Frivolous - Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Under the bright lights, though Chen Ran was technically wearing clothes, she was virtually naked. A string of small bells was wrapped around her wrist.

Yu Lanzhou felt a stinging pain in her fingertips. When she spoke, her voice was heavy, laden with suppressed fury.

What did Chen Ran take herself for? To try and please her with such low-class, tawdry methods—how would she please others in the future? Would she use these same methods for them?

But then a second thought struck her: wasn’t this exactly what she had forced Chen Ran to do just a few days ago?

The little lamb on Chen Ran’s WeChat avatar—the one that valued dignity and self-respect—had been cruelly banished by Yu Lanzhou herself. Seeing Chen Ran like this made Yu Lanzhou feel disgusted with herself. It felt as if she were forcing a pure child toward filthy desires.

The image of the eighteen-year-old Chen Ran she had met years ago on the mountain road suddenly flashed before her eyes young, vibrant, vivid, and unrestrained. She had the same rose-pink hair back then, but her expression surely wouldn’t have been as trembling and fearful as it was now.

Previously, Yu Lanzhou felt Chen Ran was making her lose herself, but she realized she was also making Chen Ran stop being Chen Ran.

Yu Lanzhou let out a soft sigh. She pointed to the edge of the bed and spoke to Chen Ran, who looked as if she were about to burst into tears again. “Put your clothes on. Let’s talk.”

Chen Ran’s hands hung empty in front of her chest, lacking any support. Yu Lanzhou’s tone was serious so serious it made her heart race with panic. She hurriedly wrapped herself in a bathrobe, not even taking the time to tie the belt properly, leaving a wide expanse of skin exposed from her collarbone down. She sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, her weight barely resting on the very corner.

Yu Lanzhou looked up. “Tie it.”

Chen Ran lowered her head to tie the belt. The moment she raised her hands and touched the white fabric, the bells on her wrist chimed again. She ripped the bells off and gripped them tightly in her palm, refusing to let them make another sound.

A single tear splashed onto her thigh. She knew she had messed up again.

“I’m sorry, Teacher Yu. I know I was wrong. In the future… I will definitely maintain proper boundaries.”

Yu Lanzhou shook her head.

In this matter, she was the one who was wrong. Chen Ran was a human being, not some pet. When she had issued that excessive command, it was only natural for Chen Ran to feel shame or humiliation. Yet Yu Lanzhou had completely ignored her feelings, consumed only by her own desires.

Filthy desires. They needed to be dissolved.

Yu Lanzhou stared at the panicked girl in front of her and asked wearily, “Chen Ran, do you want to end the contract early?”

To end this ridiculous contract.

Chen Ran’s expression became even more desolate. She shook her head rapidly and lunged forward to kneel at Yu Lanzhou’s feet. “No. I don’t want to. Teacher Yu, I truly know I was wrong. Please, don’t say such things, okay?”

“You aren’t wrong, Chen Ran.” Yu Lanzhou held Chen Ran’s arms with both hands. Once Chen Ran stood up, she released her. “Let’s end it. From now on, I will treat you just like Yu Zhou. Whatever she has, you will have too. I won’t be unkind to you. And I won’t treat you like I did last time.”

“I don’t want that. I don’t want you to treat me like Yu Zhou.” Chen Ran looked at her with an incredibly anxious and aggrieved gaze, her tears falling in a steady stream. Her voice was broken by sobs as she said, “I like you. It’s the kind of liking where I want to hold you in my entire life. It’s the kind where I fantasize about growing old with you. I love you.”

Chen Ran didn’t dare say anything more extreme: It’s the kind of love that sparks desire every time I see you. The kind that longs for our bodies to merge into one. The kind of love where I hope you’d take me until I’m breathless.

She had worked so hard to get to this point, to realize the dream she had fantasized about. After only a short period, was this dream going to vanish like a bubble? She only wished she could cut open her heart and hold it out for Yu Lanzhou to see. She didn’t understand why Yu Lanzhou kept trying to push her into the same category as Yu Zhou. Was she being too childish? Did she cry too much?

