Chapter 34: Better Off Part 2

Her chopsticks sought the next target, only to have it snatched by Qiu Chao once more.

The female stars—who normally took only two bites of rice—weren’t watching her today. Perhaps because they had cried earlier, or maybe they carried heavy thoughts.

Yet Qiu Chao’s bowl brimmed with all the dishes Yan Muyu had targeted.

From fish-flavored shredded pork to stir-fried pork with pointed peppers to garlic spare ribs.

Pei Wan had bought the evening’s groceries with wages from her and Qiu Chao. This dinner qualified as exceptional in color, aroma, and flavor—at least Yan Muyu felt her appetite surging.

But Qiu Chao persisted in thwarting her.

Yan Muyu could only toss in occasional remarks to muddy the waters, pressing Liu Song to declare her intentions when cornered, all while hunting for the next piece of meat.

Just as Qiu Chao moved to strike again, Yan Muyu’s chopsticks darted down, clamping onto Qiu Chao’s.

Under the table, her shoe kicked Qiu Chao’s. Unexpectedly, her leg found itself trapped between the other’s legs, mirroring the chopsticks’ grip.

Yan Muyu shot Qiu Chao a glare, but Qiu Chao merely smiled.

She propped her chin, her smile devoid of hostility—even reminiscent of a flower bud in full bloom. It was as if purity lay entirely within her grasp.

Then she lifted her foot and rubbed Yan Muyu’s ankle.

Skin met skin for a fleeting moment. Yan Muyu hastily averted her eyes.

