Why Did the Top Alpha Suddenly Stop Acting Out? - Chapter 47

As if sensing Yi Qian’s foul mood, even the elevator didn’t dare keep her waiting. She had barely stood at the elevator doors for a moment when they dinged open, revealing an empty interior.

When the elevator reached the first floor and the doors slid apart, the female employee who had high-fived her earlier happened to be standing right outside. Spotting Yi Qian, she cheerfully raised her hand again in greeting. Though Yi Qian didn’t outright ignore her, her response was nothing more than an indifferent nod.

That expression might as well have been a cold shoulder.

The employee stood rooted in place, watching Yi Qian’s retreating figure with utter bewilderment. Hadn’t it only been ten minutes?

How could she seem like a completely different person from before.

After lingering by the elevator for a moment, the employee turned to step inside only for a figure to suddenly dart past her. Ye Shuyi was swiftly catching up to Yi Qian.

The employee considered watching a little longer, but as the elevator doors began to close, she hurriedly squeezed inside, still craning her neck for a glimpse through the narrowing gap.

Outside the building, inside an unassuming van, the reporter in a baseball cap jolted upright in his seat the moment he saw Yi Qian emerge. He frantically smacked the drowsy reporter in the driver’s seat, who was wearing a fisherman’s hat. “Wake up! She’s out.”

The fisherman-hat reporter startled awake, adjusting his crooked sunglasses. “What? What’s happening?”

“She’s here. Keep your eyes peeled no more napping.”

Sitting up straight, the fisherman-hat reporter removed his sunglasses and squinted at the two figures by the entrance. He clicked his tongue. “Look at that. As cheerful as she was going in, that’s how sour her face is now. Workplace stress hits everyone, huh? Tsk tsk.”

The baseball-cap reporter scrutinized the pair’s body language. “So, did Yi Qian just have another fight with her manager?”

Rubbing his eyes, the fisherman-hat reporter hesitated. “I dunno! Doesn’t it look more like the manager’s trying to comfort her?” His tone was thick with uncertainty.

“Definitely a fight,” the baseball-cap reporter declared. “Quick, get the shots. Today’s KPIs are as good as done.”

Obliging, the fisherman-hat reporter raised his camera and aimed it at the two. But before he could snap more than a few photos, Yi Qian abruptly lifted her gaze directly at them.

Her expression was pure irritation.

As if she could see straight through the lens and was ready to end them.

Shoving the camera into the baseball-cap reporter’s hands, the fisherman-hat reporter immediately started the engine and peeled away without a second thought.

Nothing was more important than self-preservation.

The baseball-cap reporter gaped at the driver. “Why’d you run? We didn’t even finish shooting!”

“She spotted us. She’s a completely different person now, if we’d stayed, she might’ve come over and finished us off.”

The baseball-cap reporter: “…”

Better to flee, then.

In front of the agency building, Ye Shuyi pulled Yi Qian into a quiet corner. “What’s suddenly gotten into you?”

Yi Qian tore her glare away from the distance and fixed it on her. With a cold laugh, she said, “What’s gotten into me? Nothing. I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I?”

Ye Shuyi’s expression turned cold as she said sternly, “Yi Qian, stop acting childish all the time. If there’s something bothering you, just say it. There’s nothing that can’t be resolved.”

A gust of wind blew between them, chilling the air. A dark cloud drifted lazily with the breeze, eventually obscuring the last sliver of sunset on the horizon, plunging the sky into sudden darkness.

Yi Qian curled her lips into a cold smile and said calmly, “Do you really not know why I’m like this?”

Ye Shuyi looked at her, a slight frown forming between her brows. “How would I know if you don’t tell me?” After a brief pause, as if realizing something, she continued, “Is it because I agreed to that collaborative stage performance without discussing it with you first? But haven’t all your recent arrangements been my responsibility? And it’s not like this is some major issue. Is it really worth getting so angry about?”

