Chapter 54: Give It a Try Part 1

Over on that side, Xuan Zhelu had already followed the Boss Lady into the house.

She asked Ding Yingxue in a low voice, “Have you been here before?”

Ding Yingxue shook her head and instinctively glanced at Pei Wan.

Pei Wan gazed at the house. The camera followed her eyes to the colorful hanging decorations scattered throughout the old hall—vibrant hues that gave the place real character.

The hall even featured an orange tree.

It thrived on sunlight and rainwater from the courtyard. Stepping inside didn’t feel gloomy at all; instead, the cloth strips dangling from its branches lifted the spirits.

【Wasn’t there no orange tree last time?】

【Boss Hong got a whole tree in here in just a few days?】

【Words on those cloth strips!】

【This house has so much heart to it—way more open than the ones back home.】

The Boss Lady, dressed in a green skirt today, walked with a gait that had Xuan Zhelu fretting.

Her face plainly showed her fear that this woman—sister or little sister, Xuan Zhelu wasn’t sure—might just tumble over.

But the Boss Lady proved spryer than Xuan Zhelu herself, joyfully leading everyone off to see the puppies.

Pei Wan lingered by the orange tree, poring over the notes. The livestream feed captured the words clearly.

“Longlong’s name is so hard to write”

“Xiao Qing had egg custard today”

“Longlong got home late”

…

Just snippets of everyday trivia. The handwriting was tough to decipher, the Boss Lady’s strokes often missing bits.

Yet the clumsy script brimmed with feeling. Pei Wan read intently, oblivious even to Ding Yingxue calling her name.

Among the guests, she was the quietest one—her interviews polite but rote.

She lacked that variety-show spark, yet her personal story carried such weight that these silent shots felt profoundly real.

Xuan Zhelu hadn’t even dared pet the fluffy little pups. After snapping a few photos with an expression like she might melt, she realized Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao still hadn’t joined them.

As she passed Pei Wan, something about her made Xuan Zhelu think she looked a little down.

Xuan Zhelu asked, “Wanwan, you aren’t going to see the puppies?”

Pei Wan replied, “Are you going to find Yan Muyu?”

Xuan Zhelu hesitated. “Uh, I saw she didn’t come in.”

Pei Wan said, “You can see her from right here.”

Xuan Zhelu took up position beside her. Through the wooden door, she spotted Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao in the distance, under a roadside tree.

The doorframe framed them like a picture. In Xuan Zhelu’s eyes, the two standing together seemed perfectly inset within it.

【Production team, stop cutting away! You’re making Xuan Zhelu look so pitiful!!】

【Hahaha, she IS pitiful.】

【Pei Wan’s vibe is so steady. I wanna see her lose it.】

【Caught Ding Yingxue unlocking her phone—homepage is Pei Wan in a school uniform pic… Sis, you’re way too into her.】

【What are Yan Muyu and Qiu Chao even talking about? Only distant shots, no close-ups—I can totally headcanon them flirting.】

【They actually look kinda perfect together. Yan Muyu’s figure is just too good (flat chest edition).】

【Like they slot right into each other… I mean psychologically. Qiu Chao isn’t icy—she’s fiery. Yan Muyu, though… not so bright.】

Xuan Zhelu grumbled, “No clue what they could be chatting about for so long. Aren’t we here for the dogs?”

Her little huffs and mutters struck Pei Wan as downright cute.

Pei Wan asked Xuan Zhelu, “You’ve seen plenty like Young Boss Yan, haven’t you?”

Standing together by the orange tree and scanning the notes, Xuan Zhelu replied, “I’ve met tons with her kind of background, but none as fun as her.”

When she wasn’t glancing at Yan Muyu, she carried herself with real poise. “I know I’m lucky compared to most. There are tough times, sure, but who can I even tell? My parents would just say quit.”

Xuan Zhelu gave a small laugh. Everyone got hate, even if the advice was to bask in the praise and shrug off the criticism—it still got to you.

“Some things you can’t tell your parents. Friends are different. But with Ah Yu… it feels like I can say anything.”

She hummed thoughtfully. In the close-up shot, her fingers toyed with an orange cloth strip bearing Xiao Qing’s wobbly scrawl: “Like Longlong’s roast buns.” The “like” especially.

For the show, Xuan Zhelu had come fully glammed up, nails encrusted with rhinestones. But after three days crafting a fish lamp, they’d cracked right off.

Most of the bling was gone now, the cobalt-blue polish chipped around the edges—like her trip was fated to end in nothing gained.

Yet it echoed the “like” written so nearby.

Pei Wan nodded. “Young Boss Yan really is… someone who seems impatient on the surface but always responds to everything.”

Her summary nailed it. The comments overwhelmingly agreed.

【Pei Wan phrases it so well.】

【Highest education in the cast—no wonder I’m simping again wuwuwu.】

【Who could even catch Pei Wan’s eye? Hate to say it!】

【Days later and still no one’s spilling: Did Ding Yingxue really wreck Pei Wan’s boyfriend situation?!】

Xuan Zhelu said, “No idea who she’ll end up with someday. Damn, I’m jealous.”

Jealousy laced her words, but her face showed none of the usual twist—just easy contentment.

Pei Wan offered, “Want me to throw in a line for you? Tough script to sell, huh?”

Xuan Zhelu replied, “Everyone knows Little Yan and I are total besties, right?”

She drew out the last word, her laugh turning into a sigh that cracked her up all over again.

“Should I add that Qiu Chao nailed her script?”

Pei Wan shrugged. “Does Qiu Chao even need a script?”

Their back-and-forth felt like mutual alibis—and only convinced the audience there was no script at all.

