The next day, Lin Hao first bought a plane ticket back to Xuecheng at the hotel lobby’s business center. Since he wasn’t in a hurry, he chose a late-night flight, which could save him a third of the price.
Just as he checked out and was taking a taxi toward Tiantongyuan, Qin Ruoyun received a call from Yang Qianyi.
“Qianyi, what’s wrong?” Qin Ruoyun was still groggy and hadn’t fully woken up yet.
At this moment, Yang Qianyi was sitting in her office. On the laptop placed on her large desk was an article with a huge headline:
“A Popular Female Singer and Her Young Boyfriend Spend the Night at a Beijing Hotel.”
“Ruoyun, you and Lin Hao were photographed secretly yesterday. A lot of websites and forums are going crazy reposting these articles now!”
“What?” Qin Ruoyun froze. Her mind instantly cleared. “Where did you see them?”
“Houlang News, Yiwang News, QXun News, and even the Haijiao Forum all have them!”
“Okay, I know.”
Qin Ruoyun hung up and quickly got out of bed.
Wearing a pure white silk nightdress, she walked to the bathroom, her long straight legs swaying as she went to wash up. By the time she sat down in the study and turned on her computer, it was already past ten in the morning.
Shen Jun brought over a cup of hot milk and started nagging her.
“It’s already this late and you’re only waking up? Hurry and drink your milk. Staying up late isn’t good. How can you—”
“Oh my dear mom, you’re becoming more and more of a nag!” Qin Ruoyun laughed and quickly pushed her out.
She searched online and found that the earliest article had appeared at 2:30 yesterday afternoon. It wasn’t just photos from the lobby of Beijing Hotel; there were also pictures of her and Lin Hao in the parking lot.
The photos used by Yiwang News were taken when she and Lin Hao were buying clothes at Yansha. In several pictures, she was helping Lin Hao fasten his buttons. The movements between the two looked extremely intimate.
The headline read:
“A Certain Female Singer Holds Hands with Her Young Boyfriend While Shopping at Yansha.”
These reporters and websites weren’t stupid. They clearly knew who they couldn’t afford to offend, especially after the rumor last winter claiming that she had come out of the closet.
So all photos of Qin Ruoyun had her face mosaicked, but Lin Hao’s face was completely clear.
She then found many altered versions of the posts on the Haijiao Forum. The titles were extremely exaggerated, such as:
“A Certain Female Star Only Likes Young Men”
“Seeing a Handsome Man Through the Mist”
She looked through the comments under the post “A Certain Female Star Only Likes Young Men.” No wonder people said netizens had such rich imaginations. Some had already dug out some of her previous photos and compared them. From hairstyles to body measurements, they were practically more professional than detectives.
Very quickly, the netizens figured out it was her. In the newest comments, her name had already started appearing.
She clicked open the post “Seeing a Handsome Man Through the Mist.” Looking at the imaginative writing and the accompanying pictures, Qin Ruoyun couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
Just from the title, she could tell the person who wrote it had done it intentionally, because “Seeing Flowers Through the Mist” was her own song, and Lin Hao had written the lyrics and composed the music for her.
Although the person who wrote the post deliberately tried to be vague and mysterious, the netizens weren’t fools. They quickly noticed the hidden clues.
Some posts had also started guessing Lin Hao’s identity.
Some praised him for being handsome, while others said he was some newly debuted young actor. But one of the newest comments made Qin Ruoyun freeze.
It said:
“I saw this person at Baoli Theater last night. I didn’t hear his name clearly, but he played the piano extremely well.”
So she went to check Houlang Blog. Sure enough, someone had uploaded the video of Lin Hao’s piano duel with Qian Xiaoqiang from last night. The blog homepage had even given it a recommendation spot, and the title was extremely eye-catching:
“Young Master Defeats American Piano Doctor.”
She opened the post. The video had probably been compressed after uploading, so the picture quality was only average, but the sound quality was still decent.
Qin Ruoyun watched Lin Hao’s performance again, and couldn’t help sighing.
Those thirty seconds were destined to become famous across the internet!
Her phone rang.
“Did you see it?” Yang Qianyi’s voice came from the other end.
