Chapter 72: Respect and Blessings Part 1

“Can’t you hurry up?”

Yan Muyu was already standing at the stairwell, but Qiu Chao still hadn’t emerged, so she couldn’t help urging her along.

Qiu Chao said, “What’s the rush? It’s past eleven already.”

Yan Muyu had specifically checked the live stream on her phone—the viewers had died down, and there wasn’t a peep from downstairs at this hour.

But she didn’t quite get why releasing a firefly called for such precautions, as if they were sneaking off for a midnight tryst.

A female celebrity heading out late at night, and she still had to throw on a long-sleeved shirt.

Just moments ago in the stream, Qiu Chao had sweetly asked if the mosquito bites on Yan Muyu itched. Now it was her turn to gear up like she was heading into battle.

Even if Qiu Chao came from humble roots and hated going from luxury back to frugality, Yan Muyu urged her once more. Finally, Qiu Chao grabbed the bug spray and headed out.

Moonlight filtered down through the courtyard skylight, draping the space in deep blue. Yan Muyu stood bored at the stairwell, yawning.

Exhausted from a full day of travel, she was dead tired. But after getting the truth about Qiu Chao’s first love, Qiu Chao had lingered in her arms, chattering on about the past—Yan Muyu had barely gotten a word in edgewise.

Qiu Chao was already beautiful, with a great figure and a voice that dripped honey.

She had the goods to top the “dream girl” lists. Even before Yan Muyu realized her own feelings for Qiu Chao, she hadn’t denied the woman’s obvious physical charms.

Now that everything was out in the open—including her decision to give it a shot and try dating—there was no reason to play coy. Yan Muyu still copped her feels where she could.

Qiu Chao preferred taking the lead, though—like grabbing Yan Muyu’s hand to massage her all over. If the soundproofing weren’t so iffy, she might’ve gotten the stray cats outside yowling in heat.

After an eternity, Qiu Chao finally shut the door. She tugged at Yan Muyu’s sleeve. “Ready to go?”

Yan Muyu had thrown on an outer layer too. The firefly was still alive, blinking away in the plastic bottle that she tucked into her pocket.

The two of them crept downstairs, thinking they were silent as ghosts.

They never expected Liu Song to be sitting wide awake in the hall in the dead of night.

She’d just finished texting Li Xi—laid everything out in the open, then opened up even more to clear the air.

To show her sincerity, Liu Song had racked her brains. But Li Xi wasn’t as uptight as she’d feared. Instead, Li Xi had turned the tables: “Did Xi Xi really give you a straight answer?”

Li Xi opposed whatever Yan Muyu thought, and though there was a hint of personal grudge, her question was earnest and cut right to the heart.

It left Liu Song tossing and turning, on the verge of tears just looking at Xi Xi.

The hall was pitch-black, lit only by the moonlight spilling from the courtyard.

Liu Song, shrouded in shadows, let out a sigh that startled Qiu Chao to her bones. She flung her arms around Yan Muyu.

“Fuck!” Yan Muyu yelped. Liu Song jumped too and shot to her feet.

The bench flipped over with a crash that echoed through the silent night. Pei Wan cracked her door open to peer out—her room light was on, so it seemed the sisters weren’t asleep either.

It was nearly midnight.

Yan Muyu plopped down on a bench in exasperation, prodding the group of women to get a move on.

Qiu Chao sat beside her, propping her chin as she watched Liu Song lace her shoes.

Qiu Chao asked, “Why is this happening?”

Yan Muyu replied, “How should I know?”

Ding Yingxue chimed in, “I wanna see the fireflies too! It’s so cool—I can’t stand it. Streaming every day isn’t as bad as I thought, but it’s still exhausting.”

Liu Song stayed quiet. She glanced at the room—Xi Xi had her earplugs in and had taken melatonin before bed. Even the bench clatter hadn’t woken her.

Yan Muyu eyed Liu Song. “If you wanna wake Sister Xi, go for it.”

Liu Song shook her head. “Sister Xi hasn’t been sleeping well lately. I won’t bother her.”

