Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Song Qinglan’s voice was not much different from the one in the TV drama, except the emotion in the show was more intense, while her voice on the phone was very calm.

Shen Qingyi paused, gathered her thoughts, and then spoke: “May I please speak to Ms. Song Qinglan? I am the used book dealer who previously acquired your copy of The Longest Confession. I don’t know if you still remember me.”

There was silence on the other end for a moment. Song Qinglan asked suspiciously: “What is that?”

“It’s an original Japanese novel with the author’s personal signature,” Shen Qingyi explained: “Five or six years ago, I posted a request on a used goods forum, seeking to buy it for 3,000 yuan. You left your contact information, and we did an offline transaction.”

Song Qinglan thought hard, unsure if she remembered the event, and asked cautiously: “And what then?”

Shen Qingyi knew this was her guard against unfamiliar calls. To the current Song Qinglan, 3,000 yuan probably couldn’t even buy a box of face masks. She was likely suspecting Shen Qingyi and Shan Ling’s true motives.

“There’s something in the book’s inner layer. It seems quite important, so I called to inquire about it.”

“…What is it?”

Shen Qingyi looked at the elegantly written confession and felt that the matter couldn’t be explained clearly over the phone. She changed the subject and asked: “Is it convenient for us to meet?”

Song Qinglan immediately fell silent.

“It is not convenient,” Song Qinglan’s tone suggested she understood something now, and she said with a cold laugh: “Are you trying to use this as leverage for some exchange with me? Madam, since you know who I am, you should know that I don’t care about something worth a few thousand dollars. If it’s not important, just throw it away. I don’t need it.”

With that, the person tried to hang up but was stopped by Shan Ling.

“It’s a piece of news from your high school days!”

Song Qinglan on the other end clearly paused. Shen Qingyi glanced at Shan Ling, exchanged a look with her, and continued: “Whether it’s news or not, I think Ms. Song will only know once she sees it herself.”

Song Qinglan sounded displeased: “Are you threatening me?”

“We are not,” Shen Qingyi said: “If we’ve caused a misunderstanding, we will apologize to you in person, but this item seems genuinely important to certain people, so we hope we can meet.”

The person considered this, then asked: “What is your name?”

“Shen Qingyi.”

“Shen…”

Song Qinglan was slightly puzzled and asked: “What is your relationship with Shen Hongjun?”

Shen Qingyi was also taken aback. She paused for a moment before saying: “He is my father.”

“Oh.” The other party’s tone noticeably softened. After a moment of thought, she said: “Since Ms. Shen wishes to see me, let’s set a time. How about this Wednesday? I’ve just finished filming a series and am resting. If you are free on Wednesday, we can arrange a meeting.”

“That’s fine,” Shen Qingyi asked her: “Where would be a suitable place for us to meet?”

“Come to my house,” Song Qinglan said: “I live in the same villa neighborhood as your father. I will give you the specific address on the day.”

Watching Song Qinglan hang up the phone, Shan Ling looked at Shen Qingyi suspiciously and asked, “She knows your dad?”

Shen Qingyi also found it very strange. If Song Qinglan hadn’t mentioned Shen Hongjun, she definitely wouldn’t have been able to arrange a meeting with this big star so smoothly.

“It seems she agreed to meet us out of respect for my father,” Shen Qingyi put down her phone and said helplessly to Shan Ling: “Otherwise, we might genuinely never see her.”

Shan Ling stroked Shen Qingyi’s head, comforting her: “It’s okay. Your dad isn’t a stranger. If he knew, he would surely help you with this.”

Shen Qingyi nodded, then grabbed the hand Shan Ling used to stroke her head, holding it in her arms and saying, “We’re meeting this big star on Wednesday. Have you thought about how you’ll ask for an autograph?”

Shan Ling tilted her head: “I don’t follow celebrities.”

Shen Qingyi said: “You can ask for others.”

“Ah!” Shan Ling suddenly realized: “Tao Tao likes her! I should get an autograph and a photo for Xu Wentao. I can also ask Nuonuo when I go to work on Monday. If she likes her too, I can get autographs for both.”

Shen Qingyi smiled at Shan Ling’s clearly organized plan and said: “Why wait until Monday? Wouldn’t you know if you just sent Nuonuo a WeChat message?”

Shan Ling slapped her forehead: “You make a good point!”

When contacting Nuonuo and Xu Wentao, Shan Ling didn’t mention meeting Song Qinglan; she only asked if they needed the celebrity’s autograph. After receiving a uniform positive answer, Shan Ling put away her phone contentedly.

On Wednesday, Shan Ling kept a close watch on Shen Qingyi’s phone from early morning, afraid of missing a single message.

Shen Qingyi, unlike Shan Ling, was not so anxious. She worked calmly, waiting for the message from the actress.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, Shen Qingyi’s phone buzzed. An unfamiliar number sent a message containing an address and the specified time: 7:00 PM.

It seemed the transaction was scheduled for a dark and windy night.

Shen Qingyi glanced at the message, told Shan Ling not to reply, and decided they would just head over after work.

