Chapter 31: Picking Her Up Part 4

Qiu Chao might have been Yan Muyu’s almost-sister-in-law, but their ages made it awkward. Yan Muyu had griped to Shen Tianqing about it before—her big brother, not getting any younger, goes and dates someone even younger than his little sister? Ridiculous.

So Yan Muyu rarely called her “sister-in-law” straight-faced. Only as a joke, thrown out with a grin.

Most times, she just used her name.

At twenty, Qiu Chao’s star was skyrocketing—scripts pouring in, red carpets where she slayed.

But down in that private basement cinema, she was just a lost little girl, voice trembling as she went, “Ah…”

Yan Muyu blinked at the teary eyes. “Why are you crying?”

Qiu Chao sniffled. “I’m not.”

The glamorous star, bare-faced at home, had naturally striking features that turned heartbreakingly fragile without makeup, her furrowed brow radiating vulnerability.

It stirred pity easily.

At least Yan Muyu reached out and patted her shoulder. “If this stuff scares you, we can skip it.”

She grabbed the remote to switch films, but the next instant, Qiu Chao lunged straight into her arms.

It was a panicked dive, paired with a defiant protest.

Her “[I’m not scared]” came out all quavery, tugging at some hidden string in Yan Muyu’s heart.

Yan Muyu sighed. “And this is ‘not scared’? First time I’ve seen someone cry over a horror movie.”

She’d comforted first, then teased, her tone softening into something like the way she’d once cooed at girlfriends.

“Bet Chinese ghost stories would have you screaming.”

Curled against Yan Muyu’s chest, Qiu Chao sniffled again. It had been a summer night just like this one.

Lightning cracked, thunder rolled through the Yan Family mansion’s lavish halls. From the sunken glass wall on one side, the downpour was a solid sheet.

The atmosphere cranked up the fear—and the greed.

She wrapped her arms around Yan Muyu’s waist, face buried in her neck, sobbing out a fans-would-never-guess yearning.

That possessive pull toward someone of the same sex.

Qiu Chao let out a muffled “Mm.”

As a woman, she embodied that classic soft, warm beauty—at least up close enough to set the heart racing.

Too bad Yan Muyu had been so rigidly respectful back then.

She could entertain fancies about plenty of people, just never Qiu Chao.

Yan Muyu pried her loose, shoved a pillow into her arms instead, but didn’t pull away when Qiu Chao clung to her arm.

She swapped the horror for sci-fi and never put the scares on her again.

From then on, whenever Qiu Chao came home on a rainy night and Yan Muyu was around, she’d wait at the door.

Time flies—the words echoed now, sending a sharp pang through Qiu Chao’s heart.

The exchange lit up the livestream barrage, viewers buzzing about the roots of Qiu Chao’s ghost phobia.

【This house is seriously creepy… Don’t let it scare me to death like yesterday.】

【It’s fine in daylight.】

【I’d be freaked out living here alone too.】

【But with all those crew people around, what’s to fear?】

【What if they catch something on cam that shouldn’t be there? That’d be the real terror!】

【Too damn quiet.】

Yan Muyu stared at Qiu Chao for a moment. She realized this woman hadn’t changed much from before.

All the rumors of fillers were nonsense; Qiu Chao’s face was one hundred percent natural, and Yan Muyu knew it better than anyone.

She let out an “Oh.” “If you’re not scared, head back to the room and rest by yourself. Bike’s out front—head out when it’s time.”

Qiu Chao said, “No.”

She bit her lip, then after a long pause asked, “How many cargo runs do you have this afternoon?”

Yan Muyu replied, “At least two.”

Qiu Chao went, “Oh.” Then, “Take me with you.”

She’d braced for another refusal, already plotting her next pitch, but Yan Muyu surprised her with a simple “Sure.”

Qiu Chao looked over in astonishment, only to find Yan Muyu had hidden her face behind the palm leaf fan, expression unreadable.

Yan Muyu added, “Call me when it’s time.”

Qiu Chao said, “Okay.”

Yan Muyu grumbled, “This is such a pain. After hauling cargo, I’ve still gotta drop you at the Embroidery Workshop?”

Qiu Chao asked, “What do you want for dinner tonight?”

Yan Muyu hummed, drawing out the sound long and low until her clear voice turned all husky.

“Just make whatever.”

Qiu Chao pressed, “So… what?”

【Hate it when people won’t just say what they want!】

【Reminds me of those friends who always go “whatever” no matter what.】

【The other pairs next door: one feels like legit farm life, one’s Metamorphosis vibes. Here it turns into…】

【I’ll say what upstairs won’t—divorce dating show.】

【These two are really sister-in-law and sister-in-law, right? Not playing pretend? Feels like they’ve hooked up.】

【Sharing a room counts, doesn’t it?】

【Qiu Chao was legit almost engaged to Yan Kai back then!!】

【Yan Muyu had a girlfriend those four years too, didn’t she?】

The show’s buzz kept skyrocketing. At Whale Entertainment HQ, screens everywhere flipped to the livestream.

The Yan Family, never short on cash, had snapped up tons of ad slots—subways, buses, you name it.

With Qiu Siyuan as the golden ticket, they were blowing past every projection.

Yan Muyu’s rocking chair swayed gently back and forth, as if she had already been swept away by sleep.

She let out a soft hum. “You know.”

【This sentence is even weirder!】

【They’ve talked about this before, right?!】

【Help! Sister Qiu is straight—please spare her!】

【Sister Qiu’s devoted suitors from before weren’t for nothing!! Why drag Yan Muyu into this?】

But Qiu Chao clearly did know. She nodded and turned toward the kitchen to check the leftovers in the fridge.

