It was already noon by the time Yan Muyu drove back.
The sun blazed even hotter than it had on the way down. The small truck’s cargo area had no air conditioning, so the camerawoman and assistant Xing Wen in the back had the windows wide open—yet they still couldn’t escape the sweltering mountain breeze laced with heat.
Even Yan Muyu was starting to crack.
She would have loved to turn on the AC, but the Delivery Center had forbidden it, and the live stream viewers had heard every word.
The uphill winding mountain road took far longer than the descent. In the footage, Yan Muyu gripped the steering wheel tightly, her brows furrowing as the truck looped around curve after curve. Sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled down unchecked—she didn’t even have a moment to wipe it away.
【This shot’s a little spicy. Did they slow down on purpose? Live streams are getting way too advanced these days.】
【Yan Muyu looks seriously intimidating when she’s not smiling.】
【Gotta hand it to Director Qiu’s team’s camera work—feels more immersive than Whale Entertainment’s own live streams.】
【The last show had decent results, but their live interaction strategy was still off…】
【Maybe it’s just that all the guests in this one are total knockouts.】
【Even Young Boss Yan, our closest thing to a regular person, is no slouch in the looks department!!】
【I wonder if she’s that fierce in those situations too…】
【Girls watching the stream, tone it down! You’ll get muted!!】
Yan Muyu grew increasingly irritated by the muggy weather. “At this rate, I’m gonna pass out from the heat before I even make it back this afternoon.”
Xing Wen was nearing despair herself. She’d been dabbing at her sweat with tissues nonstop and finally understood why drivers always carried damp towels—it was for cooling off.
Perhaps it was the downhill run that had emboldened Yan Muyu, or maybe she just couldn’t take the heat anymore. Either way, under the viewers’ stunned gazes and the camera’s frantic shaking, she shook off her earlier caution. Except for slowing at turns, she drove with growing confidence, arriving back at the brick factory as the first of the cargo haulers.
The boss: …
The boss: “Didn’t peg you for such a pro driver.”
Yan Muyu wiped her face with a tissue, flashing a brilliant grin full of white teeth. “You bet.”
【Even the boss is speechless.】
【Young Boss Yan… she’s badass.】
【Is she rushing to see Sister Qiu?】
【Nah, she looks starved.】
The boss: “Next batch of bricks ships out at one—be here on time.”
The boss was a middle-aged woman, a bit plump.
The production team had smoothed everything over before official filming began. These mountain locals probably didn’t care much about celebrities anyway, and ones without fame barely registered as stars to them. Still, it was clear Yan Muyu came from money.
The boss had assumed she was a lousy driver at first, but seeing her handle the trip so smoothly, she added, “Stick around for lunch?”
【Why though!!】
【Lmao, same treatment as Liu Song…】
【Just polite small talk, probably.】
Yan Muyu: “Nah, I’ve gotta head back to eat.”
With that, she hopped on her bike. Her feet pumped the pedals with a clatter, one long leg pushing off the ground before the other hit the pedal, and she was off.
The Embroidery Workshop had wrapped up early—the village women needed to go home and cook.
When Yan Muyu arrived, Qiu Chao was propped up on her chin, gazing idly out the window.
In the footage, the woman’s stray hairs fluttered in the breeze, her back view alone utterly captivating. And her eyes held a hint of anticipation, inexplicably evoking the image of a poetic maiden awaiting her lover.
The summer sun stretched long in the sky, cicadas droning endlessly outside, massive clouds like scoops of fresh ice cream.
Qiu Chao stared aimlessly out the window—the same road Yan Muyu had taken that morning after dropping her off.
If she returned, it’d surely be via that route.
Qiu Chao clutched the hair ribbon she’d embroidered that morning, the wave pattern on top.
Her bag sat on the table too. Viewers watched as she stuffed the ribbon inside, then pulled out a mirror to touch up her makeup.
Beautiful people made even mundane tasks a delight to watch.
Especially scenes like this, rarely glimpsed.
Compared to other internationally acclaimed actresses, Qiu Chao’s personal life was always rife with rumors, yet she’d never appeared on a variety show showcasing her daily routine.
Female stars lived chaotic lives, perpetually jet-lagged in nanny vans, their glamour reserved solely for the cameras.
Qiu Chao wasn’t one for tidying up. That morning, even if Yan Muyu had dragged her out of bed, she still would have made it.
Qiu Chao, though? Total slacker.
【Does she even need touch-up? Sister Qiu looks radiant no matter what.】
【No way it’s for Yan Muyu, right? Zapped by my own imagination.】
【But this shot is gorgeous…】
It wasn’t long before Yan Muyu arrived, pedaling her bike from the far side of the hill.
She hadn’t shown much of her face—probably to block the sun.
Yet the sliver of skin visible was strikingly pale, as if she never tanned.
The baseball cap’s brim stuck out at an odd angle over Yan Muyu’s wild hair. It was downhill, wind whipping hard enough to nearly blow the hat off.
Yan Muyu gripped the handlebar with one hand and pinned down the brim with the other, glancing toward the workshop.
Not keen on riding right in, she simply called out Qiu Chao’s name.
Qiu Chao spotted her too. It was so sudden that she hadn’t managed to compose her eager anticipation. She hastily shoved the cushion and lipstick from the table into her bag and dashed out the door.
Qiu Chao wore a sleeveless top with wide-leg tie-dye pants below.
Her pink cover-up was the kind many thought too youthful for a thirty-year-old.
Yet it perfectly matched her current burst of girlish excitement.
Amid the thumping of her feet on the wooden steps, the close-up caught her crunching a dry twig—the sharp snap echoing for the audience like the thrill of a heartbeat, fading quietly after.