Yan Muyu nodded and tugged Qiu Chao along as they headed out first.

Ding Yingxue let out an “Ooh” from behind and nudged Liu Song’s hand. “Are they… you know?”

Even without lights, the vibe between those two was leagues beyond before—practically shouting that something was up.

Not to mention Qiu Chao, who was far from her goddess image now, reluctantly taking the plastic bottle from Yan Muyu’s hand.

No one knew what Yan Muyu whispered, but Qiu Chao burst into laughter.

From behind, watching them step over the threshold together felt like they’d finally cleared that first hurdle from day one of the show.

Under the moonlight, their hand-in-hand intimacy made Liu Song green with envy.

Unfortunately, Yan Muyu wasn’t as carefree as Liu Song imagined. She fumbled with the door, muttering, “Why is this thing so heavy?”

Qiu Chao stood by, teasing, “Gone soft already, Little Yan?”

Yan Muyu shot back, “No helping it. Help yourself from now on.”

Qiu Chao pouted. “Hate you.”

This kind of flirting would’ve seemed juvenile to the old Yan Muyu, but now it was kinda fun.

Both cracked up laughing—right as they pushed the door open to find Qiu Siyuan standing in the courtyard.

Qiu Siyuan’s hair practically glowed like the moonlight, giving Yan Muyu a flash of panic like getting caught skipping class by the homeroom teacher.

The thing was, Qiu Siyuan had skipped with her back in the day.

Yan Muyu said, “What’re you doing out here in the middle of the night? You scared the hell outta me.”

Qiu Siyuan replied, “What about you two?”

She had a cigarette pinched between her fingers, no staff around. Yan Muyu spotted a pile of paper on the stone table in the yard—this woman was folding paper stars at this hour.

A fellow chronic insomniac.

Yan Muyu said, “Escaping the live stream to release a firefly.”

Her tone carried a grin, no fear of being busted. She sauntered over and slung an arm around Qiu Siyuan’s shoulders. “Coming? Firefly release.”

Qiu Siyuan asked, “You and Qiu Chao are official now?”

Yan Muyu replied, “You’ve been totally bought off, huh?”

She didn’t answer outright, but her eyes and the curve of her brows screamed yes to Qiu Siyuan’s question.

Exactly like that.

But it felt different to Qiu Siyuan. The old Yan Muyu was a slacker in love, tossing “I like you” around like candy.

Now she seemed cautious, the kind of careful that weighed someone for the long haul. Qiu Siyuan smiled without a word, making Yan Muyu’s skin crawl.

Yan Muyu said, “Quit grinning—it’s creepy. You in or not?”

Qiu Siyuan replied, “Yeah. Everyone else too?”

The others piled out, shrinking like quails at the sight of Qiu Siyuan.

She was easygoing, sure, but her star power made her seem distant lately—carrying an unspoken authority.

Liu Song and Ding Yingxue huddled together like shivering little critters taking comfort in numbers. Qiu Chao thought it was hilarious.

Pei Wan hadn’t planned to join, but her love for fireflies must’ve won out—she came anyway.

Yan Muyu said, “We’re going. Got a seven-seater? Lend me one.”

Casual as ordering takeout, she prompted. Qiu Siyuan sighed. “Yeah.”

The night-shift crew gave their boss some side-eye for leading the guests on a midnight jaunt.

They even reminded everyone to stay safe as they left.

Yan Muyu said, “It isn’t far.”

Qiu Siyuan rode shotgun, a bit sheepish. “This isn’t really my seat, is it?”

Yan Muyu replied, “Then you drive. I’ll take shotgun.”

Liu Song, seated next to Qiu Chao, glanced her way.

Qiu Siyuan asked, “You two going public?”

She still clutched her thermos. Yan Muyu noticed she always seemed to buy the same model—the same one from their school days.

Yan Muyu said, “Why make a big show of it?”

Qiu Siyuan turned to Qiu Chao. “Not going public?”

Qiu Chao said, pitifully, “Maybe she’ll dump me in four months?”

Yan Muyu, behind the wheel, didn’t budge. “Some people want my forever.”

