The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife
Chapter 64. Has been designed

Chapter 64: 64. Has been designed

Shen Qinglan went to the school today to submit her thesis, but another reason was because of Yu Xiaoxuan.

Yesterday evening, Yu Xiaoxuan had called her, saying her throat had gone hoarse and predicted that she would be eliminated in the third round, which made her very upset. Shen Qinglan had tried to comfort her over the phone for a long time, but since she wasn’t someone adept at consoling others, the effect was naturally not so great.

Although Yu Xiaoxuan eventually said she was fine, Shen Qinglan still decided to go and check on her.

Yu Xiaoxuan had cried for a long time on the phone last night, her eyes swollen. To avoid worrying her parents, she had not gone home and was still lying under the covers when Shen Qinglan arrived.

Only Yu Xiaoxuan was in the dormitory, Fang Tong and Wu Qian were nowhere to be seen.

"Xiao Xuan," Shen Qinglan stood by the bed and gently tapped the bed frame.

Yu Xiaoxuan moved under the covers; she had barely slept that night, dozing off only as daybreak approached, and now she was still drowsy.

Shen Qinglan called out again, "I brought you your favorite chocolate, do you want some?"

Yu Xiaoxuan poked her head out from under the covers, "No." Her voice was hoarse and weak.

She half-squinted her eyes as she sat up on the bed, "Qinglan, you’re here."

"Mm," Shen Qinglan glanced at her complexion, which wasn’t very good, but her mood seemed relatively stable, and she let out a slight sigh of relief, "Get up and wash up, I’ll take you out for a meal in a bit."

Yu Xiaoxuan, with an expressionless face, mechanically nodded and climbed out of bed to go into the bathroom.

Shen Qinglan sat in the chair and waited, her gaze deep and thoughtful. Last night, Yu Xiaoxuan had only mentioned over the phone that she was set up and would be eliminated in the third round, but she didn’t explain what exactly happened, just cried incessantly.

Yu Xiaoxuan came out, her eyes swollen like walnuts. She leaned on the table without speaking.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Originally, Shen Qinglan was supposed to accompany Yu Xiaoxuan to the second and third rounds of the competition, but Fu Hengyi had been hospitalized and needed care, so she couldn’t leave, and had not anticipated such an incident.

According to Shengxuan’s process, aside from a few leading roles that had finals, supporting characters like Yu Xiaoxuan only needed to pass the third round of auditions to try out for the role, and if they passed the screen test, that would be sufficient.

Hearing Shen Qinglan’s words, tears welled up in Yu Xiaoxuan’s eyes again.

"Don’t cry," Shen Qinglan commanded coldly.

Yu Xiaoxuan was taken aback by her shout and held back her tears. She spoke with a raspy voice, "I was planning to sing for the third round, but before the competition, I felt really nervous and a bit thirsty, so I drank a cup of water. At first, I didn’t feel uncomfortable, but when it was my turn, I realized my throat was hoarse, and then..."

A contemplative look crossed Shen Qinglan’s face at those words. Clearly, the problem lay with that cup of water. But Yu Xiaoxuan was only competing for the role of a minor character, who would go to such lengths to undermine her?

"Have you offended anyone lately?" Shen Qinglan asked.

Yu Xiaoxuan looked bewildered, "No, I never provoke anyone intentionally. How could I possibly offend someone?"

Shen Qinglan naturally understood Yu Xiaoxuan’s personality. Her question was simply to help narrow down the possibilities.

"Did you drink from your own water bottle or did someone give you the water?"

Yu Xiaoxuan replied, "It was my own water bottle, with fat sea herb my mom had steeped for me."

A suspicion began to form in Shen Qinglan’s mind, "How many people, like you, are competing for the role of this minor character?"

Yu Xiaoxuan pondered, "There are five, including me there are five." As she spoke, Yu Xiaoxuan realized something, "Qinglan, are you suspecting that someone tampered with my water bottle?"

Shen Qinglan nodded, "Considering your nature, it’s unlikely you’ve offended anyone. Competition for interest is the most probable cause."

"But why? It’s just a minor role, not the lead. Why would someone go to such lengths?" Yu Xiaoxuan, who had led a sheltered life, never imagined that someone would harm another for such a trivial benefit.

"You think it’s a minor role, but others may not see it that way. Didn’t you also think this was a good opportunity? If you could successfully play the role in the drama, you could sign a contract with Shengxuan. The role isn’t important, but the contract with Shengxuan is."

Yu Xiaoxuan fell silent; indeed, she had been enticed by Shengxuan’s contract.

"But who wants to harm me?"

"Do you feel anyone holds a deep grudge against you?"

Yu Xiaoxuan shook her head, "Actually, I get along with them all right. We come from different places, but everyone is about the same age and easygoing. Especially one girl from Beijing like me, named Tang Mina. We even went shopping and ate together the day before yesterday."

"What did you say that person’s name was?"

"Tang Mina, what’s wrong?"

Tang Mina, Shen Qinglan remembered, was the girl who came to chat her up and probe for information on the first day of the open auditions.

This girl hadn’t even figured out her identity before coming to suss her out as a competitor, indicating she was extremely opportunistic. Knowing that Yu Xiaoxuan was her competitor, would she remain cheerful in her interactions?

Shen Qinglan was skeptical.

Yu Xiaoxuan, who somewhat understood Shen Qinglan, could tell from her expression what she was thinking, "Qinglan, she wouldn’t do that."

Shen Qinglan didn’t say whether it was possible or not but shared what happened on the day of the auditions with her, "Did she touch your water bottle that day?"

Yu Xiaoxuan fell silent, "She drank from my water that day." And it was after Tang Mina had drunk from it that she did; however, Tang Mina was fine, so Yu Xiaoxuan had never thought that her hoarse throat was because of that water.

"Qinglan, am I very foolish? To be manipulated and not even realize it, I had thought it was because I ate too much spicy food the day before that my throat was on fire and damaged."

Her voice was slightly choked up; she thought she’d made a new friend only to have encountered a femme fatale.

Shen Qinglan patted her shoulder, "Don’t be upset yet. Let’s go to the hospital first to see how your throat is."

Yu Xiaoxuan, reminded by Shen Qinglan, obviously recalled the incident and became agitated, "Qinglan, you don’t think there will be something wrong with my throat, do you?"

Shen Qinglan reassured her, "Don’t worry, it’ll be fine."

Yu Xiaoxuan changed her clothes and, accompanied by Shen Qinglan, went to the hospital for a check-up. Fortunately, although Tang Mina was malicious in her thoughts, she hadn’t been extreme in her actions, and Yu Xiaoxuan’s throat was fine; she just needed to take medicine for a few days.

Yu Xiaoxuan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Xiao Xuan, what do you plan to do about this situation?"

Yu Xiaoxuan looked bewildered, "I don’t know. I don’t want to let her off, but I don’t have evidence to prove that Tang Mina set me up. Even if I tell someone, no one would believe me."