This Best Actress is a Bit Annoying - Chapter 43

Since the cemetery video was leaked, the online “crusade” against Zhong Ruanqin has intensified, turning into a bloodbath. Zhong Ruanqin’s personal Weibo has been completely overrun by anti-fans and Nie Zhuying’s loyal supporters; no response has been seen for quite some time.

Nie Zhuying, not one to shy away from trouble, reposted the video and even gave herself a “like” as if she were a drama queen in character.

Nie Zhuying: Qingqing [Hugs][Hugs] //@HumanityExtinguished: After the Film Queen hit someone, she fled… 【Video】

Netizens exploded instantly, swarming Nie Zhuying’s Weibo to beg for the truth, for updates—cute pleas and demands of all kinds.

The Only Truth Emperor: Qingqing? It seems I am getting closer and closer to the truth.

BearBrain: Goddess, I want a hug too.

OPisShameless: Zhuzi, Zhuzi! My aunt says if you can find the person who posted this video, combined with the video itself, you have both witnesses and physical evidence. You can completely sue Zhong B*tch for intentional injury.

As soon as this comment appeared, everyone transformed into detective fans, police officers, and prosecutors, offering all sorts of ideas. Some even suggested cordoning off the scene immediately for experts to inspect and judge. This topic was pushed to the very top in an instant.

Nie Zhuying quickly switched to her burner account—Qingqing’s No. 1 Brainless Fan.

Qingqing’s No. 1 Brainless Fan: You guys don’t know anything about Qingqing. You really are a bunch of foolish mortals. 【Evil smile】

Xia Qingye saw her huddled on the sofa with a sneaky grin, guessing she was up to no good again. She cleared her throat. “Zhuzi, I’m a bit thirsty.”

Nie Zhuying’s fingers, which were tapping away, paused. Hearing the request, she immediately pocketed her phone, walked over to pour water for Xia Qingye with a straight face, took a sip herself to test it, and then offered a straw. “Qingqing, come, I’ll feed you.”

Xia Qingye was caught between laughter and tears. She was temporarily unable to move, but she wasn’t a helpless invalid. She took the cup, took a small sip, and said frankly, “I feel like you won’t let Zhong Ruanqin off that easily. Besides exposing the video, what else did you do?”

Nie Zhuying looked at her with an exceptionally sincere expression in her seductive eyes, laced with a bit of feigned grievance. “Qingqing, how can you think of me that way? I haven’t done anything too excessive to her.”

Xia Qingye: “…”

I wonder who it was that rushed over in a rage to beat her up earlier.

Xia Qingye didn’t argue. She just smiled, then fished her phone out from under the blanket. Scrolling through, she saw the Weibo Nie Zhuying had reposted just minutes ago. Her eyes twitched. “What are you trying to do? Fan the flames?”

Nie Zhuying pursed her lips in disagreement. “Nonsense. I’m clearly just feeling bad for you, Qingqing.”

Xia Qingye would be a fool to believe that.

Sure enough, many netizens were asking under Nie Zhuying’s post who “Qingqing” was.

The Only Truth Emperor: Allow me to enlighten everyone on who ‘Qingqing’ actually is. Based on the blurred face in the video, I compared photos of countless female artists in the industry. Hahaha, hard work pays off—I finally found her. The girl is also an actress, debuted not long ago, not very famous. But you can see from the video she is quite loyal. By the way, remember the big drama a while back with a certain Artist C and her manager biting each other, which ended with them being kicked out of a famous director’s crew? Qingqing was dragged onto the hot search several times because of that. Everyone should have an impression now. 【Image】【Image】【Image】

Look, Pigs are Flying: Holy sh*t, it really is her. This ‘Qingqing’ looks exactly like the girl on the hot search. OP is amazing, where did you find these professional-looking photos?

Zhuzi’s Houseplant: 666666 OP looks familiar; I think it’s that big account that always leaks the real tea.

My Zhuzi is Beautiful: 2333, now that OP mentions it, ah! I suddenly remember. This is the newcomer who bravely stepped out to slap the face of that ‘Drama Queen Chu.’ Her name is Xia-something-Ye.

Arrogant Bamboo: You can see from the video that Zhuzi and Qingqing have a great relationship. Besties?

If Turtles Had Love: Could it be another ‘Drama Queen C’ using a self-harm tactic to tie herself to our Zhuzi?

