Chapter 10: Don’t Be Afraid, I’m Here

Could it be that the racetrack’s surveillance cameras really captured her sprinkling chili powder on Song Qingyu’s dress?

She couldn’t help but tighten her grip on her canvas bag.

Seeing this, Li Huaidong reached out and yanked it directly.

The bag fell to the ground with a thud, spilling its contents everywhere. Among the scattered cosmetics, half a bag of chili powder lay hidden among the bottles and jars.

Gasps erupted from the crowd.

“It really was you!” Guan Xinya raged. “Competition for roles between artists is perfectly normal! Why are you so ruthless? Do you really want to destroy Qingqing?”

Seeing that she had been exposed, Shen Mengli immediately jumped up, feigning utter confusion. “Coco, why would you do such a thing? It’s not like we’re desperate for this role!”

“I… I was wrong. I lost my mind for a moment…” Coco clutched Shen Mengli’s arm, pleading in a low voice. “Mengli, help me…”

Shen Mengli hesitated for a moment before stepping in front of Li Huaidong.

“Huaidong, Coco really did make a mistake, but luckily, Song Qingyu wasn’t harmed. I don’t want this role anymore—I’ll give it to her. Please, let Coco off just this once, okay?”

“Hey, hey, hey! Could you make yourself clear? What do you mean by ‘giving the role to Qingqing’?” Guan Xinya said indignantly. “Qingqing spent an entire week rigorously training in horseback riding for this role. Today, she proved with her own ability that she could win it fair and square. Who needs you to give it to her?”

“That’s right! I have confidence that I can earn this role on my own!” Song Qingyu stepped forward. “Besides, I am the victim in this matter. How this situation is handled should be up to me. Miss Shen Mengli, why are you pleading with President Li on someone else’s behalf?”

Li Huaidong turned to look at Song Qingyu.

Her expression was cold, and inwardly, she sneered—Don’t even think about protecting your so-called white moonlight ex-girlfriend. Not a chance.

“And how would Miss Song like to handle this?” Li Huaidong asked.

“Naturally, by giving her a taste of her own medicine.”

“Go on,” he said.

Song Qingyu turned to the racetrack staff and said, “Bring Chasewind over.”

The staff hesitated—they couldn’t make such a decision on their own. After all, that horse belonged to Li Huaidong.

Li Huaidong gave them a look, signaling for them to follow Song Qingyu’s instructions.

Soon, Chasewind was led over and stood before Song Qingyu.

She gently stroked the horse’s head before turning to Coco, Shen Mengli’s manager. “Get on the horse.”

“Why should I?” Coco demanded.

“If you don’t, I’ll call the police.”

Coco had no idea what Song Qingyu was planning. Completely lost, she turned to Shen Mengli for help.

Shen Mengli leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Getting on the horse is better than having the police involved. Didn’t you learn horseback riding before? Just get on.”

Left with no choice, Coco trembled as she climbed onto the horse’s back.

“Chasewind, go,” Song Qingyu whispered softly into the horse’s ear.

Chasewind was a fierce and untamed stallion, one that kept its distance from strangers. It only recognized Li Huaidong as its master. The only reason Song Qingyu was able to control it was because, the first time she encountered Chasing Wind, Li Huaidong had been there, riding alongside her. Because of that, the horse considered her as “one of its own.”

But Coco… had never—

Coco had never interacted with Chasewind before. To the horse, she was nothing more than a complete stranger. And Chasewind didn’t take kindly to strangers riding on its back.

To make matters worse, it had been irritated by the chili powder earlier, and its mood was already foul. The moment Coco got on, the horse immediately lost its temper and took off in a wild sprint.

“Ahhh!”

With a terrified scream, Coco was already several meters away. But that was just the beginning. Chasewind seemed to have switched into full-blown party mode—kicking, jumping, and doing everything in its power to throw Coco off.

Everyone watching felt their hearts leap to their throats.

“Huaidong… please, make the horse stop! If this goes on, Coco is going to fall off…” Shen Mengli pleaded desperately.