After finishing work at five o’clock, Shen Qingyi took Shan Ling to a restaurant for dinner. After a short rest, they drove to the villa neighborhood where Shen Hongjun lived at six o’clock.

The villa neighborhood was vast, with each detached house far apart from its neighbors. Both privacy and security were excellent. It was considered one of the top wealthy districts in the area, so it was perfectly normal for a big star to own a house here.

Shen Qingyi chose not to drive past Shen Hongjun’s villa, instead taking a detour and arriving in front of the designated villa an hour early.

At six in the evening in winter, the sky had long been completely dark. The streetlights flickered on one by one, casting a simple light source on the car roof.

Shan Ling leaned against the car window, looking at the dark villa across the street. Other than the eerie light from the yard’s floodlights, there was no sign of life.

“Is no one home?” Shan Ling looked across curiously.

Shen Qingyi was also watching and remained silent.

After waiting in the car for about half an hour, they saw a black sedan drive down the opposite lane. It flashed on and off in the dark streetlights and stopped not far in front of Shen Qingyi’s car.

Then, they saw the car door open, and a woman with long hair, wearing a black hat and a black down jacket, completely bundled up, got out of the car.

Following her was a slightly shorter woman. She wasn’t completely covered up, wore her hair in a ponytail, had black-rimmed glasses, and seemed to be carrying a stack of documents as she walked behind the first woman.

As they walked towards them, the sharp-eyed Shen Qingyi told Shan Ling: “They’re here. Bring the book and get out.”

Shan Ling nodded. She and Shen Qingyi opened their doors and got out of the car on either side.

Song Qinglan clearly hadn’t expected the two to appear in such a manner. She stood still for a moment, slightly stunned, before remembering who these two were.

“Ms. Song, good evening,” Shen Qingyi greeted her generously: “I am Shen Qingyi, the one who contacted you earlier. You sent a text asking us to meet here at 7:00 PM.”

Song Qinglan nodded. She took off her hat, revealing a fair face. Her star-like eyes looked even better than they did on TV. She was tall and slender. Even dressed in an all-black down jacket, her aura was unmistakable.

Shan Ling sighed with emotion: “Ms. Song, you are much more beautiful than on TV.”

No one dislikes being complimented, not even Song Qinglan. Her mood instantly improved, but because she couldn’t immediately determine whether the two were friends or foes, or what the ‘news’ they spoke of was, she maintained a stern expression.

“Since we’ve met here, let’s not go inside to talk,” Song Qinglan didn’t want to invite the two into her home. She stood with her arms crossed, looking at them from a distance, and said: “Hand over whatever you have quickly. If it is genuinely valuable, I will have my assistant give you a generous reward.”

The bespectacled girl behind Song Qinglan nodded.

Shen Qingyi didn’t want to speak much to Song Qinglan, as she found the other party’s attitude quite poor—a sense of looking down on her and Shan Ling, which made her very uncomfortable.

“Before we show you what we have, could Ms. Song speak with us privately?” Shen Qingyi motioned toward the assistant behind her.

The bespectacled girl frowned noticeably. She looked up at Shen Qingyi and said, “Ms., please just say whatever you need to say. I’m her assistant, so you don’t need to be wary of me.”

Song Qinglan glanced at her, seemed to realize something, and told the assistant: “You go back first. I’ll talk to them alone.”

The assistant frowned and said seriously, “I don’t trust you.”

“It’s fine. I know who they are,” Song Qinglan told her: “You have work tomorrow, so don’t worry about me. Go back first, Fang Ran.”

Fang Ran?

Why did that name sound so familiar?

Not just Shan Ling, but Shen Qingyi also felt she had encountered the name somewhere before. She turned to look at Shan Ling, took the book from her hand, and flipped to the hidden compartment on the last page.

“I don’t ask you to love me as I love you. I only wish you happiness in this life. — Fang Ran”

Shen Qingyi saw the signature at the end, then looked up at the assistant behind Song Qinglan, and her heart immediately sank.

“Alright then.”

Whatever Song Qinglan had just said to her, Fang Ran looked at the two strangers warily, then told Song Qinglan: “Be careful. If there’s any problem, just press the emergency dial, and I’ll be right back.”

Song Qinglan waved her hand at her. Fang Ran walked away, constantly looking back.

Once the person was completely gone, Shen Qingyi and Shan Ling didn’t say a word. The three of them stood in the cold wind, staring at each other. Finally, a restless Song Qinglan asked: “What do you want to give me? Why are you standing there silently?”

Shen Qingyi decisively closed the book, grabbed Shan Ling’s arm, and walked straight back to the car without turning around, calling out loudly: “I’m sorry, Ms. Song, we made a mistake. We won’t bother you today.”

Shan Ling looked back at Song Qinglan, who was standing frozen in place. Thinking she had even brought her autograph book, she realized she probably wouldn’t get an autograph now. She could only wave at Song Qinglan and kindly said: “Ms. Song, please go inside quickly. It’s windy; don’t catch a cold.”

Watching Shen Qingyi’s car drive away, Song Qinglan was so angry she put her hands on her hips, completely confused about what was going on.

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