Indeed, no one would know that poetry collection was related to Wu Man.

But someone noticed the subtle timing of Zhui Ye’s post—it was right after Wu Man surfaced.

And these people were the lowest tier of netizens—Wu Man and Zhui Ye’s CP fans.

They were few in number, and unlike Zhui Ye and He Huiyu’s CP fans, they hadn’t even given themselves a proper name. After all, they just held a playful attitude, like random pairing, putting two people together. The reason they shipped these two originated from a leaked behind-the-scenes gif when filming “Spring Night.”

During a brief mid-shoot break, Wu Man was napping in a folding chair, the script in her left hand unconsciously slipping to the ground. Zhui Ye passed by her seat, paused mid-step, crouched down and picked up the script from the floor.

Then while maintaining his crouch, he pulled out his phone and took a photo of Wu Man’s sleeping face.

Detective Conan-level fans enlarged the gif ten times, capturing Zhui Ye’s upturned mouth corners under high-level blur, excitedly saying: “I’m dying from this ship—is he smiling?”

“This action is so boyfriend-like! My boyfriend also specifically takes ugly photos of me when I’m sleeping. I say they’re ugly as hell but he laughs happily saying they’re clearly cute. Filter eight hundred meters thick…”

“I’m reporting the person above—double dog food, damn it.”

Thus the internet’s first generation of CP fans invested. They originally thought this was a high-performing stock—entering at the lowest point, surely it should rise all the way? Never imagined that after filming ended, the two didn’t even follow each other on Weibo. Aside from two episodes of sugar in “The Acting School,” there was nothing after.

One went to the Northwest to film with no news, the other was embroiled in suspected romance with a famous actress—the stock hit limit down. With really no content, they couldn’t starve to death, so they began the days of creatively digging for crumbs and picking through garbage.

That Weibo post Zhui Ye made—they heartbreakingly licked a little from the dregs left by ZhuiHui CP fans, stubbornly arguing that one posted desert on the front foot, the other posted Gobi poetry on the back foot, both hadn’t posted in ages and chose the same day. If this wasn’t intentional, it was destiny—then they were a match made in heaven!

“Your garbage-picking appearance is truly heartbreaking.”

Under this Weibo post, the hottest comment was actually a reply from a ZhuiHui CP fan, nearly making people’s noses crooked with anger.

—Don’t get smug, “Spring Night” promotional period is coming soon!

Soon would be their glorious days of stepping on ZhuiHui and punching solo fans!

*

However, in reality, this “soon” was still far off—at least waiting for Wu Man to finish filming in the Northwest.

Since that time Zhui Ye posted on Weibo, Wu Man developed the habit of returning to the hotel after work and definitely using the hotel’s WiFi—slower than grandma walking—to scroll through Weibo.

Even when scrolling alone, she was dishonest, scrolling through everyone’s accounts with Zhui Ye included among them. As if this way she could reassure herself—just casually checking.

But since that day, Zhui Ye never posted another Weibo.

This day Wu Man filmed a night shoot, returning to the hotel at dawn. She lay in bed with eyelids so heavy she could barely open them, yet her fingers still habitually opened Weibo for a look.

As a result, all sleepiness vanished. She bolted upright from the bed in shock.

Hot search number one had exploded: #ZhuiYeSplashedWithSulfuricAcidByAntiFan

She froze on this screen, not daring to click in, praying in her heart that it was an unscrupulous marketing account using explosive words for attention, that the reality wasn’t actually like this…

Her trembling finger clicked into the hot search. Several images jumped out.

It was at “The Acting School” finals scene. After it ended, everyone was taking photos together. Many people were pulling at Zhui Ye, wanting to take pictures with him.

That anti-fan infiltrated during this process.

The captured photos were all aftermath—complete chaos. At the time, no one had anticipated this kind of incident. After all, those remaining after the show ended mostly had some connections or were industry acquaintances—no one would imagine a crazed fan was still lurking.

All the marketing accounts were vague, only saying Zhui Ye was urgently sent to the hospital for treatment.

Where exactly was he splashed, how severe was it—not a single word mentioned.

Zhui Ye’s Weibo square was already filled with crying, praying he’d be safe. If splashed severely, it would endanger his life. If he didn’t die but it hit his face, his acting career would be half-dead.

A disfigured actor—what roles could he still get?

A disfigured actor—would fans still love him?

He had originally stood on the altar as heaven’s favored son, a demon king who could bewitch hearts with just that face alone.