“You can call an ambulance in advance,” Li Huaidong suggested coolly.

Shen Mengli: “…”

At first, Coco clung desperately to the reins, but after being jolted around repeatedly, she completely ran out of strength. With a loud thud, she was thrown off the horse.

“Coco!” Shen Mengli rushed over in a panic.

Coco lay on the ground, clutching her bloodied face as she sobbed in pain. Shen Mengli knelt beside her, crying as well.

Watching this scene unfold, Song Qingyu felt an immense sense of satisfaction. After all, if Li Huaidong hadn’t shown up in time today, the one thrown off the horse would have been her.

Half an hour later, an ambulance arrived with blaring sirens.

Coco was carefully lifted onto a stretcher by the paramedics. Not only was her face injured, but two of her ribs were also broken.

Shen Mengli stayed close to the stretcher, guarding Coco as she was carried away. When she passed by Song Qingyu, she shot her a vicious glare.

“Song Qingyu, just you wait. This isn’t over!”

**

After this whole fiasco, Fan Jiang was thoroughly disappointed in Shen Mengli. However, whether or not Song Qingyu could take on the role of the second female lead still depended on her horseback riding progress.

Originally, her week of training had been more than enough to pass, but after the near accident just now, lingering fear held her back. She no longer dared to mount the horse so easily.

“Scared?” Li Huaidong asked as he approached from behind, noticing how she stood motionless beside Chasewind.

“A little,” Song Qingyu admitted honestly.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Song Qingyu knew that when he said “I’m here,” he meant that if anything happened with Chasewind, he could take control of the horse in time. But somehow, when those two words reached her ears, they carried a different weight—

As if he was telling her that he would always be there to protect her.

“Thank you.”

Encouraged, Song Qingyu mounted the horse again.

Her week of training hadn’t gone to waste. Director Fan Jiang was highly impressed with her performance and immediately decided to cast her as the second female lead.

It was her first role since making a comeback. Overwhelmed with joy, her first instinct was to search for Li Huaidong in the crowd—

But he was already gone.

“You’re looking for President Li, aren’t you?” Guan Xinya handed her a bottle of water while speaking casually. “Right after you got off the horse safely, he got a phone call and left.”

“I wasn’t looking for him. Why would I?” Song Qingyu lowered her head, avoiding Guan Xinya’s gaze.

“Obviously to thank him! If President Li hadn’t shown up out of nowhere today, you’d be done for. A fall like that would have at least left you with broken bones. And besides the physical pain, your comeback would’ve been completely derailed.”

Song Qingyu nodded. No matter how she looked at it, she owed Li Huaidong today.

“And you know,” Guan Xinya continued, “when President Li was holding you on that horse, my heart was racing! It was like something straight out of a drama. Honestly, if he weren’t Lu Yanchuan’s uncle, I’d totally be shipping you two.”

Song Qingyu was in the middle of drinking water when she nearly choked on Guan Xinya’s words.

If Guan Xinya knew that she and Li Huaidong were already legally married, who knows what kind of reaction she’d have?

“What’s wrong?” Guan Xinya reached out and patted her back. “Drink slowly.”

“I’m fine.”

“Last time, it was President Li who saved you from Lu You’an’s mess too. We should invite him to dinner sometime to properly thank him.”

“He’s so busy, he might not have time,” Song Qingyu replied.

“That’s true,” Guan Xinya quickly dropped the idea. After all, a powerful CEO like him wasn’t someone they could just casually ask out for a meal.

The two fell silent for a while. Just as Song Qingyu thought the conversation had moved on, Guan Xinya spoke again.

“But honestly, I was surprised that President Li helped you today instead of siding with Shen Mengli’s manager.”

“Xinya, do you know something?” Song Qingyu followed the thread of conversation, voicing her own doubts. “Is there something special between President Li and Shen Mengli?”