Though her words sounded forceful, her tone remained composed not confrontational, but like an adult reasoning with a child.

Yi Qian laughed bitterly in frustration. “Not a major issue? Hah, right, it’s nothing serious. That’s why I didn’t refuse them, did I? Whatever. I’m going home.”

Ye Shuyi grabbed her wrist. “Let me drive you back. We can talk on the way.”

Without turning her head, Yi Qian coldly pried her hand away. “No need. I know the way home better than you.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, thick snowflakes began swirling down, landing on Ye Shuyi’s hand as she reached out to grab Yi Qian again.

Just as Ye Shuyi was about to speak, Yi Qian cut her off. Tilting her head up to watch the falling snow, she caught a single flake in her palm and said in an eerily flat voice, “Ye Shuyi, do you know? For the past three years, every time it snowed, I’d miss you a thousand times more than usual. But…”

“Even so, sometimes this terrifying thought would surface, no matter how hard I tried to suppress it, it would always push through the flood of longing and rise to the top. I couldn’t shake it off.”

“I’d think, if only I hadn’t gone to that noodle shop that snowy night.”

“If that were the case, maybe  just maybe, those thousand-odd days and nights over the past three years could have been, a little happier.”

Her voice was so tightly controlled that her entire body trembled slightly.

Ye Shuyi stood frozen in place, slowly lifting her shocked gaze toward the other woman. Before she could fully see Yi Qian’s face, her hand was wrenched free.

She wanted to step forward, to chase after her, but her body seemed encased in ice, utterly immobile.

An unknown liquid warm to the touch landed on the back of her hand, carried by the wind. Yet it felt colder than the snowflakes dusting her skin.

Looking up at the retreating figure, she clutched the fallen tear in her palm, trying to preserve its warmth. But,  her hands were just as cold. The teardrop found no solace in her grasp, vanishing into nothingness instead.

Perhaps it was past the rush hour, or perhaps the heavy snow had deterred most people from venturing out. On the empty road, only the falling snow accompanied the speeding black sports car.

Tears she had wiped away kept welling up again. Unable to bear it any longer, Yi Qian pulled the car over to the side of the road, rested her head on the steering wheel, and finally broke down into uncontrollable sobs.

Inside a pink villa in an upscale neighborhood, Fang Xin, dressed in a pink nightgown, held a cucumber in one hand and refreshed a trending page on her tablet with the other.

As soon as the page loaded, she saw her best friend’s name at the top of the trending list.

#Top Celebrity Yi Qian Suspected of Arguing with Her Manager Outside the Company#

Fang Xin had been about to take a bite of the cucumber, but upon seeing the headline, she froze mid-bite, leaving the cucumber dangling from her mouth. She wiped her hands on her nightgown, hurriedly climbed onto the bed, and sat cross-legged as she clicked on the trending topic to check the details.

She placed the tablet on the bed, continuing to munch on the cucumber with one hand while scrolling through the screen with the other.

According to the whistleblower’s Weibo post, the headline wasn’t just clickbait.

The post included two photos and a three-second video. In the photos, both Yi Qian and Ye Shuyi wore cold expressions, seemingly in the middle of an argument. The video had no sound, but it showed Ye Shuyi stepping in front of Yi Qian to block her path. Yi Qian lifted her gaze as if looking toward the camera, but the video ended abruptly.

Fang Xin skimmed through the comments.

[Hah, isn’t this obviously a fight? Is Yi Qian’s 29th manager finally about to “gloriously retire”?]

[Yi Qian should just go solo in the entertainment industry. You’re only fit to “shine alone”, stop dragging others down.]

[Seriously? Who dares to upset our beauty? Come to me, Ye Shuyi, I’ll treat you right and never make you angry.]

[Waiting for Ye Shuyi to quit and fall into my arms. [folds arms and waits]]

Fang Xin rolled her eyes, took a loud crunch of the cucumber, and muttered with her mouth full, “Dream on, all of you.”