For some reason, she pulled out her phone and opened the memo app to type something.

She didn’t go back to her room to lie down. Instead, she sat at the table and wrote in the notebook she’d brought along.

The contents of her diary synced to the live stream feed.

July 20th, Sunday, clear.

First day in Azure Carp Village.

Visited the Embroidery Workshop and made gifts for my friends on the show.

Lunch was garlic spinach, pan-fried fish chunks (made by Pei Wan), pickled cabbage with pork and green beans…

Heading out this afternoon with Little Yan to haul cargo (smiley face)

Qiu Chao’s handwriting had nothing to do with “pretty.” Plenty of viewers thought the post-production font effects looked better than her actual scrawl.

It only reinforced her airhead persona.

QiuChaoDiary#

YouKnow#

XiXiIfYoureSoBoredGoShovelTheCowManure#

LiuSongIStillDontMakeEnoughMoney#

DingYingxueMySisterIsNumberOne#

The major influencer accounts jumped in on the fun too.

@EntertainmentNewsFrontline: Qiu Chao is generating a ton of buzz on the new rural variety show Me and My Agent. Rumor has it her real education is just junior high? [thinking emoji] Is that true? [picture]

@DragonTailNoMore: Xi Xi’s ex-husband’s fans started mocking her for shoveling cow dung on the variety show, then review-bombed Liu Song’s new album from last month. Now… things look pretty heated…

[Xi Xi shoveling cow dung was brutal… I get why the fans lost it.]

[I think Xi Xi’s hilarious. She didn’t look that miserable. Is the rich girl new to the countryside?]

[Xi Xi’s elegance shattered when Liu Song showed up lol. You slack off to join and bring all those fancy gifts?]

[Pei Wan… the college girl who went viral on that amateur bot once. My dream wife, now sacrificing her career for her sister. I hate it.]

[I’m still replaying that chat between Qiu Chao and Yan Muyu lounging in the chair… Their vibe is way less innocent than the others…]

[So what does she know exactly?! If Yan Kai weren’t in a coma, I’d wanna ask what those four years were like for Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao. Did the little sister hook up with the big sis’s wife behind her back? That plot’s too dramatic!!]

In the afternoon, Yan Muyu took Qiu Chao to the Azure Brick Factory.

She grabbed a towel on her way out, and Qiu Chao didn’t understand why at first.

When they set off, Qiu Chao watched Yan Muyu mimic the others, wetting the towel with water and draping it over her neck.

Yan Muyu shrugged off her jacket. Unlike yesterday’s loose shirt, her black T-shirt made her skin look strikingly pale. And she was wearing black gloves, too.

She didn’t compliment her own looks at all. She just slipped on sunglasses and let out a “whoa”: “Feels like I could busk with an erhu under a bridge.”

The sky was a brilliant blue, the wind whipping hard. Qiu Chao didn’t want to stay alone in that little mud house, so she hopped into the passenger seat of Yan Muyu’s cargo truck.

The back seat already had a cameraman, so only one of Xia Yuanyuan or Xing Wen could join. Since Xing Wen had tagged along that morning, it was Xia Yuanyuan’s turn in the afternoon. She climbed in with the expression of a girl suddenly all grown up and beyond her mom’s control.

Luckily, the camera didn’t catch Xia Yuanyuan’s face. If it had, viewers would’ve died laughing at her misery.

The road was rough enough to make anyone hurl, and she’d already puked once yesterday on the way up the mountain.

She hadn’t expected to go through it again.

Yan Muyu was totally used to it by now. She even had time to joke: “See? Told you. You’d be better off at home.”

Qiu Chao shook her head. “The scenery’s nice.”

This southern mountain village reminded her a lot of her hometown—full of tea gardens blanketing the hills, ancient trees crowning the peaks.

But Qiu Chao rarely thought about her old home. Her mother and biological father were from the same village. They’d married, had her, then sent her off to school in town.

Qiu Chao’s childhood summers were spent playing on the mountain: fireflies on summer nights, well water chilling a watermelon overnight.

Hiking halfway over the ridge to the cooperative store for red bean popsicles. All memories.

But the good and bad of village life went hand in hand. The warmth could turn into a blade.

Women branded as husband-killers, newborn girls locked in cages of bad luck.

It became a universal kidnapping.

Even Qiu Chao’s developing features became proof of her mother’s infidelity. The more the gossip swirled, the more her homeland turned toxic.

And yet, right now, Qiu Chao could still taste the sweetness of her early years.

Yan Muyu drove along, humming a tune. After going downhill, she waited for the cargo to be unloaded. The town wasn’t bustling, but word was the real excitement came next month with the Fish Lantern Festival.

Swimming fish that crossed mountains, becoming blessings in the summer night.

Qiu Chao stood under the shade of a tree, lost in thought. Xia Yuanyuan could tell she had something on her mind.

Yan Muyu noticed too.

While buying popsicles, she’d spotted the rattan woven hats the shopkeeper had out front, draped with local floral tie-dye cloth.

It was kinda rustic, not super stylish. White gauze would’ve looked better.

But Yan Muyu bought one anyway, on a whim.

Qiu Chao stood in the distant shade and didn’t hear Yan Muyu’s footsteps approaching.

The viewers did, though.

A rattan hat settled over Qiu Chao’s head. The floral tie-dye cloth blocked half the sunlight. Before she could react, a popsicle was thrust into her hand.

Yan Muyu’s voice came out lazy: “Fifty-cent red bean popsicle. Not sure if it’s good enough for you.”

Qiu Chao took it. She looked up at the woman in front of her, not realizing her own spark of delight: “You care about me?”

The other woman snorted and tossed back a firm “No.”