Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Pathetic (Part 2)

“A guardian angel from heaven”

In the end, Shi Qing didn’t tell Dou Qinwen the truth, but the more she denied it, the more convinced Dou Qinwen became. As per Shi Qing’s suggestion, Sheng Qiao Entertainment didn’t send out a public relations statement and let the rumors fly.

But there was an unwritten rule in the public relations world: if a legal letter is sent, it’s fake; if there’s no response, it’s true. As a new round of leaks showed photos of Shi Qing’s hives-covered arm, the “possible AIDS” rumor became more believable, and public opinion was almost completely one-sided.

[@User1001: Holy crap, did you see the picture of the so-called hives? It’s so scary. It can’t be hives. Her skin is all scratched up.]

[@1777982739: You guys actually believe her when she says it’s hives? It’s clearly AIDS, and it’s already in the lesion stage, which is why her skin looks like that.]

[@ReturnedStudBro +V for homepage: Tsk, so is she going to infect a lot of people?]

[@GossipFrontline: This is the first time I’ve heard of this person, Shi Qing. Just by looking at her, who would have thought her private life was so dirty? Let’s make this go viral so more people can see it. Anyone who has had relations with her should go get checked. This is not a joke.]

One person told ten, and ten told a hundred. Rumors are stopped by the wise, but most people who follow gossip online aren’t very smart, so the #ShiQingAIDS# rumor became more and more believable. And all of it was based on just a few photos of her hives.

Shi Qing opened her door and saw Dong Ya on her phone, yelling at people online. She went back to get two glasses of honey water and handed one to her. “Okay, there’s no need to waste your time on them.”

Dong Ya’s eyes were red with anger. She rubbed them with her sleeve and said, “But they’re making up stuff! What AIDS? Your hives were really bad that time!”

Shi Qing took her phone and turned it off. “They don’t know the truth, so there’s no point in arguing with them.”

“But I’m angry,” Dong Ya said, her voice choked.

“Then how about you come for a walk with me and get your mind off things?”

“Okay.” Dong Ya drank her honey water in two gulps, went back to her room to get her coat, and asked as she put it on, “Sister Qing, are you also angry? They’re all talking nonsense!”

Shi Qing put on the long down jacket hanging on the coat rack by the door, her expression calm. “What’s there to be angry about? Everything they’re saying is fake.”

Dong Ya put her phone in her pocket. “I’m not angry about the rumors. The company will deal with them anyway. I’m angry at the fans in your super topic. They always say they like you, but now with just a little bit of trouble, they can’t handle it. They believe everything people say and are turning against us!”

Fans turning against her was indeed upsetting. Shi Qing leaned against the wall to put on her shoes, her voice a little helpless. “If they don’t believe me, there’s no point in forcing them to stay.”

Dong Ya agreed. “That’s true. We told them it was hives, and they still don’t believe us. Let them unfollow. Sister, let’s go for a walk and clear our heads.”

Shi Qing hummed. “Put on a mask.”

“Right. A lot of people are watching us now, so we have to be careful.”

“Yes, especially at the hospital. There are a lot of people.”

Dong Ya froze. “The hospital?”

Weren’t we going for a walk? How did we end up at the hospital?

Shi Qing’s eyes were understanding. “If we’re going to deny the rumors, we need evidence, of course.”

The door closed, and the two of them walked out one after another. It was still cold outside, and the temperature was only a few degrees. Shi Qing had been weak recently, so she had to wear a down jacket. When they got to the elevator, they happened to run into an actress from the next crew. Her status was similar to Shi Qing’s; a type of person that looks familiar to passersby but whose name they can’t remember.

“Teacher Zhuang, good morning.” Shi Qing remembered her and took the initiative to say hello.

The other person was clearly stunned, her expression unnatural. The foot that was about to move forward stopped abruptly. “Morning, Teacher Shi.”

Usually, people waiting for the elevator stand in front of the door. Shi Qing also stood on the left side, leaving a large space on the right. Zhuang Hong didn’t walk forward and stopped three steps away from the elevator door. Shi Qing noticed where she was standing, and her eyes lowered. She didn’t say anything and instead asked, “Teacher Zhuang, are you starting work so early?”

Zhuang Hong blinked twice quickly. “Uh, yeah.” She raised a hand to scratch her eyebrow. “Uh, Teacher Shi, you guys go down first. I suddenly remembered I forgot something.” With that, she left as if she were running for her life.

Dong Ya saw everything. Her chest heaved with anger. But she remembered what Shi Qing had always told her about how gossip leads to trouble. She waited until they were in the elevator and the door had closed before speaking. “What was that about? She’s an artist herself. Doesn’t she know how bad it feels to have people spread rumors about you?”

Shi Qing comforted her. “Just pretend she really forgot something. Don’t take it to heart.”

Dong Ya was indignant. “Hmph, I don’t care about her. She’s not worth my breath! We’re going to the hospital to get a checkup, and when the results come out, we’re going to shut them down!”

Shi Qing was pleased. “Yes, that’s the right way to think.”

Shi Qing called a cab, and both she and Dong Ya wore masks. But she didn’t know if she had suddenly become a familiar face or if someone was deliberately waiting for her. As soon as the ride-sharing car turned out of the hotel road, a car started following them.

