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“A minor fracture.”

The doctor scribbled in the medical record without looking up, saying: “The bandage can be removed in two weeks, and it will be almost healed in a month.”

Ji Fan nodded.

After a while, a nurse passing by in the corridor said to someone next to her: “The girl in room 302 looks like Jiang Cha.”

“Huh?” The doctor looked at the name on the first page of the medical record, Jiang Cha.

However, as an older generation, he didn’t care much about current traffic stars, only that the name sounded familiar.

The doctor finished writing and handed the medical record to Ji Fan: “Who are you to her?”

“Her girlfriend,” Ji Fan replied.

“Oh.” The doctor had obviously seen the world and didn’t say anything else, but just told her to take good care of the patient when she went back, eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, and meat, and be sure not to get the bandage wet when taking a shower.

Ji Fan agreed one by one.

In the early morning, when dawn was breaking, Ji Fan’s injury was minor and healed with a little bandage. She called her assistant to ask her to come over and help, but no one answered after a long time, probably still asleep. She had no choice but to put on her thin hospital gown and go out to buy food for Jiang Cha.

It was too late, and only a 24-hour convenience store was still lit up on the roadside. Ji Fan went in and bought some apples and a fruit knife.

She really didn’t have much experience taking care of people, but based on her own imagination, she always felt that she should do something.

For the first time, she was so eager to be kind to someone.

The nurse in the ward had already finished her work and left. Jiang Cha was lying in bed with a bandage on her right arm, and she didn’t know if she was awake.

Ji Fan sat down gently beside the bed.

A slightly sunken feeling.

Jiang Cha’s eyelids fluttered, and her long eyelashes lifted, looking at Ji Fan drowsily.

Her long, curled eyelashes were distinct, and her moist pupils were black and soft. She looked like a bewildered little animal, but lying still on the bed, she looked fragile and quiet, which made people’s hearts ache and they couldn’t help but want to pamper her.

“Awake?”

Ji Fan held a cup of hot water, tasted it, the water temperature was just right, and quickly handed it to her: “Want some water?”

Jiang Cha seemed to have not yet come to her senses. She held the disposable water cup with her left hand and took a small sip. Then she suddenly looked at her middle finger.

“Where’s the ring?”

She still remembered the ring at this time?

For some reason, Ji Fan felt a sudden, sharp pain in her heart, like a needle prick.

“It’s with me.” Ji Fan held it up and showed her, smiling gently, “It’s okay. The doctor took it off during the surgery.”

This time it was Jiang Cha’s turn to be stunned.

She had never seen Ji Fan smile so softly.

The hospital lights were blindingly white. Looking out the window, it was still a dark night, but the heavy rain had stopped, and there was a hint of dawn on the distant horizon. She didn’t know what time it was.

Jiang Cha turned back and looked at Ji Fan in a daze.

Ji Fan was wearing loose hospital gowns, blue striped, and the wind blew, revealing her thin but agile figure.

She sat sideways on the bed, looking down slightly at Jiang Cha.

Her long, curly hair was unkempt and draped over her shoulders, but her demeanor had a softness she had never seen before.

The hospital lights were cold white incandescent lamps, shining on her face, making her side profile even more exquisite and carved, clean and beautiful. Under her long eyelashes, a pair of eyes were black and white, and she used to look at people coldly, but now they were as soft as melted snow, focused, and almost had a delusional feeling of deep affection.

“Is there anything else that hurts?” Ji Fan asked softly, “How’s your arm? Does it hurt?”

Her voice was so gentle when she spoke, but her expression had a little something she couldn’t understand.

“…It hurts.”

A thin voice, like a bird with broken wings.

Ji Fan leaned over and kissed her lips.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to drive here in the middle of the night.”

“Give me your hand.”

She put the disposable plastic cup aside and held Jiang Cha’s left hand, but this time, instead of her middle finger, she pinched her ring finger.

Her long eyelashes drooped, and the corners of her lips curled slightly, with a hint of a smile, and she slowly put the ring on her thin, white ring finger.

“The ring was left by my mother. I was in a hurry, so I’ll give it to you temporarily.”

“…”

Jiang Cha looked at her quietly.

Then asked, “The ring is your mother’s?”

“…”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Ji Fan blinked.

She didn’t seem to understand why she asked that.

“Don’t you like it?” Ji Fan looked at her, “I’ll buy you a new one if you don’t like it.”

“No.”

Jiang Cha suddenly burst out laughing. She actually thought the ring had something to do with Luo Yan.

Jiang Cha knew that Ji Fan’s mother had passed away, and the ring she left behind was precious after all. As her brother’s childhood sweetheart, it seemed nothing strange for Luo Yan to have seen it and remembered what it looked like.

Such a precious thing, Ji Fan had actually given it to her?

Jiang Cha was instantly touched, and even felt a little regretful. If she hadn’t been thinking about this and had gotten distracted in the car, she wouldn’t have been so careless and had the car accident.