She thought: This is never-ending.

~~~

After dinner, everyone redrew lots. But Qiu Siyuan apparently considered daily changes too slapdash. She simply let those who wanted to swap pick again.

“Aren’t you being too hasty?” Yan Muyu asked.

A day in the mountains seemed to stretch on forever.

It was only half past seven. Qiu Chao had no intention of switching from the embroidery workshop, so she continued boiling sour plum soup outside.

Ding Yingxue went to wash the dishes.

Her mouth ached from practicing the duck whistle all day. With a pre-dawn start tomorrow, she planned to redraw. If direct trades were allowed, she would have swapped with Liu Song outright.

The duck whistle proved devilishly hard to master. Ding Yingxue possessed no gift for it, unlike Liu Song, whose background made it a perfect match.

Xi Xi sat off to the side tallying accounts. They pooled all the money on hand: bills and coins that looked strangely unfamiliar at first glance.

Digital payments had accustomed most people to leaving wallets at home, let alone carrying loose change.

The six had spent heavily on groceries. The production team required them to cover all living expenses themselves, including daily sundries.

No calculation yielded enough.

Liu Song sprawled across the table, watching Xi Xi work the numbers.

Moths fluttered around the hanging lamp. At this hour, electric fans sat unused; the mountain breeze provided ample coolness.

The singer’s looks veered nowhere near pretty—rather plain—even a touch austere. Yet her eyes brimmed with vitality.

When she sang, they seemed to flow with the melody’s twists.

Xi Xi apparently disliked the scrutiny. Without raising her eyelids, she reached out with precision and shoved Liu Song away.

Unfortunately, Liu Song scooted right back, grinning dopily as she crowded in again.

Qiu Siyuan sat beside Yan Muyu. She escalated her haphazardness by launching into casual chit-chat. “Why make such a fuss?”

A cup of chilled tea sat by Yan Muyu’s hand. Liu Song had received it from a kindly grandmother during tea picking.

It steeped to a fine flavor.

Qiu Siyuan clutched her perennial thermos, a notebook resting on the table before her.

“You’re just plopping down to chat with me?” Yan Muyu said. “Isn’t the director a bit too idle?”

She glanced at the follow cam, then flashed a sudden smile. It outshone the dim yellow lamplight, banishing her prior gloom.

【Chat more; I love listening.】

【So much to watch, like Ding Yingxue muttering to herself while washing dishes hahaha.】

【Qiu Chao’s still simmering sour plum soup outside wuwuwu, but I bet Ding Yingxue’s driving her nuts.】

“Redefining the variety show director,” Qiu Siyuan said. “Atmosphere warmer. In a few days, I won’t even appear on camera.”

Yan Muyu toyed with her drawn slip, staring at the words “Embroidery Workshop.” She asked Qiu Siyuan with utmost sincerity, “Did you rig this?”

【I have the same question!】

【Can’t blame Yan Muyu; Ding Yingxue actually went tea picking.】

【Xi Xi herding ducks hahaha—Liu Song must be thrilled.】

【Our baby really clings to Sister Xi…】

Qiu Siyuan shook her head. “Heaven’s will.”

A small mole dotted her left temple, quite visible when her hair was slicked back.

With it now loose—like Yan Muyu’s, freshly washed—their presences blended in uncanny harmony. It sparked widespread curiosity about their school days.

“Are you some kind of shaman?” Yan Muyu said.

“Didn’t you study painting?” Qiu Siyuan replied. “Drawing patterns at the embroidery workshop fits perfectly.”

Yan Muyu fired back. “I’m not a fine arts major.”

“Come off it,” Qiu Siyuan said. “Not attending university with you doesn’t mean I don’t know your field.”

She even passed her phone to Yan Muyu. “See? Comments say you’re faking it.”

【I’m on TV! (just kidding)】

【Truly slapdash variety show… but it feels authentic?】

【Starting to think they have no script—just a loose outline.】

【Outline’s so offhand, like a daily life vlog.】

Yan Muyu snatched the phone and scrolled comments. She cared not that it displayed their feed.

“What faking? I’m not even in arts.”

“Yeah, went abroad to some no-name school. So? Shen Tianqing did the same.”

“Dragging Shen Tianqing? That’s Minghan.”

“What’s wrong with Qiu Chao’s education? Degrees aren’t everything. Her professional skills are elite—everyone knows that, right?”

Qiu Chao had just finished the sour plum soup then. Unable to heft the massive pot, she left it outside to cool and came searching for containers.

She caught that last remark.

Yan Muyu spotted her too, in the phone’s live stream.

“You really know your talent’s caliber,” Qiu Siyuan said.

That gravelly voice of hers worked best kept silent. Yan Muyu sighed. “Of course. I won’t badmouth the rest, but in this line, Qiu Chao reigns supreme.”

Pride tinged her words, nearly sending the passing Qiu Chao into flight.

The culprit snagged her arm mid-stride, though. Yan Muyu thrust the phone at her. “See what they’re saying about you?”

Qiu Chao leaned close. Qiu Siyuan cut the feed, making it seem as if Qiu Chao had popped from the screen.

The barrage exploded: ah I’m dead I’m dead.

