Chapter 54: Don’t Be Afraid, Sister Is Here

Time rolled back to noon that day.

Nanjing Xinjiekou was wrapped in a damp, chilly air, yet it could not hold back the surging crowds.

The Christmas tree in front of Deji Plaza stood three stories tall, adorned with golden bells and red silk ribbons that gently swayed in the cold wind. Warm yellow light leaked from between the branches and leaves, casting a cozy glow on the faces of passing pedestrians.

The artificial snowflakes from the dome drifted down one by one, mixing with real mist and settling on eyelashes with a cool touch. As they landed on down jackets, they melted away, looking somewhat like someone had scattered crushed salt, enveloping the entire plaza in a hazy white veil.

Chen Deling wrapped her red down jacket tighter around herself and stood in a daze in front of the Christmas tree at Deji Plaza.

The reflection in the shop window captured her delicate silhouette—a clean, beige scarf, with long black hair draped smoothly over her shoulders, making her look like a young woman who had just stepped out of a traditional ink painting.

"Dudu!" Her classmate, Lin Xue, pushed through the crowd holding two cups of hot cocoa. "What are you daydreaming about?"

She waved her hand in front of Chen Deling's eyes. "This is the already the third time. You didn't even respond when I asked you to try on clothes just now."

Chen Deling snapped out of her daze and took the paper cup.

"It's nothing," she took a small sip of the drink, "just a bit tired from final exams."

The sweet, rich aroma of the hot cocoa mixed with the cold wind and drifted into her nasal cavity. Suddenly, she was reminded of the scene in Xiamen from a few months ago.

That was a crucial scene requiring an intense emotional outburst, and she just couldn't find the right state.

Alec Su's voice was tinged with anger: "Chen Deling! What on earth are you acting?"

Scolded into a daze, her whole spirit had wilted.

That fool Jiang Ye seized the opportunity of the crew's lunch break to drag her out of the set and ran toward Island Ring Road.

The wind on the beach was fiercer than here, blowing their hair into a mess, yet he insisted on pulling her to wade in the water, claiming he wanted the waves to bless his new shoes.

Later, the two of them sat on the reefs, sharing a sandwich bought from a convenience store. Jiang Ye took a huge bite, and bread crumbs fell onto his chin as he foolishly pointed at a distant white sail with a smile: "Look at that boat. It looks slow, isn't it still moving forward? We're the same, take it slow."

"As an actor, who hasn't been scolded?"

"Look at those waves again. Don't they also crash over wave after wave, only to obediently retreat afterward? Next time, gather all your strength and make the director look at you with new eyes."

The sea breeze turned his ears red and messed up her bangs, but the sunshine that day was warm, and even his tone of voice was wrapped in a salty, damp tenderness.

When she was scolded and feeling down, Jiang Ye had been by her side.

But what about now?

The abuse Jiang Ye was currently carrying on his shoulders was a thousand or ten thousand times heavier than the slight grievance she had felt back then.

Those sharp words were like ice-tempered blades, stabbing into him one by one. The entire internet was cursing his new drama, and even the air was tainted with malice.

She knew that the premiere viewing figures for Jiang Ye's drama were not very ideal.

There had been plenty of curses right from the start.

Yet for some reason, recently, those curses had grown exponentially more ferocious!

Who knows who was behind it all...

Besides, Jiang Ye had changed lately!

Always a chatterbox before, recently he only sent dry, perfunctory replies like "Busy" and "Doing fine."

Yesterday, she couldn't help but call him, but the person who answered was a strange voice—a woman's voice at that: "Director Jiang is in a meeting..."

Ha, a meeting...

Still lying to her. Did this young man, now cursed to this extent, feel too ashamed to face her?

He cared far too much about his pride...

Even with his project flopping this badly, he was still putting up a front of being busy.

What should she do...

"Do you think..." Chen Deling suddenly spoke up, the white mist of her breath dissipating in the cold air, "if someone suddenly stops sharing their sadness with you, have they become stronger, or..."

Or do they feel you are no longer important.

The second half of the sentence choked in her throat.

She lowered her head to look at the latte art on the hot cocoa, where the milk foam had already melted into a blurred patch of white.

"Such a fool," she muttered unconsciously.

Whether she was cursing the netizens or that stubborn guy, she wasn't sure.

He must be feeling terrible right now!

And she could only stand here, unable to even deliver a single decent word of comfort to his ears.

Lin Xue pulled her into an accessory store. The Christmas-themed earrings in the glass cabinet sparkled dazzlingly, but Chen Deling's gaze kept drifting out the window.

The clamor of the crowd and the melody of Christmas carols felt separated by a thick pane of glass, blurred and distant.

She mechanically responded to Lin Xue, her fingers unconsciously rubbing against the paper cup of hot cocoa as the temperature of the cup gradually faded.

"How do you like this little deer hairpin? It matches your red coat quite well." Lin Xue turned around holding the accessory, only to see her staring blankly. "Daydreaming again?"

Chen Deling let out an "ah" and forced a smile. "Probably didn't sleep well."

Just as she was speaking, the loudspeaker at the neighboring cosmetics counter suddenly blared. The shopping guide's voice, bright and earnest, cut through the store's background music: "Isn't the meaning of Christmas Eve precisely having someone to accompany you through all the difficult moments? No matter how strong a person is, they still need warmth they can see the moment they turn around!"

"..."

"The darkest night is when we need each other's light the most."

These words struck her mind like a muffled thunderclap.

Wasn't Jiang Ye currently in his darkest hour?

She jerked her head up. The artificial snowflakes were still drifting outside the window, but flashing through her mind instantly were Jiang Ye with his red ears comforting her by the Xiamen seaside, the light in his eyes when he told her to "take it slow," his recent perfunctory "busy," and that strange female voice on the other end of the phone.

He must be hurting so much right now.

Those ice-tempered abuses, that overwhelming malice—how could he bear them all alone?

Today was Christmas Eve, and he still had to livestream.

In front of the camera, would he force a calm composure and pull a smile across his screen?

With the malicious comments flooding in like a tidal wave, how humiliating must it be for him?

"I have to go to Beijing."

The words suddenly popped out of her mouth, and even Chen Deling herself was stunned for a moment.

Lin Xue widened her eyes in astonishment: "Go to Beijing? Right now? It's Christmas Eve!"

"Yeah." Chen Deling's voice tightened slightly, her fingertips gripping hard. "I have... right, a younger brother... having some trouble with work, I need to go check on him."

Avoiding Lin Xue's probing gaze, she grabbed her bag and dashed out. "Sorry, Xuexue, I'll shop with you next time. I need to..."

Before she finished speaking, her steps had already crossed the shop doorway.

The cold wind poured into her collar, yet she felt no chill; her heart was pounding fast and fierce in her chest.

On the way to the airport, Chen Deling texted her academic counselor to ask for leave.

The Christmas decorations outside the window blurred into a flowing river of light, and suddenly remembering something, she opened Weibo.

In her special follows, Jiang Ye had updated ten minutes ago:

"Livestreaming tonight, prepare to face trial by the entire internet [doge]"

Attached was a crooked doodle: a little stick figure hiding behind a blower giving a peace sign.

The top comment in the section was his own reply:

"Don't worry, my skin is thicker than a crown prince's armor."

She abruptly pressed the screen dark and buried her face in her scarf.

This idiot, clearly hurting to death, was still putting on a relaxed front.

Don't be afraid, Big Sis is coming!