She grabbed her phone, about to call Yi Qian, but just as she was about to hit the dial button, the doorbell rang.

She climbed off the bed, still munching on the cucumber as she walked to the front door. Before opening it, she checked the surveillance screen only to see an all-too-familiar face magnified on the display, cheeks slightly flushed, forehead pressed against an arm as she leaned against the door.

Fang Xin quickly opened the door, and a strong wave of alcohol hit her. Before she could say anything, the person in front of her collapsed into her arms.

“Yi Qian? Are you drunk?” Fang Xin patted her, but there was no response.

Struggling to hold her up, Fang Xin turned around and kicked the door shut with her foot. She half-carried, half-dragged Yi Qian to the living room couch, then felt her forehead and lightly patted her cheeks. “Stay here and rest. I’ll make you some hangover soup, or you’ll feel awful tomorrow.”

But the moment she turned away, a hand grabbed her wrist. Yi Qian cracked her eyelids open, mumbling, “I’m fine. I don’t need hangover soup. Just stay here with me.”

“Then let me at least get you a towel to wipe your face.”

Her wrist was caught again.

“Don’t leave. You don’t need to do anything. Just stay here with me.”

Fang Xin bent down in front of her, gently patting her cheeks to make her open her eyes. “Do you know who I am?” she asked seriously.

Yi Qian opened her eyes, giving her a dazed glance before quickly closing them again. Mumbling, she said, “I know… I know you’re my good friend Fang Xin. I didn’t mistake you for her, I…” She hiccuped from the alcohol, “I just don’t want to be alone, not even for a second.”

Frowning, Fang Xin placed a cushion under her head and threw another on the floor before sitting down herself.

The air grew still, silence stretching between them.

After watching the figure on the sofa for a while, Fang Xin hugged a cushion to her chest and hesitantly asked, “What happened between you two this time? You’re trending on social media again.”

Seeing the other woman turn to face the back of the sofa as if avoiding something, Fang Xin sighed helplessly. Just as she was about to turn her back and explain that avoidance wouldn’t solve anything, she noticed Yi Qian’s shoulders suddenly begin to tremble.

Her outstretched hand froze mid-air.

When was the last time she’d seen Yi Qian like this?

If she remembered correctly no, she definitely remembered, the last time Yi Qian had come to her drunk like this was the day she broke up with Ye Shuyi.

Someone who could normally drink anyone under the table had deliberately gotten herself wasted, showed up at Fang Xin’s place, curled up in a corner of the sofa saying she didn’t want to be alone at home, yet refused to speak just cried all night while folded into herself.

Fang Xin patted her back, then knelt beside the sofa and leaned over her. “What’s wrong all of a sudden?” she asked softly. “Can you tell me about it?”

Yi Qian’s body stiffened momentarily. Those simple words seemed to trigger something in her. Suddenly, she turned around and hugged Fang Xin, resting her chin on her shoulder as she choked back sobs. “She,  she’s pushing me away again. I knew it, these past few days when she suddenly became so affectionate she’s pushing me away again, Fang Xin. She’s leaving me again, she doesn’t want me anymore.”

As if she couldn’t hold it in any longer, Yi Qian finally broke down crying.

Large teardrops fell on the back of Fang Xin’s neck, but she paid them no mind, simply letting the other woman cry on her shoulder while gently patting her back.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Fang Xin tried to comfort her. “What did she do to make you think she’s leaving? You two have been fine these past few days. Why so sudden?”

“We were fine last time too, but then she suddenly broke up with me,” Yi Qian sobbed. “Right before we broke up, she suddenly started teaching me how to cook, saying it would be convenient for making meals for her later. But as soon as I learned, she broke up with me.”

“Only later did I realize she taught me to cook so I could take care of myself after she left. She had been planning to leave me all along.”

“How could she plan to leave me while smiling at me so happily every day without giving me any warning signs.”