“I don’t know the exact details, but a couple of years ago, their rumors were everywhere,” Guan Xinya said. “Apparently, Shen Mengli would go around telling people she had a special relationship with President Li, and she used his name to get a lot of resources. Even the other day, when we met Director Fan, didn’t she try to use his name to win him over?”

“Mm.”

“But judging by today, President Li doesn’t seem to care much about her. Honestly, he seemed pretty cold toward her—nothing like the rumors made it out to be.”

Song Qingyu fell silent.

Was Li Huaidong so cold to Shen Mengli because she was about to get engaged to another man? Was this his way of lashing out in resentment?

Back then, when Xie Wan’ning went abroad, Lu Yanchuan had hated her for a time. Just hearing her name would make him uncharacteristically indifferent.

But in the end, the moment Xie Wan’ning turned back, didn’t he eagerly chase after her once more?

For men, the woman they can’t have and their bai yueguang—their untouchable first love—are always the hardest to forget and the most special.

**

Over the next half-month, Song Qingyu officially joined the production team and started filming.

After three years away from the screen, she approached her return with the mindset of a newcomer. Aside from diligently performing her own scenes, she spent her free time watching other actors on set, learning from their performances.

Song Qingyu was given a two-day break from filming.

She returned to Taoyuan, only to find that Li Huaidong had just left on a business trip—they had perfectly missed each other.

“Young Madam, while you were away, a birthday invitation arrived at Lan Garden. I had someone bring it over,” Uncle Kang said.

“A birthday invitation?”

“It’s an invitation to Old Madam Lu’s 80th birthday banquet.”

Song Qingyu took the invitation and opened it. Sure enough, it was addressed to her. The three characters for “Song Qingyu” were written in cursive script, and judging by the handwriting, it seemed to have been personally written by the old lady.

“The young master said that after you see the invitation, you should give him a call.”

“When would be a good time to call?”

Uncle Kang smiled: “Whenever the young madam calls, it will always be convenient.”

Song Qingyu felt that Uncle Kang was overestimating her. As a stand-in, she didn’t have that much influence.

Not wanting to disturb Li Huaidong’s work, Song Qingyu sent him a message first to ask if it was convenient for him to take a call. Only after he replied that it was convenient did she make the call.

“Uncle Kang said you wanted me to call you after I got home.”

“Did you see the Lu family’s invitation?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Are you planning to go?”

“Can I go?”

Hearing her cautious tone, Li Huaidong could tell that she wanted to attend Old Madam Lu’s birthday banquet but was worried he might not agree.

“If you want to go, then go. Make your own decision,” Li Huaidong said.

Sensing a hint of displeasure in his voice, Song Qingyu quickly explained, “I don’t have any other intentions in going to the Lu family—I just want to see Grandma.”

Because of her father’s job, Song Qingyu had practically grown up in the Lu household. Old Master Lu and Old Madam Lu had always treated her exceptionally well. Especially after her father had lost his life saving Old Master Lu, the elderly couple had always felt indebted to her, wishing they could give her everything they had.

To Song Qingyu, they were just like her own grandparents.

Ever since Old Master Lu passed away, Old Madam Lu’s health had been deteriorating. Song Qingyu had always been concerned about her, but since she and Lu Yanchuan were already divorced, she could no longer come and go from the Lu family as she pleased, leaving her without an opportunity to visit.

It seemed that Old Madam Lu missed her too; otherwise, she wouldn’t have personally written an invitation and sent it to Lan Garden.

“Aren’t you worried that the Lu family will make things difficult for you?” Li Huaidong asked. The Lu family wasn’t exactly known for being easy to deal with.

“As long as Grandma is there, they wouldn’t dare,” Song Qingyu replied.

Li Huaidong exhaled slowly—she was still too naïve.

“Alright, go if you want. I’ll have someone prepare a birthday gift for you.”

“There’s no need to trouble yourself. I can prepare it myself.”

“You’re still treating me like an outsider?” His voice grew even more displeased.

He was offering to prepare the birthday gift out of goodwill, and Song Qingyu had no reason to insist on refusing him. So, she softened her tone and said gently, “Then I’ll trouble you with it.”