“Mm, I’m looking at it now.”
Yang Qianyi felt that she was being unusually calm, not like her usual self at all, and couldn’t help asking curiously, “And you can still sit there calmly?”
Qin Ruoyun giggled. “They didn’t mention me by name, did they? What am I getting anxious for?”
“But anyone can tell it’s obviously you!”
“So what? I don’t have a husband, and I’m not cheating while married. What do I have to be afraid of?”
Yang Qianyi was instantly rendered speechless by her words. After a while, she finally said, “But Lin Hao’s face is too clear!”
“Then let him come beg me when he needs me!” A smug smile appeared at the corner of Qin Ruoyun’s lips.
Yang Qianyi was stunned at first, but then she understood what Qin Ruoyun meant, and she also started giggling. “That works too. Let this little fox suffer a setback for once! Hahaha!”
As for all of this, Lin Hao was still completely unaware.
The taxi arrived at Tiantongyuan, located outside the North Fifth Ring Road. He found the residential complex where he had lived for five years in his previous life.
Carrying two large plastic bags filled with clothes, trophies, and certificates, he followed an elderly woman pushing a stroller into the complex.
He easily found Building 11, Unit 1, but only then discovered that the building entrance numbers and the actual doors were slightly different from what he remembered.
The metal door at the entrance of the building was wide open, held in place by a brick. He took the elevator up to the 16th floor and stood in front of Room 1601, staring blankly for a long time.
This was a very old security door, completely different from the home he remembered.
He didn’t knock. He didn’t want people to think he was mentally ill. After going downstairs, he sat by the flowerbed opposite the entrance and smoked a cigarette.
He clearly knew this was a different world and that he was only wasting his time, but he still couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
At noon, he ate a bowl of old Beijing zhajiang noodles near Lishuiqiao. The taste hadn’t changed—it was still just as delicious.
Afterward, he waited for the subway at Lishuiqiao Station. At that time, Line 5 still hadn’t been extended to Tiantongyuan North, which was actually quite similar to his previous life.
He got off at Dongdan Station and wandered around leisurely. Whenever he came across a shopping mall, he would go inside and browse, buying some souvenirs for Xia Yumeng, Wu Xiaozhou, and the others.
He didn’t dare return empty-handed, otherwise he would have to endure another round of being squeezed dry by them. It was better to proactively buy some things for this pack of wolves and shut their mouths.
Besides that, he also needed to buy gifts for his two teachers, Fan Gang and Guan Yuchi, as well as Dean Li Bohan.
By the time Lin Hao, carrying large and small bags, reached Dashilan, it was already past six in the evening.
Dark clouds were beginning to gather in the sky, and the air was gradually becoming humid. Lin Hao felt a little troubled. It looked like it was about to rain.
What should he do?
Should he take a taxi to the airport? He could find somewhere to eat there and wait for his flight.
Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly heard the sound of clappers coming from ahead.
“Da, da, da, da—ding, da, ding, da…”
A row of seven or eight people, all wearing long robes and mandarin jackets, stood by the roadside playing clappers.
Lin Hao immediately became interested. In his previous life, he had also loved traditional Chinese performing arts, and he was even a hardcore fan of cross-talk. Every night, he would fall asleep listening to Guo Degang’s crosstalk. Seeing this scene now made him even more curious.
This group of people came in all shapes and sizes. Behind them was a small theater. The signboard above was rather crudely made, but the calligraphy on it was actually quite good.
It read: Beijing Crosstalk Gathering.
When Lin Hao saw that it was a small crosstalk theater, he immediately became interested. Looking up, he noticed that fine rain had already begun to fall, so he decided to go inside and listen.
At that moment, a short, chubby bald man stepped out of the group and smiled while cupping his hands.
“Sir, are you here to listen to crosstalk?”
Lin Hao nodded.
“Please, please come in!”
The man quickly extended his hand and led him toward the ticket counter.
Lin Hao carefully looked at the man a few times. His height and build were very similar, but he was clearly not the same person.
A wave of disappointment rose in his heart.
Then he thought again: What’s wrong with me? This clearly isn’t the same world. How could an identical person possibly appear here?
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