Chapter 39: An Incredibly Rare Purity

“Qin Yu just went down to the dining room. Do you need her for something?” Feng Qiqi pointed toward the dining area, her expression alight with curiosity.

Without answering, Lin Ziyao simply offered a word of thanks and hurried off in the direction Feng Qiqi had indicated.

She left the two women staring at each other in confusion. Her strange behavior had piqued their interest, and after a shared glance, Feng Qiqi and Qian Fang reached a silent consensus.

They had to see what was going on.

And so, they quietly trailed behind Lin Ziyao. As they neared the dining room, they heard Qin Yu’s distinct voice.

“Why are you down here?”

They stopped, hiding just outside the entrance to eavesdrop on the conversation, occasionally stealing curious glances inside.

Lin Ziyao, having been spotted by Qin Yu, sat down right beside her. She watched the timer on her mission list begin its countdown, finally understanding the scope of her task.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

It was the only excuse she could come up with. If she stayed in bed, she would surely fail the system’s mission.

Hearing this, Qin Yu sighed and stood up, gathering the empty plates and utensils from her meal.

“Where are you going?”

“To wash the dishes.”

Qin Yu’s flat reply prompted Lin Ziyao to rise as well. She shadowed Qin Yu like a little chick, following wherever she went.

“Is this how they usually interact?” Qian Fang, who hadn’t seen them together much, turned to Feng Qiqi for answers.

Feng Qiqi offered an explanation based on Lin Ziyao’s recent state. “Not usually. It’s probably a kind of dependency that comes with being sick.”

Qian Fang watched the scene unfold, nodding thoughtfully at Feng Qiqi’s words.

“Let’s go. Back to the room.”

After washing the dishes and drying her hands on a clean cloth, Qin Yu reached out and took Lin Ziyao’s hand, intending to lead her back upstairs.

“G-Go back to the room? For what?”

At the mention of the room, Lin Ziyao’s expression tensed, and her words came out in a stutter.

“If I don’t go back, are you just going to follow me around all afternoon?” Qin Yu asked, her gaze calm. She had seen through this little act from the start.

“You’re a patient. You need to rest properly, not wander around.” she continued, her tone admonishing.

Exposed, Lin Ziyao lowered her head and meekly allowed Qin Yu to lead her by the hand. “I… I know,” she mumbled.

‘Oh no, they’re coming out!’

Outside the door, Qian Fang and Feng Qiqi scrambled to find a hiding spot. Feng Qiqi, knowing the layout, pulled Qian Fang into a nearby storage room.

“What is it, Qin Yu?”

Walking out with Lin Ziyao’s hand in hers, Qin Yu paused, a pensive look on her face as she scanned the empty hallway. She only snapped out of it when Lin Ziyao spoke.

Shaking her head, she dismissed the feeling as her imagination. “It’s nothing. Let’s go back to the room.”

Once they were gone, the storage room door creaked open, and Feng Qiqi’s head poked out. She breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the empty corridor.

“By the way, do we really need to hide like this?” Qian Fang asked, puzzled.

The question made Feng Qiqi freeze. Only then did it dawn on them both.

Why were they hiding?

The only reason they could muster was that eavesdropping was wrong.

Meanwhile, Lin Ziyao returned to the room with Qin Yu, and the two once again lay down on the same bed, a sleeping arrangement that had become strangely familiar.

The afternoon passed quickly. When Lin Ziyao next awoke, it was already evening.

After half a day of rest, her body had finally regained some strength. Now, four people were gathered in their room: Qian Fang the reporter, Jiang Yi the doctor, and Qin Yu.

“Ziyao, are you feeling any better now?”

Notebook in hand, Qian Fang prepared to take notes. Qin Yu had informed her just a moment ago that the interview could proceed. When she arrived, she was the last one they were waiting for.

Lin Ziyao nodded in response. “Much better, thank you. Reporter Qian, are there any more questions you wanted to ask?”

Qian Fang glanced at Qin Yu, who was sitting beside Lin Ziyao, a hesitant look on her face. She was unsure if she should bring up certain topics in front of her.

Qin Yu didn’t miss the reporter’s expression and took the initiative to stand up. “If my presence is inconvenient, I can step out for a moment.”

“Wait!” Lin Ziyao grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving. She then turned to Qian Fang and said, “We’re all friends here. Please, Reporter Qian, just speak freely.”

Qin Yu could feel the warmth from the hand holding hers.

Since Lin Ziyao had consented, Qian Fang took a deep breath to compose herself. “The song ‘Invisible Wings’… did you write it based on your own experiences?”

That was her first question.

“Since Dr. Jiang is your friend, I imagine you already know quite a bit about my family situation, don’t you, Reporter Qian?” Lin Ziyao replied with a calm smile.

To this, Qian Fang nodded in acknowledgment.

Listening from the side, Qin Yu recalled Director Chen once mentioning Lin Ziyao’s family troubles, and she began to pay closer attention to their conversation.

“Actually, the song itself wasn’t written about my personal experiences,” Lin Ziyao explained. “It’s more about the belief that no matter what setbacks or difficulties you face, you can overcome them if you have faith in yourself.”

The questions Qian Fang had for Qin Yu were few; most of the interview focused on Lin Ziyao. Qin Yu sat beside her like a devoted listener, quietly taking in her answers and learning a few things herself.

“That’s all my questions. I just want to confirm one last thing, Ziyao. Are you sure you don’t want your family situation published in the interview?”

During their conversation, Lin Ziyao had explicitly stated her wish to keep her family’s circumstances private.

This had caught Qian Fang off guard. Fortunately, the material from this follow-up interview was enough to write a decent piece if she worked through the night, but she wanted to try one last time.

She truly wanted to help this stubborn young woman.

Lin Ziyao knew the offer came from a place of kindness, but she still shook her head, refusing.

“If the songs I release are liked by the audience, that’s already more than I could ask for. I don’t want listeners to see me through a filter before they even hear the music. I don’t want them to think I’m selling a tragic story. I want these songs to earn people’s admiration on their own merit.”

This was a decision she had made the moment she decided to use the music from her past life. No matter what, she wanted these classic songs from Earth to be judged fairly.

“I’m being foolish, aren’t I?”

Standing at the villa’s entrance after seeing off Qian Fang and Jiang Yi, Lin Ziyao turned to Qin Yu and asked.

“No. I think that kind of purity is incredibly rare.”

With that, Qin Yu took her hand, and together they walked back into the villa.