Enduring her tears, she took Yu Lanzhou’s limp hand and pressed it against her cheek. Her voice trembled. “Please, think about it again, okay? I know a lot has happened lately and you might be confused. But… please don’t give up on me so easily, okay?”

“I’ll become more mature. I won’t make you worry so much, truly. And I’ll cry less.”

By the time she reached the middle of her sentence, Yu Lanzhou had already pulled her hand away. Looking into Chen Ran’s beautiful, pure eyes, she believed—at least for this moment—that Chen Ran’s love for her was real.

“Fine. I’ll think about it.” Yu Lanzhou took half a step back. “You should think about it too. Think seriously. Ending the contract early would bring you nothing but benefits.”

Hearing this, Chen Ran knew the knot in Yu Lanzhou’s heart hadn’t been untied. But there was nothing more she could do.

Yu Lanzhou’s “think about it” lasted for an entire week.

During this time, Chen Ran posted a small teaser of a new single titled L on Weibo. She sang:

“Begging my god-like lover: Bestow upon me, bestow upon me.”

She no longer knew how to love properly; it felt like even just thinking of her made her heart ache with tenderness. So Chen Ran told her: Bestow upon me. The music was a unique love letter she handed to Yu Lanzhou.

The triennial Film and Drama Gala was held in Beijing, inviting prestigious figures from the industry. Previously, the Song of Praise band’s Mocking Lyric had been chosen as the promotional song for an art film, so they were invited to perform.

Yu Lanzhou attended on behalf of Yu Lan, sitting in the very center of the venue. A few meters away sat Qu Bai, dressed in an elegant white strapless gown; she was a judge for the film awards. Before the ceremony began, Chen Ran carefully kept her head down as she walked past Qu Bai’s lounge, making no attempt to greet her.

Wherever Yu Lanzhou appeared, the cameras followed. While waiting in the wings, Chen Ran saw Yu Lanzhou on the monitor: she was wearing a double-breasted black suit, the front slightly open to reveal a black textured mesh dress. On her feet were black stiletto heels adorned with crushed diamonds, highlighting the cold, pale tone of her skin. The stage lights occasionally swept over her, making the fibers and dust motes in the light visible.

Even though Chen Ran had known for days that Yu Lanzhou’s presence at this gala had nothing to do with her, she had still been happy for a long time. Yu Lanzhou had always been a magnet for rumors, but currently, her eyes as she looked at the stage were fluid; she gave a faint smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Xu Wan stood beside her with a cold expression, constantly deflecting anyone who tried to approach. Bodyguards stood in the shadows just a few steps away.

The group performing on stage was a girl group that had been very popular in recent years, with impressive album and digital sales. Their looks were varied and stylish, both bold and delicate. Unlike the reason Song of Praise was here, this group had a song that was so viral that even Chen Ran had heard Yu Lanzhou play it.

After they finished, the group’s leader walked up to Yu Lanzhou. Xu Wan checked Yu Lanzhou’s expression and didn’t stop her. The leader leaned down to whisper something to Yu Lanzhou.

From the corner, Chen Ran saw Yu Lanzhou smile. A genuine smile. A smile so beautiful it made Chen Ran’s heart ache with a murderous jealousy.

What’s going on?

Yu Lanzhou.

Lanzhou.

Zhouzhou.

Teacher Yu.

But after a moment, Chen Ran also felt a bit happy: If someone else can make you happy, I feel that happiness too. I will be just as happy as you are.

Chen Ran was a bit distracted in the backstage area; the hand holding her microphone trembled involuntarily. The director’s voice came through her earpiece: “Chen Ran, prepare to go on. Five, four, three…”

Standing on stage felt different from any previous performance; this time, the person she loved most was in the audience. This was also her first major mainstream gala, and she couldn’t afford a single mistake.

However, when the first line left her mouth, the bass drum was incredibly heavy. This hadn’t happened during rehearsals. Then, the signal receiver for her in-ear monitors malfunctioned, leaving her in total silence.

