By the time Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao returned to the filming site, the group was already digging into breakfast.
This town served as the heart of the mountain villages, quite different from the cargo-hauling spot at the foot of the mountains where Yan Muyu worked. It bore clear signs of everyday living.
Today was market day. The streets teemed not just with people and vehicles but also chickens, ducks, geese, and cows. Yan Muyu stepped out of the car and stood at the roadside, hesitating for what felt like ages.
The audience, who had been waiting patiently for ages, finally caught sight of the pair.
【Does getting a shot really take this long?】
【Transportation must be rough out here. I figured a show like this would have an on-site doctor.】
【They do have one—just not for tetanus shots.】
【So crowded.jpg Same vibe, lol.】
Yan Muyu glanced at her phone’s map, then at the bustling crowd, her face cycling through several expressions. She turned to Qiu Chao. “Should we squeeze through?”
Qiu Chao felt a sudden urge to hold Yan Muyu’s hand, but she wasn’t positioned quite right.
She happened to be on the left side of Yan Muyu’s injured hand, leaving her momentarily unsure.
Yan Muyu assumed Qiu Chao disliked the crowded environment. She pressed her lips together and scanned the surroundings again.
The program team’s photo map was a flat layout, and the live stream viewers could see the same synchronized overlays.
The market buzz hit the audience with a wave of rustic charm, and the occasional honk of a goose had everyone fighting back laughs.
【Never imagined a variety show like this.】
【I thought Yan Muyu would be shocked, but she seems fine.】
【They stand out so much, yet no one in these parts cares who they are.】
【Even fans wouldn’t know how to tail them here!】
【Heard the proxy paparazzi group complaining this gig’s too tough—high costs, not worth it.】
Yan Muyu said, “Let’s take the side street instead.”
As she spoke to Qiu Chao, “Check your phone and have them order us some breakfast first.”
Yan Muyu turned toward a side path. Seeing Qiu Chao dawdle, she reached out and pulled her along.
Qiu Chao fought to keep her lips from curving up in excitement, even asking on purpose, “What’s up?”
Yan Muyu might look laid-back most of the time, but in moments like this, she got serious. “What’s up with what? Haven’t woken up yet?”
She led Qiu Chao down the narrow lane. As they passed an old yellow ox, Yan Muyu shrank away, worried its tail might swipe her clothes, pressing closer to Qiu Chao.
Qiu Chao asked, “Does this path go through?”
The weather was overcast today, but at least it wasn’t raining. The sky hung gray and heavy.
What they called a town was really just a cluster of villages, with shops that had the feel of aged buildings.
It must have rained here last night; the ground was still slick and damp.
The path behind the shops was less crowded, though vendors still hawked their wares.
Yan Muyu let go after a few steps, about to check her phone when Qiu Chao hooked her pinky finger.
Yan Muyu glanced at her. Qiu Chao said, “Geese.”
Yan Muyu: “Scared?”
Qiu Chao nodded. “Got chased by one as a kid.”
Her answer was so earnest that Yan Muyu couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
【Hahaha, totally get it!】
【Those things look vicious!! They run crazy fast.】
【Why zoom in on the pinky hook?!】
【Help, this feels kinda intimate…】
Yan Muyu said, “Then hold on. But looking at the map is kinda…”
After all, with her injured hand, holding the phone was awkward.
The ground was wet and shiny, puddles reflecting the gray sky and the shops on either side.
A kid munched on cotton candy as he splashed through a puddle, startling a chorus of honks from the nearby goose stall.
Qiu Chao eyed the geese warily and shrank back a bit more.
Yan Muyu laughed again. “Really?”
Qiu Chao: “You’d know if one nipped you.”
Yan Muyu checked the map once more and tugged her hand. “C’mon, let’s go.”
She tried to ignore the odd sensation of their pinkies linked, chalking it up to Qiu Chao’s doing.
But memories had a mind of their own. She recalled how Qiu Chao had done this before—on her birthday, blindfolded, her pinky hooked in Yan Muyu’s hand as they climbed the stairs.
Yan Muyu thought: Right, my room still has that oil painting of Qiu Chao.
The one she painted for Qiu Chao’s twentieth birthday.
It was huge, so massive that Yan Muyu had no idea what to do with it. It stayed hidden behind the curtains.
After Yan Kai and Qiu Chao’s official breakup, Qiu Chao moved out of the Yan Family home. Then Yan Muyu had her falling-out with Qiu Chao.
By the time she graduated for real, Yan Muyu had no intention of ever living there again.
Yan Kai had asked a few times why. Yan Muyu didn’t beat around the bush; she said bluntly that bringing her girlfriend home wouldn’t be convenient.
After all, the Yan Family had a new mistress by then.
She lived in the room Qiu Chao once occupied, sat in the garden pavilion, swam in the pool—and every time Yan Muyu visited, it all felt profoundly off.
The difference between the sister-in-law and the ex-sister-in-law was just too stark.
That year, the oil painting Yan Muyu made for Qiu Chao had taken forever. Even Lin Chi thought she’d turned over a new leaf, since she stopped going out to play.
