Drowning in Love Amidst a Sea of Hate - Chapter 3

Xiao Sa had just graduated from university this year and had been interning under Cheng Cheng for less than three months, usually handling grunt work and running errands. For this music festival, Cheng Cheng had been hospitalized following a car accident, so Xiao Sa was pulled in last minute to serve as Ji Ran’s assistant.

Before arriving, Cheng Cheng had nagged her a thousand times, telling her to keep a close eye on Ji Ran and make sure she didn’t cause trouble.

Xiao Sa thought she had everything under control.

Ji Ran’s hair was a mess, and the quilt on the floor offered her a small amount of cover, while her undergarments from the night before lay discarded by her feet.

Although Ji Ran was no stranger to such escapades, this was the first time she had ever been caught in the act.

“I, I, I…” Xiao Sa stared at the two women, her lips trembling, “You two… you…”

Ji Ran stood up from the floor, her long hair draped over her body, and walked barefoot to the sofa to pick up her clothes. Her movements were slow and deliberate, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

“Is there something you need?” she asked.

Xiao Sa nodded mechanically, her voice shaking. “The… the 3:00 PM interview, there are only two hours left,”

Ji Ran glanced at the clock on the wall, it was 1:05 PM.

“Got it,” she said, stepping out as she pulled on her clothes. She knew if she stayed one second longer, she might actually die in this room.

Xiao Sa stole a quick, panicked glance back at Xu Enzhi before scurrying away, unable to tell if the two had been flirting or trying to kill each other.

Back on the bed, Xu Enzhi found something to cover herself with, thinking to herself that her life was effectively over.

“I, I’ll head out first to grab my bag.”

Xiao Sa was so terrified she could barely speak. She knew Ji Ran was a handful, but she hadn’t expected her to play this hard, she actually dared to sleep with a star as big as Xu Enzhi.

On the way back to the venue, Xiao Sa sat in the driver’s seat, peeking at Ji Ran in the back through her rearview mirror.

Both sides of Ji Ran’s face were completely swollen. She had stopped at a convenience store to get two bags of ice and was currently using them to reduce the swelling. Looking at the severity of it, however, no amount of heavy makeup was going to hide the damage. Today’s interview would have to be shifted to an off-camera format.

“Xiao Sa.”

Ji Ran easily caught the girl’s gaze. She looked up and met Xiao Sa’s eyes, frightening the poor assistant so much she looked away wildly, pretending to search for something on the floor.

“Has Sister Cheng asked about me?”

Sister Cheng was her manager. Usually, she didn’t interfere much, though it was more accurate to say she simply couldn’t control her.

Ji Ran was like a hot potato, always finding a way to stir up trouble regardless of who else was at the table, be it industry royalty, award-winning actors, or pop divas. She was often a bit too “open-minded,” which resulted in a never-ending stream of scandals.

Before the music festival, Ji Ran had been caught on camera entering a hotel room with a famous singer. She had promised that this time, she absolutely wouldn’t act out.

But this time truly was an accident. Who would have thought that trying to keep a low profile would result in such an… unexpected bonus.

“Not, not yet.”

Xiao Sa didn’t dare look at her. Seeing how terrified she was, Ji Ran figured she wasn’t the type to gossip and stopped prying.

There were less than twenty-four hours until the festival officially began. As the resident host, Ji Ran would be here until the end, but she heard Xu Enzhi was only a special guest and might leave right after the opening ceremony.

The script was spread out across her lap, but Ji Ran couldn’t process a single word. Her mind was entirely filled with the vivid, sensual scenes from the night before.

Xu Enzhi will definitely change hotels today…

She drifted off into her thoughts.

The last time they had seen each other was the day they returned to school to pick up their student files after the college entrance exam results came out.

It was now mid-July, and by her count, it had been exactly ten years.

Students had to report their scores to their homeroom teachers to be compiled into the school’s grade sheets, but those lists only showed the number of people in each score bracket, not their names. Consequently, Ji Ran never knew exactly how Xu Enzhi had performed.

She did remember the final placement list, though. A lower-tier “985” university in Hangyang. While it was a developed, first-tier city, it was far too distant from Jiyuan.

Ji Ran had attended a “985” university within the province. Because it was close, she could come back during short breaks to hang out with classmates, yet she never ran into Xu Enzhi once. To think their next meeting would be a decade later.

If one were to ask if there was some deep history between them, there really wasn’t.

It was just a case of an unrequited crush being rejected and then becoming public knowledge. Honestly, as the one who did the pathetic pining, Ji Ran didn’t even mind, so she didn’t understand why Xu Enzhi was being so dramatic.

She must have been blind back then, thinking a pure, innocent “little white flower” like her would be easy to chase.

Thinking back on that bittersweet, unforgettable youth, even though the person and the events weren’t worth dwelling on, it was still a part of her past that had long since vanished. Whenever she remembered it, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of nostalgia.

