Chapter 63

*The World Is Sinking, and We Are in Love*
Qin Sang hadn’t expected Xie Yuncheng’s lock screen to already be a photo of her. He used to have the default lock screen; his phone interface was basically the manufacturer’s default style. And that photo…
When had he taken it? In the northwest? That night he came to visit, when the bonfire blazed and fireworks bloomed, the shifting light and shadow falling into her eyes—brighter than the clear night sky.
The audience below erupted into excited chatter, eagerly searching around for suspicious targets. After all, the text message content was too coincidental, perfectly matching the current topic. Whoever sent it had to be right there in the hall.
Qin Sang felt completely mortified. She pressed her hat down and slipped out, lucky that she was close to the back door and managed to escape before anyone noticed.
She hid in a remote corner and called Wen-jie. Wen-jie couldn’t help laughing. “I told you to be careful. You got photographed and followed without even knowing it. Now you’ve been caught red-handed. Whatever—we’re already at this point. One more thing or one less thing doesn’t matter. I sent you that Weibo post—take a look yourself. Think about how you want to handle it, then let me know.”
After hanging up, Wen-jie indeed sent her a Weibo post. The headline was eye-catching and exaggerated: “Suspected Boyfriend Fully Exposed: Overnight Stay Builds Secret Nest, New Best Actress Falls in Love in the Northwest.”
Qin Sang was startled by the sensational headline. What “secret nest”? She clicked in and carefully watched the video. She discovered that this gossip account wasn’t exposing what had just happened in the lecture hall, but rather videos and photos secretly taken by paparazzi when she was filming in the northwest. They’d even helpfully organized a timeline for netizens to understand.
“November 21, 202x: Teacher Qin transferred from T City to the northwest, stopping mid-journey for a brand event. Arrived at the filming location that afternoon and stayed with the crew without leaving. During filming, a small accident occurred. Big D, while staking out, saw the crew call medical staff to help Teacher Qin treat her injuries. Heard she was hurt quite badly—fell from a shipping container, back injury recurred, arm scraped, eyes slightly infected. Silently giving Teacher Qin a thumbs-up—she’s really dedicated, didn’t even rest after getting hurt, worked diligently until midnight. The van left the set and returned to the hotel. Big D was about to call it a night when, before retreating, he got an unexpected surprise: mysterious boyfriend unexpectedly appeared at the hotel. The two sweetly embraced, then entered the hotel together to spend the night. Around nine the next morning, the two came out one after another. Worth noting: this mysterious boyfriend also visited the set. Before visiting, he accompanied Teacher Qin to a clinic to treat her wounds.”
Wen-jie sent a voice message: “It’s lucky you got photographed at the airport earlier and you admitted it yourself—caught the paparazzi off guard. Now the internet’s acceptance of this leak is pretty good, and the reviews are decent. The key thing is you actually gained followers.”
This was pretty wild. Female stars in their rise, when their relationships get exposed, usually see traffic drop, fans decrease, netizens rebelling and boycotting. But Qin Sang had none of that. First, because her personality was pretty strong; she’d had plenty of similar black marks in the past, but none were true. Second, she had real money, real work, real skill—not a vase who only relied on her face.
The truth might be hard to hear, but that’s how the public was. They always gave special favor to people with real ability. The same thing happening to someone with skill would naturally filter out excessive risk.
Qin Sang didn’t reply. She just skimmed the comments and found this leak from D-Society pretty interesting. Because the leak came out late, netizens were all mocking them for being inefficient.
【Officer, you dare bring out such outdated leaks to fool us? Are you kidding?】
【Read. You may kneel and leave.】
【If you can’t do it, just change careers. Working in a factory screwing bolts isn’t bad either @D-Society】
Facing netizens’ sarcasm, D-Society didn’t panic. Instead, they pinned a comment saying: “We originally wanted to wait for a good time to release this. Who knew Teacher Qin wouldn’t follow the usual path and just self-destructed and announced everything herself? What can I do? What do you want me to do? I can only obediently release it to catch some ready-made heat. Don’t doubt D-Society’s ability. We might not be good at leaks, but our post-production editing is still decent. Later we’ll release an edited compilation to congratulate Teacher Qin on falling in love.”
【You’re way too ridiculous】
【LMAO I’ve only ever seen stars cornered by paparazzi with nowhere to run. This is the first time I’ve seen paparazzi get played by a celebrity】
【Off-topic, but I feel like Teacher Qin’s boyfriend is actually pretty good?】
D-Society really did what they said. They immediately released their carefully edited video.
It turned out that night when they were setting off fireworks, paparazzi were also staking out nearby—probably watching from the guesthouse across the way. It was just dark, so the shots were blurry. They really had done post-production editing; the music and scene transitions were just right.
When the fireworks bloomed, the moment the two kissed was also captured by the lens. With the music added, you could really taste the sweetness—like an idol drama.
