Chapter 40: Side Quest NPC Part 2

Qiu Chao chuckled. “You’re Boss Yan.”

She’d unusually refrained from calling her Little Yan this time, and Yan Muyu instantly felt refreshed.

Yan Muyu shot back, “Boss Qiu?”

Qiu Chao and Yan Muyu stood together under one umbrella, their shadows stretching long—intimate enough to look almost cuddly, even to Qiu Chao herself.

She pulled out her phone and pretended to snap a photo of the roadside scenery.

In her mind, she thought, Yan Muyu and I even cast perfectly matched shadows.

【What are you two whispering about?】

【This Boss Hong doesn’t look local either!】

【She’s got that solid, womanly vibe?】

【Probably a tea picker too. They all seem about the same.】

The little girl chattered on rapidly, and soon Boss Hong came over to greet Yan Muyu.

She’d just said “Hello” and hadn’t even gotten a chance to look over the group when a thin, kitten-like voice came from inside the earthen house.

“Longlong! —”

Followed by the sound of something hitting the ground.

Before Yan Muyu could even respond with a hello, the person who’d just stepped in front of her spun around in a flash.

Yan Muyu watched wide-eyed as a woman in a red-and-white polka-dot floral dress tumbled out over the threshold.

Boss Hong swiftly caught her—the move was practiced to perfection.

Yan Muyu let out an impressed “Whoa.”

Qiu Chao looked surprised too.

【Is this a side quest?】

【Nah, didn’t they want Yan Muyu to buy the meat? Looks like they’re about to make some local dish.】

【Meanwhile, Xi Xi’s still waiting for Yan Muyu’s chicken breast…】

【A yellow dog showed up in the distance.】

Yan Muyu hadn’t realized that the Boss Wu who’d been sitting by the window earlier was missing a leg.

Her lower leg was simply gone, leaving her skirt hanging empty, but her expression was one of pure delight.

It wasn’t the excited kind villagers might show for a TV crew—more like the bewilderment she’d had earlier when the kid tattled about her Ahuang eating someone else’s meat.

Now she was beaming, clinging to Boss Hong’s neck and saying, “Longlong’s back.”

Yan Muyu remarked, “What kind of ‘long’? That’s a pretty unusual name.”

While Yan Muyu’s attention was elsewhere, Qiu Chao casually leaned in closer against her.

She said, “Boss Hong, is that like ‘boom’—the thunder kind?”

Even the kid burst out laughing.

【I just watched Qiu Chao scoot over two steps. Aren’t you hot?】

【Our Sister Qiu’s just afraid of the sun.】

Off-screen, Xia Yuanyuan wore an exasperated expression, thinking her sister was really pushing her luck.

But she was also relieved that Young Boss Yan’s attitude had softened quite a bit.

Would Sister Qiu whisper sweet nothings in her ear at midnight? Or maybe bring up that “beauty treatment” spot again…

Xia Yuanyuan’s mind instantly flashed back to what Qiu Chao had said about that place. She couldn’t even look directly at it.

On the other hand, Xia Yuanyuan felt this side of Qiu Chao was rare—like she’d shed all her burdens.

Qiu Chao was always so weighed down. Even on vacation, she was constantly switching roles, preparing for her next gig.

No one was forcing Qiu Chao to achieve anything, but she set rigorous plans for herself, betting everything on fulfilling her dreams before plotting out love.

So that was the “fate” between her and Yan Muyu that Sister Mai Chen and Qiu Chao talked about? The four years they’d spent as sister-in-law and sister?

Yan Muyu didn’t interrupt. In the viewers’ eyes, she practically mirrored the people in front of their screens—except she had “watching the drama” plastered on her forehead.

【Someone hand her a watermelon.】

【No need for MCs. Yan Muyu could carry the whole show solo.】

【Take this seriously, guys! You’re the guests—they’re not!】

【Civilian romance is so wholesome. I kinda ship them? Are they sisters?】

Yan Muyu was basically the viewers’ spokesperson. She called out to the little girl, “Little sister, are they family?”

The village wasn’t big to begin with, and the houses were scattered here and there. Especially where Yan Muyu and the others were staying—it felt practically exiled.

Not many people, but everyone seemed to know everyone else’s business.

The girl shook her head. “Nope. Boss Wu was hired by Boss Hong to help pick tea leaves for their family.”

She scratched her head. “Boss Wu’s husband died a couple years back.”

The kid said it so casually about life and death, maybe with a hint of personal feeling. “But now Boss Wu won’t get hit anymore.”

She clearly loved hanging around here. The girl chattered on. “Boss Wu might be a bit dim, but she’s super nice to us kids.”

“The TV broke a few days ago, or we’d still be watching cartoons here together.”

Electronic gadgets cycled through generations so fast now that Yan Muyu couldn’t even remember the last time she’d watched a regular TV show.

Her own childhood hadn’t involved huddling around the TV either.

No one had really watched over her. Qiu Chao, though—that had been her reality.

Yan Muyu’s expression softened further. She asked, “Thanks for bringing us here. What do you want to eat? Let your big sister treat you, okay?”

Yan Muyu didn’t stop her.

The producer hadn’t expected things to unfold this way and looped in Qiu Siyuan.

Qiu Siyuan didn’t mind. She glanced at the monitor and smiled. “This unpredictability is exactly what we want. Let them do their thing. If they don’t consent to filming, we’ll pivot to another plan.”

Kids always liked pretty people or things, especially when Qiu Chao bent down to talk to her.

That excessively beautiful face right up close made the girl scratch her head, suddenly shy.

