Knowing that a car accident patient wouldn’t be taken to the internal medicine department, Yu Mian and Lin Jianshen went to the special department upstairs.

Before approaching the nurse station, Yu Mian asked Lin Jianshen not to speak.

He’s a public figure after all. Even though he’s wearing a mask that covers half of his face, his exposed brows and eyes, which were as light and timeless as those depicted in ink paintings, were extremely eye-catching.

If he were to speak, his highly recognizable voice would most likely expose him.

Yu Mian didn’t want to see her idol caught in a scandal. The media in the entertainment industry had no limits when divulging news. If they find out that Lin Jianshen had been in and out of the hospital, they might write 《Movie King appeared in the hospital, suspected to be seriously ill》 or 《Shocking! Movie King was exposed entering the hospital in disguise. Is he meeting his mysterious girlfriend?》, and other explosive articles.

“Hello, may I ask if you have a person named Yu Mian here?”

“Yu Mian? Yes. What’s your relationship with the patient?” The nurse at front desk asked as she surveyed the two of them, before her gaze turned to Lin Jianshen’s face that was tightly covered with a mask.

Yu Mian said what she had rehearsed in her mind, “We’re her friends. We heard that she was a car accident, so we came to see her.”

“Yu Mian was confirmed dead after resuscitation failed. Someone just processed her discharge papers and she’s now no longer in the hospital. You came late.”

There was a buzzing in Yu Mian’s head. “She’s an orphan, who handled the procedures for her?”

She was shocked. No one knew her situation better than her. Yu Mian had been living in seclusion for so many years and had no close contact with anyone. It was even less likely that she would have friends who were good enough to come and collect her body. When she heard the nurse’s words, her first reaction was disbelief.

The nurse saw her red eyes and kindly informed her, “It should be a friend of hers. If I remember correctly, his surname is Wen.”

Yu Mian instantly figured out who it was. If her guess was correct, the friend surnamed Wen mentioned by the nurse should be Wen Quyi. He’s indeed an acquaintance of Yu Mian.

Wen Quyi was Yu Mian’s neighbor and could be said to be her childhood friend. The two of them grew up together and later, when Yu Mian’s parents died in an accident, the Wen family also helped her many times.

When the two of them graduated from high school, Wen Quyi was admitted to an internationally renowned music school, while Yu Mian chose a local university. In order to take care of their son, the Wen family soon moved out of the country, and Yu Mian had no contact with them since.

Maybe it was because the hospital couldn’t contact anyone, so they called the Wen family’s number stored in Yu Mian’s mobile phone.

Not being able to see ‘Yu Mian’, the two returned without success.

Lin Jianshen remained silent all the way. From the moment Yu Mian gave him instructions, he walked beside her silently without saying a word.

Too many things happened in one day. Yu Mian had long lost her sad mood. Her thoughts were everywhere. From time to time, she would pay attention to the man beside her, trying to see what he was thinking, but realized that she couldn’t read him at all.

Sometimes she would think about Wen Quyi and what kind of ending would there be for her original body that was taken away.

While walking absentmindedly to the door of the ward, the person in front of her suddenly stopped. Yu Mian subconsciously stopped as well and looked up at him in confusion.

“Sorry, I have to leave first. I’m a little pressed for time.”

Lin Jianshen raised his hand, revealing a watch on his wrist with a simple black dial and silver hands, looking stylish and elegant.

Yu Mian suddenly remembered that Lin Jianshen was filming a movie recently. She saw news of him joining the crew a few days ago. He must have squeezed out time to come to the hospital that day. As a result, he even had to accompany her to find ‘Yu Mian’ and spend time on things that had nothing to do with him.

“Okay, go ahead. Thank you for coming to see me.” She felt warm and grateful in her heart. After thinking about it, she couldn’t help but remind him, “Don’t get too tired from filming. Pay more attention to your health.”

“Mm.” Lin Jianshen nodded, gave her a final glance, and then turned around to leave in large strides.

Perhaps he was afraid of being recognized so he did not take the elevator, but instead took the stairs on the other side of the emergency passage. Yu Mian watched his departing back, his clothes fluttering and disappearing around the corner of the stairs. She stood in place for a moment before returning to the ward.

———

Coming down from the seventh floor stairwell, a man in a jacket was squatting on the steps, smoking. When he saw Lin Jianshen coming out, he put out the cigarette and stood up. Pointing at the phone screen, he said, “You’re a bit late.”

Lin Jianshen didn’t even look at the other person and walked straight out. The man didn’t care either and threw the cigarette butt away on a nearby bin and followed after him.

“How’s your little fiancée?” The man, Lin Jianshen’s manager and assistant, Dai Zhong, asked gossipingly.

After staying with a taciturn person like Lin Jianshen for a long time, Dai Zhong gradually became somewhat of a chatterbox. Even if Lin Jianshen didn’t answer, he could talk continuously on his own.

“She didn’t curse you, did she? I heard she’s admitted to the hospital due to extreme diet. Did you go in and ask her? Is she really breaking off the engagement with you for Chu Yan?”

The two of them arrived in front of a low-profile black car. Lin Jianshen got into the back seat while Dai Zhong walked around to the front and got into the driver’s seat.

Not hearing any answer, Dai Zhong poked his head from the front and spoke in a tone filled with exasperation, “Why are you still so calm? Look at how dedicated Chu Yan is. He has appeared in various variety shows. He’s not like you who don’t participate in any activities. He can snatch your little fiancée this time, next it will be your fans!”

Lin Jianshen took off his mask. A faint chill lingered between his eyebrows and his expression was indifferent. “So what?”

Dai Zhong almost laughed from anger. “That’s your fiancée!” How could a man tolerate wearing a green hat^[1]cuckolded?

