An ambulance sped through the night, its siren wailing.
The news of Grandma Jiang’s hospitalization soon appeared on the screens of three young people.
At that moment, Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao were being pinned down by their advisor in a corner of the campus, filming an assignment alongside their classmates.
They saw the message and were filled with anxiety, but before they could reply, the advisor called them back. In short, they couldn’t get away.
On the other side of the Earth, Jiang Li was resting, so she immediately opened a video call and contacted Grandma Jiang.
“Don’t listen to their nonsense! I’m in good health. I should be discharged tomorrow.”
Grandma Jiang’s usually rosy face was slightly pale, but her voice was as loud as thunder, just as spirited as always—completely unlike someone who had just been in the emergency room.
“Grandma…”
Jiang Li’s voice softened. She had already heard from her parents that Grandma’s illness was a myocardial infarction.
Seeing Jiang Li’s expression, Grandma Jiang waved her hand generously, as if to prove she was really fine. “Ah, why are you making that sad face?” Then she took the banana handed over by Mother Jiang, took a bite, and changed the subject. “Instead, tell me—how are things with that boy from the Xie family? You’re not bullying him, are you?”
“Huh?”
Jiang Li was slightly taken aback; the topic had changed too quickly for her to react. She pondered briefly, recalling that after she had actively pushed Zhuran-ge down, their lover relationship had been officially confirmed. In recent days, they often video-called, and Zhuran-ge had even come to her school during the holiday. Overall, things were going very smoothly.
She made a fist and coughed twice, then nodded slightly at Grandma Jiang on the screen, her cheeks flushing lightly. “Well… this year for Lunar New Year, Grandma will know.”
With that, she smiled and added, “I’ll give you a big surprise.”
Her brother and Sister Qiuyu’s wedding was after the New Year, plus her own big surprise—this New Year was going to be busy!
“Good! Very good, good!”
Grandma Jiang narrowed her eyes, completely satisfied. Although Jiang Li’s answer wasn’t direct, to Grandma, it was essentially the same as saying, “Yes, we can get a marriage certificate anytime.” For an elder, nothing is happier than seeing the younger generation settle down and build their own harbor of happiness.
After a few more words, Jiang Li ended the video call and let her grandma rest. Then she reported to the two busy people that Grandma Jiang’s condition seemed okay, but she was clearly forcing herself to say she was fine.
However, that message disappeared into the void. Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao were evidently still busy filming.
“Zhuran-ge should be busy too, right?” Jiang Li thought to herself.
She leaned back against the cushion, her eyes drooping as she looked at the chat page with Xie Zhuran, which also had no response. Her fingertip hovered over the screen for a long time. Thinking about Grandma Jiang’s situation, she took a deep breath and slowly edited a new message. After deleting and rewriting several times, she finally sent only seven characters.
Thus, when Xie Zhuran finished his work, he saw this message:
“Ding ding ding, ding ding ding ding!”
“?”
Xie Zhuran’s brain took two seconds to process. To be honest, he was a bit confused. Could A Li’s “ding ding ding” be the prelude to some song? If it were anyone else, he might suspect they were playing a meme, but this was Jiang Li—that was absolutely impossible.
He narrowed his eyes and eventually compromised, deciding it was some kind of Morse code. He quickly sought outside help.
Song Qiuyu was originally relieved by Jiang Li’s reply, but she and Jiang Xiao were still preparing to call Grandma Jiang to check on her. Suddenly, her roommate called her over with a “Lao Song, help!” Both of them were a bit stunned for a moment.
“Lao Song, what do you think?”
Xie Zhuran placed all his hope on this most reliable brother.
But since they still had things to do on their end, he quickly added, “Lao Jiang, let me borrow Lao Song for a bit. I’ll return her soon!”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly, nodded, said a few words to Song Qiuyu, then took his phone and moved aside to contact his grandmother.
“Hmm…”
Song Qiuyu watched Jiang Xiao video-calling with Grandma Jiang, frowned, and considered Grandma Jiang’s condition and Jiang Li’s personality. Her beautiful almond eyes gradually lit up, and the corners of her mouth curled up.
