Then I said to the other person on the call that I need to figure it out, and I know you are the only one who knows the truth, so please cooperate with me. But why should I cooperate with you in Xu Yuan's controversial case? I don't think this matter is important to me or has anything to do with me, so why should I? The person on the other side of the call said this to me.
Truth will be out anyway to everyone whether you help me or not, and if you really don't want to help me then it's totally alright, but the consequences for you after this are up to you. Don't blame me for anything, I said.
A little girl like you is giving me dangerous warnings like this when you are not even from this industry. You just showed up in one series and then you weren't able to handle that popularity, so you left this industry. So a girl like you is saying such things to me—who you really are, what do you think about yourself? She asked in a tone that I know very well is to make me lose my temper on her, but at this sensitive moment I can't lose my temper on her because she can really help me in Yuan's case. I think all this to myself and then I say, you don't need to worry about me, Miss Ling. You just tell me whether you want to cooperate or not, because if you won't, then please don't push me to apply my ways on you, because it will really make you suffer.
The way you are giving me these kinds of warnings, then let me make a guess—who are you to him? A friend, a colleague, a family member, or a girlfriend? She said this in a very humiliating tone, but I didn't react much to it and replied in my calmest way, because calmness is the only answer to such ridiculous things, and I said, Miss Ling, whatever I am to him has nothing to do with you, so let's be professional and not invade each other's personal spaces.
You are really sharp-minded, no doubt how you were able to pull him off. Fine, let's meet up at four pm in a cafe, she said.
Okay, I'll be there on time, I said, and then I hung up the phone. Then I came out from the apartment and saw my phone to check the time, and it's still eleven am in the morning. Still five hours left to get solid proof to stop these nonsense rumours about my Yuan Yuan, I said to myself.
Then I took a bus and reached that cafe at eleven forty-five and sat at a table, waiting for the time to pass so that I could get proof of his innocence. The waiter there came to my table and asked me, ma'am, would you like to order something? Then I saw the time again, it's one pm only, still three hours left for her to arrive. Then I replied to the waiter, yes, one iced latte, and then I started passing my time like that, and I almost drank twenty-nine cups of iced latte while waiting for the clock to hit four pm. No doubt, I even drank this much latte—twenty-nine cups, my Yuan's birth date. Even my eating habits have some sort of connection with him. I don't know if it's a real connection or something I made, but whatever it is, it is something I can surely tell.
Then finally, the time arrived. The clock finally hit the much-awaited time of my life, four pm, and then footsteps approached towards me. A tall, well-mannered, well-groomed girl came in front of me and sat at my table, and this girl is none other than Yuan's co-actress who was playing the role of the female lead in his new drama for which he was shooting there in Hengdian.
So I don't think we need an introduction, or do we? She asked me while putting her hand forward to shake hands, but instead of shaking hands with her, I folded my arms and said, you are Miss Ling Mu, his co-star from the drama where all the rumours were spread just a few hours ago, I said in my cold tone.
She nodded her head and said, yes, it's our project from where these rumours came—that Xu Yuan is very arrogant, has anger issues, and treats his team members like his servants, she said.
I smiled sarcastically and said, first of all, you got it wrong right there when you said he treated them like servants. So what do you mean—that servants are meant to be ill-treated? That's why you gave their example, isn't it? I asked her.
She smiled too and said, you are really sharp-minded, you little girl. You even pick up on my words. I think I should really think carefully before speaking to you.
You should be, I said.
And you are here to tell me the truth, not the rumours. For that, I already have Weibo. You don't need to act like Weibo, I said.
Listen, girl, you are very immature, but girls like you at this age easily believe anyone, especially when you are over him for that handsome face, she said.
I smiled again and said, no doubt you don't understand what love really is. That's why you are saying that I am over his handsome face, which is not true. But it will take you a lifetime to understand what love really is, how it feels. But what can we human beings do when God has already punished such people by not giving them the ability to love and to be loved? So no doubt you are away from God's most precious gift—love, I said.
You stop it, she said while standing from her chair and pointing her finger towards me. She said, just stop here right now, you immature girl.
I smiled again and said, everyone can tell who is acting immature here by creating a scene in this cafe.
Fine then, I'll get going because I don't think you want anything from me, she said while taking her bag in her hands and starting to walk away from me.
You can go because I will never seek help from a person who says such disgusting things about my Yuan. I'll prove all these rumours wrong by hook or by crook, I said.
She smiled but didn't turn her face towards me and said, you girl really have something, and I hope that soon you'll be able to prove him innocent, and you really don't need my help for that. You are a very stubborn little girl. Just stay like this—stubborn—and your stubbornness will make your Yuan Yuan get out of this problem.
And then after saying that like a well-wisher, she left from there.
Then I thought, what should I do next? From where should I gather those proofs? Time is moving faster than I think. I don't know what he is feeling right now, how he is handling himself. No, no, Zhao Shiza, think of something. My Yuan Yuan is in trouble, and I really need to pull him out of this problem. Then I opened my Weibo to see the current updates, and then I saw a post...