Nanke Dream: To the person above, why don’t you try jumping down cemetery steps yourself? No one gambles with their life like that. Besides, look at the video; that was clearly an instinctive reaction, okay?

Xia Qingye glanced at the photos posted by “The Only Truth Emperor.” One was a photo of her and Chu Rou, where Chu Rou’s face had been crossed out. Another was a promotional shot from Director Xun’s set—she had just returned from Japan, wearing a fashionable dress. There was also a particularly ethereal shot from the PSA shoot.

With these three professional, orderly photos, Xia Qingye now believed that “The Only Truth Emperor” was not just a big account, but a “water army” account specifically guiding fans to focus on her.

“Zhuzi, come here.”

“It’s broad daylight, why are you always so… ‘unsatisfied’? It’s not good if outsiders see.” Nie Zhuying complained with her mouth while helplessly leaning over.

Xia Qingye had developed a degree of immunity to her occasional “shocking” remarks. She hooked her arm around the back of Nie Zhuying’s neck and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You’ve been busy with all this for me lately. Thank you for your hard work.”

Nie Zhuying’s eyes lit up instantly. She said quite honestly, “Seeing as you like me so much, I’ll allow you to kiss me two more times. Here.”

She immediately turned her other cheek toward Xia Qingye and urged, “Hurry up, those annoying little nurses are coming to check on you soon. If they see, you’ll probably scold me again.”

Xia Qingye: “…”

Xia Qingye pinched the other’s chin and kissed her directly on the corner of her mouth. “There.”

Nie Zhuying smacked her lips, savoring it. She wasn’t satisfied with such a shallow kiss and tried to lean in for more, but Xia Qingye blocked her, using the woman’s own words: “The little nurse is coming to check on me soon. It’ll be a hassle if we’re seen.”

Nie Zhuying walked away in a huff. Xia Qingye watched her sit on the sofa, pouting like a pufferfish, and stifled a laugh, planning to soothe her in a bit.

Soon, the nurse arrived with her cart for the routine check. Afterward, Qi Jiani and Jin Manxi came to visit. This was their first visit since the day Xia Qingye had surgery and they left. As soon as Jin Manxi arrived, she pulled Nie Zhuying outside, leaving the space for Qi Jiani and Xia Qingye.

“Your relationship with Senior Jin is quite good. Are you good friends?”

“No, no.” Qi Jiani waved her hands. “Just last time, we left together after your surgery. She said it was on her way and dropped me home. Later she suggested we come to see you together and we exchanged contact info. Someone like Senior Jin… I can only look up to her; I wouldn’t dare hope to be her close friend.”

Xia Qingye gave a thoughtful hum.

Qi Jiani looked at her lying in bed and said with an apologetic face, “Qingye, I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t lost my amulet that day, you and Sister Nie wouldn’t have run into Zhong Ruanqin, and you wouldn’t have been hurt.”

Seeing her guilt-ridden face reminded Xia Qingye of the girl who had nearly broken down crying at her grave. “Jiani, are you in the habit of always feeling guilty toward others?”

Qi Jiani was stunned by the question.

Xia Qingye continued, “My injury was an accident; it wasn’t because of you. Regardless of the amulet, at some point in the future, if Zhuzi and I ran into Zhong Ruanqin, something unpredictable would have happened—perhaps something even worse than me getting hurt. So, it really isn’t your fault. You don’t need to blame yourself.”

It was the first time Qi Jiani had heard someone say it wasn’t her fault, and she didn’t know how to react.

Xia Qingye didn’t plan to keep correcting her views. Instead, she asked, “Did you see the video?”

Qi Jiani nodded. After hesitating, she asked softly, “Do you plan to sue her? Will she face legal consequences for this?”

If the video only featured her and Zhong Ruanqin and the evidence was ironclad, she would want to sue. But Nie Zhuying was involved too. Was there really only one copy of the video? Were they really the only ones in the cemetery? If someone jumped out later to claim Nie Zhuying started it and Zhong Ruanqin acted in self-defense, the online narrative would shift completely. Xia Qingye didn’t dare take the risk.

“We haven’t found a witness yet. I think this matter will likely conclude with an apology.”

“An apology?”

“Mhm.”

Qi Jiani pondered for a long time but couldn’t grasp the meaning. Just as she was about to leave, she slapped her forehead. “Ah! My pig brain! Qingye, that PSA we shot is already airing online. I came specifically to tell you that.”