Ji Ran came from a broken home. Her parents divorced when she was very young, and she was awarded to her mother, she had almost no memory of her father.

Paternal love was something she craved but could never obtain, but because her mother was so full of resentment, Ji Ran never brought up her father.

Soon after, her mother left as well, handing an eight-year-old Ji Ran over to her grandmother while she went to the big city to make a living.

Ji Ran always understood her mother, but she gradually realized that a piece of her heart was missing.

This missing piece made her feel hollow, like her body had been carved out into a massive cavern that required endless stimulation to fill.

She didn’t know what her elementary school teachers meant by “ADHD,” she only knew that running around with other kids, causing trouble, picking fights with older students, and acting tough gave her a fleeting sense of being noticed, feared, and cared about.

Later, in middle school, she not only learned what “ADHD” meant, but also what it meant to be a “troublemaker.” But none of that mattered anymore because she had already fallen in with a group of “bad influences.”

Eventually, things happened that made her bored with that life. She realized she couldn’t be too immature or believe the hype in novels and manga about “friendship forever” or “best friends first.”

Everyone else played and caused trouble during the day, but when they got into a mess, they had adults to back them up. Only Ji Ran was alone.

That was the first lesson life taught her. Later, her mother returned to stay with her, and Ji Ran realized she was about to take her high school entrance exams. After working hard, she got into the city’s top-tier high school.

Looking back, the year of those exams was undoubtedly the happiest time of her life.

Her mother was still busy and didn’t give her much pocket money, and all the kids in the city were obsessed with designer brands. Refusing to be left behind, she bought a bunch of knock-offs. But so what? With her “don’t mess with me” attitude and striking face, who would dare suggest they weren’t real?

As it turned out, people don’t change overnight, just like a leopard doesn’t change its spots. She still loved being the center of attention. She joined the school radio station as a host and gave speeches during the flag-raising ceremonies every Monday. It was then she realized she had a talent for hosting.

Ji Ran loved the feeling of being watched. Even if half the crowd below was chatting and ignoring her, she still noticed one pair of eyes that was always fixed on her.

Those eyes had never changed. Even now, they remained as clear as if they couldn’t tolerate a single speck of dust.

Once, she thought being in the same class as Xu Enzhi was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to her.

Xu Enzhi was nothing like Ji Ran. Her father was a city official, and her family was harmonious and wealthy. More than once during parent-teacher meetings, Ji Ran had seen Xu’s mother pull her into a hug, softly calling her “baby.”

That was a scene Ji Ran would never experience in her lifetime.

When she was a child, Ji Ran thought her mother had left out of necessity and that they would be the happiest mother and daughter in the world when she returned. Later, she realized her mother wasn’t actually prepared to love her.

Ji Ran’s mother only showed up for one parent-teacher meeting during her senior year of high school, and even then, she was in a rush.

She saw all the other children going out to eat with their parents after the meeting adjourned, and for a moment, she didn’t know where to go.

She pretended to be unbothered, pulling out her phone to order takeout and casually playing games.

“Rich but parents are busy” was her final shield of pride.

But as fate would have it, it rained that day, and Xu Enzhi went back to the classroom to grab her umbrella.

She saw Ji Ran sitting on the teacher’s podium and asked casually:

“Why haven’t you gone to eat yet?”

**

“I ordered takeout.”

“When did you order it? It looks like it’s pouring outside.”

“Just now.”

Xu Enzhi looked at the single umbrella in her hand and said with a slight smile:

“There’s only one umbrella left in the classroom. Did you bring one?”

Ji Ran blanked for a moment.

“I don’t think so.”

“Then what are you going to do when your food arrives?”

**

“Ugh, whatever, I’ll figure it out.”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

…

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

Xu Enzhi looked at the umbrella. It had been left behind by a previous student, so technically, it was now class property.

But they both needed it. If they went by “first come, first served,” the umbrella should go to Ji Ran.

However, Xu Enzhi hadn’t expected her to be there when she came back, so it felt unfair no matter who used it. In that case…

“Why don’t you just come and eat with me?”

“I can’t finish it all anyway.”

“You only just ordered your takeout, right? Just cancel the order, or you can bring it along and eat it there.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am, why would I lie to you?”

Back then, they didn’t speak to each other with such sharp tongues.

Xu Enzhi had great grades and was beautiful, with her long high ponytail and clean school uniform. She didn’t talk much and seemed a bit like a wallflower, but honestly, with her looks, it was impossible not to notice her.

In short, Xu Enzhi and Ji Ran had completely opposite personalities.

It wasn’t until Xu Enzhi was forced to perform at the New Year’s Eve gala that Ji Ran learned she could play both the violin and the piano.

But more than any of that, what Ji Ran saw most was her leaning over her desk, drawing.

She would draw with total concentration, then excitedly show her work to the whole class, her head swaying happily as she basked in their amazement. That was the only time Ji Ran felt they were actually alike.

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