From former universal acclaim to suddenly overnight being given pity and sympathy, finally forgotten with no one asking or caring. Nothing could destroy a legend more than this.

Wu Man didn’t understand why someone would hate him so much, willing to use such vicious means to destroy a person. The police report stated the perpetrator seemed to have mental illness, had been arrested and would be seriously dealt with.

She anxiously called He Huiyu, but no one answered. During her repeated calling process, her churning brain gradually sobered up.

This actually had nothing to do with her, did it?

Why should she be so nervous?

They were now just ordinary colleagues. Her panic like an ant on a hot pot was too abnormal.

The urgent matter now was to hurry and sleep, rest well to face tonight’s filming. This was the most rational choice an unapproachable person should make.

Wu Man threw her phone aside, burying it in the bed, forcing herself to close her eyes.

In the darkness, that scene when Zhui Ye hugged her from behind and turned around, blocking that basin of hot water, was so clear.

Before blocking it, he had no way to predict what that water was.

That is to say… if it had been sulfuric acid back then, he would have borne it for her just like that.

Though she was unapproachable, she wasn’t cold-blooded to this extent. Even just returning courtesy, she should show concern for him.

How could she pretend nothing happened and all was peaceful?

Wu Man tossed and turned for a long time. Her body was exhausted to the extreme, but her nerves were taut, like a top whipped broken—clearly wanting to stop, yet continuously burning, catching fire.

She still slowly opened her eyes. The curtains weren’t pulled carefully—the Northwest sky that only brightened at ten AM was now barely showing gray-blue light, giving Wu Man the illusion that everything was still early, that she could still make it in time.

She fancifully calculated, immediately flying from here to Beijing to see for herself what exactly happened.

When Wu Man opened the ticket booking app, she was still in a trance. Had her soul been possessed? This kind of reckless impulse completely wasn’t something the former her would have.

…Just seeking peace of mind, otherwise she couldn’t even sleep well.

Wu Man resolutely climbed out of bed, put on her coat, wrapped up with hat and mask, taking only her ID and quietly left the hotel.

When Wu Man landed in Beijing two and a half hours later, Wei Wei probably still thought her boss was still catching up on sleep in her room.

*

Upon landing in Beijing, Wu Man discovered that the message she’d sent He Huiyu before boarding asking about Zhui Ye’s hospitalization had been replied to.

Following the address provided, she called a car and rushed over quickly.

The closer the car got to the hospital, the more nervous she became. Both hands were ice cold, palms floating with a layer of cold sweat. She anxiously crossed her hands, continuously rubbing her fingers, then releasing them, repeating this. The car stopped.

Wu Man took a long breath and walked toward the inpatient department.

Her timing was just right, within visiting hours. He Huiyu and her boyfriend were in Zhui Ye’s hospital room. Seeing Wu Man send a message that she’d arrived, He Huiyu almost thought her eyes were playing tricks.

She came downstairs with a surprised expression, indeed seeing Wu Man pacing back and forth in the inpatient department lobby.

“Hey, over here.”

He Huiyu lightly waved. Wu Man walked to her side. The two unobtrusively took the elevator up to the single room on the top floor.

In the elevator with just the two of them, He Huiyu looked at her meaningfully: “You came specially for him?”

“Of course not. I just happened to have business coming back, by the way.” Wu Man pretended to be calm. “How is he?”

He Huiyu pursed her lips saying: “He could have been fine. At the time, a photographer happened to be standing next to him packing up equipment. Because he pushed that person away, he got splashed.”

Wu Man froze, unable to believe her ears.

…What rare species of big fool was this?

Hearing that Zhui Ye again put himself in danger to save someone, Wu Man simply wanted to curse at him, but was also speechless—truly didn’t know what words to use to describe him.

This person wouldn’t coldly stand by just because the person standing beside him changed from Wu Man to someone else. For most people, gentleness was just a pretense of goodwill, a mask, but for Zhui Ye, it was a quality fused into his flesh and blood.

Precisely because she understood this point, Wu Man couldn’t curse. What she felt in her heart was deeper shock.

At least she definitely wouldn’t risk her own future or even life for a stranger.

She silently arrived at the hospital room door. Someone came out from inside—through the brief opening and closing gap, she vaguely saw a figure lying on the bed wrapped full of gauze.

Wu Man’s heart jumped. She gripped her palms tight, fingernails embedding into flesh, stabbing her temples with throbbing dizziness.

The person who came out was He Huiyu’s boyfriend, the original owner of that blue candle.

