Chapter 23 Part 1

Xu Zhinan didn't look over there again, quickly circling to the passenger side and getting into the car.

Xu Zhenfan also got in the car. Looking at the scene before him, he was a bit surprised, "What's going on up there? Are those all celebrities?" He didn't know much about entertainment stars.

Gu Congwang, for some reason, had developed an animosity towards Lin Qingye, with whom he had never spoken. He sneered, "Blocking the way. Don't they have any public decency?"

"Let's drive out from that side," Xu Zhinan said, pointing to the passage on the other side.

Gu Congwang steadily drove the car out of the crowd. After driving a little further, the noisy sounds disappeared.

"How did it go? Are you confident about today's competition?" Gu Congwang asked.

Xu Zhenfan answered for her, "How could she not be? Just look at this skill level! I can already imagine when this photo gets posted online, everyone is going to be shocked!" He rolled up his pant leg again.

Gu Congwang glanced in the rearview mirror and smiled, "Looks like our Ah Nan is going to become famous overnight."

Xu Zhenfan: "That's a must!"

Xu Zhinan: "...It's not that exaggerated."

Gu Congwang dropped Xu Zhenfan off at his shop's entrance. After saying goodbye, he continued driving to Pingchuan University, and the two of them had dinner together in the commercial street outside the campus gate.

It was already 7 PM after they finished eating. Gu Congwang's mother called and told him to come home, so the two didn't linger. After paying for the meal, Xu Zhinan went straight back to her dorm.

The dorm light was on today.

Normally, Jiang Yue would definitely still be in the library at this time.

"Yueyue." Xu Zhinan pushed the door open and went in. "Why are you back so early today?"

"My head hurts a little today. Maybe the library's air conditioning was set too low." Jiang Yue sniffled, her voice very nasal. "Aren't you going home today?"

"I am, I just came to grab something." Xu Zhinan walked over to her side. "Are you feeling very unwell?"

Jiang Yue propped her head up with her hand. There was still a book in front of her, but she could no longer focus on it. "Yeah, I think I've caught a cold."

"I have some cold medicine."

Xu Zhinan rummaged through her cabinet for her usual medicines and mixed a cup for her with warm water.

Jiang Yue said thanks, pinched her nose, and drank it all in one go. "It's fine, don't worry about me. You should go home first. I'll be fine if I just go to bed early today."

"Do you not need to go to the hospital?"

"It's okay. Going to the hospital now would take until very late."

Xu Zhinan was still a little worried. She placed her small first-aid kit on her desk and boiled a kettle of hot water for her. "If you still feel unwell tonight, remember to message me."

"Okay."

However, Xu Zhinan hadn't even finished packing her things when Jiang Yue, who had just had a runny nose and a headache, suddenly started having diarrhea. When she came out of the bathroom, her face was pale, her lips were colorless, and she looked like she was about to collapse.

Xu Zhinan went forward to support her, only to touch her scorching hot arm. "Yueyue, you have a fever?"

She didn't dare to go home leaving Jiang Yue like this.

Xu Zhinan took a shirt jacket from her wardrobe to drape over her, grabbed a thermos, and helped her out of the dorm.

Fortunately, the school clinic wasn't far from their dorm. On the way, they even ran into a classmate who helped support Jiang Yue to the clinic.

They took her temperature: 38 degrees.

They also drew blood. After waiting for fifteen minutes, the lab results came out: a fever caused by a viral cold.

The classmate who had helped bring Jiang Yue over went back first. Xu Zhinan helped Jiang Yue sit down in a chair, and a doctor soon came to give her an IV drip.

Jiang Yue was feeling even drowsier now, and her nose was completely stuffed up. "Ah Nan, you should go back first. The doctor is here."

"I just told my mom I'm not coming back tonight." Xu Zhinan poured her a capful of warm water. "I'll stay here with you. You can lean on my shoulder and sleep for a while."

Jiang Yue thanked her again. Her throat hurt, so she stopped talking. After drinking the water, she soon fell asleep without realizing it.

The two were about the same height, so Xu Zhinan had to sit up straight for her to lean comfortably on her shoulder.

It was summer break, and most people had already gone home. It was also nighttime, so the school clinic was very quiet, as was the entire campus.

Xu Zhinan took out her phone. Xu Zhenfan had sent her a message, which was a link.

She clicked on it and saw it was the voting page for the preliminary round of the Tattoo Design Contest. The official voting would only start after midnight today; for now, it was just the display phase.

Xu Zhinan scrolled down, looking carefully at each piece one by one.

It was clear that the skill level of the tattoos was very uneven. However, many people had registered for the competition this time, and there were quite a few outstanding artists in each group. The Realism Style group also had several rather exceptional ones.

She then found Lu Xihe's tattoo in the Totem Group. At first glance, it had a coarse, primitive feel, but upon closer inspection, every detail was handled with exquisite precision, possessing a kind of unrestrained beauty.

It was indeed top-tier work.

Xu Zhinan's technique was delicate, a different style from his.

However, through this tattoo work, one could imagine why "Assassin" had been the most well-known local tattoo shop all these years.

After looking through it once, she exited, and Xu Zhenfan sent her another link.

[Brother Zhenfan: Damn, you're about to get famous, sis!]

The tattoo circle isn't large. The more professional artists have a dedicated forum for sharing their tattoos. Although this competition didn't make big waves across the entire internet, it was a hot topic in this forum.

Xu Zhinan usually didn't follow any circles, so this was her first time looking at it.

The post Xu Zhenfan sent was discussing the picture of the galaxy tattoo she had done, which was published on the website.