It became the golden embroidery on Qiu Chao’s wind-tossed pink cover-up.
This guest-brought outfit was pricey, last year’s latest from a major brand. Many had mocked it as tackily authentic, like a $1.99 carpet remnant nobody wanted.
In this moment, though, it was like a pink cloud. Everyone watched as Qiu Chao bolted from the stilt house, down a dozen meters of rutted mountain path, breathless, straight to Yan Muyu.
Yan Muyu let out an “Oh”: “No need to rush like that, right?”
Qiu Chao was sweating buckets too, but her perfume lingered strong.
The summer mountain air carried scents of grass and trees, now mingled with Qiu Chao’s floral base notes stretching into the distance—like summer twisting into spring. Sweat still rolled down with each blink.
Yan Muyu fished tissues from her pocket and handed them over. “Wipe off that sweat.”
It seemed casual, hardly solicitous. She just had a soft spot for beauties; with anyone else, Yan Muyu’s tone might have been even warmer.
Qiu Chao took them. Yan Muyu eyed the increasingly brutal sun. “Didn’t you bring an umbrella? Running over without shade?”
Her tone sharpened a bit: “Wouldn’t want our big star getting tanned.”
【These two.】
【Young Boss Yan, remember you’re Sister Qiu’s manager!】
Qiu Chao shook her head. “Umbrella would’ve made it hard for you to bike.”
Yan Muyu hummed. “Hop on. We’ll swing by Sister Xi’s first to grab the van—Pei Wan’s already back cooking.”
They didn’t chat much, but Qiu Chao wrapped her arms around Yan Muyu’s waist all the same, and she made no move to pull away.
Maybe it was the bumpy detour path, or the downhill catching cooler peak breezes.
Xi Xi’s cow-herding spot was near Ding Yingxue’s, both by a valley stream.
Towering mountains lined both banks, the drone shots yielding a string of praises for the stunning scenery.
But Director Qiu Siyuan’s variety shows were never that straightforward.
When Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao arrived, Xi Xi was scooping cow dung.
Yan Muyu parked the bike aside and glanced at the elegant woman still refusing to pitch in from afar. She let out a “Uh.”
Qiu Chao hadn’t expected it either. Standing side by side now—one tall, one short—they formed a visibly shocked tableau.
【This is brutal, brutal! Honestly, I never thought this show would go this far.】
【Fam, it’s already trending.】
【Production team’s playing 4D chess—this variety doesn’t need paid trends; it’s so wild, everyone’s clicking in.】
【Why make beauties shovel manure!!】
【Wondering if they skipped calling Xi Xi this morning on purpose—Liu Song shoveling didn’t hit like this.】
【Already stressing about Xi Xi’s civilian ex’s fans coming to mock…】
【They’re mocking… but they can’t compete with Liu Song’s fans…】
Yan Muyu let out a “Whoa”: “Does Liu Song know?”
Even on a first meeting, it didn’t stop Yan Muyu from sensing something unusual between Liu Song and Xi Xi.
She was a genuine lesbian, after all—worldly enough to know the score. Xi Xi was notoriously straight, but Liu Song was different.
The younger woman had a face that appealed to women, especially older ones.
Put plainly, she sparked pure protective affection, nothing carnal—just an urge to dote, no further thoughts.
Qiu Chao: “She probably hasn’t had time to find out. If she did, she’d…”
She wasn’t sure how to put it, pausing. “Wail and rush over to help Xi Xi?”
【You two gossips chitchatting heartlessly.】
【Ding Yingxue’s helping out…】
【I’m awful, but I wanna see Young Boss Yan shovel dung.】
【I see you all saying you want Young Boss Yan to pick you up!】
Yan Muyu didn’t disturb Xi Xi. Instead, she rode off on the three-wheeler with Qiu Chao.
But Qiu Chao had no intention of sitting in the cargo bed. She hopped right up front instead, blinking at Yan Muyu. “Doesn’t it fit just fine?”
Yan Muyu was the slender type at first glance. Even though her frame was broader than Qiu Chao’s, she wasn’t some muscle-bound powerhouse.
But Qiu Chao knew this woman had beautifully defined muscles, and even her breathing had an especially sensual rhythm.
Just like now—even with her jacket on, in Qiu Chao’s eyes, it was as good as if she were stripped bare.
Yan Muyu said, “That’s true, but what about turns?”
The driver’s seat could easily accommodate two people. Yan Muyu had even seen a family of three riding like that on the road, with the kid sandwiched in the middle. She’d been overtaken on her bike by one such family, and the child had giggled the whole time.
Yan Muyu wore a hat, its brim casting shadows across her face, but it didn’t stop Qiu Chao from meeting her gaze.
She even naturally pushed up the brim of Yan Muyu’s hat, staring boldly into her eyes. “Aren’t you a great driver? You won’t hurt me, right?”
The words were loaded with double meaning, delivered in a drawn-out, teasing drawl—like seduction, or perhaps a hint.
Xing Wen and Xia Yuanyuan, who was just off-camera, exchanged a glance—one looking down, the other up—and both felt utterly defeated.
【What?! Is Sister Qiu driving?!】
【That line is so… I’m suddenly all hot and bothered…】
【Beware the straight girl trap!】
【Beware the sister-in-law scam!】
Their glance— one averted, the other raised—had a touch of utter disregard for their surroundings.
The next second, Yan Muyu snorted. “You’ve got bones of steel.”
Qiu Chao followed up smoothly. “Little Yan knows me inside and out.”
Yan Muyu: …
~~~