Yan Muyu very nearly laughed herself to death reading comments. She mocked, “What low standards.”

【Dropped my bias against the Yan family—Yan Muyu’s alright.】

【Sister Qiu looking right at me yingyingying.】

【Yan Muyu’s grab… there’s something there.】

【Jealous of Director Qiu’s prime vantage.】

Comments raced by. Extracting even two coherent ones proved a challenge.

As Whale Entertainment’s exclusive production, the stream indulged lax moderation. Bizarre emote packages periodically carpet-bombed the screen, dumbfounding viewers.

“They say you’re no good,” Qiu Chao said.

【Wasn’t me!】

【Sis spotted that?!】

“Yeah, totally no good,” Qiu Siyuan piled on.

Most would flush and protest such teasing. Yan Muyu, however, beamed with pride, as if intimately acquainted with her own flaws.

She nodded. “Spot on.”

“They just don’t know,” Qiu Chao said.

“Know what?” Qiu Siyuan asked.

Liu Song—who had been fixated on Xi Xi—looked up, peering over curiously.

Compared to the other straightforward manager-artist duos, Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao’s dynamic always simmered with an ineffable friction.

Like conflict concealing submerged reefs, biding time until one vessel struck and sank in spectacular mutual ruin.

“Don’t know what?” Yan Muyu said.

She kept her eyes from Qiu Chao but released her grip on the hand.

Qiu Chao cradled the phone, however, stooped at her side. Her fragrance wafted straight to Yan Muyu’s nose.

It was like the subtle fragrance that used to linger in the room during all those times they shared a space, with Yan Muyu blissfully oblivious.

Or perhaps it was more like years of deliberate observation.

At that moment, Qiu Chao let out a laugh. She leaned in slightly, hooking her arm around Yan Muyu’s neck in an intimate embrace. “Little Yan is so thoughtful.”

In front of the live audience, Yan Muyu couldn’t just shove her away—not with Xi Xi watching.

Qiu Siyuan had seated herself a bit farther away, which only made Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao’s bodies seem all the more pressed together.

Yan Muyu said, “Why are you hugging me? It’s hot.”

Qiu Chao replied, “See? You clearly hate me, but you didn’t push me away.”

Liu Song’s mouth fell open. She hadn’t expected Qiu Chao to be so blunt about the dislike.

After all, Yan Muyu was technically her manager.

Xi Xi secured her long hair with a pencil, watching Qiu Chao with keen interest.

Qiu Siyuan, on the other hand, didn’t seem surprised at all.

She asked, “So why did Yan Muyu end up as your manager?”

It was the kind of routine question they’d asked on the first day of the stream.

For instance, when they’d asked Xi Xi, she’d answered candidly—the whole feud with her ex-husband that everyone knew about.

She was completely open about it.

Pei Wan had said it was to protect her little sister, though some viewers still weren’t satisfied.

Yan Muyu had skipped the question entirely.

Now Qiu Siyuan had brought it up again, right as Qiu Chao had her in that embrace.

In front of the camera, no matter what, Yan Muyu couldn’t treat Qiu Chao as roughly as she might in private.

Feeling a little helpless, she pried Qiu Chao’s hand from around her neck, though Qiu Chao still stayed pressed close.

It was hot and soft—far more brazen than the foot she’d teasingly run along Yan Muyu’s calf under the table during dinner.

Yan Muyu said, “Didn’t everyone guess it’s got something to do with the company?”

She stated bluntly, “I never wanted to play the Young Boss Yan role in the first place. I only took it because I had no choice.”

“The company had several stars poached away, and that’s exactly why Qiu Chao signed with Whale.”

Qiu Siyuan asked, “Isn’t that a losing deal?”

【Hahahahaha, is everyone just roasting Yan Muyu here?】

【I’m starting to suspect Director Qiu has been bought off by Qiu Chao.】

【The saddest boss in history.】

【Qiu Chao’s actually playing with Yan Muyu’s hair!!!】

Yan Muyu replied, “It’s not a loss for me.”

Qiu Chao’s fingertips were twirling Yan Muyu’s short hair.

Yan Muyu had a tough heart but soft, fine strands. The next second, Qiu Chao stood up and ruffled Yan Muyu’s hair, which was still half-dry and delightfully fluffy.

“Of course. There’s something I want, and only my old company can give it to me.”

Yan Muyu bristled a little. “Why are you messing with my hair!”

Qiu Chao laughed as she headed toward the kitchen. Her retreating figure even looked somewhat lighthearted—

“Have I not done it plenty of times before?”

Liu Song asked, “Were you two that close back then?”

Yan Muyu didn’t really want to admit it, but it was the truth.

“She was my sister-in-law at the time.”

Liu Song pressed, “So why aren’t you close anymore?”

The atmosphere turned awkward in an instant.

【You already know the answer.】

【Song Bao… I’m done with you.】

【I want to know too!!】

Unexpectedly, one of the people involved let out a sigh. She grabbed the iced tea from the table and downed it in one go, then roughly wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Because she did something really outrageous.”