Qiu Chao was off filming somewhere. Yan Muyu had the canvas she’d sketched at school shipped back at great expense, then reworked it again.
She pored over countless photos of Qiu Chao for it.
Summer solstice had passed; by winter solstice, Yan Muyu wouldn’t even be in the country.
They rarely had chances to celebrate each other’s birthdays anyway—Yan Kai always handled Qiu Chao’s, and Yan Muyu could catch it in the news.
Million-yuan luxury cars, limited-edition designer goods.
By twenty, Qiu Chao lacked for nothing.
Her career was on the rise, and the tabloids painted her as having it all: wealth, beauty, love.
Yet Yan Muyu could spot the loneliness and resentment in candid shots.
She desperately wanted to know the source of that resentment.
Her big brother was perfect; what more could Qiu Chao possibly want?
But Yan Muyu couldn’t just ask Yan Kai outright.
And with Qiu Chao sitting right there, as the little sister-in-law-to-be, it would sound weird.
So the questions piled up. Before the massive canvas, she layered paint only to scrape it away with a palette knife, revising endlessly. Yan Muyu felt anything but relaxed.
She’d even considered starting over, realizing Qiu Chao wasn’t some effortless masterpiece.
She was a flawless forgery, built from countless tiny tweaks.
Qiu Chao’s birthday came with Yan Kai’s gifts and blessings from legions of fans. Yan Muyu, out of the country at the time, had sent her present ahead.
The second-floor hall, meticulously decorated. Qiu Chao walked in and was told to cover her eyes.
Unclear if it was strings or what, but the music mingled with the sound of footsteps as Yan Muyu led her up the stairs, pinky hooked.
Qiu Chao wore heels year-round, their sharp clicks echoing clearly.
Yan Muyu, tall and sporty, stuck to flats—maybe boots with a slight heel at most.
The dull thuds against the crisp taps, warmed by the heat of their linked hands.
Qiu Chao felt like meat on a spit, sizzling with desire for Yan Muyu.
The other woman had no clue, assuming her tension and chuckling softly.
Yan Muyu tucked a stray lock of Qiu Chao’s hair behind her ear, her fingers brushing the blindfold by accident.
Qiu Chao’s heart skipped; she nearly melted.
Yan Muyu startled, steadying her quickly. “You that tired today?”
Qiu Chao had rushed back from location. Learning Yan Muyu planned a birthday surprise, she’d skipped the wrap party, arriving dusty and worn.
Qiu Chao leaned into Yan Muyu’s arms with a soft hum.
She knew Yan Muyu approved of her now and whispered coquettishly, “Little Yan, can you carry me? I forgot to change shoes—my feet hurt so much.”
Yan Muyu: “Want a piggyback?”
She moved to oblige, but instead scooped Qiu Chao up in her arms.
Qiu Chao had seen videos on Yan Muyu’s socials of her kayaking; each powerful stroke left her parched.
Yan Muyu had matured since then.
At seventeen, she’d already been Qiu Chao’s obsession; at twenty, she was pure poison.
There weren’t many steps—just the turn on the spiral staircase—but to Qiu Chao, the moment stretched eternally, then ended too soon.
Until she beheld the enormous oil painting.
Herself, amid blankets of snow.
Yan Muyu simply wished her a happy birthday.
“I’ll do better next time.”
Better how?
Qiu Chao could never quite define it, since nothing she’d ever gotten felt truly good.
Her mother had given her the best she could within her means, but it couldn’t stand against an environment that could drown her in spit.
“Better” rang hollow.
Back then, Qiu Chao figured holding on to the status quo was enough.
But Yan Muyu’s promise of better made it impossible not to hope.
In the painting, she looked more beautiful than in Yan Muyu’s photos—untouched by dust, radiant like fresh snow, free of any shadow.
Qiu Chao even felt unworthy.
Yan Muyu saw her too perfectly.
You know my background, the scandals that won’t die—why look at me like this?
That night, Yan Muyu noticed Qiu Chao’s mood dip but chalked it up to work. She stayed with her until she fell asleep, fingers still clasped.
Time flies; things change, people change.
Years later, in a remote mountain village town, behind the bustling market, Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao wove through the narrow gaps between buildings. She hadn’t expected the sensation from all those years ago to still linger so vividly in her memory.
It felt like she’d been scalded—or branded.
The press of their skin against each other hurt even more than the gash from a nail across her palm, leaving Yan Muyu flustered and breathless.
Suddenly, the rain began to fall. A lotus seller shouldering his load passed by at the mouth of the alley.
They pressed themselves flat against the wall to let him through.
The rain fell in fine threads amid the clamor of heaven and earth.
Qiu Chao’s bangs were soaked, making her gaze seem even more tender and deep.
Yan Muyu didn’t dare meet her eyes and hastily turned her face away.
Why? she wondered.
But Qiu Chao reached out. Just as Yan Muyu was about to ask what she was doing, Qiu Chao cupped her face, leaning in as if to kiss her.
This is a live stream!
Yan Muyu thought Qiu Chao had lost her mind.
The viewers in the live chat were going insane too.
