The future belonged to the people here to shape.

“Hey, isn’t that Tang Tang and Su Qian?”

…

Just then, an unwelcome voice broke the moment. They turned around to see a group of paparazzi with cameras rushing toward them.

“Su Qian-jie, Tang Tang-jie! Can we get a quick interview? We’ve been waiting for days!”

Seeing the distance closing fast, Su Qian made a snap decision and shouted,

“Run!”

The wind roared past their ears as they fled, hand in hand. Tang Tang’s palm was damp with nervous sweat.

The shouts from behind gradually faded. All she could hear now was Su Qian’s increasingly labored breathing.

“Ugh, I can’t… run anymore…”
Eventually, Su Qian was the first to stop. She bent over with her hands on her knees, panting hard.
“Getting old, seriously. If I were younger…”

She cut herself off mid-sentence.

Right… once, long ago, they’d run like this too.

“If I were younger, I could run from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere.”

Tang Tang didn’t seem to notice her sudden shift in mood and teased her just like always. Then she remembered what Su Qian hadn’t finished saying during the charity performance.

“By the way, earlier you said—”

Before she could finish, her phone buzzed repeatedly. She listened to a voice message, and her expression turned serious.

“Director Li Xiang just said… Tian Qingqing disappeared without saying goodbye.”