Though this had happened in past shows, this was a performance where failure wasn’t an option. Chen Ran panicked, though she tried to stay outwardly calm. She instinctively looked toward Yu Lanzhou, but the other woman wasn’t looking at her. She glanced at the sound engineer and pointed to her ear monitor, but he acted as if he didn’t see her. Chen Ran was certain he had.

Her gaze darted around the audience, finally settling back on Yu Lanzhou. She remembered video footage of a twenty-two-year-old Yu Lanzhou performing abroad when her conductor’s baton suddenly snapped. She hadn’t shown a hint of panic, calmly using hand signals to cue the instruments. Her expression remained serene until the end, only lifting her chin slightly as she turned to thank the audience.

Proud and captivating. Like an elegant white peacock.

Chen Ran’s eyes rested on Yu Lanzhou’s jawline with lingering attachment. As her gaze shifted upward, she met Yu Lanzhou’s deep, dark blue eyes. At that moment, she seemed to give Chen Ran a slight nod—a brief but firm gaze.

A surge of warmth flooded Chen Ran’s heart, traveling through her veins to every part of her body, becoming her courage. She calmed down, gave Yu Lanzhou a faint smile, then pulled out her right ear monitor to listen to the house speakers instead.

When she reached the chorus, her voice was transparent and resonant, more effortless than ever before. The finale was exhilarating. As the lights went out, she looked toward Yu Lanzhou and thought:

It’s not pain.

It’s you.

You created me, and thus I exist.

As Chen Ran was changing out of her strapless stage dress, the door to the guest lounge was pushed open. Xin Xin shielded the exposed skin on Chen Ran’s back, quickly pulling the zipper back up.

A strange man burst in. He was wearing a suit and tie, looking presentable enough, but he held a glass of red wine and smelled of alcohol. He headed straight for Chen Ran. “Chen Ran?”

It was a question.

“Who are you?” Chen Ran signaled to Xin Xin, who understood and went to open both doors of the lounge wide.

“Whose branch did you climb onto later? A murderer actually managed to get whitewashed.”

The voice sounded familiar, as did the words. Chen Ran narrowed her eyes. “Mr. Zhuang?”

“It’s me. So you remember.” Zhuang Wang’s expression was that of a rogue. Even in a suit, he looked like a hoodlum. He walked toward her, reaching for the hand Chen Ran was using to cover her chest. “Tell me, who did you go with after?”

Chen Ran stared at the wine glass in his hand; it was trembling, the liquid about to spill onto her borrowed dress. Seeing how much she cared about the clothes, Zhuang Wang simply raised the glass high and tilted it. The red liquid cascaded from Chen Ran’s collarbone down onto her pale chest.

Passersby looked in curiously at the scene, and a crowd of onlookers began to gather. Chen Ran even saw Qu Bai’s assistant standing outside the door.

Her manager, Xiao Jiahe, rushed in and stood in front of Chen Ran. She spoke seriously to her former boss, “President Zhuang, she is not someone you can provoke.”

“Oh?” Zhuang Wang, having lost face in front of everyone, smiled with a sideways glance. “Is that so? I’d really like to know whose person she is.”

Xiao Jiahe wasn’t sure if Yu Lanzhou wanted to get involved. Just as she was hesitating whether to use her name, she saw the crowd part through the corner of her eye.

Surrounded by bodyguards, Yu Lanzhou walked toward them. In her high heels, every step she took was full of grace and poise. By now, someone had already whispered in Zhuang Wang’s ear: “It’s someone from the Yu family. Yu Shen.”

Before Zhuang Wang could react, Yu Lanzhou lightly raised an eyebrow. The bodyguard beside her stepped forward and delivered an incredibly heavy slap to his face. Zhuang Wang lost his footing, stumbled, and fell to the floor.

The onlookers held their breath; the noisy space suddenly became deathly silent.

“Ask him,” Yu Lanzhou said. “Is he awake now?”

Support Frivolous