Her Rose on Camera - Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Going Against Each Other
Tang Tang stopped struggling when she heard Tian Qingqing’s choked voice. She looked up at the dark circles under her eyes and couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.
Unlike Tang Tang, who got lucky and squeaked into Liao’an University, Tian Qingqing had ended up at the school because she underperformed on the entrance exams. From the very first day she moved into the dorm, she wore her dissatisfaction with the school—and the arrogance of a top student—plainly on her face, causing academic underachievers like Tang Tang to keep their distance.
It wasn’t until one night, after another drunken outburst, that Tang Tang finally understood why Tian Qingqing always held her head so high.
It was probably because she had been admired at the top for too long and couldn’t accept being just ordinary.
Just like now—even if Tian Qingqing had become down and out overseas, begging for gigs, she’d still return to China wearing the mask of a returning talent, clinging stubbornly to her pride.
Tang Tang sighed. This meal had turned out to be more frustrating than enjoyable.
“Do you have a place to stay, Qingqing?”
Tang Tang had already taken her phone. Her finger hovered over Gu Qiqi’s name for a long time but, in the end, she didn’t dial. “You’ve had too much to drink. Let me take you home.”
“I’m not going back there. That’s a rented apartment—not my home.”
Tears fell down Tian Qingqing’s cheeks, smudging her delicate makeup. “Tang Tang, I really have nothing left. Every day I scroll through social media and see people who used to be worse than me posting engagement rings, new homes, fancy cars… and I’ve got nothing.”
Tang Tang opened her mouth but realized she didn’t know how to comfort her. After a moment of silence, she hesitated and said, “Maybe I can ask my agent… see if she has any jobs to recommend.”
Tian Qingqing’s pitiful expression faltered for a second, nearly breaking character from that one line.
Was that what she wanted—a pity job tossed like spare change? No. What she wanted was a quick shot at popularity, and Tang Tang herself.
She glanced discreetly at the hidden camera in the corner and feigned ignorance.
“Tang Tang, can I crash at your place for a few days?”
“Uh…”
Clearly, Tang Tang hadn’t expected that. After a moment’s thought, she shook her head. “No, that won’t work. There are too many paparazzi around my apartment. It’d be too inconvenient.”
As she spoke, her fingers twisted together—her telltale sign of lying.
The truth wasn’t about paparazzi. It was because of someone else—the person she had a huge fight with just recently, the one she’d broken up with three years ago: Su Qian.
Su Qian seemed wild and carefree on the outside, but in private, she was a jealous possessive mess. Forget crashing; even if someone stayed at Tang Tang’s place a bit too long, Su Qian would frown and kick them out.
“Once we earn enough money, let’s move to the countryside—buy a little courtyard house and raise cats and dogs.”
Su Qian used to say that when they were still together. She’d sit beside Tang Tang, pointing at the map of Liao’an City. She had marked stars in several locations.
“Pick any of these. They’ve got mountains, rivers—everything you love.”
“But why buy the one on the end of the street? Why not one in the middle with neighbors on both sides?”
Tang Tang leaned lazily in Su Qian’s arms, looking up at her.
“No good.” Su Qian would lower her head and hug her tighter. “I don’t want you somewhere crowded. I’m scared I won’t see you in a crowd… scared we’ll get separated.”
Her voice had carried a hint of melancholy back then. But Tang Tang hadn’t understood it.
“Really can’t stay?”
Tian Qingqing’s eyes were red as she asked again.
She couldn’t understand why Tang Tang insisted on clinging to Su Qian.
“No.” Tang Tang’s tone grew firmer as she recalled Su Qian. She stood and helped the drunken Tian Qingqing to her feet. “You’ve had too much. I’ll take you home.”
Tian Qingqing, unsteady on her feet, leaned heavily against Tang Tang for support. From the side, they looked like two figures tightly pressed together.
In the corner, the paparazzi’s camera kept clicking away. Within minutes, they had the perfect set of shots.
After dropping Tian Qingqing off, Tang Tang strolled down the sidewalk, waiting for Dong Yu to pick her up.
It was lively outside the campus gates. Students in new clothes poured out in groups, laughing and chatting as they made their way to nearby restaurants.
Walking among them, Tang Tang felt like she had time-traveled back to a college weekend—back when she could run to the gates and see Su Qian waiting for her, perfectly dressed, always with a little something in hand: a hot milk tea, a piping-hot roasted sweet potato…
Yeah… she missed it.
A soft smile appeared on her makeup-free face. She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Su Qian.
“Princess, Happy New Year.”
After a long while, Su Qian replied:
“It’s still December 31st here, silly girl. You’re too early.”
