CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 76: THE STRANGE XU QINGQIU

Chu Tian left the hospital and looked up at the crescent moon in the sky. A sense of loss inexplicably filled his heart, but he couldn’t grasp the reason at that moment.

Was it because of Xu Qingqiu? No, that couldn’t be, right?

Now he wasn’t even sure what he was thinking. Surely it couldn’t be just because she was beautiful, elegant, gentle, and considerate...

Who cares anyway? He would definitely not admit to being swayed by appearances, absolutely not.

「...」

After Chu Tian left, fueled by Yiyi’s influence, laughter once again filled the ward. It was as if all the troubles from the day had disappeared. However, troubles that were destined to come would inevitably arrive.

"Hello, may I speak to Ms. Xu Qingqiu?"

Not long after, two police officers arrived at the door of the hospital room. They knocked politely and entered after receiving permission.

"Hello, may we know what this is regarding?"

Xu Qingqiu and Yiyi looked at the two newcomers blankly, feeling instantly tense.

"Don’t be nervous. We are here about the accident that happened today at the Pear Garden Cultural Media Base on West Garden Road. We just need to take a statement and understand what transpired, since you were involved."

Hearing it was about today’s incident, Xu Qingqiu’s heart relaxed for a moment, but then it quickly tensed up again.

Logically, although such matters would involve the authorities, there wouldn’t be a need for such formality if it were resolved privately.

Since they came to her personally, it implied that Sister Hua might not have reached an agreement.

However, now was not the time to think about this.

All she could do was muster a forced smile and recount everything that had happened.

She recounted everything from the beginning of the recording until the incident. She didn’t know much beyond that, since the incident happened in just a second or two, and she had fainted right after falling, so her awareness was limited.

"Okay, thank you for your cooperation. We wish you a speedy recovery!"

After finishing the statement, the officers politely said goodbye and left. However, Xu Qingqiu remained troubled.

"Sister Qiu? Are you okay?"

Xu Qingqiu smiled at Yiyi’s concerned look and said, "I’m fine. I’ll call Sister Hua."

Her mobile phone had been in her bag, safeguarded by Yiyi. Yiyi briskly handed it over after hearing her request.

"Hello, Sister Hua? The police just came over..."

"You called the police? Okay..."

"Yes, I understand. As long as you’ve made a decision, that’s good. Yes, we can talk about it when you get back..."

They discussed something, but the outcome was likely not very promising. For now, however, there seemed to be no other choice.

That very night, Sister Hua rushed over and discussed things with Xu Qingqiu for a long time.

In essence, Sister Hua had not made any excessive demands. It was just regular compensation, covered by insurance, which wouldn’t significantly affect the production team.

There were two other points, however. First, they wanted to investigate the truth and determine whether it was an accident or sabotage. The production team had been vague about this and wouldn’t allow Sister Hua to investigate personally.

The second point was that Sister Hua wanted to retain their slot on the show. The accident had been caused by the production team, and withdrawing from such a popular show midway would cause significant losses for them.

Yet the production team disagreed and had already started considering how to proceed without Xu Qingqiu.

To any astute observer, it was clear that the production team wanted to treat Xu Qingqiu’s absence as a withdrawal from the show, with no follow-up compensation in sight.

Sister Hua, of course, disagreed. This was blatant bullying.

But Xu Qingqiu had no powerful connections. She had focused solely on singing and not on cultivating her own network, so she had few friends in the industry. This left her with no one to mediate and no say in the matter.

It was laughable to think they’d be concerned about offending her. They were a major satellite TV station; why would they fear a minor star? In their eyes, who was she?

Don’t think they wouldn’t stoop to such actions. When some people act despicably, there is no limit to how low they can go.

In the end, the discussions between the two sides continued from day until night. But Li Chunhua was alone and powerless; she obviously couldn’t win against them.

Since the production team was so determined to suppress the incident and seemed intent on crushing Xu Qingqiu, and Sister Hua was not one to be trifled with, she went ahead and called the police.

You all want to hide things, right? Exposing it to the media can easily lead to criticism and backfire, but there’s nothing wrong with calling the police, is there?

If the production team won’t investigate, then let the police do it!

That’s how the police taking statements came about.

After Sister Hua recounted the events, Xu Qingqiu bit her lip and pondered for a long time, but in the end, she could only let out a resigned sigh.

There’s no choice; being at a disadvantage is like this. Don’t think that having talent means anything, and don’t think that the titles of King or Queen carry much weight.

To put it plainly, when it comes to certain matters, capital and power are the true deciding factors. Everything else is illusory.

Haven’t we seen how many Kings and Queens have failed, how many top-tier celebrities have been imprisoned overnight?

Do you really think you matter that much? To put it bluntly, in the eyes of some, you are nothing more than a pawn.

If you want to succeed, you either need strong backing or you need to be valuable. If you have neither, then you’re nothing!

Even after going through the ordeal with Baise Entertainment terminating her contract, Xu Qingqiu still found it hard to accept this reality.

It wasn’t that she naively thought the world was simple. She simply wanted to sing, but reality always seemed to present various issues that left her baffled and at a loss.

Now that the situation was at a standstill, they could only wait for the official resolution. This gave them a rare period of quiet.

When Chu Tian returned to the hospital the next day, he sensed that all three of them—Xu Qingqiu, Yiyi, and Sister Hua—seemed unhappy. However, since nobody said anything, he didn’t feel it was his place to ask.

In the afternoon, the doctor came for another checkup and was surprised to find that Xu Qingqiu’s wound was healing at an extraordinary speed.

After inspecting it and finding no complications, he attributed it to her good physical condition, which allowed for a faster recovery.

He then suggested that she could be discharged from the hospital.

In fact, Chu Tian had already exchanged glances with Xu Qingqiu earlier. He had managed to distract Sister Hua and Yiyi, secretly remove the wound patch, and rebandage the wound before calling the doctor.

As for the medicinal powder? It had already been absorbed.

While Sister Hua and Yiyi were busy with the discharge procedures, Chu Tian looked at Xu Qingqiu and asked, "Do you want to try it again? The doctor even said the healing effects are beyond what was expected. I feel that continuing to use it might help you heal even faster."

Xu Qingqiu, of course, heard him and was very surprised. Looking at Chu Tian, who seemed so capable in every way... he really is trustworthy. She silently convinced herself of this and nodded firmly in agreement.

"Yes! Let’s use it."

"Or should we use it back at your place? I could go to your house. It might be more convenient."

Chu Tian still felt a bit apprehensive. Using unverified medicine in the hospital... what if I get caught? What if they arrest me? What would I do then?

Use it back home? Xu Qingqiu, perhaps reminded of something, shook her head resolutely.

"No! We’ll use it here!"

"Okay, then."

He didn’t say much more. There was still some of the medicine he had acquired yesterday left, so it was just right to use it up.

They had just finished when Sister Hua and Yiyi returned.

"Let’s go! Let’s go home!"

"Alright! Let’s go home! I can’t stand the smell in here anymore. It’s awful!"

Compared to the excited Yiyi, Xu Qingqiu looked worried for some reason.

She secretly glanced at Sister Hua. Sister Hua initially didn’t understand, until Xu Qingqiu kept furtively mouthing ’home!’ to her.

Only then did it dawn on Sister Hua, as if she had remembered something important.

"Um... Chu Tian, why don’t you head back first? We can take her home ourselves."

"Ah? Are you sure you can manage? I’m free anyway. I can help you out."

Xu Qingqiu also hurriedly shook her head, saying nervously, "No need, no need! You worked hard yesterday. Take a break today. No, take a few days off! Rest well, with pay!"