Chapter 71: Come and Snatch the Bride (14)
The two people who were found and returned were very calm, the gossip enthusiasts were very excited, and the hospital staff were very worried that Xie Liaoyi would resign and run away. However, she went to work as usual, as if nothing had happened.
“If I were you, I’d run away,” a colleague said to Xie Liaoyi, who was washing her hands.
“It would be boring if I didn’t work,” Xie Liaoyi replied.
“Go traveling, lying around every day is more interesting than working.”
“No sense of accomplishment.”
“That’s true, but it’s still okay to take a break for a while… so many hospitals want to poach you, the Third City Hospital is too tiring.”
Xie Liaoyi smiled: “But I still prefer the atmosphere in our hospital.”
Her colleague looked at Xie Liaoyi, wanting to say something but hesitating.
Xie Liaoyi didn’t attend the press conference; she didn’t want to be exposed to the public.
After all, she might disappear any day, and her situation wasn’t quite the same as Jiang Ciqiu’s.
Jiang Zhiyan accompanied Jiang Ciqiu to the press conference. When the latter was silent and expressionless, she looked like she was about to ascend the throne, but as soon as she spoke, the illusion was shattered.
“I’m nervous,” Jiang Ciqiu grabbed Jiang Zhiyan’s arm and took a deep breath. “Will they ask tricky questions?”
“You’ve done nothing wrong, you’re a good person in the game, what’s there to be afraid of?” Jiang Zhiyan paused, then continued: “Besides, everyone here has been vetted by the Rong family, they won’t ask anything out of line. If you don’t want to answer a question, just refuse.”
“So arrogant?”
“This press conference is just to share the joy, you haven’t joined the company yet, and you don’t have any position, so there won’t be any problems. If you really care about what others think, just maintain a smile and be approachable.” Jiang Zhiyan helped Jiang Ciqiu fix her hair.
“I wish you could go up there with me,” Jiang Ciqiu said.
“You’re not really a child.”
Jiang Ciqiu sighed. Before even going on stage, she already missed the days when Jiang Zhiyan acted as her spokesperson.
“I’m so rich, what’s wrong with having a spokesperson?” Jiang Ciqiu looked back at Jiang Zhiyan.
Jiang Zhiyan smiled: “Go up there yourself.”
“You’re so mean, I’m going to complain to Old Xie, no wait… I’ll remember this, and when we merge, hmph.” Jiang Ciqiu looked at Jiang Zhiyan; she wouldn’t let her touch her for at least a month.
“You have a very sinister look in your eyes.” Jiang Zhiyan narrowed her eyes. “What wicked thoughts are you having?”
“Don’t get too cocky, you’ll find out later.” Jiang Ciqiu lifted her chin and walked out to meet Father Rong.
Her household registration had been transferred, and her name changed to Rong Ciqiu, but Xie Liaoyi didn’t have to change hers. She said that it was too troublesome to change everything at her age, and the patients were already used to calling her Dr. Xie, her reasons were sound, and no one objected.
“Two people, three surnames…” Jiang Ciqiu muttered to herself, then suddenly realized something, her household registration was now with the Rong family, so she and Jiang Zhiyan were no longer on the same household registration.
Jiang Ciqiu looked back at Jiang Zhiyan, who was standing not far away.
“What do you think she’s thinking about?” Jiang Zhiyan asked, hands in her pockets.
“Doesn’t Xie Liaoyi know what you’re thinking with just a twitch of your finger?”
“I’m not familiar with Xie Liaoyi at this stage.” Jiang Zhiyan paused. “But I think it’s probably nothing good.”
Although she was nervous backstage, once on stage, Jiang Ciqiu calmed down considerably. She sat beside Father Rong, a calm smile on her face, composed and graceful. When answering questions from the media, she wasn’t nervous at all, her voice steady and clear.
“Didn’t she say she was nervous?” The System didn’t understand.
“She’s always been good at improvising, but that doesn’t mean she’s not nervous.” Jiang Zhiyan walked behind the media, looking at the person not far away.
Jiang Ciqiu sat upright on the stage, her expression management excellent, not showing any strange expressions even with the flashing lights.
“She really cares about her image,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
All the media’s questions were standard, and most didn’t require Jiang Ciqiu to answer. But towards the end, a bombshell question was asked. The media these days were always chasing hot topics, and for the sake of a hot topic, they were willing to take risks.