“It’s just a marriage of convenience.” The scene of the girl tearfully telling him that she didn’t like Chu Yan appeared in his mind. Lin Jianshen paused, then added, “She said she don’t like Chu Yan.”

“You believe her? Do you know how popular Chu Yan is right now? Young women her age like that kind of fresh meat^[2]refers to young, cute, handsome and innocent male idols. Eight out of ten of them are Chu Yan’s fan!”

“Oh.”

He has this lukewarm look again, as if Dai Zhong’s worries were superfluous.

Dai Zhong had already lost his temper due to this attitude of Lin Jianshen and was too lazy to talk to him about the matter anymore. He changed the topic and said, “That long-time fan of yours who leaves you messages every day, Red Cotton Tree^[3]Mumian, how come she didn’t come out today?”

Having followed Lin Jianshen for five years, Dai Zhong had long since discovered the existence of this head fan. At the same time, he was well aware that Lin Jianshen paid special attention to the other party.

Sure enough, before Dai Zhong could finish speaking, Lin Jianshen had already taken out his phone and tapped on the Weibo interface.

He was logged in on his trumpet account^[4]non-primary account. His official account was left to Dai Zhong to take care of. It’s where he usually post work promotions and so on, and it didn’t have much personal stuff.

But his trumpet account was equally desolate. It only has one account on the following list, which was also his most frequently visited page. The username was three simple words, Red Cotton Tree.

The profile picture was a piece of pure white paper with a line of beautiful words written in ink. ‘Deer appears only at the deepest of woods, whale emerges only at the bluest of sea, but you are always in my dream.’

He clicked on her profile picture and scrolled through her homepage. Sure enough, there were no new updates posted that day.

At eight o’clock every morning, Red Cotton Tree would make a post @’ing Lin Jianshen. Most of the time, it was just a good morning or what the weather was like that day.

This action was very ordinary, a very common clock-in with one’s idol, but after persisting for several years, when he fell into a slump and faced setbacks, those beautiful and encouraging words full of affection for him took on a different meaning.

Seeing his reaction in the rearview mirror, Dai Zhong clicked his tongue a few times. “You’re panicking, right? What will you do if Red Cotton Tree jump ship?”

But Dai Zhong was just saying so casually. After so many years, he also knew how loyal that fan was. Would Red Cotton Tree become a fan of another celebrity? The possibility was too low.

As far as he knew, not long after Lin Jianshen entered the industry and was still an unknown 38^th-line star, Red Cotton Tree had already become a fan of his, clocking in every day and never stopping for eight years.

Later, Lin Jianshen gradually became popular and there were many criticisms. It was she who bravely stood up and fought for him. She organized a fan group and every time Lin Jianshen was attacked by public opinion, she was the first one to charge forward.

Dai Zhong lamented countless times that Lin Jianshen had a good fan.

For eight years, she remained a fan of Lin Jianshen alone. There were endless celebrities in the entertainment industry and countless fans come and go. One could be a fan today and turn to an anti-fan tomorrow, swayed by rumors and public opinion. However, she was the only one who remained unwavering and stuck to Lin Jianshen.

Dai Zhong had been curious about Red Cotton Tree’s true identity. He had previously speculated whether the other person might be someone Lin Jianshen knew in real life, but Red Cotton Tree protected her own information very well and had a quiet personality. Generally, except when encountering serious matters, she was extremely low-profile the rest of the time.

Lin Jianshen’s eyebrows furrowed slightly but remained silent. His fingertips tapped on the screen of his phone to type a sentence and sent it out.

【Deer: Why didn’t you clock in today? Are you sick?】

The sky outside the window was gloomy and it looked like it was about to rain. The back seat was dim and the light from the phone screen was projected on his face. The man’s nose was straight, half of his face was hidden in the shadow, and his eyelashes were thick, covering the dark pupils that contained a faint luster.

After not receiving a reply for a long time, the corners of his lips unconsciously pursed slightly, drawing into a straight line.

———

In the hospital, not long after Yu Mian arrived in the ward, the Yu parents returned. The discharge papers and other documents had been processed and they prepared to leave the hospital right away.

There weren’t many things to pack. There was no big problem with Yu Mian and she only need to replenish her energy, so apart from some tonics, the rest were her personal belongings. Because the other Yu Mian had been brought in a hurry, the most important thing she had on her was her mobile phone.

Yu Mian held the latest model of Mango mobile phone and looked at the photo of Chu Yan printed on the case, her mood without fluctuations.

She unlocked it with her fingerprint and Chu Yan’s image came into view on the background. She opened the other Yu Mian’s Weibo and saw a bunch of reposts of Chu Yan’s updates, as well as countless rainbow farts boasting about her idol. Yu Mian’s face remained unchanged and her heart still.

Yu Mian wondered whether to continue using the other Yu Mian’s original account or to register a new one? After all, the two of them were two different identities. She couldn’t use her original Weibo account, but she needed one as the other Yu Mian.

Their styles were different and Yu Mian was afraid that someone with ulterior motive might notice something. She didn’t want to delete the other Yu Mian’s Weibo as this was proof of the other party’s existence. It’s the trace she had left in the world and Yu Mian couldn’t bear to erase it.

Before she could think about it further, Mother Yu called her over, “Mianmian, let’s go.”

Yu Mian responded and ran over with a patter. Uncle Liu, the driver of the Yu family, opened the door and gave her a kind smile.

Seeing the old man smile at her, Yu Mian was a bit embarrassed. She returned a soft smile, “Hello, Uncle Liu.”

Uncle Liu showed a flattered expression and the smile on his face became a little more amiable as he carefully escorted Yu Mian into the car.

Mother Yu was also in the back seat. As soon as Yu Mian sat down, she took her arm affectionately and said, “Mianmian, let’s go to your place first and pick up all your things before we went home.”