[Damn, this is pretty awesome!!]

[A rarely seen master of realism???]

[This galaxy is too beautiful, it really looks like it was painted on. Does anyone know which city this Xu Zhinan is a tattoo artist in? If she's close, I want to make an appointment with her.]

[Absolutely incredible!]

[Damn, is this f-ing Xu Zhinan's work???]

[I hear some gossip brewing. Does the person above know her? Spill the tea?]

[Not really. I was also one of the tattoo artists competing today (but I'm not that skilled, just went for fun, so I won't say my name). The model she brought today was crying the whole time during the tattoo session. I thought it was because this Xu Zhinan's technique was bad and she made a grown man cry, but what??? She was actually??? a hidden master???]

[I'm cringing just listening to this. OP, don't tell me you mocked her.]

[The whole place was laughing at her. This girl is stunning, super delicate, just like a doll. She's also well-behaved, with fair, clean skin and no tattoos. She doesn't look like a tattoo artist at all, but as it turns out...]

[A pure-type tattoo artist? Now I'm even more interested!!!]

Xu Zhinan: "..."

Although the thread later went off-topic and started discussing her appearance, Xu Zhinan was still very happy that so many people liked her work.

Jiang Yue's head slid from her shoulder, and she stirred.

Xu Zhinan quickly sat up straight again, allowing her to lean more comfortably.

She had left in a hurry and didn't bring anything with her. The only thing she had to pass the time was her phone. Xu Zhinan opened Weibo—she didn't use to read news from the entertainment section often, and Zhao Qian had even laughed that she was like someone living in the last century.

The show "Here for the Song" was extremely popular this time. A popular satellite TV channel, a popular video app, plus airing during prime time, and the editing was also a bonus—every episode generated a huge amount of buzz.

Today was also the show's open-air fan meeting, held at the same venue as the tattoo competition.

Right now, several related topics were trending.

The school clinic was very quiet; only the rustling of leaves in the wind outside could be heard.

As if guided by some unseen force, Xu Zhinan clicked on the trending topic about Lin Qingye.

The first Weibo post was four photos of him getting out of the car outside the stadium this evening.

In the last photo, he was standing still by the car, his gaze seemingly directed at the camera. His brows were furrowed, his expression a bit cold and irritated, creating a sharp contrast with the other people in the shot who were smiling warmly.

[Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Stank-face Lin Qingye is killing me!!!]

[Lin Qingye's inner monologue: Why am I here? Why do I have to do fan service?]

[Why is this guy so handsome even with a cold face!!!!]

[Hahahahaha I finally understand why Lin Qingye hasn't done anything in the four years since he won the Golden Melody Award.]

[If it were me with this expression, I'd probably just look like a husky... How can brother be fierce and handsome at the same time uwuwuwuwuwu, this is totally my type.]

[Brother, be fierce with me!!!!!!!!!!! (makes masochistic noises)]

[Even though I'm just a casual observer, can I get the original photo? This is too handsome, I want to make it my screen saver!!]

...

The level of discussion on the trending topics was clearly much higher than in the tattoo forum.

Xu Zhinan couldn't read it all, only glancing at the top few popular comments.

The way everyone expressed their liking for Lin Qingye was much more exaggerated and unrestrained than on the old school forum.

Of course, there were also negative comments below, but they were quickly pushed down by fans' likes and positive comments. You couldn't see them unless you scrolled down.

Xu Zhinan clicked on that photo again.

He did seem... quite fierce.

She had rarely seen him with such an expression before.

But the way he looked last time when he came to her shop drunk was also very different from usual.

He probably really dislikes this kind of situation.

So many people clearly liked him, yet he never seemed to care about any of it.

It was the same with her affection back then.

Xu Zhinan exited Weibo and dozed off for a while. Soon, Jiang Yue's IV drip was finished. She woke Jiang Yue up, and the two of them walked back to the dorm along the silent, empty campus road.

Early the next morning, Xu Zhinan got up and walked to the foot of Jiang Yue's bed. "Yueyue, are you feeling better?"

"Much better." Her voice wasn't as nasal as yesterday.

Xu Zhinan stood on her tiptoes and felt her forehead. The fever seemed to have gone down. Only then did she feel relieved. She reminded her to take her medicine after getting up before leaving the dorm for the shop.

Last night's post about her tattoo had caused a small buzz within the circle, and the effect was significant.

Just as she reached the entrance of the tattoo shop, a woman came up to her and asked, "Hello, are you Xu Zhinan?"

"Yes, and you are?"

"Didn't you participate in the Tattoo Design Contest? I saw your shop's address was posted in that thread, so I came over."

Xu Zhinan hadn't clicked on that post again later. She didn't expect someone to have posted her shop's address, which counted as free advertising for her.

She unlocked and opened the door. "Please, come in."

The two chatted for a while about the tattoo design. The customer explained the pattern she wanted, and Xu Zhinan took notes and settled on a general design direction. They exchanged contact information so she could send the finished design for confirmation before scheduling a tattoo appointment.

Just as this customer left, someone else arrived.

The promotional effect of that post was quite impressive, thanks in no small part to Xu Zhinan's eye-catching design.

However, for Realism Style tattoos, the design is of utmost importance. Most people came to make an appointment; only one customer brought a picture directly.

It was a small design, so Xu Zhinan started tattooing right away.

It was evening when she finished. After seeing the customer off, she sat down at the table and started to feel a headache.

Along with it came the same symptoms Jiang Yue had last night: a stuffy nose, headache, and drowsiness.