“Miss Rong, we heard that your younger sister, who grew up with you, is in a relationship with your older sister, who looks exactly like you. What are your thoughts on this?”
The smile that Jiang Ciqiu had maintained for half an hour faded considerably: “Is this question relevant to today’s topic?”
“They met in the game, and her in-game appearance is completely different from her real-life appearance, it can only be described as fate. They fell in love because of their soul connection. I’ve also met her a few times in the game, and I didn’t recognize her at all, otherwise, we could have been reunited earlier.”
Jiang Ciqiu chuckled softly.
“Besides, who she likes and who she’s with is her freedom, I don’t like restricting my younger sister’s personal freedom, nor do I like giving unsolicited opinions.”
Jiang Ciqiu stared at the reporter, her smile fading further. Although she didn’t directly show her displeasure, it was clear she wasn’t happy.
She didn’t answer any of the following questions.
After the press conference, that reporter was approached by someone.
Jiang Zhiyan posted a pre-edited gaming vlog on her personal Weibo account.
Thankfully, the game had a recording function, and the original owner, who had planned to be a content creator, always had the recording on, and Jiang Zhiyan, being lazy, never turned it off. The original owner had operated this account for a while, accumulating 100,000 followers with her rich girl vlogs, but since Jiang Zhiyan took over, she hadn’t updated it.
The game recordings had timestamps, and with the Rong family’s help in promoting it, the video spread quickly.
[Damn, this opening, I thought it was the beginning of a TV drama.]
[A perfect match from their names alone? Such coincidence, such fate.]
[I know this Zhiyan, she’s the one who was hunted down by Old Six in the game. Old Six said she was dragged into it by Maple Leaf… so Maple Leaf is the second princess? What a pity, Old Six deleted his account, otherwise I’d really like to interview him and ask for his thoughts.]
[The second princess has everything but love, lol.]
[But even if they started an online relationship in the game, finding out that the person looks exactly like your sister after meeting offline, how can they continue?]
[Because the second princess and Jiang Zhiyan weren’t close.]
[Dramatic and absurd.]
[Usually, when people start online relationships in Cultivation Online, they look for attractive characters, the older princess’s character looks so ordinary, the fact that Jiang Zhiyan is in a relationship with her shows that she doesn’t care about looks at all?]
[Damn, yeah, how far did they go before meeting offline?]
…
Public opinion was being steered in the direction Jiang Zhiyan and the others wanted. They had originally planned to wait a few days before revealing it, but unexpectedly, a reporter brought up the question at the press conference.
Jiang Ciqiu was in a bad mood.
“You answered well,” Jiang Zhiyan said, watching the replay. “Your demeanor was also good.”
“Stop watching,” Jiang Ciqiu covered the tablet with her hand. “It’s too embarrassing.”
“I haven’t seen you so thin-skinned before.” Jiang Zhiyan turned off the tablet.
Jiang Ciqiu looked at Jiang Zhiyan: “Did you know it was her when you saw her name?”
“Mm,” Jiang Zhiyan nodded.
“Then what about me?”
“I knew it was Xie when I saw you,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
Jiang Ciqiu frowned: “Then why did you go after her first, instead of me?”
“Why do I feel like I’ve answered this question before?” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Jiang Ciqiu’s anxious eyes.
“No, because I’ve never asked so directly.”
“Then why are you asking so directly now?” Jiang Zhiyan was curious about where she got the courage.
Jiang Ciqiu paused: “Because we’re no longer on the same household registration… No, I’m asking you a question! Why are you always taking over the conversation?”
“Tell her it’s because you two were having a fight,” the System said.
“That makes me sound so childish.” Jiang Zhiyan refused, then put on a sad and wronged expression, cupping Jiang Ciqiu’s face. “Because you disliked me! I took the initiative, but you didn’t even look at me, what else could I do?”
“She came when you were ignoring me the most, of course I got together with her.”
“I did invite you to play together the day we met,” Jiang Ciqiu remembered clearly, because she had also been feeling down that day.
“Because I was feeling wronged, even if I played with you, your friends wouldn’t welcome me, and I wouldn’t enjoy the game, so why bother playing together? Everyone would just end up unhappy.” Jiang Zhiyan lowered her hand. “Sacrificing one person for the happiness of the group.”
Jiang Ciqiu looked away: “Then I can’t help it, I didn’t know you… you didn’t have the patience to explain it to me clearly.”
Jiang Ciqiu’s voice became softer: “It would have been better if you had told me earlier that you weren’t the original person.”