Just then, Boss Hong walked over. She’d set up the crutches for the woman in the skirt and patiently said a few words before the other settled happily by the door to wait.

Locals all had that accent, but Boss Hong clearly didn’t.

She greeted Yan Muyu just as the yellow dog approached. It wagged its tail at first toward Boss Wu, but cowered the instant it spotted Boss Hong.

Boss Hong said, “Come here.”

And the dog actually did, tail tucked.

Yan Muyu noticed another white one poking out from the shop’s dog door, nuzzling affectionately at Boss Hong’s pant leg.

Boss Hong apologized to Yan Muyu. “How much do I owe you? I’ll pay you back.”

Yan Muyu replied, “Just ten bucks. Your dog… has quite the appetite.”

The yellow dog was still planted by Boss Hong’s leg, meek as could be—worlds away from the meat-grabbing fiend from earlier.

Boss Hong said, “That’s just its nature. Sorry, but it doesn’t bite.”

Over there, Boss Wu grinned and echoed, “Ahuang doesn’t bite.”

The dog perked up at its name, tail wagging happily as it trotted over, face scooped up for pets and rubs.

Boss Wu’s speech had a strange lilt, like some congenital issue.

Yan Muyu took the money and asked, “Mind if I ask your name? It sounded a bit like… the ‘long’ from Dragon Palace?”

Before Boss Hong could answer, a childish voice repeated, “Longlong like boom-boom thunder, my Longlong.”

Qiu Chao sensed a subtle affection too. She quietly observed the two.

One had dark skin but bright, clear eyes that screamed pure-hearted.

She was tall too—likely from physical labor.

Even tanned, she wore sun-protective clothing, with a crooked little thundercloud on the chest pocket, like a kid’s sticker.

Qiu Chao could tell it was embroidered, just clumsily.

Skill without heart rarely moved people, but that wonky cloud instantly told Qiu Chao who’d made it.

After all, the woman in the red dress had been scribbling at the windowsill earlier with similar childish strokes.

The deeply tanned woman smiled, revealing a tiger tooth, and nodded. “I’m Hong Long. ‘Hong’ like mountain flood, ‘Long’ like boom-boom thunder.”

Boss Wu repeated happily, “My Longlong.”

Yan Muyu glanced at the house. Women’s clothes hung drying by the door.

The roof tiles hadn’t been replaced in a while, weeds sprouting among them.

The Spring Festival couplets were green ones—proof someone in the home had passed.

Is it because she’s Boss Wu’s husband?

Qiu Chao said, “I want to buy snacks for this kid. Give me the money.”

She shot Yan Muyu a glare just like before, forcing Yan Muyu to pull back the look she had fixed on Boss Wu.

Yan Muyu winced in pain, and in the next second, Qiu Chao had snatched the ten yuan from her.

The little girl clambered onto a rock to pick out what she wanted, and surprisingly, Qiu Chao huddled right there with her, discussing which candy tasted the best.

The female star who had once dazzled crowds on red carpets was now standing at the entrance of the village’s cooperative store, chatting with a child about snacks that cost mere cents.

In the camera’s viewfinder, Qiu Chao’s smile was utterly casual, her brows and eyes lifted in delight. A moment later, she looked genuinely troubled over which one to choose.

Yan Muyu exchanged a few words with Hong Long, who didn’t seem to care one way or the other about being filmed.

The village probably didn’t see much turnover in population anyway. The unchanging daily life must have felt a little dull.

Hong Long said, “I’ve been tea picking lately. If I don’t head back soon, I’ll probably help folks repair houses or fix water pipes and the like.”

Yan Muyu asked, “Where are you from?”

Hong Long named a place.

Yan Muyu was a little surprised. That spot was worlds away from this mountain village. Even though both were down south, it would take several days and nights by train, followed by days of nonstop trekking over mountains and ridges.

Hong Long glanced at the crew members trailing behind her, then turned back to Yan Muyu.

Of course, she could tell that Yan Muyu came from a good family. Hong Long smiled. “We’re migrant workers from all corners of the earth. The spring and summer tea harvests are the busiest times every year. Usually, the foremen come straight to the village to round up hands, load us onto a truck, and the employers cover room and board.”

Yan Muyu asked, “So after this job wraps up, do you head back home?”

Boss Hong was actually several years younger than Yan Muyu, but she didn’t look a day over twenty-seven.

She was probably from one of the ethnic minorities back in her hometown, which gave her deep-set eyes. Her nose bridge was high and straight, and her looks were pretty decent overall—she just didn’t bother much with grooming.

Hong Long shook her head. “Nah, not going back.”

She glanced at Boss Wu, who had also wandered over to pick out snacks. “Xiao Qing—that’s Boss Wu. She said she could keep me on indefinitely.”

Yan Muyu raised an eyebrow. She could sense that this “employment” probably meant something more.

But Boss Wu clearly had some kind of disability. So how did that even factor in?

Still, it was their business, not hers. At the very least, Yan Muyu had been touched earlier when Hong Long had spun around on a dime and deftly caught Boss Wu—whom she called Xiao Qing—just in time.

Artists tended to be a sentimental bunch, quick to feel deeply.

Yan Muyu wasn’t one for that kind of maudlin sentimentality. What she prized was the raw intensity of her immediate experiences.

Like the thrill of capturing the fleeting shifts in a subject’s expression through her lens.

Right now, that creative itch was flaring up. She wanted to take the shot.

The frustrating creative block that had plagued her before suddenly loosened under the stir of this impulse.

Yan Muyu had just lifted her camera to ask if it was okay to snap a photo when the dark-skinned woman spoke up. “Are you two a couple?”

Yan Muyu froze. “Huh?”