Evening of January 1st
#TangTang TianQingqing
#TianQingqingReturnsToChina
#PopularAuthorTangTangCaughtOnDateWithPhotographerTianQingqing
#TangQingCP
#FirstScandalOfTheYearInTheEntertainmentIndustry
Five trending hashtags dominated the hot search list—2025’s first major celebrity scandal.
Tang Tang watched the rising heat in disbelief, tossed aside her ringing phone, and glanced hesitantly at her increasingly bald manager, Dong Yu.
“Dong Yu, this is my first time trending at number one. Even if it’s for a scandal.”
Her face lit up with excitement, round eyes sparkling. She grabbed her manager’s shoulders and shook her, bubbling with joy.
“Do you think I could go viral off this, like Su Qian did?”
“Can you please act like a responsible adult for once?”
Dong Yu was stressed, but luckily she had known about the dinner with Tian Qingqing in advance—otherwise she’d be in total panic now.
She scratched her thinning hair and looked at the girl in the bunny onesie scrolling Weibo.
“I mean, you haven’t seen Tian Qingqing in years. Maybe next time, be a little more careful?”
“There won’t be a next time,” Tang Tang said while munching an apple and scrolling real-time comments. “She came back to chase her career, not to cling to a washed-up idol like me.”
The Weibo comments were exploding.
@TaroTaroBoba: “Wait—Tang Tang and Tian Qingqing?? So much for shipping TangQing CP.”
@SpicyTurkeySnack: “Who even is Tian Qingqing? These pics gotta be fake. Didn’t Tang Tang say on that variety show she only liked glam beauties or cold studs? This one’s… neither?”
@CuteTakoyaki: “Someone already debunked the fake-pic theory. Why are people still defending Tang Tang…”
@SweetieTangFam: “Didn’t Tang Tang mention Tian Qingqing as her college friend before? Anyone got screenshots?”
@SuSuSuQianWife: “LMAO Tang finally got papped on a date. Just don’t tag Su Qian anymore, for god’s sake.”
@TeaSippingOnlooker: “Not to stir the pot, but didn’t Tian Qingqing have scandals overseas? I remember her staff calling her out for abuse…”
As the public’s fury reached its peak, Su Qian set her phone down with a stormy expression.
“Su Qian-jie… should we suppress the trending topics or…”
Her assistant was visibly nervous. She had worked under Su Qian for three years and knew—her boss only got this cold and serious when Tang Tang was involved.
“She wants the attention? Let her have it.”
Su Qian remembered Tian Qingqing clearly. Back when she and Tang Tang were still together, Tian always found excuses to wedge herself between them—wearing a clueless face, constantly provoking.
Just a fake tomboy hiding a green-tea act behind a dumb facade.
Su Qian gave a soft, graceful smile and told her assistant, “Dig up all the dirt on Tian Qingqing. Send it to Shen Jia once it’s sorted.”
“Got it.”
The assistant nodded quickly, even more terrified of her boss now that she smiled like this.
“Oh, and… use my main account to like one of the exposé posts. Whether it hits the trending page—leave that to your team.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, Tang Tang had just curled up for a nap when her studio group chat exploded. Everyone was forwarding the same Weibo post.
Dong Yu tagged her repeatedly, escalating from anxious to totally unhinged.
Tang Tang tapped on the voice message. Dong Yu’s shrieking burst out of the phone:
“TANG TANG-JIE, WHAT DID YOU DO TO SU QIAN?! WHY DID SHE LIKE A POST EXPOSING TIAN QINGQING?!”
Liking an exposé? What kind of move was that?
Was Su Qian… jealous?
Tang Tang’s smile widened. She grinned from ear to ear, then opened Weibo—and was stunned by the red notifications crowding her screen.
She clicked into her “Special Connections” tab and saw Su Qian had tagged her in a tweet:
@SuQian: Silly girl, still gonna go out eating with other people next time? 😏😏
Attached was a link. Tang Tang followed it, landing on a gossip blog post:
“Shocking Exposé! What Was Tian Qingqing Doing During Her Years Abroad?!”
The title alone was eye-catching, and thanks to Su Qian’s deliberate boost, the comment section was packed with nosy netizens.
Tang Tang stared at the toxic replies, her rage boiling over.
Su Qian—how could she do this?!
Tian Qingqing was just a struggling nobody. How could she use public opinion as a weapon?
Without a second thought, Tang Tang called her.
“Su Qian, are you seriously trying to go against me?!”
…
Author’s Note:
“My teacher Chen died five years ago…”
“I’ve liked you since a long, long time ago…”
Cool aloof tarot reader × dark, cute little loli
Shared universe story: “The Little Tsundere Refuses to Hype CP With Her Ex” – Please add to your bookshelf!
#TravelVarietyShow