Qiu Chao’s subtle confessions? Real. The hints? Real. Even that nudge at the cabinet door? Real.

Yet the hot searches stayed dead silent. Someone must have been pulling strings.

Yan Muyu’s phone buzzed relentlessly in her pocket, but it paled next to the pounding in her chest.

She was glad the production team hadn’t done full-mic audio like some shows—otherwise, she’d be a total mess right now. Her voice had already gone faintly hoarse without her realizing.

Yan Muyu furrowed her brow at Qiu Chao. “What did you say?”

She’d heard perfectly. This was more a warning.

But Qiu Chao pressed on undaunted, her red lips parting, smiles dancing at her brows and the corners of her eyes.

“I said I want to date you.”

She paused, leaning a touch closer to Yan Muyu. “Is that so weird?”

“You’ve dated plenty of people. Why not add me to the list?”

Qiu Chao’s voice carried on the night breeze. Suddenly, all other sounds stripped away—or maybe Yan Muyu’s hearing had sharpened.

She could hear the flutter of moths battering toward the light, the tricycle rumbling up at last along the mountain road, the crickets chirping.

A kid dashing off without dinner somewhere, a woman’s distant shout.

Every noise underscoring those three words: date me.

Yan Muyu said, “I’m not joking around with you.”

Her face darkened. Under the faint lamplight, all her earlier brightness had vanished. Qiu Chao delighted in seeing Yan Muyu like this.

The unhappy Yan Muyu lurking behind the dazzle.

This woman excelled at chasing fleeting joys, but they never lasted—endless emptiness followed each one.

The older she got, the more true it rang.

Qiu Chao replied, “Neither am I. I’m dead serious.”

She didn’t care about the cameras or the stream. The moment she’d chosen to return home, Qiu Chao had made up her mind.

Girlfriend or not in this phase of Yan Muyu’s life—it didn’t matter. Qiu Chao would claim her.

She was no longer that penniless, awkward seventeen-year-old.

No more knockoff bags glittering with fake rhinestone logos. Her shoes weren’t clearance misfits; they were bespoke.

Career first, then love—that was her promise to herself.

She’d remade herself. Now, this year, she was circling back for the girl she’d fallen for at seventeen.

Seduction attempted. Hints dropped. Even threats lobbed.

Now came the direct approach. The confession.

A gentle breeze all around, heaven and earth as witnesses. Qiu Chao was content.

She gazed at Yan Muyu without closing the gap or taking her hand.

Just a handspan apart, she bridged it with her eyes, saying word by deliberate word, “I like you. I want to date you. Can’t I?”

Yan Muyu asked, “Why me?”

She’d fielded countless confessions; Qiu Chao’s bluntness wasn’t even the first.

“Because we slept together? Or because I make you happier than anyone else you’ve been with? But Qiu Chao, that was just…”

Qiu Chao cut in. “Yeah.”

She owned it plainly. “I’ve got a thing for firsts.”

Yan Muyu blinked, caught off guard. “I wasn’t asking about that.”

Qiu Chao went on. “Before you, I’d never been with anyone like that.”

Yan Muyu hadn’t dwelled on it at first. But afterward, resisting the memories had been impossible.

Contract dating? A real possibility.

But still—why her?

Qiu Chao added, “Your brother and I were never a thing.”

She smiled. “You know that. The one he’s always wanted is Miss Zhen.”

Qiu Chao and Yan Kai got along fine, but he’d had no idea at first about her feelings for Yan Muyu.

Playing the contract-dating role had demanded flawless acting on her part—putting on the show for him at every banquet.

Even though Qiu Chao had only been eighteen that year, she couldn’t help but think that men could be truly ridiculous at times.

They knew it was impossible, yet they still had to show off a little, just to catch a glimpse of the other person’s reaction cracking even slightly.

In the end, it only proved their own uselessness all the more.

Yan Kai had a good temper and could be considered refined and elegant. Compared to Yan Muyu, their personalities seemed almost reversed.

Yan Muyu was the one women tended to like more.

But it seemed none of the Yan Family ever got angry. Yan Kai simply fell silent and kept working, staying out of sight as he paved broader paths for the Yan Family, allowing Yan Muyu to spend more freely.

This made Qiu Chao, the nominal “future mistress of the Yan Family,” enjoy a smooth career path where everything she wanted within a certain scope was hers for the taking.

On the day they signed the agreement to end their contract romance, Qiu Chao had dinner with Yan Kai.

She openly confessed her feelings, but Yan Kai’s reaction was utterly flat. “So that’s how it is.”

He didn’t find it strange. “After all, it was Muyu who was always with you. She has a knack for attracting girls.”

But Yan Kai also knew his sister’s personality. “You’re a level-headed person. Don’t like her too much—you’ll end up hurt.”

He got a slight headache just mentioning his sister. “Several investors have brought this up to me before. When I’m negotiating business, how can I control Muyu’s love life?”

Qiu Chao smiled. Outside the window stood the skyscrapers of S City.

This year marked her ascent to the top of the TV industry, with even the cruise ships on the river flying banners celebrating her success.

On the LED screen of the building across the street, Qiu Chao’s color cosmetics endorsement glowed boldly, overlooking everything as if it had all come naturally.

But Qiu Chao knew that after tomorrow, everything would change again.

She would need to conquer another territory.

“I don’t mind,” said Qiu Chao. “Please don’t tell her yet.”

Yan Kai replied, “She doesn’t even know about our agreement. I see how much she likes you. Why not just tell her now?”

He knew this relationship was tricky and sighed. Qiu Chao shook her head. “I have too much to do. No time for romance.”

Qiu Chao was wildly ambitious, which was precisely why Yan Kai had chosen her.