“Mm.”

The next day was Old Madam Lu’s eightieth birthday.

The banquet was held at the Guomao Grand Hotel.

Li Huaidong arranged for a car to take Song Qingyu to the entrance of the hotel.

Old Madam Lu’s milestone birthday was a grand occasion for the Lu family. Many entrepreneurs in Jin City saw it as an opportunity to establish connections, and a long queue had already formed at the entrance with guests presenting their gifts.

Song Qingyu had originally planned to walk straight in, but just as she reached the entrance, she ran into Li Xianglan and Lu Yanchuan. Behind Lu Yanchuan stood Xie Wan’ning, elegantly dressed for the occasion.

“Song Qingyu, who let you come here?” The moment Li Xianglan saw Song Qingyu, she was reminded of her precious daughter, Lu You’an, who was still locked up in prison. Old grudges and new resentment flared up at once. “You’ve already divorced Yanchuan—how do you still have the nerve to show up here? Are you trying to use the Lu family’s event to fish for men?”

Song Qingyu directly pulled out the invitation, personally written by Old Madam Lu. “I didn’t want to come either, but Grandma sent someone to deliver this invitation to me. I’m only here because I don’t want to disappoint her.”

Li Xianglan flipped through the invitation, recognizing the old madam’s handwriting. Infuriated, she muttered bitterly, “The old lady must be senile! Inviting a cast-off woman like you to such a joyous occasion—what bad luck.”

Song Qingyu ignored her completely and simply asked, “Can I go in and see Grandma now?”

“Wait a minute!” Lu Yanchuan eyed her up and down. “Grandma personally wrote an invitation for you because she still considers you family, yet you have the audacity to show up empty-handed for her birthday?”

“Exactly! A servant’s daughter has no manners at all—completely uncultured!” Li Xianglan gestured toward the guests lining up at the entrance to register their birthday gifts. “Look at them! Every single guest here has brought a gift. Do you think you’re special?”

“Who said I didn’t prepare one?” Song Qingyu’s expression remained calm. “I just wanted to hand it to Grandma personally.”

Li Xianglan sneered. “Are you too embarrassed to take out your shabby little gift in front of all these people?”

“Madam Lu, are you saying that if a gift isn’t expensive, it doesn’t deserve to enter these doors?” Song Qingyu raised her voice slightly, ensuring the surrounding guests could hear. “Or is the Lu family hosting this banquet just to collect lavish gifts?”

The onlookers turned their attention to them, and Li Xianglan suddenly found herself in an awkward position. Suppressing her anger, she forced a smile and said, “What a thing to say. Every guest here is welcome. The Lu family is wealthy—we certainly don’t care about birthday gifts. But etiquette matters, and social courtesy is a two-way street. For convenience, we’re registering all gifts today so we can properly acknowledge everyone’s kindness later. Miss Song, I hope you’ll cooperate.”

“So that’s what Madam Lu means. Now I understand.”

With that, Song Qingyu calmly retrieved a rectangular brocade box from her bag and handed it to the staff member in charge of registering the gifts.

As soon as the staff opened the brocade box, someone gasped in surprise.

“It’s the Jade Green Tara Necklace! This is top-tier jade! Look at the smallest beads—their color has reached the Imperial Green level. They say there’s only one of these in all of Jin City.”

Li Xianglan’s brows furrowed as she instinctively glanced at Xie Wan’ning, who was standing behind Lu Yanchuan.

Just half an hour ago, Xie Wan’ning had arrived at the hotel. This was her first formal meeting with the Lu family since returning to the country, so she had carefully prepared two gifts—one was a White Jade Guanyin, a birthday present for Old Madam Lu, and the other was the Jade Green Tara Necklace, a gift for Li Xianglan as a token of their first meeting.

Li Xianglan had been delighted upon hearing that this Jade Green Tara necklace was the only one of its kind in all of Jin City. She had adored it at first sight.

So how was there suddenly another identical one?