He looked at Wu Man curiously and was pulled over by He Huiyu. She raised her chin saying: “No one’s inside now, you go in.”

*

Wu Man pushed the door and entered, not approaching, standing at the door position gazing from afar.

On the pale hospital bed, Zhui Ye was bare-chested, his back wrapped in several layers of gauze, an IV still hanging from his hand. His whole person lay prone on top, lacking vitality.

The only fortunate thing—his head wasn’t wrapped in gauze.

This meant his face wasn’t injured.

Wu Man leaned powerlessly against the door. All at once, exhaustion surged through her body. The steel reinforcement supporting her softened into a thin thread. Her body became precarious.

She maintained this leaning posture quietly watching him for a while, until Zhui Ye asked in a muffled voice: “Who’s there?”

Wu Man didn’t make a sound, moving to the bedside.

She touched the back of his head, her index finger inserting into the soft fluffy hair, movements gentle like touching a cicada’s wings.

“Does it hurt?”

“Big sister?”

Zhui Ye’s back bounced in surprise. With effort, he twisted his head from right to left so he could see her.

His eyes were dust-covered night pearls, flashing with peerless flowing light the instant he truly saw Wu Man.

“How did you come… Did you come specially from the Northwest to see me?”

Wu Man’s touching fingertips paused, repeating the previous lie: “…No, had business in Beijing, by the way.”

He laughed softly: “Liar.”

“Injured like this, you can still laugh?”

“I’m fine. Fortunately I blocked for big sister that time—my muscles still have memory.” Zhui Ye downplayed it. “Dodged pretty fast, only got splashed a tiny bit on my back.”

“You’ve learned to lie too, haven’t you?”

“…What?”

“He Huiyu already told me.”

Zhui Ye stalled for two seconds, muttering: “Okay, I was a bit too confident in my skills.”

Wu Man still couldn’t help raising her voice: “Do you know if you’d been splashed in the face, or more seriously, what would happen to you?”

He said somewhat angrily: “Of course I know. But would you have me watch another person get affected because of me?”

Wu Man was speechless. Finally, softening her tone: “I just hope you can consider yourself more.”

Zhui Ye froze hearing this, lowering his voice: “Sorry big sister, I was a bit harsh talking to you just now.” He turned his head, gaze falling toward empty distance. “Anyway, my life was stolen to begin with. Every extra second I live is a second—doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you think that line was cool?” Zhui Ye laughed. “If I can’t be an actor, being a screenwriter isn’t bad either.”

“…Still can’t get roles recently?”

Zhui Ye hummed: “Just consider it recuperation.”

Wu Man originally wanted to suggest Zhui Ye sign with a company. Until now he was still a free agent, didn’t even have bodyguards—that’s why this kind of accident could easily happen. But which domestic management company could stand up to the Yu family? Even if he signed, it would be hard to change his semi-blacklisted status.

“Perhaps if you lowered your head to Yu Jiaze…”

Zhui Ye’s voice was muffled: “Why should I?”

“Because of your current situation.”

“Even if I never act again, I won’t bow to him.” Zhui Ye looked at Wu Man. “It’s true I love acting very much, but acting isn’t the only thing I love.”

Wu Man’s chest swelled. By her ear rang the fluttering sound of a little bird’s wings flying toward the sky.

So she evasively glanced at her phone saying: “I have to go.”

“So soon?”

Actually, there was still time before flying back to make tonight’s filming. She just couldn’t let herself stay under the same roof with Zhui Ye any longer.

She had to maintain rationality and clarity.

“Get well soon. After this, remember to hire bodyguards. When fame is big, all kinds of demons and monsters will stick to you.” Wu Man took out a bag of preserved plum candy from her bag, placing it by Zhui Ye’s pillow. “Before I saw you quite liked eating these on set… When medicine tastes bitter, eat one.”

Zhui Ye looked at this bag of candy in slight daze. His hand with the needle suddenly reached toward the bed edge, making an effort to grab her hem.

“You know I really hate hospitals. One bag of candy can’t comfort me.”

“…You’re pushing your luck?”

He gently shook her hem: “Fulfill one more wish for the patient.”

Wu Man rolled her eyes, pulled her hem back, and turned to walk toward the hospital room door.

Walking to the door, she deflated and turned back, asking: “What wish?”

Zhui Ye’s dimmed eyes brightened again.

“Add me back as a friend!” He smiled with curved eyes. “When I’m discharged, I’ll send you photos to prove I listened to you.”