Xia Qingye laughed and thanked her. “By the way, Jiani, those hamster pups you pre-ordered can be picked up soon.”

“Really? I can finally take one home?”

“Take what home?” Jin Manxi asked curiously as she pushed the door open.

Nie Zhuying shot Qi Jiani an unhappy look before interjecting, “What else? Those hamster pups you commented on saying you wanted one, then changed your mind. I’m not giving them to you even for free now. They are the crystallization of Xia-Xia and Lazy-Egg’s love. If you don’t want one, I’m not eager to give one anyway.” She then added heroically, “Qingqing and I will raise the rest ourselves.”

Xia Qingye felt like taking a hammer to Nie Zhuying’s head.

Qi Jiani looked at Jin Manxi in confusion. “Hamsters are so cute, why wouldn’t you want one? Senior Jin, if you don’t want yours, can I have it?”

Facing the three pairs of eyes in the room, Jin Manxi said calmly, “Zhuying misunderstood me. I said at the time we should wait until they were born. Since they are the ‘love crystallization’ of Xia-Xia and Lazy-Egg, I must take one home no matter what.”

It was Nie Zhuying’s turn to stare. “Is that what you said? Jin Manxi, I have the chat logs!”

Xia Qingye smiled at Jin Manxi and interrupted them. “Zhuzi, since Senior Jin wants one too, aren’t all five of Lazy-Egg’s pups accounted for now?”

Nie Zhuying gave an reluctant hum. Xia Qingye was very pleased.

After the two left, Nie Zhuying ran to Xia Qingye’s bedside looking aggrieved. “Qingqing, Manxi is such a two-faced person. She commented under my pre-order post saying she wanted one. Then that day I happily sent her the video, and she said the pups were so ugly that she regretted it and didn’t want one anymore.”

Xia Qingye caught a keyword. “You sent her the video Yu Lan took of you?”

Nie Zhuying nodded.

Xia Qingye laughed quite unkindly. “If I saw that, I wouldn’t want one either.”

Nie Zhuying: “…”

After the video had fermented for forty-eight hours, Zhong Ruanqin’s Weibo finally had a response—a video roughly ten minutes long. In the video, Zhong Ruanqin had ditched her usual elegant appearance for disheveled hair and severely swollen eyes. She immediately addressed the main concern of the “Film Queen hits person and flees” video.

“Everyone, you all know that Tianqing was my long-time friend—even my life’s benefactor. Every year around her anniversary on April 1st, I can’t sleep. I always think of the time we worked together. That day, I don’t know what happened; I suddenly gave someone a push, but I really didn’t mean it. It was unintentional. I hope Miss Xia can forgive me this once.”

After watching it, Nie Zhuying nearly crushed her phone. “She actually dares to play the ’emotional’ and ‘tragic’ cards.”

Throughout the video, Zhong Ruanqin looked exceptionally haggard. Regarding the push, she simply glossed over it with “I don’t know what happened.”

Nie Zhuying was furious. Xia Qingye, though she had expected the emotional play, hadn’t expected her to use “Xia Tianqing” as an excuse yet again. She used to be angry and disappointed; now those feelings were gone, replaced by the sense that if Zhong Ruanqin didn’t do something this low, she wouldn’t be Zhong Ruanqin.

“Don’t be angry. Didn’t she say she’d come to the ward to visit me tomorrow?”

Nie Zhuying’s face was dark.

Xia Qingye beckoned her over, intimately stroking her smooth, soft cheek and staring intently into her beautiful eyes. “Zhuzi, can you promise me one thing?”

Nie Zhuying asked flatly, “What?”

Xia Qingye found the way she always looked ready to kill Zhong Ruanqin quite amusing. As the actual victim, she was still here. “In the future, when we see Zhong Ruanqin, let’s use our brains instead of our hands, okay?”

Nie Zhuying frowned imperceptibly. “Being hit by me is her honor.”

Xia Qingye laughed at her bluntness and pinched her cheek. “Hitting her would make your hands hurt; I’d feel bad for you. Besides, I don’t think she deserves that honor.”

Hearing this, Nie Zhuying felt much better. Her lips curled into an arrogant “I can’t do anything about you” look. “Fine. Since you feel so bad for me, I’ll promise you.”