How could she have suspected that Ji Fan and Luo Yan had something going on?

Jiang Cha shook her head self-mockingly.

“Want an apple?” Ji Fan said softly, “I’ll peel it for you.”

Jiang Cha’s eyes widened.

Ji Fan peeling an apple? Could she?

Jiang Cha had hardly ever seen Ji Fan do housework. When they were together, Jiang Cha would always peel the fruit nicely, cut it into pieces, put it in a dish as a fruit salad, and feed it to Ji Fan.

Ji Fan supported her waist and helped her sit up, then really turned around to wash the apple for her.

Jiang Cha’s previous gloominess was swept away.

She picked up her phone from the bedside table with her left hand—the screen was so broken that she didn’t know if it could still be used.

She opened it to check the time, ready to ask her agent when the movie would start shooting, as she was worried that this accident would affect the filming.

Before she could make the call, she suddenly noticed something unusual.

The button in the lower right corner of her phone could be flipped to view the browsing history.

She accidentally clicked on it and found that the browsing history was all over the place, from browsers and photo albums to Baidu Tieba, she had browsed everything…

“Ji Fan!”

Ji Fan turned her head.

Then she saw Jiang Cha bury her head in the quilt like an ostrich, her long, soft hair draped behind her ears, and her ruby-like earlobes were slightly transparent under the incandescent light.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Fan was peeling an apple for her.

“You…” Jiang Cha said in a small voice, with difficulty, “You looked at my phone.”

She was almost ashamed and indignant, and she could no longer look directly at Ji Fan. She struggled to accuse, “How could you look at my phone without permission!”

Ji Fan saw her appearance and smiled for a moment, then couldn’t laugh anymore.

Her heart felt as if it had been pulled by someone, and it ached.

Ji Fan held the apple she had peeled, which was pitted, cut a piece, and poked it with the tip of the fruit knife and fed it to her mouth: “Don’t be angry, eat something.”

Ji Fan, who was usually so indifferent, suddenly became so kind to people, and her eyes were so gentle that people could drown in them. Jiang Cha couldn’t resist it at all. Being looked at so quietly and attentively by her, she was both shy and blushing, and her heart was already beating irregularly.

“Didn’t you ask who I wanted to marry?”

Ji Fan sat on the bed, leaning forward slightly, and kissed her ear, saying:

“I want you. Let’s get married. Next week, okay?”

Jiang Cha blinked.

Her clear eyes like a fawn rippled.

Was she dreaming?

How could everything be so unreal and beautiful?

••••

Two weeks later, 10 AM.

The hotel where they held their wedding was a Gothic-style imitation church, with dark walls, intricate and layered walls, and a pointed top against the azure sky. The long, arched corridor was lined with huge stained-glass windows divided into large grids.

The winter light settled quietly here.

The wedding of Jiang Cha and Ji Fan, a same-sex couple, proceeded as scheduled.

Same-sex marriage in China had only been legalized recently. Jiang Cha and Ji Fan had gone to the civil affairs bureau to get their marriage certificate a few days ago, and the staff had curiously looked at them several times. Some same-sex couples in the circle had made their marriages public, but very few. Most couples were still in a wait-and-see period, not daring to rashly come out of the closet.

At the round dining table, the seats were full of guests, and celebrities gathered.

“Jiang Cha and Ji Fan are getting married?” A reporter waiting to take photos muttered, “That’s absurd, how is that possible?”

“Why not?” someone asked.

“Two women, getting married?” The man was a middle-aged man, shaking his head with a look of disapproval.

“Wasn’t there a rumor before that she was being kept by a woman? It seems to be true now.”

“But she actually married in, Jiang Cha is also very capable.”

“She’s beautiful. Being beautiful is enough, what does she need ability for?”

••••

After all, this was the first same-sex couple of celebrities in China to get married, and in the eyes of everyone, it looked absurd no matter how you looked at it. For a time, rumors flew and everyone had different opinions. Some couldn’t bear to see it, some had old-fashioned and conservative ideas, and some silently offered their congratulations.

••••

On the other side.

In the dressing room, Jiang Cha had been fiddled with by the makeup artist for nearly two hours, and her face was stiff.

“Um, that’s it.”

A soft white satin wedding dress, with a fluffy skirt made of tulle sewn with fine diamonds, a tight waist, and a slender and straight back. The one-shoulder neckline revealed her snow-white shoulders and full, soft chest.

The veil had been fixed in place, and under the white veil, her lips looked even more strikingly red. Under her ink-black eyebrows, her eyes were bright and smiling, and her snow-white skin was covered with a light blush.

Jiang Cha lifted her skirt and looked at herself in the mirror, feeling a little nervous and a little excited at the same time.

What would Ji Fan look like?

The makeup artist lifted her chin and looked at her with satisfaction: “You’re so beautiful.”

Finally finished.

Jiang Cha smiled and turned the doorknob, going to the restroom.