Her words came between sobs, disjointed and illogical, like a heavy stone buried in her heart for years that now only wanted to be kicked out at the first chance.

Fang Xin gently stroked her back, helping her catch her breath, and sighed softly. “And this time? What did she do?”

“She agreed to let me collaborate with a rookie from the company on stage. She even got along well with that rookie’s manager. She must be preparing to push me onto someone else before resigning and leaving again.”

“She must be scheming like this. She must be abandoning me again. Why does she treat me this way? What did I do wrong? Why is she leaving me again? I thought she wouldn’t leave me anymore.”

“I thought she wouldn’t leave me again after coming back this time. I thought I could keep her as long as she returned. Even if I couldn’t, I could at least hold onto her. But now that she’s suddenly doing all this, I realize. I can’t hold onto her at all. If she wants to leave, I definitely can’t stop her.”

“She’s planning to leave me again. Just this morning she was still cuddling in my arms comforting me. Why does she treat me like this? I thought she wouldn’t.”

“Could you be overthinking this?” Fang Xin interrupted, trying to prevent her from sinking deeper into despair. “Maybe she didn’t mean it that way. She probably just thought the collaboration would benefit you. Isn’t that what managers normally consider?”

“No way. Working with that rookie won’t help me at all. She’s definitely planning to leave me, building connections with that rookie’s manager in advance to pass me on. That’s exactly what she’s doing.”

“Just like when she taught me to cook. She wants to leave but still arranges things for me after she’s gone. But does she know that this only makes me suffer more after she leaves?”

Fang Xin patted her back with increasing pressure to prevent her from hyperventilating, calmly suggesting, “I think you should go ask her tomorrow instead of torturing yourself with these thoughts?”

“No.” Yi Qian released her grip, roughly wiping away her tears before lying back down facing the sofa, her shoulders still trembling uncontrollably, voice shaking. “Go to sleep. Don’t mind me. Let me calm down alone.”

Fang Xin took a deep breath, then pulled her up by the arm: “How can I ignore you when you’re lying in my house? You can’t sleep here, you’ll get sick. Get up, let’s go to the bedroom.”

Yi Qian offered no resistance as Fang Xin dragged her up and helped her to the room.

After tossing her onto the bed and removing her coat, Fang Xin fetched a damp towel from the bathroom. When she returned, she found the figure on the bed curled into a ball again, face buried in her arms while muttering between sobs: “Why is she leaving me again.”

With a sigh, Fang Xin peeled her open, wiped her tears, unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt to clean her neck, then gently stroked her hair like comforting a child: “Stop crying. Tomorrow you’ll go ask her properly!”

Before she could finish, Yi Qian’s phone suddenly rang with a custom ringtone: “A-Qian, answer the call.  From your favorite person, who also loves you most.”

Fang Xin knew this was the exclusive ringtone for one particular person.

She looked at the figure on the bed who had covered her eyes with her arm, the woman made no move to answer, but fresh tears streamed from beneath her forearm.

Fang Xin sighed and was about to answer the phone when Yi Qian stopped her: “Don’t mind her. Go to sleep, it’s late.”

Fang Xin didn’t insist on answering the call. She simply stood there, waiting until the ringing stopped naturally before removing Yi Qian’s hand and tucking her in. Gently stroking her hair, she comforted her: “Don’t overthink it. Just get some rest now.”

Seeing Yi Qian nod slightly, she continued, “I’ll leave now, but call me anytime if you need anything. I’ll always be here.”

Another silent nod.

Fang Xin turned and walked a few steps toward the sofa where their clothes were. Carefully glancing back at the bed, she saw the other woman still covering her eyes with her arm.

She picked up her coat.

As soon as she reached the living room, as expected, that distinctive ringtone belonging to a certain someone started blaring again.

Fang Xin took the phone from her coat pocket. Her finger hovered over the side button, hesitating briefly before finally answering. She got straight to the point: “This is Fang Xin. Yi Qian is at my place. Do you want to come over?”

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