Her Wild Rose - Chapter 50
Chapter 50: Standing Up for Her
“Tang Tang?”
Su Qian silently repeated the name a few times in her heart. As she lowered her head, the corners of her lips curved into a gentle smile.
Tang Tang. Little Candy. As expected, both were equally stubborn girls.
Perhaps it was a unique resonance between an author and her character, but Su Qian found herself growing fond of the girl before her.
“My name is Su Qian. You can call me Susu or Qianqian,” Su Qian said as she pulled Tang Tang out of the crowd. She then turned and gently helped tidy up Tang Tang’s bangs. “By the way, are you in high school? We look about the same age.”
“I just graduated this year.”
Perhaps because they found some common ground, Tang Tang started to speak more naturally. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at the girl before her, admiration glowing in her expression.
“Su Qian, you must have been to so many places to be able to write something so beautiful… not like me…”
Her mood dipped at the mention of something sad. The glimmer of excitement she had just shown faded, replaced by quiet sorrow.
Unlike her, who had been destined to be a study machine since birth.
“High school is such a precious time—that’s where people in their teens should be,” Su Qian noticed the regret in her tone and couldn’t help but pat her head softly in comfort. “Look at Little Candy and Shell—didn’t they meet in high school too?”
“What about us?”
The girl, cheeks still smudged with dirt, lifted her head expectantly. Her kitten-like eyes were full of hope. “Would you say… this is our best meeting?”
“Emmmm… probably not,” Su Qian teased, deliberately dragging out her words with a mischievous smile. Seeing Tang Tang’s bright eyes dim slightly, she finally added with a laugh, “Just look at your dirty kitty face—how could this be the best?”
“You’re right…”
Maybe it was the first time being looked at so seriously by someone so elegant, but Tang Tang’s cheeks flushed red. She nervously wrung her hands, her lips twitching nervously. “After all… you’re so famous…”
There was something so pure and unguarded in her eyes that it hit Su Qian like a wave—irresistibly charming. She glanced at her watch and suddenly tugged Tang Tang toward the end of the alley.
“Ah! It’s almost time—we’ll be late for the signing!”
The click-clack of high heels echoed crisply through the summer afternoon as Tang Tang half-jogged to keep up, her cheeks flushed from exertion and excitement.
They walked hand-in-hand for quite a distance. It wasn’t until the domed roof of the book city appeared before them that Su Qian finally slowed down. Looking across the road at the bustling crowd, she raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.
“So many people… I wonder how long it’ll take to get off work today…”
Wait—someone like Su Qian could want to get off work?
Tang Tang looked at her in surprise. Her clear eyes brimmed with innocent curiosity. From the pinned introduction on Su Qian’s Weibo supertopic, she knew this girl had become famous at a young age—just like something out of a novel. Su Qian was three years older than her, yet she rose to fame two years earlier. During Tang Tang’s hellish high school years, Su Qian was writing poetry with her pen, while Tang Tang drowned in a sea of textbooks, overwhelmed by fear—not just of the future, but of her classmates.
“You look like you really envy me.”
By the time Tang Tang returned to her senses, Su Qian had already pulled her into the lounge behind the bookstore. She was touching up her makeup in front of the mirror, her tone calm as still water. “Everyone who sees me says they envy me. You’re no different.”
Her voice was soft, almost like she was speaking to herself.
Maybe in the early days, rising to fame had satisfied all her adolescent ambitions. But as the exposure and monotony piled up day after day, Su Qian began to envy her former classmates—the ones who could say and do what they wanted freely. Not like her, who had to apologize just for messing up a line, even after finishing exhausting assignments.
She had apologized so many times over the past five years that she’d forgotten why she even chose this life to begin with.
Everyone admired her—but none of them truly understood her.
“Of course I envy you,” Tang Tang said, now wearing the dress Su Qian lent her, clutching a tube of lipstick. “I envy how someone my age can live such a different life.”
Her spirits lifted a little as she spoke. She pulled out a well-kept copy of Scorching Heat from her bag and pointed to the dense, handwritten annotations.
“You don’t know this, but in the darkest days of my third year of high school, I used to imagine that I was Little Candy and I could wake up in a world where I didn’t have to take exams. If I could live in a place like that, maybe I’d become a hero too.”
Maybe… she really would’ve.
Just like she had imagined so many times before.
Su Qian stared at her made-up reflection in the mirror, suddenly missing the bare-faced teenage girl she once was. Back then, she was just an ordinary girl, hoping that one day she could shine as brightly as the stars. But after finally becoming that dazzling star, she realized how happy she’d been simply dreaming.