Liu Song noticed Yan Muyu’s earlier awkwardness had vanished—like she’d figured something out—making her aura all the more captivating.

Qiu Chao didn’t respond, just smiled quietly, but it radiated her joy.

The spot wasn’t far. Yan Muyu parked off to the mountainside and set out a warning sign, wary of any late-night traffic.

Fireflies twinkled in the ravine even from the road. Ding Yingxue gasped “Wow!” and plunged right in.

Yan Muyu warned, “Watch your step—there’s water down there, and maybe snakes. Use your phone flashlights.”

Qiu Chao hopped out and released the firefly.

Qiu Siyuan and Yan Muyu stood together, watching each other pull out cameras.

Qiu Siyuan asked, “Feeling better?”

Yan Muyu said, “I was never sick.”

Qiu Siyuan pressed, “That bottleneck of yours? Qiu Chao’s ‘poison’ fixed it?”

Though they’d been out of touch for a stretch, they still chatted occasionally. Yan Muyu couldn’t keep secrets, especially venting work woes to Qiu Siyuan.

Yan Muyu hummed thoughtfully. “Dunno.”

Her gaze drifted to Qiu Chao, standing in the ravine chatting with Pei Wan. Under the gentle moonlight, she’d have once admired any beautiful woman equally.

Now her eyes locked on Qiu Chao alone, stirring all her desires—urging her to delve deeper into the real Qiu Chao.

The puzzle.

It was the puzzle Yan Muyu hadn’t fully solved yet.

Her usual sharp instincts always failed with Qiu Chao.

Because Qiu Chao had buried her past—that pivotal first love—creating Yan Muyu’s unbreakable bottleneck.

In that moment, Yan Muyu suddenly wasn’t in a hurry. She said, “Maybe I’ll make a comeback soon.”

Qiu Siyuan seemed to remember something. “Have you finished editing the photos you took for Boss Hong?”

Yan Muyu replied, “Not yet. I’ll send them over when they’re done.”

Qiu Siyuan said, “Then at wrap-up, during the Fish Lantern Festival, take a few more shots.”

Yan Muyu asked, “Am I not getting paid? Why do I have to work multiple gigs?”

Qiu Siyuan laughed. “A boss working for herself—that’s not work; that’s building an empire.”

The two of them stood together, chatting in perfect harmony.

But Yan Muyu still remembered how Qiu Siyuan had teamed up with Qiu Chao to keep things from her. She asked Qiu Siyuan, “I know about the first love thing now. So what happened after that…?”

Yan Muyu hesitated over her words. “…you reconnected?”

Qiu Siyuan teased, “Jealous?”

Yan Muyu said, “Not jealous. It’s not like I don’t know who you really have a thing for.”

Qiu Siyuan shrugged. “Do you remember that street outside our high school? We used to go there all the time for meals off-campus.”

Yan Muyu asked, “What does that have to do with Qiu Chao?”

Earlier, Qiu Chao had told her that she’d worked at a KTV, and after night shifts, she picked up other side gigs—ones that included meals.

Given Qiu Chao’s spending habits back then, she probably wouldn’t have eaten out casually.

Those were parts of life Yan Muyu had never experienced.

She and Qiu Chao had so little in common, starting from such different places. Even if their paths might eventually converge in the same realm, the chances of them actually crossing were slim.

But fate was unpredictable like that.

It snipped one thread short and spliced on a new one—one that seemed mismatched at first glance, yet felt like it carried some stubborn inevitability.

If Qiu Chao had ever given up, even once, none of this would exist today.

Qiu Siyuan continued, “Weren’t you with Wen Miao back then? Though she said you two weren’t really… involved.”

Mentioning Wen Miao made Qiu Siyuan a bit helpless.

She was probably the first outright player Qiu Siyuan had encountered in her youth—a pure femme fatale. If you weighed it out, Yan Muyu’s flirtations didn’t even amount to a tenth of Wen Miao’s.

This senior sister owned her ruthlessness so transparently that even her betrayed partners ended up thinking it made sense.