“Could it be that because of Grandma Jiang’s situation, she wanted to talk to you but was afraid of disturbing you, so she sent that?”
Hearing this, Xie Zhuran was stunned for a moment, then realized with a sudden clarity and nodded. He immediately sent Jiang Li a “Cat Hug” sticker.
Jiang Li almost instantly replied with a “Cat Crying” sticker.
Seeing this reply, not only Xie Zhuran was surprised, but Song Qiuyu was too. Thinking about how serious Jiang Li was in person, and now she sent such a cute sticker, both felt a sense of unreality.
But it was precisely this sense of unreality that made them more certain of their guess. Jiang Li was most likely too embarrassed to say it directly, so she just sent a secret code for Xie Zhuran to figure out.
“Lao Song, what’s the next step?”
Xie Zhuran steadied his heart, clenched his phone, and said with utmost caution.
After all, this was his first relationship. Even though it was a three-year ambiguity period that finally bore fruit, was it really over now that they were officially dating? Could he relax?
No, this was probably just the beginning. A single misstep could lead to a breakup.
Thinking this, he recalled that over the past three years, Lin An and Xia Qi, that couple, had made a few small quarrels. Although they always made up, it was as if they had never fought. He gained many insights—perhaps marriage was also not the endpoint, because you could marry and also divorce.
But then again, compared to the noisy couple Lin An and Xia Qi, Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao’s relationship was too stable.
Xie Zhuran frowned. He wanted a stable relationship like Lao Song and Lao Jiang’s.
“Let me think…”
Song Qiuyu looked at Jiang Li’s reply, her eyes darting.
“How about getting straight to the point? Say something like, ‘I’ve heard about Grandma Jiang’s situation. Don’t worry too much; Grandma Jiang will be fine!'”
“Yeah!”
Xie Zhuran immediately followed her advice.
Seeing Xie Zhuran’s serious expression, how he would immediately delete and re-edit if he typed a wrong word, Song Qiuyu gave a helpless smile at the corner of her mouth.
This was too green. In front of Jiang Li, he was definitely the steady and reliable uncle type. But now, why was he so nervous sending a text message? And it wasn’t just this once.
Recalling how she herself was when she first confirmed her relationship with Jiang Xiao, she let out a soft sigh—at least she wasn’t as exaggerated as them.
Feeling slightly guilty, she brushed her side hair and sneakily glanced at Jiang Xiao twice. Jiang Xiao was probably very worried about Grandma Jiang’s condition, but unfortunately, they were in South Wind City and would be busy filming for the next half month or so. Jiang Li was also busy with school; she couldn’t go back either. Hopefully, Grandma Jiang would be okay.
After giving a few more pointers to Xie Zhuran, Song Qiuyu quickly walked over to Jiang Xiao.
Then, together they confirmed Grandma Jiang’s condition. After exchanging pleasantries, they ended the video call with Grandma Jiang and prepared to say goodbye to the other classmates and the advisor before returning to the rental apartment.
However, the advisor suddenly called them back.
“I have a good opportunity for you two. You should know Director Zhu Minghai. He was in charge of this year’s box-office champion film Borrow Sword. He’s planning to film a Jin Yong martial arts movie next spring. I recommended the two of you to him. Do you have time during this short-term holiday? If you do, you can go for an audition.”
“By the way, this movie has a high chance of being a hit. It’s a rare opportunity. If you really have the time, you must seize it.”
“After you go back, also tell Xie Zhuran and Lin An. If they have time, they can try out too.”
The advisor’s network surprised Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao—even astounded them.
Over the past three years, they had basically only been active in the TV drama circle, occasionally taking short web dramas to get the audience familiar with their faces. They also made time to continue working on their team’s short videos. So far, they hadn’t formally accessed any film resources.
In theory, they absolutely couldn’t miss this opportunity.
Xie Zhuran and Lin An would surely feel the same.
They weren’t hoping to become famous overnight with just one movie. What they needed most now was experience, learning, and building popularity. Acting in films was just one pathway; their ultimate goal was to become great directors.
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