“Maybe you would,” Su Qian murmured. She took out her pen and gently stroked Tang Tang’s hair. For a brief moment, she truly saw her as a little sister. She even found herself wondering if she should push this girl toward her own hero’s journey.
“Anyway, let’s stop with the sappy talk. The signing is about to start.” Su Qian’s smile stiffened as a staff member entered the room. She instinctively shielded Tang Tang behind her. When Tang Tang peeked curiously out, she begrudgingly explained, “Chen-jie, this is Tang Tang. She was being bullied by some punks just now, and I had no choice but to bring her here.”
She downplayed it, but used a tone that was all business—carefully calculated. As Su Qian’s fame had grown over the years, her family had become increasingly concerned with who she spent time with—especially those with no financial benefit. Even her closest friends weren’t exempt from scrutiny.
“I see,” said the woman known as Chen-jie, who looked to be in her thirties, her expression sharp and unyielding. “So you’re saying you’re not close with her?”
Not close?
How could we not be?
Tang Tang, who had been quietly listening, nearly stood up in protest—but just as she moved, Su Qian pushed her gently back down.
“Chen-jie, your daughter’s getting out of kindergarten soon, right? After the signing, I’ll take her home.”
Even the inexperienced Tang Tang could hear the compromise in that sentence.
“You don’t need my help?” Chen-jie raised a brow, then relented. “Alright. Just be careful out there. I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”
Once she finally left, Su Qian let out a long sigh of relief. She turned to the righteously indignant girl beside her and helplessly patted her head. “Stay put here, alright? I’ll take you out for something good to eat in an hour.”
The warmth from her touch lingered even after she pulled away. As Tang Tang watched her figure disappear, the envy in her heart began to fade. For just a moment, she felt… maybe Su Qian was a little pitiful too.
“Okay.” Tang Tang nodded sweetly, then pointed at the clock on the wall. “What time will you be done?”
“About an hour.”
Su Qian glanced at the noisy crowd outside. Honestly, it was hard to say. But seeing Tang Tang’s hopeful eyes, she clenched her teeth and made a promise. “Just one hour. I’ll come backstage to find you when it’s over.”
With a clear answer in hand, Tang Tang sat down on the sofa and began to read Su Qian’s newly released book. It had come out during her college entrance exams, and she hadn’t had the chance to buy it yet.
Maybe I should queue up and get a signed copy too?
Tang Tang ran her fingers over the book’s cover, her heart stirring with curiosity. She had never been to a book signing before.
Tiptoeing out of the lounge, she slipped into the bookstore’s ground floor.
The large space was covered in Su Qian’s posters and promotional displays. The crowd buzzed, people streaming toward one end of the floor. Tang Tang picked up a new copy of Su Qian’s book, paid for it, and joined the signing line.
“Hey, did you hear? Su Qian didn’t even take the college entrance exam—Liao’an University admitted her straight into their famous literature program!”
“Seriously? Celebrities get everything. Skip the exam and still go to a 985.”
“I’m only here for the good luck, not because I like her.”
“Right? She’s just some marketing gimmick—what’s so great about that?”
“Hahahahaha…”
…
Mocking laughter echoed behind her. More and more people joined in, trashing Su Qian. For the first time, Tang Tang realized that the majority of people here didn’t even like her. They were only here out of curiosity—or jealousy. They admired Su Qian’s luck, but refused to acknowledge her talent.
“This world is full of contradictions. People admire your courage to ride the waves, but the moment you rise too high, they criticize you—not out of justice, but because you’re doing better than they imagined you would.”
Those familiar words echoed in Tang Tang’s ears. They were the final message Little Candy left before she slit her throat on the city wall—the only human to ever reach the gates of the immortal sect in that world. Tang Tang had never understood why Little Candy was so desperate in that moment… until now.
She finally realized: Su Qian had already lived through that despair, long before her.
She had only used her character… to say what she couldn’t.
“You guys are being way too much!” Tang Tang blurted out before she could stop herself. Her mouth moved faster than her brain. She turned to glare at them one by one and said clearly, “Su Qian’s success comes from her hard work and dedication—not like you, who cry to the heavens whenever things get tough. Only the talentless act like bitter, jealous nobodies. Those with real ability respect others with the same drive.”
Finishing her words, Tang Tang left the stunned crowd behind, walked straight up to the signing table, and took Su Qian’s hand.
“Qianqian, you promised—you’d take me out for something delicious in one hour. Don’t go back on it, okay?”