Qin Sang was mortified. Being bold and taking responsibility was one thing; being secretly photographed and publicly executed was another.
When the trending topic exploded, this video was pushed to the front. She quickly turned off her phone, too afraid to keep scrolling.
Qin Sang turned off her phone and looked into the distance. Xie Yuncheng had just finished. Coming out with him was a middle-aged man who seemed very familiar with him. As they approached, she could hear him say:
“How’s your grandfather’s health? I originally planned to visit him during Mid-Autumn Festival, but I had a last-minute business trip. Coming from Hong Kong, I couldn’t make it in time.”
“Hey—” The man spotted Qin Sang and smiled. “This must be Miss Qin, right?”
Qin Sang also paused. She looked at him and didn’t find him unfamiliar. She nodded with a smile. “Hello, Chairman Feng.”
Chairman Feng raised his brows. “Miss Qin knows me?”
Feng was a rare surname, truly uncommon. Besides, she had met him years ago. Qin Sang took the initiative to mention it: “At the launch meeting for the Lantern Project, I was fortunate enough to meet you once. You probably don’t remember, but I was one of the impoverished students you once sponsored.”
The Lantern Project was a financial aid program jointly established by their school and a company, mainly targeting students like her who had good grades but came from poor families. You could say that if it weren’t for this grant back then, she wouldn’t have been able to finish college so smoothly. After all, performing arts schools weren’t cheap, and she wasn’t famous then. The little money she earned had to be carefully budgeted and squeezed tight.
Chairman Feng glanced at Xie Yuncheng, then smiled and shook his head. “Miss Qin, you’ve misunderstood. Actually, I was attending on behalf of Elder Xie.”
“At that time, Elder Xie couldn’t appear in person, so he entrusted me to attend and push the project forward. But the startup funds, including the financial aid given to you all, were all provided by Elder Xie. And the project’s initiator wasn’t me—it was Xiao Chen.”
Qin Sang stared at Xie Yuncheng, stunned. Even after Chairman Feng left, she still couldn’t process this news.
It was the Xie family? It was Xie Yuncheng? They had started this project, and only then had she gotten breathing room, a chance to continue her studies.
She followed Xie Yuncheng and walked around Qingda. Qingda wasn’t far from her school, but she’d never been there once. So this was where he had once lived—where he had chased his dreams and started out, where he had walked step by step toward his future.
Even if her family hadn’t had that accident, even if she had taken the college entrance exam and gone to university as planned, she still couldn’t have gotten in here. With her original grades, wanting to enter this gate would have been too much of a stretch.
When they left, Qin Sang stayed very quiet. The car drove nearby. It turned out the place he lived wasn’t far from Qingda either. Qin Sang followed behind him, feeling a little uncomfortable. “Do you live here in the capital? Is this your own place?”
Xie Yuncheng explained, “Rarely. I usually stay at the institute more. This place is basically empty. Let me check later—if anything’s missing, I’ll go buy it.”
He really wasn’t lying. This place wasn’t just empty—it was practically never lived in. It should be the developer’s default decoration style. The overall color scheme was cold. The shoes in the shoe cabinet, including cups and toiletries, were all unopened. Even the closet only had two white bathrobes hanging.
Looking at the empty kitchen and bedroom, the living room with only basic furniture, Qin Sang was silent for a long time. “You haven’t lived here, have you?”
This place didn’t look like anyone had ever lived here, though it was quite clean and tidy.
Xie Yuncheng was helpless. “In my first year of grad school, a senior asked me for help and gave me this as collateral. I really haven’t been here much.”
Qin Sang nodded. She looked around curiously. The place wasn’t small—four bedrooms and a living room. One of the rooms had been converted into a study. Besides the master bedroom, the two guest rooms only had mattresses; nothing else.
As she passed the master bedroom, her waist was suddenly caught. She was confusedly pulled into the room. Her body was lifted, pressed against the door, legs spread apart. He was looking at her, eyes deep. His thumb pressed against her lips, slowly kneading. His voice was hoarse. “Sang-sang, do you remember the reward you owe me?”
“…Mm.”
Qin Sang’s breath was a little unsteady. She faintly sensed what he wanted to do.
She didn’t refuse or resist. Instead, she was unusually docile, lashes lowered, silently waiting. Their tangled breaths surged with ambiguous heat. There was nowhere to escape, no way to avoid it. The only thing she could cling to was the person standing before her.
His kiss landed on delicate skin. Her neck was slender and fragile. His knee pressed between her legs, hand supporting her waist, half-holding, half-lifting her up. He gripped the back of her neck, kissed her hard, breath aggressive, prying open her lips, hooking her so she had nowhere to hide. Her ears rang; she could only hear the sound of wetness, panting with hot, humid breath.
“Do you want it? Sang-sang?”