There were few people here, and the corridor was very quiet. When the water rushed down, she suddenly heard a familiar female voice.

Luo Yan?

Jiang Cha retracted her hand, and the water stopped.

She seemed to be on the phone with someone, her tone a little anxious.

“…because I had a good relationship with Ji Fan. It was Ji Fan who helped me get the leading role in “Blind Youth”

“I don’t know what Ji Fan is thinking either, she actually gave me the ring I wore to Jiang Cha, and even used it as a wedding ring?”

“She’s simply…”

Jiang Cha’s mind went blank.

Had a good relationship? Ji Fan and Luo Yan?

Luo Yan seemed to have finished the call and pushed open the bathroom door, facing Jiang Cha.

“You…” Luo Yan seemed flustered, she looked at Jiang Cha’s pale face and hurriedly said, “What’s wrong with you?”

“You and Ji Fan, were you together?”

Her lips trembled as she opened and closed a few times.

“That was ten years ago, we were still in school then, what could have happened, don’t mind it.”

This sentence was like a bomb, exploding her unconscious.

Her mind went blank, and for a moment she seemed to be unable to hear or see anything, filled with a sense of confusion.

She felt like she was trapped in a nightmare and couldn’t wake up, her chest felt oppressed. It was so terrifying, so unreal. Ji Fan and Luo Yan had been together?

So what was she?

“It’s nothing.”

Jiang Cha forced a stiff smile and ran into the dressing room like a fugitive, closing the door.

She leaned against the door, weak all over, sliding down inch by inch.

Her phone suddenly rang.

“Hello?”

The caller was her agent, Yang Yan.

Her tone was a little urgent.

“Listen to me first. Do you remember when your role in “Blind Youth” was snatched away?”

“…”

“I just remembered, the one who spent money to replace you back then was Ji Fan.”

“…”

“What’s going on between the two of you? Why did you even get married?”

Ji Fan?

Was it really her?

All the clues were connected together, and the fuse ignited, causing a huge explosion that blew her heart to pieces.

The secret was finally exposed to her.

She could no longer find excuses to deceive herself, all her previous guesses were true.

Jiang Cha leaned against the wall, her face as white as a piece of paper, pale almost transparent.

The investor back then was Ji Fan. She was the one who invested a large amount of money and made Luo Yan a star with one movie. The person who took away the important role she had finally snatched from a bunch of candidates, the person who took away the role she had put so much effort into at that time, the person who took away all her hopes, was really Ji Fan.

Why did she hate herself for making a sound, why did she hug her at their first meeting, why did she ask her name specifically among so many people, and why did she smile at her so gently…

It was all because she resembled someone.

It was all because she looked like Luo Yan.

She was just a substitute.

Since she couldn’t get the real thing, she had to settle for the second best, leaving only her, an inferior, unworthy, and disliked substitute to be complained about after being used.

It was so funny, she actually had delusions that Ji Fan liked her?

Their relationship was wrong from the start, wrong for six years.

It turned out that Luo Yan was Ji Fan’s first love.

Yes, that made sense.

Why did ‘Senior Ji’ suddenly hug her? Why did she ask her name specifically out of so many people? Why did she look at her and smile so gently?

It’s all because she looked like someone.

She was just a substitute.

All these years, Jiang Cha had been compared to Luo Yan over and over again, always used as a foil for her, simply because of her similar face. She used to say she didn’t care, she wasn’t as good an actress as Luo Yan, she accepted it.

But why was even being liked because of this face?

What was she?

A supporting character used to be a stepping stone for others.

How did Ji Fan see her?

Pitiful? Or ridiculous? She was so stupid, just a substitute, how could she foolishly take herself seriously?

For six years, six whole years, she had been deceiving herself and believing in Ji Fan, but what? Ji Fan had fooled her for so many years, how stupid and presumptuous she was.

Before, she had always wondered why Ji Fan didn’t let her make a sound, and now she suddenly understood.

Her voice didn’t sound the same.

Jiang Cha felt as if all her strength had been drained, and she collapsed inch by inch, her face already covered in tears.

The door opened at some point.

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Ji Fan squatted down and hurriedly wiped her tears.

Her bony and slender fingers, with a slightly cold touch from years of habit.

Following her fingers upward, she saw the familiar, cold and beautiful face.

Jiang Cha slapped her hand away, looked at the woman in front of her, her lips trembled violently, tears dripped down one by one, and her lips opened and closed silently for a long time, but she couldn’t utter a word.

After a long time, she finally made a sound, almost forcing two words out from between her teeth:

“Divorce.”

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A/N: I’m really sorry, I’ve revised this chapter six times qwq

I hope it didn’t affect your reading experience.

This chapter has a big conflict, and I’ve also been pondering which way is better, and after thinking about it, I think this is it.

Jiang Cha is in a state of irrationality due to the huge shock she has received. If she were still rational, she would question Ji Fan about what happened, but it feels like there wouldn’t be as much tension that way.