“I couldn’t just casually say it because of the world rules. If I told you directly and you remembered, it would be fine, but if you didn’t, a mental breakdown would cause world instability,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“Didn’t you say my soul was very strong?” Jiang Ciqiu didn’t understand.
“Why take unnecessary risks? You were already by my side, I could wait for you to slowly wake up. When you weren’t awake, you had part of the female lead’s personality, it wasn’t entirely based on your soul strength.” Jiang Zhiyan ruffled Jiang Ciqiu’s hair.
Jiang Ciqiu looked up at her, her slender neck seemingly inviting a kiss, her eyes conveying the same message.
Jiang Zhiyan kissed her forehead.
Xie Liaoyi, who was performing surgery, didn’t stop her movements, but subconsciously frowned.
After finishing the surgery, she touched her forehead, realizing what she had just felt. It was a good thing those two hadn’t done anything more.
She called Jiang Zhiyan.
“Please don’t mess around when I’m at the hospital,” Xie Liaoyi said.
“We didn’t do anything, just a kiss on the forehead… Sorry, did we disturb you?”
“No, I didn’t notice it during the surgery, I’m not that easily distracted.” Xie Liaoyi chuckled. “I only realized what it was after I finished.”
“It won’t happen again,” Jiang Zhiyan sighed. “Let’s leave this world soon, I feel like I’m having a mental breakdown.”
“She hasn’t had a breakdown, what are you breaking down for?” Xie Liaoyi’s words were meaningful.
“Whose fault is that? I wanted to stop that day, it was clearly you who…” Jiang Zhiyan drew out her words. “You were holding my hand, not letting me stop.”
“Shut up, I want hot pot tonight,” Xie Liaoyi decisively changed the subject, not wanting to continue this topic with Jiang Zhiyan. Her skin had become thick enough, but looking at the colleagues passing by, her cheeks still burned.
“Okay, I’ll pick you up after work, should I bring her?”
“Let’s eat at your place, we just made the headlines, it’s too conspicuous. We’ll eat at your place, you can buy the groceries.”
“Okay.” Jiang Zhiyan agreed, turned around, and called out to Jiang Ciqiu.
The two gave the menu to Jiang Ciqiu’s personal assistant, who quickly brought over a bunch of groceries, and even a chef, who would prepare the hot pot base for them after Xie Liaoyi got off work.
Jiang Ciqiu had been a young lady before, but this was the first time she had seen someone prepare a hot pot base at home, the pungent aroma filling the air.
The assistant prepared the hot pot for them and left. After they finished eating, there would be a cleaning service, the service was very attentive.
The three sat around the table. Jiang Zhiyan initially thought this seating arrangement was quite good, but later realized it wasn’t so ideal.
“Why did you pour a drink for her, but not for me?”
“YanYan, I also want you to peel shrimp for me.”
“I want beef, feed me.”
“Why did you feed her, but not me?”
…
Jiang Zhiyan suspected these two were teaming up to mess with her, but she had no proof.
She sighed deeply: “Sooner or later, I’ll split into several people to torment you.”
“My god, you actually call this torment, don’t you like eating with me?” The two widened their eyes, looking at Jiang Zhiyan’s expression, then burst out laughing.
In the end, Xie Liaoyi let her off the hook.
“Staying the night?” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Xie Liaoyi.
“Absolutely not tonight, I have work tomorrow,” Xie Liaoyi immediately said. After what just happened at the dinner table, if she stayed, Jiang Zhiyan would definitely get her back, she had already learned her lesson last time, and it felt awkward thinking about Jiang Ciqiu being able to sense it, she could completely sense what absurd things Jiang Zhiyan was doing through her actions.
Now she could even feel kisses, the empathy was growing stronger.
“There’s a guest room, I’ll take you to work tomorrow morning,” Jiang Zhiyan said, somewhat helplessly. “What kind of person do you think I am?”
“A perfect person,” Xie Liaoyi said, her eyes gentle.
Jiang Zhiyan held Xie Liaoyi’s hand.
“Is this the helplessness of adulthood? Always having to say things that go against your conscience,” Jiang Ciqiu interjected.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Jiang Ciqiu, who looked back without fear.
At this moment, their thoughts were surprisingly similar.
[After merging, after merging…]
Jiang Zhiyan poured Jiang Ciqiu a drink: “Eat and drink more, talk less.”
“Old Xie, she thinks we’re too talkative,” Jiang Ciqiu raised her hand to speak.
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