“You two in trouble?” The driver was very sensitive to tails. He saw the white minivan behind them and then looked at the two masked people in his rearview mirror. He could tell they weren’t ordinary people.

“No, sir. Just drive like you normally would,” Shi Qing said.

“That car is obviously following us.”

“Can you help us lose them?”

“We’ll have to take a detour. This road is a main street, so it’s not easy to lose them.”

“That’s fine. No problem.”

“Then you can’t give me a bad rating later. You told me to take the detour.”

“I won’t. Don’t worry.”

With her consent, the driver pulled a tailspin and turned into a one-way street. But the minivan seemed determined to follow Shi Qing. It even ran a red light and a solid line to follow them.

“Six points! Six points!” Dong Ya grabbed the handle on the car ceiling with one hand and indignantly pretended to deduct points from a traffic cop.

“You think you can play car chase with me?” The driver glanced at his rearview mirror, his eyes full of disdain.

The road was secluded, and the signal was bad. The navigation system kept losing signal, so the driver relied on his mental map, constantly turning at alleyways. After turning seven or eight times, Dong Ya was starting to feel carsick. Finally, they sped out.

“Woo!” The driver made a sound of celebration like a racer crossing the finish line and raised his eyebrows at the two in the back. “Cool, huh? I used to be a race car driver when I was young!”

Dong Ya opened the window to get some air, not daring to speak for fear of throwing up.

Shi Qing praised him. “You’re a really good driver. You even drifted around that corner.”

The driver was even happier. “Of course. This car isn’t that good. If it were a race car, I could drift even more beautifully! And the person following you guys… seriously, why a minivan? Can that thing even keep up with anyone?”

Just as he finished speaking, his expression changed drastically. In the rearview mirror, a white minivan came rushing out of the alley. The driver immediately got mad. “What the hell? What kind of driver is this? We’re not at Bainbrook here! Ladies, you’re going to the hospital, right? I’ll just take you there directly. Once you’re there, they won’t dare to do anything.”

Shi Qing helped Dong Ya lean against her. “Okay, thank you for your trouble.”

The driver waved his hand. “Don’t mention it. If my skills hadn’t gotten rusty, I would’ve lost him by a hundred miles. I’ll go a little faster after this speed limit. You guys can run inside as soon as you get out of the car. That way they won’t catch you.”

Shi Qing nodded. “Okay.”

As they were making this plan, the minivan ignored the speed camera and sped up, driving into the two-way street and even pulling up next to them. Shi Qing quickly closed the window, but the other side opened theirs. From a distance of a few dozen centimeters, a man yelled loudly, “Teacher Shi! Please give us an interview!”

“Please open your window! Where are you going now? Are you going to your management company to release a statement, or are you going to the hospital for treatment?”

“Say something, Teacher Shi! Our magazine’s fans are very concerned about you!”

The man screamed hoarsely, almost half of his body hanging out of the car window, making the driver’s heart jump. “Holy crap, is this guy crazy? You guys should call the police!”

It was the first time Shi Qing had encountered a situation like this. It wasn’t a paparazzi car chase; it was a paparazzi death chase. At this rate, as soon as the ride-sharing car stopped, they would rush up. Not only would they be unable to get out of the car, but they would also drag the driver into the mess.

Dong Ya was so angry she was out of breath. “Sister, let’s call the police! This isn’t an interview; it’s a mess!”

Shi Qing frowned. If she called the police and made a big scene, it would play right into the paparazzi’s hands. The news of “Shi Qing Wasting Police Resources to Avoid Interview” would cover up the original dirty secrets. A sugar baby, AIDS, and wasting police resources. With all these things combined, everyone would turn against her.

Her heart was pounding violently against her chest. The hand holding her phone was squeezing harder and harder, her knuckles turning pale like white bones. Just as she was in a difficult situation, a black private car suddenly rushed out from the side, accelerated, and pulled up in front of the minivan, slamming on the brakes.

Screech—

The minivan was forced to slow down and was quickly left two car lengths behind Shi Qing’s car. It turned its steering wheel to change lanes and tried to speed up, but the private car quickly changed lanes as well, blocking it. It changed lanes to the right, and the private car also changed lanes immediately, always staying a half-car-length ahead. The driving speed was extremely slow, but the lane changes were fast.

With the help of two traffic lights, the ride-sharing car sped up, and the minivan soon disappeared from the rearview mirror. Dong Ya collapsed in the back seat, relieved. “Phew—thank goodness a guardian angel came from heaven! Did the company send someone? Sister Wen is so efficient!”

Shi Qing’s eyes were serious. She lowered her gaze, deep in thought. “Yeah, probably.”

Not far behind, in the black private car, Zhang Yulan, in the passenger seat, put her hands together and prayed. “Oh God, please don’t let the cameras catch us changing lanes over a solid line or using the motor lane! Amitabha, Amitabha…”

In the driver’s seat, Wei Jiuyi’s expression was calm. “It’s fine. If they do, they’ll deduct my points.”

This scared Zhang Yulan even more. Sister, if you lose your license, that’s another scandal, you know! Her prayers became louder. “The gods can’t hear. The gods can’t hear. The person who just spoke was a lunatic.”

Wei Jiuyi: “…”